Hello

Happy Sunday,

I realized that I didn't blog and post my cards for this month's Woodblock Wednesday Challenge.  I made the cards a few days ago while enjoying a baseball game on TV.

While looking through my wood mounted stamps, I found some sweet watermelons. Since it's summer, they seemed like a good idea. These are super simple, square note cards.

Both cards are stamped with GKD Black Onyx ink and colored with Copics and Olo markers. I found some picnic themed pattern papers in my stash and used them on one of the cards.

Here are the individual cards, both front and the inside.

Enjoy your day. We are headed to the San Diego county fair late this afternoon. Our young friend Liam has an art project entered and we need to go see it. I like looking at all of the school projects and the photography.

Thanks for looking in,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Watermelon and watermelon border stamps from ©imaginations, sentiment stamps from Hero Arts

Paper: Gina K Designs Layering Weight White, SU Poppy Parade, Call Me Clover and Granny Apple Green card stock, stash patterned papers

Ink: Gina K Designs Black Onyx and Red Velvet, Copic and Olo markers

Other: Gina K Designs Master Layouts 3, SU corner rounder punch

Just A Note

TGIF Peeps!

My morning didn't start off well. When I came into my craft room around 7:00 am, my stamping table was covered in ants! I mean it was black there were so many of them. Before going to bed around 11 last night,  there were none. I'm still not sure why or what they were after as there is nothing related to food in the room. It took a good hour to move everything off, spray them with Clorox Cleanup, wipe and vacuum the whole room. I've been seeing a rogue "scout" periodically since and I make quick work of it. It's been getting hotter outside and I'm wondering if they are after water, although the only water is my wet shammy for stamp cleaning. Anywho- disgusting!

On to a more pleasant subject, I have a card that fits two challenges. It's Anything Goes Stencil week at Just Us Girls and I've used Ann's sketch for Paper Players Challenge.

The background is stenciled using a fun layering stencil set from PinkFresh Studio called Modern Rug. The flower stamp is also from PinkFresh Studio. It's a stamp, stencil and die set called Beautiful Blooms. After stenciling the background, I stamped the daisies in black ink in the middle of the panel and again on white card so I could fussy cut the daisies and glue them over the stamped image on the stenciled panel. For the sentiment strip, I heat embossed one of the Beautiful Bloom sentiments using white EP, placed it per the sketch, and then popped up the small daisy in place over the stamped image. 

To make the card front edges per Ann's sketch, I cut the center from both Lime and Orange 5.5 x 4.25" panels using a SU Stitched rectangle die then cut through at the corners and glued the pieces in place. I finished the card by placing some colored paper circles as embellishments.

For the inside, I used another of the images from Beautiful Blooms coloring it with the set stencils, and a sentiment from the PinkFresh set called Heart Smiles Sentiments, which I stamped on a scrap piece of white card stock and cut out with a GKD Sentiment Strip die.

Thanks all for checking in. I hope your Friday and weekend are ant free!

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Beautiful Blooms set and Heart Smiles Sentiments set by PinkFresh Studio

Layering Stencils: Modern Run by Pink Fresh Studio and Beautiful Blooms Layering Stencils

Paper: Gina K Designs Card stock Layering Weight White, Key Lime and Sweet Mango

Ink: Gina K Designs Black Onyx, Craft White, Key Lime, Sweet Mango, Lemon Drop, Lipstick, and Turquoise Sea

Other: WOW white embossing powder, heat tool, GKD Sentiment Strip dies, Stampin' Up Stitched Rectangle dies, Taylored Expressions Rainbow Discs

Encouragement & Sympathy Cards

 Hello Peeps,

It's Thursday already! Sometimes it seems like the weeks just fly by. I've been working of some sewing lately, instead of stamping. I finished three quilts in the past two weeks, two are for wedding gifts and the third is one I helped a friend make. They all turned out beautiful.

Last year I made a cute handbag using a Sallie Tomato pattern and I've enjoyed using it, but it's getting a little worn looking and I thought I'd make another. I'm waiting on some hardware that I ordered before I can put it all together, but I have been "making" the fabric that I want to use. Mostly, cutting 2.5 inch squares of flowered material and sewing them together for a scrappy look. The accent fabric is denim. I'm excited to see how the completed project looks.

Since it is Thursday, I put the sewing aside so I could make some cards for this week's  Paper Players challenge. LeAnne is hostess with the monthly CAS challenge and her theme is Sympathy or Encouragement. I made a few cards for my stash.

For the first card I started with a card front cut from a PinkFresh Studio Blanket Stitch Rectangle die. Using Masking Magic quarter inch strips I masked off the stitching and then divided the panel into thirds. I ink blended Distress Oxide inks in pink, gold and turquoise into the areas, spritzed with water and splattered with white paint. I removed the masking strips, added the palm trees, SU, cut from white card stock and the stamped sentiment element. This lovely sentiment is from Gina K Designs.

Here is the inside of this card. The sentiment is actually a rub-on from Hero. The palm tree is from SU.

These other two cards are made using stamps and rub-ons from Hero. I used the same inside sentiment for each card.

Second card.

 Third card.

