Fall Days Are Fun

Good Monday evening,

Last night instead of going to bed at my usual time, I stayed up super late and made this card for The Paper Player's #264 challenge. This week, Claire has a great sketch for us. I really like the layout of this one.

Seems like I'm on a Fall kick lately and this card is no exception. I used my new PI Fall set again. She is so fun to color!

I used the blue in the patterned paper to pick my card base color of Baja Breeze. The image is stamped on cream card stock and colored with Copics. The tiny leaves are part of the Die-namics dies that go with this stamp set.

Instead of a scalloped lower edge, I cut the brown paper mat a little larger and used the very old SU corner punch to notch off the corners. I used some Old Olive SU candy dots to add embellishment in the notch. Other candy dots are used on the horizontal panel as well. Although it doesn't show in the photo, I brushed a very light coat of Wink of Stella over the metal part of the rake.

Supplies
Stamps: Thankful Friend set by My Favorite Things
Paper: SU Baja Breeze and Neenah cream card stocks, Apple Cider by Imaginisce patterned papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, SU Early Expresso
Other: Die-namics Thankful Friend, Stitched rectangle, Wide Fishtail Flag dies, SU candy dots, Multi Matte Medium, Wink of Stella glitter pen, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Thanks for looking in and have a great Tuesday,
Colleen

Happy Birthday

Happy Sunday evening everyone,

Did you see the lunar eclipse-super moon? So, so cool! I kept going outside to take peeks all during the evening. Here on the west coast, the moon was pretty much in the Earth's shadow by the time it had risen above the horizon enough for it to be in view. Now, at 8:42 pm, the moon is just emerging from the shadow. In between walking out to take peeks, I made another birthday card using this week's Freshly Made Sketch # 205. This is a fall themed card for a friend who has her birthday in October.

I used many dies and hardly any stamping on the front of the card. I love the rich colors of this older Simple Stories patterned papers. I thought it would hold it's own with the felt leaves.

Supplies
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes set by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Naturals Ivory card stock and Simple Stories Harvest Lane patterned papers
Ink: SU Early Expresso
Other: Taylored Expressions felt, Taylored Expressions scalloped border, small tag, leaves and acorn dies, Lawn Fawn stitched banner die, MFT frame fishtail flag stax die, Reflections natural twine, the Big Shot, dimensionals, and Ranger Multi Matte medium

I hope everyone has a great week. Thanks for looking,
Colleen

Birthday Wishes

Happy Hump Day stampers,

I made this birthday card last night after work for Leslie's Always Playing With Paper Challenge #43. This week Leslie has an inspiration photo to work from. I took my inspiration from the birdhouses in the background, the baskets and the plants.

This rather country themed stamp I bought way back in 1997. It's a very large wood mounted stamp from Art Impressions. I also remember that I bought it at a Long's Drug store in Sunnyvale, Ca. My sister lived in the community at the time and the Long's Drug store had two big isles of rubber stamps. They had the largest selection of the Magenta brand stamp line than any stamp store in northern California. Funny the things that we remember.

I stamped the image in Memento tuxedo black and colored it with Copics. I added the natural and brown Baker's twine and some SU brown candy dots. Even though the image looks like it's a lot to color, it was pretty quick. I have two friends with birthdays during the first week of October, so this will be for one of them.

Supplies

Stamps: Large wreath single stamp from Art Impressions, sentiment from Stampin' Up

Paper: SU Tip Top Taupe and X-Press It Blending card stocks and Lawn Fawn patterned papers

Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, SU Tip Top Taupe

Other: Fiskers corner rounder punch, Reflections Baker's twine, SU Earth Elements candy dots, dimensional tape

Have a great day and rest of your week. As always, thanks for looking.

Colleen

Let It Snow!

Hello again,

One more post today. This card combines the two CASE It challenges, CAS(E) This Sketch #141 and CanYouCaseIt? #87 color challenge. Any three blues with a neutral. I used Brilliant blue, medium blue and light blue.

Here's my card:

This sketch is very intreguing to me. I wasn't sure what I would do with it at first, but after some thought I came up with this winter scene. I think that using the blue color theme from CanYouCaseIt helped with the overall planning. In fact, I'm sure it did. However it worked out, I pretty much love it.

Supplies
Stamps: Snow Place set by Stampin' Up
Paper: X-Press It Blending and retired SU Brilliant Blue card stocks, Doodlebug Frosty Friends patterned papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Brilliant Blue, Pacific Point, Soft Sky, VersaMark, Copics
Other: SU Snow Place dies, Die-namics Fishtail Flags Pierced and Pinking circle dies, the Big Shot, dimensional tape, sequins, SU white EP, heat tool

Going to our neighbors for tacos for dinner. Should be fun, fun, fun.

Thanks for checking in,
Colleen

One Sketch - Three Card Layouts

Hi all,

Hope everyone is having a nice week end. It's a gorgeous "end of summer" weekend here in southern California, although it may get fairly hot before the day is over. I spent my morning doing chores and now that they are over, I'm heading to my craft room to spend some quality time with my stamps, ink and paper.

