Just For You Tag TYIC5 JUGS256

I made a tag last night for the latest Tag You're It! Challenge while also incorporating the "anything but an A2 card" challenge over at Just Us Girls.  But I hemmed and hawed over it because I wasn't crazy about the flowers.  So I didn't post it.  Then I went to bed and thought maybe I'd have a better idea in the morning.  Well, I didn't (which inspired me to do a little crafty shopping for some supplies that I was obviously lacking!) but decided  to go ahead and post it anyway.

One other thing I learned while photographing this tag is that I need a smaller frog to prop up small projects like this.  This tag looks quite lost on that giant frog!  I got this one in the spring at the antique show in Brimfield Massachusetts and it just so happens that the show starts up again on Tuesday so I just may have to take a little road trip next weekend!

Well that's it for me.  I'm off to the vegetable garden to clean up.  Despite my nifty fence, a woodchuck managed to get in there and eat EVERYTHING.  Well, everything except for a couple of banana peppers.  Next year I'm going to have to call some pest control company to come and take care of that giant pest because I'm not sharing my veggies with him again!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: 

Stamps:  Summer Garden (Simon Says Stamp)

Paper:  Crumb Cake (SU); Solar White (Neenah)

Ink:  White (WPlus9); Copics

Accessories:  Tag Sale #3 die (Papertrey Ink); Amy Tan flowers for Silhouette; white seam binding ribbon, crochet thread

Hello Again

I had so much fun making my watercolored bokeh card the other day I decided to make another one.  This time I used the bold colors at Color Throwdown along with the layout at CAS(E) This Sketch.

The Color Throwdown graphic heavily influenced my decision to use this sunflower die which I thought would look pretty nifty against my watercolored background.  Originally I hadn't intended on doing the bokeh thing but once I had the colors down I wanted to soften them up a bit.  First I cut the tilted layer out of vellum (which is hard to see in the photo) but it didn't soften up the colors as much as I wanted so out came the white pigment ink.

Today was a momentous day because I went grocery shopping!  Usually something so mundane is not worthy of a mention in a blog post but if you live in eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire you will have survived the drama of the Market Basket saga which nearly became a Greek tragedy and will know exactly why grocery shopping is cause for celebration!  I won't bore you with the details but suffice it to say that I will never take low prices on groceries for granted ever again!  

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Hand Lettered Hello (WPlus9)

Paper:  Soft Stone (Papertrey Ink); Distress Watercolor (Tim Holtz); Vellum, Old Olive, Pacific Point (SU)

Ink:  Old Olive, Crushed Curry, Pacific Point (SU); Frost White (Colorbox); Onyx Black (Versafine)

Accessories:  Sunflower die, Leaf Filled Flourish die (My Favorite Things)

Freshly Made Sketches 151

Whew, another week has whisked by and it's time for a brand new challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.  All month long we've been joined by Kim Singdahlsen as our guest designer and we somehow managed to rope her into designing a sketch for us this week!  It's got her flair for layers while also keeping a clean and simple design.  You're going to love it!

As I was contemplating my card I ran across these colors at Just Add Ink and although they seemed a little scary at first I really wanted to see if I could combine them.  I started to think about backgrounds and what colors should go where.  Then I saw that Kim used a tag on her card which made me think about the current Tag You're It challenge.  Somehow it all came together and this is the result.  The inspiration at Tag You're It had embedded die cuts which I duplicated with this small and relatively detailed die cut.  I learned at one of my Online Card Classes to save all the little bits and pieces when doing this inlaid technique and I can honestly say that this is very good advice.  Very good advice.

You might guess that the Freshly Made Sketches design team has knocked this sketch out of the park and you'd be right!  We've really enjoyed having Kim join us this month and we are truly thrilled that she designed our sketch this week.  Please join us by playing along!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Off the Grid (SU); Label Love (Altenew)

Paper:  Pure Luxury (Gina K); Calypso Coral, Mossy Meadow, Whisper White (SU)

Ink:  Blackberry Bliss, Always Artichoke (SU)

Accessories:  Tag Me die (Reverse Confetti); Leafy Branch die (Impression Obsession); white seam binding ribbon; crochet thread

colourQ 256 Bokeh

Hi everyone!  It's time for a brand new palette at colourQ and I'm so excited by the card I made for this challenge.  I recently signed up for a watercolor class for cardmakers and I've learned so many new things by watching the videos. The Friday Mashup challenge this weekend called for a bokeh technique and had a link to a video tutorial which combined bokeh with some watercoloring.  I loved the look so much I used what I learned to make my colourQ card this week.

