Cheers to You On Your Birthday

Hello and Happy Friday,

It's a coolish but sunny day here on the Southern California Coast, kind of perfect actually. I probably should be out for a walk, but instead I've been rummaging through my fabric stash looking to see if I have enough fabric to make a quick tree patterned quilt that I found on Pinterest. I'm looking for ideas for a birthday gift. 

I made the birthday card using Jen T.'s sketch for this week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge. I pulled out some older SU DSP and a couple of  older Avery Elle stamp sets to make this card.

The background is the Floral Backdrop cover plate from Pink Fresh Studio, and how about those sweet scallop shell embellishments from Trinity? So Cute! I had to use them on the inside of the card too.

The stamped images are colored with Copics. I used some Fruit Punch Stickels glitter over the drink to make it look even more tropical.

I also made a Holiday card using Jen's sketch as inspiration. This die set is from Simon and it's called Berry Wreath. The background is hot foiled with the Waffle Flower Triple Line Diamond plate and the greeting is hot foiled with the Pink Fresh Studio Perfect Sentiments Holiday set. This is a fun die set to play with.

Enjoy your day!

Colleen

Supplies Card 1

Stamps: Aloha and Simply Said Hugs sets by Avery Elle

Paper: SU Basic White, Black & Pumpkin Pie card stock, SU retired DSP

Ink: Memento Tuxedo black and Copics

Other: Avery Elle set dies, Gina K Designs single and double stitched circle dies, Pink Fresh Studio Floral Backdrop cover plate die, Trinity Scallop Shel embellishments, Misti, Big Shot Switch, Connect glue, SU Dimensionals

Supplies Card 2

Berry Wreath Die set by Simon Says Stamp, Triple Line Diamond Hot Foil Plate by Waffle Flower, Perfect Sentiments Holiday Hot Foil set by Pink Fresh Studio

Paper: Gina K Designs Layering Weight White, Black, Jelly Bean Green, Tranquil Teal, Fresh Asparagus, Passionate Pink, Innocent Pink

Other: Spellbinders gold foils, Spellbinders Hot Foil System, Big Shot, Connect glue, SU Dimensionals

Warm Wishes

 Happy Hump Day Peeps,

I thought I'd better get my card done for this week's Paper Players Challenge. Ann is hostess with a great sketch this week. I took the opportunity to make another Holiday Card.

I used several supplies from several different companies, Avery Elle, Concord & 9th, Gina K Designs and Stampin' Up.  This card was basically designed as I was making it, starting with the large glimmer paper snowflake. I had it on my table from some projects I was working on yesterday and I decided I needed to use it for the corner element in Ann's sketch.

The card stock and glimmer papers are from Stampin' Up. The center glimmer paper panel is cut with a stitched rectangle die from SU and embossed with the GKD Snowflake embossing folder. The large snowflake die is also GKD. I cut a circle from the Tahitian Blue glimmer paper to place under the snowflake making it easier to pop up. 

The background is made with the Concord & 9th Snowflake Turnabout stamp. Ink colors are Tahitian Blue, Blueberry Bushel, Night of Navy and White.

The stamp set is an older Avery Elle set with corresponding dies called Polar Pals. There are several sweet images, and these guys are colored with Copics.

I used the Turnabout stamp again for the inside panel, this time stamped using Soft Sky. The two sentiments are from a newer GKD set called Snow Carolers, with another image from the Avery Elle set.

Thanks for checking in,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Polar Pals by Avery Elle, Snowflake Turnabout set by Concord & 9th, Snow Carolers by Gina K Designs

Paper: Basic White, Tahitian Blue, Night of Navy card stock and Glimmer Papers by Stampin' Up 

Ink: SU Tahitian Blue, Night Of Navy, Blueberry Bushel & Soft Sky, Hero Arts White craft, Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Markers

Other: Misti, Snowflake Trio dies, Sentiment Strip dies and Snowflake Embossing Folder by Gina K Designs, SU Stitched Rectangle  and circle dies, Big Shot Switch, SU Dimensionals

#cardsforukraine: Peace

 Hello,

Paper crafters on Instagram and FaceBook are posting cards to show "light, love, encouragement" and support for the people of Ukraine in their time of darkness. Cards in blue and yellow, and/or with sunflowers as the focal images are being made. Such a great idea, and something that I'm totally behind. You can check out the IG gallery here.

I've used products from Avery Elle, Pink Fresh Studio, Concord & 9th and Gina K Designs to make my card to participate. My heartfelt sympathy goes out to the Ukrainian people.

