Thinking Of You.

Hello stampers,

I hope your week has started off well. It's a pretty busy one for me, but come Thursday evening, I'm done until the Wednesday after Memorial Day!

Sunday evening I made this card using the new Paper Players Challenge. Nance is the hostess this week with a fun theme. Clean and Simple Butterflies. I combined a couple of different sets to create my card.

My card is a one layer card, although I did die cut the butterflies and pop them up with foam tape. The branch with flowers are from a set in the upcoming SU 2017-2018 catalog called Colorful Seasons. I stamped the flowers, masked them off, then stamped the branch. The butterflies are stamped with Distress Oxide inks onto watercolor paper and cut with the corresponding dies. (Butterflies and dies from Reverse Confetti). While it's difficult to see in the photo, I used a Wink of Stella glitter pen over the butterflies to give them some sparkle. A few sequins was added for embellishments.

Here is the inside:

Branch, flowers and sentiment from SU and tiny butterfly from Reverse Confetti.

Loved Nance's challenge this week! Lots of pretty cards in the gallery too.

Have a good rest of the week and thanks for looking in today,
Colleen


Supplies
Stamps: Colorful Seasons set by Stampin' Up and Butterfly Dreams by Reverse Confetti
Paper: SSS Heavy White card stock
Ink: SU Soft Suede, Calypso Coral, Fresh Fig, Old Olive, Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks
Other: Reverse Confetti Butterfly Dreams dies, clear and white sequins, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Celebrate! It's Your Day

Hello and Happy Monday!

I hope you all had a marvelous weekend. Mine was very uneventful and that was just fine with me. I got home from Colorado Springs around 7:00 pm on Friday in time for a little Happy Hour and dinner with some of our neighbors. The same group had dinner together on Saturday too. Friday at our home and Saturday at the neighbors.

Work meetings in Colorado Springs were good. Just our "team" with a few guests. It was a trip that we earned last year, so while there was some meetings, we also got half day off. I had a great massage. We stayed at the Garden Of the Gods resort. The weather was interesting. Here's a picture of Pike's Peak on Wednesday, late afternoon:

And here's the same view on Thursday morning:

Yes, that's snow on May 18! During the day, there was snow, rain, hail, sleet, wind and sun. As I said, interesting weather.

Since you're really here for a card, I'll get to it. Mr. Personal Chef's birthday is at the end of the month. Using this week's Freshly Made Sketch, I made this for him last night.

Using the new SU In Color, Lemon Lime Twist ink, I repeatedly stamped the lime from the Altenew set called Simple Fruits onto X-Press It Blending card stock.  I trimmed it to match the top layer of the sketch and then glued it to a card base of Lemon Lime Twist card stock. The focal image are dies from Hero Arts called Martini Fancy Dies. The sentiment is from Hero Arts as well and stamped in another new SU In Color called Fresh Fig. I added SU In Color enamel dots around the card for embellishments.

Here's a look at the inside. Images are from Hero Arts Birthday Celebration set.

It's an office day for me today so I better get back to work. I wanted to get this posted before the posting ended.

Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Simple Fruits set by Altenew and Birthday Celebration by Hero Arts
Paper: SU Lemon Lime Twist and X-Press It Blending card stocks
Ink: SU Lemon Lime Twist, Fresh Fig, Basic Gray
Other: Hero Arts Martini Fancy dies, Die-namics Fishtail Flags die, SU In Color enamel dots, Fiskars corner punch, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Cheers

Hi stampers,

After a very long day at work, I attended my young friend Nic's Little League baseball game. The last game of the regular season. They had already clenched 1st place with their game on Saturday. Playoffs start next week. He's so excited! He's eleven.

Now, I need to go pack for my trip to Colorado, where I'll be for work the rest of the week. However, I wanted to get this card posted. I made it using the current CAS(E) this Sketch!, and more new Avery Elle stamps and dies.

All of the images are from the new Avery Elle set called Aloha. Super cute! I stamped all of the images onto X-Press It Blending card stock and colored them with Copics. The "cheers" sentiment was stamped repeatedly in SU Hello Honey, Baked Brown Sugar and Cajun Craze inks then cut out with a Die-namics Stitched Rounded Rectangle die. The coconut drink and hibiscus flower are cut out with the corresponding Avery Elle dies and popped up with dimensionals.

Here's the inside:

I fly home on Friday evening. Unfortunately, the weather in Colorado is raining with temps in the high 40s and low 50s. Guess I'll pack sweaters!

Thanks for looking in all, and have a great rest of your week!
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Aloha set by Avery Elle
Paper: SU Hello Honey and X-Press It Blending card stock
Ink: SU Hello Honey, Baked Brown Sugar, Cajun Craze, Memento tuxedo black, Copics
Other: Avery Elle Aloha Elle-ment dies, Die-namics Stitched Rounded Rectangle and Stitched Rectangle dies, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Life's A Beach

Hi all,

We made it through another Monday. Yay! I hope your's was a good one.

