Love And Best Wishes

 

Today's card was created for the latest Color Throwdown card challenge. I started by layering some light purple cardstock from my stash onto my white A2 card base. I then cut down a panel of white cardstock and stamped the background images from the Craft Stash Wild Meadows stamp set using Stampin' UP's tempting turquoise and Versafine onyx black inks. I stamped the main floral image from the same stamp set using Memento tuxedo black ink and Copic-friendly white cardstock. I colored the image using the colors in the challenge, fussy cut it out, and mounted it onto a vellum oval. I popped the vellum panel up off of the card using thin foam tape, added a sentiment from the same stamp set, and a few pretty clear rhinestone gems from Recollections to finish off this card. Thank you for stopping by my blog today. I hope you have a wonderful weekend! 

May All Your Wishes Come True

 

Today's card was created for my granddaughter's upcoming birthday. She absolutely loves sunflowers, and I thought I would challenge myself and create a sunflower card for her big day. I started by stamping the background directly onto my white A2 card base by using Stampin' UP's crumb cake ink and Heidi Swapp's woodgrain background stamp. I then inked around the edges and some of the card base using the same ink to make it look more like wood. I then stamped the sunflower and leaves images from Recollections Sunflowers stamp set onto white Copic-friendly cardstock and colored them using my alcohol markers. I fussy cut the images out and adhered them to the base of my card using thin foam tape. I stamped the sentiment from Pawsome Stamps XL Birthday Greetings stamp set using Versafine onyx black ink in the upper left corner of the card base. I finished off my card by adding some pretty sparkling black gems around the card to add some additional sparkle and shine. Thank you for stopping by my blog today! 

Happy birthday-Send A Smile 4 Kids

 

Hello, happy June! This month at Send A Smile 4 Kids we are celebrating teens. I have a friend who recently purged some craft supplies and gifted me a few older CTMH stamp sets. I used the Fun Times stamp set to create that fun green strip of critters. I stamped the images onto some green patterned paper from the Little Yellow Bicycle's Fern & Forest 6x6 paper pad using Hero Arts green ink. I cut that down into a smaller strip panel and mounted it on some early espresso cardstock from Stampin' UP. I cut down another panel of patterned paper from the paper pad and mounted that on dark brown cardstock and adhered the panel to my card base. I stamped some sub sentiments from The Greetery's PreText Sentiment stamp set using charcoal brown ink from Gina K Designs and cut them down into small sentiment strips and mounted them on brown cardstock. Using the top half of the Simon Says Stamp Birthday Wishes sentiment die, I die cut more of the same early espresso cardstock using the Birthday die. I attached that to a white panel and mounted that on brown cardstock. I adhered that to the card panel and added some fun yellow enamel dots from Simple Stories for a nice pop of color. Thank you for stopping by my blog. I hope you stop by the Send A Smile 4 Kids blog and see how the rest of the design team was inspired. 

Hello

 

Happy Friday! Today's card was created for the latest Color Throwdown card challenge. I have to say that clean and simple have never been my style when it comes to cardmaking. It's not that I don't love it when I see it. I've never been comfortable with that creative style. But I do have to say that I love this card. I started with a white card panel that I stamped the floral images from CTMH's Thoughts Of You stamp set using Gina K Designs basic black ink. I stamped the coordinating petal stamp using tempting turquoise, tangerine tango, and perfect plum inks from Stampin' UP. I filled in the stems with a C1 Copic marker for a little bit of contrast. I die cut a Hello sentiment using Stampin' UP black cardstock and adhered it to the focal panel. I die cut the panel using a stacking stitched rectangle die from My Favorite Things and popped it up off of the card using foam tape. I finished the card off by adding a bit of clear Wink of Stella shimmer pen to the petals. Unfortunately, my camera didn't do a good job picking that up on screen. Anyway, thank you for visiting my blog. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Peace*Love*Joy-Send A Smile 4 Kids

 

