You're Great

This lovely floral card was created for two different challenges...The Paper Players sketch challenge and the MarkerPOP bi-weekly challenge. I love the layout of the sketch challenge and just gotten in a new stamp set that I wanted to ink up and color. For my card I started with some gorgeous and feminine patterned papers from the Chickanidy Scrumptious 6x6 paper pad and layered them onto my white card base following the sketch layout. I then die cut a fabulous open dot circled from Little B and stamped the beautiful floral bouquet from Unity Stamp Company's As We Go Along stamp set using Memento tuxedo black ink. I colored the image using Copic markers and then mounted the circle image onto my card base. I cut two fishtail banners...one from white cardstock and the other from a leftover scrap of paper from the paper pad...and mounted them onto the card. I stamped the sentiment from the Unity stamp set and this card was done! So simple and so pretty! Would love to do these flowers in lots of different color combos!

I Like You 'N Coffee

Today's card was created for the latest Can You Case It challenge. I love this awesome layout and thought it might make a fun coffee themed Valentine's Day card that I could send to a crafty friend. I started with a white card base and layered on some kraft cardstock from Hobby Lobby and then layered on a piece of pretty chevron patterned paper from the American Crafts Dear Lizzy Neopolitan 6x6 paper pad. I then cut my circles using more of the kraft cardstock and some white cardstock from Staples using my My Favorite Things pierced circle and Spellbinder nesting circle dies. I stamped the sentiment from the Reverse Confetti I Like You stamp set onto some white cardstock using Versafine onyx black ink and then layered on some kraft cardstock behind it for contrast. I stamped the coffee mug from My Style Stamps Coffee Lovers stamp set onto some patterned paper from the same paper pad using Memento tuxedo black ink. I fussy cut the images out and mounted them up using Stampin' UP foam dimensionals. I die cut a heart and it's coordinating scalloped trim using some more dies from Spellbinders, adhered them together, and mounted them onto the card. I added some sweetheart sequins from Pretty Pink Posh and then added some XMas red Stickles to the inside of the sequins and to the heart on the coffee mug sleeve. Some black dashed lines around the circle, the outer edge, the sentiment strip, and the coffee liner wrap this card up. I hope you like it!

I Love You

I am home sick as a dog today with a nasty chest cold and vertigo. As long as I don't move around too much I am okay. Working on Epley maneuvers (without puking) for the vertigo and trying not to move too much for both the coughing and the vertigo. The vertigo definitely seems to be better today than yesterday (thank God) but the coughing is still bad enough that my ribs and gut hurt just from the coughing. Hoping another day of rest will have me back up and running tomorrow. Anyway, I thought I would take advantage of not being able to move around too much to create a sweet card for my granddaughter Journey for Valentine's Day. She loves anything ballerina so I thought the adorable Before I Met You Tiny Dancer stamp set from Unity Stamp Company would be perfect for her card! I started my card with a white card base and layered on some red cardstock from Hobby Lobby. Then using some plain white typing paper I created a layered strip technique called Herrington. There are plenty of videos explaining this technique on YouTube so if you're not familiar with it already check it out. The strips of patterned paper are from the My Minds Eye Filled With Love 6x6 paper pad. I cut them into 1/2" strips and layered them onto the typing paper using the suggested layout. I then mounted that panel onto the red cardstock and then onto the card itself. I stamped the image from the Unity stamp set onto some 110 lb cardstock from Staples using some Memento tuxedo black ink and colored her in using Copic markers. I die cut the image using a decorative pierced edge frame from Gina Marie Designs. I added some tiny hearts from the Lawn Fawn You Float My Boat stamp set using Gina K inks in red hot and innocent pink and then added some clear Wink of Stella glitter pen to the images. I die cut a small panel using more of the red card stock and die cut the I Love You sentiment from some white card stock using a die set from Simon Says Stamp. Love how adorably this turned out!

