Happy Father's Day

Hello to all,

I haven't made a Father's Day card for anyone in several years as I lost my Father over 20 years ago, and Mr. Personal Chef's Father has been gone for almost that long too. But this year, we've been invited to dinner at our friend's house to help celebrate Father's Day, so I thought I'd make a card for Jai. (Their 11 y/o is the Little Leaguer whose games we attend during the spring, and they also have an 8 y/o son.)

I'm using Jaydee's Clean & Simple Bird theme for The Paper Players Challenge for my inspiration. The stamps are from the Hero Arts June 2018 kit. I've been having tons of fun with this collection of stamp sets.

I'm pretty jazzed about how this card came together, as it was a "create as I went" deal. I first blended some light sky blue Hero Arts ink onto a piece of X-Press It Blending card stock over the top third of the panel. Then I put the panel into my Misti stamping tool and stamped the sea image using a dark blue Distress Ink pad on the solid part and Hero Arts Deep Ocean ink on the area where the waves are. I stamped the seagulls in the sky using Hero Arts Soft Granite ink. Using a Die-namics circle die, I cut an area of the scene out to use for the card.

Using another piece of X-Press It card stock, I made the card base and using the same inking technique, stamped the sea stamp in the middle of the card base. I taped off the ends of the stamp because I didn't want the image to go all the way to the edges of the card. I glued the circle over the card base matching up the two stamped images. The Die-namics Stitched Circle frame die was cut three times from three pieces of X-Press It card stock and glued together, then placed around the stamped circle. The seagull and wooden stand are stamped using Memento tuxedo black and colored with Copics. The images are cut out using the corresponding dies and popped up over the frame with dimensionals. Finally, the sentiment is stamped in the lower corner using the Hero Arts Soft Granite ink.

There's a bit more stamping on the inside. All images are from Hero Arts.

Since we all live close to the ocean, I thought a beach/sea themed card worked to make a Father's Day card for our friend.

If you are celebrating Father's Day, I hope it's a fun celebration!
I'm heading out of town for work again tomorrow morning. This week I'll be on California's Central Coast in Santa Barbara. I drive home Thursday evening, then we are spending Friday through Sunday in Palm Springs area with the same friends that we're having dinner with tonight. (Yes, it will be hot!)

Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Layering Sea and Sky set & Seas the Day Seagulls set by Hero Arts. Sentiment stamp from Dad and Me by Lawn Fawn
Paper: X-Press It Blending card stock
Ink: various Hero Arts, Distress Inks, Memento Tuxedo black, Copics, SU Real Red
Other: Hero Arts corresponding set dies, Die-namics Stitched Circle Frame die, Misti, Gemini Jr, dimensionals

Time To Relax

Hi all,

I hope your weekend is going well. So far, so good for me. I had the usual Saturday chores this morning. I planned an afternoon of stamping and baseball on TV, which has worked out well.

I am so thankful for the many stamping "rock-stars" that are generous in sharing techniques on their blogs for us all to learn from. One of those generous stampers is Sandy Allnock. Before I got out my supplies this afternoon, I was flipping though some blogs that I have bookmarked and came across this post of Sandy's. I watched her video, and a couple others where she uses the same background coloring technique, and decided to give it a try. It was super fun and I think looks pretty cool.

My card design is inspired by this week's Freshly Made Sketch by Narelle. I decided to do a flat card instead of using dies while using this background technique. It's day 16 for Kathy's 30 Day Coloring Challenge and since this card is ALL coloring, I'm posting there too.

For the water background, I used B41, B21 and B000. After the final blending using B000, I used the colorless blender marker to make the bubbles as in Sandy's video. I also used the white Sharpie marker to outline some of the "bubbles".  I colored the seals using N markers on the top seal and W markers on the bottom seal. To help bring out the shell pink shade I used on the seashell, I matted the panel with SU Powder Pink card stock. The card base is SU Coastal Cabana card stock. All of the stamps are from sets from the June 2018 My Monthly Hero collection, including the images used on the inside of the card, where I used the same background technique again.

Thanks to Sandy for sharing with us how to make this fun and easy background.