Thanks, and be safe,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Pop Out Sunburst stamp by Pink Fresh Studio, Sunflowers set by Avery Elle, Scripty Letters by Concord & 9th

Paper: Gina K Designs card stock

Ink: Gina K Designs and Copic Markers

Misty, 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

May All Your Christmases be Bright

 Hello,

I hope you all had a nice, relaxing weekend. I spent most of today stamping, but yesterday I spent ALL day doing some house cleaning. We went to a friend's house for dinner and ate some very yummy seafood paella. It was warm in SoCal, and we ate out in the back yard by the pool.

I have a couple of cards using Linda's sketch for the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge. Since it's Sunday, it's time for a new Paper Players Challenge. and one of the cards fits Joanne's color challenge for this week.

The backgrounds on both cards use this Jennifer McGuire embossing folder technique. It's super fun! If you have some pots of Glitz Glitter Gel and some embossing folders, give it a try.

This first card is for the PP color challenge of gray, black, white and silver. The background looks blue, but it's just the picture. The Glitz Glitter Gel that I used is clear. The trees are all embossed using silver EP and I used black and gray accents.

Here is the inside of this card:

Here's the second card. This time I used bright pink Glitz Glitter Gel to fill in the EF. The ornament images are gold heat embossed with parts of the images colored with a light pink Copic. I used a clear Aqua Shimmer pen over the white spaces in the images for more sparkle, not that there isn't enough already. IRL, it is a shitty and bright card!

The inside of this card:

Wishing everyone a good week ahead! Thanks for looking in,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamp sets:  Card 1, Tiny Trees Turnabout set by Concord & 9th 

                    Card 2, Retro Ornaments set by Avery Elle

Embossing Folders:

                    Card 1 Stampin' Up Snow Burst

                    Card 2 Stampin' Up Poinsettia

Other: Gina K Designs card stock and inks, white, silver and gold fine detail embossing powders

VersaMark ink, heat tool, Misti, Gemini Jr, Glitz Glitter Gel, SU silver sequin, SU Dimensionals

                    

BOO!

 Hi and happy Sunday,

Since I need to review some spreadsheets so I can present data for a meeting tomorrow, I did some stamping early in the day today. I got two cards made as I went pretty simple letting dies and embossing folders do most of the work.

For this post I have my card for LeAnne's CAS Paper Players Challenge. She has a fun pets theme this week. CAS means limited layers, embellishments, and plenty of "white" space. My card pushes the boundaries some, but I'm going with it. 

I need a few more Halloween/Fall themed cards and I remembered this cute Avery Elle Halloween cat set. I've used this week's layout from CAS(E) this Sketch!.

I started with a panel of Basic Black card stock and dry embossed a spider web then sponged some white craft ink over the raised areas using a sponge dauber. I trimmed the panel down using a die for A2 card layering and glued it to an Oyster Gray card base. The sentiment panel is made with another piece of the same Oyster Gray card stock and topped with a Halloween border cut from Holographic card stock. The cat images are stamped, colored with Copics, and cut with the set dies.

Here is the inside using more images from the same Avery Elle stamp set.

I hope all is well in your world. Thanks for looking,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Bad Kitty set by Avery Elle

Paper: SU Basic Black, Whisper White card stock and SSS Oyster Gray and Holographic card stocks

Ink: Gina K Black Onyx ink, Copics, Hero Unicorn 

Other: Avery Elle set dies, SU Spider Web EF, Taylored Expressions Dripping border die, Gina K Master Layouts 1 & 2, sponge dauber, Gemini Jr, Dimensionals

Happy Everything

 Hi Peeps,

I sat down after work yesterday afternoon and made a card for the current CAS(E) this Sketch! challenge. This turned out to be one of those quick cards, just a little time to color the images with Copics.

These sunflowers are from the Avery  Elle set called, appropriately, Sunflowers. The background patterned is from SU called In Good Taste.

Here is the inside of the card, also using Avery Elle stamps, though the sentiment is from another set called Simply Said Hugs set.

Thanks for checking in,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Sunflowers set and Simply Said Hugs set by Avery Elle

Paper: SU Night of Navy card stock and In Good Taste DSP, X-Press It Blending card stock

Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, VersaMark, SU Bumblebee and Night of Navy

Other: Sunflowers set dies, SU label die, white EP, heat tool, Misti, Gemini jr., SU Dimensionals

This Calls For Cake

Hello and happy Sunday,

I'm currently on vacation at my sister's house in Portland, OR. I drove to northern California last week to pick up our mom to bring her here to stay with my sister for a month or so.

