To My Friend

 Hi all,

Happy Leap Day 2024!

I don't have a Leap Day card for you but I do have a sweet birthday card for a sweet friend. Since yesterday was the last Wednesday of the month, it's time for the February edition of Woodblock Wednesday. I still have many wood mounted rubber stamps and this challenge makes me gives me a chance to use them.

For this month's card, I pulled out some very old SU DSP to go along with my old stamps for this birthday card. After I finished, I realized that the colors in the papers work well for this week's Color Throwdown Challenge. The colors this week are sage, burgundy and rose.

The tea cups stamp is from Stampendous, circa 1998. I stamped it with black ink and colored it with colored pencils. It's cut out with a Gina K Designs Double stitched circle die then layered over a Pink Fresh Studio circle die called Ornate Circle cut from sage card stock. I heat embossed the sentiment with white EP, from a wood mounted SU stamp, circa 1999 and cut it out with a tiny Spellbinders Scalloped Circle die.

The inside greeting is a Judith wood mounted stamp, circa 1994. I added a strip of the DSP at the bottom of the white panel and layered it onto some sage card stock.

Here are the stamps used for this card.

I just love looking through the gallery each month to see the creativity with these wood mounted stamps!

Thanks, and enjoy your extra day.

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Stampendous Tea cups, Judith Birthday Joy For You, Stampin' Up To My Friend

Paper: Stampin' Up Basic White Thick and Pear Pizzazz card stock, Bella Rose DSP (retired)

Ink: Gina K Designs Black Onyx and Craft White

Other: Polychromos Colored Pencils, Gina K Designs Double Stitched Circle die, Pink Fresh Studio Ornate Circle die, Spellbinders Scalloped Circle die, Gina K Designs Fine Detail white embossing powder, heat tool, stash enamel dots, Big Shot, Foam Tape, Connect glue, SU Dimensionals

Sale-a-bration Fun: Hello There

 

Happy Tuesday,

Ann Marie has a fun sketch for the Paper Players challenge this week. It has lots of layers and I took the opportunity to use up some stashed patterned papers.

I hadn't used this new Sale-a-bration set, Jungle Pals, yet and I decided I wanted to use it for my card. When looking through my SU DSP I found the Animal Expedition papers and voila, a perfect paring. In addition to the stamp set, I used some of the coordinating Jungle Pals dies, a Sale-a-bration option as well. These I cut from white card stock and ink blended the colors. The centers of the flowers are sparkly, light yellow enamel dots from SU.

The background is created using a Spellbinders embossing folder and lightly rubbing an ink pad over the raised areas. In this case, I used Gina K Designs Key Lime ink.

Here's the inside of the card using more of the Animal Expedition DSP and another of the cute critter images.

My plans for the rest of the day are as follows:  cut some batting for a quilt that I'm helping a friend make so we can send it for the quilting (the top she has finished piecing and the backing is all prepped), then I have two Congrats cards to make. One for a friend that is retiring on March 1 and the other for friends that just bought a new house and are moving from Oregon back to California. (I'm so happy that they will be closer again.) I hope you have some fun, crafty plans too.

Thanks for checking in,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Jungle Pals and Softly Sophisticated stamp sets by Stampin' Up

Paper: SU Thick Basic White & Lemon Lime Twist card stock, Animal Expedition DSP

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Gina K Designs Key Lime, Jelly Bean Green, Grass Green & Passionate Pink, Copics

Other: Jungle Pals dies, Gina K Designs Double and Single stitched circle dies and Master Layouts 2 banner die, Spellbinders embossing folder, Misti, Big Shot, SU enamel dots, Connect glue, SU Dimensionals

Warmest Wishes & Sunshine

Hi and Happy Sunday,

The February Monthly Mix challenge on the Gina K Designs FB Group is to use paper strips on our cards. Since it's almost the end of February, I played around some last night using strips with stenciled images and made two completed cards. In addition to posting these to the GKD FB group, I'm also playing along with the Anything Goes Stenciling challenge at Just Us Girls.

