Baby Girl

Oh, my gosh, it's been forever since I made a baby card, and I have to say this was so much fun for a change!  It had to be done.  My friend is expecting a great-grandbaby girl so she asked for a card to celebrate the occasion.

I have a lot of baby stamps, papers, dies, you name it.  My head was swimming, but I couldn't put it all on one card, even if it is a rare opportunity these days.  I narrowed it down one by one, changing my mind several times along the way.  Made a whole other card, didn't like it, started over... then settled on the following:

It was easy to choose a very old and still favorite Rubbernecker stamp, name unknown as it came to me unpackaged.  I stamped in Memento London Fog and colored softly with Copics.  Added a cute sentiment from a Power Poppy set.  The pink scallops and banner are gingham designer paper.  The flowers are punched, the leaves die cut.  I punched 1/8" gray circles for the flower centers and applied Stickles Stardust glitter glue.  Spellbinders Hydrangea Blooms 2D embossing folder provided a leafy mat with tiny blooms to match the punched flowers.

No challenges today, not even NBUS (never before used schtuff).  Just feeling the fun and a great appreciation for a roomful of crafty toys.  I'd better get back to the Christmas cards now.

See you again soon!

Stamps:  Rubbernecker baby carriage name unknown, Power Poppy Precious Baby  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White 80 & 110 lb, pale pink Bazzill card base, SU Going Gray, MFT Homespun Gingham designer paper  Ink:  Memento London Fog, Ranger Archival Watering Can  Dies:  Lawn Fawn Outside In Stitched Scalloped Rectangle Stacklets, Taylored Expressions Stitched Rectangle Stacklets, La-La Land Random Flags Banner, Impression Obsession Leaf Cluster  Other:  Spellbinders Hydrangea Blooms 2D embossing folder, flower punch, 1/8" circle punch, Stickles Stardust glitter glue

Double D Challenge: Winter

 

Hello friends!  Is it cold yet where you are?  We're feeling the chill here on the Oregon coast.  Double D Darlene is asking us to "Get Ready for Winter" today.  The inspiration board makes me shiver just looking at it:

 

When you visit the challenge blog you'll learn about the prize that's up a random winner (pictured below).  There are always creative winners as well.

Brrrr.  The two friends I chose to depict on my card are perfectly happy to be sitting in the snow, gazing at the stars above.  I think they're the sweetest -- Penny Black Star Gazing Friends.

First, I want to tell you about the sentiment.  It comes from the inside of a commercial Christmas card which I received as a gift from a charity to which we donate.  Ordinarily I pass those cards along to a friend, but this time I thought I might like to use some of the inside sentiment panels.  There is dark printing on the back of the panel which could be seen easily when held up to the light, so I had to layer the arch onto another arch and then mount it on a colored card base.  It worked out fine.

Aren't they just perfect with the sentiment?   I stamped in Memento London Fog and ink blended the background.  By blending around the stars and characters it left just the right amount of glow.  Coloring was done with Prismacolor pencils because it was the only thing that worked on this paper.  Lastly, I sprayed lightly with sheer shimmer sparkle.

It's a simple card with no embellishment.  Just peaceful.

Come see all the chilly beauty the team is sharing at Double D.  I hope you'll find time to play along.  Happy holidays, including the upcoming Thanksgiving in the US.  Enjoy!

Stamps:  Penny Black Star Gazing Friends  Paper:  Main image panel cut from commercial card, sentiment included, Stampin' Up Night of Navy  Ink:  Memento London Fog, SU Bashful Blue and Night of Navy  Coloring:  Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol odorless mineral spirits  Other:  Spellbinders Essential Arches, Imagine Sheer Shimmer Sparkle spray, SU Subtle embossing folder for card base

Bringing in the Harvest

For my final autumn card this year I used the second dog in my Inky Antics Autumn Dogs stamp set.  Six dies, one embossing folder, two stamp sets, and two patterned papers later I ended up with this scene.

I know, it's a lot.

Honestly, I intended to make a simple card with the dog and Sunrays (Spellbinders) embossing folder.  Then along came the Whittle Field and Trees (Poppystamps), an additional rolling hill, a fence, a butterfly because the dog seemed to be looking up at something.  I puzzled over where to put the sentiment, and finally made a tag and slipped it under his carefully trimmed and lifted paw.  Sheesh.  Autumn papers, Tombow coloring on the stamps, brushed and sponged ink on the die cuts and embossing.  Oh, and I cut a scalloped circle for the sun just for an extra touch of whimsy.

