Sending A Handmade Hug

 Happy Monday peeps,

It's a very wet Monday here in Southern California. Today I've been doing some organization in my craft room, trying to get my box of white card stock scraps to a place easier to grab. Of course, one thing leads to another and then you've spent way more time on it than you were planning too.

Joanne has a great sketch for the new Paper Players Challenge, and I made this card last night while watching TV. This a new stamp set from Gina K Designs and new DSP from Stampin' Up. Still making an effort to use my patterned papers.

Here's the inside. The stamps are from a different GKD Valentine's Day set.

I've been working on mostly Valentine's Day cards lately. Here are two from this weekend. These are made with transfer sheets and Deco foil. So shinny! And look, more retired DSP used. YAY!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week, and thanks for checking in,

Colleen

Supplies (for the Paper Players Challenge card)

Stamps: Lovely Notes with dies and Friendship Hearts sets by Gina K Designs

Paper: SU Petal Pink, Calypso Coral, Basic White and Dandy Designs DSP

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Copic Markers, Gina K Designs Coral Reef

Other: Gina K Designs Master Layouts 2 dies, Gina K Designs Rainbow Hearts embellishments, Nuvo Aqua Shimmer pen, Glossy Accents, Misti, Big Shot, SU Dimensionals, Connect glue

Birthday Wishes

 Hello and happy weekend,

I had not used this GKD incentive mini set yet, so thought I'd see what I could come up with it using this week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge. 

I started by masking off the 2/3 bottom portion of a white panel, then used one of Gina's stencils to ink blend the top element per Jen's sketch. I was thinking three colors, and using Wild Dandelion and Turquoise sea together makes a really nice shade of green for the third color. I blended the colors vertically here on the front panel. After removing the masking paper, I stamped the flower image using Black ink, then stamped it again on a scrap piece of white card stock, colored it with BG, Y, and YG Copics, fussy cut it and popped it up per the sketch layout.

Here's the inside using another GKD stamp set with similar solid stamp images. I used the same stencil and ink colors as on the front panel, though the blending is in a horrizontal pattern.

And another card to add to my Birthday card stash!😁 

Have a great rest of the weekend.

Colleen

Supplies

Stamp sets: Bold Blossom Mini, Bold & Blooming, and Enjoyable Greetings all Gina K Designs

Stencil: Gina K Designs Fizzy

Paper: Gina K Designs Layering weight white, Black Onyx, and Applemint card stock

Ink: Gina K Designs Wild Dandelion, Turquoise Sea, Black Onyx and Copic Sketch markers

Other: Gina K Designs Master Layouts 2 dies, blending brushes, Pretty Pink Posh Citrus Mix Jewels, Misti, Big Shot, SU Dimensionals

You Are So Fly and Hippo Birdie To You

 Hi again, 

Another post today with my card/cards for Jaydee's CAS bird theme and this week's The Paper Players Challenge.

Like most of us, I have many (actually many, many) bird stamps, sets, and dies and I pulled out several to think over. I finally decided on some Lawn Fawn fun sets, and even then I couldn't decided, so I made two. Who can't use birthday cards in their stash, right?

I then decided on this card to post in the challenge group. This fun stamp set has line-ups of cats, dogs, mice, birds and bunnies with a separate conversation bubble stamp, and some sayings. There is a second add-on set of sayings as well. The sun image is from an older LF set, and the purple bird with the BD hat is from the Hippo Birdie To You set (the set is actually called Year Four).

And the inside with images from yet another LF party set.

Thanks all,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: All Lawn Fawn sets, Simply Celebrate Critters, Simply Celebrate Critters Add-on, Hello Sunshine, Year Four, and Party Animal

Paper: Gina K Designs Layering Weight and Sweet Mango card stocks

Ink: Gina K Designs Stormy Skies, Wild Dandelion and Tangerine Twist, Memento Tuxedo Black and Copic Sketch markers

Other: Gina K Designs Master Layouts 2 dies, Misti, Big Shot

Friends Like You

 Hello and Happy Hump Day,

I received the newest Let's Stamp Together kit, from Scrapbook & Cards Today, late last week and it's a beauty! The Jan 2023 kit is designed by @ginakrupsky from Gina K Designs. Of course, I had to make a card ASAP.

