Thanksgiving Rescue

Hi there!  I decided to make a Thanksgiving card with a not-yet-used stamp which I thought was so cute and would be fun to color.  Sure enough, it was fun!  However, something about the stamp got to bothering me as I was coloring... I don't know why I didn't think about it before:  The turkey is alive and plucked and laying in a roasting pan!

I know it's all for fun, but at that point I couldn't unsee it.  With the "grateful for you" sentiment in a speech bubble I hoped to convey the impression that the dog had rescued the turkey from... well... you know.  Now they're running off to enjoy the pie together.  Whatever.

I watercolored with some paints that came free in a kit, plus some Stampin' Up inks, and a Tombow marker or two.  Played with designer paper and an older embossing folder, added white splatters and a twine bow.

I'm sorry to be rushing off, but that's how my week has been.  Our son came to visit over the weekend, and I'll be out of town for a few days this week.  It's been busy, but fun.  Pictured below is Saturday's outdoor excursion with Sophie and Ridley:

We were in the dunes again.  There's so much room to run and explore.  My beautiful children.  I'll miss snuggling and loving on them for the next few days as they're staying home with Rich (😔).

I'll catch up with you later.  Till then... have a wonderful week!

Stamps:  Purple Onion Designs Thanksgiving is here, Impression Obsession Grateful for You  Paper:  Arches 140 lb cold press watercolor, Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White, DCWV Fall Forest designer paper  Ink:  Ranger Archival Jet Black, various other  Coloring:  Watercolor  Other:  SU embossing folder (name forgotten), Impression Obsession Small Leaf Set, Cottage Cutz speech bubble from Telephone set, Scotch brand foam mounting tape to pop up sentiment

Jam Packed with Love for Penny Black Saturday Challenge

Hi everyone!  Popping in today with a reminder there's still time to play along in the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.  It's always anything goes, but our optional theme this month is "use a die".  I do have a die or two in my toybox, so I went that route.

 

I used a die for framing and to cut the sentiment, but the real cuties in this card are those two little mousers who've gotten into the jam jar.  Even though I don't want mice in my jam jar I can't help but find little furry creatures adorable and Penny Black's Homemade stamp set is jam packed with adorableness.  The sentiment in this case is from a Hero Arts set.

I watercolored with Tombow markers.  I added a pink wash around the mice, but when I saw the photo I was disappointed that it didn't show up.  Then I looked at the card again and realized it had all faded away!  What the heck?  Oh well, I left it as is and moved on.

The glossy dots are punched from designer paper, then coated with Diamond Glaze.  You know how I love doing that.  If you look closely you can see a bit of pattern in the larger dots.

That's it for me today.  This was great fun because you know how I love my Penny Black stamps.  It's guaranteed you'll love what my co-designer, Denise, and the PBSC team have created, and I really hope you can play along.  The more Penny Black, the merrier!

Have a happy day!

Stamps:  Penny Black Homemade, Hero Arts Jam Packed sentiment  Paper:  Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140 lb hot press watercolor, other white for card base, Crate Paper Pretty Party designer paper (years old)  Ink:  Ranger Archival Watering Can  Coloring:  Watercolor with Tombow markers  Other:  Die-namics Stitched Rectangle Frames, other rectangle for sentiment, 1/4" & 1/8" hole punches, JudiKins Diamond Glaze, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

One More Daisy Card

Hi again!  Pardon me while I slip in a card I made way back in early August.  This was my third use of Spellbinders Fresh Picked Daisies and I think maybe my favorite.  I pulled a watercolor background from my stash and coordinated that with a Stampin' Up Marigold Morning card base, and Marigold Morning ink on the sentiment.  The daisies and leaves are Copic colored.

It's interesting how the leaves in this die set are very pretty and graceful, and the daisy flowers rather fun and funky.

I think I can put the daisies away for a while.

I'll leave you with the recipe, below, and a wish for a daisy kind of day!  Thank you!