Hello, and happy December! I cannot believe we are just a few short weeks away from Christmas. This year has just zipped on past. This month we are creating Winter cards for kids at Send A Smile 4 Kids. This adorable card was so easy to create and think it would be fun to mass produce. I started by wrapping some pretty red tinsel ribbon that I picked up last year in the dollar bin at Target around a panel of crumbcake cardstock from Stampin' UP. I popped the panel up off of my white A2 card base using 3M foam tape. I stamped the adorable reindeer image from Sweet 'N Sassy Stamps Christmas Blocks stamp set onto some white alcohol-friendly cardstock. I colored the images with my Copic markers and cut the image out right on the stamped border. I edged it with my dual tip Memento black marker and adhered it directly to the focal panel. To finish off my card I added some white gel pen detail to the deer image, added faux stitching lines around the focal panel, and some red gems from Recollections. Such an easy and simple card to create! Now, be sure to pop by the Send A Smile 4 Kids blog and see how the rest of the design team was inspired this month. 

Winter Greetings-SAS4Kids November

Hello, and happy November! This month at Send A Smile 4 Kids we are creating cards for the holidays. I created this adorable little snowman card by stamping the snowmen from Close To My Heart's Snow Friends onto a strip of white Copic-friendly cardstock. I colored the images with my alcohol markers, including the sky. I then stamped the greeting from the Stampendous Snowy Short Stacks stamp set onto the snow drift. I cut the panel down and edged it with some cherry cobbler cardstock from Stampin' UP that I created a fun scallop with using a Fiskars punch. I layered all of that onto some fun glittery cardstock that I've had in my stash for so long I'm not even sure who makes it anymore. To finish the card off I added some Stickles in frosted lace to parts of the snowmen, their hats, and all of the snowballs to match the shimmer and shine in the cardstock. I love how adorably cute this card turned out. Now be sure to head on over to the Send A Smile 4 Kids blog and see what the other team members have created this month and join in on the fun! 

 

But First Coffee-Coffee And Cards With Celeste And Deb

Hello, and welcome to the September collaboration of Coffee and Cards with Celeste and Deb. We decided to use this fabulous fall photo as inspiration for our cards this month. After the blistering temperatures we had this summer, I know we are all anticipating cooler Autumn weather! To create my card, I started by layering some beautiful fall patterned paper by Design Group that I picked up in the dollar bin at Target last year. I added a small strip of espresso brown cardstock from Stampin' UP in between the patterned papers to add some interest and break up the busy patterns. I die cut a circle panel using kraft cardstock from Recollections and a circle nesting die from Gina Marie Designs. Using the coffee bean stamp from the Stampabilities Coffee mini stamp set and Versamark ink, I stamped the entire background for a nice tone on tone pattern. It's subtle, but it's there. I then stamped the large mug from Stamplorations Coffee Cup Large stamp set onto white cardstock and then paper pieced the rest of the cup using more patterned paper from the same Design Group paper pad and some simple kraft for the sleeve. I then stamped the sentiment from the Stampabilities Coffee stamp set directly onto the coffee cup's sleeve. I then popped the circle panel and the coffee cup up off the card using 3M foam tape. To finish off this beautiful fall-themed coffee card I added some espresso sequins from the Ton around the focal panel. 

My lovely boyfriend Nathan just flew back from Great Dunmow, England and brought me back this gorgeous mug and some lovely Twinings tea. I had to feature that as my beverage this month, despite this being a coffee card.  I love a nice cup of hot tea in the afternoon. Now, be sure to head over the Deb's bog to see what fun she created this month!

