Vintage Artichoke

Happy Saturday to you!

I recently got my order from Concord & 9th, and among their new

release was the Vintage Artichoke stamp and dies.

The Vintage Artichoke is a lined stamp, perfect for coloring.

I did 2, one stamped with Hero Arts' Wet Cement, and Copic colored, the other

stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black on Kraft, and colored with pencils.

The sketchy quality of the stamp gives the image a wonderfully shaded form to

each 'petal' of the artichoke. But the fun comes when you use the die to cut

the choke's petals.

Isn't that genius? And who doesn't love artichokes? Dipped in aloli, or some other

creamy delicacy... yum!

I've paired my artichokes with C9's Woven Plaid Background stamp die 

cut with the Greetery's Crimped Frame die.

Tried to keep both cards simple so the artichoke would shine, but couldn't resist 

adding the acorns and leaf to the Kraft card. They'[re from another C9 recently released

set called, Autumn Harvest.

Hope you enjoyed my post today and felt a little taste of autumn. 

We've cooled down to high 90's today, after a week of 102-104. 

So ready for fall!

12 Kits of Occasions: August

Hi and welcome to August's 12 Kits of Occasions' post. This month our

hostess is the fabulous, Michelle Leone, and she's given us a kit full of fun!

She calls it, 'End of Summer Soiree, and there's birthday, and red, white

and blue, plenty of florals, yummy bright papers, well just have a look...

Leading off with a favorite for a boy... a birthday boy!

Michelle gave us big bold die cut blossoms, and this bright greeting that says it all.

This bear, his balloon, and the pink sun medallion were fussy cut. All was well

until I added Glossy Accents to the balloon. It sort of got away from me. But 

how cute is he looking straight at it??? Had to use it anyway.

Michelle included the cake, cake stand, and a floral paper I cut into circles. 

The sentiments she sent us fit perfectly in the PTI oven mitts and rolling pin dies. 

Another card with a darling plane, banner and clouds included in the kit.

Last a cascade of fussy cut blooms from one of the papers in the kit onto

a floral frame adhered to a soft pale blue textured paper, inked in blues.

Sentiment: Poppystamps.

6 cards and I still have more left over to play with!

Thank you Michelle!

It's always fun to see what creative ideas my talented teammates did with

their kits.

Next is September... where'd the year go? 

Hope  you have a crafty week, sweet friends!

End of Summer Soiree - August 2019

Tag You're It Challenge

Welcome! Do you love making tags? 

There's a fun new challenge on the Tag You're It blog.

My hubby is coming on a birthday, and nobody is more royalty on our grill!

He just knows when the meat is perfection! 

PapertreyInk's King of the Grill came complete with a couple of dies that allowed

me to raise the bun, and with Misti's help, give it a toasty edge. The rest was stamped

onto a PTI Bookmark die. 

Bottom: C9's Woven Plaid Background

The designers have some great inspiration on the TGI blog. 

Come play along! 

'Can't wait to see your tags!'

Tag You're It #95

Boy Card: Wonderful Whittles

Hello Poppy Peeps! 

I have a sweet little card for a guy this morning, (Could be a girl's card too) with an

animal theme. Poppy's new 'whittle' animals!

Whittles Boy Card

All the info on making this card is on the Poppystamps' blog this morning.

Stop by and see all the new dies and stamps, already in the Poppystamps

store. And while you're there, a reminder that there's a blog blitz going on!

Leave comments for a chance to win!!! 

Have a great day!!!

Poppystamps Challenge Reminder: ABC Anything But a Card

Hi there! It's time for a challenge reminder! Poppystamps Challenge Reminder:

ABC or Anything But a card. 

I chose to make a trio of tags for some of the grands going back to school this week.

These darling Narwhals come complete with sentiments that say just the right thing

to a young gent starting kindergarten. 

I used Poppy's tag, Stitched Tunnel Tags. Sadly they are not in the store any more. 

But Poppystamps has many other great tags.

If you'd like to learn more about how this set was created, visit the 

Poppy blog. And don't forget there's a blog blitz going on with lots

of prizes!

Enjoy your  week!

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'

Happy 7th Anniversary Paper Sweeties!

Welcome to a happy celebration!

Paper Sweeties is marking their 7th year. Applause applause!

And congratulations! 

I'm so honored to join the festivities with a special card,

and a favorite of mine, featuring Abigail.

Abigail's been around since the beginning. She and all the dolls have outfits 

and settings fit for a queen, or in this case, a mermaid!

Mermaid Wishes is a new set I've fallen for. That fish tail! I just 

had to glam it up!

The shell border was stamped, Copic colored and fussy cut.

'Sea' background: Distress Oxide Ink blending, water splashed, and white paint 

splatters. 

Anniversary banner: PS Hello Friend

The bubbles 'HAPPY' and 'anniversary' sentiment from an older

set, Happy Everything.

That's right! A 100.00 gc is the big prize to a lucky follower!

All the deets on the Paper Sweeties Blog.

Good luck, and go join the fun!

Happy 7th Anniversary Paper Sweeties!

Fresh For You

Just finished another week of grands, before they start school. 3 under the age of 10 and

 3 in their teens. It's been nonstop, from morning 'till night. 

But today was goodby in the morning, and time to play in the craft cave! Yay!

It's my first time to play with Betsy's mason jar, and sunflower dies. I wasn't able to

get the jar on release night, and Betsy let me know when it was restocked, so I 

couldn't wait to order it! I've just drooled over each and every card 

all of you have done!

The sunflowers all began cut from white cardstock and Copic colored. I LOVE how full of

dimension they become when layered together!

Next came the much waited for jar... what color to make my mason jar?

The jar is a 3 step process of stamping, and I decided to try to give my new treasure an

 inking from 3 different companies, PTI, Catherine Pooler and Altenew.

 I also left off the firststep on a few to create a clearer jar in each color way.

 It's a great way to spend an afternoon,

 just a favorite stamp set, a misti, and colorful inks! (you can't see it, but each color is

 listed on the back of each stamped jar). I also drew in a few stems with colored pencils.

The jar is actually the brighter pink in the first picture.

The sunflowers closeup, and you can see all the layers, and color possibilities. 

Blue sunflowers? Why not!

Have to say, the new Crimped Frame die is a favorite. I made my background paper 

from Poppystamps: Picnic Plaid, an all over stamp. 

It helps to have a juicy ink pad for all over 

coverage. The pink is CP It's A Girl, and the greens are CP Melon Ice and 

Altenew Limeaid.

With the exception of laundry, I have no other plans for the rest of the day~ Bliss!

Tag You're It Challenge: Bookmarks

There's a new challenge up on the Tag You're It Blog today, and we are challenged to

create a tag that's a bookmark. 

All 3 tags MFT and covered with Altenew Washi.

This one stamped with PTI's Bibliophile. 

Floral Image: Altenew's Daisy Sunflower.

PTI's Berry Summer

A sweet little reminder of the joy of reading!

I covered this bookmark with Altenew's Washi then added a vellum die cut 

with the word 'Books' from PTI's Bibliophile. The floral swag is a fussy cut

from the flower Washi added to card stock. 

Again a Washi covered tag with the Greetery's Fleur Impressions and PTI's Summer 

Berries.

Hope you play along with this theme of bookmarks. You don't have to do 3. Or you

can do 6. Have fun and I can't wait to see what you come up with.