Deck The Halls

Today's adorable Christmas card was created for two challenges...the 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown challenge to use paper piecing on your card and the Merry Monday challenge to use a card depicting Christmas caroling. I started by stamping the adorable snowman trio from Purple Onion Designs onto some white cardstock and coloring them in using Copic markers. I stamped the image again and stamped them onto some patterned paper from the Carta Bella Warm & Cozy 6x6 paper pad and paper pieced the bands on the snowmen's hats, their scarves, and the trees out and adhered them to the already colored image. I added some shadow and dimension to the paper pieced images with my Copic markers. I die cut some banks of snow using some Paper Smooches border dies and adhered them together. Then I fussy cut around the stamped image and outlined it using my Memento tuxedo black dual tip marker. I cut a small piece of some pretty blue snowflake paper from the American Crafts Wish List 6x6 paper pad and adhered it onto my white card base. I then adhered my stamped image panel down and then my snow banks. Once it was all adhered I added some clear Wink of Stella to the snowmen's noses and to the paper pieced parts. Then I stamped the musical notes from Lawn Fawn's Stay Tuned stamp set and the sentiment from the My Favorite Things Cheerful Christmas Greetings stamp set using Versafine onyx black ink. I added the finishing touch of some shimmery "snow" to the snow banks by adding some Stickles frosted lace to the edges. Love how adorably it turned out!

Rainbows & Unicorns

Today's card was created for the current challenge over at Sunday Stamps. The challenge is to create something rainbow related. I started by die cutting a rainbow using a Paper Smooches die and coloring each of the strips with my Copic markers. I then die cut some "clouds" using a The Cat's Pajama's stitched speech bubble die. Then I stamped the unicorn from The Greeting Farm Magical Friends stamp set, colored it using Copic markers, and fussy cut the image out and edged it with my dual edge Memento tuxedo black marker. I die cut a stitched rectangle panel out of white cardstock using a Gina Marie Designs die and mounted all of my elements to the panel. I popped the unicorn up off of the card using Stampin' UP's foam dimensionals and stamped my sentiment from the same Greeting Farm set. I added some Stampin' UP red cardstock to my white card base and popped the focal panel up using some 3M foam tape. Once on the card I added some light blue pan pastel chalk to the background, adhered a few 6mm clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh to the background, and some frosted lace Stickles to the unicorns horn. Love this adorable card and hope you do too!

Happy Birthday

Today's card was originally created for a photo inspiration challenge over at The Challenge but I created this card too late to join. Story of my life...LOL. Anyway, the original inspiration photo had a gorgeous ebony vase filled with beautiful peonies and lots of pretty gold elements and bright colors. I have stamp set very similar to the peonies in the photo called As We Go Along by Unity Stamp Company. So, I started with by stamping that image in Memento tuxedo black ink and coloring it using Copic markers. I stamped the image twice and fussy cut just around the blooms so I could pop them up later. Once my image was colored I die cut the piece using a x-stitched circle die from Gina Marie Designs. For my card base, I added a strip of black cardstock from Stampin' Up and a piece of gold and white striped patterned paper from the My Mind's Eye Fancy That 6x6 paper pad. I then adhered my focal die directly onto the cardbase and then popped the blooms up off of the image using some Stampin' UP foam dimensionals. I cut a small strip of the black cardstock and prepped it with my embossing buddy and then stamped and heat embossed the sentiment using Simon Says Stamps Friendship Messages stamp set and some clear Versamark ink. I heat set it using liquid platinum embossing powder from Ranger. I popped the sentiment strip up using some 3M foam tape and then added a few gold sequins from The Ton and a black sequin from Pretty Pink Posh using some Ranger multi medium matte adhesive. I hope you like it! 

Birthday Greetings

Hello and Happy Easter to everyone in the blogosphere! Today's card was created for the latest Just Us Girls challenge. I started by using a technique I'd seen about a year or two ago by DO Stamping With Dawn where she used painter's tape to ink the surface of her cardstock. I loved the effect it created but had forgotten about it until today. When I saw this challenge photo I knew I had to try this technique. Using strips of 1 1/2" painters tape I inked up my first strip with Stampin' UP crumb cake and laid it onto my white cardstock and pressed the ink onto the paper by rubbing my fingers along the backside and carefully lifting it off. The second strip was inked using Stampin' UP's bashful blue. Then using Gina K Designs charcoal brown ink I stamped the birds and the reeds from Stampin' UP's Wetlands stamp set onto the scene. Love how it instantly created the sand and the sky! I mounted the piece onto some coordinating blue cardstock from Hobby Lobby and a piece of crumbcake cardstock from Stampin' UP. I love how clean and simple this card was to create! 

