Celebrate

Hello,

I hope your weekend has started off well, that you are having a relaxing Saturday. I've been finishing up a couple of birthday cards that I need for a party tonight. My friend and her mom have birthdays in the same week and tonight they are having a joint celebration.

For Donna, the mom, I made this card using this week's fall colors at Color Throwdown Challenge. Such a pretty combination!

I've combined two Altenew sets to create the front of my card, and the main sentiment, Celebrate, is from Avery Elle. Using my Misti and several SU inks fitting the colors and some masking I created this floral scene. The patterned papers are from a new fall 6x6" pad from Lawn Fawn. I love these layered stamping sets. They are so fun to experiment with different colors and shades.

The inside is pretty simple. The flowers are stamped in Memento tuxedo black and colored with Copics.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Altenew sets Beautiful Day and Dahlia Blossoms, Avery Elle set Sentimental
Paper: SU Heavy Whisper White, X-Press It Blending card stock, Lawn Fawn Fall Plaid patterned papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Cajun Craze, Dusty Durango, Peekaboo Peach, Pumpkin Pie, Tangelo Twist, Peach Parfait, Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Copics
Other: Copper sequins

Warm Winter Wishes

Hello and Happy Friday!

I made this card last night, but didn't get the picture taken until this morning. Truly squeaking it in to the gallery!

Nance is the hostess this week at Paper Players with a great sketch challenge. I used some of the new DSP from the SU Holiday catalog and a new Christmas set from Avery Elle. A pretty simple card, but with an old time feel. (I think).

More stamps from the set used on the inside.

I used the Die-namics Wonky Stitched Rectangles to cut the DSP and the set dies to cut out the snow couple and north pole sign. They are colored with Copics. I used a Wink of Stella pen and brushed on some sparkle over the snow and used some white Nuvo crystal drops on the lady's hat.

Have a great weekend all!
Thanks for stopping in,
Colleen


Supplies
Stamps: Frosty Friends set by Avery Elle
Paper: SU Heavy Whisper White and regular Whisper White card stock and SU Be Merry DSO
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Garden Green and Cherry Cobbler, Copics
Other: Die-namics dies, Avery Ellen Frosty Friends dies, Nuvo drops, Wink of Stella, the Big Shot, diemnsionals

Smitten!

Hello,

I hope your week has started off well. Today was a very busy work day for me, and tomorrow will be no different. But, it's ok because then the weekend seems to arrive faster.

Today I have the card that I made on Friday using the current CAS(E) This Sketch layout. What a fun one this week, although it took me a little while to make up my mind on how to use it.

I started with some older Doodlebug Christmas patterned papers and a new SU Christmas set called Smitten Mittens. This was a super quick card to put together as there isn't much stamping involved. Love the silver and Bermuda Bay colors together too, and it especially looks pretty with a pop or Real Red.

Here is the inside:

Thanks for stopping in, and have a great Wednesday!
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Smitten Mittens set by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Heavy Whisper White, Bermuda Bay, Real Red and Silver card stock and Doodlebug patterned papers
Ink: SU Bermuda Bay
Other: SU Smitten dies, red rhinestone, Baker's twine, Nuvo silver glitter drops, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Merry Christmas

Hi all,

I hope you've had a nice and relaxing weekend. I've been doing some crafty things, but not with paper, stamps and ink. This weekend, I made some mug rugs for birthday gifts. I drew my own coffee mug pattern, traced it onto some fabric and appliquéd it to some canvas background fabric. I'll post some pictures at the end of my blog post, because, while I didn't do any stamping this weekend, I did do some on Friday to made a few challenge cards.

This one uses the current Freshly Made Sketch layout. I have to say, I love Jen's sketch this week! Here's what I came up with.

I took a little creative license and changed the small focal element from rectangle to circle because I wanted to use this star circle frame by Avery Elle, and because I think it works best with the little bear image, also Avery Elle. The patterned papers are Holiday papers from SU from last year.  After cutting out the circle star frame and the larger star in the upper corner, I covered the stars with a generous amount of Wink of Stella clear glitter. It looks great IRL. The bear is colored with Copics and cut with the corresponding set die.

Here is the inside. The bird is from the same Avery Elle set, but the sentiment is a very old Christmas stamp that I've had forever, and also one of my very favorite Christmas card greetings.