The background of my card is watercolored and made up of Pumpkin Pie, Cajun Craze and Old Olive.  I swished the colors around to create an interesting, colorful background then once dry went back in with some white ink and sponged the circles to create the bokeh effect.  I cut the sentiment die three times and glued them together to create a little dimension.

I mentioned yesterday that the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch inpsired me to make more than one card and this is the second one.  The layout is so perfect for a million ideas though I've only got two now!  

The ladies at colourQ have got some great ideas to show you using these colors.  Check them out!  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies

Stamps:  Simple Shapes (SU)

Paper:  White Pure Luxury (Gina K); Pacific Point (SU); Distress Watercolor Cardstock (Tim Holtz)

Ink:  Cajun Craze, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive (SU); White (WPlus9)

Accessories:  Thanks Script (Savvy Dies); Wink of Stella pen

Merry Monday 123

I've been absent from my stamp room for a few days but was anxious to get cracking on some cards for the upcoming week.  First up is my card for the Merry Monday challenge, the challenge where we try to inspire you to get a head start on your Christmas cards.   This week our challenge is brought to you by Bonnie who would like to see a wreath on your card.

As luck would have it, I don't actually own any wreath stamps but for years I've been getting by in the wreath department by using a snowflake stamp.  That's right.  I said snowflake stamp.

I don't want to steer you wrong and give the impression that I invented this, but some years ago I stumbled on a card that made a wreath out of continuously stamping a snowflake image in a circle.  Well, I was so impressed by the wreath that I tucked the info away in my brain and take it out for occasions such as this!  I've made this wreath lots of times and I love it!

This card was also inspired by the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch (as was another card you will see later this week) because its classically clean lines are so perfect for a multitude of ideas. 

There are some fabbo wreaths to be seen over at Merry Monday, so do be sure to check them out.  I hope to see you in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies

Stamps:  Snow Flurries, More Merry Messages (SU)

Paper:  Kraft (Papertrey Ink); Mossy Meadow, Whisper White (SU)

Ink:  Mossy Meadow, Old Olive

Accessories:  First Place Ribbon die (My Favorite Things); Banner Trio die (WPlus9); Berry Blend sequins (Avery Elle); burlap

Freshly Made Sketches 150

Ah, it's Wednesday and time for another new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.  This week our sketch is designed by Linda and as soon as I saw it I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  That doesn't always happen for me so when it does it's time for a little celebration!

I have this old patterned paper pack from SU called Sweet Pea and I've got to say it is the best paper I've got in my stamping stash.  There are lots of different colors featured on the papers and I always find something I like.  For this card I decided to go to that paper pack first and let the patterns and colors of it guide my card for this challenge.  I ended up picking some earthy colors on a Sahara Sand base (which you can't see because it's behind all that gorgeous DSP) and coloring up some flowers in a bright pop of yellow.

There are some great cards to see over at the Freshly Made Sketches blog so in case you haven't seen them head on over there to check them out.  You won't be sorry!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Hennah Elements (Altenew); Signature Greetings (Papertrey Ink)

Paper:  Sahara Sand, Chocolate Chip (SU); X-Press It Blending Card

Ink:  Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink); Black Licorice (My Favorite Things); Copics

Accessories:  Cambridge Court enamel dots (My Mind's Eye)

colourQ 255 and Seize the Sketch 27

It's Tuesday so that means there's a brand new palette at colourQ.  This time around the colors are inspired by this beautiful curtain that would look fantastic in my bathroom!  I'd actually like it better as a shower curtain as I'm not much of a window curtain kind of girl (not to mention my cats would probably think I installed a curtain purely for their entertainment)!  This card is also made using the latest sketch at Seize the Sketch designed by Cathy.  Sadly, Cathy has the dubious honor of presiding over the last challenge at Seize the Sketch.  (Insert sad face here).  

I mentioned last week that I was watching the videos for the watercolor Online Card Class.  Over the weekend I got around to watching some more and was intrigued by the lesson where we learned how to take a stamped image and make it look more like it was watercolored.  After going through all of my stamps twice to find an appropriate image for this similar to the ones used in the video I settled on a little leafy stamp.  Despite being warned that this technique was advanced and required lots of practice I went full steam ahead, made this card, and posted it as if it was the Mona Lisa (a little shot of confidence that I learned from my friend Linda).  Once the leaves were stamped I pounced them with a wet brush, the idea being to soften the edges and spread some of that color around.  Then I went in with my markers and added little dots of color which I then pounced with my wet brush.  

