Masculine Mountain Card

 Hello everyone! I hope you had a good Saturday and didn’t get fooled by anyone.  

Today, I would like to share a masculine card that I made for a challenge in my Artsy Inkers group.  We were to create this aperture by cutting an X in patterned paper and then fold it over.  Connie calls it Bursting Out.  I’m not sure if there is another name for this type of fold.

This was easy to do once I picked some double sided paper and found an exact-o knife to cut the x.  

The stamps are Elizabeth Crafts Summer Sentiments and Camping Out and the paper is My Mind’s Eye Happy Camper. I did just color the image a bit with alcohol markers.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Stashbuster Patterned Paper Challenge - The last bits & pieces!

 Okay, friends!  This is the end of that pack of patterned paper!  There really are no useable pieces left!  And the funny thing is, that I really like these cards made with scraps so much!  I did make an effort to have some that were masculine because I realized that many of what I made were more feminine.

 

Here are the stamp sets I used:

Technique Tuesdays Swanky Sentiments

Gina K Birthday Blessings

Gina K Whimsical Spring

Thanks so much for coming along with me to use up my patterned paper.  I ended up making 25 cards in total!  I think that wasn’t bad.  I already donated lots of them, but I also kept some for my stash and there are a lot of birthdays in my family in the next couple months!

I have some more of my stash I am going to bust next! And some new purchases to use!  Have a good day!

Patterned Paper Stashbuster Challenge - Part 4 - Bee Birthday Edition

 Hello!  More cards using up patterned paper!  The 4 cards in this post bring me to 12 cards from the remnants of OLD 6x6 patterned papers.  I do have more paper left, although the pile is much smaller, and more scraps.  At the end I can give you a sneak peek of how I am working with them!

I realized that there was this paper in the set that was too pretty to cut previously and would work well for a Bee theme!  So I went through my stamps and pulled out anything that would go with a Bee!

The yellow on my last two cards looks like plain cardstock but it is actually a watercolored background from my stash.  It does look more watery in real life!

Here is a list of the stamps used on my cards:

Our Daily Bread Designs Honeycomb Mini and Mini Bugs set (not sure if that is the real name)

Our Daily Bread Designs Rose Bouquet stamp set (Happy Birthday Sentiment)

Gina K Designs Happy Birthday to You stamp set

Gina K Designs Birthday Go-Round stamp set

Close to My Heart Cute as a Bug stamp set

I would like to enter the last two cards in the Inkspirational Challenge - Free or Gifted.  The bee and honeycomb stamp sets from Our Daily Bread were gifted to me from Cheryl Scrivens YEARS ago. I have made good use out of them as that bee is super cute (and there are some other bugs in the set as well).  

And here is a sneak peek of the setup for my next batch of cards using this same patterned paper.  Do you ever set things up like this? I don’t always stick with the plan, but I find this helps me pick and choose what papers will go together and also what stamps will fit in the space I have for a focal point, etc.  I’d love to know your process too!

Thanks for reading and commenting today!  Have a good day!

Christmas Cards

Hello again! I have been playing with a Christmas work background stamp and wanted to share two cards I made with it. The first one I decided to use a Tea cup stamp with it to go along with the Coffee Lover’s Blog Hop.

I die cut a circle first and stamped on it with white pigment ink.  I then colored my coffee cup tower and fussy cut it to lay over the die cut.  

For my second card, I used Distress Oxide to stamp on green cardstock.  These inks really show up nicely over colored papers and I like this color combo with the Fired Brick over Gina K green cardstock.  I stamped out a couple of the poinsettia stamps from Just for Fun onto patterned paper scraps, then cut them out and layered them to make my own embellishment.  A bit of embossed cardstock with gold inked over top finished off the card.

Supplies:  Just for Fun Rubber Stamps Holiday Sentiments Background, Stamptangle Stacked Tea Cups, Poinsettia Flower, Poinsettia Line Flower, Versafine and Memento Black inks, Distress Oxide Fired Brick ink, Avery Elle White Pigment ink, Galaxy Gold pigment ink, Gina Marie Designs X Stitched Circle dies. Sticklers Gold glitter glue

I would also like to enter this in Pixie’s Crafty Workshop Snippets Challenge.