After doing some weekend chores yesterday morning, I made this card for Claire's color challenge at the Paper Players. The colors are red, orange, turquoise and green. The obvious direction was to do flowers, but I recently received my new Avery Elle order and decided to see what I could do with one of the new sets. Take a look.

I started with some watercolor paper and using an ink blending tool, blended Distress Oxide Broken China ink over the entire surface. I then spritzed it with some water to make the chalky look that the oxide inks do. While that was drying I stamped the beach shacks onto X-Press It white card stock and colored them with Copics, trimming them with the challenge colors. The houses are colored in a very light blue-gray shade, then shaded with gray W2. I cut out the image using the corresponding Avery Elle Beside the Sea die. The little grass clumps, life preserver, and seagull are stamps in the set with their own dies as well.

After stamping and cutting out all of the images, I cut the watercolored panel with another new Avery Elle die called Diagonal Stripes Elle-ments. The inside rectangle is cut with the new Waves Elle-ments die. The card base is SU Crumb Cake.

Here's what I did with the inside:

The "sand dune" is made with a Die-namics Stitched Hill die. The houses are cut from Sahara Sand and I colored the doors and trim with colored pencils in the challenge colors. The sand bucket/shovel and kite are part of the Beside the Sea set. So are both outside and inside greetings.

I'm home one more day then on Wednesday I fly to Colorado for the rest of the work week for meetings. I'm hoping to get in a couple more challenges this evening after dinner.

Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Beside the Sea set by Avery Elle
Paper: Strathmore watercolor paper, X-Press It Blending card stock, SU Crumb Cake and Sahara Sand card stock
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, Distress Oxide Broken China, SU Pear Pizzazz, Prismacolor colored pencils
Other: Avery Elle Beside the Sea, Diagonal Stripes, Waves dies, Die-namics Stitched Hill die, foam tape, the Big Shot, Misti Stamping tool

With Hugs

A Very Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful moms out in "blog-land". I hope that you're enjoying your special day today.

Hi all,

I called my mom earlier this morning, and she was on her way with a bunch of friends to play bingo for the day. Bingo is one of her favorite past times and she has tons of friends that she plays with. Since it was a little noisy on the bus, I'll call her tonight after she's home.

Today I have a card that I made for this week's Freshly Made Sketch challenge. I had a fun time with this one as it's ALL stamping, (earlier in the week, I posted a card that had no stamping) and other than the popped up butterflies, it's a one layer card.

I began by lightly outlining my stamping area in pencil. Using the Lawn Fawn Fab Flowers set, the flowers were stamped randomly around the area. I masked them, then stamped the 4 vines. After removing the masks, I stamped the greeting in Memento tuxedo black. The butterflies were stamped on some scrap card stock then cut out with the corresponding dies. I folded them in the center and ran a line of glue and placed them on the card. Finally I added some pink SU candy dots along the vines. All stamping was done using the Misti.

The inside is simply stamped with the rest of the Fab Flowers set greeting and Happy Birthday from another Lawn Fawn set.

Enjoy the rest of your day and thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Fab Flowers set by Lawn Fawn
Paper: X-Press It Blending card stock
Ink: SU Daffodil Delight, Peach Parfait, Perfect Plum, Concord Crush, Cucumber Crush, Certainly Celery, Strawberry Slush, Memento Tuxedo Black
Other: Lawn Fawn Fab Flower lawn cuts, SU candy dots, the Big Shot, Misti Stamping Tool

Friends

Happy Friday Peeps!

The weekend is almost here and, as usual, I'm happy about that. No specific plans, but there doesn't need to be for me.

Yesterday after work when I was cruising through blogs I came across the newest Time Out post. This week, we are CASE-ing the very talented Hannelie Bester. I love her work so I thought I'd play along.

Here's the card that I made based on her challenge card example (below).

Hannelie's Card:

I was inspired to use the colored background peaking though the die element, the splatter on her card and the flower theme.

I started with a piece of watercolor paper and blended Distress yellows and oranges using a blending tool horizontally. I mixed some pink Distress ink with water and using a small paint brush, splattered the paint over the watercolored paper. I used a Die-namics Cover Up to cut the top layer from Whisper white card stock and splattered it lightly before gluing it to the watercolored panel.

The flower from Altenew is stamped with SU Archival black ink onto another piece of watercolor paper and watercolored with the yellow and orange Distress inks. I added the leaves to help set off the flower from the background. The sentiment is stamped using the Misti to get it perfectly aligned.

For the inside of the card, I used another image from the set inking the stamp with the yellow and orange inks and spritzing it fairly liberally with water, then stamping it onto watercolor paper. After it was dry, I stamped the inside greeting in Memento black.