Hello Sunshine

Today's card was created for the latest Cas(E) This sketch challenge. I started by stamping the adorable images from the Lawn Fawn Sunny Skies stamp set and die cutting them out using the coordinating dies. I colored the bird and the sun using Copic markers and paper pieced the kite using a polka patterned paper from We R Memory Keepers Simply Spring 6x6 paper pad. I stamped the word Hello from the Fresh Squeezed Stamps Sweet Life stamp set and then stamped the word Sunshine from the Lawn Fawn stamp set. I layered some of the same patterned paper onto some black Stampin' UP cardstock and adhered the whole panel onto my white card base. I popped all of the die cut images up onto the panel except for the little cloud behind the sun, which I adhered straight down onto the card. Once everything was adhered I covered the kite, the sun, the bird, and the lettering with some clear Wink of Stella for some fun shimmer and then added some glittery dot details to the kite using some black diamond Stickles. This card will be donated to the Send A Smile 4Kids card drive. I hope you like it!

Hay There!

Today's card was created for the lastest Send A Smile 4Kids challenge. The challenge was to create a card for boys. I had recently been given some free stamp sets as a RAK from a fellow blogger (see original post here) and knew immediately when I saw this adorable image that I would have to use it for one of my cards I'm making for the Send  A Smile 4Kids card drive. I started with the My Favorite Things Hay There stamp set and stamped it onto white cardstock using Memento tuxedo black ink. I selectively masked off the pigtails on the image so it would look like a little boy instead of a girl (truth be told I actually made two cards to look like a boy and two to look like a girl) and then created a mask using a Post-It note. I then stamped the pig and the chicken on it's back. I masked them both and stamped the haystack. I colored all of the images using my Copic markers and then added some Pebbles light blue pan pastel chalk to create the sky in the background. I cut my panel down and matted it using some black cardstock and then cut down some of the patterned papers from American Crafts Heartland Farm 6x6 paper pad and matted it out onto some more black cardstock and mounted it all flush onto my white card base. This card is so sweet and simple to replicate. I hope you like it!

Thank you Tammy!

Today's card was created using two stamp sets that I received from fellow crafters. I am a fan of Tammy Herschberger's and read her blog Stamp Happy regularly (you can find her here). She had recently posted a destash on her blog and had a great price on some Tim Holtz distress inks that I snagged. Not only did that wonderful woman waive the cost of shipping charges but she threw in a large handful of stamp sets as well. I was floored by her generosity that I had to sit down right then and make a card thanking her for this random act of kindness and to let her know I will be paying it forward as well. I made this card using the Inspired By Flowers Set #4 stamp set she sent, used some patterned paper from KI Modern Elegance, and paired it with a sentiment from Simon Says Stamp's Handwritten Borders that my local crafty friend Rebecca Ledbetter gave me. She is brand new to blogging and just got certified in Copic coloring! Pop on over to her blog here and leave her some love! Thank you to both of my crafty friends for their generosity! Here is a peek at what Tammy shipped me: 

I have a two of these stamp sets so I will be paying it forward by giving them to my friend Rebecca! Have a wonderful day and do a random act of kindness today. I promise you...it will brightens someone's day!

Friends Don't Let Friends

Today's card features my final card for the Spring Coffee Lovers Bloghop. I started by matting some red cardstock onto my white card base and layering some patterned papers from the American Crafts Dear Lizzy Neapolitan 12x12 paper pad. I die cut a panel using white card stock and a stitched rectangle die from Gina Marie Designs. I stamped the sentiment from the My Favorite Things Girls Night Out stamp set and then doing some masking I stamped the flower and mugs and the sock monkey from The Cat's Pajama's Show Me The Monkey stamp set. I colored the images using my Copic markers and added some clear Wink of Stella to the mugs and the flower for some pretty shimmer. I popped the panel up off of the card using some 3M foam tape for a bit of dimension. It's a fun and simple card and I hope you like it!

Take Life One Cup At A Time

My second card today was created for the Spring Coffee Lovers Bloghop and uses two new fun stamp sets that I recently snagged in anticipation of the hop. I started with a white card base and layered on a mat of black cardstock and some patterned paper from Crate Paper Pretty Party 6x6 paper pad. I die cut a stitched border panel using a Gina Marie Design die and stamped the mug from the Unity Stamp Company Java Friend. I stamped the mug again onto some of the patterned papers from the same Crate Paper pad and fussy cut them out. I added some depth and dimension using Copic markers in warm grays and then popped the image up using some Stampin' UP foam dimensionals. I colored in the steam hearts using my copics and added some clear Wink of Stella glitter pen for some pretty shimmer. The sentiment is from the Latina Crafter One Cup At A Time stamp set. I added a black mat border around the stitched panel and popped the whole thing up off of the card using some 3M foam tape. A few raspberry sequins from Pretty Pink Posh complete this cute card!