Thank you for stopping by and for all your encouraging comments!  If you are new, please consider following my blog.  

Pencil Coloring on Kraft

Hello and hope you are having a great weekend!  It is chilly and we have snow on the ground this late winter, and we may get hit by a major snowstorm next week.  We shall see!

It is always fun to color up flowers when it is cold outside.  This was done with my Coloursoft pencils, which work really easily on darker cardstock. I really like that I do not have to push down hard when I use them, it helps my hands not feel fatigued.

Supplies: Gina K Heart Blooms stamp set, Colorbox Fluid Chalk ink Chestnut Roan, Versafine Smokey Grey ink, Derwent Coloursoft pencils, My Mind's Eye Brambly Rose paper pad, Spellbinders Oval and Scalloped Ovals, EK Succuss banner punch

I would love to participate in these challenges:

The Flower Challenge -  Anything Goes

StampTV MIUM - Color Me Krafty

SimonSaysStamp Wednesday Challenge - For a Special Girl
Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge

More Faux Bleaching with Distress Oxide Inks (and my Lilac experiment)

Hello and thanks for coming by!  I have a couple more cards today made with my Faux Bleaching technique tutorial for Distress Oxide inks.  If you haven't already, I would be thrilled if you checked it out.  

This card was made with Iced Spruce Distress Oxide ink (it is a greenish grey) on dark grey cardstock from Michael's.  

The fern sortof looks like it has been x-rayed.  I think it is really pretty with the light blue papers.

The second card is the Tea Dye Distress Oxide on Kraft paper from Michaels.  I do really love that color variation.  If I had used a touch more water, it would have been more white.

I have been trying to use a lot of patterned paper and even some older brads that are so pretty!

Supplies: Just for Fun Rubber Stamps Flora and Fauna Sheet, Sentiment Sheet 3, Distress Oxide Inks,   My Mind's Eye 6x6 paper pads Follow Your Heart - Be Amazing, The Sweetest Thing - Bluebell, Stella and Rose - Hattie, My Mind's eye brads, Versafine Smokey Grey ink for sentiment, Recollections Cardstock. 

I would love to participate in the following challenges:

Tuesday Throwndown - Favorite Embellishment

SimonSaysStamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes!

Here are a few more combos that I tried, but have not made anything with:

Wilted Violet

Peeled Paint

This was a different one, Worn Lipstick on orange.  When I did Orange Marmalade ink it looked much more bleached on orange cardstock.

The blues, I mentioned yesterday, I did not get great results with.  Maybe I need to keep trying.  These are stil pretty, just not so bleached looking.

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As an aside, I saw a youtube video where they showed how to force branches to leaf and flower early, so I took some cuttings of my lilac bush to give it a try.  I will give you an update if it ends up doing anything! (The little faux flowers were some little school project one of the boys did for Mother's day,  I never throw stuff like that out!)

Whoa!  If you have read this far, I thank you!  I love it when you can take time to comment and will try to visit your blog too!

Masculine LOVE Card

Hello and I hope you are doing really well.  I have a masculine LOVE themed card, it can be a Valentine design, but also can be used for other occassions, like an anniversary or birthday, for a special man in your life.

I did use two colors of ink on the stamp, red on the top and burgundy on the bottom.  It was fun to use two colors to get the brightness of the red with the burgandy that matches the paper I wanted to use.

Supplies: Just for Fun Rubber Stamps Cupid's Arrow stamp, Versfine Satin Red and Crimson Red ink, My Mind's Eye Happy Camper 6x6 paper pad, MFT Pierced Square dies, heart gems from my stash.

Please enter the Just for Fun Rubber Stamps February Challenge - Sweet Things.  It doesn't have to be a Valentine to go with the theme!

