Thinking of You

My card's on the Poppystamps blog today!

Thinking of You, and definitely Thinking of Spring!

So many new spring products. Come take a look Thinking of You by Nancy Penir

Valentines

Hello there. Getting close to Valentines, and had some time to play with Betsy's

February release, and all the great new stamps and dies that came with my order.

I followed Dawn McVey's lead with my double background stamping and

angling the plaid stamp. Couldn't resist also double stamping the envelope flaps.

One card with red interior and sweet heart seal,

And one with double envelopes and messages and a postage stamp. 

I LOVE these sets. I understand some of them sold out, but if I were

you, I'd add them to my collection when they're restocked. I already

have plans for Easter cards, using the florals and envelopes for my

holiday cards.

The first card I made with the Ribbon Words, a birthday card.

And this one made with Poppystamps Heart Plate, used as a stencil.

The frame was made by cutting the 2 Postal frames at the same time.

Poppystamps' Valentine Blog Blitz

Hello,  and welcome! 

You picked a great time for a visit. Poppystamps is having a Blog Blitz and

you have a chance to win the Meadowblossom Frame and Stencil set I'm 

showcasing today.

All the details and how I made this card is on the Poppystamps blog. If you comment

on the blog, you have a chance to win. Now, I love comments, but be sure to comment

on the Poppystamps blog for a chance to win!

Happy New Year!

Sympathy Cards

The Flower Challenge is being sponsored by My Favorite Things this month.

Hello! I love playing along with any challenge that has 'flower' in their theme!

And the monthly Flower Challenge has become a favorite.

This month it's Anything Goes. 

My card features MFT's Floral Focus stamp set, an all over stamp that was selectively 

stamped on the corners, and colored with Faber Castell Polychromos pencils.

The lines from the tone on tone stamping almost disappear with the coloring.

And the pencils on Kraft give the the image are almost an 'old world' feel.

First stamped with Altenew's Sand Dunes ink, then colored with pencils, and

finally masked before adding the droplets.

One last step. I added perfect pearls to some white acrylic paint and gave the leaves and 

petals some sheen. Much shinier irl. 

The Flower Challenge #36 'Anything Goes'

MFT Color Challenge 125

Enjoy your week! Hope it's a crafty one!

You

Hello! Hope you're enjoying summer's end, and are looking forward to cooler

weather. I know I am!

I'm playing along with a couple of challenges, Altenew's August Inspiration Challenge 

and, The Flower Challenge, Use your Favorite Flower.

My favorite flower at the moment is a new plant added to my yard, 

Midnight Rose Hibiscus.

I have seen hibiscus before, but never this size or color. When I brought home the plant

(I bought 3) it was about 2' high and had a couple of bud groupings. 

Honestly, would you ever believe these buds would open into such a 

magnificent bloom? 1st bloom measured 9".

So for today (only today, I'm fickle with favorites!) my favorite flower is the Hibiscus. 

Altenew's  Hibiscus Garden 3D was all cut from white cardstock, and Copic colored. 

I tried to keep as close to my Midnight Rose as possible. The die set comes with the greens

you see pictured here, and the smaller bloom I colored in purples to mimic the 

Allysum planted in the pots with the Hibiscus.

The background started out with an A2 sized card, white, covered with 

Altenew's watercolor washi. I added sprays and white paint droplets, then

cut the card with MFT's Wonky Stitched Rectangle.

'You' from PTI's Bold Borders: Arabesque. I doubled the diecut with gold for a little

glam.

The Hibiscus flower has gorgeous textured veins. I tried to add that look by streaking 

my die cut with the Copic pens.

Altenew asks us, 'how were you inspired by the photo?' 

Just about everything from the photo inspired me! Colors, soft fadeout greens, water

droplets... and May gave us a beautiful watercolor tutorial too!

2 challenges, one card. Love it when that happens!

Have a blessed week! 

How-to Video: August 2019 Inspiration Challenge with May Sukyong Park

The Flower Challenge #35 'Use Your Favourite Flower'

Sweet Birthday Wishes

It seems like it's been awhile since I've posted a card. My summer's been full of family,

trips, chickens and children... with 3 BIG summer parties at our house. 

Phew! I need a vacation. No better place than the craft room!

This card's for Ink to Paper, Laurie's Fabulous Favorites, 

this week's it's Background Stamps.

The background stamp is white embossed within the oval die, Cover Up: Grid,

on water color paper. I then loosely watercolored the grid and fit it inside the 

Pierced Feature Frames: Oval (cut 3 times). 

That's Garden Garland on the outside of the oval.

Laurie's card was full of black and white drama.White on white is my absolute favorite 

technique for drama.  

Ink to Paper Tag Creations: Blooming Indulgence Dies

The many dies in this set are fun to play with. I used colored card stock and the banner 

included in the set, and used a sentiment from Just Sentiments Tagged.