I've used the current As You See It Challenge sketch for the layout.

All images with the exception of the stencil I used for the left border are from the Let's Stamp Together kit. Inks, paper, embellishments and additional dies and stencils are all Gina K Designs products. I'm sad to say, after making the card base, I only have a quarter sheet of Plum Punch card stock left and it's apparently no longer available from Gina's store.😢 It's one of my fave shades of purple.

Here's the inside of this card. Sentiment stamps are from the kit.

Thanks for checking in,

Colleen

Supplies

January 2023 Let's Stamp Together kit stamps, dies and stencil

Ink: Gina K Designs Orchid, Lilac and Spruce ink trios, Black Onyx, Plum Punch

Paper: Gina K Designs Black Onyx, Layering Weight White, and Plum Punch card stock

Other: Gina K Designs Bodacious Blooms layering stencil set (basketweave stencil), Master Layouts 1 dies, Connect glue, foam squares, blending brushes, black/gold/silver Pearl mix embellishments

Misti, Big Shot, Nuvo aqua shimmer glitter pen

Thinking Of You

 Hello,

And another weekend comes to a close. I hope everyone had a relaxing one. Mine was low key. Dinner with friends Friday evening, some sewing yesterday to make a throw-pillow cover and some stamping today.

I had not yet made a card for this week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge, and time is running out, so I spent this afternoon making this card. 

The background panel and the paper the images are stamped on I made some time ago using various stencils, my gel press and an ink removal technique. I made a bunch of panels one day and these are two of them. The printed card base is a piece of pink pre-printed card stock from GKD.

For the inside, I used a smaller butterfly and a sentiment from another SSS set.

My aunt is recovering from a fall where she cracked some vertebra in her upper back and she's been in severe pain, so I'm hoping this card helps to cheer her up. I'll get it in the mail tomorrow.

Enjoy your Monday, and thanks for looking in.

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Beautiful Butterflies with dies, and XL Greetings sets by Simon Says Stamp

Stencils: SSS Painted Flowers Wreath, SU Striped Mask, Trinity Stamps Lots of Dots 

Paper: Gina K Designs Layering Weight and Heavy Weight white, Black Onyx, Pink Patterned card stock, GKD Vellum

Ink: Distress Oxide inks in various pink shades, GKD Black Onyx

Other: Misti, Gel Press, brayer, Gina K Designs Master Layouts 1 and Stitched Circle dies, SSS Sentimental Label Dies Pretty Pink Posh Metallic Rose Gold Jewels, Big Shot Switch, GKD Connect Glue, SU Dimensionals

Wishing You A HAPPY Birthday

 Hello,

Hope all is well with you. The rain has finally stopped, for a day or two. The prediction is for more on Thursday. I've been watching (recording) the opening rounds of the Australian Open tennis matches this week, and the 1st round Andy Murray match did not disappoint! After tennis was done, I worked on a few cards for challenges. This post has my card for this week's Paper Players Challenge. Claire is hostess this week with the monthly color challenge. Her chosen colors are perfect for flowers, which I did, but not in the usual way.

I began by blending the SU inks on a white card panel, then placed it in my Misti stamping tool with an image from the Gina K Designs Summer Silhouettes stamp set. Instead of stamping with ink, I did an ink removal technique by spritzing the stamp with water, and then "stamping." This technique only works on water reactive ink, usually water based inks. The more times the image is spritzed and stamped, the more ink is removed. The trick is not to use too much water. After I was satisfied with the ink removal, I stamped the butterflies with the dark Orchid Oasis ink above the flowers.

The sentiment strip is made from three small stamps. I won't tell you how many times I stamped them to get them lined up exactly evenly. I stamped the sentiment in both Orchid Oasis and Black, and I decided I liked it in black best.

Here's the inside. This birthday sentiment is from Honey Bee, the branches from the same GKD set.

Thanks and enjoy your week,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Gina K Designs Summer Silhouettes set and Honey Bee Inside Birthday Sentiments set

Paper: Stampin' Up Basic White and Orchid Oasis card stock

Ink: Stampin' Up Orchid Oasis, Highland Heather, and Parakeet Party inks, Gina K Designs Black Onyx ink

Other: Gina K Designs Master Layouts 2 dies, Misti, Big Shot, Tim Holtz Spray bottle with water, Gina K Designs Connect glue

 

Oh! Wow Thank You!

