Stamps, Paper, and Ink

On Your Special Day

Do you have a favorite flower stamps set? I have too many to pick a favorite! But I'm continuing using my newest unlinked items and the Peonies on Parade set from Papertrey Ink was just waiting.

Now those are three of my favorite things - flowers, ink, and coloring!  Here they are combined on today's card. 

 

And a wee bit o' gold, I might add. Sorry, I wish the photo was just a bit brighter, but it's rainy today. ETA: in  moment of sunshine I got another shot that's much better. 

I heat embossed the peonies in white onto Ranger Distress Watercolor Paper, colored them with Zig Clean Real Brush Markers and cut them out. I brushed a bit of Spun Sugar Distress Ink onto the note card, and flecked gold shimmer spray into the bottom corner. Adding sequins, thread, and a gold embossed sentiment round out the embellishments. 

The 10th anniversary festivities  at Papertrey Ink continue until tomorrow! I'll be adding this to the contest for Day 3 to use our favorite flower set. 

 Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

          Make something beautiful!

 

Stamps: Papertrey Ink -  Peonies on Parade, Banner Sentiments Stamp Set

Accessories: Zig Clean Real Brush Markers, Die for notecard is from Papertrey Ink Don't Forget to Write Basics Collection

 

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Mixed Media Coloring with Abby's Spring Showers

Hey there, how are you doing on this beautiful lovely day?

I am feeling cheery today. If you have grandchildren you know that pictures of them or visits can be the very best medicine there is. That's what I was remembering while I made this card using the Abby's Spring Showers stamps from Simon Says Stamp.

 Isn't she adorable?

I'm still in coloring mode and enjoying coloring and making whatever strikes my fancy without  recipients or occasions in mind. Just for fun. Coloring is mental therapy. 

I used Peerless watercolors on The Master's Touch watercolor paper (from Hobby Lobby) to color the background. Abby was colored with my Zigs Real Color Brush markers and details were added with colored pencils from Derwent. I added Wink of Stella to "sparkle" her hat, and a few details with a white gel pen. Very carefully. I didn't want to mess the whole thing up with crooked or splotchy white dots! Still on a learning curve with that. 

The Simon Says Happy and Smile Clear Stamps provided the sentiment.

Thanks so much for talking a peek!  I am on a roll with encouragement cards this week. Want to encourage me?  I'd love to hear from you! 

 Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

          Make something beautiful!

 

More Coloring with Furry Friends

Hello again! 

I am on a mission to do some coloring each day and focus on using stamp sets that have been neglected in my stash and not made into cards for one reason or another. 

 Since I am having ongoing health issues this is my daily therapy right now. It's fun making something for no particular reason other than I want to. 

Do you ever buy a set after seeing all the cute cards made with it? I do too, and then by the time I have it I can't seem to come up with an original idea for a card. Or time goes by, and then I give in to using some newer stamps or supplies. 

I'm aiming to make an encouragement card a day.

I'm at the stage in this creating game where I want to use everything I have. I hereby declare that I do not need to re-invent the wheel. I'm just going to make what I love! 

Hope you have fun stamping today--thanks for coming by!

Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

          Make something beautiful!

 

Stamps: Avery Elle - Furry Friends

Paper: MFT paper packs

Ink: Background sponged with Tattered Rose and Carved Pumpkin Distress Inks, coloring done with Zig markers

Accessories: MFT Blueprints Die-namics 27

 

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Coloring and Storybook Time

 Hello, happy Monday to you! 

I am so glad that March has come and while I dream of spring like most everyone, I am under the ravages of neuro sarcoidosis for a spell. That's a rare auto-immune disease that attacks my brain, muscles and nerves during a flare up, leaving me unable to walk without help. I wrote about past flares  HERE and HERE and one more HERE.

I think I may be turning a corner though, because all of a sudden I want to DO something and my therapy has been coloring in stamped images. Now I feel ready to make some into cards! I have a new determination to use some sets or (ALL of them!) that have just been gathering dust and make a card every day, whether an original or a CASE. Old supplies or new. Just do it. 