Feels so good be be back in the craft room. I have family coming on Monday.

And we're planning another trip to Yosemite. All's good, and very busy. 

Hope you enjoy your summer, and all the warmth that goes with it.

And especially hope you have some time to create. It just seems to refresh and

restore. 

Blessings!

Altenew's June challenge: Friends

Altenew's June Challenge has Virginia Lu and this inspiration photo.

Now, I have to admit, this was a stretch for me. The colors didn't inspire, in

fact I almost didn't come up with anything. But Virginia's card was so beautiful,

and I always love a challenge. And then my Altenew order came...

Sunflower Daisy is a multi-stamp and Die set, and was just what I needed to get

creative juices flowing.

I arranged my large and small blooms in a vase from Versatile Vases. 1st stamped with Olive,

then colored with pencils. I penciled in the stems as well.

Sentiment from Shades of Friendship.

Thanks for the visit and hope your summer is full of

crafty goodness!

The Flower Challenge: Embossing & Altenew's Card Challenge

Hi my crafty friends!

I'm playing along with the Flower Challenge, a blog I've fallen in love with, where

the call is to use embossing: heat or dry.

Let's hear it for florals!

I used a stamp and die set from Altenew called Book Club.

Before I embossed my Aqua Mist yardstick, I stamped the leaves from

 Wallpaper Art (Altenew)and inked the leaves loosely.

sentiment PTI Birthday Classics: June.

The flowers were colored on Olive Twist cardstock with Faber-Castel Polychromos pencils 

after embossing in white.

My birthday stash is growing steadily. Don't you just love having birthday cards

ready to give?

The flower Challenge has a prize from Altenew this week, and runs through

the 25th. Plenty of time to play along...

Altenew's photo challenge is pictured here:

Cool photo with so many possibilities!

Inspiration Challenge

Have a blessed week!

Galoshes Galore! The Card Concept

Galoshes Galore is the theme for the newest Card Concept Challenge.

And here's some more inspiration for you,

As you can see, I was inspired by the pink polka dot rain boots. My stamps and dies are from

Paper Sweeties called Sweet Cuts | Showering You With Love. 

The talented Debbie Marcinkiewicz gave me my first designing gig, and I will

always be grateful to her. Aren't those boots adorable? They are on sale in the

Paper Sweeties shop, and the stamp comes with the dots ready to color. I used 

copics in several shades of pink. Click on the post item and it'll take you to

the store and the sale. 

The Kraft bg is stenciled with PTI's Woodgrain stencil. Mix & Mat Postal and 

Bitty Bouquet stamp and die are also from PTI.

We love seeing how you're inspired. Pick a style, and Join us on the Card Concept Blog. 

Thanks for the visit! And Happy Crafting!

Wishing You a Joyous Easter

Playing with Altenew's gorgeous floral stamps, 'Wallpaper Art', and my 

copics, I created an Easter card. Included in my order was the Layered Plaid

Cover A & B dies. I truly hated to cover the plaid die cuts up with anything,

but couldn't resist Eastery pastels with rosey copper Nuvo embossing powder

over the plaid. 

The top plaid cover die is a lavender pink shimmer cardstock I've 

had squirreled away forever!

I found a sentiment from PTI's Etched Eggs, and copper embossed that 

as well. The tiny posies are from Altenew's Build A Flower: Poppy.

When I chose my copics I made sure they were full color, that is, 02, 04, and so forth.

The pastels pop a bit more with full hue. 

Hope your weekend is full of fun and crafty goodness! 

Working on more Easter cards I can't wait to share!

His Promises are Forever

Wednesdays are becoming my favorite day of the week. Papertrey's

new lineup of contests are so much fun and offer a bevy of prizes 

for playing along.

Laurie wants us to choose one of our favorite dies to create with,

and I love her comparison to trying to choose a favorite child. But, like 

I said before, it is possible to narrow it down to a few hundred. (Maybe!)

If you'll pardon a little life story, I'm in the northern part of my state (CA), caring for 

grandchildren (3) while daughter and Son-in-Law are on a cruise. With me are the 

bare minimum crafting supplies I knew I would need for the next 3 weeks. And among

them is one of my PTI 'Plates' binders'. (Notice I said, 'one of my plates binders').

Coverplate: Marquee was among those plates. It is a frame I can't use enough

to encircle sentiments, florals, and just about any special image.

The frame comes with die cuts that hi light the swirls and 

the center piece. I added foam to the frame itself, as well as the 

swirls and little piece, which really makes your image a standout.

Below is a list of the the products I used, the links take you to the PTI

store. And I think everything is still on sale.

Garden of Faith Stamp Set

Botanical Bounty II Stamp Set

Papertrey Ink - Cover Plate: Marquee Die