NBUS #7 Shih Tzu Sitting

Hello!  Since I am a new foster mom for Bucky, who is at least part Shih Tzu, I had to get a stamp!  Bought two,  if you want to know the truth!  LOL

Anyway, here's the first card I made using my NBUS stamp from Dog Stamps Plus. It is going to be a sympathy card. Isn't she precious?

I stamped the dog using my also NBUS Hero Arts Vintage Ombre pigment ink in silver to black. The silvery part showed mostly on her head, so I added a bow in SU Real Red to add some contrast and make this a card for a lovely girl dog who has crossed the Rainbow Bridge. Shih Tzu's come in many colors, but black and white are very common.

A pretty simple card with the dog focal point matted in Basic Black and put directly on the base card that I had run through my Cuttlebug embossing folder called Polka Dots. I like that the folder is the larger size, so it covered the whole card front.

Thanks for visiting. See you in blogland. I love buying and using new stuff, don't you? I look forward to seeing the creations you all make for Darnell's challenge.

CCC August 2016

Tonight I am posting my card for the Society of Stampaholics August challenge. It has been sent off to Michigan and I hope it has arrived.

The colors this month were lavender, smokey mint and deep teal with a suggestion to use a bird. Taking an ancient piece of cardstock I used the best colors that I had to make my focal point. In my picture, the purple-y colors don't seem to match much, but they do coordinate in real life. 

I first ran a piece of white cardstock through my Big Shot using an embossing folder (Stampin' Up!) for texture. With SU's Mint Macaron, Marina Mist and Lavender Lace  ink pads, I sponged on the 3 colors to enhance the zigzags. The bird was done using the two-step stamping system (remember?), a solid and an outline stamp. There is no name on either wooden stamp. They are really old, amongst the first stamps I bought. I fussy cut him/her out (not my favorite pastime) then gave him something to say. The hello greeting is from My Favorite Things stamped in the blue onto an oval die cut from Spellbinders in the mint color. The birdie looks like he has a bit of sparkle, but to the life of me, I cannot remember using Wink of Stella but I must have. Senior moments creeping up again! :-) It was fun stamping again as I have been doing a lot of die cutting lately. 

So that's it from Minnesota for August. Time, as usual, has gotten away! I do appreciate all who visit! 

Thank You!

My New Family Member!

This time I have a good excuse for not posting. After a long wait and a lot of vetting, I have become a foster mom to a senior dog. His name is Bucky...see his  pictures below. It was taken by his first foster mom. Bucky is 13 years old, part Shih Tzu and part Corgi, we believe.  I think he is cute. :-) I've been wanting a dog for a long time time since Jetta went to the Rainbow Bridge two years ago.

We are settling in pretty well together. He loves the other dogs that live nearby and is very mellow. He is from a rescue group called the  Shih Tzu Rescue of Minnesota. I am making some "doggie" cards for a fund raiser they are having soon.  Bucky has some medical issues several of which are being taken care of next week. I may have him for a long time or a short time. I sure am enjoying him now! Yippee!

I have several cards made and photographed but not cropped nor ready to describe. I will get to it. Really!

Thanks for visiting!

Where has July gone?

Somehow the month of July has disappeared and I haven't been posting. Cards made, yes. Photographed, yes. Sent, yes! But editing the pictures and writing about them, nope! Sigh.

My daughter, Stephanie and I recently went to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum gardens to see the flowers (and lots of other things) where she took this photo of my favorite flower, the Double Delight. Stephanie has a fancy camera and can edit beautifully. She is a volunteer photographer for the Arboretum and has had pictures posted on their web page. Am so proud!

 BTW, she posts her pictures on her Instagram site if you would like to see more. Here is her user name:  2019saj_gallery

I am not sure how July has passed so quickly, but I know I have enjoyed spending time outside and with my grandchildren. Here in Minnesota, we have to take advantage of the wonderful weather while we can. Don't get me wrong, I, for one, love winter.

Anyway, that's my story, and I am sticking to it. Thanks for stopping by. See you in August, I promise.   :-)

Paper Players #300

Wow, 300 challenges by The Paper Players gals. Congratulations! Quite an impressive feat and surely worthy of a celebration! The design team's cards are just super this time... I can tell they all put a lot of thought into things that we celebrate.

