Coffee & Friends

 Hi Peeps,

This card fits both the Paper Players Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge and the current Coffee Chalkboard theme for the Fusion Card Challenge.

I have in my stencil stash a coffee themed stencil from Picket Fences that I bought a few years ago and I don't think I'd used it yet. I thought it would work well for the Stencil Press technique, so I pulled it out with the other stencils that I used on Saturday. I used a dark slate shade for the background and then blended each row of coffee pots in rainbow order using pastel shades, which works well for both challenges. Very serendipitous!

I followed the top cross option on the Tic-tac-toe grid and the sketch for the Fusion challenge.

All of the stamped images are from the Reverse Confetti set called Be a Barista. Here is the inside of this card.

I recommend checking out Jennifer's video here. It's super fun! 

Thanks for checking in,

Colleen

Supplies

Picket Coffee Pot Stencil, Reverse Confetti Be A Barista stamp set,  Gina K Designs card stock and inks, Concord & 9th Glimmer papers, Copics, Taylored Expressions Large Scalloped Border die, blending brushes, Big Shot, Misti, SU Dimensionals, Connect liquid glue

Happy Birthday

 Hello,

I hope everyone had a good weekend. 

Yesterday I had a very fun afternoon playing with the latest technique from Jennifer McGuire that she calls Stencil Ink Press. I made a bunch of panels, some with single stencils and a few with layering stencils. They all turned out well and really didn't take long to make.

I'm using one of the panels for my card for the current Sunday Stamps Challenge called Cool Winter Love, a color challenge.

This stencil is the SSS Painted Flowers Wreath. I followed Jennifer's instructions of making a hinge between the paper and the stencil, then used a brayer to ink up the stencil. I used GKD Soft Stone light gray ink. After inking, I put it in my Big Shot with the embossing mat and plate and cranked it through. I only used one layer of ink for the background as I wanted to keep it pretty light. I made sure that it was completely dry, then placed the stencil back over the panel and used blending brushes to color the flowers and leaves, using red and pink shades for the flowers and a darker gray for the leaves. The die cut sentiment is also from SSS. I cut the happy birthday dies twice each and layered them. After gluing them to the shadow dies, I added a very liberal coating of Nuvo clear glitter, then some glossy accents. For added embellishments, I added some silver enamel dots.

Here is the inside of this card. Sentiment and image are GKD.

Thanks for checking in and have a good week,

Colleen

Supplies

Stencils: Painted Flower Wreath from Simon Says Stamp

Stamps: Enjoyable Greetings & Take Care sets by Gina K Designs 

Paper: SU Thick White, GKD Dusty Rose, Stormy Sky, Cherry Red

Ink: GKD Cherry Red, Dusty Rose, Soft Stone, Stormy Sky

Other: SSS Happy Birthday dies, blending brushes, Big Shot, Misti, Silver enamel dots, Nuvo clear glitter pen, Glossy Accents, SU Dimensionals, Connect liquid glue

Warm Winter Wishes

 Happy Saturday,

I'm last minute posting for the current Silver & White challenge at the Color Hues Challenge. We went out for dinner with good friends last night and got home fairly early. I was looking through challenges and found the Color Hues, and thought I could do something  fairly quick with heat embossing. I ended up making two cards. One with a winter theme and the other with a summer theme.

The backgrounds of both are done with stencils. I used a sponge applicator to push VersaMark ink through the stencils, then heat embossed with silver EP. The first card is made with an Erin Lee Sun stencil and I cut a Hero Arts Sunflower from silver card stock for the center. The second card is made with a Simon Says Stamp Snowflake stencil. It's inked once, then turned 90 degrees and inked again. The sentiment is from the Gina K Designs Winter Wreath builder stamp set, stamped with VersaMark on black card stock and heat embossed with silver EP then cut out with the GKD double stitched circle die. I cut a silver mat with the corresponding single stitched circle die. I added a few sequins and silver gems to both cards for added sparkle.

