Start Your Day With a Smile. . .

Hello Peeps!

Wow, it's been awhile since I've had any crafty time again. I made up for it today and made four cards. I'm on PTO this week and we are on the Central California coast. My happy place!

While Mr. Personal Chef and our other friends are working until the weekend, I spent a fun filled day with some stamps, paper and ink. While my supplies are limited to what I brought with me, I still managed to pull off some fairly cute cards.

Tonight's post is one I made for this week's Paper Player's Challenge. Laurie is our hostess this week. She has a CAS challenge with a theme to use plants on our cards. I guess "plants" can be interpreted to include any vegetation, but I went pretty literal, and used potted plants. I also used this week's CAS(E) this Sketch! sketch for my card.

 

This is a one layer card front. I stamped the large pot using Gina K black ink and colored it with SU Blends markers. (I'm not really pleased with how the SU thick Whisper White card stock worked with the alcohol markers. Way more bleeding of the ink than I get with X-Press It Blending card stock) After coloring the pot, I made a mask and then stamped the bamboo with two shades of Gina K green ink. I used the same bamboo stamp for the lower portion following the sketch. The sentiment is from the same Altenew set.  I thought it looked a little plain so I added the three SU faceted enamel dots.

I did layer the inside because I made a boo boo in my original stamping. Again, the flower pot is colored with SU Blends and the plant is stamped using Gina K inks.

Last weekend I was in St. Paul,  Minnesota to attend my nephew's graduation from Macalester College. There's just a hand full of states that I've not visited and MN happened to be one. I can say we had a wonderful time seeing some of the sites around the Twin Cities. The best of all was seeing my nephew Ian, my sister (his mom) and his siblings. Here are: the graduate, Ian. His older sister, Rachel and younger brother, Nathan.

Coming back to the "left coast" here is a picture of where we are spending our week. It's a little gray this week, but still, it's my Happy Place.

I hope you all have a fun and relaxing Friday and Memorial Day holiday weekend. I'm planning to enjoy my vacation to the fullest because come Tuesday, I'm back on the road. This time to Billings, MT.

As always, thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Potted Plants set by Altenew
Paper: SU Whisper white thick and regular weight card stock, SU Terra-cotta Tile card stock
Ink: Gina K ink cubes and SU Blends
Other: SU faceted dots in Terra-cotta Tile, Misti stamping tool

To My Beautiful Friend

Hi Peeps,

I had to do a WebEx class for work today. It lasted 4 hours and was, should I say it, boring! Luckily I was at my crafting desk with my computer and had enough room at the side to make a card while listening to the speaker.

Jaydee is this week's hostess for the Paper Players Challenge and her challenge is super fun. I really wanted to play along before I leave tomorrow morning for another work trip. Using some new stamps and dies from Concord & 9th, here's my card.

I love this new Turnabout set. The flower images are so cute and they really did a good job with the way the colors are mixed when using the four turns. For my card I used Grapefruit Grove, Balmy Blue, Pineapple Punch and Highland Heather ink pads. After stamping the main panel, I stamped the sentiment using VersaMark and heat embossed it with white EP on Highland Heather paper then cut it out with the large flower die that matches the set. I also used the same die to cut out flowers from Pineapple Punch and Grapefruit Grove paper. The three flowers are arranged with leaves cut from Balmy Blue and I also sponged some Balmy Blue ink on the edges using a sponge dauber.

Here is the inside of the card. The sentiment and small flower images are in the stamp set too.

I just got home from a retirement dinner for a co-worker. I've known him at least 30 years. I will sure miss working with him, but more, I'm super happy he gets to retire. He and his wife plan on traveling as much as they can.

Thanks for stopping by my blog,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Flower Patch Turnabout stamp set by Concord & 9th
Paper: SU Pineapple Punch, Balmy Blue, Highland Heather and Grapefruit Grove card stock, X-Press It Blending card stock
Ink: SU Pineapple Punch, Balmy Blue, Highland Heather, Grapefruit Grove ink pads, VersaMark Ink
Other: White EP, Heat Tool, Misti, Flower Patch set dies, Gemini Jr, sponge dauber, dimensionals

Hi There!

Hello,

WOW! It's been forever since I've done any stamping. Work travel, illness (again), and other life distractions have seemed to work against my crafty time these past weeks. Even today, I had too much to do, like packing for another work trip but I decided after dinner to make a quick card.