It will be sent as a Thanksgiving card.

Playing along here:

Four Seasons -- Fall season November 2024.  Anything fall themed.
Love those Pretty Papers -- Anything goes, optional yellow and brown.
NBUS Challenge #68 -- Poppystamps Whittle Field and Trees is my never before used schtuff.

The Sisterhood of Crafters -- Landscape

  

Thank you for visiting!  Enjoy your weekend!

Two for Christmas

Hello!  It's time for me to get serious about finishing the Christmas cards.  Today I have two more Cottage Cutz characters.  The first is Snowman in Cocoa.  I styled this card, not only around the cocoa mug, but around the Tiled Motif embossing folder as well.  I wanted a lot of the embossing to show, so I die cut a mat from some crystal clear cardstock I've had for years.  I framed over the edges and adhered the Snowman in Cocoa onto the clear cardstock.

It's very bright and cheery!  I love the peppermints, but I'm especially partial to the little cocoa splatters.  I goofed his eyes when I dotted with a pen so I rescued with my smallest black pearls.  The close up below is intended to show the shine of the clear cardstock mat.  It's a fun feature that lets all of the embossing show, yet provides a smooth, solid surface onto which to glue the small parts.

Spellbinders helped out with the Scallop Labels and Tag for the frame, Make it Merry Sentiments, and Tiled Motif 3D embossing folder.  I had just the right scrap of peppermint designer paper, and a border strip from Memory Box Double Scallop Oval and Border.

**********

The second card is much quieter.  I pulled a background piece from my bag o' backgrounds.   I'm pretty sure it's a stencil monoprint.  I went a little nuts making monoprints about 3 years ago when I learned the technique.  It's addictive.  See a video here.  Also see a great post with lots of information by the Group of Seven Cardmakers here.

The Penguin w/Candy Cane comes with the smallest snowflake, and I added two more from another Cottage Cutz set.  Hand cut the snow banks, colored with Copics.  Sentiment from Poppystamps Christmas Banners.  I used Spellbinders Hemstitch Rectangles for the mat with the image panel inset rather than layered.  I hope that makes sense.

Challenges today:

Can You Handle the Pressure -- Use an embossing folder.  Optional coffee~cocoa~warm drinks.
NBUS Challenge #68 -- Never before used schtuff.  Both Cottage Cutz characters and the Tiled Motif embossing folder are NBUS.

 

Thanks for letting me share my fun crafty time with you.  I hope you found a smile here today.  Hugs all around!

Umbrellas are Not Just for Rain

Hello, and welcome to a new week on the blog!

It's still autumn and though I need to double down on the Christmas cards, I took the time to make a card that won't even be sent till next year.  It's good to have extras in the box.  This is one of those simple cards -- stamp and do some quick coloring with Tombows and blender.

I stenciled the background and added a sentiment.  Gave it the narrowest red border.  The stamps are Penny Black and the stencil is a Creative Expressions mini.  Everything is listed in the recipe.  Sometimes I think I talk too much, so I'm keeping this brief.

I had the following challenges in mind for this card:

Penny Black Saturday Challenge -- It's "anything goes" with the option to "make a scene".  Well, you know how I love to make a scene, but I held back this time.
Stencil Fun Challenge -- Anything goes with the option to "make it sparkle or shine".  No sparkle or shine for me today.
NBUS Challenge #68 -- Never before used schtuff.  The Penny Black Fall Breeze stamp is new to me and being used for the first time.

 

That's all, folks!  See you here again real soon.  May your day be filled with beauty!

Stamps:  Penny Black Fall Breeze and Super Day  Paper:  Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140 lb hot pressed watercolor, red, Neenah white  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black and Rich Cocoa, Distress Tea Dye (for stenciled bricks)  Coloring:  Tombows and blender  Other:  Creative Expressions Brick Wall mini-stencil

Double D Challenge: Warm & Cozy

Brrr, our mornings are starting out chilly these days, but the sun turns things warm and cozy later.  Love that about fall.  That's our Double D Challenge this time around -- Warm & Cozy.  The board is beautifully inspiring, and the prize for a random winner is adorable:

 

A cup of cocoa and some Christmas cookies can make me feel pretty darned warm and cozy.  I'd probably be wearing my favorite old cable knit sweater as I partake.  I think you can see how the board inspired me here.