Have a great Saturday evening and rest of the weekend and thanks for looking in.
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Seal of Approval set, Seas the Day Seagulls set, and Beach Messages set all by Hero Arts
Paper: X-Press It Blending, SU Powder Pink and SU Coastal Cabana card stocks
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Sharpie white marker, and Copics
Other: Mini Misti stamping tool, SU blue sequins, Wink of Stella

Cupcakes Make Life Sweet

Hello to all,

My card today is made using the sketch and inspiration photo on the Fusion Card Challenge - Cupcakes. I pulled out an older Taylored Expressions set called For the Love of Cupcakes and made a birthday card.

In fact, most all of the supplies are older. The patterned papers are called Country Drive by Echo Park and I think they were in one of the old TE Key Ingredients kits from several years ago. The oval dies are Spellbinder Nesties. The images are stamped onto TE buttercream card stock and colored with Copics. I fussy cut the cake stand and cupcake and glued them to the oval. Following the inspiration photo, I added a rhinestone flower, also from a Key Ingredients kit, and some enamel dots.

Here is the inside:

I didn't notice until I took the picture that the inside greeting is slightly askew. I will end up re-stamping before using the card. Luckily, there isn't much to re-do, LOL.

And, since there is some coloring involved, I'll post to Kathy's 30 Day Coloring Challenge. It's day 12 today. Unfortunately, work gets in my way of finding time to color on a daily basis, but I'm trying to do most of the days.

Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: For the Love of Cupcakes set by Taylored Expressions
Paper: TE white and buttercream card stock, TE dark teal textured card stock, Country Drive by Echo Park patterned paper
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and Copics
Other: Spellbinders Nesting Oval dies, flower rhinestone gem, Basic Gray enamel dots, Gemini Jr, Misti, dimensionals

If Flowers Were Hugs. . .

Hey all,

One more post before bedtime tonight. This card uses Nance's color theme from this week's Paper Players Challenge. I stamped the panel earlier in the afternoon, but then I couldn't decide on how I wanted to make the actual card. After coming home from dinner at our friend's house tonight, (they have young kids and it's still a school night so home early), I came up with this simple layered format.

The stamp set is a new one from Stampin' Up called Abstract Impressions. I stamped the first layer of the flower stems using the "stamp off" technique in Lemon Lime Twist and the second layer full strength. Same for the flowers stamped in Calypso Coral. First layer is "stamped off" with the second layer full strength. This technique allows for lighter and darker shades of the same ink color.

The stitched scalloped Crumb Cake layer is a Mama Elephant die. The card base is Whisper White. I originally planned to use a banner die or punch in Crumb Cake for the sentiment, but didn't like the added element, so I went with stamping the sentiment in black. I like this so much better! Finally, the white dots are Nuvo Drops. (Not planned, but there was an ink smudge at the top and I need to mask it, LOL.)

On the inside of my card I CASE'd the SU catalog example on page 128. A fun and artistic look!

I hope you have fun with Nance's color theme this week. The DT have some gorgeous inspiration examples.

Thanks for looking,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Abstract Impressions set by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Whisper White, Calypso Coral and Crumb Cake
Ink: SU Calypso Coral, Lemon Lime Twist, Crumb Cake and Memento tuxedo black
Other: Mama Elephant die, Nuvo white drops, fun foam, Gemini Jr, Misti Stamping tool

Mahalo

Hello to all,

I did get to craft away most of the afternoon yesterday, as planned. Here's a card that I made using this week's CAS(E) This Sketch layout. I paired some SU DSP with a stamp set from Avery Elle called Aloha.

I rotated the sketch to the left to accommodate the pineapple paper piece that I wanted to use.  The striped paper is the reverse side of the pineapples, which worked out nicely. The images are stamped on X-Press It Blending card stock with Memento tuxedo black ink and colored with Copics. They are cut out using the corresponding set dies. The sentiment banner is cut from another piece of the DSP using a Die-namics banner die. I'm also posting this card to Kathy's 30 Day Coloring Challenge. I think it's on Day 10. Unfortunately, I missed a couple days.

