Charmed Gal

Hi friends! Hope you've had a wonderful day. The weather has been hot and sunny, which means a good day for the pool. That will have to wait until tomorrow, however, as the day has gotten away from me and now it's nearly dark.

Love this digi image from Bugaboo! I've colored the picture several times today, making different cards for each. What fun! I just can't stop!

This time, however, I added a watering can charm on some Baker's Twine. The Mod Squad Challenge required a charm. I tried to enter it but just missed the deadline. I've had several garden charms for quite a while, so I was glad this challenge came up and I could use one. Oh, well...maybe next time!

I colored the image with Copics and added some Stickles on the flowers.

Thank you for stopping by today. I appreciate your visits and comments very much and hope to see you again soon ~

Skyline at Sunset

Hello my friends! How are you today? I hope you had a wonderful weekend and got some scrapping or cardmaking in. The sun is currently shining, and it's a beautiful Monday here in North Carolina.

I saw a card similar to this at Lori McAree's Smiling While Stamping called Summer Lovin' that I absolutely loved. This card is my attempt at CASing her, but it's not really a CASE because the layout is different. Hers was landscape style and went across the page but had the still had the black piece coming down. I went Portrait style.

Inks used for the background include Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Fired Brick, Orange Marmalade and Wild Honey. I simply sponged the inks on the background and added the City Scape Die cut (from Savvy Dies). Obviously, this is very clean and simple card!

Thanks for stopping by today! I appreciate your visits and comments very much, and I hope to see you again real soon ~

Fantabulous Cricut Challenge 216

Good day everybody! I hope you're having a good weekend. It's raining here in North Carolina...yet another day! I like to stay inside and create cards on days like this.

Today I created this card for the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge 216, which is a color challenge requiring purple, gray and yellow. I pulled out my Bloom Cricut Lite Cartridge and got busy. After cutting the images with my Personal Cricut, I inked an embossing folder and embossed the background cardstock. I added a flower to the sentiment and a ribbon to the side of the card.

Thank you for stopping by today! I appreciate your visits and comments very much, and I hope to see you again soon ~~

Moving

Hi everybody! How is your week coming along? I'm so glad it's Tuesday! What a wonderful day! It is raining outside, but I've been able to get some errands run anyway. It feels good when you can begin crossing off items on your "To Do" list, doesn't it?! Fortunately, the rain waited until I got inside before it began to pour.

My oldest son (Chris) and his girlfriend are moving from Mississippi to Missouri. They're having a problem getting the moving van to show up, so I thought a card was due. My son has already gone ahead to Missouri so he could start working his new job. His poor girlfriend is back in Mississippi, waiting among the packed boxes. Can you imagine the anxiety? Hopefully, they'll both feel better once they get this card. That's the first thing I thought of (that I could do) to help them feel better.

The stamps I used are from Stephanie Barnard's Stamps of Life. I love this set, called Houses4us. I asked Chris what color their apartment is, and he said brown, so I made sure the biggest place on the card was brown. I first sponged the powdered blue and mowed lawn inks on the cardstock for the background and then began stamping the images before cutting them out. I thought it would be best to place individual pieces rather than trying to squeeze a bunch of stamped images onto one layer. The bigger house, the row of houses (or whatever--apartments, in this case!), the tree and the truck are all separate pieces.

I hope they like this card, because I sure had fun creating it! I just had to include the moving van, and what a great saying on it! That ought to bring them a smile.

Thanks for stopping by today! I appreciate your visits and comments very much, and I hope to see you again soon!

CASE

While I'm playing with pink...I decided to keep on going and create another card! This time I CASed (copy and share) a card by Donna Mikasa at Three Umbrellas for Time Out Challenges, where I'm joining in with the Challenge. The instructions were to copy her card but add our own twist to it.

The difference in my card from her card is that I added a small flower that I sprayed with Inkadinkado's Rasberry Ink instead of using a butterfly. She had gold hearts that she had glued on, whereas I used heart brads that were attached. I also created a sentiment using a die and pink cardstock rather than creating it in gold.

Thank you for stopping by again today! I hope you had a good weekend! Hope to see you again soon ~~

Pink Dress

Happy Weekend my friends! How are you on this warm Sunday afternoon? I have enjoyed spending some of my weekend creating cards and entering more challenges.