Yes, it's a Cottage Cutz set again.  You know I love 'em and the sales are not to be resisted.  The embossing folder was from a Spellbinders warehouse sale during which I stocked up (ahem).  In this case I embossed on vanilla cardstock, then brushed with caramel ink, and followed up with a little sanding to enhance the pattern.

I love those cookies!  Actually, I love the whole die set.  There's a Santa for the mug, too, which I'll save for later.  Too much fun!  Most of the coloring is ink blending, but Copics for the smallest pieces.  The enamel dots are real this time.  Supplies are all listed in the recipe.

Get warm & cozy with us at Double D!  Share your make and maybe win that prize or be a creative favorite.  It's all in the spirit of fun.   Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you again shortly!

Stamps:  None  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White, Cougar Vanilla  Ink:  Various Stampin' Up  Coloring:  Ink applied with brushes, Copic markers  Other:  Cottage Cutz Warm & Cozy Cocoa, Memory Box Stitched Circle Layers and Stitched Scalloped Circles, Taylored Expressions Ric Rac Borders, Spellbinders Sweater Weather embossing folder, Echo Park enamel dots

Clean and Simple Poinsettia Border

Hi all!  Today's card came about on a crafty whim.  There's no good reason other than I was flipping through my Power Poppy stamps and came across this oldie.  It's meant to be horizontal, but I wondered how it would work as a vertical border.  I like it!  Very simple.

I colored with Copics, hand cut, and chose another Power Poppy stamp set for the sentiment.  You probably can't see it, but after stamping the sentiment I embossed the white panel with SU's Subtle 3D folder, up to the colored border.  Applied ribbon and some punched gold dots, added to the red card base.  Fun and done!

Do you remember Power Poppy?  Having been on Marcella's design team since its inception I have a lot of her stamps, plus the digis.  She no longer produces new designs, but there are still a lot of clear stamp sets available in the shop at greatly reduced prices, and the digis continue to be available.  I haven't been printing digis since I got fed up with my printer, tsk tsk, but I have every intention of revisiting my Power Poppy and other oldie but goodie stamps more often.

Today's card is a good fit for the Simply Clean & Simple November Challenge where the optional theme is "Christmas is Coming".

I'm glad you could stop by today.  We'll do this again real soon!

Stamps:  Power Poppy Let Your Heart be Light (poinsettias) and Botanical Tree (sentiment)  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White 80 lb, Bazzill red, gold mirror cardstock  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, SU Real Red  Coloring:  Copics  Other:  Goldenrod Stickles, gold metallic ribbon, 1/4" & 1/8" circle punches, SU Subtle 3D embossing folder

Just Sophie Today

It's been a while since I did a Sophie post.  Shame on me since she is the light of my life.  Fluff and love and fun.  She keeps me moving and looking for adventure without traveling too far afield.  It's all a thrill to her and I can't tell you how good it is for me as well.

We headed out on a beautiful October day.  Our dunes are edged with scraggly woods and shallow marshes, and they're a wonderful playground for Sophie.  In the first picture we'd just stepped out of the car and she appears to be making an assessment as to which area she should explore first.

Sophie is just shy of 15 months and still very much a puppy.  Depending on their lifestyle Golden Retrievers stay puppies for many years, and I'm sure that will be the case with Sophie as I do like to keep life playful.

On the edge of a marsh we came upon these pretty Asters with beetle... maybe a cucumber beetle, though no cucumbers in sight.

After a good run in the woods and marsh we headed into the dunes.  Guess who loves to dig in the sand?  Yes, and guess who gets to stand in the backyard pool with Sophie to clean her up before she can come in the house.  She's worth it.

A good time was had by all, including Rich who moseyed along the level path while the kid and I ran hither and yon.

Thanks for coming along.  Wishing you a beautiful day!

Fall Branch with Bird

Hello, friends!  I don't want to forget about fall card making, especially since I have some not-yet-used fall stamps in my basket.  This Penny Black Autumn Masterpiece stamp is one of my newbies, but I believe it was released last year.

I embossed in copper on watercolor paper.  The background is a light watercolor wash with Stampin' Up inks, while the image itself was colored with Tombow markers and blender solution.  Then I proceeded to ruin a perfectly good painting by adding the splatters.  It went horribly wrong because my paint was too dilute, tsk tsk.  Hence, I have a small square card rather than a full size card with the beautiful fall branch trailing all the way down the front.  We make do, don't we?

