Sending Hugs

Hello,

I made this card on Saturday using this week's Case This Sketch, sketch, and I thought I'd better get it posted before the challenge ends. This is another new stamp set that I bought in New Jersey a few weekends ago. It's by Neat and Tangled, called Hand-stitched.

I like the embroidery hoop element and there are also several flowers, little cross-stitches and french knot images. There are co-ordinating dies too, but not for the hoop so I fussy cut it out for my card.

I used my Mini Misti to arrange the images inside the hoop and to line up the bottom row of cross-stitches. They are all stamped with Memento tuxedo black and colored with Copics. The card base is randomly stamped with other images from the set. After popping the hoop up with dimensionals, I added the pink and green pearls. I think they are the perfect embellishments for these sweet, "stitched" images.

I hope you have had a good week so far. I've had a very busy Monday and Tuesday at work and it's looking like the rest of the week will be more of the same.

Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Hand Stitched by Neat and Tangled
Paper: Strathmore card stock
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics
Other: Corner punch, pearls, dimensionals

Happy Day to you

Happy Saturday to you,

We are going to a friend's birthday party this evening, so obviously, I needed to make her a card. After I finished a very long day on the computer yesterday I was in the mood for a little watercoloring. I picked up this stamp at the store in New Jersey last week. I love that it's a large image and perfect for watercoloring.

The layout is based on this week's Freshly Made Sketch. I used the sentiment banner for the star element in Amy's sketch. I also put it on the opposite side as it seems to fit better.

The image is colored with Distress ink and a water brush. All in all, simple and fun.

Thanks for looking in today,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Tiny Bouquet #1 by Art Gone Wild (image by Catherine Scanlon), SU Perfect Parings set
Paper: SU Basic Black card stock, Strathmore water color paper, SU DSP
Ink: VersaMark and SU craft black ink pads, Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads
Other: SU clear and white EP, heat tool, water brushes

Johnny Depp

Hello,

I'm back home, and very happy to be here. If you saw my last post a week ago, you know that I was in New Jersey for work this past week. I flew home yesterday afternoon and arrived into San Diego at 9:00 pm last night. It seemed like a really long week. During the week there was snow, ice, wind and COLD and some very long days in the office.

Since my flight didn't leave Newark, NJ until 3:40 pm yesterday I had some time to kill. I found a great paper crafting/rubber stamp store near my hotel. It's in Kenvil, New Jersey and it's called Paper Anthology. If you live near by, it's worth a trip. The store is in an old house converted into the store. It looks small from the outside, but she has tons of merchandise and it's all up to date. She clearly attends the hobby and crafts convention. I came home with a haul! Several new Altenew sets and dies, and some super cute Funny Bone stamps from Riley and Company.

My friends at the Paper Players have a fun CAS theme challenge this week. It's Laurie's turn as hostess and her challenge is to use a sentiment as the focal image. It is perfect for one of my new Funny Bones stamps. When I saw this, I cracked up! And, who doesn't love Johnny Depp? Especially Captain Jack Sparrow, but, I think my favorite Johnny Depp movie is the old Rom Com, Chocolat with Juliette Binoche. I also loved him in Dark Shadows where just like in Pirates, he delivers just the right amount of snark! Here's my card:

I kept my card super simple. It's a small, square 4 x 4" card. I used the MFT brick stencil and sponged some Hero Arts Shadow ink in Wet Cement in the center. I stamped the sentiment with SU Archival Black ink on an angle over the sponging, then cut a couple of frames using the MFT Stitched Square frame die from two shades of TE gray card stock. I added a pink enamel heart for a feminine touch. (and because this is a congrats card for my niece who just landed a new job in a law office). The inside just says "Congrats" on your new job.

That's it from me for the day. I hope you all have a great week ahead!
Thanks for stopping in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Funny Bones #RWD-118 stamp by Riley and Company
Paper: SU Heavy Weight Whisper White, TE textured gray card stock
Ink: Hero Arts Shadow Ink - Wet Cement and SU Archival Black
Other: Die-namics Stitched Square Frame die, MFT Brick Wall stencil, enamel heart, the Big Shot, foam tape

Hugs

Happy Friday all,

It's been a long time since I've had any crafty time. Between traveling for work, or just plain busy with work, and then traveling up to northern CA last weekend to attend a memorial service, I couldn't fit it in. Also, my creative MOJO seems to have disappeared on me. I really wanted to get a card posted for Claire's Valentine's challenge at The Paper Players so I sat down last night after dinner to see what I could come up with. Luckily, this week's CAS(E) This Sketch helped me with a design.

I very rarely do a card without any stamping, but here one is. (confession, the inside is stamped with a simple "Happy Valentine's Day.")

I started with a card base of SU Whisper White card stock. The Inside panel is very old SU DSP. The Real Red frame is cut with a Die-namics Stitched Rectangle Frame, the heart shaped balloons, strings and Hugs are Lawn Fawn dies. I added a couple of SU clear rhinestones for sparkle. Pretty darn simple!

