This Calls For Mimosas! & Hello. . . A Two Card Post

Hi again all,

This is my second post today. After finishing up with my work, thankfully a little earlier than I expected, I thought I'd post two more cards that I made earlier in the week.

The first card is made using this week's Freshly Made Sketch sketch. I'm using a relatively new set from Avery Elle that I ordered a few weeks ago called Mimosas. I love mimosas, but I love just the champagne even more! This stamp set has several word stamps and I thought it would be fun to use them stamped in a line for the top horizontal elements in Kim's sketch. The colors are from this week's Color Throwdown challenge. The colors this week are light yellow, blue and green. I just received a set of the Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks and used them to stamp the words. Love the look of these inks!

The second card is made using another color challenge, this one brought to us by Sunday Stamps Weekly Challenge. The inspiration photo this week is succulents, but I used flowers from a WPLUS 9 set.

I was watching this video by Kathy Racoosin the other day where she was coloring with a very dark shade Copic marker and a very light shade Copic marker, then using the colorless blender to blend them together. I think she called it ink smashing. I thought I'd give it a try and this card is my result. Kind of fun and a very different look from just regular Copic coloring.

The background panel is water color paper and Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks in greens. After drying with a heat took, I splattered purple over the panel and then dried that. The card base and scalloped circle border are retired SU Lovely Lilac. (It used to be one of my favorite SU colors). There were lots of steps to make this card, but oh so fun!

Thanks for stopping by again,
Colleen


Card 1 Supplies
Stamps: Mimosas set by Avery Elle
Paper: SU So Safforn and X-Press It Blending card stocks
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide, Memento Black, Copics
Other: Avery Elle Mimosas dies, Die-namics Stitched Oval die, Fiskars corner punch, enamel dots, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Card 2 Supplies
Stamps: Doodle Buds set by WPlus 9
Paper: Strathmore water color, X-Press It Blending and SU Lovely Lilac card stock
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, Tim Holtz Distress Oxide
Other: Die-namics Stitched Scalloped Circle Frame die, the Big Shot, foam tape, Sharpie white paint marker

Hope It's An Awesome Birthday

Good Morning,

I realized last night after dinner that I had not made a card for this week's Paper Players challenge! Yikes! I like Claire's sketch this week and wanted to make something. Since it was fairly late, it needed to be something pretty quick and simple.

I decided on a masculine birthday card because I had a Lawn Fawn patterned paper pad on my table with these nice dark gray papers in it. This turned out to be just what I needed. Quick, simple and cute.

The balloon dies are Lawn Fawn as well. The other dies are Die-namics. Sentiment is  SU heat embossed in white powder.

I have a big spreadsheet that I need to work on today, but I took a quick break to get this posted. Have a great day everyone and thanks for stopping by,
Colleen


Supplies
Stamps: Endless Birthday Wishes set by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Basic Gray, Real Red and Cherry Cobbler card stock and Lawn Fawn patterned papers
Ink: VersaMark
Other: Die-namics Wonky Stitched circle, Large Banner and Fishtail Flags dies, Lawn Fawn Balloon dies, SU white EP, heat tool, SU candy dots, Sharpie white paint pen, the Big Shot, foam tape

Happy Easter

Hello,

We've survived Monday. I had a busy work day, so the day went pretty fast. I have some more busy days ahead of me too, so hopefully that means that the week will go fast.

I love the old fashioned feel to the Inspired By All the Little Things inspiration photo this week and thought I had a great stamp to use for a card. This is a very old PSX wooden stamp that I've had for years. I kept the card pretty simple and used the plaid and earth tones as my inspiration.

I've discovered over the years that this image looks best stamped and not colored. This time I stamped it in VersaMark and heat embossed it with a chocolate EP. I've framed it by using a couple of Di-namics dies.

The inside is very simple with just the greeting.

Thanks for looking in. I hope you have a great week.
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Bunny stamp by PSX and inside greeting by Hero Arts
Paper: SU Crumb Cake and X-Press It Blending card stocks, Lawn Fawn brown plaid and SU DSP
Ink: VersaMark and SU Chocolate Chip
Other: Di-namics Oval Stitched and Rectangle Stitched dies, SU twine, wooden button, the Big Shot, Chocolate brown EP, heat tool

Life Is Beautiful

It's Sunday evening here on the West Coast. As we are fond of saying, "a school night," which means tomorrow is work. Weekends just go by too, too quickly.

