Springtime Happy Wishes Card

Get out your patterned paper - it’s time for the new March Challenge at CraftyHazelnut’s Patterned Paper challenge.  I got out what may be my oldest patterned paper pack - DCWV Citrus Stack!  Remember them, they were glittered.  I still enjoy these pretty colors!

I used an old sketch from Cardabilities.

Supplies: Power Poppy Simply Camellias stamp set, Memento black ink, Spectrum Noir and Copic alcohol markers, DCWV Citrus stack, Fiskars Scalloped Edge punch.

Thanks for stopping by!  I wonder if you remember what your oldest patterned paper pack is? Do you still have it?

You can find me on facebook or pinterest, too.

Snowy Cute Card

It may be starting to look like spring, but these hedgehogs are ready for winter!

I colored this image with my alcohol markers and then added white gel pen and wink of stella to portions.  I enjoyed using the bright colors of the background papers to make a cherry winter/Christmas card.

Supplies: Penny Black Jolly Friends stamp set, Just for Fun rubber Stamps sentiment, Versafine and Memento inks, Spectrum noir markers, Heidi Swapp Marquee Love paper, Darice snowflake embossing folder, other supplies from my stash.

I was inspired by these challenges:

Rudolph Days Anything Christmas Challenge February

ModSquad Challenge Animal Fun

Thanks so much for your visit!  

You can find me on facebook or pinterest, too.

Flower of the Month - February Violet Bouquet (Two Ways)

Hello and hope you are having a great day.  I am continuing with my flower-of-the-month theme.  I have this lovely bouquet stamp that contains violets.  I decided to color it in two different colors, and then also change the orientation of them when I made the cards.

The first card uses pinky-purple toned violets and muted tones.  I kept the card very clean with white embossing.

The second card is a more traditional blue-violet with brighter tones.  I paired this with a custom marker colored sentiment banner and pretty patterned paper.

Supplies:  I Brake for Stamps Woodland Bouquet, Memento black ink. Spectrum Noir alcohol markers, white gel pen, Recollections Coastal Village 6x6 Paper pad, Avery Elle Wonky Stitched Rectangles dies, Gina K Designs Assorted Greetings Stamp set, Versafine Black ink

I would love to enter this in Word Art Wednesday’s Anything Goes 322-323 challenge!

Thank you so much for your kind visit and comments!

You can see all my Flower of the Month Posts here.

You can find me on facebook or pinterest, too.

Bunny with Recycled Cardboard

I was asked to provide a sample card today for the SplitCoastStampers Free for All Challenge.  The theme is Recycling!  Well, I apparently have no imagination because the first thing I did was go to the recycling bin and pull out the first thing I saw - a box!  I tore it up so I could die cut it.

My bunny was colored with alcohol markers.  The card is an OLD (like, really old) prefolded notecard.  I matted the bunny in dark purple to bring out the color in the flowers.

Supplies: I Brake for Stamps Wild Bunny stamp, Just for Fun Rubber Stamps Happy Easter, Anna Griffin Notecard, Spectrum Noir alcohol markers, Spellbinders Foliage dies

I would love to enter this project into Cute Card Thursday’s Cute Critters challenge!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

You can find me on facebook or pinterest, too.

Dolphin Silhouette card

Another quick shout out for Just for Fun’s Silhouette challenge this month!  I created this card with Distress Oxides (all the blues) and simply stamped over top with Black Soot Distress Oxide ink with this beachy scene.  Easy peasy!  I hope you will join in the challenge!

Thanks for your visit!  Have a great day!

You can find me on facebook or pinterest, too.

Folksy Bluebird card

Hello!  It feels like spring here, and I have been seeing bluebirds regularly.

I simply colored this stamp with my markers and found a piece of bird themed patterned paper to pair it with.  The sentiment banner was colored with markers to match, exactly.  I think it feels just as springy as this first warm, sunny day of the year.

Supplies: Power Poppy Folk Heart and Natural Beauties stamps set, Memento black ink, KI Memories Doilies 6x6 patterned paper, Avery Elle Wonky stitched rectangles dies

I would love to enter these challenges:

SimonSaysStamp Wednesday challenge - Add a Die Cut

Word Art Wednesday Anything Goes 322-323

Thanks so much for your visit today!

You can find me on facebook or pinterest, too.