I usually bring some crafting supplies when I travel by car to mom's and/or my sister's house, although my sister is also a paper crafter and I can use some of her supplies while here. Yesterday, she and I did some shopping at a local scrapbooking and stamping store in Beaverton.

The supplies I brought with me are mostly for making some Holiday cards, but I also brought some misc sets too, which I used to make this birthday card for a co-work's end of July birthday.

The sketch is this week's Freshly Made Sketch. The stamp set is from Avery Elle called Sweet Swines. I used the Gina K Wreath Builder to stamp the balloons.

The images are all stamped with Memento tuxedo black on Whisper White Thick card stock and colored with SU Blends. I brought my Blends instead of my Copics to color with on this trip, because they take up less room. Honestly, I don't like how the Blends color as well as the Copics.

Here is the inside of the card.

Have a nice and restful Sunday. Thanks for checking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Sweet Swines set by Avery Elle
Paper: SU Brilliant Blue, Granny Apple Green, Poppy Parade and Whisper White thick card stocks
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Blends
Other: Sweet Swines set dies, Gina K Wreath Builder, Big Shot, Misti, Gina K foam squares

Heat Wave

Hello,

For my second post this evening I have a card inspired by the current Retro Rubber theme challenge, Summer time, and the current Freshly Made Sketches sketch. I've used this Avery Elle set many times over the years and it's one of my favorite to color. I thought it perfect for the Summer Time theme. I found this fun Hawaiian themed patterned paper in my stash and I thought it would pair well with the stamp set.

I do not have any diamond shaped dies so I used the SU banner die instead. After cutting it from some brown card stocks, I embossed them with the SU Coastal Weave embossing folder. The stamped images are colored using Copics and cut out with the corresponding set dies. The banners are popped up with foam tape and the images are popped up using Dimensionals. For embellishments, I added tiny clear rhinestones to the centers of the two small flowers, and added a few enamel flowers too.

I didn't put a sentiment on the inside, yet, because I'm not sure who and what I'll use this card for. I did add another image from the stamp set though.

I'm not sure exactly how old this set is, but I know I've had it for several years. The retro challenge is to use stamps at least one year old.

Thanks for checking in,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Aloha set by Avery Elle

Paper: TE Gold, light & dark brown card stock, Concord & 9th white card stock, ??? patterned papers

Ink: Gina K Charcoal Brown ink cube, Copics

Other: Avery Elle Aloha set dies, SU banner dies, SU Coastal Weave embossing folder, Gemini Jr, Misti, rhinestones, enamel flowers, foam tape, Dimensionals, liquid glue

You Sparkle and Shine (all the time)

Hello and Happy Sunday afternoon,

I was asked by a friend to make some Mother's Day cards for both her mom and her MIL because she didn't know if she would be able to shop for them with the current social distancing mandates. I ended up making several actually. After she and her husband pick, I'll use the others for my mom and and maybe send a few to friends.

The last few I made today using the new Paper Players Challenge. It's Clean and Simple week. Anne Marie is our hostess and she has added Sparkle as a theme.

Me being me, I immediately thought of champagne (maybe that's TMI, LOL) and I did make a champagne themed card. I also thought of a super cute Concord & 9th set that I have that fit this theme perfectly too. So, I made two more cards.  Here we go.

This is a side fold card. I die cut a circle in the center and lined it with a Die-namics scalloped circle border die cut from pink glitter paper. The champagne coupes are stamped on the inside with Memento black ink. I colored them with Copics and brushed on some Wink of Stella. There are 5 small clear rhinestones glued on some of the bubbles for added sparkle.

The outside sentiment is heat embossed with white EP on black card stock. The inside says Happy Mothers' Day. I did use a second layer here because I wanted to color the coupes with the Copics and they tend to bleed through one layer cards.

Here are the other two cards using the Concord & 9th set.

The backgrounds are stamped using the C&9th Gem Turnabout set. For the card with the sentiment in the center, I placed a circle mask in the center of the card before stamping with the turnabout stamp.  The gem die comes with the set and I cut it from pink, white and silver glitter papers. One is used in the center of the left card above, and another for the inside of the first card, seen here.

The inside of card #2.