You Float My Boat

This adorable Valentine's Day card was created for the latest Just Us Girls challenge. I love the colors in the inspiration photo and knew with the nautical theme that I had to crack out my Lawn Fawn Float My Boat stamp set. I wanted to do something fun and whimsical with this set, which is really what Lawn Fawn stamps embody. I started with some fun patterned papers from Pebbles Americana 6x6 paper pad. I really scored a nice find on this at Tuesday Morning...only $2.99 a pack so I picked up several. If you have a Tuesday Morning in your area you definitely need to go check them out and see what fun crafting goodies you can find. Anyway, back to the card. I started with a fun and graphic piece of the patterned paper with nice bright pops of color. I cut a zig zag out of some navy blue paper using a die from My Favorite Things. Using some white cardstock from Staples I stamped the wave from the stamp set using two different blue inks from Gina K designs...navy and ocean mist. I then scattered a random stamping of the heart around using the navy ink. I matted that focal piece onto a piece of navy cardstock from Hobby Lobby and popped it up off of the card base using some Stampin' UP foam dimensionals. I stamped the boat image three times and fussy cut it out and then cut the sails from the patterned papers, adhered them onto the images, and then popped them up using dimensionals. I stamped the sentiment from the stamp set using navy ink and cut a fishtail banner and adhered it to the card with foam dimensionals.  I think it turned out pretty cute and I hope you like it too!

Wishing You

Today's card was created for two different challenges...CAS(E) This Sketch and Curtain Call. I loved the layout on the CAS(E) challenge and adore the inspiration photo on the Curtain Call challenge. I decided to combine both and create one card. I started with a gorgeous stamp from Unity Stamp Company called Wishing You Joy. I love paper piecing with this fun stamp set and thought it would be fun to try in various shades of pink. I started with some pretty patterned papers from the Crate Paper Little Bo Beep 6x6 paper pad. I stamped and fussy cut the flowers in different shades of pink from the paper pad. Once those were all cut out I layered one of the patterned papers onto my white card base and then die cut a white panel using a stitched rectangle die from Gina Marie Designs. Using my Stamp-a-ma-jig tool I selectively stamped the flowers several times in varying heights and then glued on my fussy cut papers and did a little shading on them with some Copic markers. I heat embossed the sentiment from Verve Stamps Wishing You stamp set using Versamark ink and Recollections snow white detail embossing powder. I glued the sentiment panel to the focal piece and then mounted it up off of the card using some 3M foam tape for some nice dimension. I just love the way this turned and think it would be fun to make a set of these in different colors with different sentiments. I hope you like it too!

You Knock My Socks Off

My second card today was originally created for the Just Us Girls color challenge but I completed it too late to compete. I thought I would share it anyway.  It's almost February so I thought I would crack out some Valentine's stamps and create a fun little Valentine's Day card. Using the Lawn Fawn My Silly Valentine stamp set I stamped the socks, the smallest heart, and the sentiment onto some 110 lb white cardstock from Staples using Memento tuxedo black ink. Using a Paper Smooches stitched die and die cut the stitched lines around three of the four sides of my panel. Using the fine-tip glue pen from Stampin' UP I adhered my navy blue and white bakers twine from We R Memory Keepers to the card right above the socks so it looked like they were hanging on a clothes line. I tied off some bows using the twine and adhered them to the card using the same glue. I colored my images using Copic markers and added a few sequins from The Ton. I die cut my large scalloped piece using some light blue textured cardstock from Hobby Lobby and a scalloped die from Papertrey Ink. I stamped the socks again, colored them, and fussy cut them out so I could pop them up off of the card using some foam dimensionals from Stampin' UP. Love the little bit of dimension it gives them. I mounted the focal panel to a piece of navy cardstock from Hobby Lobby and adhered the whole panel to my white card base. I love how adorably this card turned out. I hope you like it too!