Inside of cards 2 and 3.

TGIF tomorrow. We have plans for Saturday. We are meeting friends that live in the Palm Springs area in the Temecula Wine Country for lunch and a little wine tasting. On Sunday, a girl friend and I will be at Petco Park for a baseball game. I hope you have some fun plans too.

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Hero Arts With Sympathy set and coordinating dies and rub-ons and Gina K Designs Guiding Light mini stamp set

Paper: Gina K Designs white, kraft, black card stock & vellum

Ink: Distress Oxide, Gina K Designs Black Onyx and craft white, Concord & 9th Rainforest, Grasshopper,  Eucalyptus, and Lemon Grass

Other: PinkFresh Studio Blanket Stitch Rectangle dies, Gina K Designs Sentiment Strip and Stitched Circle dies,  Stampin' Up Paradise Palms dies, SU Circle Punch, Blending Brushes, WOW white pearl embossing powder, heat tool, water brush, Dr pH Martin's white paint, small paint brush, Misti, Intri-cut die cutting machine

Wishing You All the Best

Happy Thursday Peeps,

I have two very different cards using Joanne's colors for this week's Paper Players Challenge. Joanne's color palette this week is Boho Blue, Night of Navy, Lemon Lolly and a fourth color, our choice. My fourth color for both of these cards is Grapefruit Grove.

Card one is made using a pretty bundle from PinkFresh Studio. It comes with a stamp set, hot foil plate, die and layering stencils. I've used everything except the hot foil plate to make my card. The back ground embossing folder is from Spellbinders. The sentiment is heat embossed with white EP onto Night of Navy card stock and the three shinny blue enamel dots are from SU.

Here is the inside of this card. I stamped, stenciled and cut out the image again and glued it to the top corner of the inside white panel, then trimmed the excess off. The sentiment is from the same stamp set, again heat embossed with white EP on Navy card stock.

Card two is made with Concord & 9th supplies. The background is a turnabout stencil using the four challenge colors. I cut it out using a C&9th postage stamp die and layered it to Night of Navy card stock. The drink cup (Yeti style) is made using a fairly new stamp and die set that has some super fun sentiments included along with some sweet ones.  I used three of the sweet sentiments here on the front. The two on the side are heat embossed with white EP on Navy card stock (why mess with something that works).

I used one of the funnier sentiments on the inside. (In my case it would be Iced Tea, not water.) I'm putting this in the mail for my nephew who lives in Minneapolis. 

Enjoy your Friday,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Floral Trio set by PinkFresh Studio and H2 Hello set by Concord & 9th

Paper: SU Basic White thick, Night of Navy, Boho Blue, Lemon Lolly

Ink: SU Night of Navy, Boho Blue, Lemon Lolly, Gina K Designs craft white

Other: PFS Floral Trio layering stencils and dies, C&9th H2 Hello dies & Postage Stamp dies, C & 9th Faceted Turnabout Stencil, Spellbinders Latticework embossing folder, Altenew Curved Sentiment Strip dies, WOW white embossing folder, heat tool, Misti, SU enamel dots, C&9th enamel dots, SU Dimensionals

I am Tickled Pink

 Hi Peeps,

I have a fun and bright card to share today. I made this using the current Just Us Girls challenge. It's color week and this week's colors are Pink and Aqua. I thought perfect for the Spellbinders Large Die set of the Month for May. With flamingos, tropical leaves and large flowers it's meant for colors like these.

I've been seeing these tunnel style cards around IG and bolg-land and while I don't have the Spellbinders dies (yet) I do have some that worked for the layout I had in mind. The background panel is ink blended into an ocean and pink sky. The foreground is made using the Spellbinders Scattered Tropics 3D embossing folder using C&9th Tidepool card stock. 

After die cutting all of the pieces of the flamingo, I did a little ink blending over the wing feathers for added depth of color. After putting the card togetherr before gluing everything, I decided I wanted a shadow around the large center cutout. Using the same card stock as the leaves, I cut the same shape and placed it to create the shadow.

The inside is super simple with a Spellbinders sentiment from an older stamp set.

My friend is coming later today so we can put the binding on her quilt we've been working on for a few months. Then it will be finished, and a very nice accomplishment for her as it's her very first time sewing anything.

Enjoy your day,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps:  Spellbinders sets Sentimental Greetings and Let's Get Together

Paper: Concord & 9th Oceanside, Tidepool, Pink Lemonade,  White and Black card stock

Ink: Concord & 9th Tidepool, Pink Lemonade, & Dragonfruit. Gina K Designs Sea Glass, Black Onyx and Wild Dandelion

Other: Spellbinders Grand Tropical Flamingos, Stampin' Up Layering Diorama dies, Spellbinders Scattered Tropics embossing folder, Concord & 9th yellow enamel dots, foam tape, liquid glue

Thank You

Happy Saturday Peeps,

I have a couple of bright cards for you today. You might need to wear some shades, LOL. I love the colors this week at Color Throwdown and I had to play along.

I pulled out some stenciling paste and re-inkers to make the stenciled background on both of these cards. The stencils, stamps and stitching dies are from Spellbinders.

These were really fun to make, although a bit messy. 