Stamps:  Inside only  Paper:  Hammermill Premium 100 lb white, Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140 lb hot press watercolor, Stampin' Up Marigold Morning  Ink:  Marigold Morning, other forgotten for watercolor background  Coloring:  Copics for image, watercolor smooshing for background  Dies:  Spellbinders Fresh Picked Daisies, Creative Expressions Happy Birthday sentiment  Other:  Stampin' Up Subtle embossing folder for card base

Guest Designing with Penny Black Saturday Challenge

Hello there!  I'm honored to be guest designing alongside Denise (The Crafty Den) at the Penny Black Saturday Challenge this month.  The theme is always "anything goes", but with an optional prompt.  This month the option is "use a die".

 

I'm all for using a die!  In this case I colored the wisteria blooms and leaves from Penny Black's Wings of Joy set, then cut the curve with PB's Curved Stitch die.  From my already-made-up stash I plucked a Memory Box dragonfly which happened to be just the right colors.

I watercolored with a mix of Stampin' Up inks and Tombow markers.  Did the background first, then the blooms.  The leaves were stamped separately and hand cut to drape over the blooms and add texture without too much dimension which enables the card to be easily mailable with no extra postage.  Finished with a few sequins for a touch of garden magic.

The sentiment is from the Penny Black Serene Beliefs set.  I've been using this set a LOT since its summer release, mostly for the insides.  Every word is beautiful.

I hope you'll join us at the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.  I just love seeing all the PB goodness by the talented team and those who play along.  Have a super day!

Stamps:  Penny Black Wings of Joy and Serene Beliefs  Paper:  Fabriano Artistico extra white 140 lb hot press watercolor, Hammermill Premium 100 lb white  Ink:  Memento Toffee Crunch for image, Stampin' Up Brocade Blue for sentiment  Coloring:  Watercolor with Stampin' Up reinkers and Tombow markers  Dies and Other:  Penny Black Curved Stitch, Memory Box Azure Dragonflies, sequins, Wink of Stella on dragonfly wings

Penny Black on a Saturday

Hello, crafty friends!  I hope you're all enjoying a nice weekend doing whatever makes you happy.  I've been retired for going on 11 years now, but I still find something special about the weekends.  After all those working years I just don't get over the feeling of release that comes with a Friday night.

I'm here today to share in the Penny Black Saturday Challenge where the optional theme is "Things with Wings".  That's my cue to color up my newest Penny Black stamp, Wings of Joy.  It's easy for me to go overboard with my Penny Black purchases because I'm such a fan, but I've been conservative lately.  This stamp though, sigh... and the Serenity Edger die set... they were a quick hop into my basket.

I stamped the bird and branch in Memento Toffee Crunch, and the sentiment in Palette Noir on extra white hot pressed watercolor paper and watercolored with Tombow markers.  Sponged the edges with Stampin' Up More Mustard ink.  After layering onto a card base of ivory textured Bazzill I applied the watercolored die cut "serenity" and a few iridescent sequins.

The set has a larger wisteria chain and extra leaves which I've already stamped and will try to turn into a card soon.  Penny Black has just released a Christmas collection and I'm currently trying to make my conservative choices.  I'm thinking poinsettias and a sentiment/die set.  It's never ending.

Challenges:

Penny Black Saturday Challenge -- Things with Wings, or optional anything goes.
NBUS Challenge #89 -- My never before used schtuff is the Penny Black Wings of Joy stamp set.

 

Thank you so much for spending a little time with me today.  I do enjoy our visits!

Stamps:  Penny Black Wings of Joy  Paper:  Fabriano Artistico 140 lb hot press watercolor, ivory Bazzill for card base  Ink:  Memento Toffee Crunch for image, Palette Noir for sentiment, Stampin' Up More Mustard for brushing image panel edges  Coloring:  Watercolor with Tombow markers  Other:  Penny Black Serenity Edger die set, iridescent sequins, white acrylic paint for eye glint

Double D Challenge: Feathers

Presenting another Double D Challenge -- Feathers!

Would you believe I have only one feather stamp in my vast collection?  And no feather dies.  However, I do have lots of birds so I chose this trio of Hero Arts birds to sing their songs with my one feather stamped repeatedly on the background panel.