  

The first stencil and strips combination that I tried was the blue mandala snowflake. Using one of the dies from ML 8, I cut strips from Gina K.'s teal card stock shades. I used the die because I wanted the strips to be the same width and using the die ensured that they are. After gluing all of the strips to a 2.25 x 5.5 inch panel, I placed the mandala stencil over it and used a sponge dauber to apply white craft ink . I put this aside to dry and placed the stencil centered over a white card base and used a blending brush to blend Soft Stone ink over the stencil. I glued the strip panel over the center matching the pattern. The sentiment is heat embossed with white EP and cut out with a small stitched circle die from ML 7 and layered to it's shadow die cut from white. Finally I added many Frozen rhinestones around the mandala image to complete the card.

For the second card I followed the same process, but I wanted to see if I could make it work with a layering stencil. I choose the GKD Sunflower Layering stencil and used shades of yellow for the strips. For the stenciling on the white card base I used a very light shade of yellow. For stenciling on the strips I used white craft ink for the first layer and a medium yellow shade for the second layer. Again, the sentiment is heat embossed with white EP and cut out using the circle dies from ML 3. For embellishing this card I used yellow pearls from GKD.

This is such a fun process, and results in some very pretty note cards. 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and thanks for looking in.

Colleen

Supplies

All from Gina K Designs

Stamps: Fancy Flowers Mini and Filled With Sunshine Mini sets

Paper: Layering Weight white, Black Onyx, Tranquil Teal, Turquoise Sea, Sea Glass, Ocean Mist, Lemon Drop, Sweet Corn, Prickly Pear, Honey Mustard, and Wild Dandelion card stock

Ink: White Craft, Soft Stone, Lemon Drop, Prickly Pear

Stencils: Snowflake Mandala and Sunflower Layering

Other: Frozen rhinestones, Rainbow Pearl mix, Connect Glue, Blending Brushes, Sponge Dauber, Fine Detail White embossing powder, Master Layouts 8, 3, 7

Happy Easter

 Hello and Happy Saturday,

Today I'm sharing an Easter card, the first I've made for this year's holiday. I've used Kim's sketch for this week's Freshly Made Sketches along with the colors of mint and lalic for the current Color Hues challenge.

I started with some older Stampin' Up gingham print DSP in mint and lilac shades to use as the border elements in Kim's sketch. Using an SU stitched die and partial die cutting I cut these borders to fit the sketch. For the white background panel I first cut the bunny shape then used a Concord & 9th card front die to add the dimension, finally gluing a piece of purple gingham on the back. After gluing all the pieces in place, I stamped the greeting, popped up the die cut egg and added the little pom-pom bunny tail.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend, 

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Early Spring mini stamp set by Gina K Designs

Paper: Stampin' Up white and Highland Heather card stock and gingham DSP

Ink: Gina K Black Onyx ink

Other: Some Bunny dies by Gina K Designs, Basket Weave Card Front die from Concord & 9th, Ornate Layers dies from Stampin' Up, Big Shot, Misti, small white pom-pom, small white pearl, Connect liquid glue, SU Dimensional

Hello Friend

TGIF Peeps,

I was playing around with some stenciling yesterday while watching a pre-season Padres baseball game and I really liked the bright colors on this particular panel, so I  decided to turn it into a card.

This is a layering stencil set of three by Concord & 9th that was part of the kit for the SCT Crop and Create Delivered class last  year. I used all C & 9th inks, most are from the recent color release for 2024.

Since this is all stenciled except a few stamped embellishments on the pots and the stamped greetings, it was a very quick and simple card to make. I did cut the panel down using the Hero Rounded Corner Infinity Rectangle dies and mounted it to a white card base. That's the only layering.

I'm entering this into two challenges, the current CAS challenge for the Paper Players and the Anything Goes Stencil challenge at Just Us Girls.