Merry Christmas-Caffeinated Christmas

 

Hello, happy Labor Day weekend! I don't know about the rest of you, but I always get a little excited around this weekend because it marks the beginning of Autumn for me. Today's card was created for the latest Caffeinated Christmas Card challenge. This month's challenge is to create a coffee, cocoa, or tea card with cookies on it. To create my card, I started by layering a piece of patterned paper from the American Crafts Very Merry 6x6 paper pad onto my A2 card base. Then using a stitched scalloped edge rectangle die from Gina Marie Designs, I die cut a forest green panel. I stamped the sentiment from Amy R Stamps at the top using Versamark ink and embossed it using Ranger's detail white embossing powder. Using the Momenta Christmas Mug & Cookie die set (which I picked at Hobby Lobby on clearance a few months ago for a steal) I created the mug, cookies, and all of the elements using more patterned paper from the same Very Merry paper pad and cardstock from my stash. I adhered them together with liquid glue, and then popped them up off of the card using Stampin' UP foam dimensions. For some additional bling, I added Nuvo crystal drops to some of the elements for a nice touch of glitter. I love how adorably cute this card is. Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and, if you left a comment, I greatly appreciate it! 

Happy Birthday-Send A Smile 4 Kids

This month at Send A Smile 4 Kids we are celebrating birthdays! I had purchased the MFT Green Pastures and The Whole Herd stamp sets during the Memorial Day sales and had not had a chance to use them yet. I have a birthday party I'll be attending in two weeks for a little girl and thought this set would be perfect for her card. To create my card I started by layering some fun bandana patterned paper from the American Crafts Heartland Farm 6x6 paper pad onto my white A2 cardbase. Using real red cardstock from Stampin' UP, I cut down some small slivers and attached them to the top and bottom of the cardstock to break up the patterned paper from the white cardbase. I stamped the sentiment from the Whole Herd stamp set using Gina K Designs black ink. I then die cut a stitched circle using a Gina Marie Designs stitched circle nesting die, inked the background in bashful blue ink from Stampin' UP, splattered some water on the background and dried it for some visual interest. I diecut a piece of olive green cardstock from Stampin' UP using an MFT border grass die and cut it to fit the circle panel. I adhered the two pieces together and popped it up off of the card using 3M foam tape. I stamped the little girl from Green Pastures, and colored her using my Copic markers. I stamped her shirt in more patterned paper from the same American Crafts Heartland Farms paper pad and paper pieced that onto the little girl, and used the coordinating diecut to cut her out. I stamped the pig and chickens from the Whole Herd stamp set, colored them with my alcohol markers, and fussy cut them out since I don't have the coordinating dies. I adhered them to my focal panel. I popped the little girl up using Stampin' UP foam dimensionals. To finish off my card I added some fun little clouds in the sky using a Fiskars mini cloud punch and added some white gel details to all of my critters. Thank you for stopping by my blog today, and if you left a comment I just want you to know how much I appreciate you! Be sure to stop off at the Send A Smile 4 Kids blog and see how everyone else was inspired by this month's theme. 

 

Naughty Or Nice? Send A Smile 4 Kids

 

This month at Send A Smile 4 Kids we are creating Christmas cards for kids. I recently picked up the Sweet N Sassy Christmas Blocks stamp set on sale and had to use this adorable stamp set for this challenge. I started by stamping the adorable Santa image and sentiment from the stamp set onto some white Copic-friendly cardstock and doing some simple coloring on his hat, beard, and face. I cut the image out using a Spellbinders nesting circle die. I adhered that panel to a scalloped border that I created using a Spellbinders nesting scalloped border die and real red cardstock from Stampin' UP. Then I layered some green cardstock from Hobby Lobby directly onto my white A2 card base. I adhered a piece of striped patterned paper from Doodlebug Design's Home For The Holidays 6x6 paper pad on top. I then cut down a white panel and added a scalloped edge at the top using a Fiskars punch. I layered some more of the green cardstock onto the panel after creating a scalloped border at the bottom. I added more patterned paper from the same Doodlebug Design paper pad on top of the green cardstock, and popped the whole panel up onto the card at an angle. I stamped the other sentiment at the bottom of the panel from the same stamp set, added some white mini brads from my stash to the corners, and adhered the whole panel up off of the card using 3M foam tape. I finished off the card by adhering the Santa panel to the focal panel and adding some fun shimmer and dimension by adding Nuvo glitter drops to the beard, hat, and pom pom. Thank you for visiting my blog today. Be sure to hop over to the Send A Smile 4 Kids blog and see how the other design team members were inspired this month!