I'm off to deliver the MD cards to my friends (at 6 ft with masks on). Have a nice evening and thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies Champagne Card
Stamps: Mimosas  and Mothers' Day sets by Avery Elle
Paper: Neenah Solar White, Concord & 9th Pink Glitter paper
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, VersaMark
Other: Spellbinders Circle die, Die-namics Scalloped Border Circle die, Misti, white EP, heat tool, Gemini Jr, clear rhinestones, liquid glue

Supplies Gem Cards
Stamps: Gem Turnabout and Lots to Say sets by Concord & 9th
Paper: Neenah Solar White, Concord & 9th Glitter paper
Ink: Altenew pinks, Gina K Amalgam black ink
Other: Misti, C&9th set dies, Gemini Jr, pink rhinestones

Just Wanted To Say

Hello Peeps,

It's a really dreary day here in Southern California and apparently we will have this weather all week. I'm not expecting that I'll have to be out and about for work too much this week, so I can "enjoy" the rain and wind from my craft room. I ended up working at customer sites (hospitals) all week last week. Every evening watching the news makes me more freaked to be out and about, but it's what I need to do.

Speaking of news, I think it was on one of the broadcasts Friday night, a story from a zoo and an aquarium where the workers were taking some animals to visit others because they were wondering if the animals were missing the human visitors. I remember they filmed an armadillo walking next to an otter enclosure/tank and the otters were very curious and kept coming up to the glass to get a better look. Another story was a zoo worker taking a Golden Retriever around to see the monkeys.

I was thinking of these news clips when I made my card for this week's Paper Players Challenge. LeAnne has a theme challenge this week called "A Day at the Zoo." Here's my card, inspired by the news

The card base and the top panel are Gable Green card stock, long ago retired from SU.  The top panel is stamped with a Concord & 9th Turnabout set with jungle leaves using Gable Green ink. The animals are from the Avery Elle set called Peek-a-boo Pals. They are stamped with Memento ink, colored with Copics and cut out using the corresponding set dies. I cut a circle in the top panel in order to arrange the critters around it. I backed the circle with a piece of Soft Sky card stock embossed with a TE cloud embossing plate, although the detail is hard to see in the pic. I didn't use foam tape to glue down the green panel, it's flat, but I did pop up the heads of the animals using dimensionals so it looks like they are looking down at us. Both sentiments are in the same stamp set.

The inside sentiment pulls the news story inspiration together (in case you were wondering.) I debated about how to place the sloth, but I ended up putting him up-side down since sloths do hang from trees. The circle is the one cut from the front panel. The blue panel here is also embossed with the same TE cloud embossing plate.

Like many, this weekend I made some masks to wear while shopping etc. I got a call from a good friend on Thursday asking me if I could make some for her family, so I decided to make a bunch for other friends too. My sister in Portland was doing the same thing this weekend. She even recruited one of her sons to do the sewing.

Here are the masks that I made. This was one of a bzillion free patterns floating around the internet. I had all supplies on hand, but I'm now completely out of elastic, so no more mask making for me. These should last and are washable too. I picked some fun fabrics. The second group are for some kids.

Have a great week all and stay safe!
Thanks,
Colleen


Supplies
Stamps: Peek-a-boo Pals set by Avery Elle and Tropical Vibes Turnabout set by Concord & 9th
Paper: SU Gable Green and Soft Sky card stock, X-Press It Blending card stock
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, SU Gable Green
Other: Die-namics Stitched circle and Stitched Border circle dies, Avery Elle set dies, Misti, Taylored Expressions Cloud Embossing Plate, enamel hearts, Gemini Jr, Dimensionals, Connect liquid glue

Happy Holidays

Hi peeps,

I have another Christmas card today. This one uses this week's sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch!, where my friend LeAnne is this week's Guest Designer. Of course I had to play along!

Here is my whimsical card using older Avery Elle sets. The set I used on the outside of the card is called Polar Peak-a-Boo Pals. I think this moose with the lights in his antlers is SO cute! He is colored with Copics and cut out with the corresponding die. I added lots of Wink of Stella glitter on the lights, but it's hard to see in the photo. The background paper is from a new 6 x 6 Christmas pad from Pebbles called Merry Little Christmas. The card base is SU Real Red.

I wanted to keep the same moose theme going on the inside too. This stamp is from the Avery Elle set called Snow Much Fun. The sentiment is heat embossed with white EP.

Thanks for stopping by,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Polar Peak-a-boo Pals and Snow Much Fun sets by Avery Elle
Paper: SU Real Red, Whisper White card stock and Merry Little Christmas 6 x6 pad by Pebbles
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, VersaMark, Copics, SU Real Red and Pool Party
Other: Polar Pals corresponding dies, white EP, heat tool, Gemini Jr, Wink of Stella pen, dimensionals