Stamps, Paper, and Ink

Friendly Hugs

Hello friends, 

It's time for Fab Friday! 

I'm sharing a card I made using the Stampin' Up! Jar of Love stamps and dies, and the Stitched Shapes Framelit Dies. 

I wanted to try making a wreath using the flower stamps from this set, with a frame made from the shapes dies. I began by choosing my colors and then stamping and die cutting several of each of the images. I lay them out on the card stock deciding which images gave the most rounded look and figuring out where I wanted my accents to be. 

I masked the circle center and gradually began stamping the images around the circle. Then I added a few die cuts popped up with foam tape. Adding details to the die cuts with my white gel pen and Copic markers gives them more depth. Click on the photo for a large image. I wanted to keep the card clean but stamped tiny dots in blue and glued on clear sequins for sparkle. 

Here's our sketch for you to try! 

I'm happy to wish you a Fab Friday and invite you to join our challenge.

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

 Have a great weekend, thanks for your visit! 

Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

          Make something beautiful!

 

Your'e So Sweet

Spring has come very early our way this year, and I found myself dreaming of delicious fresh peaches which grow in our area. Harvest begins in April and each couple of weeks brings a new variety to my favorite market. If your mouth is watering then you are just ripe to see today's card.

I used the Fresh Fruit set from Stampin' Up! and assembled my card following the great sketch we have going on at the Fab Friday Challenge this week. We hope you will play along!

I loved pulling out some of my old favorites to embellish my card - a doily, polka-dotted paper, button and twine. But of course I still added my new favs, sequins and a wash of Wink of Stella to add shimmer to the peach.

Below I've listed the blogs of my Design team-mates. 

We look forward to seeing your creations!

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

 Thanks for coming by my blog today, have a great weekend!

Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

          Make something beautiful!

 

Stamps: Stampin' Up! Fresh Fruit

Paper: Whisper White, Calypso Coral, DSP from My Favorite Things

Ink: Peek-A-Boo Peach, Calypso Coral, Cucumber Crush, Wild Wasabi, Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories: SU - Project Life Cards and Labels Framelits Dies, WPlus9 - Bold Banner Die, Wink of Stella Shimmer Pen

 

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Christmas is coming....

Christmas is coming and it's a season filled with hope and joy! I've loved pulling out the decorations and hearing the happy music of Jesus' birth. And making my cards for Christmas. I'll let you have a peek! 

The first card is one I mass produced before Thanksgiving so I could get them out early enough to include our new address. 

This card was shamelessly CASEd from the from the SU Holiday catalog. I typically don't enjoy mass producing cards, but I worked on it piece by piece. Literally! Little bit by little bit. Here's the view of the bistro table in my kitchen. 

The second card is one that I will send to a special few on my list. It is one of my favorite of the Christmas cards I've made over the last ten years of stamping/blogging.

I die cut white card stock in a partial circle for the background and embossed the stars in white. Then I sponged inks to create a night sky, being careful to keep the central area lighter. The manger was die cut, stamped and colored with Copics. I didn't blend too much on purpose to keep the look of rough hewn wood that the image suggests.

Lastly, I added layers of paper banners and sparkled the sky and inside the manger with clear Wink Of Stella pen. Is "sparkled" even a word? Well it is on my blog for today -- hope I've sparkled your day with a bit of laughter. I so appreciate your support in coming to visit my blog and so often leaving your lovely comments. Thank you!

 Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

          Make something beautiful!

 

Stocking card

Stamps: Hang Your Stocking and Dies

Paper: Real Red, Mint Macaroon, Whisper White, Presents and Pinecones DSP 

 Manger Card

Stamps: Weary World from Verve and dies, and stars from Falling Backgrounds from SSS; banner strips were stamped with Sheet Music Background from My Favorite Things 

Paper: Whisper White, gold glimmer paper

Ink: Versamark, Simon Says Stamp Intens Black, Ranger Distress inks: Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Chipped Sapphire

Accessories: Copic markers, Wink of Stella Clear pen, MFT Die-Namics Stitched Arches Stax, White embossing powder

 

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Hang Your Stocking!

It's a perfectly glorious Saturday as I write this and we are doing autumn-y things here. Games outside last night with friends from our church. I am so glad we know how to have a good time with fun and so much laughter. Today I'll be visiting a horse in the nearby stables with a broken leg. I can certainly have compassion with that malady and Charlie, I understand is very receptive to visitors. 

With my cards, it's on to Christmas with the Hang Your Stockings set from Stampin' Up! 

I'm playing along with the challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch. Whenever I need a kickstart for my creativity I love starting with a sketch. 

It's a great sketch, don't you think? Here's my take on it. 

 I love the stockings and dies with this set, there are so many options for combining them. I cut a plain stocking first and then die cut the second stocking and covered it with Wink of Stella and glued it overtop. I'd just opened a new pen so it came oozing out with lots of sparkle. How fun is that! 

Thanks so much for taking a peek into my life and craft room today. Happy stamping to you!

Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

          Make something beautiful!

 

Stamps: Hang Your Stocking and Christmas Stocking Thinlits Dies

Paper: DSP from the Paper Studio, SU - gold foil 

Ink: SSS Intense Black, SU - Emerald Envy, Gumball Green (retired)

Accessories: Tonic - NUVO Crystal Drops: Gloss Red Berry

 

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Rose Wonder for Fab Friday

 Hello everyone!