Are you with me? I hope you will cheer me on.  

I started buying cute critter sets as soon as our first grand was "expected" and I haven't stopped YET! I colored these with Zig Clean Brush Color Markers, swabbed everything over with Wink of Stella, and added the die cuts to a sponged background that has been on my desk for a month, at least. 

I got a little crazy while talking on the phone to my friend, Donna, and sprayed a few spritzes of shimmer spray on the background. I don't quite think I ruined it, but it was much prettier before that. 

Sorry for my rambling, hope you have a great day! 

 Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

          Make something beautiful!

 

Stamps: Avery Elle - Storybook and More Stories and dies

 

Tulle-ing along with fun window cards!

Hello! Glad to greet you and welcome you to my blog today. I haven't been feeling very well lately, due to some medical issues. I haven't EVEN felt like stamping. But a bit at a time, I had fun cranking out a set of window cards and here they are.

You know what tulle is? That soft mesh fabric that has a nice crinkle and can be ruffled into sweet ballerina tutus, or wrapped into pretty bows. Well, it also makes great window cards that you can pop your favorite images onto. Here's a close up so you can see the tulle window. 

 And another one. I colored the images using Distress markers and blended the colors out with Wink of Stella. I love how sparkly they are!

All the stamps are from My Favorite Things. This little fella is from the Harvest Mouse set. Glossy accents give shine and dimension to the hearts and the apple. The window is cut with the MFT Die-namics Rectangle Peekaboo Window.

The images and dies for the second card are from the Sweet Safari set, and the sentiment is from the Cooler with You set. I added the small dots with Nuvo drops from Tonic.

Birds of Paradise from MFT is the stamp used below. I paired the sentiments from the WPlus9 series called Friends for all Seasons. 

It's pretty satisfying having a trio of cards that I made at the same time. I can't wait to make some more!

I know you're going to want to try this too and I am happy to invite you to check out this fabulous tutorial from Jennifer McGuire that inspired these projects. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

 Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

          Make something beautiful!

 

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MFT Sketch Challenge - Our Story

I recently took a road trip and the Our Story Stamp set from My Favorite Things came with me so that I could stamp and cut the masks ahead of time to have them ready.  I love the adorable boy and girl, cute pets, BOOKS and accessories and couldn't wait to use them for a card. 

I stamped using the masks to make a scene and colored with Copics. Dabbing a cloth with Color Remover added the texture to the chair.

The lamp is paper-pieced to bring cohesiveness to the design. I'm crazy about polka dots, are you? 

I'm glad to play along with the  MFT Card Challenge this week! You can find the sketch and other samples HERE. 

As always, I am so happy that you chose to visit my blog today. Hope it's been a great day for you so far, and keeps on getting better.

 Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

          Make something beautiful!

 

Stamps: MFT - Our Story, Bookworm

Paper: DSP from Doodlebug Design; SU - Sweet Sugarplum

Accessories: Copic Markers,  white gel pen, MFT: Die-namics Blueprints 29, Die-namics Stitched Arch Stax

 

Snow-one Like You! for Fab Friday 103

Hello, 

Hope your new year is getting off to a great start! 

Where I live we are expecting a southern storm to bring us SNOW later today and tonight. That's exciting news since I love snow, just like this bear on the move from the Cooler with You stamp set from the Kit by mftstamps. 

I created a scene by stamping the bear and masking the image so that I could sponge in a snowy hill and sky using Distress Inks.

I layered squares of card stock and patterned paper and added a few die cut trees to round out the scene. The sentiment is stamped on a rectangle of white card stock that I outlined with a Copic maker, my coloring medium for the bird, bear and sled. 

As soon as I saw the sketch I knew that I would use patterned paper for one of the layers, and I wanted cute images to go with the fun wonky angles.

After I uploaded my photo I took out that chunk of foam tape that suddenly was visible. Uh-oh! I goofed but it was an easy fix.