This is a very bright and fun card IRL. Fun to make too!

Have a great Friday afternoon and thanks for looking in,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Altenew Build A Flower-Aster set

Paper: SU Whisper white card stock, Strathmore watercolor paper

Ink: SU Archival black, Memento tuxedo black and Tim Holtz Distress 

Other: Die-namics Bold Stripe Cover Up, Altenew Aster dies, ink blending tool, Mini Misti, water mister, sm. paint brush, the Big Shot, foam tape

hello

Yes, hello to all-

I have a super simple and quick card to share with you today. I made this late last night before going to bed and it took no time at all. Notice, there is no stamping on the outside. It's all patterned papers and dies! Something that I rarely do, but I kind of like the way it turned out.

I recently received my pre-order from SU for the new 2017-18 Catalog. Every year I order the new In-Color inks and card stock. This year, I also ordered the DSP that goes with because the floral images are beautiful.

The layout comes from the current Sunday Stamps Challenge. This week it's Sketch Fun week!

This is a CASE of a card that's in the new SU Catalog too. My card is quite different. The use of the negative butterfly die cut is the part that I've CASE'd.

I did do stamping on the inside. The sentiment comes from Altenew. I also utilized the "positive" butterfly die cut.

That's it from me today. Since I've finished work for the day, I'm going to do some more crafting this afternoon. Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Inside greeting from Altenew Build A Flower: Aster set
Paper: SU Powder Pink & Whisper White card stock and SU 2017-18 In Color DSP
Ink: Memento tuxedo black
Other: Reverse Confetti Butterfly Dreams dies, Die-namics Zig-zag Circle and Stitched Rounded Rectangle dies, Avery Elle Sentimental dies, SU In-color glitter enamel dots, the Big Shot, diemnsionals

It's Your Day To Sparkle

Happy Hump Day stampers!

Today I have a card made for this week's Paper Players Challenge, where LeAnne has an awesome and fun theme challenge this week called Sweet Treats. I have many stamp sets that would work. The hard part was choosing which to use!

I decided on this lovely cake from Concord & 9th. It's no secret to any of my family and friends that I LOVE chocolate cake. (I take after my father in this trait.) I stamped the image onto Strathmore watercolor paper and heat embossed it with SU white EP then colored it with Zig Real Brush watercolor markers. The dark chocolate layers have Expresso Dimensional pearls added on top of the watercoloring. When it was dry, I cut it out with the corresponding set dies. As you can see, the layout is this week's Mojo Monday sketch.

I decided to not have a sentiment on the front on this one. Here is the inside with the appropriate greetings.

This cake reminds me of what I call "The Birthday Cake" that Mr. Personal Chef has been making me for my birthday since we were in college (minus the flowers). It's a triple layer chocolate cake, whipped cream between the layers and thickly frosted with semisweet buttercream. It's AMAZING! and one of the reasons I keep him around :).

Thanks for looking in today. Have a nice rest of the work week.
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Happy Day set by Concord & 9th
Paper: SSS white card stock, Strathmore watercolor paper, We R Memory Keepers Hip Hip Hooray patterned papers
Ink: VersaMark, SU Bermuda Bay, Memento tuxedo black
Other: SU white EP, heat tool, paint brushes, Die-namics Stitched Rounded Rectangle and Fishtail Flags STAX dies, Concord & 9th Happy Day dies, Dimensional Pearls, sequins, the Big Shot, foam tape

Let Your Dreams Take Flight

Hello stamping friends,

It's been a blustery day here today. Not as much rain as was predicted, but pretty cloudy and breezy, and cold. As with most Saturdays this spring, we went to our little friend's Little League baseball game in the morning, then went shopping for ceiling fans this afternoon. We skipped lunch, so had a little nosh of chips and guac at a neighborhood Mexican restaurant while the Kentucky Derby was run. Now, I'm settling in to watch some Big League baseball, Padres vs Dodgers this weekend.

I made this card a few nights ago for the current Mojo Monday contest. I love these patterned papers from We R Memory Keepers. They're called Chalkboard and the floral images are very pretty. I've paired the papers with Reverse Confetti butterflies.

The butterflies are stamped in Pool Party ink using my Misti stamping tool. I stamped them several times to make them very bright.

Here is the inside. There's a fun sheet of patterned paper striped with all of the single sheet patterns. The stamps are another Reverse Confetti set.

I hope your weekend is going well. Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Butterfly Dreams and You're So sets by Reverse Confetti
Paper: SU Pool Party and X-Press It Blending card stock and We R Memory Keepers Chalkboard patterned papers
Ink: SU Pool Party and Memento tuxedo black
Other: Reverse Confetti Butterfly Dreams dies, Die-namics Wonky Stitched Rectangle and Stitched Square dies, Nuvo glitter drops in Silver Moonlight, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Hugs & Kisses

Hi again,

This is my second post today.