 Hello and Happy Sunday evening,

Here's my card for this week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge. I made a rather quick and simple card using some items from Stampin' Up's newest Mini Catalog.

The pattern papers are from the Day at the Farm DSP. I used both the front and the reverse of the same sheet of paper. The stamp set is Conversation Bubbles.

This veggie paper is so fun. I added a few SU enamel dots and a red heart for the "dot" in the exclamation point for embellishments, as well as some SU black twine. 

Here is the inside. The stamp is from the SU set Limited Edition.

I hope everyone has a good week.

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Conversation Bubbles and Limited Edition sets by Stampin' Up

Paper: SU Basic White, Basic Black card stock and Day At the Farm DSP

Ink: Gina K Designs Black Onyx

Other: SU Conversation Bubbles dies, SU Black twine, SU enamel dots and hearts, SU glue dots and Dimensionals, Misti, Big Shot

"Aloha" For Amy's Woodblock Wednesday Challenge

 Hi peeps and happy Saturday,

I've been following Amy's blog and her Woodblock Wednesday posts for a while. I didn't realize that Woodblock Wednesday was a challenge until this week, so here I am. I rarely pull out wood mounted stamps to make cards these days, but this challenge will change that. Such a great idea, Amy!

I still have many wood mounted stamps in my stash. They are all older single stamps and from several companies, many not around any longer. Some of my favorites in my collection of wood mounted stamps are several that I picked up in Hawaii in the late 90's and early 2000's. Hawaii was part of my work territory and I usually planned my work trips between weekends to have a little R & R in the islands. (Having relatives to stay with helped with that.) I soon found a few stamp and paper crafting stores in Honolulu, and many of my stamps came from a small "Made In Hawaii" store in Kailua.

Here's my card using several of the stamps from the Made In Hawaii store.

I believe this is technique is called Retiform, or grid technique. It's pretty simple.I used post-it notes to mask off sections, used a blending brush for the blue  ink, in this case, Gina K Designs Turquoise Sea, then stamped an image in Black Onyx ink before moving to a new section. Once the stamping was completed, I cut the panel down and cut a mat using the GKD ML 1 dies.

For the inside, I used a wood mounted sentiment and leaf stamps from the same Hawaiian collection. These are stamped with the Black Onyx ink and colored in with Copics.

Here are a couple of pics of some of my Hawaiian stamps, with one showing the manufacturer's label on the end. 

I hope you all have a relaxing and crafty weekend. Thanks for checking in,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Wood mounted Hawaiian stamps from Honolulu

Paper: Gina K Designs Layering Weight white and Black Onyx card stock

Ink: Gina K Designs Turquoise Sea and Black Onyx ink pads, Copic markers

Other: Post-It Notes for masking, blending brush, Gina K Designs Master Layouts 1 dies, 

Just Because

 Happy Crafty Wednesday Peeps,

I've decided that I really like using these stitching dies that are becoming more popular on the card making scene lately, although I don't have many of them in my collection. (that will soon change because I've decided to sign up for the Stitching Die of the Month club at Spellbinders.) 

For now, I have a few from Concord & 9th, although they are mostly fall and holiday themed. The only other set I have is from Spellbinders, and I received it by way of the Let's Stamp Together membership at Scrapbook and Cards.com. It is the September 2022 set. Each of these Let's Stamp Together packages include dies, stencils and stamps, and I believe they come every other month, so six for a yearly subscription.

My card fits with two challenges around blog-land this week. The current Just Us Girls Challenge is a color challenge of light blue, dark blue, white, and neutrals as needed, and the current Sunday Stamps Challenge is a sketch.

The background paper and the long strip element paper is new from SU called Textured Shimmer paper. This color is Balmy Blue. It's very pretty and IRL it sparkles and shines. The smaller background panel is made using the stencil from the Let's Stamp Together kit and Balmy Blue ink. This panel and it's mat are cut using the GKD ML 2 dies. The stem and leaves die is cut twice with GKD Kraft card stock and glued together for dimension. The flowers are cut from SU Midnight Muse card stock and stitched with white embroidery floss. I used 4 strands. After gluing everything in place, I used some SU shimmery kraft colored enamel dots for the centers of the flowers. The sentiment is part of the coordinating stamp set and it's stamped with SU Midnight Muse ink.

