Birthday Treat Tie Dye Card!

 Hello everyone! I was missing the last week or so because we all got Covid!  Two+ years of avoiding it and then it seems lots of people, just like us, are getting it for the first time now!  It was a bit rough, but no severe symptoms.  DH is still recovering, but the rest of us are feeling much more energetic.

So anyhow!  I actually have a few cards I made before I got sick, just need to photograph and share them! This card is one of two I made in the same style.  The other one got sent off to my nephew for his birthday before I had a chance to photograph it.

The tie dye part is a stamp set, and is fun to use in different colors!  The little Penguin is an old dollar stamp and I love to paper piece his swimsuit.  I wish I had a girl version of it too.  Super fun and easy card to make!

Hero Arts Tie Dye stamp set

Studio G Penguin

Purple Onion Designs sentiment

Avery Elle Wonky Stitcked Rectangles dies.  

Happy Trails Camp Cards

 Hello.  Well, it is a swelteringly hot summer day, so that must mean it is camping time.  I made this card to send to my son at summer camp.  

The Hero Arts background was inked up randomly with navy and black ink.  I added some copper Nuvo glitter drops to the stars and colored in one of the moons.  The images are from Purple Onion and they were colored with alcohol markers.  The sentiment is from an older Close to My Heart set. I did write the name of his camp to the sign, before sending, to personalize the card.

Hope your are staying cool today.

Camping Card with Brusho Background

Hello!  I was feeling sad recently that I won’t be sending any camp cards this year, because all sleep away camps are cancelled this summer.  (There are a couple virtual activities we are doing, which I applaud all these creative folks for trying!)

So I decided to make a camping card anyhow.  

I had this scrap of watercolor cardstock where I had tested some Brusho.  It has been sitting on my desk for a while, as I knew I would use it or something.  Well today was the day!  

I colored my tent and raccoon with markers. I then paper pieced the sun. (All Purple Onion Designs.)  I had this saying (Power Poppy) that I thought would be good for any kind of summer greeting.  I put the whole thing over top of patterned paper from Pink Paislee Outfitters.

I would love to enter Cute Card Thursday’s Anything Goes challenge, and SimonSaysStamp’s Wednesday Bright and Cheerful Challenge..

Thanks for reading my blog today. I hope you are safe and keep on stamping!

Pinned It? Try It! Week 7 In & Out Embossing

Hello and happy weekend!  Boy, it has been a busy week!  I am really hoping for a low key weekend.  We shall see.  It’s time for another episode of Pinned It? Try It!  This week I am going to try something called In & Out Embossing.

The Pin is here, and a direct link to the blog post is here.  This was created by Susan Roberts in 2011. The idea is to use an embossing folder, then turn your paper, and emboss the other direction.  You can use the same embossing folder, or use different ones, like I did.  

One embossing folder is from Darice and the other is Elizabeth Crafts.  I first lightly spritzed my cardstock with water on each side.  I did the all over pattern first, and the frame second.  Now, I didn’t take a photo, but it was very pretty just in white, but for whatever reason, I wanted to up the ante.  

I sponged blue on the inside and green around the frame.  I just thought this would really bring out the embossing, and it did.  I added hibiscus flowers to the top, and then my sentiment and a cute cute cute little snail at the bottom.  I finished it off some glitter Nuvo drops.  

Supplies:  Hero Arts Layering Hibiscus stamp set and dies, Close to my Heart Wordfetti sentiment stamp, Purple Onion snail stamp, Archival and Memento black inks, Distress Oxide inks for stamping flowers, Distress inks in Tumbled Glass and Mowed Lawn for sponging, Darice and Elizabeth Crafts Embossing folders, Spectrum Noir alcohol markers for coloring, Nuvo Crystal Drops in Blizzard.  

This is definitely a technique I will do again!  For the entire series of Pinned It? Try It! Click here.  

Thanks for visiting today!  Have you tried this technique before?

I would love to enter the Library Challenge’s Secret Garden challenge, and Cute Card Thursday’s Anything Goes challenge.

Alcohol Ink Background - 2 Different Cards

Hello!  I am back with two new cards today. I had some trouble getting back into the swing of things, but I think I will be posting regularly again.  

I made this alcohol ink background a couple months ago, but like so many backgrounds, I often have trouble using it right away!  Especially when I am happy with the result!  So, yesterday, I was determined to make some cards with it.  