Since I had the Altenew Spring Daisy stamp set out on my desk, I decided to use it to make a get well card for my Aunt. She spent a few days in the hospital this week due to a small stroke. She seems to be doing well and the prognosis is for a full recovery. Good News!

I used the Freshly Made Sketch, brought to us by Narelle this week.

The daisy is stamped with different shades of SU pink inks and the leaves in Garden Green and Wild Wasabi. The flower and leaves are fussy cut. (I'm thinking that the co-ordinating dies must have been on backorder when I bought the set.) The patterned papers are from the American Crafts Soho Garden paper pad again. I love navy and pink together and that was my inspiration for the background papers and ink colors.

On the inside, more stamps from the same set, this time colored with Copies. The sentiment is from Lil' Inker.

Thanks for stopping in again, and have a fab Friday!
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Spring Daisy set by Altenew and SU Good Greetings set
Paper: SU Whisper White card stock and SoHo Garden by American Crafts patterned paper
Ink: SU Blushing Bride, Sweet Sugarplum, Garden Green, Wild Wasabi, and Night of Navy, Memento tuxedo black, Copics
Other: Lawn Fawn Banner dies, enamel shapes, the Big Shot, dimensionals, Fiskars corner punch

Celebrate MOM

Hello,

I'm taking a few days off from work at the end of the week here, which makes it a four day weekend for me. Whoo-hoo! I had planned on maybe heading to the beach for the afternoon with my e reader and music, but it turned a little chilly so I got out my stamps instead.

I wanted to get a card made for The Paper Players. Jaydee has a Tic-Tac-Toe challenge and I find these so fun. Since I didn't get a chance to play along with Sandy's sketch challenge last week, I used her sketch for my card.

I used the right side vertical option of twine, yellow and flower. The large flower and leaves stamps are from an Altenew set called Spring Daisy. The sentiment is SU.

For the inside, I used another daisy stamp from the same Altenew set and the sentiment is from Avery Elle.

I hear that it's going to get colder with rain and wind here tomorrow through the weekend, so I predict more stamping time.

Thanks for coming by,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Spring Daisy set by Altenew, Thoughtful Banners by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Hello Honey and Whisper White card stock, SoHo Garden by American Crafts patterned papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Sahara Sand, Crushed Curry, Old Olive
Other: Spellbinders Scalloped Square die, Lil' Inker Stitched Square tag die, TE Small Scalloped Border die, SU Baker's Twine, small ric rack, the Big Shot, dimensionals

OH YEA!

Hello again,

My quick second post for the second card using this week's Color Throwdown colors.

Since I was having fun with watercolor paper, I made one more background panel. This time I rubbed the ink pad directly over the paper. The color is Fossilized Amber Oxide Distress Ink. I spritzed it with a fair amount of water then used a large paint brush to spread the ink over the entire paper. I dabbed the brush onto the purple ink pad and mixed it in lightly. After it dried, the surface has that muted look that the oxide inks do. When I was making the panel, I had no plans for it, but after it was dry, it reminded me of a sunset sky. I just received the city scape dies from Altenew. A perfect match for my panel!

The sentiment bubble and stamp are Reverse Confetti.

Time to go to work. Thanks again all,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Reverse Confetti Figure Of Speech set
Paper: Strathmore watercolor paper, SU Blackberry Bliss and Old Olive card stock
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks
Other: Altenew Layered Cityscape Cover dies A and B, the Big Shot, Reverse Confetti Figure of Speech dies, SU small rhinestones, dimensionals

A Latte Birthday Wishes

Hi and happy Monday!

I made a couple of cards on Saturday using this week's Color Throwdown colors of purple, yellow and green. I didn't get them blogged over the weekend and since the challenge ends this afternoon, I'm doing a couple of quick posts  before work this morning.

This first card I made using the sketch from this week's CAS(E) this Sketch! challenge. The background is Distress Inks smooshed onto watercolor paper. I let it dry then embossed it with the SU houndstooth EF. Next, I rubbed some purple Distress Oxide Ink over the raised areas and spritzed lightly with water. The green banner and purple cup were made the same way as the yellow panel, with smooshed Distress Inks onto watercolor paper. After the purple was dry, I stamped the cup repeatedly with SU black archival ink and cut it out using the set dies. The coffee is SU Baked Brown Sugar ink. I added the little white enamel heart in the center and the two purple dots for embellishment.

Thanks for stopping by,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Latte Love set by Lil' Inkers

Paper: Strathmore watercolor paper, SU Lovely Lilac card stock

Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink and Distress Oxide Ink, SU Baked Brown Sugar 

Other: SU Houndstooth EF, Lil' Inkers dies, Die-namics Fishtail Flag dies, the Big Shot, enamel shapes, dimensionals