 I hope you will get your stamping mojo on for the New Year and join our stamping challenge at Fab Friday! Need ideas?  The blogs of my crafty  DT friends are full of inspiration.

Mindy Backes
Heather Heroldt
Amy Koenders
Brian King
Justin Krieger
Amanda Mertz
Brenda Myers
Janine Tinklenberg
Wendy Weixler

I hope you've been inspired today. Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

          Make something beautiful!

 

Stamps: Cooler with You Card Kit - mft

Paper: mft - Orange Fizz, Sour Apple, Fresh Squeezed Chevron Paper Pack

Ink: SSS Intense Black, Ranger Distress Inks - Salty Ocean, Wilted Violet, Copic markers

Accessories: Mft Die-namics Cooler with You, MFT Die-namics Winter Trees, Wink of Stella pen

 

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Just Because

  I'm happy it's Friday and it's been such a busy one! The painters are here for their second day, and at the moment we're having the new refrigerator delivered and placed in the kitchen. 

We went out for breakfast and I went out for some shopping and lunch - not a bad trade off. 

I've also been experimenting up in the craft room with a new lighting setup. 

Here's a card I made a while back just because I wanted to do some coloring. 

I stamped the beautiful floral images from the Golden Garden set from Altenew and embossed them in gold. 

I really was just playing around with this card. I found that what took me the longest was deciding how to arrange the images on the watercolor paper. The colors were added with Zig Clean Color markers. They're not usually my first choice, but someone in blogland must have inspired me to pull them out that day and I'm glad that I did. I really like the variations in color that I was able to achieve. I got a little carried away with adding ink splatters - again. 

This message is fitting for you, my readers. Hope you have a wonderful weekend! Sending hugs~

Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

          Make something beautiful!

 

Stamps: Atenew - Golden Garden, PTI - Scripted

Paper: SU - Strawberry Slush, Very Vanilla, Ranger - watercolor

Ink: SSS - Intense Black, 

Accessories: Versamark, Gold EP, gold sequins, Zig Clean Color Markers

 

Lets Go Wild! Cute Critters

Hi everyone! 

I hope you're halfway through a great day!

I'll tell you, my husband recently fully retired, we made a move to the middle-of-nowhere in a home that we down-sized and really love, and we are more on the go than EVER! Time to stamp (or post) is getting hard to come by! 

I was thrilled to have a chance to pick up this lucky dog from the Cute Critters set from Simon Says Stamp. He's been sitting on my desk for almost a month since I brought out the Copics and colored him. I just love this set of adorable animals and the accessories and dies that come with them because they are so versatile for cute cards just waiting to happen! 

I loved making this a spotted doggy. Like our beagle Josie, who sits at my feet. The sentiments that come with the set are cute too, don't you think?  The pretty plaid and chevron papers are from My Favorite Things. I added a light sponging of Distress Ink in Twisted Citron on the white panel. 

Dogs can be wild things, right? So I'm including this in the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Let's Go Wild.

And yes, I wish I could send a hug to you.

Thanks for spending some time with me today. I always love hearing from you!  

Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

          Make something beautiful!

 

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 Hi everyone! 

Thanks so very much for your kind thoughts and supportive comments about my Mom's passing. I have a wonderful family. My brothers and sister and many who loved Mom honored her with our thanks that she was ours.

I'm back at home and spent a little time crafting again. 

I've been doing some watercoloring, it's a great de-stressor for me and it's fun right now to take part in Kathy's 30 Day Coloring Challenge.  I've been playing around with the image from Stampin' Up!'s Birthday Blooms set. 

 For this card I stamped it in black ink on watercolor paper, and colored it with my Zig Clean Color markers. 

I snipped out the image and mounted it on an oval die cut with foam tape. The background of watercolored stripes was made with Distress Inks. The pop of black is a sentiment from PTI - Scripted die cuts. I added shimmer with the Wink of Stella and a few sequins to finish it off. 

As always, I love having you visit my blog and appreciate every comment from you. Thanks for coming by!

 Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

          Make something beautiful!