Magical Fuchsia

Greetings, friends!  How about wrapping up the week with some fuchsias?  Spellbinders Layered Magical Fuchsia embossing folder and stencil to be exact.  After my first attempt at stenciling was a big flop, I decided to simply emboss and then color with Copics.  It's brighter than I had intended, but still pretty.

Hammermill 100 lb white, Spellbinders Essential Arches,
Brutus Monroe Spring Splatter Designer paper

I added a retired Power Poppy sentiment and a few clear gems, and brushed the arched panel with SU Soft Sky and Certainly Celery. 

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Pictured below is the only halfway usable picture I managed of Stenciling Attempt #2.  I followed my friend Pam's lead for the second card.  I embossed first, then stenciled, but still didn't like it so I brushed over the image with brown ink -- SU Creamy Caramel.  Not the same ink Pam used, and I went a lot darker because I was rather liking it.  Later I had to remove some of the ink from around the fuchsias by splattering water, then brushing with water and pressing with a paper towel.

I inset the gold sentiment and splattered the image panel with gold paint.  We'll call it vintage.  The cover panel is SU Blackberry Bliss.  I love that color, but have barely touched it.  I'm thinking I should use it more often.

Spellbinders Essential Stylish Ovals, sentiment from SB Stylish Oval Hello You Floral,
SB Infinity Punch & Pierce Plate

That's it for me and my Magical Fucshia today.  I'm working on more fuchsias for later.  Some other cards may come along first, though.  There are so many fun things in my use-next basket!

Have a magical day!

Daisies for a Lovely Friend

Hello again and happy Monday!

I sure have been having fun with my Spellbinders flowers lately.  These funky Fresh Picked Daisies are another set that's been in the not-yet-used basket too long.  I'm trying to turn over a new leaf and get caught up.  I wonder how many times I've said that.

Easy coloring this time with Copics.  I pulled a background from my bag 'o backgrounds.  It's a soft piece that resulted from pressing regular Hammermill cardstock into inks left over from a watercolor.  The sentiment is Penny Black.  The sequins are peach colored.  Everything is listed in the recipe at the end.

This card is already in the mail to a lovely friend.

Can you tell I'm hurrying?  It's a beautiful day as I write this and the garden needs me.  I hope you're having a beautiful day, too!

Stamps:  Penny Black Loveliness sentiment  Paper:  Hammermill Premium 100 lb  white, something textured for the card base -- possibly SU Apricot Appeal(?)  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black for sentiment  Coloring:  Copics  Dies:  Spellbinders Fresh Picked Daisies, Hemstitch Rectangles  Other:  Sequins, foam dots

Nice Little Mice

Hi there, and welcome back!

It's been a few days since I posted.  Just busy with life stuff as well as making cards for later.  Today's cards are just for play.

I pulled another not-yet-used item from my use-next basket.  This time it's a stamp set, an older, but new-ish to me Penny Black set called Especially Micey.  I've now used every stamp in the set and I'm feeling good about that!

The first card is simple and clean with the "wish", the leafy vine, and the flower from my oldie stash.  I figured the Aster die could double as a dandelion if I colored it yellow.  The bee was in my spare parts and the designer paper is years old.  I'm trying to use it up, but it just goes on and on.

The second card uses more of that designer paper, along with one of my Stamping Bella Spec-tacular sentiments.  I added a fern die, and some Nuvo drops.

My first card is heading over to Simply Clean & Simple where the theme this month is "Birthday". 

Card #2 is going to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge where the theme is anything goes or "On the Move".  I made the second card for last month's PBSC to use patterned paper, but I was too late so I'll go with the anything goes option this month.

 

Thank you for visiting today.  I'll try not take so long before I pop in here again.  