Here's the inside of the card. Stamps are all from the same set as the sentiment.

Have a great day, and thanks for checking in.

Colleen

Supplies

Sweet Stitching Bundle with stamp set, stencil and dies from Spellbinders / Let's Stamp Together 09/2022.

Paper: SU Basic White, Balmy Blue and Midnight Muse card stock, Gina K Designs Kraft card stock

Ink: SU Balmy Blue, Midnight Muse and Gina K Designs Kraft

Other: Misti, Big Shot Switch, white embroidery floss & needle, Gina K Designs Master Layouts 2 dies, SU Dimensionals, Gina K Designs Connect glue, SU enamel dots, GKD blending brush

Playing In The Rain

 Hello peeps,

I was inspired by the weather today when I sat down to make my card for this week's Paper Player's Challenge.  If you've watched any news, you know California is getting tons of rain. I'm in the southern part (San Diego area) so no flooding here. I check on my mom every day since she's in the northern part of the state where they are really getting slammed.

It's theme week and Ann's theme is "Tag Your It." I decided to pop these cute critters up on some tags cut from the Rain Or Shine DSP. The images are stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored with Copic Markers. I cut them out using the set dies and used dimensionals to pop them up. This is a full size slimline card.

For embellishments, I added some SU Baker's twine to the tops of the tags with the critters and a bow that has sparkly thread running through the material to the sentiment tag. For added sparkle I used a Nuvo shimmer pen over the puddle and on the tortoise's shell. The enamel rain drops are from my stash by Kaiser Crafts.

Here's the inside:

After stamping the sentiment I punched it, and a mat from Flirty Flamingo card stock, out with the SU large oval punch.

On both the front and the inside, the slimline stitched panel and the mat are cut with Gina K Designs Master Layouts 10 dies.

Have a great Tuesday afternoon and evening, and thanks for looking in,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Playing In the Rain set with dies from Stampin' Up

Paper: SU Basic White Thick and Flirty Flamingo card stock, Rain or Shite DSP

Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black and Copic Markers

Other: Ginal K Designs Master Layouts 10 dies, My Favorite Things Tag dies, SU Large Oval Punch,

Misti, Big Shot Switch, SU Dimensionals, Nuvo shimmer pen, SU Bakers' Twine, ribbon, Kaiser Craft enamel rain drops

Oh Happy Day!

 Hello peeps,

It's another very wet day here in SoCal, but not as much rain down here as in the northern part of the state. My mom lives pretty far up in Northern Calif and she told me they've had several inches so far. No snow in her town as it's at a lower elevation.

This weekend I'm "hanging out" (not babysitting) with my young friends at their house, only a few miles from mine, while their parents spend the weekend in Chicago.The boys are twelve and sixteen. I've know their parents before there were kids, so I've been around these two since they arrived. We will have some fun, I'm sure. The sixteen year old is my baseball buddy. He is the star varsity catcher for his high school team and their first game for the season is this Saturday.

Today, I have a card for the first Freshly Made Sketches challenge for 2023. I like Amy's sketch a lot. I ordered some things from the SU Jan Mini catalog during the Demo pre-order and I've used some of the DSP on my card. The flower stamps however, are very old. I couldn't begin to remember the last time I used this set, but I do like them with this DSP. The greeting is from the new catalog as well.

Speaking of DSP and patterned papers, I have way more than I'll ever use, yet I still buy more! It's just so pretty! My crafting resolution is to use more of it on my cards. Even though I have all this beautiful paper, I seem to make my own backgrounds with inking techniques. My other resolution is to pull out my older stamps and give them some lovin', like here.

Pretty much all supplies on this card are from Stampin' Up, with the exception that I used Gina K Designs Master Layouts 2 to cut the DSP panels and their mats. 