This card will be entered into the Mod Squad Challenge where they've asked for Summer Colors.

Pink is a summer color in my book! The dress on my card is by Inkadinkado and is one of my favorite stamps, although I rarely use it.

I thought it'd be fun to use "just because" for something so dressy because sometimes we feel like putting a dress on, just because. Of course, it helps not to be so hot and sticky outside as it is now! Then again, I like wearing dresses in the summer because I feel they can be cooler.

The dress has some added Diamond Stickles on it, and I also added a few flowers on the side of the card. The top corners were punched with a heart corner punch.

Thank you for stopping by today! I appreciate your visits and comments very much, and I hope to see you again soon!

Wings

Hello my friends! Happy Saturday to you! Today I am posting a card I created for the Outlawz Paper a la Mode Challenge which asked for something with wings. The digi was provided by the week's sponsors, Scrapbook Stamp Society. I'm not usually one to use digi's but I'm working on my coloring, so this week I went with it.

The wings and eyes have Glossy Accents on them to make them shine, which you really can't see in this picture. I added some bling with the gems on her belt and shirt. I colored with Copics, cut out the frame with a Magestic Labels die by Sizzix and layered onto hot pink cardstock, which went onto some patterned paper. The base is some navy cardstock by Gina K Designs.

Thank you for stopping by today! I appreciate your visits and comments very much and hope to see you again soon.

Wedding 2

Well, here I am again! I just had to create this card before the day was out.

Look familiar? It should! I created the same card a few days ago but in different colors (lavender, cream and white). The directions for a card in the Exploring Cricut and More Challenge required a wedding card in black, white and one other color to make it pop. The other card I had created was in the wrong colors for the Challenge, so I did it again but in red, black and white. I've chosen to enter this card into the Challenge at Exploring Cricut and More.

This card is a totally different look. For some weddings it might be appropriate, for others, maybe not so much. I like both of the cards, they are just different. It's amazing how one color can make such a huge difference!

I used the same materials: the Wedding/Marriage Solutions Cricut Cartridge, the doily border punch and the sentiment from Vogue Vases 2 by Theresa Momber at Gina K Designs. The paper I used in the machine and border punch is from Cricut, too.

Thank you for stopping by again today! It's been a busy day so far! I really appreciate your visits and comments and hope to see you again soon!

WOYWW 263

Hello, my friends! Today is Wednesday, and I'm so happy about that! The week is going well, and I'm having lots of fun posting to various challenges and blogs.

Since it's Wednesday, it's time for What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday at Stamping Ground. I'm not proud of this mess, but I'll admit, it is my mess.

You can see a corner of my Cricut machine out on the top part of the picture with a few cartridges beside it. There's also the corner of my white box that was built for my ATG tape gun. Closer to the front is my decorative border punch, which I love. I was using it for the wedding card you can see there beside it. I also have a variety of inks sitting out, including Gina K, right on top, Stephanie Barnard's Stamps of Life, and Tim Holtz Distress Inks. I've been using some Glossy Accents lately, as well as Liquid Pearls. The other obvious thing on my desk is my sheet of pop dots from Stampin Up! I usually keep a sheet of scrap paper on my table so I can try out different stamps and inks with different colors, as you can see in the colorful flower. Let's not forget my blocks which are stacked up, ready to be used. Those are always out and stacked.

While this table looks quite messy, I've had worse, believe it or not. I do try to wipe it off every now and then, especially on weekends after I've cleaned. I also change the stuff on top according to what I'm creating at the time.

Thank you so much for stopping by! I appreciate your visits and comments very much. Hope to see you again soon!

Cricut Wedding

Hello my friends! How is your Tuesday coming along? I hope you are having a wonderful day.

Yesterday I came across the Exploring Cricut and More Challenge, asking for wedding cards. So, I went to my Cricut drawer and pulled out my Wedding/Marriage cartridge, and got to work. That cartridge has a lot of wonderful images on it, but I liked the love birds and the banner.

Well, I was going to enter this card in the Exploring Cricut and More Challenge.
However, they want a wedding card that's black with white and a pop of one other color. Oops! Not this one!


I layered the image and sentiment in ivory cardstock and placed the white cardstock on top. I also added a couple of silver stickers and a small purse to the card, along with a punched border along the bottom. The sentiment is from Theresa Momber's Vogue Vases 2 from Gina K Designs. All of this is layered on a lavender base from Gina K Designs.