 Here's my card which will be sent out to celebrate a wedding that is coming up. I decided to go with a CAS card letting the design of the  embossing folder take center stage.

This wedding cake embossing folder is a NBUS (Never- Before-Used-Schtuff) to me that I just bought.* I picture a luscious chocolate cake and fudge filling (YUM) underneath the almost all white decorations. There is just a touch of SU Pink Pirouette marker on the top flowers. The card base is 6 x 7, larger than I usually use. It is also NBUS; a card and envelope water-media set by Ken Oliver. I like the texture of the paper even though there is no water coloring here at all. I do have his Color Burst Brights concentrated color powder set, so look for a card using them in the future.

For some sparkle, I matted the cake focal point with Stampin' Up!'s silver designer glitter paper and used it for the banner sentiment too. The congratulations is stamped with VersaMark and heat embossed using Black Opaque Finish Zing embossing powder. I did have to enhance the letters with a black marker as they got a little lost in the silver. The clear stamp and matching banner die are from Hero Arts. I just plan to write a note inside sending the happy couple best wishes. A strip of the glitter paper brings the brightness of the front to the inside. So that is it from me. Whew, the deadline is tomorrow, so I made it!

Bye for now. Thanks for visiting.
*Edited to add: The embossing folder is by Darice.

Friends Make the World...

Challenges Galore! With this card I am completing the June CCC submission for the Society of Stampaholics and entering the June challenge from CAS Mix Up. I have started to enter more challenges finding them fun and besides, I've received so many nice comments. Thank you kind readers and followers!

At first I made the card just for my recipient at S.O.S. It's gone in the mail, so I feel OK posting it here. Than I remembered the monthly challenge by Loll and Bonnie, so decided to enter there too. So, my friends, read on about the details and see if I met all the rules.

The June S.O.S challenge asked for the colors Plum, Mulberry and Petal, had a sketch with a flower and a sentiment below, along with some bling. I think I hit all four ideas! LOL

The month long CAS Mix Up asked us to have stamping + die-cuts + a choice while being clean and simple. My card has a lot of white space, so I am hoping it is CAS enough!  The rays background is a die, the sentiment is stamped and the flower is my choice.

My base card is linen cardstock from Ellen Hudson. I love the texture. The punched flower is made with a newer punch from Stampin' Up called Flower Medallion. To color the flower pieces, I scribbled SU markers in Rich Razzleberry, Perfect Plum and Pink Pirouette onto an acrylic block and spritzed it with water and just painted away. After they dried I scrunched them up a bit for texture, glued them together in the center and added my SU bling. I am afraid this sparkely embellishment called Frosted Finishes,  is no longer available. The flower was then placed on a background panel embossed with a die from My Favorite Things called Sun Ray. I used a rubber mat so the pieces of the die would not cut all the way through. I like this background as another way to get more use of my dies. Finally, the sentiment was stamped with VersaMark on the panel. It is from a Jillibean set I won in the February drawing at S.O.S. I heat embossed it with silver Zing embossing power for some shine to match the flower center.

I am quite pleased with my card, and hope you like it too. Thanks so much for visiting.

Thinking of You

Hello! I almost waited until the last moment to post my card for Retro Rubber Challenge 
Blog, Challenge 40/Kind of Sketchy.

Here's my card:

Can you see this wonderfully embossed black paper? Again it is from my LSS, Crafter's Haven. Isn't is great? It is called Crocodile Black Specialty from Hot Off The Press, Inc. I've been hoarding it. My card unabashedly copies the sketch closely, but my thinking was to highlight the paper. I attached a simple strip of dry embossed white paper using the Stampin' Up! embossing folder called Modern Mosaic. The oldie flower bouquet stamp, just done on a Spellbinders circle, is one from Stampin' Up! dated 1993. I only have this single stamp that I probably bought at a craft sale, so I do not know the set name. After the fact and the gluing, I realized I could have used black embossing powder to highlight it, but I like it just stamped in Versafine Onyx Black. I am loving black and white cards these days. This one could be either feminine or masculine. I do not have a particular use in mind for this card, but my stash is low on cards for any occasion.

Well, I do hope you all have been having a nice early summer. It has rained a lot here in Minnesota, so it is beautifully green. Today it is warm and mostly sunny, my favorite kind of day.