Claire has a great sketch this week for the Paper Players Challenge and it was just what I needed for inspiration.

I've combined stamps and DSP from Stampin' Up with super cute hedgehog stickers from Paper Source to make my card. I took some creative liberty and used an oval instead of a circle as it fit the cactus image best. The cactus is stamped using Cucumber Crush then cut out with a Die-namics Stitched Oval die. The hedgehogs are stuck to Whisper White card stock and then fussy cut because they are rather see-through, and I didn't like the cactus peaking through them. Also, by using the card stock, I could pop them up using dimensionals. And, how cute are those pom poms? I think they looked like fuzzy flowers, LOL.

The Paper Source sticker sheets are hedgehogs and foxes, so I've used one of the fox stickers for the inside of the card.

This card took no time to put together, even with the fussy cutting. Turned out pretty cute too. I know if sure felt great to do some stamping. Unfortunately, I won't get a chance to do more until next weekend as I'm off to northern California for the week early tomorrow morning.

I hope you all have a wonderful week, and, thanks for stopping by,
Colleen


Supplies
Stamps: Flowering Desert set by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Whisper White and Affectionately Yours DSP
Ink: SU Night of Navy, Cucumber Crush, Mango Melody
Other: Die-Namics Stitched Oval Die, Paper Source stickers, Pom Poms, SU twine, Gemini Jr, dimensionals, Misti

Happy Spring

Hello,

I have a very colorful Spring/Easter card for you this evening. I made this for the new Paper Players Challenge where my friend, LeAnne, is the hostess this week. LeAnne's challenge is to use plaid as a focal point on our projects.

I have tons of plaid papers and even stamps to make plaid, so that wasn't a problem, but I'm not so sure I accomplished the "focal point" requirement. Regardless, there is plaid, a lot of plaid, LOL.

This bunny is one of my favorite Easter themed stamps. It is a fairly old single wooden stamp that has a date of 1993 on it. The company is PSX. I stamped him on X-Press It Blending card stock with Memento black ink and colored the image with Copics. I cut the image out with a Die-namics oval die, then cut the Scalloped Oval Frame from Lawn Fawn purple plaid paper. The background plaid is also Lawn Fawn paper. The flowers are a combo of Lawn Fawn and SU Gingham DSP. The flowers are TE dies.

I didn't want to put the greeting on the front. I couldn't figure out a good place so I used a simple Happy Spring stamp on the inside. The egg shaped die is Spellbinders, with more Lawn Fawn papers for the background.

I hope everyone has a good start to the work week. Thanks for stopping by,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Bunny by PSX and Happy Spring by Hero Arts
Paper: Thick Whisper White card stock, X-Press It Blending card stock, Lawn Fawn and SU patterned papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, SU Gorgeous Grape
Other: Die-namics Oval and Scalloped Oval Frame dies, Taylored Expressions Flower and Leaf dies, Spellbinders Nested Egg die, Gemini Jr, SU mini glue dots, SU small dimensionals, enamel dots

Cat-puccino?

Hi again,

Looking through blog-land this morning, I saw that the Tag You're It! Challenge has a fun theme challenge going on. A chance to use some of my super cute coffee stamps. I decided to use the current CAS(E) this Sketch! sketch for my tag and card. I found these coffee themed patterned papers in my misc paper bag that works perfectly with the theme.

The coffee cup image is stamped with Memento black and the Cat is stamped with VersaMark and heat embossed with white EP.  They are colored with Copics, then cut with the set die. The circle tag is a Lawn Fawn die. I cut two, one from the patterned papers layered to mimic the diagonal in the sketch and a second from the same card stock as the card base. I tied a small bow using Baker's twine and added a puffy coffee cup and some enamel dots for embellishments. 

For the inside of the card I used the same coffee cup stamp, with a different coffee decoration, again heat embossed with white EP.

I hope your afternoon is "Grande." Thanks again,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Latte Love set by Ellen Hutson
Paper: SU Cool Caribbean and Whisper White card stock, X-Press It Blending card stock.
?? Patterned papers (I think they are from a SSS kit)
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, VersaMark, Copics
Other: Latte Love set dies, Pebbles puffy sticker and enamel dots, Baker's twine, SU white EP, heat tool, Gemini Jr., Misti, dimensionals, SU mini glue dots

Thinking Of You and Have A Nice Day

Happy Saturday peeps,

If you have plans for the weekend, I hope they are for fun. For me, I'm still taking it easy trying to get over a sinus infection. I think I'm finally winning. This morning is the first I've woken up without feeling crummy. Guess taking some R & R from work was the ticket.