Here are the mug rugs that I made this weekend. They were super fun to craft!

Thanks for stopping by this afternoon. Have a wonderful week!
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Winter Woodland Wonders set by Avery Elle
Paper: SU Heavy weight Whisper White and Delightful Dijon card stock and Presents and Pinecones DSP
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, SU Cherry Cobbler
Other: Avery Elle Winter Woodland Wonders and Star Circle Frame dies, Wink of Stella, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Wishing You A Harvest of Blessings

Hello stamping friends,

I'm squeaking in my card for the Paper Players challenge, where LeAnne has a CAS Fall/Harvest theme this week. I made this card Sunday evening after dinner, but didn't get a chance to take a picture to blog it before leaving for Los Angeles on Monday morning.

I tried this technique after watching Jennifer's video. I had some issues with the gold EP not sticking, or sticking too much in places. I watercolored the images with Distress Oxide ink and water. In keeping with the CAS spirit, I left off embellishments and layers.

The inside: A pumpkin pie using Lawn Fawn stamps.

Have a fun Friday!

Thanks,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Harvest Mouse set by My Favorite Things and Lawn Fawn Cutie Pie set (inside)
Paper: SU Pumpkin Pie and Very Vanilla card stock, Strathmore water color paper
Ink: VersaMark, SU Old Olive, Distress Oxide
Other: Die-namics Stitched Pumpkin dies, gold EP, the Big Shot

Thanks A Lot

Hello and Happy Monday evening all,

I'm back in the Los Angeles area for the week for work. Santa Monica to be exact. If one must work in Los Angeles, Santa Monica is not all that bad of a place.

I have another of the challenge cards that I made on Saturday. This one for the Sunday Stamps color challenge. I've used the super cute Paper Smooches set called Best Buds. The flower image is stamped using Memento Tuxedo black onto X-Press It Blending card stock and colored with my brand new Faber-Castel Polychromos colored pencils. I splurged and ordered the 120 pencil set. They are so pretty just setting in their box!



I pulled out pencils matching this week's color challenge and colored the flower images. I thought the panel with the bright blues and purples would look nice on a black card base, as well as the focal sentiment element.

I left the inside mostly blank with space to write a nice thank you note. 

I really like the feel of these new pencils. I have a mis-matched set of Prismacolor pencils that I've been using and they are pretty nice, but they don't have the smooth feel that the Faber-Castel pencils do. Not that I'm an expert, LOL.


Have a wonderful Tuesday everyone and thanks for looking in!
Colleen




Supplies
Stamps: Best Buds set by Paper Smooches
Paper: SU Basic black and X-Press It Blending card stock
Ink: Memento tuxedo black
Other: F-C Polychromos colored pencils, MFT Die-namics Stitched Oval die, Paper Smooches Best Buds dies, the Big Shot, purple and blue rhinestones, dimensionals

Witches Brew With Scream and Sugar

Hello,

It's been about a week since my last blog post. I'm in an extended period of work travel and only home on the weekends, which doesn't leave too much time for stamping and blogging. I did make some time to play along with a few of my favorite challenges this weekend.

Here is a Halloween card that I made yesterday using this week's Freshly Made Sketch.

I stamped my background using a few of the smaller images in the SU set. The horizontal elements are SU DSP and a piece of corrugated paper. The cup of brew is stamped on DSP and cut out then layered over the DSP pieces.  I added some round and bat shaped sequins flying out of the cup. All in all, very simple.

Here is a look at the inside.

I'm off again to Santa Monica in the morning and won't be home until Friday evening. I'm hoping to be able to blog a few more cards during the week.

I hope your week is a great one. Thanks for stopping in,
Colleen


Supplies
Stamps: Merry Cafe set by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Naturals Ivory card stock, red and orange corrugated papers, and Painted Autumn DSP
Ink: SU Riding Hood red, Pumpkin Pie, Memento tuxedo black
Other: bat and round sequins, Fiskers corner rounder punch, dimensionals

Thinking Of You

Happy Labor Day evening peeps,

I'm sad to see this day end because it means it's back to work time, but, I've had a very nice and relaxing weekend and I hope you have too.

I made several cards over the last three days. It was good to get some stamping time in because I will be working out of town for the next 2.5 weeks, so stamping time will be limited to the weekends.