See you in blogland. I read many blog and I like to read the comments. Love getting comments here too!  :-) Thank you for visiting!

Tulips for May 2016 CCC + One + A Challenge

Hello!  Well, here I am at last. Wow, May is heading to the end and I haven't posted anything. Shame on me. A busy month, though, with birthdays, concerts by two of the grand kids, plus needing to watch my oldest grand daughter who has taken up playing lacrosse. She is good, too. Bragging rights taken here.

Anyway, I finished and sent this card off to New Zealand as the May card for the S.O.S. Card Chain Challenge (CCC). One of challenge suggestion was friendship and the colors were pistachio, olive and peach.  Another idea was to use watercolors. My card is a combination of a lot of techniques, but I forgot to use watercolor paper for the flower. Oops.

For the focal point, I stamped the tulip with VersaMark, then heat embossed with white embossing power. This Hero Arts stamp called Tulips is from 1995. Anyone also like to use old and neglected stamps? Darnell would be proud! Getting out my Staedtler Watercolour Pencils I got to work. Not being sure exactly what the color peach looks like, I used several pink and orange pencils to color the flower. These pencils do not have names on them, but they blended nicely together when topped off with my water brush. Next I put on clear Wink of Stella for some shine. Turning my attention to a background, I inked up a My Favorite Things stamp called Etched Flower with Stampin' Up! Old Olive. A wonderful background stamp, I think. For the sentiment I just used a tiny stamp from the SU set Teeny Tiny Wishes on a punched oval. For some emphasis, I lightly sponged around the oval with the retired ink Apricot Appeal. The frame around the tulip is also sponged. To finish up the card, I mounted everything on a card base of Pistachio Pudding by SU and hand wrote a note inside.

It just occurred to me that it is Fall in New Zealand. Oh well; hope Dawn does not mind! Lovely Spring days here in MN right now with lots of things blooming. My favorite season.

The + One:

Sadly, in April, I needed a sympathy card for a guy friend, so had made and not posted this simple card. I thought the sailing ship and sentiment were fittingly serene. I used an unnamed "with sympathy" stamp inside and wrote a note. The background  paper is from a retired DSP set from SU as is the ship and sentiment. The ink is Chocolate Chip. The stamp set is called Schooner, from 1998. It's one of my never-get-rid-of sets! Guess I have been into old things, lately. That is, gently used things! LOL

T

That is it for now. Thanks ever so much for stopping by. Till next time, happy blog reading.

Edited to add my Tulips for May card to this new to me challenge. I think the card fits perfectly. Hope the Retro Rubber Challenge #39 group does too.

Showing Two Clear & Sheer Class Pieces of Homework

Hello My Friends~

I know, I know, it's been a while since I've posted. Busy time of year for me. Despite that, I have been taking the newest class with Jennifer McGuire and group called Clear & Sheer. All the techniques and most of the materials, that is, vellum and acetate are new to me, so it has been a challenge.

Here's two from the homework for Lessons 1 & 2 where we learned about adhering vellum and embossing on it. My cards are similar. My first attempt was smooching with ink pads onto the vellum to make a rainbow, ala Jennifer. All the colors are from Stampin' Up!. I used both the regular sized pads and the spots. The spots were easier after I re-inked them. They're really old!

Card #1:  I colored the rainbow on both sides of the vellum so the colors are vibrant. After cutting the piece down to size, I adhered the vellum the old fashioned way to a card base with tiny silver brads. The flower embossed in white is from PaperTrey Ink's set called Stitches  & Swirls. The happy birthday is an old one from Stampendous! embossed in glitter mixed with embossing powder from my stash. I left the vellum loose, as you can see.

Card #2:Here I am completely CASING Jennifer's card by making a rainbow again. This time I used the spots and deliberately made the colors softer. I didn't put any on the back of the vellum this time to keep the softness. The whole card front is vellum adhered as suggested by placing a flap of it sandwiched between two pieces of white card stock to complete the card base. The flower is a NBUS to me from Penny Black, called Ebullient. I made a banner with a Lil' Inker Designs die and embossed a birthday greeting also from PTI. This time I used Zing silver embossing powder for some shine. It is really shiny in real life.