It's A Brew-tiful Day

 

Happy Friday! Today's card was created for the latest Color Throwdown Challenge. To create my card I started by die cutting a panel using a piece of crumb cake cardstock from Stampin' UP and a Gina Marie Designs scalloped edge rectangle die. I adhered that directly to my white A2 card base. I then die cut a focal panel using white cardstock and a stitched rectangle die from Paper Rose. I stamped the sentiment from Reverse Confetti's Drink More Coffee stamp set using Versafine onyx blank ink. I stamped the mugs, saucers, and a single spoon from the same stamp set onto some white Copic-friendly cardstock and colored the images using alcohol markers. I fussy cut the images out and adhered them onto my focal panel using Stampin' UP foam dimensionals. To finish my card I added some mocha 6mm sequins from Pretty Pink Posh and white gel pen accents on the mugs. I appreciate you stopping by my blog today. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

For A Special Day-Send A Smile 4 Kids April 2023

Happy April! This month at Send A Smile 4 Kids we are celebrating moms/special ladies. My card could work for Mother's Day, birthday, or simply any special occasion. To create my card, I started by stamping the blooms from Simon Says Stamp's Like Your Style stamp set onto some crumbcake cardstock from Stampin' UP using Colorbox frost white pigment ink. I then stamped the black lines, the hanger, and the sentiment from the same stamp set using Gina K Designs black pigment ink. On a separate piece of white cardstock I stamped the dress and more of the florals onto the dress using Tim Holtz carved pumpkin distress ink and did a little ink blending at the bottom. I also stamped the mini hearts in the same color. I fussy cut all of the images out. I adhered the hearts directly to the card using liquid glue. I added some peach twine from Stampin' UP directly to the card and tied a bow and popped the image up off of the card using Stampin' UP foam dimensionals. To add a little interest to the card I added a strip of patterned paper by My Mind's Eye from the Follow Your Heart 12x12 paper pad directly to the bottom of the card panel and then added a tiny strip of cardstock I had colored with the same carved pumpkin distress ink to match. I adhered the focal panel to my white A2 card base and then added some white gel pen details for some added interest. Thank you for stopping by my blog today! Be sure to pop over to the Send A Smile 4 Kids blog to see how the rest of the design team was inspired by this month's challenge. 

 

Thank You For Being A Ray Of Sunshine

Happy Monday! Today's card was created for the latest Color Throwdown card challenge. I just picked up this adorable lemon stamp from Stampabilities at Hobby Lobby on clearance and couldn't resist using it for this challenge. I stamped the image twice, colored it using my alcohol markers, fussy cut them out, adhered them together and added foam dimensionals from Stampin' UP behind them. I stamped the background using an abstract background stamp from Spellbinders and bashful blue ink from Stampin' UP. I cut the panel down using a stitched rectangle die from Paper Roses and adhered it to some light blue cardstock from Paper Crafts. I adhered that panel directly to my white A2 card base. Using the same blue cardstock I cut down a small banner and ran it through the same stitched rectangle die to get the stitched edges. I stamped the sentiment from Stampendous True Friends stamp set using Memento tuxedo black ink. I adhered it to the card and added the lemons to the left of the sentiment. To finish off my card I added some white gel pen detail to the lemons and some pretty light blue sequins from Pretty Pink Posh around the focal panel. Thank you for stopping by my blog today!

 

Thanks A Latte-Coffee And Cards With Celeste And Deb

  

Hello, happy February! This month Deb and I decided to use this fun mood board I'd found on Pinterest as our inspiration for this month's collaboration. I love all of the deep reds and pinks and, of course, the cocoa and coffee! I created my card by using the Close To My Heart Starburst background die and some pretty patterned papers from Echo Park's Hello Valentine 6x6 paper pad. I inlaid all of the patterned papers onto the die cut piece that was adhered to my A2 white card base. I then stamped and colored the latte image from Honey Bee's Coffee Break stamp set and fussy cut the image out. I popped it up off of the card using Stampin' UP foam dimensionals. I stamped the sentiment from Fiskars Latte Love stamp set using Gina K charcoal cocoa ink. To finish off my card, I added some white gel pen details to the latte. 