Thank you for stopping by today! I appreciate your visits and comments very much, and I hope to see you again soon!

Vogue Vases

Hi! Happy Monday to you! Hope you had a good weekend and are refueled for the week. I enjoyed a busy weekend, and that makes me happy.

I saw a card very similar to this on Theresa Momber's blog, craftingtheweb.blogspotcom, and had to try it. Using her stamp set, Vogue Vases, from Gina K Designs, I stamped the corner of the cardstock with VersaMark ink, then heat embossed it in white. Using Tim Holtz Tattered Rose and Spun Sugar Distressed Inks, I sponged from the corner down. The floral design showed through. I added the border and sentiment across the bottom.

Stamping those things was not easy, because they were rubber stamps. Getting Happy Birthday to sit close enough to the line and stamping it straight took some practice. In fact, I had to cover my first try, practice some, then add the best one on top of the crooked one! Thus, the strip of white cardstock and the addition of ribbon. I think it still looks ok, but I wish they were clear stamps -- sure would be easier!

I am entering this card in Word Art Wednesday's Challenge #136.

Thank you for stopping by today! I appreciate your visits and comments very much. Hope to see you again soon!

Gifts From the Sea

Hello! Happy Saturday to you! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend! I am having fun playing with my paper, inks and stamps on this hot, humid day. I've also been looking through some old CardMaker magazines and found an awesome card I wanted to try. This is my take on it.

This card is for the Mod Squad Challenge, which asks for cards relating to the Ocean or Sea. This stamp set is from Gifts From The Sea by Melanie Muenchinger at Gina K Designs. Living at the beach, of course this is one of my all-time favorite stamp sets! I also love the color of Turquoise Sea ink and cardstock, also from Gina K Designs. I simply stamped the images, cut them out, and placed them on the card before adding some twine around the middle, below the sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by today! I appreciate your visits and comments very much, and I hope to see you again soon!

Woodgrain Background

Hello! Happy Thursday! The weekend is near, WooHoo! Unfortunately, it's raining outside. Yuk.

This card was created for the Mix It Up Monday Card Challenge at Gina K Designs. We were to create a woodgrain background using a scoreboard and ink. I think it turned out ok, especially if you like green!

I used Honey Mustard, Kraft and Fresh Asparagus inks from Gina K Designs (GKD). Using a butterfly stamp from her Springtime Silhouettes stamp set, I inked it in Fresh Asparagus ink and stamped it a little bit off the side, then added a smaller butterfly from her Dreams Take Flight set. Thinking the frame looked too plain, I distressed the edges with the same ink and added dots. That helped it pop against the Fresh Asparagus cardstock and ribbon, also by GKD.

Thanks for stopping by today! I appreciate your visits and comments very much. Hope to see you again soon!

Friendship

Here's another card for Darnell Knauss's NBUS ("Never Before Used Schtuff") Challenge.

 I've had this stamp for years and never used it. I like the way the sticker on top shows the image, but I just never tried it, so today's the day. WooHoo! I love it!

The stamp is a Sue Dreamer stamp by Inkadinkado, and I believe I bought it at JoAnn's when I first started stampng. I think it works well for a friendship card. After coloring in the images with Copics, I punched a few leaf branches out with an EK Success punch and added them to the sentiment tag, cut out with a Spellbinder's die. The sentiment comes from, you guessed it, All Occasion Tags by Tami Mayberry at Gina K Designs. The ribbon is something I've had in my stash for a long time, too, but I do believe I've used it before. Everything was layered onto a pink piece of cardstock from Stampin Up!

Thank you for stopping by! I appreciate your visits and comments very much, and I hope to see you again soon!

Happy Aniversary

Hello! Happy Tuesday! I am enjoying a day of crafting inside while the weather is hot and humid outside. Of course, I should be doing housework, but first things, first, right?

This card was designed with a few challenges in mind. Time Out Challenges requires something for Summer, with a twist of flowers. Fusion has a sketch and also the colors yellow, orange and pink; you can either follow the sketch, the colors, or both.  This card follows both. I've also discovered CASology is asking for Anniversary cards. WooHoo!

I think I've got enough on this card to post to all three challenges. WooHoo!  I don't know how some of you do it when you have one card for multiple -- and I mean multiple -- card challenges! It's more than I could keep up with. Go figure. Too much for my little brain...