I am happy enough with both cards, but can see I need practice with heat embossing to get more of the little specks off. I did use an embossing pillow, but maybe it is out of powder!
What do you all think? I had fun anyway and am off to try some other techniques from the last two classes.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you will visit again, and comments are a delight!

March CCC at S.O.S.

Hello Friends,

Here's my post for this month's CCC card for the Society of Stampaholics.  It's in the mail to my recipient, Cat, so I  can post it here. Sure hope she likes it!

I am using the challenge sketch this time, calling for just a circle and a sentiment. Digging through my card parts, I found my experiment using US ArtQuest pigmented watercolor paint. This round palette of paints I found on sale at a local craft store and snapped it up! There are 10 colors, both duo and interference. Not sure what that means, but the label also says mica. I used the Duo Blue-Green, Interference Gold and Pearl White just playing with the colors and mixing with a water brush. Can you see the shine? So much fun and pretty, I think.

Anyway, some of the area of paint reminded me of our planet, so I cut out a circle with my Spellbinders die for the earth and the card came together quickly.  Friends are the best thing on earth, and this card challenge promotes friends around the globe, so there we go.

The sentiment is from Stampendous stamped with Versafine Onyx Black and inside I stamped ...and i think to myself What a Wonderful World from Studio Calico/Hero Arts. The papers are from PaperTrey Ink and Bazzill.

Thanks for stopping by. Today I am wishing for peace on our planet.

P.S.  Cat liked the card! Smiling big now.

Happy Easter and a New Challenge

Hello!

Today I thought I'd post two of the three Easter cards I made for my grandkids. Forgot to take a picture of one card. Senior moment(s), you know.

This one is for my dear youngest grand daughter who is soon turning 13 and loves jewelry. She also loves all animals, especially her cat. Maddie's favorite color is purple, so I tried to incorporate some into her card, still making it Easter and Spring-like. I hope she likes this. All of my previous cards for the family have been saved in an album kept on a bookshelf at my daughter's house. That makes me proud.

This cutie little lamb is a new stamp set from Stampin' Up! called Easter Lamb. All the paper and pearls are also from SU. The label die is an old Spellbinders one with holes on each end that perfectly hold some larger pearls. I surgically separated this sentiment from the stamp in order to get more mileage from them. Markers were used to color each part of the greeting. A bit of Pretty in Pink (a retired SU color) sponging was done to enhance the focal point lamb. I saw a similar card on the Internet where someone used pearls to cover all the spots/fuzz on the lamb. Sorry, I don't know who posted it, so if you know,  please notify me so I can give proper credit.

My second card is for my only grandson. Using my new (NBUS), box die from Mama Elephant, I tried to make him a masculine yet fun card. The two die pieces were cut out of cardboard, with fold lines to shape the box. I followed a suggestion from M E to emphasize the angles by sponging the box outline with darker brown ink. The bunny is an old Verve stamp set called Some Bunny that I fussy cut out and colored the stripes with SU's Pumpkin Pie orange ink. This picture doesn't show the ink color very well, but it was also used for the sentiment. The removable bunny is placed in the natural open part of the box. Pretty clever die making, right? I had to wait list for the box die set but I got it! Yay! I can see lots of uses for it in the future for birthdays and Christmas cards. Gavin is too old at almost 15 to want to move and play with the rabbit, but I had to make it this way anyway. Teehee. He seems to enjoy the creative process I put into his cards over the years. Happy Easter was stamped inside using the same stamp as above.

Edited : This little bunny in a box card is pretty CAS, so I am linking it to AAA Cards Game #60. This challenge is new to me and I like it! 

So that's Easter from here in Minnesota. We had snow yesterday, but a lot of it melted today. I know Spring is on it's way as the grass is turning green and some people have seen robins.

Thanks for visiting. Come back soon to see my newest S.O.S. card.

CTS #163 and CAS Mix Up

Hello! 

I am trying my hand at a couple more challenges that I spotted. The first is called CAS(E) this sketch! I love to look at challenges, don't you?

So, just last night I happened to spend quite a bit of time watching and re-watching LollThompson's video on how to do faux mother-of-pearl and looking at all her cards on Pinterest. My card is a complete CASE of her card on her technique video. Check it out on her blog, Stamping with Loll.com.

Here is my card! Can you see the shine? As you know, shiny things are difficult to photograph. This one was the best of many.