Stamps:  Penny Black Especially Micey, Fiskars Make a Wish Quotes (1st card), Stamping Bella Spec-tacular sentiment (2nd card)  Paper:  Hammermill Premium 100 lb white (1st), Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140 lb watercolor & SU Poppy Parade (2nd), old Memory Box Brioche designer paper (both cards)  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black & SU Soft Sky (1st), Ranger Archival Jet Black (2nd)  Coloring:  Copics (1st), Tombow markers and blender (2nd)  Dies:  Heartfelt Creations Delicate Asters, Poppystamps Diana Border, Memory Box Buzzing Bumblebees (1st card), Spellbinders Hemstitch Rectangles, MayJoyDIY Ferns (2nd card)  Other:  White acrylic paint (1st), Sugared Almond Nuvo Drops (2nd card)

Southwest Greetings

Hello friends!

Moving right along to more not-yet-used supplies, in this case it's the Tim Holtz Funky Cactus set.  I thought the set was cute and different and, the fact is, I needed a thank you card for some friends who treated us to Mexican dinner.  So...

I reached into my drawerful of southwest style woodblock stamps that haven't been touched in ages.  I still love them a lot and that's why they haven't been purged.  The frame image here is an ancient Anita's stamp with no name on it.  It's all one big woodblock stamp and in order to make it a multi-color image I stamped in a light, but easily visible Copic-friendly ink, and then colored over the lines with Copics.  I think it makes a super cute frame for the cacti.

Here's an extra picture so you can see the before and after:

I've been wanting to play along with Amy Tsuruta's Woodblock Wednesday challenge which falls on the last Wednesday of each month and it's only open a few days (maybe 5?).  I'm not good with short term challenges, but I was ready for this one.

Woodblock Wednesday -- Must use a woodblock stamp.

Also:

Neglected Stuff Challenge -- All of my southwest stamps have been neglected far too long.
NBUS Challenge #87 -- My never before used schtuff is the Tim Holtz Funky Cactus die set.

 

I don't usually post two days in a row, let alone three, but tomorrow I'll be here again.  Sorry, not cards, but maybe you won't mind a few pics of Sophie and Ridley.

Enjoy your day!

Double D Challenge: Add a Bow

Hello friends!  Double D has a challenge for you today that is bound to inspire some pretty cards -- put a bow on it!

I knew I wanted to use my pretty SSS Double Loop Bow, and might as well use the SSS Country Basket Bouquet which I bought at the same time.  The brown basket was a spare already made up, so I commenced to filling it with flowers.  So much fun!  As it happens, I had two spare Chickadees from the SSS Chickadee Gathering 3D embossing folder with dies, so I colored them as well.  Too dark on the wings and tail feathers, oops, but there's always a next time.  I think they look very comfortable tucked into the flowers!

The background was embossed with the Chickadee Gathering folder and brushed with ink.  Just enough of it shows to add texture and to help the card appear a lot more dimensional than it actually is.  As I made this card near Mother's Day I was thinking of my mom who passed years ago, and I may never mail it.  I still have the card I made while thinking of her on last year's Mother's Day.  I wish I'd started a card tradition years ago... a special collection just for Mom.  It's not too late to start.

Lastly, I added some tiny SSS gold star embellishments, and a sentiment from The Ton.  Further details are in the recipe below my signature.

Drop by Double D and see what the team has to share with you.  Pretty stuff there!  I hope you'll have time to share yours as well!

Stamps:  The Ton Easy Expressions w/dies  Paper:  Hammermill Premium 100 lb white, brown scraps for basket  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black and Versamark for sentiment, Distress Oxide Shabby Shutters for leafy background, SU Close to Cocoa to shade basket  Coloring:  Copics  Other:  SSS Country Basket Bouquet and Double Loop Bow, SSS Chickadee Gathering 3D embossing folder with dies, Ranger Princess Gold embossing powder for sentiment, SSS gold star embellishments, Scotch brand foam mounting tape to pop up basket

Christmas Dove for May

Hi friends!  I have failed this month to reach my goal of two or more Christmas cards, but I do have one, and it's made with oldies I uncovered during the extensive cleaning, tidying, organizing project I've undertaken in my craft room.  The most time consuming project is the process of consolidating my dies to group several dies or die sets onto one magnetic sheet.  I'll have to share more on that later, but it's saving a lot of space and looking much tidier.  It's a long process and I'm not even done with the birds yet.  There are a LOT more letters in the alphabet!