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Just for Fun Rubber Stamps will be in Rockford Illinois on March 4-5 and Wilmington Delaware on March 18-19.  Check out the Show Schedule here.

Poppy Sympathy Card

I am just popping in to share another floral card! I have been on a roll coloring flowers, I guess I am ready for spring even though the groundhog said 6 more weeks of winter. (Actually, I usually enjoy winter, too.)

I colored using alcohol markers (again, I guess I am on a roll with them, too).  I do like this sentiment for a Sympathy card.

I'll keep it short and leave you with the supply list.

Supplies: Gina K Designs Stately Flowers 1, Wild Flowers stamp sets, Memento and Versafine black inks, Spectrum Noir alcohol markers, My Mind's Eye Handsome 6x6 paper pad, Spellbinders Heart Circles die, Gina K Fresh Asparagus cardstock, Nuvo drops Ivory Seashell

I would love to participate in these challenges!  Please check them out.

Stamp TV - Make a Sympathy Card

Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes

Thank you so much for visiting!

Thanks Sew Much "Quilt" Card

In my stamping group, there was a challenge to make a quilt square card, and this is what I came up with.

Click on photos to enlarge.

I used a 1.25 inch square punch on some scraps of paper and then arranged them how it looked like it should from other examples of this style.  It really was pretty easy to do.  Then I placed my square over a die cut square of ivory card and embossed the entire thing with a folder I thought might look a bit like a stitching pattern.  

I did rub a little distress ink over top of the embossing just to cover any areas that might have looked a bit white.  Boy, oh boy! I really enjoy fun ways to use up scraps!  The result definitely made me smile, too.

The sewing notions were stamped and fussy cut from more scraps.  Fun!

Supplies: Cardmaking and Papercraft magazine freebie Sew Pretty stamp set, Versafine Ink, My Mind's Eye Stella&Rose Tangerine paper pad and matching brad, MFT Die-namics Pierced Square die, Antique Linen distress ink.

I would LOVE to participate in the following challenges -- they are worth checking out!

Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes!

Cute Card Thursday - Something FUN

SimonSaysStamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes!
Pixie's Snippets Playground - Weeks 265 and 266

Spring Florals card

Something fun occurred while I was making this card. I was finishing it up and started to put my supplies away.  That is when I happened to find a clear sentiment stamp that was missing since June!  Back when I noticed the stamp had vanished, I had to laugh, since the sentiment is, "I miss you."  

It was stuck to the back of a patterned paper pack and I realize now that it must have stuck there when I was making this card.  That is the same paper pack as I used today and I think I originally was going to make that a miss you card instead of hello friend.

Good times!

I based my card on a sketch from this old blog.

Supplies: Gina K Designs Made With Love and Assorted Greetings stamp sets, Hero Arts Butter Bar, Fresh Peach and Soft Canteloupe inks, Versafine Smokey Grey ink, My Mind's Eye the Sweetest Thing Tangerine 6x6 paper pack, Spellbinders Foliage dies, Distress ink Bundled Sage, Nuvo Drops Pearl, Darice textured cardstock, other cardstocks from my stash.

I would love to play along with this challenge:
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge - January 2017
Thank you so much for stopping by!

Fun Birthday Card for a kid!

Hello and I hope you are enjoying the last couple days of the year!  We have been hit with several illnesses during the holidays, so we are taking it easy. I am hoping everyone will be set to go back to work and school in the New Year.

Here is a card that I made for a little boy last month. 

I colored the image a while ago with alcohol markers and then added glitter all over with my wink of stella pen.  

Knowing a card is for a child allowed me to use some fun embellishments like these glitter foam stars and the glittery enamel dots. This card did go over well - he thought it was really fun.  

Supplies:  Art Impressions Deep Breath Birthday stamp set, Memento black inks, Specturm Noir markers, Wink of Stella glitter pen, My Mind's Eye Hootenanny 6x6 paper pad, Avery Elle Wonky rectangles dies, embellishments from my stash

I would love to participate in the following challenges:

Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes

SimonSaysStamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Beautiful Christmas Wreath Cards with digi stamps

(ETA: I was so flattered to see my card featured at the Power Poppy blog's Holiday on Parade post! Thank you so much!)