I also stamped some music notes from a retired Power Poppy set and then embossed the background with SU's Subtle folder.  I love how that panel turned out.  The birds are watercolored, and I need to tell you the yellow sky area is NOT accurately depicted in the photo.  In reality it's a much softer color.  My camera does not do well with yellow and that's very sad for me as it's my favorite color.

The die cut music notes and sentiment are from a Simon Says Stamp set.

The Double D team has no shortage of feathers and they have some delightful cards to share with you.  I hope you have some feathers you can play along with.  Thank you, and have a happy day!

Stamps:  Hero Arts Three Songbirds, Simon Says Stamp Tweet Friend with dies (music notes and sentiment), Stampendous Feather Points  Paper:  Arches 140 lb cold press watercolor, Hammermill Premium 100 lb white, Stampin' Up Brocade Blue  Ink:  Stampin' Up Bordering Blue, So Saffron, Sahara sand, Ranger Archival Jet Black, Versamark, other SU inks for watercolor  Coloring:  Watercolor with SU inks  Other: Spellbinders A2 Curved Borders One, SU Subtle 3D embossing folder, SU Winter White embossing powder (old) 

Birds on a Flowering Branch

Hello and welcome!  I finally have a card to share.  Actually, I made this card maybe two weeks ago, but my big (old) computer where I edit photos simply would not start one day.  It wouldn't even start in the shop for the tech guru.  He was able to save my hard drive but not my programs (also old), so here I am, starting over, learning new software.  Even my monitor wouldn't start with the new computer, so off I went again...

Pictured below is a beautiful Penny Black stamp from last year.  I watercolored with Twinkling H2Os, then added an Easy Expressions from The Ton, and embellished with a few small gems.  I miss my old editing programs, but I'll get the hang of it.  During the cropping and straightening process things went a little wonky.

I'm playing along in the following challenges:

Penny Black Saturday Challenge:  Anything goes or your favorite Penny Black Stamp.  I love all my PB stamps from cute to beautiful, but I'm drawn to anything with a bird, so today it's this stamp called Confidant.  Are they whispering secrets?
Triple B Challenge:  Birds, blooms, or butterflies.  I can't resist.  Look at all that pretty pink in their inspiration board!
NBUS Challenge #86:  Never before used schtuff.  Yes, this beautiful stamp has been sealed in its package since last spring.

 

That's all for now!  Life is busy, but I'll try to be back soon.  We have out of town visitors next week, so housework must be done.  Sophie has already been to the beauty parlor.  An adventure dog can start to look a little scruffy after a while.

Scruffy Sophie

Stay crafty, my friends!

Stamps:  Penny Black Confidant, The Ton Easy Expressions  Paper:  Strathmore 140 lb cold press watercolor, natural white card base, Neenah white sentiment  Ink:  Ranger Archival Watering Can, Stampin' Up Brocade Blue & Memento Tuxedo Black for sentiment  Coloring:  Watercolor with Twinkling H2Os  Other:  Clear gems, foam tape to pop up sentiment

Double D Challenge: Watercolor

Hello friends, and welcome back!  We're kicking off another Double D Challenge today.  Our theme is near and dear to my heart -- watercolor.  Have a look at this beautiful inspiration board:

Since I do love to watercolor my first inclination was to stamp a pretty image and start painting.  However, I also wanted to watercolor some of these Spellbinders flowers so I went that direction.  Then I thought about all the watercolor backgrounds I have in my bag o' backgrounds and I rummaged around and came up with something very rich and summery and here we go -- watercolored Vintage Florals.

It felt a bit like cheating but, hey, it's watercolor.  The green leaves are from another watercolor piece.  It's good to find a use for those backgrounds because I'm mostly a designer paper kinda gal and they get left behind.  Today I'm happy to be using both!