Anyway, that's where this card comes in.  I found two doves already made up and sitting with the die in its envelope.  Per this organizing project I'm no longer keeping the spare cuts in with their dies because that was adding bulk, so there goes another whole job of organizing the spare parts.  In this case I decided to simply layer the two doves and make a card.

At the start of the project I went through all the dies to see what I might possibly relinquish.  There are currently 10 die sets sitting on the give-away pile, and this wreath was up for consideration, but I decided its time has not yet come.  When I opened its envelope I found one wreath cut in green, so I cut another in white and layered it.  To make the die appear more dimensional I Copic colored just the bow (it's all one die), then went over the bow with a Ranger Distress Embossing pen and embossed with clear powder.

The sentiment was already stamped, cut, and waiting.  In the photo below you can almost see that the card base was stamped in Versamark with my old SU Flannel Plaid background and embossed with clear powder.  It makes for a glossy textured card front with a hint of pattern, much more visible in real life (and actually very cool).  Put it all together and there's one more Christmas card for the box.

That's lots of talk for one rather simple card, but there's so much more to this craft than just putting a card together.  The thing is, I love all of it -- shopping, creating, organizing, sharing.  I feel so fortunate to have such an interest.  How about you?

Total Christmas cards in the box:  14

Happily, I'm able to play along with Jo and Guest Joanne in the Christmas Kickstart Challenge this month as their theme is Season's Tweetings.  I do have a bird or two in my collection (ahem).

Thanks for putting up with me.  Stay crafty, my friends!

Stamps:  Poppystamps Christmas Banners (dies included), SU Flannel Plaid  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White 80 & 110 lb, SU Always Artichoke (bottom wreath layer)  Ink:  SU Real Red for sentiment, Versamark for Flannel Plaid background (barely visible on card base)  Coloring:  Copics for bow  Dies:  Cheery Lynn Peace Dove, Tutti Designs Wreath with Bow  Other:  Ranger Distress embossing pen, detail clear embossing powder, Scotch brand foam mounting tape to slightly lift dove's wing and tail

Double D Challenge: Splatter

Hi there!  How about another Double D Challenge?  It's all about splatter today.  Big splatters, little splatters, crazy splatters, tidy splatters... let's get messy!

I don't know about you, but my splatters generally get messy.  Today wasn't too bad.  I had my splatter screen and craft mat, and my splatters were fairly well controlled.  I used them as a background for the rose cone -- Penny Black's Flower Scoops.  The cone and rose are separate stamps so you can use them in a variety of ways, but I rather like them together.  I thought it would work as a birthday card with the "sweet wishes" sentiment (Cottage Cutz).

All the coloring was done with Copics on watercolor paper, including the butterfly and die cut words.  After coloring the butterfly wings I went over them with a brush tip Ranger Distress embossing pen.  I love that thing, but I forget to use it.  It's perfect for smaller things such as the butterfly.  I then embossed the wings with a years old Iridescent Peacock powder which gives it clear and truly iridescent stay-in-place sparkle.

The team has some fine samples to share with you, so hop over to Double D and check them out and then I hope you'll splatter along with us!

Have a super day!

Stamps:  Penny Black Flower Scoops  Paper:  Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140 lb hot press watercolor, Close to my Heart Vineyard Berry, SU Pink Pirouette  Ink:  Palette Noir, SU Rose Red & Pink Pirouette  Coloring:  Copics  Dies:  Lil' Inker Silly Stitched Die Set, Memory Box Canyon Butterflies, Cottage Cutz Sweet w/Shadow & Wishes w/Shadow  Other:  SU Subtle embossing folder (on card base), Ranger Distress embossing pen, Iridescent Peacock embossing powder, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

Feline Better

Welcome back, friends!