This background was made with green alcohol inks, silver mixitive over Yupo paper (which is really a thin sheet of smooth plastic.)  I also added some silver foil to the parts that were still sticky enough to transfer the foil. I cut my background in two and decided to make two very different cards.

This one is simple, I just stamped and colored some butterflies and folded their wings up to add dimension. This card I would like to add the ModSquadChallenge Three’s Company Challenge.

This second card I wanted to be for Christmas. I added birch tree and cardinal die cuts and embossed the red background with a Christmas Poinsettia folder.



Supplies: 
Card 1: Gina K Designs Whimsical Spring stamps set, Purple Onion Designs Sentiment, Memento and Versafine Black inks, Avery Elle Wonky Stitched Rectangles dies, Spectrum Noir alcohol markers.
Card 2: Impression Obsession Birch tree die set, Purple Onion sentiment, Versafine Onyx Black ink, Sizzix Poinsettia embossing folder, Spellbinders Fancy Edge Rectangle dies

Thanks for stopping by today! 

Christmas Cards for Rudolph Days - February

Hello!  Most of you know that I made Christmas cards year round.  This month, I was able to make 5 cards for the Rudolph Days challenge.  February is short, so there are only a few days to post the Rudolph Day challenge.

I used stamps from Purple Onion designs mixed with a banner stamp from Lawn Fawn Bannerific set.  I cut the banner out of red cardstock scraps.  The little bird was fussy cut and popped up if different places.  I made 4 of this card.

The second card is a bit different, but I still used that little bird.  It feels good to have these cards ready early!

Thanks for visiting!  I hope to visit you back soon!  Please leave a comment with a link to your blog so I know where to find you!

Shaving Cream Stencil Technique - Valentine Card

A couple weeks ago, in my stamping group, we were challenged to use the Shaving Cream Stencil Technique by UnderstandBlue, blog and video is here. I made several backgrounds because it was really fun!

This background was made with Distress reinkers, I think in Tumbled Glass, Worn Lipstick and Dusty Concord. I was surprised how deep the colors were, I could have used less reinker!  I paired this with a cute bunny image.

I would love to enter this in Word Art Wednesday’s Anything Goes challenge.

Supplies: Purple Onion Poppy stamp, Jillibean Soup Sweet Treat stamp set, Memento and Versafine Onyx Black ink, Distress Reinkers Tumbled Glass, Worn Lipstick, Dusty concord, Balzer Designs Mini Chevron stencil, Spectrum Noir alcohol markers, other items from my stash

Thank you so much for visiting today!

Christmas Birds Handmade Card

Hello!  Hope you are having a good Sunday.  The card I am sharing today was finished in stages. I stamped it last Saturday, colored it at my Tuesday craft group, then die cut and finished it up yesterday.  

I am using a sketch for this card, but I did substitute the main shape for my most similar die.  

Supplies: Purple Onion Designs stamps, various, Versafine black ink, Prismacolor pencils, Glitter and  Silver gel pens, Spellbinders Labels 18 dies, American Crafts Wishlist 6x6 paper pad, Close to My Heart Glitter gems, Echo Park Cheers Stamp set for sentiment, Versamark ink, Recollections White detail embossing powder.

I would love to enter Tuesday Morning Sketches #479 Challenge

Thanks for visiting me today!  It sure is a busy time of year, but I hope to be back soon with another card!

Owl Soccer card for a Girl

Hello!  The sun is shining and I have so many errands to run today, but I wanted to get this card posted first.  I needed to make a soccer card for a little girl, so I hunted through my stamps to see what might work.  This scene is what I came up with.

Most of the stamps are from Purple Onion designs.  I thought the owl was cute and it almost looks like she is kicking with her little feet!  I masked a birthday hat onto the owl and colored her with a pink shirt with white stripes, thanks to my white gel pen.  

The soccer ball was covered with a thick layer of glossy accents.  It needed to dry overnight.  I did stamp the ball on the panel, but then used an action wobble to pop up the glossy ball.  When you touch it, it boings a little bit, but it does push down flat in your envelope.  You can buy the action wobbles at Art Impressions or Amazon.  I needed the Mini size for the soccer ball but there is a larger size too.

I did decorate the inside of the card, but totally forgot to photograph it!

Supplies:  Purple Onion designs stamps Ruby (owl), grass, Party Hat, Happy Birthday, Unity Stamps Making the Team stamp set, Memento black ink, Spectrum Noir alcohol markers, MAMBI Champs 8x8 patterned paper pad, Gina K Passionate Pink cardstock, glossy accents, action wobble.