In Sympathy

Today's card was created for the newest Time Out Challenge. Guest designer Marika Rahtu of Me and Minime Crafting created this amazing card and the challenge is to case the card with your own twist. I adore Marika's cards and am in complete awe of her amazing coloring skills and cannot even dare to compete with such talent so for my card I opted for something clean and simple with no coloring. I started with a white card base and then cut a few 1/8" strips of black cardstock from Hobby Lobby and layered them onto the focal panel to mimic the ribbon on Marika's card. I stamped the bible image from Inkadinkado's Spiritual Sketches stamp set onto the far left lower corner using Versafine onyx black ink for a nice crisp image. I then stamped the sentiment from The Cat's Pajamas Simply Stacked Sentiments also using Versafine onyx black ink. I popped the focal panel up off of the card base using some 3M foam tape and this card was done. I hope you like my take on Marika's card. 

Happy Birthday

Today's card was created for the latest Can You Case It sketch challenge. CYCI is celebrating their 3rd birthday and they are celebrating with a black tie event. They offered two options: black, white, and elegant (which I opted for) or black, white, and fun. 

I started with a white card base and layered on a piece of black cardstock from Hobby Lobby. I then stamped my focal image image using the Stampin' UP Thoughts & Prayers stamp set. I stamped the sentiment from the Stampin' UP Curly Cute stamp set. Using a Paper Smooches stitched die I added some stitched lines to the focal panel. I cut a piece of black and white patterned paper from Recollections using another Paper Smooches die and adhered it to my card base. I added a few clear rhinestones from Recollections to the tree and the sentiment and brushed on a bit of clear Wink of Stella for a bit of shimmer and shine. Happy birthday CYCI...I hope you like your card!

Happy Holidays

This adorable hot cocoa holiday card was created for the Merry Monday Christmas Card Challenge. The challenge was to create a holiday card with your favorite warm beverage. Well, we got snow here today in SE Missouri and I had several cups of cocoa today so thought this this card might be appropriate. I started by layering some black cardstock from Hobby Lobby onto my white card base. I layered a piece of pretty plaid patterned paper from the American Crafts Hot Cocoa 6x6 paper pad on top. I die cut a white circle using a die from Spellbinders and then cut a larger circle using a My Favorite Things pierced circle die, layered them together, and popped them up using Stampin' UP foam dimensionals. I die cut my mugs (I'm sorry...I don't know who makes the die) using some more of the patterned paper from the same paper pad and colored the cocoa portion in using a Copic marker. I layered the die cut marshmallows on top and popped the mugs up using foam dimensionals. I layered a piece of white and black cardstock together and die cut my sentiment from an Impression Obsession die and glued it to the panel. A few die cut snowflakes from My Favorite Things and a couple of black gem stones from Ki complete the card!

Happy Wishes

My last card today was created for the latest Lawnscaping Challenge. I have never been very good at painting, especially watercoloring. I've watched plenty of YouTube videos on a variety of techniques but I've never really been able to master the whole art form. Given that in mind, I chose to participate in this challenge and use some very simple shapes that I didn't think I could do much damage to, so to speak. LOL. I started with a piece of Strathmore cold press watercolor paper. I prepared the paper using my powder tool because I planned on embossing my images to help keep the paint from mixing around too much. I stamped out the adorable lanterns from the Lawn Fawn Lunar Lights stamp set as well as one of the sentiments using Versamark ink and then heat embossed all of them using some black detail embossing powder by Recollections. Using my Simply Art watercolor palette I colored the images in using reds, dark pinks, blues, and greens. I masked the images and the sentiment using some Inkadinkado masking paper and splattered on some Ranger Distress Spray Stain in black soot. I heat the whole thing with my heat tool to dry it and then popped the whole panel up onto a white card base using some 3M foam tape. I then added a few dots here and there using a gold gel pen by Forever In Time. I hope you like it!