The pretty background piece was on my desk drying, when while using some Glossy Accents on another card, I accidentally spilled a diagonal stripe across by paper. Therefore, I am using the sketch at CTS, with a little different slant. I just cut down the paper a little bit.

Because I do not have all the supplies suggested, I had to improvise. Here's what I used: Champagne Mist  by Tsukineko, Tangelo Twist and Melon Mambo markers (scribbled onto an acrylic block with some water) both by Stampin' UP!, the Prim Poppy die by Memory Box and a sentiment from the Mini Clear stamps set called Thinking of You  by KaiserCraft. Additional supplies were white cardstock, Versafine Onyx Black ink, Stick It adhesive paper and my NBUS Cuttlebug embossing folder called Polka Dots. My original Swiss Dots embossing folder from many years ago cracked recently from so much use! LOL

The second challenge that I am linking the card to is the new challenge called CAS Mix Up. I think it is clean and simple enough and has some mixed media too. Because I had to mix a tiny bit of water with my markers so the colors would mix well with the above Tsukineko All Purpose Ink, I hope that will count for watercoloring.  Or not.

That's it for now. Phew, now I am tired after playing today with some more new supplies. A story for another time.

Good Night all.

NBUS #6 Watercolor and Stamping

Hello Friends~

Today I am submitting my card for Darnell's NBUS # 6 challenge to use our new and unused and unloved crafting supplies.

               
My NBUS is the Ken Oliver Craft Color Burst Watercolor Powder.  My  Goodness! What a mess and what fun to use! Sure took a lot of practice and wasted used up paper before I was able to feel good enough about it to try and make a card to post! BTW, Karen Dunbrook has a great tutorial on Splitcoaststampers that served as much needed inspiration to use this powder. She calls it "painting your stamps" which is what I did. Thanks Karen D!

The two colors I chose to use are called Violet and Ultramarine Blue from the Brights Assortment set that I bought in February at a LSS. Also NBUS is the stamp set I bought from Rubbernecker Stamps, called Flower Group #922. I watched a video from them on YouTube many, many times trying to get the hang of it. Here's a link for you: Rubbernecker. The demonstrator, (I could not find out his name), used a different stamp and slightly different colors. Great directions, though. I used Jet Black Stazon  as he did for the stem and the outline in this two-step process. After many false tries on plain paper, then on watercolor paper, I ended up stamping the outline first, then carefully placed the water colored and spritzed stamp on top. To help activate the Color Burst, I used a water brush with the spritzing. My cardstock is all Bazzill - the white, raven, and classic purple. I cut out the focal point rectangle with a Lil'Inker Designs die, which is now a staple in my crafting room. When I was mounting the flower layer, my thoughts were that the water colors were boringly dull, so I colored it all with Wink of Stella. I guess I am not used to water colors, yet. I also used the WOS on my sentiment, a die from Papertrey Ink. The light lilac polka dot ribbon is by Sheer Creations. I have not used ribbon in ages. Phew, done at last!

I've many other colors of the Color Burst left to try, so I am hooked. I would love to hear about any of your experiences with this fun product.

Bye for now! I hope you come back and visit me soon.

February CCC

Hello Friends!

Today I am posting the card I made for this month's card challenge at the Society of Stampaholics. Come play with us, dear blog readers. It is so fun getting cards from all over the world.The monthly CCC (Card Chain Challenge) always has a color palette suggestion, theme ideas, a sketch and a list of products for inspiration. My card uses the colors, the theme of friendship and a cord. The photograph looks like I used white, but IRL it is Stampin' Up!'s Very Vanilla, their off-white-looking embossing powder and enamel dots that are definitely not white. These enamel dots are part of a Christmas bling set, however, they do have some ones in the catalog that are really white. Whoa, guess all the things I used are from SU, and no, I am not a demo!

To make the card I just embossed with the powder using a daisy-like stamp from the Forever Florals (SU) set onto a piece of Strawberry Slush cardstock. Using some Very Vanilla paper for a border, I mounted the front piece on a base card of retired Bordering Blue cardstock. The sentiment is embossed onto a scrap of paper and punched out. A pretty simple card; the kind I like the best to make! Besides, it used up a bit of the many hues of blue cardstock that I have been hoarding, er stock piling!

