Happy Birthday

 Happy Hump Day Peeps,

I was looking through my boxes of SU patterned papers for some beehive images yesterday and while doing so, I ran across this very old Botanical Gazette DSP. There's a hive on one of the pages that I could use for the other card, and then I saw these moth and flower images that looked like they would be great for vintage style cards. Now, I'm pretty crappy at doing vintage, but I decided to give it a try. After finishing the card this morning, I realized it would fit with the current Mood Board challenge for Just Us Girls.

I tore a couple of edges of the DSP and blended some Dark Sage ink over them. I then stamped some images from the SSS Butterfly Blossoms set around using Charcoal Brown ink. Another piece of the DSP has moths scattered around and I used some postage dies from Waffle Flower to cut them out. They are arranged around the front of the card, an I added some gold dots to finish.

For the inside I used my current favorite "inside" birthday sentiment with a left over moth cutout.

This afternoon I'll be packing for a trip to NY tomorrow. My nephew, my sister and I are going to the Base Hall Of Fame Inductions in Cooperstown this weekend. My nephew's all time favorite player is being inducted. He really wanted to go and since I'm a huge BB fan too, I was all in, then my sister (his mom) decided to join us.

Have a great afternoon,

Colleen

Supplies

 Stamps: Butterfly Blossoms set by Simon Says Stamp and Gentle Silhouettes set by Gina K Designs

Paper: Gina K Designs Ivory and Dark Sage card stock, SU Botanical Gazette DSP

Ink: Gina K Designs Dark Sage and Charcoal Brown

Other: Waffle Flower Postage dies, Spellbinders Sealed Twine die, Gina K Designs metallic pearl embellishments and blending brushes

On Your Big Day

 Happy Monday Peeps,

I'm playing with Ann's color challenge for this week's The Paper Players. Her choice of colors are so pretty.  I thought they would work well with stencils, and I have a new-ish GKD large floral layering stencil that wanted to use. After finishing the stenciling, I decided I wanted to make something other than a basic card. As the image is large enough, a gate fold card came to mind.

For additional interest, I used a spotlight technique for the center front. I simply stenciled two panels, making them as close as possible, then used a circle die to cut the center out of one of the panels and the mat from Berry Burst, then popped up the circle over the center matching the flower lines. 

The greetings are heat embossed with black EP on vellum and cut with the matching dies and backed with Berry Burst CS. The edging lace die is from the GKD Master Layouts 18 die set and the pink pearls are also from GKD.

I took a couple of pictures of the front, one standing (please forgive the shadows) and one lying flat.

For the inside I stamped images from another new-ish GKD stamp set called Gentle Silhouettes. I like the greeting for inside a birthday card.

I have a couple of good friends who have birthdays this summer, so I'll save this for one of them.

Enjoy your week,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Graceful Greetings and Gentle Silhouettes sets by Gina K Designs

Paper: SU Bubble Bath, Berry Burst card stock, Gina K Designs Layering Weight White card stock, SSS vellum

Ink: SU Berry Burst, Bubble Bath and Lost Lagoon, Gina K Designs embossing ink

Other: Gina K Designs Labyrinth Dahlia Layering Stencils, Master Layouts 18, Stitched Circles, and Master Layouts 1 dies, Brutus Monroe black embossing powder, heat tool, Gina K Designs pink pearl embellishments, Connect glue, SU Dimensionals

Fruity

Happy Mom's Day to all the Moms out there. I hope someone is spoiling you a little (a lot) today!  Being far away from my mom, it's really just another day. I sent her card earlier in the week, and I spoke with her yesterday.

I have a couple of fun and fruity cards for you today. I'm playing along with Vicki's Word Week challenge at Just Us Girls, and I've used Linda's sketch for this week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge for one of my cards.

I keep thinking I need to start using more patterned papers when I make cards. I have so much of it but rarely seem to use it. I made a point to use some on these cards, although it really didn't make a dent in what I have in this SU line called Tutti Frutti.

The stamp set used for both cards is from Concord & 9th called Fruit For Thought.

This stamp set includes several fruits and small sentiments as well as a very large focal type sentiment, which is what I used on the second card.

Using several of the patterns in the pack I layered them on the front of the card base. The large sentiment is heat embossed on yet another pattern. I did two layers of embossing powder, the first layer is black EP and the second layer is the old SU Dazzling Diamonds EP.  I cut the sentiment out with the coordinating die and popped it up over a Real Red panel.

The inside of the first card is stamped with "Thanks a mellow," and the inside of the second card says "You're sweet." 

Enjoy your day!