Hope your Sunday has been fun and relaxing. I'm finishing up some laundry and we are headed to friends for dinner late this afternoon.

Thanks for looking,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Aloha set by Avery Elle
Paper: SU Whisper White and X-Press It Blending card stock, SU Tutti-Fruiti DSP
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, SU Soft Suede
Other: Avery Elle Aloha & Circle Elements dies, Die-namics Fishtail Flag Banner die, Gemini Jr, enamel circles, dimensinals, Misti

What's the Scoop? and Thanks A Bunch

Good morning to all,

I hope you are having a nice and relaxing Saturday. I was up early to get my walking in, went for a mani/pedi and now I am home. My afternoon looks like it will be filled with crafty time. Whoo-hoo!

I have two cards in this post, both made with this week's Freshly Made Sketch. Such a fun one with tons of options. After I finished the first card, I decided to make a second using Karen's fun sketch. Both cards use stamp sets from Hero Arts.

Card one is made using SU Heavy Whisper White card stock. The patterned paper is very old Doodlebug. This is a scrap that was just slightly shorter than 5.5", but since the sketch has the layer, I decided to use it, as I wanted the strawberry background to pair with the ice cream scoops.

This is one of Hero's layering sets. The sentiment is cut out using a Die-namics oval die. A few Doodlebug enamel shapes are added for embellishments.

The second card design is inspired by the current Inspired By Challenge photo.
The patterned paper is from Simple Stories and it's called Summertime. The daisies and sentiment are stamped with the new SU Blueberry Bushel ink color, and the blue layer is Blueberry Bushel paper.

For embellishment on this card I've used some yellow pearls and Baker's twine.

Thanks for stopping by today. Have a great weekend!
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Little Florals set and Layering Ice Cream set by Hero Arts
Paper: SU Heavy Whisper White, SU Blueberry Bushel, SU basic Whisper White, Simple Stories and Doodlebug patterned papers
Ink: SU Chocolate Chip, Baked Brownsugar, Strawberry Slush, Melon Mambo, Pretty In Pink, Berry Burst, Blueberry Bushel
Other: Die-namics Stitched Rectangle, Hero Arts Layering Ice Cream and Little Floral dies, Gemini Jr, dimensionals, mini glue dots, Doodlebug enamel shapes, Kaiser Craft pearls, Baker's Twine, Misti

Have A Wonderful Day

Hi all,

Here's my colorful card for Day 5 of Kathy's 30 Day Coloring Challenge. I used another relatively new stamp set from Avery Elle called Hummingbird. Who doesn't LOVE hummingbirds. We have a feeder just outside of our front door and the little ones are certainly entertaining.

The background is watercolored using various blue shaded Distress Inks. The stamped images are stamped onto X-Press It Blending card stock with Memento tuxedo black and colored with Copics.

The stitched scalloped frame is also from Avery Elle and the stamped images are cut out using the corresponding Elements dies.

Since I have many friends with birthdays this summer, I made this a birthday card with an appropriate sentiment on the inside.

A quick post tonight. Thanks for looking in!
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Hummingbird set by Avery Elle and Wreath Builder set by Gina K.
Paper: SU Whisper White and Elegant Eggpland card stock, X-Press It Blending card stock, Strathmore water color paper
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, Tim Holtz Distress ink in shades of blue for the background
Other: Avery Elle elements Stitched Scalloped Rectangle die and Hummingbird dies, Gemini Jr, purple glass dots, dimensionals, paint brushes, heat tool

Life's A Beach

Hi and Happy Monday evening,

Ha ha, I made this card using the CAS Colors & Sketches Challenge #274 - The Double, not realizing that the collection had closed. Oh well. I can still count it as my Day 4 of Kathy's 30 Day Coloring Challenge at her Daily Marker blog.  So far, I've used Copics and water coloring. This card uses colored pencils.

I used Going Gray as the card base and small panel and Tangelo Twist card stock for the scallops and horizontal element. The front of the card base is dry embossed with the SU wood panel embossing folder. The stamp set is Avery Elle called Beside the Sea. The beach houses are stamped in Memento tuxedo black on SU Sahara Sand card stock, then colored with Faber Castell Polychromos colored pencils matching the challenge colors of gold, orange and gray. The image is then cut out with the corresponding set die.