Flower of the Month - February Violet Card with Envelope

Hello!  We woke up to a gorgeous blanket of snow!  It is very pretty and didn’t cause any problem with the roads, and I know it won’t last long. I have to say, I am predicting an early spring, but we shall see!

Back to my Flower of the Month theme.  Each month, I am going to make at least one card using my floral stamps that correspond to birth flowers.  For February, I didn’t even need to look up what the flower is.  The violet is the favorite flower of both my mother and grandmother.  I colored these a traditional purple, but my favorites are the more rare yellow ones.

For this card, I colored with a base of purple marker, then used pencils to add the detail.  It was much easier to combine mediums to get the look I wanted.  I also made an envelope, but colored this more simply and just with pencils.

Supplies: Gina K Designs Stately Flowers 1 and Assorted Greetings stamp sets, Memento black ink, Spectrum Noir markers, Prismacolor pencils, Recollections Coastal Village 6x6 paper pad, Nuvo Crystal drops, MFT Pierced Squares dies

I would love to play along with these challenges:
StampTV February Challenge - Add the Envelope, please
SimonSaysStamp Wednesday Challenge - Add a Die Cut
WordArtWednesday Anything Goes 322-323

This is kind of a bold card for the delicate violet!  Not everyone’s style, but I do like to mix it up.  I do have other violet stamps, so I may have more than one card this month.  Do you have any?  Let me know if you use the flower of the month and I will link you in my next post.  

Thanks for stopping by!

All of my Flower of the Month posts can be found here.

You can find me on facebook or pinterest, too.

Birdie Love

Happy Friday!  As you will see from my photos, it has been dreary today!  However, it is warm.   How is your weather?

I have been continuing to color away!  I was lucky to win the prize in Power Poppy’s challenge for January, and let me tell you, it didn’t take me long to place my order! (And they came fast, too!)  I almost always feel like their stamps are easy to color.  So I did enjoy myself coloring this sweet little bird.  

I used more of my new marker colors.  I liked this look and paired it with this Hero Arts background that looks similar to the little berries in the wreath.  I added sparkle to the berries and shine with these cute butterfly stickers that a stamping friend gave me.  

I did have the aid of a sketch for this card!  I can be indecisive about arranging cards, so using a sketch saves loads of time.  

Supplies: Power Poppy Folk Heart and Natural Beauties stamp sets, Hero Arts Berries background stamp, Memento Black Ink, Gina K Designs Applemint ink, spectrum noir alcohol markers.

I would love to play along with these challenges that helped inspire this card.

Power Poppy February Love to Sparkle challenge

Freshly Made Sketches #324

Thanks so much for your visit! Have a great day!

You can find me on facebook or pinterest, too.

Literary Owl - Thank You Card

Updated 2/25/18: I was delighted to find out my card was featured at City Crafter for their Book Smart Challenge! Thank you!

Hello everyone.  I got a very generous gift of more spectrum noir alcohol markers for Valentine’s Day, so I found time for coloring this morning.  I got the Vintage and Nature sets, which both have some lovely muted colors, and I was excited to have a wider range to work with.  

I thought these colors would look great with this Literary Owl.  Isn’t he handsome!  I then used a sketch to finish off the card. I am happy to be working through a lot of my older patterned paper.

Supplies: Stampendous Literary Owl Stamp,  Memento black ink, Spectrum Noir alcohol markers, My Mind’s Eye Lost & Found Sunshine 6x6 paper pad, Hero Arts CL582 stamp set for sentiment, Versafine black ink.

I was inspired by these challenges:

City Crafter 399 Book Smart

Sketch Saturday 500 Special Celebration Sketch

Thanks for your visit and kind comments!

You can find me on facebook or pinterest, too.

Stamped Artwork for Framing - Ancestors

Hello and Happy Valentine’s Day!  Today, I have a very different project to share with you.  In my stamping group, we were challenged to make artwork for framing.  I decided to make this project honoring my ancestors.  

Last year, one of my kids had to do a project on ancestry.  We learned so much about the people who came before us and how they lived.  If you have never looked into your family history, I do recommend it!

Anyhow, I started by stamping my sentiment (don’t you love it?) onto muted yellow cardstock.  I stamped my frames out on scraps from my scrapbox.  I arranged them without gluing down quite yet.  Then, I knew how I wanted to arrange my floral peg stamping so that your eye flows around the piece.