Here are both cards with their inside greetings:

Thanks for looking in and have a good day,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: 

Hero Arts Color Layering Fall set with dies, Gina K Designs Winter Wreath Builder set

Stencils: Erin Lee Sun and Simon Says Stamp Rustic Snowflake 

Ink: VersaMark and Gina K Designs Black Amalgam

Paper: Gina K Designs Layering Weight and Heavy Weight white and Black Onyx card stock, Stampin' Up Silver card stock

Other: Gina K Designs Master Layouts 1 & 2 die sets, Stitched and Double Stitched circle dies,  Gina K Designs Fine Detail Silver Embossing Powder, heat tool, Gemini Jr., Misti, SU Dimensionals, blending brushes and Ranger Sponge ink applicators, Trinity Silver gems and Simon Says Stamp silver sequins

Crafty and Proud

 TGIF Crafty Peeps,

This card started with a search of patterned papers. When I saw the elements of Jen's sketch for this week's Freshly Made Sketches Challenge,  I thought patterned papers would be the ticket to putting together the layers. (For some reason, I don't seem to reach for patterned papers much lately, and I have enough to keep several paper crafters in paper for years, LOL.) In my search last night, I pulled out a plastic bag of random papers from left over 6 x 6 pads. Unfortunately, because I have just stuffed pages in the bag, I have no idea of the company each is from. As I was looking through the bag, I spotted the cork looking sheet and immediately put it aside. Further leafing, I found the other two papers and that sealed my "crafty" theme. 

I used the cork paper to stamp the Concord & 9th Crafty Turnabout stamp in shades to match the other papers. The focal scissors are from the C&9th Crafty die set, as are the 3 buttons , the top greeting is cut from the patterned paper and layered onto a long retired SU tag punch. The strip greetings are from Taylored Experssions.

Maybe a little "busy," but fun none-the-less. I used more of the TE strip greetings and another cut from the patterned paper on the inside.

Thanks for stopping by my blog. Have a great Friday. For those of you in the path of the latest Nor 'easter coming tomorrow to the East Coast and New England, please stay safe and warm. (Even out here in Southern California, we are getting notifications about it!

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Crafty Turnabout set by Concord & 9th and Crafty Simple Strips by Taylored Expressions

Paper: Gina K Designs white layering, Kraft, Turquoise Sea & vellum, Stampin' Up Only Orange, Pink Passion, Silver & Early Expresso, stash patterned papers

Ink: GKD Charcoal Brown

Other: GKD Master Layouts 3, C&9th Crafty Turnabout dies, TE Strip dies, MFT Wonky Stitched circle die, Spellbinders Scalloped circle die, SU tag punch, kraft twine, Misti, Gemini Jr, Glossy Accents, SU Dimensionals, GKD Connect glue

You Make My Heart Smile

 Hello,

I finished my card, or cards, for this week's Paper Players Challenge yesterday. I say cards, because a great sketch deserves more than one card and I made several using Jaydee's sketch. I'm posting two now, since they use the same papers. 

For this first card, the main panel is made with an Altenew 3-D embossing folder. I don't own this one, but my sister does and when we were both visiting our mom during the summer, we each brought stamping supplies with us. She had a few of her Altenew embossing folders, so I just grabbed some card stock and made a bunch of panels. This is one of those. I cut it down to fit the sketch and then used white craft ink over the raised areas. The top piece I made yesterday with the Honey Bee Pineapple stencil and coordinating inks.

The sentiment is from one of my Altenew stamp sets. I cut it out with the oval dies in the GKD Master Layouts 1 die set, then trimmed it to fit on my card front. I used some SU black sequins cording across the line dividing the two panels, and also added some blackberry twine above that. To make the stamens, actually the anthers, stand out, I went over them with a white gel pen.

Here is the inside of this card. Sentiment is from a mini GKD set.

I didn't want the other pieces of the panels to go to waste, so I just reversed them for the second card and I like this one just as much.

The black postage stamp die is from another GKD Master Layouts die set and the embossed greeting is from a GKD mini stamp set. The black cording is again from Stampin' Up.

Here's the inside of this card.

I'm watching the Rafa semi-final match tonight as I write this. Hoping he keeps going. I also hope you all have a great Friday! Thanks for stopping by,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Gina K Designs sets You Get Me, Grateful Greenery Mini, Mini Blossoms & Snapdragon Build A Flower by Altenew

Paper: GKD layering weight white, Black Onyx, and Wild Wisteria card stock

Ink: GKD Wild Wisteria & Black Onyx, VersaMark, Hero Arts white craft

Other: Altenew Beautiful Bergenia 3-D embossing folder, Honey Bee Pineapple layering stencil, WOW white embossing powder, heat tool, Misti, Gemini Jr, Stampin' Up cording and twine, GKD Master Layouts 1 & 4 dies, white gel pen, GKD Connect glue, SU Dimensionals

Happy Valentine's Day

 Hello and Happy New Week,

I hope everyone had a relaxing weekend. I know some of you had some extremely cold temps, so hopefully you used that excuse to get in some crafting time. It was very nice here, weather wise. Warm in the mid-day, so I got in walks both days, and then some crafting time. We had dinner both Friday and Saturday nights with friends and played Five Crowns, a fun card game.

