Warm Wishes and Joy

Happy Thursday afternoon,

I finished work early today and had some time before a friend comes to go walking to post a couple cards that I finished this week. I'm finally starting to work on Christmas cards. I figure that I should make at least two or three of each that I do between now and time to mail them. Otherwise, I'm going to be lacking.

LeAnne has a great sketch for us this week on The Paper Players blog. I did end up making two cards.

Supplies
Card One:
Stamps: Wondrous Wreath set by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Cucumber Crush, Soft Suede and X-Press It Blending card stocks, SU Into the Woods DSP, SU red Glimmer paper
Ink: SU Cucumber Crush, Mossy Meadow, Real Red
Other: SU Wondrous Wreath dies, TE sequins, Stickles, the Big Shot, corner punch, dimensionals

Card Two:
Stamps: Cool Day set by My Favorite Things
Paper: SU Soft Sky, Real Red and X-Press It Blending card stock, SU All Is Calm DSP
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Copics
Other: Spellbinders large oval die, Die-namics stitched oval die, Stickles, TE sequins, SU red stitched ribbon, the Big Shot, dimensionals

I'm looking forward to the weekend. How about you?

Thanks for looking,
Colleen

Thankful For You

Hi,

I sewed all day today and finished a two quilt projects that I've been working on for a few months. (I will post some pictures later in the week after I deliver them since they are gifts) After cleaning up the sewing "mess" I thought I'd relax by doing some coloring before going to bed.

This week, Nance has a seasonal appropriate challenge theme up on The Paper Players blog. Coloring some fall leaves sounded perfect. This card went together super quick. I made it a little 4x4" square note card.

The Autumn Wreath is from Taylored Expressions. It's stamped in SU Archival Black and colored with Zig Real Brush Watercolor pens and an aqua painter on Tim Holtz watercolor paper. It's cut out using a Die-namics double stitched square die. The enamel shapes are from Doodlebug.

On the inside, I stamped this sweet squirrel in the lower corner and left the rest of the space to write a note.

Supplies
Stamps: Autumn Wreath set by Taylored Expressions
Paper: SU Crumb Cake card stock and Tim Holtz watercolor paper
Ink: SU Archival Black and Zig Real Brush Watercolor pens
Other: Die-namics Double Stitched Square STAX dies, Doodlebug enamel shapes, SU linen thread, The Big Shot

Wishing everyone a fabulous, fall week ahead. Thanks for looking,
Colleen

Hey There, Pumpkin

Hi and TGIF,

It was a very busy week for me. Many nights I got home pretty late in the evenings and after having a fairly late dinner, I sat down to do some coloring to relax before going to bed.

Leslie's The Challenge #46 is a color challenge this week. The palette is a nice fall one. The sketch is the current SugarSketch 31 from SugarPea Designs. The stamp set is also from SugarPea Designs and one of my favorites.

Here's the inside of my card:

Supplies

Stamps: Bountiful Blessings set by SugarPea Designs

Paper: SU Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler and X-Press It Blending card stock, Lawn Fawn Sweater Weather patterned papers

Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics and SU Cherry Cobbler

Other: Die-namics Stitched Curved Rectangle and Wide Fishtail Flags STAX dies, SU circle and flower punches, TE medium Scalloped Boarder die, sequins, the Big Shot, dimensionals

I'm ready to relax this weekend because I have to get ready for another busy, busy week. I hope your's is nice and relaxing too.

Thanks for looking,

Colleen

Celebrate the Season

Hello again,

This is my second post today. I could wait and post this tomorrow, but sometimes Monday's are crazy with work, so I'm taking the opportunity today.

I love to do sketch challenges. Yesterday after I finished the Halloween card I posted earlier, I looked to see what the girls at CAS(E) this Sketch had for us. It took me awhile to figure out what stamps I had that would work. I'm sure I have several, but for some reason I was stuck. After pulling out some sets that are stored behind others, I found this Merry Mini's set from last year that I hadn't even put together so I placed it on my stamping desk with plans for today. On Sundays, the first blog I always check is The Paper Player's blog. I usually try to play along each week. Today Jaydee has a color challenge for us and I thought the colors would be perfect for the Merry Mini's stamps.