This set by Concord & 9th includes stamps, layering stencils and dies. I used some of the dies for the inside of this card.

Enjoy your Friday and weekend. Thanks for checking,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps, Stencils, Dies: On My Mind set by Concord & 9th

Paper: Concord & 9th white card stock

Ink: Concord & 9th

Other: Blending brushes, Hero Infinity Rectangle dies, Big Shot, foam tape, Connect liquid glue

LIfe Is Better with Friends

 Hello,

I'm squeaking in at the last minute with my card for the current Freshly Made Sketches challenge. 

Linda's sketch had tons of possibilities for the shaped piece, but I went with the sketch drawing and used an oval for these three critter friends enjoying some coffee together. This is a fairly new Gina K  Designs stamp and die set, but instead of using the dies to cut out the animals, I did some old fashioned masking to make their little grouping on the oval.

Many of the elements for this card were chosen for episode 202 of Craft Roulette. The parameters this week are:

    Project: a 5 x 7 inch card

    Colors: Formal and Informal (Black sentiment on a white background for formal colors and various other colors used to color the animals)

    Element: Warm (coffee)

    Random: Crisscross (diagonal  plaid DSP)

I'm also posting my card to the new Paper Players challenge, where Ann has the monthly Clean and Simple challenge with a theme of friendship.

Enjoy your day!

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Coffee Critters stamp set by Gina K Designs

Paper: Gina K Designs Layering Weight White card stock, SU Cherry Cobbler and Basic Black card stock, SU Retired DSP

Ink: Gina K Designs Black Onyx, Copics

Other: Spellbinders Oval die, Gina K Designs Master Layouts 8 die set, Misti, Big Shot, SU Dimensionals

Wishing You Many Blessings & Let's Celebrate You

 Hi,

March is big birthday month for my family. I have cousins, aunts and my mom with birthdays next month so I needed to get started with some cards. Using some very pretty SU DSP and the current sketch from the Sunday Stamps Challenge, I got a start with two. 

Both are the same design, per the sketch, with just some subtle differences.

The differences are just in the embossed card fronts, the sentiments and the enamel dots. The card fronts are Concord & 9th dies. I couldn't decide on which to use, so I made two cards. Both sentiments are from older SU stamp sets and they are heat embossed with white EP. Keeping with the circle theme, I thought a wax seal would look good over the flower dies. These are made with Spellbinders wax and a wax seal stamp.

It's a good start, but I do need to make a few more over the next couple weeks. Enjoy the rest of the week, and thanks for looking in.

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Fruitful Blessings and Bonanza Buddies stamp sets by Stampin' Up

Paper: Kraft card stock by Gina K Designs and Perennial Lavender DSP by Stampin' Up

Ink: Gina K Designs white craft ink

Other: Painted Lavender dies by Stampin' Up, Double Stitched circle dies by Gina K Designs,  Basket Weave and Cloud Card Front dies by Concord & 9th, Wax Seal supplies by Spellbinders, Gina K Designs white embossing powder, SU enamel dots, Heat tool, Big Shot, Misti, Connect glue, foam tape

Happy Birthday

 Hi all,

The youngest children in the family next door are twins and their birthday is this coming Friday. They are delightful young women, who will be turning 23. Mom, their older sister and the twins all LOVE pink, so LeAnne's colors for this week's Paper Players Challenge is very timely to make them birthday cards.

Their names are Bella and Cara. They both graduated from college last year, are back living with mom while beginning their careers. They are super fun to visit with and are two of the most polite and nice young women. Bella loves flowers, she does flower arranging for friends weddings and other special events and Cara is into surf photography. Cara recently returned from Mexico where she was a photographer for a line of women's surf wear. I thought about these interests while designing their birthday cards.

For Bella's card I used a Simon Says Stamp cover plate and die set called Fab Floral. The silver looking flowers are actually cut from Smoky Slate card stock then I put a layer of sparkly Glossy Accents over the die cut. After they dried, I added a small dark pink rhinestone to the centers. The deckle circle dies in the center are SU and the Happy Birthday wax seal is from Spellbinders. (FYI, this card is CASED from Jennifer McGuire.)