I've got to say that seeing it here doesn't thrill me.  It really does look better in person, but here it looks like I made a card then spilled a glass of water on it.  Blah.  I should have listened to the experts and practiced a bit more before unleashing my supposed creativity on all of you!  Ha!

Of course, you know that the girls at colourQ have got an amazing array of cards to show you using these colors and the girls at Seize the Sketch will also knock your socks off with their cards this week.  Wouldn't it be nice to send Seize the Sketch off with a bang?  I encourage you to play along with our last sketch!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Pocket Silhouettes, It's Your Birthday (SU)

Paper:  Classic Ivory (Flourishes); Old Olive (SU); watercolor paper

Ink:  Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Wisteria Wonder, Pool Party (SU)

Accessories:  Basic Pearls (SU)

Merry Monday 122

This is my third week designing over at Merry Monday and I'm now three cards closer to Christmas!  What a relief it is to have these cards already made so that I'm not scrambling around after Thanksgiving trying to make all the cards I'm going to need.  If you're getting nervous about your Christmas card stash, then I encourage you to play along!

The challenge this week is brought to you by Sue and I predict it will encourage a lot of elegant cards in the gallery.  Just check out the design team cards to see what I mean.  Sue wants us to use black, silver and gold on our Christmas card this week.

This is actually the second card I made for this challenge.  The first one wasn't grabbing my attention until I realized that it was missing a bit of sparkle.  So I re-worked it using the Sweet Sunday Sketch and ended up with this.  I stamped the same pine boughs I used last week in gold Delicata ink (surely the prettiest gold ink out there) then die cut a little sprig in silver glimmer paper.  Trust me when I say that this is way better looking in person.  It's tough to photograph all that shimmer and shine!

The ladies over at Merry Monday have all got some fantastic cards to share with you this week, so be sure to pop on over and check them out!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Watercolor Winter (SU); Handy Christmas Greetings (Amy R Stamps)

Paper:  Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Silver Glimmer, Gold Foil (SU)

Ink:  Delicata Golden Glitz; Onyx Black (Versafine)

Accessories:  Chloe Stem die (Memory Box; Onyx button (a.muse studio); gold cord (SU)

A Note of Thanks for PPA215, Fusion

The beautiful colors this week at Pals Paper Arts were calling me as was the sketch at Fusion.  I was pretty sure that I had some Pear Pizzazz DSP hiding in my stash and after searching for about 15 minutes I finally found it.  I wish someone could tell me why my stash of patterned paper never seems to get any smaller!

I gave the white layer a spritz of color then inked up the floral stamp in black.  I love how the color is soft and imperfect.  The button was an afterthought because I forgot the little star element on the sketch.  I tried not to make it look too out of place and added some scrunched up thread behind it so that it was a little more interesting.  I think it may be a little hard to see in the photo but the vertical layer on the left of the sketch is actually a long line of black embossing paste on my card.  Boy, I love that stuff!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Thank You Kindly (SU); Going to Seed (Woodware)

Paper:  Basic Black, Pear Pizzazz, Strawberry Slush, Whisper White, Pear Pizzazz DSP)

Ink:  Pretty Pink (Mister Huey's Color Mists); Onyx Black (Versafine), Versamark

Accessories:  Diagonal Stripe stencil (Simon Says Stamp); black embossing paste (Wendy Vecchi); Make it Merry button (October Afternoon); white embossing powder

Freshly Made Sketches 149

Time for a new sketch from your friends at Freshly Made Sketches!  This week our hostess is Rita who never fails to surprise me with her design ideas and fresh approach to card making!  She's designed a great sketch for us this week and judging by the design team cards, this sketch is amazingly versatile.  Imagine what you can do with that rectangle layer!

I had made a card for this challenge using one of the techniques I learned at the watercoloring online card class, but I was not happy with it at all and decided to scrap it.  So I went back to the drawing board and poked around blogland for a little inspiration.  I had recently seen this beautiful card by Vicki Dutcher and it heavily influenced my redux.  I didn't attempt any fancy pouncing with reinkers to color my background but relied on some grungy stamps to take care of that.  The colors are from the latest challenge at The Paper Players and once I had everything stamped I went over the blossoms with a Wink of Stella pen (which, of course, you can't see in the photo).  It's amazing how that  pen makes everything look better!