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Fruit For Thought set by Concord & 9th

Paper: SU card stock and SU Tutti Frutti DSP

Ink: Concord & 9th and Gina K Designs Embossing pad

Other: MFT Stitched Rectangle die, Brutus Monroe black embossing powder, SU Dazzling Diamonds embossing powder, heat tool, Connect glue, SU Dimensionals

Happy Hour

 Hello,

We're back from our long weekend in Palm Springs for Modernism Week, and we had a lovely time. We toured some very cool Mid Century Modern homes, inside and out, and took a 2.5 hour bus tour through some of the neighborhoods where most of the homes are of that architecture, many of which were once owned by celebrities.

This afternoon after getting things put away and laundry done, I made this colorful card for Jan's Masculine / CAS theme for The Paper Players. I've also used Jen M.'s sketch for this weeks Freshly Made Sketches.

I cut the card base with a die from the Concord & 9th Select A Size die set and glued it to a panel that I stenciled using the Concord & 9th Joyful Tiles Turnabout stencil set. The martini glass and the sentiment are from the SU Sip Sip Hooray stamp set.

Here's the inside where I've used a couple of other SU stamp sets.

It's always good to have another masculine birthday card in my stash. 

Have a nice Friday, and weekend ahead.

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: All Stampin' Up sets, Sip Sip Hooray, Bonanza Buddies, Happy Hour

Paper: SU Vanilla

Ink: SU Merry Merlot, Tranquil Teal, Dapper Denim, Delightful Dijon, Gina K Designs Soft Stone, Storm Sky, Copic Markers

Other: Concord & 9th Joyful bTiles Turnabout stencil and Select A Size dies, blending brushes, Connect glue

Love You

 Hello all,

I have another very pink and bright Valentine's Day card for you today. I was watching this Jennifer McGuire video and decided to give the technique a try. This video is  part 2 of 2. Part 1 is the same technique using embossing folders, which I also tried and made several cards with the backgrounds I produced.

I'm playing with the current Color Hues Pink and Red challenge, and Ann's Theme challenge, Love is In The Air for the Paper Players.

All of the supplies for this card are from Gina K Designs. They include the heart sentcil, Script background stamp, focal dies, paper and ink.

As with most inking techniques, it's hard to stop, but even with the door open to the outside and the over head fan on, the alcohol fumes got to be a little much. But, I got some nice results from both the stencils and the embossing folders. Like Jennifer, I found that the Simon Says Stamp Pawsitivitly Saturated inks gave a little better result, but the Gina K dye inks still worked well. I'm assuming most dye inks would work. I used a Tim Holtz sponge ink applicator instead of blending brushes to apply the ink and blend the colors. I thought that a heavier ink application would probably work best.

Here's the inside of this card. Also using GKD stamps.

The following cards are made using backgrounds from the same technique, but with embossing folders. The embossing folders are from SSS, SU, and Spellbinders. The die sets used to finish the cards are all from Spellbinders. Inks are all SSS Pawsitively Saturated inks.

If you're looking for a fun inking technique, watch Jennifer's two videos and give this a try. I love picking the blending colors.

Enjoy your week,

Colleen

Supplies for Challenge Card

Stamps: Elegant Script Background Stamp and You Are So Loved set by Gina K Designs

Paper: Gina K Designs card stock Cherry Red, Passionate Pink, Innocent Pink, and Heavy Weight White

Ink: Gin K Designs Passionate Pink, Bubble Gum Pink, and Cherry Red

Other: Gina K Designs Layering Hearts Stencil (I used only the open heart stencil), Gina K Designs Master Layouts 1 dies, small heart from the Stitched Circle die set, and Ornate Love You dies, Tim Holtz sponge applicator, rubbing alcohol in mister bottle, red enamel heart, foam tape

Wishing You A Happy (Lunar) New Year - Year of the Snake

 Happy Lunar New Year Peeps!

That's the theme for today's card. While it's not something that we've traditionally celebrate, we are heading to a little Lunar New Year party tomorrow night and I wanted to make a card for the hosts. Using a few stamp sets in my craft room, I was able to come up with something appropriate.

I've used Joanne's sketch for this week's Paper Players Challenge and I'm posting my card to the Lunar New Year Challenge Blog as well.

To make this card I started by stamping the lantern images around the card panel with black ink, then colored them with Copic Markers. After the coloring was completed, I used a blending brush to add a yellow glow to the background.  Per Joanne's sketch, I added the sentiment panel with the happy snake image and another lantern, but in gold.

I duplicated the snake image on the inside with a simple Let's Celebrate sentiment.

Enjoy your Wednesday!

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Stampin' Up sets Color Me Happy (lanterns) and Light the Sky (sentiments). Lawn Fawn set Jungle Critters (snake)

Paper: Gina K Designs card stock

Ink: Gina K Designs Black Onyx and Copic Markers

Other: Gina K Designs Master Layouts 1 die set, MFT Stitched Rectangle and Banner dies, Spellbinders gold dots, SU Dimensionals, Foam tape

Grateful

 Happy Tuesday Peeps,

Elizabeth is hostess this week for the Paper Players Challenge. It's theme week and she has chosen Give Thanks, a very timely theme for November here in the U.S. 