You Fog My Spectacles

 My third card today was created for The Paper Players clean & simple Valentine card challenge. I started with some black cardstock from Hobby Lobby and then layered my focal panel on top using some 3M foam tape for a bit of dimension. To create my focal panel I started with some plain 110 lb white cardstock from Staples and used ink smooshing technique. Using a clear acetate sheet, an acrylic block, and Tim Holtz Distress Inks in spun sugar, worn lipstick, and fired brick I created the awesome ombre background. Once this was dry I splattered on some Distress Spray Stain in black soot and then hit the whole thing with my heat gun. I added a small strip of the same black cardstock and then die cut my glasses using black and white cardstocks, vellum, and the matching die from the Paper Smooches Incognito stamp set. I punched two hearts from the leftover smooshed paper in a light pink using Stampin' UP's owl builder punch and adhered those to the center of my glasses and popped the whole thing onto my card using more foam tape. I added a few rhinestones in various sizes around the sentiment and on the glasses and this card was done! 

The Reason For The Season

My second card today was created for the One Layer Christmas Card Challenge. I have to admit that one layer cards are something I've always struggled with. I like adding layers, sequins, and embellishments to my cards because I'm the kind of person who can't leave well enough alone. LOL. But I had just picked up the Nativity stamp set from Simon Says Stamp over the holidays and thought it would be perfect for this challenge. I started with a base of 110 lb cardstock from Staples. I stamped the star from the stamp set using Versamark ink and heat embossed it using some Ranger enchanted gold embossing powder to give it a nice glittery shine. I created masks for all of the images using Inkadinkado masking paper so I could create a nice scene with the images. I stamped Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus and then masked them and the star and then stamped the nativity last. I cut the interior portion of the nativity mask out and layered all of the masks over the images. Once everything was protected I took some Ranger texture embossing paste and the Simon Says Stamp falling snow stencil and covered the interior of the nativity with snow. Once the paste was dry, and with everything still masked off , I inked it up with some Tim Holtz Distress Ink in broken china. Once the ink was dry I gently scraped off the embossing paste to reveal the white cardstock below. I peeled the masks off, colored my images in using Copic markers. I added my sentiment from the same stamp set and some clear Wink of Stella to the nativity images for some additional sparkle and shine. I love the way it turned out and I hope you like it too!

Happy Birthday

Today's card was created for The Male Room Young Ones challenge. The challenge is to create a card for a male baby or little boy. I don't know anyone pregnant right now with a little boy so I decided to focus on little boy birthdays since I have nephews with birthdays coming up soon. I began with a simple card base and layered on some black cardstock from Hobby Lobby. I cut down a piece of evergreen cardstock from Recollections and embossed it using a Cuttlebug swiss dot embossing folder and adhered the panel onto my card. I stamped four of the adorable critters from the Close To My Heart In The Wild stamp set using Versafine onyx black ink and cut the images down to simple squares. I layered them onto black cardstock squares cut slightly larger and adhered them onto to my card using some 3M foam tape. I cut a fishtail banner using a Jillian Vance die and some more black cardstock and adhered that to the card using foam tape. I used my Stampin' UP Word Window punch and some white cardstock from Staples and stamped the birthday sentiment from Sweet Stamp Shop's Just The Basics stamp set and adhered that to the fishtail banner. Using the same evergreen cardstock I die cut a few of the buttons from the My Favorite Things button die set. I tied a bow using some black and white baker's twine from We R Memory Keepers and adhered the button the card with some more foam tape. This is such a fun and simple card to make taking less than 10 minutes to put together from start to finish. I hope you like it!

Make A Wish

Today's card was created for the current Sunday Stamps sketch challenge. I just love butterflies so this sketch just spoke to me. I started with a plain white card base and layered a piece of kraft cardstock on top cut 1/4" smaller. I then stamped the Echo Park plaid background stamp onto some white cardstock using some Gina K hot cocoa ink and layered it on top of the kraft panel. Using some white cardstock and a pierced dot scalloped die from Gina Marie Designs I cut my main focal panel. I rounded the top corners and then stamped the sentiment using the same hot cocoa ink and the Alley Way Stamps Sweet Thing stamp set. I die cut my butterfly using a My Favorite Things die and some white and kraft cardstock and then run the image through my Uchida Marvy crimping tool. A few rhinestones from Recollections in various sizes added the final touches to this card. I hope you like it!