Since I was home yesterday, I managed to make a couple of cards. The design is inspired by Jen's sketch for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge. Both cards use mostly Altenew stamps and dies.

This first card is probably my favorite. It's made with Altenew Camellia Build A Flower set and dies. When I stamped the flowers, I only used two of the three stamps, omitting the "first" layer that is solid. I wanted the white background in the flowers instead of color. The flowers are stamped using a combo of SU peach shades and the leaves a combo of SU gray shades.

The texture in the background is made using the SU Dynamic Woodgrain embossing folder and the Taylored Expressions Quatrefoil Cutting Plate.

The sentiment is from the Altenew set called Dainty Swiss Dots and is heat embossed using white EP on black card stock.

The second card uses images and dies from the Altenew set called Potted Plants. I stamped the plants in different SU green inks and cut them out with the dies. The pots are stamped using a very light shade of Memento ink and colored with Copics. I was going for the no-line look. After coloring, they were cut out with the corresponding set dies as well.

The background on this card is made using the MFT brick stencil and paste. IRL the bricks show up but in the photo, not so much. The frame is also from MFT and is cut from black card stock.

My plans today are for more stamping and some baseball watching. As always, thanks for looking in.
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: All Altenew, Build A Flower Camellia, Potted Plants and Dainty Swiss Dots sets
Paper: SU thick Whisper White, Basic Black, Blush Blossom card stock, SU Champagne Foil sheet, X-Press It Blending card stock
Ink: Various SU green, peach and gray inks, VersaMark, Memento tuxedo black and Memento light gray, Copics
Other: Altenew set dies, Taylored Expressions Quatrefoil Cutting Plate, Die-namics Stitched Frame die, SU Dynamic Woodgrain embossing folder, MFT Brick stencil, embossing paste, SU white EP, heat tool, Misti, Gemini Jr, SU mini glue dots, foam tape, dimensionals

Thanks For Bean Sweet

Hello,

Wow, it's been awhile since I last posted. Actually, it's been awhile since I've done any stamping! I was traveling for work and during the first week, I came down with a nasty "bug" that quickly turned into a roaring sinus infection. Since I was out of town, I didn't make it to a Dr. to get antibiotics until almost 5 days in. Consequently, it took (is taking) forever to go away. I have felt horrible! Of course, I still had to finish the project which meant that I was gone for another 1.5 weeks. Hotel living is not the best for recuperating. I finished the project this past Tuesday and promptly took the rest of this week off. I am feeling much, much better today.

Since I am feeling better, I decided that I'd try making a card, though I'm not feeling particularly creative, I'm pleased with how it turned out. The new CAS(E) this Sketch! has a fun sketch by Brian and I was able to incorporate this week's Paper Player's Challenge where Laurie has a fun Tic-Tac-Toe Easter theme.

Here's my card:

For Laurie's challenge, I used the right to left diagonal, patterned paper, embossing, Easter theme. The stamps are all from Lawn Fawn and the patterned papers are very old Stampin' Up DSP.

The images are all stamped using Memento black ink and are colored with Copics. For the jar lid, I stamped the bunny, made a mask for her, and then stamped the jar lid so she is sitting on the lid. The lid and bunny are fussy cut out and all of the other images are cut with the set dies.

After putting everything together per the sketch, I decided it needed a little something else, so I used a couple of older SU punches and some black enamel dots to jazz things up a bit. The embossing element is the jar label. "Jelly Beans" is stamped using craft white ink and heat embossed using white EP.

Happy Easter is the inside greeting:

It feels great to be back to stamping. Since I'm off again tomorrow, I'll likely do more. Until then, have a great evening, and thanks for stopping in.

Hugs,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Happy Easter and How You Bean? sets by Lawn Fawn
Paper: SU thick Whisper White and regular Whisper White, Pretty In Pink card stock, SU Sweet Always DSP
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, SU Pretty In Pink, Hero Arts Craft White
Other: Lawn Fawn How You Bean? Lawn Cuts, SU punches (retired), SU white EP, heat tool, Misti stamping tool, Gemini Jr, black and yellow enamel dots, aqua Baker's twine, SU mini glue dots, dimensionals