I'm headed to Flanders, NJ tomorrow for a work project and I fly home the next Saturday so no crafty time again all week. I think I'll take some colored pencils and a couple of coloring books for the evenings in the hotel. I'm hoping that flights are back on schedule tomorrow from yesterday's storms in the east. I hope you all have a fabulous week!

Thanks for looking in,
Colleen


Supplies
Paper: SU Whisper White, Real Red and Gray card stock, SU DSP (retired)
Other: Die-namics and Lawn Fawn dies, SU rhinestones, dimensional tape and glue dots

Ride The Big Wave

Hi all,

Our friend Jai has a birthday this weekend and his wife is throwing a surprise party for him on Saturday evening. I won't be able to attend as I'll be in northern California for a family thing, but Mr. Personal Chef will be going. The party has a Hawaiian them and I made two cards, one for each of us to give him.

For this first one, I pulled out some grass paper and stamped some Hawaiian images randomly using SU Archival black ink and then colored them with SU markers. The focal image is stamped on Strathmore watercolor paper and watercolored with Tim Holtz Distress inks. The side wave is cut with a Taylored Expressions wave border die from paper that I smooched with blue Distress ink.
The layout is from the MFT weekly sketch challenge from a few weeks ago.

These Hawaiian stamps I picked up years ago in Hawaii. I have quite a collection of them. Hawaii used to be part of my work territory so I'd make a trip over about 3 to 4 times per year. I have relatives that live in Kailua and I'd stay with them instead of a hotel, and I usually managed to stay the weekends before and after my work week. I found this little stamp store in the Pearl City area and picked up stamps about every trip.

Here's the inside.

Now for the second card that I made for Jai's birthday. For this one I used the current Freshly Made Sketch. The background large Hawaii state stamp is from that same store.

For the three horizontal elements, I cut three waves using the Lawn Fawn wave dies and glued them together to form the water. They are made using Zig Real Brush markers directly onto watercolor paper and then moving the ink around with copious amounts of water and a paint brush. Using the Misti stamping tool, I stamped the sentiment on the right bottom of the water. I needed to stamp it several times to get it dark enough and the Misti works great for that. Kona the gecko is stamped in SU Archival black ink and watercolored with Zig markers as well. I fussy cut the image and popped him over the water with foam tape. I used some glossy accents over his eyes for more dimension and depth.

Here's the inside.

Thanks for looking in. I hope everyone has a fab weekend!
Colleen

Supplies
Card 1
Stamps: RSP Honolulu, Hi (all images)
Paper: SU Crumb Cake card base, grass cloth/paper, Strathmore watercolor paper
Ink: SU Archival black, Tim Holtz Distress Ink, SU markers
Other: Die-namics Pierced Fishtail Flag and Double Stitched Round dies, Taylored Expressions Wave Border die, wooden sunglasses, the Big Shot, foam tape, mini glue dots

Card 2
Stamps: Kona Hangs Loose by The Craft Lounge and Hawaii State stamp by RSP Honolulu, HI
Paper: Strathmore Bristol Smooth card stock and Strathmore watercolor paper
Ink: SU Archival Black ink and Zig Real Brush Markers, SU Island Indigo
Other: Lawn Fawn Ocean Wave Border dies, the Big Shot, Misti Stamping tool, foam tape, Glossy Accents

Life Is Like A Cup of Tea

Hello,

It's the end of the work week for me as I have tomorrow off. I'll be flying to northern California to attend the memorial service for my Uncle who passed a few days before Christmas. He was a truly awesome man and I was very close to him growing up. My family lived on the same ranch so I saw him every day. He was one of those people who had that "goodness" within.

I was a little busy with work this week, but I wanted to be sure to play along with the Paper Players challenge. Joanne has an interesting sketch for us to use. I debated on some things and finally decided to forgo the diamond shapes and use a new Simon Says Stamp set that I purchased recently.

The stamp set, patterned papers and enamel shapes are all part of the February 2017 Simon Says Stamp Kit of the Month. The cup images are stamped on X-Press It Blending card stock with Memento tuxedo black and colored with Copics. After adhering the patterned paper to the card front, I fussy cut the cups and glued them in place. The sentiment is stamped in SU Black Archival ink. For the teas, I used different browns with under tones of red, yellow and green to make the tea's look like different flavors. I think it worked.

Do you like flavored tea? I'm NOT a fan. Tea is my beverage of choice, but I drink iced tea rather than hot. I buy the organic black iced tea in large bags from Harney & Sons. I use an Iced Tea maker to brew it and I probably make a new batch every day and a half. I don't drink any sodas, so tea is my deal.

I hope you all have a fun weekend. Mine will have some sadness mixed with some fun seeing relatives that I've not seen in several years. Also, my mom, sister, brother and I will get to spend the weekend together and that's a good thing.

Thanks for looking in today,
Colleen


Supplies
Stamps: Coffee and Tea set by Simon Says Stamp
Paper: SU Whisper White, X-Press It Blending card stocks and Doodlebug Cream and Sugar patterned paper
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Archival black, Copics
Other: Enamel shapes, dimensionals