The Freshly Made Sketches design team has got some fabulous cards to share with you this week.  We sure hope you'll join us in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge (SU); Grunge Me, Signature Greetings (Papertrey Ink); Scribble and Spill (Stamping Bella); Petite Posies (Technique Tuesday)

Paper:  Classic Ivory (Flourishes); Basic Gray, Very Vanilla (SU)

Ink:  Basic Gray, Blushing Bride, Calypso Coral, Hello Honey (SU); Black Licorice (My Favorite Things)

Accessories:  Wink of Stella, black rhinestones (KaiserCraft)

colourQ 254

So I signed up recently for the Watercolor For Card Makers online card class and finally got a chance to watch some of the videos on Sunday.  Of course, now I want to watercolor everything that isn't nailed down and, no surprise, my card today for colourQ features one of the techniques I learned.

I embossed a background stamp first then splashed some colors around using lots of water to create the background layer in a watercolor technique meets emboss resist sort of way.  It was fun to do and fun to just splash some color around without regard to how it landed.  I tend towards clean and simple cards so to give up control of the color is very liberating indeed!

I'm also giving credit to the sketch at Fusion for this card as well as the butterfly challenge at CAS on Sunday.  Nothing like a butterfly to make everything pretty!

It's no surprise that the colourQ design team has made some amazing cards using these colors so make sure you check them out.  We'd love to see you in the gallery this week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Kinda Eclectic (SU); Say What (Mama Elephant); Distressed Grid (Creative Embellishments)

Paper:  Strathmore Watercolor Paper; Early Espresso (SU); Vellum (Papertrey Ink)

Ink:  Kiwi Kiss, Coastal Cabana, Pumpkin Pie (SU); Versamark; White (WPlus9)

Accessories:  Basic Pearls (SU)

Merry Monday 121

It's my second week being the featured designer at Merry Monday and this week Wendy is challenging us to use greens, pinecones and plaid ribbon on our Christmas card.  Well, that was a challenge for me because I don't have any plaid ribbon!  Never one to back down from a challenge I set about sponging some plaid stripes onto cardstock and improvising!

That kinda looks like ribbon doesn't it?  The latest layout at Sketch Saturday actually played right into my hands with the idea I had kicking around my head for this card.  Since I knew I had to create my own version of cardstock ribbon, I thought it would look better just peeking out from behind another layer of cardstock.  Then when I saw the Sketch Saturday challenge I knew fate was telling me I was on the right track!

The design team at Merry Monday have got some great cards for you to see, so head on over there to check them out.  We hope to see you in the gallery this week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Watercolor Winter (SU); Holiday Greetings (Amy R Stamps)

Paper:  Kraft (Papertrey Ink); Early Espresso, Garden Green, Very Vanilla (SU)

Ink:  Garden Green, Pear Pizzazz, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso (SU)

Accessories:  Pierced Fishtail Flag STAX (My Favorite Things); baker's twine

Teacher Tag for CTD304, CTS87, TYIC3

After a long week it felt good to step into my craft cave last night and get busy with some paper and ink.  It was nearly nine o'clock by the time I got in there so I only had time to put this together before the thought of some shut-eye lulled me to bed.  

The palette at Color Throwdown was too pretty to resist as was the CAS(E) This Sketch/Tag You're It combo.  And as the ladies at Color Throwdown are honoring Lori Tecler and her return to the classroom, I made a little teacher tag.

I wish the sentiment showed up a little better because it's really sweet.  It says "thank you for all you do" and I thought it was a really appropriate sentiment for teachers, who probably don't get thanked nearly enough as they ought to be.  

It's a gorgeous summer day here so I'm keeping this short and sweet so I can go outside and putter around the garden.  Then I'll hit the chaise lounge with a good book and spend the rest of the day relaxing.  Summer will be gone soon enough so I have to grab the sunshine while I can!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Teachers Count, Making a Statement (Verve); Ka-Pow (The Alley Way Stamps)

Paper:  Kraft (Papertrey Ink); Bermuda Bay, Whisper White, Thoroughly Modern DSP (SU)

Ink:  Smoky Slate, Bermuda Bay (SU)

Accessories:  Traditional Tags STAX, Pierced Traditional Tags STAX (My Favorite Things); Rounded Rectangle die, Apples die (Verve); Enamel Dew Drops (Freckled Fawn); Antique Brass Jumbo Eyelet, Crumb Cake Seam Binding (SU); baker's twine