One of my favorite crafty activities is to design cards with patterned papers or embossing and tuck them away in a drawer for future use.  No pressure to make a card, just having fun with the basics.  Now and then I remember to pull one of those out of the drawer and use it.  It can be fun to start from the bottom up and see what happens.

Today I started with a card base I'd created way back in February 2024.  I have some older than that, too, and it seems to me it's time to use some of the oldies in order to make way for the new ones I continue to make.  I chose the adorable and not-yet-used Inky Antics Charming Kitties #1 for this card.

I Copic colored and hand cut two of the stamps to line up three kitties on the front.  Are they not the cutest?  The sentiment is a vertical stamp, but I inked one word at a time to make a horizontal sentiment which fit better with the sketch.  Sizzix Woodland Borders add some pretty trim.  I'm loving those borders even more than I thought I would now that I'm actually using them.

I used every kitty in the set including the little guy who's pictured below, sitting inside the card with another sentiment:

Love!

I made the card specifically for a friend who is healing from an injury.  She'll just have to smile!

We all need to do more of the things that make us happy.

Take care, and have a joyful day!

Stamps:  Inky Antics Charming Kitties #1  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White 80 & 110 lb, years old designer paper (Chatterbox maybe)  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black  Coloring:  Copics  Other:  Sizzix Woodland Borders, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

Snail Mail and Mouse Nap

Hi there!  A while back I pulled out another of my self-made card kits and started coloring, but then I got distracted by challenges and these cards, though finished and photographed, were not yet posted.  Today is their day.

This kit features Colorado Craft Company stamps by Kris Lauren.  Very cute!  The set I used today is called This is the Life, gifted to me maybe a year ago.  I always question my sanity when I realize how long I've left something waiting in the basket.

The snail, mushroom, grass, ladybug, and sentiment are all separate stamps.  I stamped the snail, masked it, and then stamped the mushroom and all the rest.  There is quite a lot of fanciful detail in the snail shell.  Coloring is with Copics.

Next up is the little mouse.  Again with the masking and adding in other stamps from the set.  The sketch is FMS #707 which I loved a lot for using designer paper.  I made a point of adding some Cottage Cutz flowers to each card as they were also not yet used, though much newer to me than the stamp set.

NBUS Challenge #84 -- My never before used schtuff is the CCC This is the Life stamp set and Cottage Cutz Flowers.

Gosh, this was fun!  You might think I'm making good progress on my NBUS and maybe I am, but there's still so much!  Not the least of it is gifts from my local soul sister who showers me at birthdays and Christmas, and sometimes in between.  We keep on keeping on.  It's a sisterhood.

Thanks for stopping by.  You know I love it when you do!

Stamps:  Colorado Craft Company This is the Life, Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White, colored cardstock scraps, Brutus Monroe Autumn Tapestries designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black  Coloring:  Copics  Other:  Cottage Cutz Flowers

Jellyfish Blooms

Hello crafty friends!  I was excited to be stamping and coloring again in the new year... anything other than a Christmas card... so when my friend's birthday came along last month I felt I had just the right never been used stamp for her card.  This is a Creative Expressions stamp, Jellyfish Blooms, from their Designer Boutique collection.  The sentiment is a CZ Designs for Simon Says Stamp -- You 2.  It was a freebie with one of my orders.  Nice!  Lots of variations in the set.

I colored with Copics on Hammermill Premium 100 lb white, and added several spots of Silver Stickles for sparkle.  It's quite the little fantasy piece, but I do love this type of image that mixes flora and fauna.

As for the sentiment, I felt it fit both the image and my friend who has a beautiful spirit and amazing strength considering all she's been through in the last year and a half.  I stamped on SU Bermuda Bay and embossed in white, then hand cut around the "you" and cut the "amaze me" with a random rectangle die from my stash.