Here's the inside of Bella's card. The sentiments are from a Gina K Designs mini birthday stamp set.

For Cara's card I pulled out a "summery" stamp, die and stencil set by Gina K Designs called Tropical Sunshine. Instead of using typical beach colors, I used LeAnne's pinks and I really like how it turned out. 

Here is the inside of Cara's card.

Enjoy your Wednesday, and thanks for checking in,

Colleen

Supplies 

Bella's card

Stamps: Birthday Cheer Mini set by Gina K Designs (inside greetings)

Paper: SU Bubble Bath, Berry Burst, Smoky Slate, Thick Basic White

Ink: SU Bubble Bath & Berry Burst

Other: Fab Floral Cover Plate and dies set by Simon Says Stamp, Deckle Circle dies by Stampin' Up, Happy Birthday Wax Seal stamp and wax by Spellbinders, Silver pen, Glitter Glossy Accents by Concord & 9th, Trinity Pink Rhinestones, Big Shot, Misti, Connect glue, 

Cara's Card

Stamps: Tropical Sunshine and So Many Sentiments stamp sets by Gina K Designs

Paper: SU Bubble Bath, Berry Burst, Smoky Slate, Thick White card stock

Ink: SU Bubble Bath, Berry Burst, Smoky Slate and Gina K Desgins Black Onyx

Other: Stencil and dies from Tropical Sunshine kit, blending brushes, Big Shot, Misti, Connect Glue, Foam Tape, SU Dimensionals

Valentine's Day Cards

 Hello and Happy Monday peeps!

It's a wet one here in SoCal and a perfect day to hang in the craft room. I have some plans to play and practice with wax seals, but first I waned to blog a couple of cards that I made yesterday.

I watched one of Gina K.'s YouTube videos from last week on making bokeh backgrounds and decided to give it a try. All were fun, but one is my favorite, so I made two of them for these cards.

This first one uses the current Freshly Made Sketch by Jen T. Honestly, I'm not sure that I'm thrilled with this card, but I do love the colors. There's a variety of supplies used. Spellbinders Heart Stitching die and embossing folder, Simon Says Stamp pierced heart die, Reverse Confetti XOXO die, Gina K Designs card stock and inks, Tim Holtz domed sponge ink applicators to make the background circles, and SU pearls.

I love how this second card turned out with the silhouette stamping over the bokeh background, which is how Gina made her cards in the video. This stamp set is one of her older mini sets. All supplies on this card are from GKD. 

Joanne is hostess for the new Paper Players Challenge with a Valentine's Day theme. While both cards work, I'll use this one for my entry.

Here ae the two together with matching bokeh backgrounds. A fun technique to try if you haven't already.

Enjoy your day and thanks for checking in,

Colleen

Supplies Card 1

Dies: Simon Says Stamp Pierced Flower heart, Spellbinders Stitched Heart Card Front, Reverse Confetti XOXO

Paper: Gina K Designs Dusty Rose, Plumb Punch, Red Hot and Layering Weight White card stock

Ink: Gina K Designs Dusty Rose, Plumb Punch, Red Hot, Soft Stone

Other: Tim Holtz domed sponge ink applicators, Gina K Designs blending brush, embroidery floss and needle, SU pink pearls, Gina K Designs Masking Magic 1/2" strips, Big Shot, foam tape and SU Dimensionals

Supplies Card 2

Stamps: Gina K Designs Mini Blossoms and Hearty Greetings stamp sets

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

Ink: Gina K Designs Red Hot, Dusty Rose, Plumb Punch, Soft Stone and Black Onyx

Other: Master Layouts 2 dies, Masking Magic 1/2" strips, blending brush, Misti, Big Shot, Domed Ink Applicators, Foam Tape