I have my card for this week's Freshly Made Sketches Challenge, and I used the color them from the new Retro Rubber Challenge. It's a fun 50's color theme of pastels.

To make the background, I used ink cubes to smoosh ink onto a GKD heart stencil. I spritzed it with water and then turned it over onto a white card stock panel and made sure to press it down really good. After lifting the stencil, I dried the panel with my heat tool, then used blending brushes to blend the same three ink colors over the entire card. This is one of Gina K's 5 minute techniques. You can find it on her YouTube channel. She calls it a Bokeh technique, although she uses a stencil with circles. I think my heart stencil didn't have large enough openings to really see the water reactivity, but it's still an interesting look, so I used it.

The stamps are older sets from Lawn Fawn. The conversation hearts are colored with Copics in the Retro Rubber challenge colors. The Scalloped Square die is from MFT.

Here is the inside of the card.  This sentiment is from Taylored Expressions.

I'm waiting for the temps to get a little warmer here this morning, then I'll head out to the beach for a walk. My phone APP says it's only 49 degrees currently, so I'm waiting. It's bright and sunny thought! I hope you have a good day, and thanks for looking.

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: How You Bean and Conversation Hearts Add-On sets and dies from LawnFawn and Love & Hugs stamp set from Taylored Expressions

Paper: GKD Layering Weight white and Bubblegum pink card stocks

Ink: GKD Black Onyx, Bubblegum Pink, Innocent Pink and Red Hot, Copic Markers

Other: GKD Master Layouts 1 dies, My Favorite Things Scalloped Square Die, GKD Heart Stencil and blending brushes, Misti, Gemini Jr, Pink Baker's Twine, 

Enjoy Your Birthday

TGIF!

I hope everyone had a good week. I've been spending many hours at my crafting table as well as going for daily walks, on non-rainy days. Believe it or not, we had two days of rain here in SoCal early in the week, and it was a bit chilly too. Of course, nothing comparable to the South and East this week.

My card today I made for this month's GKD Monthly Mix Challenge.. Gina's challenge this month is to show the water reactivity of her inks. I used two techniques on this card. First, I smooshed ink pads onto an acrylic block, spritzed it with water and then pressed it down onto some Tim Holtz water color paper. I dried it with my heat tool, then stamped the flower image over the darker part of the ink. I used Lipstick Red, Bubblegum Pink and Innocent Pink for this part. I did another combo of Jelly Bean Green and Applemint for the leaves. 

I used a second technique on the background in the lower right of the white panel. I blended Coral Reef, Sweet Mango and Innocent Pink in the corner with blending brushes. Next I placed the Ornamental Fans Stencil over the ink and with a wet paper towel, blotted through the stencil, pulling off the color, making a lighter shade in the shape of the fans.

For the greetings, I cut the large "enjoy" die three times from black card stock, glued them together, then glued them onto vellum cut with the corresponding shadow die. The smaller greeting is from the Enjoyable Greetings stamp set and is cut with a Sentiment Strip die.

I've been playing with my Hot Foil System and having a ball. It's that WOW factor. I'll have some cards to post in the next couple of days. I made a bunch of backgrounds, now I need to turn them into cards.

Have a great weekend! Thanks for looking in,

Colleen

Supplies

All Gina K Designs except Tim Holtz water color paper and the black rhinestones.

Stamp sets: Season of Peace and Enjoyable greetings

Dies: Stamp set corresponding dies, Master Layouts 2, Sentiment Strip dies, Script Enjoy and shadow dies

Paper: Innocent Pink, Black Onyx, Layering Weight White card stock, vellum

Ink: Lipstick Red, Bubblegum Pink, Innocent Pink, Sweet Mango, Coral Reef, Applemint, Jelly Bean Green

Connect glue, foam squares, GKD blending brushes, Misti, Gemini Jr

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

You Warm My Heart

Hi all,

Claire has the monthly Clean & Simple challenge for the Paper Players blog this week with a winter animal theme. I have many stamp sets that work for this, I just seem to struggle with the clean & simple part, LOL. In fact, I actually made three cards and decided the first two were not really CAS. I'll show them at the end because they turned out super cute. (and now I have 3 holiday cards for 2022 already, so it's a good thing.)