Have a nice Friday, and weekend and thanks for checking in,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Mixed Bunch set (long retired) and Playing In the Rain set (sentiment) both Stampin' Up

Paper: SU Sweet Sorbet, Basic White,  and Thick Basic White card stock, Regency Park 6 x 6 DSP, and Country Gingham 6 x 6 DSP

Ink: SU Sweet Sorbet, Night of Navy, Shaded Spruce and Mango Melody

Other: SU Mixed Bunch coordinating flower punch, SU 1" circle punch, Gina K Designs Master Layouts 2 dies, SU stitched flag die, SU gold and blue Milky dots, Misti, Big Shot, SU dimensionals

Hello Friend

 Hello from rainy southern California!

We should expect rain most of this week, apparently. Rain is a good thing here, so it's something to be happy for. If nothing else, more crafty time!

Since this is a new month, Gina K. has a new Monthly Mix Challenge up. This month's technique is colored pencil resist. It's a fun coloring technique where the wax in the colored pencil resists the dye ink laid over the top.

On my card today I used both white and gold colored pencils to color the inside of the flowers before blending the rainbow over the panel.

Steps to make this card: I cut the white panel with the Master Layouts 2 stitched die then placed a 1/2 inch wide strip of Masking Magic across the bottom third of the panel. This is to prevent stamped images and the ink blending from the area I planed for the sentiment. After stamping the flowers using Black Onyx ink, I colored the inside petals with a white colored pencil and the centers with a gold colored pencil. Next, I blended the rainbow diagonally from the upper corner to the lower. 

I removed the masking magic and stamped the sentiment. It's from the same stamp set as the flower images.

The panel is matted using black card stock cut with the layering die from ML2. I used a piece of patterned paper from GKD's collection under the main panel, tilting both for a little added interest. I cut two thin strips of black and used Connect glue to add them to the top and bottom of the white sentiment area. Finally, I added some GKD black pearls for embellishment.

This is a fun technique and I encourage you to give it a try. Thanks for checking in,

Colleen

Supplies

All from Gina K Designs:

Stamps: Stained Glass Flowers set

Paper: Black Onyx, Layering Weight White card stocks and Watercolor Floral Patterned Paper pack

Ink: BlackOnyx, Lipstick, Tangerine Twist, Wild Dandelion, Lucky Clover, Blue Lagoon, Wild Wisteria

Dies: Master Layouts 2

Pearl Mix Embellishments, Connect Glue

Other: Misti, Big Shot, GKD Blending Brushes

Polychromos Colored Pencils

Hot Foiling Fun

 Happy 2023!

Today I have several cards that I made (finally) using images and panels that I hot foiled over the past month. When I pull out my hot foiling machine, I end up making a bunch of things. I get caught up in the reveal of the foiling. It's just plain adicting!

This is a batch of cards using mostly Pink Fresh Studio stamps, dies, cover plates, hot foiling plates, and stencils.  

On this first card, I hot foiled the flowers and colored them using the coordinating stencil set and blending brushed. I then cut masks for the flowers and leaves and used the Layering Sunburst stencils for the background. The foiled areas resist the ink blended over it.

On the last three cards, I used the coordinating dies to cut out the flowers.

These are not for the crafter that likes to make quick cards, but man, are they fun to make. I love all of the details and the steps to put them together. Plus, picking all of the colors. So fun!

Have a great New Years 2023 Holiday. For many, it's back to work tomorrow. Luckily, that's not me. Retirement is the best! Thanks for checking in,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Go For It and Pop Out Hexagon sets by Pink Fresh Studio

Paper: Gina K Designs card stocks

Ink: Gina K Designs and Stampin' Up

Other: Pink Fresh Studio Go For It, Best Wishes, Fancy Script Words,  & Geo Blocks Hot Foil Plates, Coordinating Go For It dies, Essentials Ornate Circle die, Folk Edge Rectangle dies, Dotted Scallops & Ornate Medallions cover plate dies, Go For It and Geo Blocks layering stencils, and Layered Sunburst stencils. Stampin' Up Stylish Shapes dies, Simon Says Stamp Nested Domed Arches dies, Waffleflower Sentiments Hello Hot Foil plates, Gina K Designs Master Layouts 1 & 2 die sets, Avery Elle Scalloped rectangle dies, Spellbinders Glimmer machine, Spellbinders hot foil, Gina K Designs blending brushes and Masking Magic sheets, Big Shot, Connect Glue, foam tape