Here are the individual cards, fronts and inside.

I love, love this pineapple stitching die. It was the Spellbinders May 2024 Stitching die of the month. It looks great made in any color.

The inside sentiment is from the May 2024 Clear Stamp of the month set.

The large flower on this card is from the February 2024 Stitched Die of the month. There is also a stitched card front with the set. I added the bright pink scalloped circle using an older Spellbinders die. The sentiment comes from the Spellbinders Happy Stitching set, April 2024 Clear stamp of the month.

 

This sentiment is from the Spellbinders Sentimental Greetings stamp set.

Enjoy your day, and thanks for looking in. I'm spending my day binding two quilts that I made for wedding presents. They just came back from the long arm quilter, and I can't wait to see them finished. 

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Spellbinders Sentimental Greetings, Happy Stitching and Let's Get Together sets

Dies: Spellbinders Stitched Floral Focal Card Front, Stitched Pineapple and Scalloped Circle. Gina K Designs Master Layouts 1

Paper: Concord & 9th White and Dragonfruit card stock, Stampin' Up Pineapple Punch, Bumble Bee, Grapefruit Grove and Pale Papaya card stock. Gina K Designs Tangerine Twist and Black Onyx card stock

Ink: Gina K Designs Black Onyx, Craft White. Concord & 9th Dragonfruit ink pad and re-inker

Other: WOW white pearl embossing powder, heat tool, Cloud Whip paste, palette knives, orange and yellow embroidery floss, needle, Concord & 9th Dragonfruit enamel dot, SU Sequin, Connect liquid glue, Gina K Designs foam squares

You Lift Me Up

Hello Peeps,

Before I head out to PT this afternoon, I have a cute card to share. I've used Amy's sketch for Freshly Made Sketches and Jaydee's theme for this week's Paper Players Challenge for the inspiration.

The stamps are Gus and Gertie, Besties from a line of sets by Taylored Expressions, and I think they are just the cutest. They are friends who, according to the stamp set themes, have lots of fun adventures together.  

The card is simply made with a cloudy background from both an embossing folder and a stencil. The image is stamped with black ink and colored with Copics then die cut and popped up over the clouds.

The inside has a sentiment from a different Gus and Gertie set.

Enjoy your day,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Gus & Gertie and  Gus & Gertie Ride On sets by Taylored Expressions

Paper: Gina K Designs card stock

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Gina K Designs Powder Blue, and Copics

Other: SU Clouds embossing folder, SSS cloud stencil, MFT Stitched Rectangle dies, Gina K Designs Master Layouts 2 dies (banner), Misti, SU Dimensionals, blending brush

Oh Happy Day!

 Happy Hump Day,

I love blue and yellow paired together so I just had to play along with the the Color Hues challenge 88. Many options would work for these colors. In the end, I decided to use some Concord & 9th supplies and make a bright paper quilt.

I started by using the Pick Me Up Turnabout stamp, stamping and embossing with white on both blue and yellow card stock. The quilt dies are from the Poinsettia Quilt Top die set. I cut the pieces from the same area on both of the colors then alternated the colors when glueing them in place. I liked the plain card stock in the corners instead of the stamped, so that's how I kept it. 

The sentiment is from C&9th too. I cut it three times from yellow card stock and glued them together for dimension. After popping it up on the card, I used some sparkly Crystal Effects to give it some shine. To finish the embellishing, I added some dark blue enamel dots.

Here is the inside. Since I have many birthday cards to make for the next two months, this makes one less to go. 

Enjoy your Wednesday!

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Pick Me Up Turnabout set and Bunch of Balloons bundle (inside sentiments) by Concord & 9th

Dies: Poinsettia Quilt Card Front and Short & Sweet sets by Concord & 9th, Master Layouts 2 by Gina K Designs

Paper: Daffodil Delight and Blueberry Bushel by SU, Layering Weight White by Gina K Designs

Ink: Craft White by Gina K Designs, Daffodil Delight and Blueberry Bushel by SU

Other: WOW Bright White Embossing Powder, heat tool, Misti, Concord & 9th Glossy Details, enamel dots, SU Dimensionals

Happy Birthday Friend

 Hello peeps,

Jaydee is the hostess for the Paper Players this week, and she has a fun theme challenge for us. I have a several family and friends that have birthdays this summer and I've started working on cards for them, which makes this weeks PP challenge timely for me.

I've used a new Concord and 9th stamp and die set to make a card for one of my good friends who happens to have a birthday just a few days after mine in July. The set is called Best Friend Vibes. The stamps and dies make super cute friendship bracelets and has limitless creative options. 

The stamps include small alpha and numeric characters and a few sentiments. The dies have tons of options to use the stamps and faux woven bracelet dies. So Fun!

Here is the inside.

Update on my arm. The break continues to heal and I've started PT for my wrist and hand. It's all feeling much better.

Have a good week!

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Best Friend Vibes by  Concord & 9th

Paper: Concord & 9th card stock

Ink: Gina K Designs Black Onyx

Other: Concord & 9th Sunburst Card Front die, Gina K Designs Master Layouts 1 dies, Concord & 9th enamel dots