My card is super simple. Some stenciling, die cutting and a few embellishments and it was done. I did add some stamping in the mix with the inside sentiment.

This is last month's Spellbinders' stencil of the month set called Colorful Pumpkins. The die cut sentiment is from Gina K Designs. I cut it from shiny gold card stock and added some GKD gold embellishments for accent. I thought the gold was a good choice for the fall colors. (However, it was hard to get a picture to actually show the shiny gold. it took me several tries, LOL.)

Before stenciling the pumpkins, I used an older Taylored Expressions masking stencil to do the inside deckled rectangle pattern. After finishing the card, I'm still not sure I really like the way it looks. In my mind's eye, it was way prettier!

I added just one of the stenciled pumpkins on the inside with a stamped greeting from Spellbinders' October Clear Stamp of the month.

It's finally election day here in the U.S. I voted early, about 3 weeks ago, actually. The day after dropping off my ballot I received the text that it was received and counted. One very rewarding life experience I've had is working a polling place. I can't remember the exact year because it was over 10 years ago now, but I remember most everything else about that day and the training day prior to election day. I remember feeling like I was participating in something special that day. 

I'm taking off to my mom's tomorrow, a 12 hour drive. Basically from one end of California to the other. I'm staying with mom while my sister goes back to Oregon to baby sit her two grand children for a week. I'll be there for two weeks or maybe a little more, then I'm bringing my mom back to stay with us through Thanksgiving. I see lots of card games and some bingo nights in the near future.

Have a great evening,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Autumn Wishes by Spellbinders

Stencils: Colorful Pumpkins by Spellbinders and Deckled Rectangle Masking stencil by Taylored Expressions

Paper: Gina K Designs Vanilla and Dark Sage card stock, Concord & 9th gold card stock

Ink: Gina K Designs

Other: Gina K Designs Grateful die with shadow die, blending brushes, gold metallic embellishments, SU Deckled Rectangle die, Connect glue, SU mini Dimensionals

The Loveliest Day

Happy Thursday peeps,

I have a fun Fall card for you today, but not in traditional Fall colors. Yesterday afternoon I was going through my box of Fall stamp sets looking for one to use for this week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge. I picked an older SU set called Hello Harvest. I remembered that I liked coloring these images and they seemed perfect for Linda's sketch.

I also remembered that the new Color Throwdown challenge started so I went to see what the colors were for this week. Not really a fall palette, but I decided to use it anyway and I really like how these colors worked out with the fall stamp set.

The background is made with two embossing folders, one from Spellbinders and the other from GKD.

On the inside of the card I used a couple of the other images from the same SU set, then cut and matted using the GKD Master Layouts 2 dies.

Have a wonderful day all!

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Hello Harvest set from Stampin' Up

Paper: SU Gorgeous Grape, Parakeet Party, and Thick Basic White card stock, X-Press It Blending card stock

Ink: Memento Tuxedo black and Copics

Other: Spellbinders Cascading Leaves & Stripes embossing folder, Gina K Designs Falling Leaves embossing folder and Master Layouts 2 die set, purple candy dots, SU Dimensionals, Connect glue

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

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

Celebrate

 Happy Hump Day Peeps,

I'm continuing the Red, White and Blue color theme with today's Fourth of July card. This card came about because I was shopping my stash of wood mounted stamps to play along with Amy's May edition of Woodblock Wednesday. The flag and fireworks stamps were sitting next to each other and I thought why not? I'm using the new sketch from Narelle for Freshly Made Sketches.

The fireworks stamp is from 2000 by Double D Rubber Stamps and the Sm Heart Flag stamp is from 1998 by Stampington Co. 

The background is stenciled, the flag is colored with red and blue Copic markers,  and the fireworks image is heat embossed using WOW Galaxy Glow embossing powder, which is made of white EP with silver glitter. I added some tiny Hero sequin stars around the embossed image.

Here is the inside of this card.

Thanks for looking in and have a good rest of your week,

Colleen

Supplies

Stamps: Wood Mounted: Fireworks Image from Double D and Flag Image from Stampington Co. Greeting stamps on the front and inside are from SU

Paper: SU Basic White Thick, Real Red and Blueberry Bushel card stock

Ink: GKD Black Onyx, Embossing Pad, Red Hot and Powder Blue. Copics

Other: GKD Master Layouts 3 dies, Seeing Stars stencil, blending brushes, Spellbinders Circle, Scalloped Circle and Rectangle dies, WOW embossing powder, heat tool, Hero small sequin stars, SU Dimensionals and Connect glue