I used SU DSP for the background. I originally was going to use just a white card background, but I liked the color better. The dies are from MFT and some bright gold sequins adds some sparkle.

I kept the inside simple and in the same color palette:

I realize that a few of the DT members used the CTS as well. I thought about trying to come up with a different card, but went with my original plan. Great minds think alike, right ladies.

Supplies
Stamps: Stampin' Up Merry Mini's, Endless Wishes (greeting) and Merry Little Christmas (inside) sets
Paper: SU Real Red and X-Press It Blending card stocks, SU Merry Moments DSP
Ink: SU Real Red, Crushed Curry and Cucumber Crush classic ink pads
Other: Die-namics Stitched Curved Rectangle and Stitched Fishtail Flags STAX dies, sequins, Fiskers corner rounder punch, the Big Shot, dimensional tape

Thanks again,
Colleen

I'm Dead Serious

Hello crafty peeps,

I made today's card with the new CanYouCaseIt #90 Halloween challenge in mind. Basically, anything Halloween goes.

As I've said before, I love to color and this SugarPea set is perfect for practicing. For my color scheme, I saw the ColorQ challenge #311 has a Halloween palette this week which worked perfectly for my card.

Her zombie boyfriend is on the inside:

These would be awesome Halloween costumes, for a party, but lots of work to pull off. Speaking of costumes, this week's Crazy4 Challenge is to make a card with someone or something in costume, so I'm playing along with them as well.

Supplies
Stamps: Undying Love set by SugarPea Designs
Paper: SU Basic Black, Wisteria Wonder, Kiwi Kiss and X-Press It Blending card stocks. Bella Blvd Halloween Magic patterned papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and Copics
Other: SU black pre-cut spiderweb, Die-namics pinking and double-stitched circle dies, Wink of Stella glitter pen (hair bow and skirt), Crystal Effects (eyes), sequins, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Have a good Sunday evening and thanks for looking in,
Colleen

BOOYAH!

Hello,

Another really hot day here on the southern coast. It's already 88 degrees at 9:30 am. It's hotter here than in Phoenix! It's a good day to spend indoors crafting at least. While we don't have air-conditioning, I have some awesome fans that do help.

Last night I made another Halloween card. I used Leslie's The Challenge #45 sketch.

I love this Lawn Fawn set of little ghosts that can be dressed up for Halloween trick- or - treating. They are stamped in Memento tuxedo black and colored with Copics. The hats were stamped, colored and cut out. I wanted to make the pirate ghost look a little different so I went over him with a generous application of Wink of Stella. Not sure if I really like how it turned out though. The hook and broom and star stamps are in the set as well.

The inside has a couple of ghosty buddies:

Supplies
Stamps: Booyah! set by Lawn Fawn
Paper: SU Tangerine Tango and Basic Black card stock, X-Press It Blending card stock, Pebbles Halloween patterned papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, SU Hello Honey
Other: Die-namics Cross-stitched Circle STAX, Spellbinders Scalloped Circle dies, Wink Of Stella glitter pen, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Have a great weekend all,
Colleen

Spooky Wishes

Happy Friday afternoon,

I'm so glad it's Friday. It's another HOT one here in Southern California with temps in the 90's even close to the water. I think we are all ready for fall here.

Speaking of Fall, I felt like coloring last night after dinner so I colored this Halloween, Pure Innocence cutie. The sketch comes from this week's Mojo Monday contest.

The image is stamped in Memento tuxedo black and colored with Copics. I fussy cut her out and popped her up on dimensionals inside the frame. All of the dies are Die-namics. The frame is cut from SU black glimmer paper.

Supplies
Stamps: Pretty Pumpkin Pure Innocence set by My Favorite Things
Paper: SU black card stock, Copic sketch paper, Bella Blvd Halloween Magic patterned paper, SU black glimmer paper
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics
Other: Die-namics Stitched Rectangle Frame and Pumpkins dies, orange and black Stickles, Wink of Stella glitter pen, foam tape, the Big Shot and dimensionals

I sure hope it cools off some, or actually, a lot. Enough is enough!

Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Happy Haunting

Hello stamping friends,

Today we actually had some wonderful fall weather here in southern California. It was cloudy, a little rainy and cool temps. A really nice change from the 80's we've been experiencing for the last several weeks.

After doing my weekend chores, I ended up organizing in my craft closet because I was looking for a particular tool that I know I have, somewhere, and that morphed into a reorganization. I never did find the blending tool that I know is here somewhere, but I did make some progress in the organization.  I had in my mind a technique that I wanted to do for a Halloween card, but that quickly went bye, bye without the tool. So, to blog-land for inspiration. . . and came across this card by Birgit  Edblom on the Penny Black blog, which I love, and I decided I'd try the background technique using my Zig Real Brush Markers. The gray's with the pop of color just pulled me in and I though it would be fun for a Halloween card.

One of my favorite weekly challenges, The Paper Players, has a Halloween theme this week, and my thought was to make a card to post for the challenge. Here is my CASE on Birgit's card that I made for this week's Paper Players Halloween challenge. Also, my card works for The Curtain Call's "Going Batty" challenge.

To make the background, I started with some Tim Holtz watercolor paper and the mid, light, dark and blue gray pens in the Zig Real Brush Marker set to make the hills, sky and foreground. I used my heat tool to dry the paper between each application. After I was finished with the background, I used Memento tuxedo black to stamp the images of the trees, bats and fence directly over the watercolored background. I used the largest Die-namics Inside and Out Diagonal Stitched Rectangle die to cut the panel. The house and pumpkins were stamped on watercolor paper, colored and cut out before gluing them on the card to finish the scene. I'm super happy with the way it all worked and I hope you enjoy it too.

Supplies

Stamps: Holiday Home set by Stampin' Up, Spooky Cuties set by Revere Confetti (fence), and Happy Haunting set by Lawn Fawn (greeting)

Paper: Tim Holtz water color paper and SU black and Smoky Slate card stocks, SU vellum

Ink: Zig Real Brush Markers (60 marker set), Memento tuxedo black, SU Archival Black Ink pad, SU Pumpkin Pie and Tangerine Twist

Other: Die-namics Inside & Out Diagonal Stitched Rectangle die, SU mini glue dots, SU Holiday Home dies, the Big Shot

Unfortunately, the weekend is over and it's back to work. I hope you all have a great week. Thanks for looking in,

Colleen

Birthday Wishes

Hi and Happy World Card Making Day,

I made this card for a sweet little boy who turns five years old on Monday. We are having cake and ice cream later this afternoon to celebrate his birthday.

The inspiration for his card comes from Leslie's The Challenge #44 Birthday theme. I took many of the images in the inspiration photo and had lots of fun putting this birthday card together.

Supplies
Stamps: Chevron Backdrops set by Lawn Fawn, Love Monsters set by Taylored Expressions, and Happiest Birthday Wishes set by Stampin' Up (greeting)
Paper: X-Press It Blending, SU Tempting Turquoise, Green Galore, Daffodil Delight and Tangelo Twist card stocks
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics and Hero Arts Orange Soda and TidePool Shadow Inks
Other: Die-namics Stitched Square, Pierced Circle, Pinking and number dies, Taylored Expressions balloon dies, enamel dots, Glossy Accents, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Have a great rest of your weekend and thanks for looking,
Colleen

Cheers!

Hello stamping friends,

I have a fun birthday card for you today that I made on Sunday afternoon using this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch #288.  For the background, I masked off about 1/4" all around the card base and randomly stamped the images using the "stamping off" technique to achieve a softer ink application. I used the square and circle elements to make a shaker card. I hadn't made one in a long time and I think the sequins and cocktail theme go well together here.

Supplies
Happy Hour set by Stampin' Up
Paper: X-Press It Blending card stock, SU Pistachio Pudding and Crisp Cantaloupe DSP
Ink: SU Pistachio Pudding, Crisp Cantaloupe, Blushing Bride and Old Olive classic ink, Memento tuxedo black
Other: Die-namics double-stitched square, stitched fishtail flags STAX, circle STAX and martini glass dies, SU window plastic, foam tape, sequins, the Big Shot

Thanks for looking,
Colleen