I embossed a piece of 49 and Market Vintage Artistry in Mango with Spellbinders Molded Frame 3D folder.  It's very heavy paper so it worked out nicely.  I sanded some of the raised edges to enhance the embossing.  I cut a frame from another Mango piece -- maybe the flip side? -- and set it into the debossed area of the panel.  The butterfly is cut from the Mango paper ephemera sheet.

That's the details, folks!

The team has their wonderful interpretations of watercolor to share with you on the Double D blog, and we'd love to see yours as well.

Thank you for visiting, and have a lovely spring day!

Stamps:  None  Paper:  Arches 140 lb cold press watercolor, Cougar Natural card base, 49 and Market Vintage Artistry in Mango designer paper  Ink:  Forgotten  Coloring:  Smooshed watercolor  Other:  Spellbinders Vintage Florals, Spellbinders Molded Frame 3D embossing folder, MFT Die-namics Stitched Rectangle Frames, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

Spec-tacular Vase

Hi friends!  I've had a few things going on, in and out of my craft room -- it's springtime, after all -- but the only thing I accomplished this week is to finally color up this Spec-tacular Vase by Stamping Bella.  I don't know why it's been so long since Stamping Bella has crossed my radar, but one day I stumbled upon the Spec-tacular series of stamps and I was completely enchanted.  There are a bunch of them at Simon Says Stamp -- look here -- and, oh, my gosh, I want them all!  Can you believe I narrowed it down to one?  I'm sure I'll be going back for more.

I picked up the Spec-tacular Sentiment Set while I was at it.  I have other stamps that will work with these sentiments, too, and one of them is set aside for coloring soon.

Today I watercolored with a variety of Stampin' Up inks, but the gray is Tombow marker.  I managed to include some very old Webster's Pages designer paper with the frame and hearts.

My Spec-tacular Vase will be visiting the following challenges today:

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge #40 -- Anything floral goes, with optional mood board.
Addicted to Stamps and More -- Make your mark.
NBUS Challenge #85 -- My never before used schtuffs are the Spec-tacular Vase and Spec-tacular Sentiment Set.

I had a spectacular lot of fun with this.  I hope your day includes some fun as well.  See you soon!

Stamps:  Stamping Bella Spec-tacular Vase and Spec-tacular Sentiment Set  Paper:  Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140 lb hot press watercolor, Cougar Natural card base, very old Webster's Pages designer paper  Ink:  Ranger Archival Jet Black  Coloring:  Watercolor with Stampin' Up inks and gray Tombow marker  Dies:  Memory Box Wrapped Stitched Frames, Paper Smooches Hearts

Another Floral Hug

Hello!  Sharing another floral hug today.  The kit I created and shared here yielded three cards including two with the wreath.  I loved Jill Foster's example with the wreath and when you look up the set the inspiration will be clear, but with small differences.

I gold-embossed the wreath and watercolored with Stampin' Up inks and cut with the matching die.  The flower accent in the center of the bow is something that popped out of a die cut.  I save little things like that in a bitty bits jar.  I colored it pink with a Copic marker and applied glossy glaze.

Penny Black's Floral Vines stamp set goes back to spring last year.  However, my purchase of it was more recent than that.  I'm making a big effort to work my way through the baskets of not-yet-used stamps, dies, embossing folders, paper pads...  Yes, it seems endless.  I'm hoping the kits will help.

I'm sending my floral hug to the following challenges:

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge #38 -- Anything goes with an optional mood board.  I didn't use all the colors, but maybe you can see a hint of similarity.
Penny Black Saturday Challenge -- Anything goes or optional "romance".  There is no romance in this floral hug.

 

Thank you ever so much for stopping by today.  Take care and stay crafty!

Stamps:  Penny Black Floral Vines with matching dies  Paper:  Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140 hot press watercolor, Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White  Ink:  Versamrk, Memento Tuxedo Black  Coloring:  Watercolor with Stampin' Up inks  Dies:  Simon Says Stamp Pretty Bows, Impression Obsession Medium Butterflies and Heart Valance  Other:  Ranger Princess Gold embossing powder, gold gel pen for butterfly body, JudiKins Diamond Glaze, Scotch brand foam mounting tape