My post today is about how we can use one sketch and get several different looking cards.
Using the current StampInkPaper #14 sketch, I made three cards over the past week with completely different looks so I thought I'd share them in one blog post.

Here is the sketch:

Here are my three cards:
Card #1

I used the sketch pretty much exactly as it is drawn. This is one of LawnFawn's new Halloween sets and it's super cute. The ghost's costumes are colored with Copics.

Card #2

I rotated the sketch to accommodate this super cute Pure Innocence new set. She is colored with Copics and the color scheme is from The Paper Players #262 challenge. (I didn't get my card made in time to post it)

Card #3

The images are from an older Lawn Fawn Halloween set. I liked this paper with the spooky tree and birds and bats in the back ground. Since I didn't want to cover them up, I opted for the Die-namics oval frame. The oval and house are both tilted for a "wackier" look. I love how it worked! The ghost is stamped on vellum to look more "ghosty".

Supplies
Card 1
Stamps: Booyah set by Lawn Fawn
Paper: SU Tangelo Twist, Elegant Eggplant and X-Press It Blending card stocks, Doodlebug Ghouls & Goodies patterned papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and Copics
Other: sparkly Boo greeting from Reflections, Fiskers corner punch, Doodlebug enamel dots, Wink of Stella pen and yellow Stickles, Lawn Fawn Booyah dies, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Card 2
Stamps: PI Thankful Friend set by My Favorite Things
Paper: SU Lost Lagoon and X-Press It Blending card stocks, SU retired DSP
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics
Other: ribbon, sequins, SU wooden leaves, mini glue dots, Die-namics pierced rounded rectangle die, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Card 3
Stamps: Happy Haunting set by Lawn Fawn
Paper: TE textured black and X-Press It Blending card stocks, Echo Park The Apothecary Emporium patterned papers, SU vellum
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics and SU Tangelo Twist
Other: Die-namics framed stitched oval die, Wink of Stella gel pen, sequins, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Have a great Sunday afternoon and thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Season's Greetings

Hello from very rainy San Diego,

Yay, we finally are getting some rain and it's such a good thing. Unfortunately, the weatherman is predicting more very hot weather coming by the end of the week.

Last night after dinner, I was in the mood to stamp. I looked around for a challenge to get inspired and noticed that Leslie posted her Always Playing with Paper: The Challenge #42. This week is a color challenge. The colors look Christmasy to me and here's the quick and easy card that I came up with.

I used a bright pink that looks red in my photo, but IRL, it's clearly pink. This card took about 10 minutes to put together once I had the concept in my mind. Love that!

Supplies
Stamps: Evergreen set by Stampin' Up and Winter Scripty Greetings by Lawn Fawn
Paper: SU whisper white and real red card stock and Doodlebug Frosty Friends patterned papers
Ink: SU real red, strawberry slush, coastal cabana and island indigo ink pads
Other: TE sequins, foam tape

Thanks for coming by,
Colleen

HB2U

Hello again,

One more post this morning. Last night I started a card for the TE Share Joy Challenge #2. I finished it this morning, so I thought I'd post it instead of waiting for another day.

Supplies
Stamps: You Take the Cake set by Taylored Expressions
Paper: SU Pool Party and Watermelon Wonder card stock, X-Press Blending card stock and SU Cherry On Top DSP pack
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, SU Watermelon Wonder
Other: Die-namics Wide Fishtail Flag STAX and Double stitched square dies, Spellbinder square die, Sizzix Swirls EF, Martha Stewart glitter markers, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Thanks again,
Colleen

Wishing You

Hello stamping friends,

I have a cute fall themed card for you today. I think because it's been so hot and humid this past week that I was in the mood to make something that reminded me of cooler weather. I received a box of super cuteness from My Favorite Things in the mail early this week and I couldn't wait to play.

I used the CAS(E) this Sketch #140 for my layout inspiration.

I stamped the leaf boarder 3 times along the bottom the card stock then stamped the mouse playing in the leaves to the side. I colored everything with Copics. "Wishing You" is half of one of the greetings in the set. The other half is on the inside. To balance out the image, I added a single sequin and some LawnFawn wood leaves in the upper corner.  Here's the inside:

Supplies
Stamps: Harvest Mouse set by My Favorite Things
Paper: X-Press It Blending card stock and Sweater Weather patterned paper from Lawn Fawn
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics and SU Poppy Parade
Other: TE red sequin, LawnFawn wooden leaves, Multi Matte glue, dimensionals

Our humidity is finally gone. No clouds from the hurricane off Mexico and our ocean breeze is back. Hopefully, the high temps are a thing of the past as well. Have a great Sunday afternoon and thanks for looking in,

Colleen

Let's Party

Hello and welcome to "back to work" Tuesday,

Last night while watching the Federer vs Isner tennis match, I played with my new 60 marker set of Zig Real Brush Markers. I used them to color this fun birthday card using one of my favorite Lawn Fawn sets, Party Animal. I think these woodland animals with their birthday accessories are uber cute!

The sketch is from Leslie's The Challenge #41, back after taking the summer off. Yay! Also, the latest Lawnscaping Challenge is to add texture to our card. I used some cork, dimensional tape and watercolor paper to add texture to this one.