I had a little stamping time today and managed to make another card for the 2017 Spring Coffee Lovers Blog Hop.  I combined a couple of sets, nestling this cup of coffee among some spring flowers. My layout is based on the current CAS(E) this Sketch.

I did lots of masking to make this card. It was actually fairly quick once I got the 3 masks cut out. The flowers are from the Altenew set called Spring Daisies. The coffee cup is from Reverse Confetti.

I hope you all have a great week. Thank you for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Spring Daisies set by Altenew and Caffinated Cups set by Reverse Confetti
Paper: SU Mambo Melon and X-Press It Blending card stocks, SU vellum
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, SU Mambo Melon, SU Emerald Envy, SU Hello Honey, SU Baked Brown Sugar, SU Craft Black, Copics
Other: Misti Stamping Tool, Die-namics Wonky Stitched rectangle die, SU clear EP, heat tool, the Big Shot, Pretty Pink Posh clear glass beads

Hopping By To Say Hi

Hi to everyone,

My card for the March Mojo Madness Contest was among the winners chosen by random and this is the set that I picked from Verve as my prize. Julie sent it super fast, so I used it to make my card for this week's Mojo Monday Challenge.

A quick post this morning as I have some errands to run soon, but then I plan to do more stamping later this afternoon. 

Thanks for looking in,

Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Hip Hop Bunnies set by Verve
Paper: SU Ruby Red and TE Choice Buttercream card stock, My Mind's Eye Tangerine pattern papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Ruby Red, Copies
Other: Die-namics double stitched circle and banner dies, Spellbinders circle die, TE Scalloped Border die, enamel dots, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Let's Chat

 

Good Morning and happy weekend!

I got some crafty time in last night after dinner and made this to participate in the 2017 Spring Coffee Lovers Blog hop. Now as I've mentioned before on posts with coffee themed cards, I don't drink coffee. I don't particularly like the smell of coffee. But, for some reason I think the coffee themed stamps and papers are so CUTE, so I have several of them in my arsonel, LOL.

I've combined the Concord & 9th set with some yummy French macarons from Avery Elle.

Since it's the Spring hop, I found these bright flowered patterned papers from Crate Paper. The images are stamped on cream card stock and colored with Copies.  On the inside, I used more of the same papers and stamps from Reverse Confetti.

Since there are prizes to be won by participating, I think I'll make a few more cards today. After all, it's my favorite weekend past time.

Thanks for stopping by,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Let's Chat set by Concord & 9th, Bonjour set by Avery Elle, Be A Barista set by Reverse Confetti
Paper: SU Pacific Point and TE Choice Buttercream card stock, Restoration Collection by Crate Paper patterned papers
Ink: VersaMark, Momento tuxedo black, SU Pacific Point, Copics
Other: Avery Elle dies, Spellbinder dies, SU White EP, heat tool, Baker's twine,  SU enamel hearts, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Love You BIGLY

Hi again,

It's rare that I post during the work week, unless I've done timed posts, so it's super rare that I'm making a second post on a work day. I finished re-configuring my work computer after the server migration quicker than I expected, so I had some free time this afternoon. What better way to spend it than stamping?

Did you see THIS post by Jennifer McGuire earlier this week? I loved the look of her monochromatic coloring technique that she demonstrated in the video. Since I have most of the tools and stamp sets that she used, I gave it a try that evening and made 4 pretty cute cards using the Avery Elle Punny Pantry set. I haven't taken any pictures of those cards yet to share them, but since it was so much fun, I decided to try it again and made this card this afternoon.

As you can tell by the graphic below my card, I used Linda's new Freshly Made Sketch. The challenge this week is to put together two of anything. Hopefully, this Dino and greeting element fit the challenge. The colored card stock is SU Lucky Limeade. I stamped the sentiment and Dino from two new Paper Smooches sets called Huge Hugs and Huge Hugs 2 in VersaMark and heat embossed them with white EP. The dino is cut out with the corresponding PS die and the sentiment is cut out with a Die-namics Stitched Rectangle Border die. As in Jennifer's technique video, I used Prismacolor white colored pencil and blender pencil and a VersaMark marker to "color" the dino. On the frame, the inside of the stitched line is "colored" with the VersaMark marker and the outside with the white colored pencil. The frame is popped up with foam tape as is the dino. There is a tiny heart in the set and I stamped it randomly with Versamark ink and then placed white enamel hearts next to them for embellishment.