Today in Minnesota, it is spring-like with temps in the 50's. It won't last tho, with cooler weather coming next week. We usually get snow in March too, but today I could see some green grass trying to come up. The grass and the birds here must be really confused! lol

Thanks for visiting. Hope you will stop by again!

Spring Hills for PTI 9th Anniversary Challenge 10

Hello Again!  Today I got a wild hair (or is it hare?) to join the challenge at the PTI 9th Anniversary called the Alphabet Crafting Challenge.

It called for us to use the letters of our first name and to follow specific rules for each. So, for the J, which asked for a jewel, I used a bright yellow acrylic circle to represent the sun. The first E asked for embossing, so I used a Papertrey Ink Background Basics: Art Deco stamp and clear embossed it with off-white powder and VersaMark ink. This made for a hilly background area and also adds some texture to the card. For the A, the rules called for using a border. There are two. One around the focal point pictorial scene, and by layering the card front onto the card base, I have a second one. The two N's asked for new products. The Art Deco set and the PTI Spring Hills sets I purchased a while ago, but have never used. So new, right? The final E uses emboss resist made by sponging Stampin' Up! ink in Certainly Celery and Memento Summer Sky onto the spring scene, then wiping off the embossed part with a paper towel. Can you see the two sheep that I colored gray? Hope so. What fun doing this card.! I need birthday cards, so used the Happy Spring Birthday stamps also from the Spring Hills set for the sentiment. Yay, Jeanne is done! Oh, the paper is all from SU.

   Whew, a lot of work, the photography being the hardest part,  but I am happy with the results. Can you see the shiny embossing for the hills picture and for the sentiment? 

Thanks for stopping by!

One Valentine's Day Card

Hello!

Today I finished the last of the three Valentine's Day cards I needed for my grandchildren. Two more were done, but I put them in the mail before taking a picture. Senior moment! Teehee

This card is the one I am submitting to CASology for their Week 184 cue card, Valentine.

Here I used  cardstock in an old purple colored paper from SU, (my DGD's favorite color) and embossed it with a Darice folder called Hearts. Don't you just love this embossing folder? Using the Heart of Hearts die from Memory Box, I first die cut the heart in light pink Bazzill glitter paper that I purchased from a local craft store. After punching out all the little hearts, I fussy cut around the edges to make a heart. Hard to photograph...hope you can see it on the left side. I love seeing all the wonderful Valentine cards all over blogland! It makes me smile to see so many. Hope you all can celebrate.


On a personal note, I send thanks to so many of you who contacted me and expressed their sympathy. I really appreciate it. Creating has helped.

Come visit me again. Your visits and comments are greatly appreciated!

December and January Cards

Hello Fellow Bloggers and Stampers! Sorry I have been missing in action. Sadly, my brother passed away recently. Not much mojo going on for me. I am posting a couple cards made in December and earlier in January.  Enjoy! I made this first CAS card for the Society of Stampaholics December 2015 Card Chain Challenge. My card used the color scheme and holiday theme suggested. I used paper piecing for the scarf and the stamp is from Memory Box.  I think Fredward Bear is so cute. The star is a punch from Martha Stewart Crafts.  I don't know who made the sentiment, so if anyone recognizes it, please let me know. A really clean and simple card, don't you know.

My second card is for the January CCC and was received by Nathalie in Canada. I used three shades of gray, the colors suggested, as well as a winter theme. The card has a lot of sparkle in real life, some of what shows in the photo. I think I am getting better at photography with my little old digital camera. lol  The cardstock is all Stampin' Up! as are the snowflakes and the sentiment too. I heat embossed with Zing silver embossing powder and tied a simple bow with string from my stash on the side. I am quite happy with this card. It was also posted on Splitcoaststampers where I am Rebali.

Too late for Christmas cards? Here's a few I made in December. All of mine were made last minute! Next year (this year) I need to join one of the challenges.

 Oops, I cannot figure out how to line these up nicely. Sorry. The 3 cards were sent to friends. Dove of  Peace by SU used real red paper, heat embossing in gold this time and red bling for some texture. The green card has a Papertrey Ink text block and enamel dots and gumball green paper from SU. The luxurious bell card using a NBUS die is also from PTI.  It came with the little clanger and the joy-filled bell. I cut it from stash gold foil paper and added a touch of ribbon for fun. I guess you can see I like pretty and plain cards!