I would love to enter Tuesday Throwdown’s Anything Goes challenge.

Thanks, as always, for your kind comments and for all my followers. I hope to be back around to visit y’all later today. Have a great day!

Polar Bear Campfire Card

Hello and happy day-before-Friday!  We had snow yesterday, but it is back to sunny today.  Today, I am sharing a card that was a lot of fun to color with alcohol markers.  I used 4 coordinating stamps to create a little scene. The patterned paper has so many words on it, I skipped the sentiment and put that inside.

Supplies: Purple Onion stamps, Memento Black ink, Gina Marie X Stitched Circles dies, My Mind’s Eye Happy Camper 6x6 Paper pad, Spectrum Noir and Copic markers

I would love to play in these challenges:

Daily Marker’s 30 Day Coloring Challenge

Cute Card Thursday Something Fun

Thanks for your visit!  Hope you have time for crafting today!

A Little Birdie Told me...

Hello!  Thanks for visiting my blog. I mixed and matched stamp manufacturers today to make a fun birdie card.  I stamped the hat first and then masked it off before stamping the bird.  I then colored those with pencils and added a shadow at the bottom.

The sentiment starts with, "A Little Birdie told me..." and then on the inside, I found stamps that said, "It's Your Special Day! Happy Birthday to You!"

Supplies: Purple Onion Designs Hat, Ranger Scribbly Birds, Hero Arts Clear Design June stamp set, Versafine Onyx Black ink, Prismacolor Pencils, Gina Marie X Stitched Rectangles dies, My Mind's Eye Hootenanny 6x6 Paper pad, gems from my stash

I hope you enjoyed your visit!  I am working on something a little bit special today for my JFF post tomorrow.  Wish me luck!  Have a great day!

Puppy Love Card

Hello!  Thanks for visiting my blog today.  I pulled together this card quickly last night for my niece, who reportedly recently became enamored (possibly obsessed) with puppies.  I would have given her a puppy for her birthday if I thought it would have been even remotely okay with her parents!  Second best, a puppy card!

I already had this Purple Onion doggy colored with watercolor pencils from a while ago.  I cut him out with a die.  I used a new background stamp from Hero Arts to stamp the background and then dug through my scraps box.  I found this piece of embossed pink paper already in there!  I finished off the card with my favorite sentiment for kids, from Lawn Fawn, because it is a nice, bold (and most importantly) PRINTED sentiment.  

Supplies:  Purple Onion Designs Puddles dog stamp, Hero Arts Amore Background stamp, Lawn Fawn Year Two stamp set, Darice Heart Embossing Folder, Versafine Onyx Black ink, Hero Arts Raspberry Ink, Derwent Watercolor pencils, EK Success scalloped edge punch, Gina Marie X Stitched circle dies.

I would love to play along with A Blog Named Hero's  Calling All Critters challenge, as well as Word Art Wednesday's Anything Goes and Pixie's Snippets Playground - Weeks 301 - 302.

Hope you have a great day!

Mystery Flowers - Solved?

I was cutting some flowers from my garden the other day, and as I was setting them on the sidewalk in a little pile, I realized they looked just like a stamp I have.  If you were here a few weeks ago, you might have seen a flower silhouette card. I had been wondering what flower it was supposed to be and now I think I know.

Pansies and Violas!

I got that stamp out again to make a card. I stamped with purple Distress Oxide ink and embossed with sparkle embossing powder.  I had trouble getting the sparkle to show up on camera.  I then used my favorite frame die on this card and a snippet of purple cardstock from my scrap box.

Supplies: Purple Onion Designs Flower Cluster, Power Poppy Simply Camellias stamp set, Distress Oxide Wilted Violet, Versafine Onyx Black, Recollections Sparkle embossing powder, Echo Park Victoria Garden 6x6 paper pad, Avery Elle Wonky Stitched Rectangles die, EK Success Circle punch

I would love to join in with these challenges:

Power Poppy Frame It Up

Tuesday Throwdown Anything Goes

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today!  I really appreciate your support!

Sepia Silhouette Flowers

Hello again, stamping friends!  It is a drizzly and dreary day today and I have been stamping quite a bit. This is one of the cards that I finished.

I wanted to use this beautiful silhouette stamp from Purple Onion.  I wish I knew what flower it was supposed to be, but it is definitely pretty.** I used sepia ink to stamp on patterned paper.