When I heard that Starbucks was bringing back it's pistachio cold brew I couldn't resist popping into my local Barnes & Nobles (which has a Starbucks in it) to pick up a large one and peruse some craft magazines! 

Thank you for visiting my blog. I appreciate all of my followers and love reading all of your comments. They really brighten my day! Now, be sure to pop on over to Deb's blog and see how she was inspired by this month's mood board! 

Happy Easter-Send A Smile 4 Kids

 

Hello, and happy February! This month at Send A Smile 4 Kids we are creating Spring/Easter cards. To create my card I started by stamping the adorable bunny from The Alley Way stamps Spring Has Sprung stamp set onto white Copic-friendly cardstock. I colored the image using my alcohol markers, and fussy cut the image out. I chose fun patterned papers from the American Crafts Sunny Side 6x6 paper pad and chose a fun layout to utilize as much of the patterns as I could. I stamped the sentiment from the same stamp set onto more of the patterned paper using Memento tuxedo black ink and punched the image out using a 1.5" Stampin' UP punch. I popped the bunny and the sentiment up off of the card using Stampin' UP foam dimensionals for a little more interest. 

Pizza My Heart-Send A Smile 4 Kids

Hello, and happy new year! This month at Send A Smile 4 Kids we are creating Valentine's Day cards for kids. To create my card I started by stamping the cute pizza image and the pizza cutter from the Lawn Fawn Pizza My Heart stamp set onto some white Copic-friendly cardstock. I colored them with my alcohol markers and then die cut them with the coordinating dies. I took a piece of crumb cake cardstock from Stampin' UP and stamped it with the My Favorite Things Touch Of Texture background stamp and some Sahara Sand ink from Stampin' Up. I cut a small piece of patterned paper from the My Mind's Eye Good Vibes 6x6 paper pad and adhered it to the bottom of the panel. Using a stitched rectangle nesting die from Paper Roses I die cut the panel down and adhered some plain white twine from my stash between the two papers and tied a bow. I mounted that panel onto a piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock from Stampin' UP and then popped that up with some 3M foam tape and adhered the whole thing to my card. I adhered the adorable pizza images to the panel and then stamped the sentiment from the same stamp set using Versafine onyx black ink. To add a few touches I stamped the steam and some red hearts around the images for a little visual interest. I hope you like my card and are inspired to create a fun Valentine card for a child too! Be sure to hop on over the Send A Smile 4 Kids blog and see how the rest of the design team was inspired by this month's challenge. 

 

Sending You Love And Joy-Coffee And Cards With Celeste And Deb

Happy Sunday! This adorable image is the inspiration for this month's Coffee and Cards with Celeste and Deb. To create my card I started by layering some cherry cobbler cardstock onto my white A2 card base. Then using some patterned papers from Heidi Swapp's Noel 6x6 paper pad I created a main panel that I cut down using a stitched rectangle die from Paper Roses. I popped that panel up off of the card using 3M foam tape. I stamped the adorable image and sentiment from Penny Black's Cup Of Joy mini stamp set. I colored them using my Copic markers and fussy cut the images and sentiment banner out. Using the steam images from Paper Smooches Need To Venti stamp set I stamped them onto a white stitched rectangle panel using a smaller die from Paper Roses and Versafine onyx black ink. I popped the images up using Stampin' UP's foam dimensionals and centered them on the panel under the steam. For a finishing touch I added some black gems around the panel for a little sparkle. 

I was out finishing up the last of my Christmas shopping, so I snagged a Starbucks peppermint mocha latte. Now, be sure to pop on over to Debra's blog and see what fun she created for our collaboration this month! Thank you for stopping by my blog today. I wish all of you and your family's a very merry Christmas and a healthy, happy New Year!