All I Want To Do

The Spring Coffee Lovers Bloghop is finally here! I recently snagged some fun new coffee stamps and had to break a few of them out for the hop. My first card today uses some stamps from the Latina Crafter. I inked up the cup from I'm No Quitter and die cut it using the coordinating die. I paper pieced it using papers from American Crafts Dear Lizzy Neapolitan 12x12 paper pack and adhered it onto the cup. I stamped the image from the Coffee & Pretty Things stamp set and die cut it using a Gina Marie stitched circle die. I stamped the Stampendous Cling Coffee Background onto some white cardstock using some charcoal brown ink from Gina K and cut the panel down and matted it using some brown cardstock. All of the patterned papers are from the same American Crafts paper pack and they are all matted with the same brown cardstock. I added a few sequins from The Ton and this card was complete!

  

Thank You

Today's card was created for The Challenge sketch #63. I started with a piece of Canson cold press watercolor paper that I die cut using a stitched edge rectangle die from Gina Marie Designs. Using Altenew's Painted Poppy Stamp set I stamped the outline poppy image three times using Versafine onyx black ink and the leaf outline image on one of the poppies. I created a mask for each of the outlined images using Inkadinkado masking paper and adhered those onto each image. I created a simple mask for my panel using some typing paper and adhered that down to my panel using temporary adhesive. I inked up my Stampin' UP French Script background stamp using some Tim Holtz black soot distress ink and gave it a mist before stamping it onto my panel. I wanted a nice loose, watercolored look and I like the way it turned out. Once that dried I removed all of my masks and inked the inside of the poppies using Tim Holtz distress inks in spiced marmalade and fired brick and for the leaf I used brushed corduroy and picket fence, misting each color before stamping it onto the paper. I mounted the panel to a piece of black cardstock from Stampin' UP and adhered that to my card base. Using the thank you sentiment from Simon Says Stamp Handwritten Borders I and some Versamark ink I stamped the sentiment onto the same black cardstock and heat embossed it using some white detail powder from Recollections. I cut the fishtail banner by hand and adhered it onto my card. I could see making a whole collection of these and just changing the sentiment out. 

Friends Don't Let Friends Drink Alone

Today's card was created for the current Less Is More challenge. This week was a color challenge and the color was citrus. I don't really do a lot of green cards but I thought this color might be a fun one. I started by stamping the margarita glasses from the My Favorite Things Girls Night Out stamp set onto some white cardstock using Memento tuxedo black ink. I colored them using Copic markers, fussy cut them, and edged them using a Memento dual tip marker in tuxedo black so they would have nice, clean edges. I took a Tim Holtz blending tool and brushed some Hero Arts neon green ink onto my card base. I cut a smaller panel and stenciled the same color ink using a Tim Holtz dotted stencil. Once that was dry I went around the edge of my panel drawing a free-hand dual scribbled line for some added interest. I popped my margarita glasses up off the card using some Stampin' UP foam dimensionals and then popped the entire focal panel up off of the card using some 3M foam tape. A few sequins in lime green from Pretty Pink Posh and this card is done. Sorry for the poor lighting...it's a pretty bleak day here in Southeast Missouri. 

Thinking Of You

I created this card for the latest Just Us Girls word week challenge. I bought the gorgeous Memory Box Sketch Rose Branch die off Blitsy about two months ago and simply forgot I had it until yesterday. So, you can imagine how excited I was when I saw the word challenge was flowers because it was the perfect excuse to crack the seal on the package and play with my new die! I had originally thought about coloring the die cut image with Copics and setting it against a white embossed background but changed my mind and decided to go with some simple watercoloring. I started with some Canson cold-pressed watercolor paper and stamped the sentiment from The Cat's Pajama's Simply Stacked Sentiments stamp set in Versafine onyx black ink and then heat embossed it using some clear embossing powder by Zing. I wet my watercolor paper with some clean water and then started dabbing on some distress ink in spun sugar and worn lipstick until I was happy with the color and coverage and then heat set it to dry. I die cut the floral image three times and layered it together using a Zig two-way glue pen. I die cut the watercolor panel using a stitched rectangle die from Gina Marie Designs, which helped flatten it out after watercoloring and heat drying. I popped the focal panel up using some 3M foam tape and mounted it onto a black panel cut slightly larger and then mounted them both to my white card base. I added the die cut floral image last using some more Zig glue and put a few acrylic blocks on it to help it adhere and dry. I love how pretty it turned out!

Life Is A Beautiful Ride

Today's card was created for the latest challenge over at CASology. I had recently picked up several beautiful new Unity stamps and thought the Lexi Girl stamp set would be perfect for this challenge. I just completed a Copic basic coloring certification in St. Louis this weekend with my friend Becky and thought I'd put some of my newly learned skills to practice. I stamped the beautiful image onto some 110 lb white cardstock using Memento tuxedo black ink and colored her with my Copic markers. I created the sky using three different shades of blue markers and then went in randomly with my colorless blender creating little white dots. Love the great mottled effect it gave me. Using some pretty patterned papers from Chickaniddy's Scrumptious 6x6 paper line I matted my panels onto black cardstock from Hobby Lobby and added some butterflies from the Stampin' UP butterfly framelits. I added a few mini rhinestones from The Paper Studio and clear Spica marker to the flowers for some pretty shimmer!