I turned this into a summer birthday card using a stamp from Gina K Designs.

Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Beside the Sea set by Avery Elle and Wreath Builder stamped set by Gina K.
Paper: SU Going Gray, Sahara Sand and Tangelo Twist card stock
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Tangelo Twist
Other: Faber Castell Polychromos colored pencils, Die-namics tag die, Die-namics Pierced Fishtail Flag die (horizontal element), Avery Elle elements Beside the Sea dies, SU Embossing Folder, gray Baker's twine, SU gray candy dots, Gemini Jr, dimensionals

Sending Happy Thoughts

Hi again,
This is my second post today.

I made this card for Day 2 of The 30 Day Coloring Challenge.

The color inspiration comes from the current Fusion Card Challenge.  The stamp set is a relatively new one from Avery Elle called Fuchsia. I stamped the image three times on X-Press It Blending card stock with Memento tuxedo black ink, then colored them with coral and pink shades of  Copics. They were then cut out using the corresponding die. The card base is one of the new SU colors called Grapefruit Grove. I used a Die-namics cover plate to cut the white layer, inspired by the stripes in the photo. The fuchsias are layered over the cover plate using dimensionals.

Thanks again for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Fuchsia set by Avery Elle
Paper: SU Grapefruit Grove, X-Press It Blending card stock
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and Copics
Other: Avery Elle Fuchsia die, Die-namics Fishtail Flag die and cover plate, Gemini Jr, clear crystals, dimensionals

Ewe are as cute as can Bee.

Hello to all,

I hope your Sunday has been nice and relaxing. I am having a great Sunday afternoon doing two of my favorite things. Stamping and watching baseball. So far, my team is loosing, but then I'm used to that as they are never very good, but I'm still a loyal fan. Who knows, it's early and maybe they will turn it around before the game is over.

On the other hand, I love how my card turned out!

I bought a gorgeous tapestry while on vacation in Peru a few weeks ago. They make wonderful weavings and embroidery pieces that are vibrantly colored. I found one that I had to have and honestly, they are very inexpensive for the amount of work that goes into them, especially the handmade ones. I used a quilt hanger to display it above the sofa in my craft room. So, what does all this have to do with my card? I used my new tapestry as design inspiration for my card today to play along with Joanne's theme challenge at the Paper Players.

Here are a couple pictures of the tapestry. (you can click the picture to make it larger.)

and here is my card.

One of the reasons that I loved this tapestry was because of the llamas. There were many llamas walking around Machu Picchu when we were there, and when I saw this in a shop in Lima, I bought it.

For my card, all images are stamped using SU archival black ink onto water color paper using the Misti. They are water colored using Zig Real Brush water color markers and an aqua painter. Once the painting was finished, I used this week's sketch from Sunday Stamps to assemble the card. The oval element is made with Distress Oxide inks and an ink blender, cut out with a Die-namics Stitched oval and Stitched Hill dies. After assembling everything, I used Liquid Dimensional Pearl paints to mimic the french knots on the tapestry. Finally, the sentiment is stamped using VersaMark ink and heat embossed with white EP.

I'm also linking up to Kathy Racoosin's 30 Day Coloring Challenge. She's on day three today.

I really had fun designing and crafting this card. I'm not sure I'll send it out. I may just keep it displayed in my craft room, LOL.

Have a great Sunday evening and thanks for looking in,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Curious Cuties, Curious Cuties 2 and Best Buds sets by Paper Smooches

Paper: TE red and black textured card stock and Strathmore water color paper

Ink: SU Archival Black ink, Zig Real Brush water color markers, VersaMark, Distress Oxide inks

Other: Die-namics Stitched Oval and Stitched Hill dies, Die-namics Fishtail Flag die, Paper Smooches Curious Cuties dies, white embossing powder, heat tool, Misti, Gemini Jr, Liquid Dimensional Pearl paints, gray Baker's twine, SU mini dimensionals, Crystal Stickles (bee's wings), ink blender tool

Whale, hello

Hi all,

My Saturday chores are progressing well and I'm almost finished already, because I woke up really early this morning. I couldn't get back to sleep, so I got up and got started. I have just some laundry left to do. I hope you have fun plans for the weekend, and also have time to relax. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I will be watching my little friend Nic play in his championship Little League Baseball game at noon today. Before that, while my laundry is spinning, I plan on doing some coloring and watching some of the French Open Tennis matches.