This card is a mini-slimline style. It's one layer, stamped using my Misti, and colored with colored pencils. Not sure if kitties count as winter animals, but in this Anita Jeram set, they are, walking through a snow storm.

I used very few supplies. The white card stock is Gina K Designs Heavy weight. The Black Onyx and Sea Glass inks are GKD, and I used Prismacolor colored pencils, and of course, the Misti to stamp everything. The stamp set is called Kittens & Mittens and it's by Colorado Craft Co.

Here is the inside. This stamp set has two images and three sentiments. I managed to use all of them on this card.

Here are the fronts of the other two cards. I made the bears with the night sky first, decided it wasn't CAS and made the snow angel card, which is even less CAS, LOL!

The stamp sets for this card are Lawn Fawn Winter Skies and Avery Elle Starry Scene. To make the sky look night-ish, I first used GKD Blue Denim ink, then stamped over that with GKD Wild Lilac and Lovely Lavender. The images are colored with Copics.

The stamp set for this final card is called Snow Much Fun by Lawn Fawn. The background is made with an ancient SU wheel stamp. (I forget how fun they are.) This is also a mini slimline style card, and the images are colored with Copics.

The card stock and inks are all by GKD. The night sky card uses Hero Infinity rounded corner rectangle dies on both the card base and the top panel. I used GKD Master Layouts 7 dies on the snow angel card to cut the top panel.

Thanks for looking in,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Colorado Craft Co. Kittens & Mittens set, Lawn Fawn Snow Much Fun and Winter Skies sets, Avery Elle Starry Scene set

Paper: Gina K Designs Heavy and Layering Weight white and Blue Denim card stock

Ink: Gina K Designs Black Onyx, Sea Glass, Blue Denim, Wild Lilac, Lovely Lavender, Ocean Mist ink pads, Copic markers, Prismacolor colored pencils

Other: Hero Arts Infinity Rounded Corner Rectangle dies, Gina K Designs Master Layouts 7 dies, coordinating Lawn Fawn dies, Gemini Jr, Misti

Rainbows

 Hello peeps,

Today I have two cards to share. Both are made using the same stamp set and die bundle, and patterned papers, all from Stampin' Up. Each uses a different sketch from weekly blog-land challenges.

Here are the two together.

This first card uses the current Sunday Stamps Sketch Challenge.  The stamp set is a recent release from SU called Rainbow of Happiness and the pattern papers are from the current Sale-a-bration promotion, which are made to coordinate with this stamp set. There are several dies in the die set that coordinates with this stamp set. Here, I used the little cloud die, cut from holographic card stock, popped up in the middle of the rainbow. It's super sparkly!

Here's the inside of this card. I used the medium rainbow die to cut the rainbow arches.

 Card two uses this week's As You See It Challenge, which is also a sketch this week. Same stamp set with other dies from the bundle, and same patterned paper pack.

I cut both dies on the front 6 times each, 4 times with colored card stock and twice with the white so I could layer and inlay the rainbow arches. The 3 little black hearts are also from SU. They come as white and I colored them black with the 100 Copic Marker.

Here is the inside of this card.

I think I'm going to send this second card to my new grand nephew, Brady. He's six weeks old now and this looks like a sweet baby card for his room.

Have a super Sunday afternoon and evening, and thanks for looking.

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Rainbow of Happiness by Stampin' Up

Dies: Rainbow of Happiness Bundle, Gina K Designs Master Layouts 1 & 2

Paper: SU White, Misty Moonlight, Pool Party, Only Orange, Granny Apple Green, Magenta Madness, Kat Scrappiness Holographic cs

Ink: GKD Black Onyx, SU Misty Moonlight, Magenta Madness, Granny Apple Green, Pool Party, Grapefruit Grove

Other: SU enamel hearts, SU Dimensionals, GKD Connect Glue

Sending You A Warm and Cozy Hug

 TGIF all,

I've certainly been having a fun time at my craft table this week! I'm happy to be home with my "stuff" after being gone for a few weeks. I'm also trying to get back into a routine of morning walks, and so far, I've made it 4 of the 5 days that I've been home.

Here is one of the cards that I made yesterday during my crafting session. I've used this week's Freshly Made Sketch by Judy, and the colors from this week's Color Throwdown. The colors this week are green, blue, yellow and gray.