Hello and I hope your week is off to a good start.  The forecast called for snow last night, but I woke up this morning to just a little rain, so I think that is a blessing for a Monday morning.  I am not nearly ready for Christmas, but there is still a lot of time.

I don't know if you saw my last post, but you may have seen a hint in one of the photos that I had colored up more images, too!  Well, I am sharing two more cards today.

(Click on photos to enlarge.)

I colored both digi images with alcohol markers.  My marker collection is growing, but I still have a limited range of colors. I like these small images because just one lighter and one darker color is quite enough to get some pretty shading.  

Again, my paper pad is one of my oldest and most favorite Christmas ones!  I only have a few sheets left.  I have other Christmas paper pads, but none seem as versatile as this one.  I think what I like about this one is that it has so many tiny prints that go with everything.

With CAS cards, I did want to pop up the focal images to create more dimension.

Supplies: Power Poppy Felt Boxwood and Cranberry, Succulents and Baubles Digi stamps, Spectrum Noir alcohol markers, My Mind's Eye Christmas Wish 6x6 Paper pad, Sakura Stardust Gel pen, Spellbinders circle dies, MFT Die Namics pierced square dies,  embellishments from my stash.

I added some glittler pen to the highlights in the ornaments.  I do really love how Marcella added that detail so it is easy to color.

I would love to participate in the following challenges:

SimonSaysStamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes!
ModSquad Challenge Blog - Holiday Dimension

Thanks for coming by! I really need to start writing out and addressing some of these Christmas cards and getting them out the door!  How about you?

Masculine & Feminine Christmas Wreath with Digi Stamps

Hello! Today I have two cards to share, one is a more masculine version, and the second is feminine colors.  Both were made with the same Digi Stamp I got from Power Poppy.  I have only used Digi Stamps a handful of times, but these were so pretty, I couldn't pass them up.

(Click on photos to enlarge.)

I used traditional christmas colors, plaid papers and some old wood veneer embellishments to add to the masculine feel.  I did use plain version of the digi stamp and added my own sentiment with a stamp.

For both cards I used my alcohol markers to color it in.  I colored the images one day and then put them together into cards the next.  The paper pad is one of my favorites and it is almost gone!  

The next card, I wanted to use pinker colors and a more teal color for the leaves. I really like the way it turned out.  For both cards, I did pop up the focal image with foam tape to give the cards more dimension.

I added some glitter gel pen to this one.  It is pretty!

Supplies: Power Poppy Felt Leaves and Fruits Digi stamp, Kaisercraft Christmas Sentiments stamp set, Versafine Onyx Black ink, Spectrum Noir alcohol markers, My Mind's Eye Christmas Wish 6x6 Paper pad, Sakura Stardust Gel pen, embellishments from my stash.

I would love to participate in the following challenges:

Merry Monday #224 Masculine (First card)

Double D Challenges - Traditional Christmas colors (First card)

ModSquad Challenge - Holiday Dimension

SimonSaysStamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes!

Thanks so much for your kind encouragement by visiting my blog!  I hope you will have time to drop a note here in the comments so I know you stopped by!  Have a great day!

Turtle Birthday Card

Hello everyone, I hope you are enjoying your day.  I have a fun birthday card to share today.

(Click on photo to enlarge.)

I stamped the turtles and then colored them with alcohol markers.  I found them really easy to color.  Then I just matched it up with some of my favorite birthday papers and a sketch, and it was all finished!  I thought the brown glitter ribbon added a festive look, but still looked good for a boy.

 Supplies: Art Impressions Turtle Stackers, Memento Jet Black ink, My Mind's Eye Hootenanny 6x6 paper pack, American Crafts glitter ribbon

I would love to participate in Tuesday Morning Sketches challenge this week.

Thank you for stopping by!