I went a completely different direction on the inside doing some water coloring.

This is a super fun and quick card making technique. I highly recommend you give it a try.

Finally, since the March Paper Smooches Challenge is to use green, I'm linking up there too.
I plan on sending this off to my nephew who's in college in Saint Paul. I do love him BIGLY!

As always, thanks for checking in!
Colleen


Supplies
Stamps: Huge Hugs and Huge Hugs 2 sets by Paper Smooches
Paper: SU Whisper White and Lucky Limeade card stock, water color paper
Ink: VersaMark outside and SU Archival black and Zig Real Brush Pens on the inside
Other: SU white EP, heat tool, PS Huge Hugs dies, Die-namics dies, Prismacolor white colored pencil and colorless blender pencil, VersaMark marker, foam tape, Pebbles enamel hearts, the Big Shot

Congratulations On the Birth Of Your Daughter

Good Morning,

It's a wet day here in San Diego, although the rain is very light. Really, it just makes for very slow traffic on the freeways. I'm currently sitting at a Starbucks overlooking the Interstate 5 freeway in the beach area and it's totally stopped. I have to make my way into an actual company office a little later this morning to restart my work computer after a major server migration. The restart can't be done via remote connection, which is how I work from my home office, so I'll be heading to the only company office in San Diego a little later. It's a completely separate division form the one I work for, but they have been very nice to let us use their connection. Otherwise, all of the San Diego employees would have had to drive to Los Angeles two days in a row.

Since I can't use my work computer or phone (yes, it effects that as well) I can sit and blog this morning. Today, I have a card for the Paper Players weekly challenge. It's Joanne's week to host and she has a Clean and Simple theme to make a baby card. Although I don't really need a baby card, it never hurts to have one in one's stash.

To make my card, I used some stamps from the new Lawn Fawn set called Fab Flowers. A few days ago, I posted another card using this same set but using another of the flowers included. It's not specifically a baby stamp set, but combined with the baby sentiment, I think it works pretty well.

To make this flower and butterfly wreath, I used a circle die to lightly trace a circle in the center of my card. Using the mini Misti, I stamped the flowers, butterflies and leaves in "girly" colors, placing them in just the right place for die cutting. After the stamping was completed, I cut the center out using the same circle die. Since this is a CAS challenge, I glued the panel to my card base so it resembles a single layer card. The sentiment is a very old wooden stamp and it has no company on it. I don't remember when or where I bought it. Since I used black for the butterfly's wing accents, I used black for the sentiment. (After the card was finished, I thought that gray might have been a better choice being softer for a baby card, but oh well.) Again since this is a CAS challenge, I kept lots of white space so for embellishments, I added a few sequin and rounded opposite corners. This was a fun card to stamp and to make and I like the way it turned out.

That's about all from me today. I need to hit the busy, stopped highway soon. Have a great day and thanks for looking in.

Colleen


Supplies
Stamps: Fab Flowers set by Lawn Fawn and baby sentiment stamp (unknown source)
Paper: X-Press It Blending card stock
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Pretty In Pink, Real Red, Calypso Coral, Certainly Celery, Old Olive
Other: Mama Elephant pierced circle die, mini Misti, the Big Shot, sequin, Fiskars corner punch

You're Good Peeps

Hello,

I'm having an "office day" this morning which means that I'm hanging out doing computer work until 2 pm today. This makes time for me to post another card that I made on Sunday.

This is an Easter card using this week's CAS(E) this Sketch #213.

I started by sponging Flirty Flamingo ink over a Crafters Workshop stencil in the upper corner of a white panel. The panel is glued to a card base of Flirty Flamingo card stock. I stamped the chick from the Reverse Confetti "Carton Cuties" set three times on some X-Press It Blending card stock, colored them with Copies and cut them out using the Carton Cuties dies and popped them over the sponged corner with dimensionals.