Supplies:  Unity Roots & Wings Stamp set, Recollections Cameo Frames stamp set, Versafine Ink, Rubber Stamp Tapestry Cherry Blossom stamp set, Avery Elle pigment ink in Kraft, Strawberry, Jungle, Cherry, Mimosa.

I would love to enter in Pixie’s Snippets Playground #319!

One of my boys has been hit by the flu, so not sure how much stamping I will get done.  However, since we are sort of stuck at home for the duration, I may get more done.  (If the rest of us don’t get it, that is.). He is exhausted, but not doing too badly, considering how bad the flue season has been for many.  Have a good day and thanks for your kind comments and subscribes.

Mass-Produced Valentines - You Warm My Heart

Hello!  Yesterday, I posted an in-progress photo on my facebook page.  I was mass-producing (if 8 can be called en masse) Valentines so that I could get them sent out by today!

For the first time ever, I used my Tim Holtz stamping platform for it’s intended purpose, as this set has lot of little pieces-parts to stamp.  I then colored them all at once, die cut them all at once, and glued them.  It did save a lot of time and I got all 8 cards done in less than two hours, and no two are exactly the same!

Supplies: Lawn Fawn Snow Day stamp set, Hero Arts black marker-safe black ink, Versafine Black ink, Spectrum Noir markers, Avery Elle Wonky Stitched Rectangles dies, Most patterned paper is from Pebbles Yours Truly 6x6 Paper pad, but a few are Recollections, Sakura Stardust gel pen for adding glitter to snowflakes

I would love to participate in these challenges!

Cute Card Thursday - Love

SimonSaysStamp Monday Challenge - Love is in the Air

SimonSaysStamp Wednesday Challenge - It Must be Love

WordArtWednesday -  Anything Goes

I ended up using all these cards, and then had to sift through my stash and found quite a few floral cards that had non-specific sentiments and used those for the older people in my life that enjoy cards.  I really dropped the ball on Valentine creating this year. I either need to start making them throughout the year, or start right after Christmas next year!  Hope you have a good day!

Jar of Sweet Treats Valentine

Hello! Are you ready for Valentine’s Day?  I am getting there.  I would like to share this sweet canning jar full of candy hearts.  Although I colored and trimmed out all the hearts before arranging them in the acetate jar, that portion really only took about 10 minutes.

Supplies: Just for Fun Rubber Stamps Canning Jar Large, Sentiment Hearts mini cube, Sentiment Unmounted sheet 1, Pebbles Yours Truly 6x6 paper pad, ribbons recycled from gifts, Memento and Versafine black inks.

I would love to participate in these challenges:

Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge

SimonSaysStamp Monday Challenge - Love is in the Air

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Are you near New Port Richey, Fl or Columbia, SC?  Just for Fun Rubber stamps will be at stamping shows in your area the next two weekends.  Stamp Show Information found here.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Kitty Valentine Card (and a facebook link)

Hello! I noticed that many people are finding it easier for them to follow blogs via facebook.  I decided to set up a facebook page for my blog here, for those of you who like to see cardmaking blogs in your facebook feed!  I hope this can be a good thing!  I hope you will “Like” it!

I am finally getting to my Valentines!  I am feeling very late with these!  I enjoyed coloring these cute kitties and then matching up some of the specialty pieces from a patterned paper pack to this sketch.

Supplies: Newton’s Nook Newtons Antics stamp set, Memento Black ink, Spectrum Noir alcohol markers, Pebbles Yours Truly 6x6 paper pad, Avery Elle Wonky Stitched Rectangles dies, other items from my stash.

Special thanks to these challenges that really helped inspire this card!

Inky Paws Challenge - 64 Sketch Challenge

ModSquadChallenge - Valentine with Red

SimonSaysStamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Cute Card Thursday - 515 Anything Goes

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Silhouette Challenge - Heron At Sunset Card

I recently had some time to make some inky backgrounds with Distress Oxides.  This is one that I made with Abandoned Coral, Fosilized Amber, Spiced Marmalade, Picked Raspberry and a touch of Salty Ocean.  I have been stamping over oxide backgrounds with oxide ink, so I stamped my Great Heron Silhouette in the Black Soot.  It is a very dark grey, but it looks black and does the job nicely.

Please play along with Just for Fun’s Silhouette challenge this month!  They are so fun to play with!  There is a prize up for grabs, as always, and you do not need to use a particular brand of stamps to be in the running.

Thanks for stopping by!