It's a 4 1/2" x 6" card with the image panel simply glued to a Bermuda Bay base which I embossed with SU's retired Subtle 3D embossing folder.  The last step was to embellish with some Hero Arts Seashells brushed with Wink of Stella which I tried to capture in the photo below, but it's so much glossier, cleaner, and more shimmery in real life.

My not yet used supplies are bountiful, including a wealth of gifts I was showered with for my birthday and Christmas -- all from the same friend for whom I made this card.  She knows what I like.

Sharing here:

NBUS Challenge #83 -- Never before used schtuff -- Jellyfish Blooms, You 2 sentiment, and Seashells

I'll leave you with a wish for a happy day.  Take good care of yourselves, please.

Stamps:  Creative Expressions Jellyfish Blooms, CZ Designs/Simon Says Stamp You 2  Paper:  Hammermill Premium 100 lb white, Stampin' Up Bermuda Bay  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark  Coloring:  Copics  Other:  Hero Arts Seashells, WOW Bright White super fine embossing powder, Silver Stickles, SU Subtle 3D embossing folder, misc. rectangle die

Celebrate Critter Style

Hello there!  It's another cutie pie Penny Black critter card today, sharing the last of the cards I made with the kit I created for the Time to Celebrate set.  Once I was settled in for Christmas I made three cards one after the other and there were plenty of grins and giggles in the process. The mouse with balloons drifted in from the Birthday Critters set to help the hedgie celebrate.

When I was having fun with this card sketch I found that Spellbinders Hemstitch Rectangles worked out beautifully in the way they fit with each other.  I used an oldie embossing folder for the background, and a flower punch for embellishment.  The "celebrate" die is another Cottage Cutz steal-of-a-deal recent purchase.  In the photo below I think you can see where the glitter is, but you know it's much prettier in real life.

I felt like I could go on and on with this basic card design, but this is the last of them for now.  It's such a great way to use bits of designer paper, and this particular paper is an ages old Memory Box pack I'm trying to use up.  I have so many new and/or not-yet-used pretty papers which I plan to break into, but the oldies must be used as well.

I love that you stopped by today and we'll do this again soon.  Take care!

Stamps:  Penny Black Time to Celebrate (hedgie), Birthday Critters (mouse), Enjoy Builder (stamped sentiment)  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White, Memory Box Brioche designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black  Dies:  Cottage Cutz Celebrate Phrase, Spellbinders Hemstitch Rectangles, extinct leaf die and tag die  Other:  Flower punch, Sizzix Flowers embossing folder, Wink of Stella, Stickles Stardust glitter glue, 1/8" circle punch for flower centers

Let's Party!

Hello, friends!  I know that you know I love my Penny Black critters.  Lately I've been loving the mice as much as the dogs and cats, and the little hedgies are stepping right up there, too.  Today I have another of my self-made card kit creations.

It's the Time to Celebrate set combined with a Cottage Cutz sentiment die, and using the go-to layout I was having fun with at Christmastime.  I changed it up a little with different dies and an embossed background.

There's lots of party time sparkle on the starbursts, punched circles, and party hats.  Coloring is Copics, including sentiment and stars.

Sparkle inside, too, with a Penny Black Birthday Love sentiment.

With all the spots and dots on my card today I'd like to play along in the following challenge:

Sisterhood of Crafters -- Spots & Dots

Well, that was fun!  I made one more card with this set, but I'll save it for later.  I do so appreciate having this craft and my big toy box as a diversion where all is well and happy.  Thanks for being here with me!

Stamps:  Penny Black Time to Celebrate, Birthday Love  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White, retired Memory Box Brioche designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black  Coloring:  Copics  Dies:  Cottage Cutz Fifties Phrases #1 and Nested Wacky Stitched Rectangle Set  Other:  Cuttlebug Seeing Spots embossing folder, 1/8" & 1/4" circle punch, Diamond Stickles