The sentiment is stamped on black card stock with VersaMark and embossed in SU white EP.

Very quick and simple, but pretty cute.

Thanks for looking in today,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Carton Cuties set by Reverse Confetti
Paper: SU Flirty Flamingo, Basic Black and X-Press It Blending card stocks
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, VersaMark, SU Flirty Flamingo and Copics
Other: Carton Cuties dies, Crafters Workshop stencil called mini Gathered Flowers, Ranger Blending tool and applicator, the Big Shot, white sequin, dimensionals

Hugs

Good morning stampers,

Here's a card that I made yesterday for this week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge.

I recently bought some fun new Lawn Fawn stamps, so I used one of the sets to make this card. I really love Linda's DT card with the large rose on the front, so I decided to CASE her card using the rose stamps and dies from Fab Flowers.

The patterned papers are very old Crate Paper and the card base is some that I purchased already embossed with the woodgrain.

These flowers in this Lawn Fawn set are super fun to play with. I have another card that I'll post later in the week using the set.

I'm off to work for the day. I hope you all have a great one.

Thanks for checking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Fab Flowers by Lawn Fawn
Paper: SU Pretty In Pink and Rose Red card stock, LCI Paper Co. (card base), Crate Paper patterned papers
Ink: SU Pretty In Pink, Rose Red, Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Memento tuxedo black
Other: Lawn Fawn Fab Flowers and banner dies, the Big Shot, fun foam, dimensionals

A Hippity Hoppity Hello

Hello and happy Sunday afternoon,

I've been feeling pretty poorly for the last 3-4 days and I'm getting sick of being sick, LOL. Somewhere, I picked up a really nasty cold virus. Couldn't be because my work takes me to hospitals and urgent care facilities. I thought I was fighting it off, but on Friday it really got the best of me and yesterday I did absolutely nothing but watch tennis and baseball. My two favorite sports as least.

One evening earlier in the week, I stamped this Reverse Confetti bunny image onto SU Naturals card stock with SU Archival black ink and colored it with colored pencils while watching TV. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it at the time, I just felt like coloring. Since I felt a little better this morning, I decided to turn it into a card. I looked around for a sketch to use and decided that she would look great showcased using this week's Mojo Monday sketch.

A quick post today. I did feel like doing some stamping today and I made a few more cards that I'll share later this week. I hope you all have a great week ahead!

Thanks for checking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Bebe Bunny set by Reverse Confetti
Paper: SU Naturals, Whisper White and Wild Wasabi card stock and Crate Paper patterned papers
Ink: SU Archival Black
Other: Die-namics Stitched Rectangles dies, Prismacolor colored pencils, My Minds Eye enamel shapes, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Coffee & Friends Make the Perfect Blend

Hi again,

Another quick post for a card that I made for this week's Mojo Monday Contest challenge. I ordered the Simon Says Stamp monthly card kit a few months ago when it was all about coffee and tea. Super cute images in the stamp set. Warning: you may need to view this one with sunglasses. It's bright!

All of the paper, images and embellishments are from the monthly kit. The card base is embossed with the SU brick wall (subway tile) EF and the circles are Die-namics Inside and Out Stitched dies.

Here is the inside:

The sentiment on the inside is Avery Elle dies.

As I've mentioned before, I don't care for the actual coffee, but I love the coffee themed stamps. Go figure!

Thanks again,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Coffee and Tea by Simon Says Stamp
Paper: SSS card stock, X-Press It Blending card stock, Doodlebug Cream and Sugar patterned papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Mambo Melon, Copics
Other: SU Brick Wall EF, Die-namics Inside and Out Stitched Circle dies, Doodlebug enamel shapes, Avery Elle hugs dies, the Big Shot, dimensionals

May Your Troubles Be Less. . .

Hello,

I hope you are all having a nice and relaxing weekend. I'm feeling a little "under the weather" today as I'm coming down with a cold. I woke up during the night with a sore throat, stuffy head, a little achy, and everything else that goes along with. I'm a little sluggish because I did't sleep well. While I don't feel well enough to be out and about, I do feel well enough to do some stamping, so that's how I've spent my day. Also watching the Indian Wells Tennis matches on TV.