There's a bit of embossed brown peeking from behind the image panel.  That's the Tim Holtz Sizzix Leaf Vein 3D embossing folder.  Not a new item.  It's very cool, but I've barely used it and I need to give it more time.  I scuffed it up a bit and then rubbed it with ink.

I'll be joining up with the following challenges:

The Sisterhood of Crafters -- Fall/Leaves
Penny Black Saturday Challenge -- Anything goes or optional "cute or spooky"
NBUS Challenge #67 -- Never before used schtuff.  My Penny Black stamp is used for the first time.

Moving along to the next project on the list.  Life is busy these days.  See you again soon!

Stamps:  Penny Black Autumn Masterpiece  Paper:  Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140 lb hot press watercolor, copper metallic, dark brown  Ink:  Versamark, various SU for watercolor  Coloring:  Tombow markers and homemade blender solution, Twinkling H2Os for splatters  Other:  Creative Expressions Mini Stacked Thinking of You, Tim Holtz Sizzix Leaf Veins 3D embossing folder, copper embossing powder, corner punch

Guesting with Seize the Birthday: Feather

Hello and happy day!  I was invited to be the Surprise Party Guest at Seize the Birthday for their challenge which begins today.  Confetti, please!  It's an honor and I would like to thank Nancy for having me!

The challenge topping this time around is "Feather" but, as always, if you're not the toppings sort you can make it "anything goes as long as it's birthday".

I don't have much in the way of feathers in my stamp and die collection, but I sure do have plenty of the critters the feathers are attached to.  I enjoy watching the birds in the garden, and I have as much fun crafting them into a card.

Today it's the Penny Black Songbirds Celebrations set which I've inked up more than a few times in the past.

I hung the birdhouse on a branch from my stash in a twiggy frame called Wildwood (also Penny Black), and backed it up with an embossed panel which matches the flowers on the birdhouse.  If you look real closely you can see some tiny hearts floating around in the embossing.  I'd like to say I carefully selected the embossing folder from my stash, but in fact, it came as a protective sheet in a card from a friend.  It's a cutie!

Inside the card there's a party guest bringing balloons for the birthday bird.  The sentiment is retired Stampin' Up.

That's it for the bird-day party at my house, but there's lots more to see at Seize the Birthday, so hop over and have a look, and then join the party with your own birthday offering.  I'll see you there!

Thank you for visiting!

Stamps:  Penny Black Songbird Celebrations, retired Stampin' Up sentiment inside  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White, SU Cameo Coral  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, SU Old Olive  Coloring:  Copics, brushed on ink for leaves  Other:  Penny Black Wildwood (twig frame), Spellbinders Classic Squares (behind frame), Memory Box Leaf Bunches, unknown embossing folder

Beware of Dog

I'll take treats, please!  I knew I had just the right stamp for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge where the current optional theme is "cute or spooky".  I look at this dog and I just want to hug him because I think he's so cute and approachable!

I stamped on a big hand cut flag and watercolored with Stampin' Up inks.  Most of the stars are those which popped out of dies when cut.  I save little things like that in a small container, knowing they'll come in handy someday.  All the stars are sparkled up with Black Diamond Stickles.  To brighten the night sky I also added yellow homemade resin dots -- 1/8" punched circles with dimensional crystal glaze on top.

Because it's a Halloween card I'll also be sharing at Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge.  They're always "anything goes", but do provide a fabulous inspiration board as well.  One more challenge inspired the making of this card -- Love Those Pretty Papers.  Their optional theme this month is "Halloween colors/papers".  These old, but still cute, papers go way back to when I was scrapbooking... probably 20 years ago.  

Penny Black Saturday Challenge -- Cute or Spooky
Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge -- optional inspiration board
Love those Pretty Papers -- Halloween colors/papers

 

That's all, friends!  This was a fun interlude and now I'm off to see what kind of trouble I can get into.  Enjoy your day!

Stamps:  Penny Black Beware of Dog, PB Haunted Halloween (sentiment)  Paper:  Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140 lb hot press watercolor, black cardstock base, very old halloween patterned paper  Ink:  Ranger Archival Jet Black, various Stampin' Up for watercolor  Coloring:  Watercolor with SU inks  Other:  Misc. stars including Sizzix Primitive Stars, Black Diamond Stickles, JudiKins Dimensional Crystal glaze, 1/8" hole punch