 

But First, Coffee-Coffee And Cards With Celeste And Deb

Hello, and welcome to the November Cards and Coffee with Celeste and Deb. We decided to use this beautiful photo as our inspiration for this month's collaboration. I love all the deep, rich Autumn colors and wanted to use as many of them as I could for my card. I started by stamping the Tricia Girl by Unity Stamp Company onto some white cardstock and colored her skin, hair, and coffee cup using my Copic markers. Then using papers from the Best Occasions Quick Page 12x12 paper pack I stamped and paper-pieced her coat, scarf, shirt, skirt, purse, boot warmers, and her boots. I added some early espresso cardstock by Stampin' Up onto my white A2 card base. I then cut down a pretty piece of patterned paper from the same 12x12 pad and added it to the side and then added a decorative edge that I created with more early espresso cardstock using a decorative edge die. I cut down more paper from the paper pack and glued the decorative edge piece to it. Using a rectangle die from Paper Roses I cut the panel down and adhered it to my card panel. I stamped the Tricia Girl image again onto the panel, fussy cut the paper-pieced image, and glued the two together for a seamless look. I stamped the sentiment from Stampabilities Coffee stamp set and die cut it down using a pierced circle die from My Favorite Things. I then die cut a larger panel of early espresso using a Spellbinders die, and mounted the two together.  I took a dark brown Copic marker and colored some clear rhinestones to match the colors on the card and adhered them around the focal image and the sentiment for a nice finishing touch.

For my coffee, I opted for my standard dark roast Seattle's Best Post Alley served in a fun new mug my daughter got me for my birthday last month. Now, be sure to stop by Debra's blog and see how she was inspired by this month's photo. 

 

Friendship Warms The Heart-Send A Smile 4 Kids

 

Hello, and a very happy November to you! This month at Send A Smile 4 Kids we are creating Holiday cards for kids. I recently picked up this adorable stamp set on a de-stash from a fellow crafter and couldn't wait to use it. I layered some cherry cobbler cardstock from Stampin' UP onto my white A2 card base. I then added a piece of plain white cardstock as a frame and then added a pretty piece of snowflake patterned paper from the Simple Stories Cozy Christmas 6x6 paper pad. Using a scalloped edge die from Papertrey Ink I created a large scalloped border using more paper from the same paper pad. I stamped the sentiment from My Favorite Things PI Merry Kissmas stamp set using Versafine onyx black ink and trimmed it down into a narrow border. I mounted it on more of the cherry cobbler cardstock and adhered it to the scalloped border. I stamped the adorable image from the same My Favorite Things stamp set with Memento tuxedo black ink directly onto a round circle panel I created using a Spellbinders circle stacking die. I also paper pieced the girl's sweater and hat and the snowman's scarf and hat using more patterned paper from the same paper pad. I adhered them directly onto the images on the focal panel and colored everything using my Copic markers. I adhered the entire panel to another piece of cherry cobbler cardstock using a Spellbinders scalloped edge circle stacking die. I adhered the panel to the card using some 3M foam tape. For a nice finishing touch, I covered the pom poms on the girl's hat and the snowbank with liquid glue and poured over some Wow! glitter in white for some sparkle and shine and added some white gel pen to the characters. Be sure to stop over at the SendASmile4Kids blog and see what the rest of the design team created this month. 

Boo!

 

This fun little Halloween card was created for the There's A Stamp For That Challenge. To create this card I started with a panel of white cardstock that I blended on Tim Holtz distress inks in shaded lilac, villainous potion, and black soot. I took a distress sprayer and spritzed it with water and blotted off the excess for a nice, distressed look. I adhered an American Crafts Halloween spider web doily straight onto the panel using some liquid glue. I die cut the panel down using a stitched stacking rectangle die from MFT and popped the panel up off of my white A2 card base using 3M foam tape. I then stamped, colored, and die cut all of the images from MFT's Witch Way To The Candy stamp and die set. I adhered all of the images to the card using Stampin' UP foam dimensionals. For a finishing touch I added highlights to the individual images using a white gel pen. Thank you for stopping by my blog today. I hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween!!