Then I noticed the bit of pink in the patterned paper, so I got out a sheet of pink cardstock. The damask stamp was already out with my other Purple Onion stamps, so I naturally reached for it.

Just a few more details till it was finished.  My card recipient won't know about this, but I thought I would tell you.  Instead of stamping on another sheet of cardstock, I just cut my little circle right out of the middle of my background.  :) This probably stemmed from laziness more than frugality.

Supplies: Purple Onion Designs Flower Cluster, Damask Background, Technique Tuesday Little Sentiments, Versafine Sepia ink, Hero Arts Soft Sand shadow ink, Prima Nature Garden 6x6 Paper pad; Spellbinders circle dies, Gina K Designs Innocent Pink and Dark Chocolate cardstocks

I would love to participate in this challenge:

Double D - Silhouettes

Mojo Monday Sketch #493

** (Did you know that stamp is only $2!!? I saw the price when I was looking up the name for my supply list. They have a few that are cheap like that! Wow!)

Pretty Bird Card

ETA (3/9/16):
I was so pleased that the ModSquad Challenge blog picked my card as one of the "Top 3" for the Feature a Creature challenge.  Thank you!

Hello and welcome to my blog!

I originally was going to do this card in much bolder shades, but after I colored the bird with the blue and pink distress inks, it started going in a much softer direction.  The bird still seemed to be sortof just hanging out there after I added him to the ribbon, so I adhered a few old buttons underneath to ground him to the card.  

Do your cards ever go as planned?  I think mine go off in some other direction more often than not...  Maybe I will make the bold colored card in the near future, we will see!

Supplies:  Gina K Designs Winter Wings stamp set, Hero Arts Navy ink, Distress inks in Broken China, Chipped Sapphire and Worn Lipstick to color with Dove Blender pen, Bristol Vellum paper, Purple Onion Designs Damask background stamp, Avery Elle Kraft Ink, Fibers from a Michaels Recollections set, buttons from my stash.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Freshly Made Sketches #226

ModSquad Challenge Blog: Feature a Creature

Clean and Simple with Watercolor Joseph's Coat Technique

Hello and thanks for stopping in!

I had this piece of watercoloring (photo below: I created this with yellow, magenta and cyan watercolor markers, then blended) that I had rejected for another project, but as I am trying to keep my small crafting space cleaner this year, I thought I should try to use it.  I decided on using a silhouette floral stamp for an embossed resist with clear embossing powder, and then applied black over top.  This is basically like what is called the Joseph's Coat technique.  

I used Black Soot Distress ink, and it worked quite well on the watercolor paper panel.  I think it is quite fun to see how different the background looks when you do this technique, it looks less vibrant, maybe, but still very pretty.

Supplies:  Purple Onion Design Flowers Cluster stamp, Versamark Ink, Recollections clear detail embossing powder, watercolor paper, Distress Ink Black Soot, Gina K Designs Assorted Greetings (there is a verse stamped inside the card too), Versafine Onyx Black ink, Spellbinders A2 Matting Basics dies

I would like to submit this project to the following challenges:

Clean and Simple Mix Up March Challenge

Stamping with Watercolor Paint

Hello, there and thanks for stopping by!

Today I want to share a card I made with a stamping technique I tried for the first time.  I saw the Frugal Crafter use pan watercolor paints to stamp with in this blog post, and I was so skeptical about it that I had to try it myself!

The technique is to take a damp (not very wet at all) brush and pick up a lot of color from your paints and brush it right on your rubber stamp.  Since my stamp was so big and I was afraid the paint had started to dry, I went ahead and spritzed it just one time with water, and then I put the watercolor paper OVER the stamp and pressed it in.

My analysis on this technique:
This is not nearly as easy to do as using your watercolor markers or watersoluble oil pastels on your stamps.  In fact, I tried 4 or 5 stamps before I found this one that worked really well with the technique.  However, it is a really lovely look! I love these blues and since I do not have ink pads in the same colors, it was totally worth the effort for me!

The die cut is actually vellum layered over a piece of turquoise cardstock to get the softer color.

Supplies:
Purple Onion Designs Damask background stamp
Mama Elephant Cup Of Wishes stamp set
Versafine Majestic Blue ink
Koi WaterColors Pocket Field Sketch Box (watercolor paints)
Watercolor paper
Sizzix embossing folder
Vellum and cardstock from my stash

I would like to enter this into the following challenges:
SimonSaysStamp Monday Challenge: Take a Leap Into the Unknown