I started by using the MFT Brick Wall stencil, a blending brush and Gina K Grass Green ink to make the background. After blending the ink on, I used some stencil paste over the green, then let the panel dry. In the mean time I stamped the images, colored them and cut them out with their corresponding dies. All of the images and the sentiment are from the GKD set called Hygge Time, except the plant, which is from a Concord & 9th set. The images are colored with Copics. The white panel is layered to a GKD Grass Green panel and the card base is GKD Denim Blue.

Here is the inside, image and greeting from the Hygge Time set.

Enjoy your weekend, and thanks for stopping by,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Hygge Time set & dies by Gina K Designs and Simple Seasons set and die by Concord & 9th

Paper: GKD Layering Weight, Grass Green and Denim Blue card stock

Ink: GKD Black Onyx, Grass Green, Blue Denim, Copic Markers

Other: MFT Brick Wall stencil, GKD Blending Brush, Dreamweaver Embossing Paste, Misti, Gemini Jr, SU Dimensionals

Hello

 Good Monday to all,

I'm happy to be back home after spending time with family and friends over the holidays. I drove home (San Diego) from Sacramento yesterday where I spent the weekend with my Bestie. Prior to that, I was at my Mom's in Redding since 12/28. So yes, it's good to be home in my own space. I have some "maintenance" appointments this week like dental hygienist for cleaning and a hair cut appointment, but other than that it should be a quiet week.

Since I didn't tale any stamping supplies with me this time, it's been awhile since I've made any cards. I thought I'd get started this morning and make a card that works for both the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge and this week's Paper Players Challenge.

I ordered some SU supplies during the Demo Pre-Order period for the new mini catalog, but haven't had a chance to use any yet, until this morning. These images are from the new Hello Ladybug Bundle, stamp set and punch.

Since the ladybugs are a little large for a portrait card, I turned it for a landscape layout. 

Here is the inside of the card:

This is such a sweet set, and I can't wait to use it some more. Have a wonderful day, and thanks for looking in,

Colleen

Supplies

Hello Ladybug Bundle from Stampin' Up, SU Basic Black & Just Jade card stock, Gina K Designs Layering Weight white card stock, SU Pale Papaya and Calypso Coral inks, GKD Black Onyx ink, SSS Detail Petal Cover Plate, black enamel dots, SU dimensionals

Happy Birthday Friend

 Hello all,

It's the first Sunday of 2022 and time for the first Paper Players Challenge of the year. Ann is hostess with the monthly theme challenge, and we are challenged to use sparkly items on our projects.

Before I get to my card, I want to say congrats to the 2022 Guest Designers, Cindy, Christy and Jennie. You will have a fun year!

My card today is a shaker birthday card I made in November for a friend, but never posted. It fits the theme with metallic sequins and black rhinestones, that I used for the dots on the "i's," and I covered the die cut words with Shimmery Crystal Effects.

 

For the background, I used the Concord & 9th Weathered Wood Background stamp with gray and pool inks. 

To make the shaker, I used some recycled plastic packaging and double-sided tape. 

The stamped image is from  a Concord & 9th stamp and die set called Heartfelt Blossoms. I stamped it on watercolor paper with permanent black ink and used Zig Brush water color markers to color the flowers. The image is cut out using the corresponding set die and popped up over the shaker background with foam tape. 

The greeting is made by cutting three layers of each word and gluing them together. The top layer is cut from Kat Scrappiness shinny black card stock. Before gluing the stacked words onto the card I covered them with SU Shimmery Crystal Effects and let it dry really well before gluing the words onto the card. The word dies are from the SU Well Written die set. After the top panel was completed, I glued it to a purple note card.

Here is the inside of the card. The flower image is from the same Heartfelt stamp set and the sentiment is from a SSS set.

Enjoy your Sunday, and thanks for looking in,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Weathered Wood Background and Heartfelt Blossoms sets by Concord & 9th

Paper: Gina K Designs Lovely Lilac, Layering weight white, Tim Holtz water color paper, Kat Scrappiness shinny black card stock

Ink: Gina K Designs Amalgam black, Sea Glass, Stormy Sky ink, Zig water color markers

Other: Stampin' Up Well Written dies, Shimmery Crystal Effects, Sequins, black rhinestones, Misti, Gemini Jr, foam tape, double-sided tape, Connect glue,