This card I made for the current CAS(E) This Sketch challenge. When I saw the sketch this week, I was quite stumped. I really didn't know what to do with it. But, after looking through some of my new SU Holiday catalog sets, I came up with this.

I stamped one of the small leaf stamps from the set so it fans out from the center like in the sketch. After stamping I colored them with Copics in fall colors. I heat embossed the greeting with SU copper EP onto Old Olive card stock and then punched it out with an SU punch. A hole was punched in the side and I threaded some SU gold sequin ribbon through, then tied a small bow with some olive twine and using a mini glue dot, adhered it over the small hole. The whole element is popped up with foam tape over the center of the stamped images. I added some very small olive pearls and gold enamel dots around the images to finish off the embellishments.

Here is the inside:

Have a wonderful Tuesday and thanks so much for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Stampin' Up sets Count My Blessings and Sassy Salutations
Paper: SU Old Olive and Whisper White card stock
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Old Olive, Copics
Other: SU Everyday Label punch, SU mini sequin trim, green twine, foam tape, Want To Scrap mini pearls, enamel dots

Hello

Hello crafty friends,

I spent yesterday exactly as I said I would, crafting, watching US Open Tennis and some baseball. In the evening we went to our friends for dinner and as per usual, had a great time catching up with them. Jai always cooks a fabulous meal. His theme last night was Hawaiian Luau. Grilled chicken, a take on Chinese cabbage salad with serrano peppers, sticky rice and Mai tais. My own Personal Chef made a yummy shrimp cocktail for apps, and chocolate pie for dessert. Hopefully, I haven't made you too hungry, LOL.

This is one of the cards that I made yesterday. It uses the sketch from this week's  SIP Challenge and the colors from this week's Color Throwdown. I'm not really loving the mixed gingham look. In my mind, I thought it would look super cute, but really, not so much. However, I spent some quality time putting it together and coloring the PI, so I'll send it to someone and they probably won't be so critical.

Aw with many of my cards, there are several companies represented. The stamps, patterned papers, and flower die are from MFT. The stitched scalloped circle and hello die are Lawn Fawn, and the red gingham circle is cut with Spellbinders.

I stamped the PI image on X-Press It Blending card stock and colored her with Copics. I decided to cut the "hello" die again with black paper and use the black for the inserts in the loops of the letters. Just for something different. To complete the card I rounded opposite corners and added some enamel dots.

It's more of the same for me today. The weather is gloomy again, even with a few rain drops this morning. It beats the heat we've been having over the last 4-5 days.

Thanks for stopping by,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Pure Innocence Sunflower Girl by My Favorite Things
Paper: SU Heavy Whisper White, Real Red, Summer Sun, Daffodil Yellow, More Mustard, Gumball Green, Basic Black and X-Press It Blending card stock, MFT Gingham Patterned Papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and Copics
Other: Lawn Fawn Stitched Scalloped circle and Hello, Spellbinders circle, Die-Namics Sunflower dies, Fiskars corner rounder punch, enamel dots, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Who Needs Snowflakes. . .

Hello,

It's one of my favorite long weekends of the year. Labor Day holiday weekend for me is usually hanging at home, lots of crafting, with the US Open Tennis matches in the background during the day and then a baseball game to watch in the evening. Very low key and relaxing. I'm looking forward to every minute. I just cleaned the clutter from my stamping table, just so I can add it back today.

A few nights ago I made this holiday card. I'm truly behind on making holiday cards this year, and when I saw this set in the SU Holiday catalog, I knew I was going to buy it. Perfect for someone who lives in a coastal community.

As you can see, I've used the current Global Design Project Sketch. The patterned papers are from Stampin' Up from several years ago. I stamped the tree image using SU Archival Black ink onto Strathmore watercolor paper and colored it with Zig Real Brush watercolor markers and a water brush. The sentiment is stamped with SU Cherry Cobbler ink and cut out with a Die-namics Pierced Fishtail Flags die. The sparkly ribbon is from this years SU Holiday catalog.

The inside of the card is super simple using more images from the new stamp set.

Have a great weekend everyone. Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Beachy Little Christmas set by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Heavy Whisper White and regular Whisper White card stock, Strathmore watercolor paper, SU Holiday DSP, SU ribbon, Die-namics die, the Big Shot, foam tape