Good Friends Procaffeinate Together

Today's card was created for the Retro Sketch challenge. I started by stamping the adorable coffee pot and mugs from the Waltzing Mouse Coffee stamp set using charcoal brown ink from Gina K Designs. I fussy cut the images out and colored the flowers in using Copic markers. Using patterned papers from the Chickaniddy Scrumptious 6x6 paper pad I added my base layers. I cut a circle using a pierced die from My Favorite Things and paper from the same paper pad and then mounted my coffee images up using Stampin' UP foam dimensionals. I added the steam and some coffee beans from the stamp set using the same ink. Using a postage edge border punch from EK Success and some 110 lb white cardstock from Staples I added a bit of a decorate edge between the patterned papers for some contrast. I mounted circle onto the card and stamped my sentiment and a few more coffee beans. Love how cute this turned out! 

Hello Love

Today's card was created for the latest Card Concept Challenge. I just adore this beautiful inspiration image was inspired by the gorgeous red and blue combo and that huge heart in the cocoa. As soon as I saw this image I knew exactly which stamp set I had to use to create my card. I had picked up the Unity Stamp Company Hello Love stamp set, along with a few other of their great stamps, on sale right after Thanksgiving and I just them. If you've not tried their stamps before you have got to check them out. They stamp so beautifully! One of my favorite things to do with this image is to paper piece her. I am only okay at coloring with Copic markers, so paper piecing gives me a bit more depth and dimension and I love the final look. I stamped my focal image out onto some 110 lb white cardstock from Staples and colored her hair and skin using Copic markers. I then stamped her sweater, scarf, and the mittens and mug out onto some patterned paper from the My Mind's Eye The Merry Days of Christmas 6x6 paper pack. I added some shadowing to the images using Copic markers in warm grays. I then fussy cut all of the images out, edged them with a black dual tip Memento marker, and glued them all together. I then stamped the image again onto my focal panel and glued my final fussy cut image down on top. I stamped the sentiment from the same stamp set to make it look like a speech bubble...like she is saying to her coffee "hello love" which is how I feel every morning that I get up and grab for my first cup of the day. LOL. Anyway, I added a few matte sequins in dark red from Craft Medley and some black dashed lines around the outer edge of my focal panel and called this card done. I hope you like it!

Merry Christmas

Today's card was created for the Merry Monday Christmas Card Challenge. I started with a white card base and layered on a piece of Paper Studio white glitter paper to fit the entire card front. I then die cut a panel of white cardstock using a stitched frame panel and the reindeer sentiment using dies from Gina Marie Designs. I popped the sentiment die up off of the focal panel using some foam dimensional tape and added some marshmallow sequins in 4mm and sparkling clear in 6mm from Pretty Pink Posh. Love how sparkly and pretty it turned out. 

May Your Coffee Be Strong

Oh my poor neglected blog! Seriously, I don't think I've posted a thing since the Winter Coffee Lover's Blog Hop and that's been weeks ago. But the holidays are over and hopefully I can post a little bit more regularly. I created this card for Coffee Lover's card exchange on Facebook. I bought this beautiful stamp during a Black Friday sale and realized just yesterday that I hadn't even gotten it inky yet. Well, I just had to remedy that! I stamped the image from the Unity Stamp Company Dream of Being stamp set onto some 110 lb cardstock from Staples using Memento tuxedo black ink so I could Copic color it. After coloring the image I created a mask using some Inkadinkado masking paper and created a background halo using some Stampin' UP's bashful blue ink and ink dauber. I then selectively masked and stamped the sentiment from The Latina Crafter's Strong Coffee 2x2 stamp set. I cut my panel down and added some plaid paper from the American Crafts Hot Cocoa 6x6 paper pad and mounted it all onto a piece of black Stampin' UP cardstock. I added a few red sequins I picked up at my local dollar store and mounted the entire panel onto a white card base. Love how beautifully this turned out. I hope you like it too!