This card is a little different in that I watercolored the image. The class I took (Watercolors for Card Makers Online Card Class) was so much fun it got me hooked. Now, every time I see this stamp, I think I need to watercolor it just because I did it in class. It is a challenge to keep it in the lines, but I enjoy sitting down and focusing on the image while I paint.

The sentiment is from All Occasion Tags by Tami Mayberry at Gina K Designs. It's an old stamp set but I rarely use the Happy Anniversary stamp. This is a great set to have because it's full of sentiments you could use every day.

Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate your visits and comments very much. Hope to see you again soon!

Well Done

Hi there! I'm back! I decided to get out my Cricut and join the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge. We were to create a card to replenish my stash. Well, I don't have many encouraging cards around, so this image in the Block Party cartridge was what I picked.

(I'm having trouble connecting the LINK, so I apologize for that!)

This card is intended to go to my ex-husband, who is the father of my two grown sons. Although divorced, we remain good friends, and I wanted to send him a card for Father's Day. This seemed to fit the bill.

It was fun getting out the Cricut again. I must admit, it's been a while. Lots of gluing little, tiny pieces but I still enjoyed it. I felt a little like I was working a puzzle!

Thanks for stopping by today. I appreciate your visits and comments very much, and I hope to see you again soon!

For A Friend

Hi there!  How is everybody doing on this pretty Saturday? I found an opportunity to post another card. This one is for Darnell J Knauss at djkardkcreations. She's got blog candy...woohoo! I'm up for that!

We were supposed to create a card for a friend. That means something bright and happy to me. We were also supposed to use NBUS, which means "never before used schtuff," as she puts it. That was easy, because these stamps and dies from Stephanie Barnard's Stamps of Life just came in the mail! They didn't sit around for long. I couldn't wait to dig in and try them out.

Thank you for stopping by today. I appreciate your visits and comments very much, and I hope to see you again soon!

Bleached Heart

Watch Out! I'm on a roll with this bleaching technique! This is my second post for today, and I'm having fun!

This is a post for the Mod Squad Challenge, which asked for an Anniversary card. I think this one would work well.

I used the hand and heart image from Gina K Design's Where Your Heart Is stamp set by Melanie Muenchinger. First, I used clear embossing powder to heat emboss the image that had been inked in black Versafine ink.Then I painted around and inside the hands with bleach and watched the magic happen as the Ocean Mist cardstock turned to an ivory color. Soooo cool!

This technique is so much fun, it's addictive. I like how the colors in the patterned paper, also from Gina K Designs, go so well with the bleached cardstock. This wasn't planned at the beginning -- I painted first to see what color the cardstock would turn before selecting the background paper. I was amazed how lucky I was that it all worked together. I used a piece of Ocean Mist ribbon around the patterned paper and then added the sentiment. All of this was layered onto Black Onyx cardstock to finish up the card.

Thank you for stopping by again today! I appreciate your visits and comments very much, and I hope to see you again real soon.

Bleached Flower

Happy Friday everybody! Wow, this week went by fast! I am so glad you're here today. This is a new technique to show you.

Gina K Designs Stamp TV has a challenge up to try a technique using bleach. You could either put the entire stamp into a pad soaked in bleach and then stamp it, or you could stamp an image of an outline and fill it in with a brush dipped in bleach. I chose the latter. Even though they said it doesn't hurt your stamp to dip it in bleach, I was afraid to do it! Of course, these techniques called for rubber stamps, not clear.

The flower is from Gina K Design's Whimsical Wishes stamp set illustrated by Theresa Momber, and the sentiment is from their Framed Greetings set. I used patterned paper and cardstock from the Gina K Designs Shabby Spring Stamp TV kit.

The image is heat embossed in white onto Turquoise Sea cardstock, but once I painted the flower with bleach, it turned a very pale yellow. Depending on the color of the cardstock, the bleach could change it to any color once applied. It is a very interesting technique to use and you never know what color you will create with the bleach.

If you haven't tried this technique, I encourage you to jump in and join us! It took me a very long time to actually do it. I've watched Gina's videos many times but was too hesitant to try it until this challenge. Go ahead, give it a try!

Thank you for stopping by today! I appreciate your visits and comments very much and hope to see you again soon!