You know, I miss a few days of blogging and before we know it two weeks have gone by without a post from me. I've been spending time enjoying this fall weather, taking walks along the lake where we live, and keeping up with day to day stuff and our family. 

Thank goodness for the Fab Friday Challenge that keeps me stamping! 

I was able to stamp with my dear friend this week and I borrowed her Stampin' Up! Rose Wonder set and dies for today's card. 

I love the Scripture verse included with the set and used it to make a distressed inked background on white card stock. I inked the image and stamped it across the white panel, and added more distressing with the images from Timeless Textures stamp set. Then I sponged the ink from the outside edges into the center. Finally I flicked a few splatters of acrylic white paint and die cut the panel. 

I used the Rose Garden die cuts to create the sentiment and floral focal points. 

We look forward to seeing your creations using the colors for our 100th challenge. You can link up your projects on the blog at the Fab Friday Challenge blog. 

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

I'm so thankful that you spent time visiting my blog today. I love it when you do and hope you come back soon!

Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

          Make something beautiful!

 

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It's a Parade for Fab Friday!

Hi everyone! I hope your Friday is off to a good start and you are ready to roll for the weekend. 

At the Fab Friday challenge we have a parade of Stampin' Up! In Colors ready for you today and quite a line up of terrific samples to inspire you. It's always a challenge to fit in all five of the colors, but I managed to do it in style with the Beautiful Ride stamps and dies from Simon Says Stamp. 

I used a paintbrush and the inks from Stampin' Up! to color in the images and popped them on a white card stock banner. I LOVE the new colors, especially Flirty Flamingo used for the card base, and Peekaboo Peach for the sentiment strip. Just a dab of Sweet Sugarplum in each flower center. 

I think Miss kitty is in for a beautiful ride and so are you as you check out the blogs of my Design team-mates. 

We look forward to seeing your creations using the In Colors!

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

 Until next time~ sending big hugs to you. 

Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

          Make something beautiful!

 

 

Christmas in July for Fab Friday

Are you thinking of Christmas yet? 

Well to be honest....Christmas hadn't crossed my mind until today's challenge at Fab Friday. Which I waited until the last minute to prepare for. And Christmas has been on my mind for quite awhile as I worked on this card for WAY too long. It was one of those days when everything was done and re-done. Splotches of ink? Yes. Snipped in the wrong place? Yes. A desk covered with supplies I tried that didn't work?

I'm sure you get the idea by now that maybe I wasn't thinking of Christmas at all, but wishing I could be at the pool, Ha!  

Perseverance won out in the end. Ta da! 

I wanted to use my new Jars of Love set and dies (my FAVORITE of the new Stampin' Up! catalog) along with the challenge colors. 

Realizing that others on my team might be using the same set, I tried to come up with something "out of the box" to put in the jar.  

Now wouldn't you know it that the only current Christmas set that I have is Wonderful Wreath? So I transformed the wreath image into holly branches to fill my jar by using two shades for the two step stamping, die cutting it, and then cutting the wreath into three sections. 

I added details to the leaves and ribbon with markers, and used Copics to add the water in the bottom of the jar. Dressing it up with a bit of gold thread, embossing and a foil die cut seemed like a good idea. Not willing to STOP while I was ahead, I flicked some gold spritz. Just enough to dirty shine it up with a bit of dimension. 

I kept the sentiment generic because I think this might also be a good card for a December birthday.

SO, that's it for me for now! Before I'm off to the lake or the pool, can I just encourage you to take a look at the fabulous projects from my teamies? Hope you can join us for this challenge, can't wait to see what you come up with. 

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

 Until next time~ sending big hugs to you. 

Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

          Make something beautiful!

 

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Wondrous Wreath, Jars of Love and coordinating dies

Accessories: Stampin' Up! - Layered Oval Dies, Bitty Banners, Gold Embossing Powder; Enamel Dots by Doodlebug

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Birthday Blooms: Painting in Pink

 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!

 

 

Birthday Blooms

Hello everyone, happy Monday to you! 

I had a chance to stamp with dear friends on Friday afternoon. Do you know what happens when I stamp in a group?

N-o-t-h-i-n-g. I get totally distracted chatting and watching what everyone else is doing. I had a great time but finishing my card had to wait until I got home. Fortunately, it did get finished, lol! 

I did some no line watercoloring on the stamped flower from the Birthday Blooms set from Stampin' Up! using my Sakura Koi Watercolors. I did a little mixing to get the color match.

I colored the image on watercolor paper, then cut it out and layered it on a die cut tag. I stamped some random dots and the sentiment, then thinking it needed just a bit of something else, I added the sequin.

I'm LOVING this Birthday Bouquet DSP from SU and wanted to make it the highlight for this card. 

I'm keeping up with this great challenge, we're on day 15 of coloring and you should see the amazing samples and Kathy's fabulous tutorials! Click on the photo to be taken to the link. 

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today! I'll be back tomorrow with post 3 for this week. See you then. 

Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

          Make something beautiful!

 

Dies: MFT Snow Drifts Cover-Up Die-namics ( you're right there's no snow, but I like how it accents the paper and there are lots of ways other than snow to use this die.) 

Wplus9: Timeless Tags 2

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