I made two cards yesterday afternoon. Yesterday's post has one and here is the other. This one is made using this week's Freshly Made Sketch by Jen B. It's a fun and unique one this week with lots of creative possibilities. Here's what I came up with using the Huge Hugs set by Paper Smooches.

I kept things fairly simple using all card stock. It's a SU retired color called Cool Caribbean. The ocean waves are stamped with a large background stamp from Honey Bee Stamps called Ocean Borders. It's stamped in two colors, SU Island Indigo and SU Bermuda Bay. I cut the panels down to match the bottom design elements and glued them to the card base. The whale is stamped on X-Press It Blending card stock with MFT Hybrid black ink using my Misti in order to get a really dark image. VersaMark ink is used as the top layer,  then it's heat embossed with clear EP. After it cooled I cut it out using the set's corresponding die. The greeting is also heat embossed. Dimensionals are used to attach the whale, using a double layer under his head to make him appear like he's coming out of the water. The photo doesn't really show this, but IRL it looks like he is. Finally, I added three enamel water drops upside-down over the top of the big guy to mimic a waterspout.

Here's the inside:

The stamps are from the Huge Hugs 2 set which are sentiments to go along with the Huge Hugs set. They are stamped in the same two colors, then on the bottom I used the other border stamp from the Honey Bee set, stamped with SU Pool Party, and a strip of patterned paper from my stash.

Thanks for looking in, and have a fab Saturday,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Huge Hugs and Huge Hugs 2 sets by Paper Smooches; Ocean Borders set by Honey Bee Stamps
Paper: SU Cool Caribbean and X-Press It Blending card stock
Ink: SU Island Indigo, Bermuda Bay, Pool Party, MFT Hybrid Black, VersaMark
Other: Huge Hugs dies, Misti, clear EP, heat tool, enamel shapes, Gemini Jr, dimensionals

Coffee & Cupcakes

Well Happy Friday to all,

I made it home from northeastern Arizona last night in time for Mr. Personal Chef to make a yummy dinner of grilled Pacific Halibut and vegetable succotash (his is fresh corn, squash and baby potatoes). After, we went for a short visit to our neighbor's house to catch up and see what's up for the weekend.

This morning I finished my reports for the week's installation and after lunch, decided I was done with work for the week and pulled out my stamps, ink and paper. Since today is the end of 2018 Spring/Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop, I wanted to make one more quick card.

I'm using this week's CAS(E) this Sketch, sketch and since I did some coloring with my trusty Copics, I'm linking up to Kathy's Daily 30 Day Coloring Challenge.

The Lil Inkers coffee cup is stamped on X-Press It Blending card stock with Memento tuxedo black ink and colored with Copics. I used the corresponding die to cut it out. The rectangle is cut with a Die-namics Stitched Rounded Rectangle die and glued to a card base of light pink textured card stock from Taylored Expressions. Using the Misti, I stamped the sentiment with SU Sweet Sugarplum ink. The coffee is popped up with dimensionals and I added three SU enamel dots for embellishment.

The inside uses a sentiment from Mama Elephant's Scripty Birthday set.

We are on our way to Friday Happy Hour with a good friend whose husband is in Norway for work. She was able to get some babysitting for this evening for her two little guys. Tomorrow, her oldest (11 yrs) is in the championship baseball game for Little League. I will be there watching!

Thanks for popping in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Latte Love set by Lil' Inkers & Scripty Birthday set by Mama Elephant
Paper: TE Pink Textured card stock, X-Press It Blending card stock and Crate Paper patterned paper
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, SU Sweet Sugarplum
Other: Lil' Inkers Latte Love dies, Die-namics Stitched Rounded Rectangle die, SU enamel dots, Gemini Jr, dimensionals