Jaydee is hostess for this week's Paper Players Challenge. It's a color challenge using green and white. Perfect for sending some good luck wishes for St. Patty's Day.

I started off with the great sketch at Sunday Stamps Weekly Challenge. The banner element is retired Green Galore paper that I stamped and heat embossed with a tiny shamrock in white, then colored it with a bright green Copic. The focal sentiment and 4-leaf clover are from a free digital panel from Julie at Verve called "Lucky Day." You can find it here. I cut out the sentiment with a Die-namics cross-stitched circle die. The shamrock is fussy cut. Per the sketch, I added some green Baker's Twine and a few sparkly enamel dots for embellishments.

I used a couple more of the sentiments from the digital panel on the inside.

Thanks for checking in this afternoon,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Lucky Day Digital images from Verve and Holiday Party Animal set by Lawn Fawn
Paper: X-Press It Blending, SU Green Galore card stock and SU Rainbow Sherbet DSP (retired)
Ink: VersaMark and Copics
Other: SU white EP, heat tool, Doodlebug enamel dots, Die-namics Cross-stitched Circle dies, SU Scalloped Heart die, Baker's Twine, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Thank You

Hello again,

I have one more quick post today. I made this card using the current Freshly Made Sketch. I ordered this Paper Smooches set and dies a few weeks ago when Kim had a sale. These images are so cute, and so fun to color up.

I like purple but never seem to reach for it. I remedied that with my card today. It's colored using various shades of purple Copics (V and BV lines) and placed on a purple gingham background. The sentiment is cut from Elegant Eggplant. The inside has just a small image stamped in the corner leaving space to write a message.

Thanks once again,
Colleen


Supplies
Stamps: Best Buds set by Paper Smooches
Paper: X-Press It Blending and Elegant Eggplant card stock, MFT gingham patterned paper
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and Copics
Other: Best Buds Icon dies and Script Thank You die from Paper Smooches, Fiskars corner punch, Doodlebug purple pearls, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Happy Birthday

Greetings from a very gloomy Southern California!

It's very cloudy and gray today, and a little chilly. The perfect weather to stay in and create. Especially since I've not had much time for it lately. More of the same next week as I have a meeting in Los Angeles starting tomorrow evening and going through Thursday.  Any-hoo, the first thing that I did this morning was to check out my pals at The Paper Players blog to see what this week's challenge is. Sandy is hostess and this week's theme is to "cut it out."

This reminds me of my "delusions" when the Big Shot first appeared in the Stampin' Up catalog. I was adamant that I didn't need one and resisted buying it for about a year. I was so sure I'd just never use it. The reality is that I rarely, make that VERY rarely, make a card or project without using it these days. My collection of dies grows larger by the month, especially now that almost every stamp set has matching dies. Clearly I was SO wrong!

Here's my card for Sandy's fun and appropriate, challenge this week.

 I've used my Big Shot on several elements. I started with the TE Quatrefoil cutting plate over a panel of MME wood grain paper. The card base is Wild Wasabi card stock. The Avery Elle image is stamped onto X-Press It card with Memento tuxedo black and colored with Copics. It's cut out with the corresponding die. The sentiment is a die from MFT. (yes, a hodgepodge of supplies this week). The flower spray is popped up with dimensionals and I placed some sequin around the card for a finishing touch.

Inspiration for my design comes from the current Inspired By All the Little Things challenge. I'm also playing along with the current "green" challenge at the Curtain Call.

On the inside I've used a stamp from Paper Smooches to add to the hodgepodge, but it fits.

 
I'm off to put some laundry in the machine and do some more challenges while listening to my nephew, Ian, host his weekly radio show, Rock n Roots on the Macalester College Radio Station.  He's on every Sunday at 11:00 AM Central. Have a great Sunday stamping friends!

Thanks for stopping in,
Colleen


Supplies
Stamps: Mother's Day set by Avery Elle and Best Buds by Paper Smooches
Paper: SU Wild Wasabi and X-Press It Blending card stock, My Minds Eye patterned paper
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Wild Wasabi and Copics
Other: Quatrefoil Cutting Plate by Taylored Expressions, Mother's Day die by Avery Elle, Die-namics Happy Birthday die by My Favorite Things, the Big Shot, diemensionals, sequin