My little deer trio is stamped with SU Craft black ink and heat embossed with SU clear embossing powder onto Tim Holtz watercolor paper. I colored them with my Zig Real Brush watercolor pens. I painted the deer first then went back with the yellow-green color and water colored the background. I was hoping it would be more yellow than green, but not so much. The birthday goodies in each of the deer's hands were cut out with the set dies and popped up with a fairly fat glue dot.  The whole picture is framed with a Die-namics stitched rectangle frame cut from cork. (my main texture element).

The party continues on the inside:

The inside images were stamped onto X-Press It Blending card with Memento tuxedo black ink and colored with Copics. I added some Wink of Stella glitter over the party balloon.

Supplies
Stamps: Party Animal set by Lawn Fawn
Paper: SU Bravo Burgundy card stock, Tim Holtz watercolor paper, X-Press It Blending card and Lawn Fawn Sweater Weather patterned papers, craft cork
Ink: SU Craft Black ink, SU Bravo Burgundy, Zig Real Brush watercolor markers, Memento tuxedo black, Copics
Other: SU clear EP, Die-namics stitched rectangle frame die and Pierced Fishtail Flag STAX die, Lawn Fawn Party Animal dies, TE curly boarder die, Wink of Stella glitter pen, aqua painter, the Big Shot, foam tape, glue dots

This will probably go to my brother for his birthday next month. I know he'll love it.

Have a great short work week and thanks for looking in,

Colleen

Hello

Yes, Hello,

I hope you are all having a relaxing and fun holiday (Labor Day in the U.S.). I've been hanging out at home doing some stamping while watching U.S. Open Tennis and an afternoon baseball game. I did manage to get a few loads of laundry done, so at least one chore out of the way.

The card I made this afternoon works for several challenges. The sketch is the new Mojo Monday #414 and the color scheme comes from the CanYouCaseIt? #85 color challenge. The colors this week are brown, blue and yellow. Finally, the September Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge week one is "anything goes." I used some super cute Paper Smooches stamps for my card so I will post to it as well.

Here is the inside. I kept it pretty simple, but I think it's pretty cute.

Supplies
Stamps: Whimsical set and Flap Happy set (greetings) both by Paper Smooches
Paper: SU Early Expresso, Hello Honey and Very Vanilla card stock, My Minds Eye Stella & Rose patterned papers
Ink: SU Early Expresso and Hello Honey classic pads, Memento tuxedo black, Copics
Accessories: Die-namics Stitched Curved Rectangle and large Fishtail Flags STAX dies, Spellbinders Scalloped Circle die, Doodlebug enamel shapes, Reflections hemp twine, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Thanks for checking in today,
Colleen

Time To Chill

Hi again,

I thought I'd squeak in one more post today since tomorrow is the final day for the current Freshly Made Sketches challenge #202. The sketch is a classic that can be used over and over. I like that!

I used the super cute penguin image from a new Stampin' Up set. The whole set is super cute and I'm planning on making many of my Christmas cards with it.

Supplies
Stamps: Snow Place set by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU retired green card stock, X-Press It Blending card stock, Tim Holtz water color paper, Taylored Expressions Gingerbread Lane patterned paper
Ink: Zig Real Brush Water color pens, Memento tuxedo black, SU real red, SU Bermuda Bay, Copics
Other: SU Snow Place matching dies, Die-namics Fishtail Pierced Flags die, googly eyes, wooden snow flake, red pearls, the Big Shot, foam tape

TFL,
Colleen

A FIN-tastic Day

Hello,

I hope everyone is enjoying the middle day of a nice long weekend. I know I am.

Yesterday I got together with my craft group friends for a little afternoon stamping session. We had a great time catching up, having lunch and making some cards. When I got home I did some organization of my ink pads on my desk. We'll see how I get along with it. I'm really thinking about ordering the ink pad, marker, re-inker storage sets from Stamp-n-storage. Just not sure I want to spend the money, but they sure look nice. I've had ink carousels for so long, but I find I don't like how much room they actually take up. Such a quandary.

I checked to see what The Paper Players Challenge had for us today. It's a theme challenge called "Lunch Box Love." Cute. I don't have any kiddies taking lunch, but I played along anyway.

The color scheme and the sketch comes from the new Taylored Expressions Share Joy Challenge. I'm so happy that Taylor has started another challenge. I'm sure with Jen running the show, we'll see some great sketches.

Following the Paper Players theme I pulled out one of my retired Moka sets to use. I stamped the image in Memento black and colored it with Copics then used a very liberal amount of Stickles, sequins and Wink of Stella for lots of sparkle.

Supplies
Stamps: Moka Pearl set by Taylored Expressions
Paper: TE card stock in the challenge colors
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and Copics
Other: TE Bubbles Impressions plate, TE ocean waves die, Die-namics rounded stitched rectangles STAX dies, green, blue, pink and crystal Stickles, Wink of Stella glitter pen, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Have a fun, safe and relaxing Labor Day. Thanks for coming by my blog,
Colleen