That's it for now. Blogging today is therapeutic for me. Thanks for stopping by.

Happy New Year!

Just stopping in to say HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my blog readers. Let's all hope and pray for peace and joy to be in all lives here in the U.S. and all over the world.

See you in 2016!

Hugs,

Jeanne

No Card Today...

Hello All My Blogger Friends! I don't have a card to post today, but will share a couple of holiday cards I made soon. Busy, busy - like all of you!

We probably won't have a white Christmas in this part of Minnesota, which is highly unusual. That's OK. The driving will be safer. So here's my wish:

Unknown Artist

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Thank you so much for visiting and all the wonderful comments!

Hugs, 

Jeanne

Golden Joy

Hello!  Today I am entering the Muse: Christmas Visions 31 challenge where I was inspired by Chriss Blagrave. Her card is so very elegant and I had some foiled cardstock out for making my Christmas cards. Can you see the shine? Now I have five done. Whew! Twenty-some more to go. Wish me luck!

As  I wanted an elegant card, I used gold paper fromThe Cardstock Stack - Foiled by DCWV beneath the glittered tree and little sentiment. The stitched frame is from Lil' Inker Designs. The tree was done a couple of days ago, but I hadn't decided yet how to use it. It is a Memory Box die called Frosted Christmas Tree that I cut out from a Scor-Tape adhesive sheet and glittered up with Dazzling Diamonds from Stampin' Up! The tree die does have wonderful snow dimension but the glitter covered it up. Still pretty, though, I think. The joy die is from the SU Snowflake Card Thinlits set and is retiring soon, I believe. I stamped Merry Christmas from another old SU set in Encore! Gold Metallic ink. It matches the gold cardstock perfectly. This card makes me really joyful! I wonder who I should send it to?

Thank you for visiting me. I hope you are not as behind in making your cards as I am. :)

Edit:  I just realized that in the picture it looks like the glitter is blue and that I used blue cardstock for the base. IRL it is white, really! Just fixed it!

Through the Snow

Hello from Minnesota! It's snowing and was most of yesterday and last night. That makes me happy. I'm one person who loves the snow and I do not mind the cold. The air can be so clean and fresh and I love it when the sun shines from blue skies when the ground is covered in fluffy snow. Here's my first snowy card for the year.

Recently, I have been playing with a new to me watercolor palette called Jewelz from USArtQuest. The colors are pigmented mica watercolor paint. What fun to use the ten duo and interference colors. On today's card, I just painted with the Pearl White trying for shiny snow beneath the silhouetted sleigh and horse. Can you see the shine? I used Smooch Pearlized Top Coat  to make the stars in the winter sky. I have been learning to use Distress Inks, and was trying for a late afternoon looking sky with a touch of pink for the sunset.  I like the simple black focal point on the fussy card base for contrast and texture.

I am entering my card to the Tic Tac Toe Challenge #273 over at The Paper Players. It fits the diagonal snowflake, shine and die cut option, I think. All in all, a fairly clean and simple card!

Here's some more details:
Paper: Papertrey Ink white, Bazzill Texture Ebony
Ink: Ranger Distress inks in Broken China and Spun Sugar
Background: Stampin' Up! Snow Burst embossing folder (retired)
Die: Papertrey Ink In the Meadow
Inside Sentiment: Papertrey Ink, Dashing through the snow...
Extras: SU Stampin' Dimensionals and Stamp-a-ma-jig

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I love visitors and comments and try to return the favor as often as I can.

Creating at Merry Monday and The Paper Players

Hello!

Man, the month of November is getting away from me! Bet that happens to all of you too. Smile.

Today I couldn't resist submitting this card to the new challenge from Merry Monday. My reindeer is a NBUS die to me that I got from my LSS and it is from Impression Obsession.  I.O. Rubber Stamps is a new company for me, but I sure like this die.

I wanted a simple card, kind of a masculine card that is easily mailed. It is also quite CAS with just textured paper, bling, and of course, the fancy antlers. Can you see the wonderful texture of this really old paper that I've had for years? I found some on E-Bay when I look recently.

Here's the details:

Card base: Real Red, S.U.
Die: I.O. Die336-V
Paper: Craft from my stash & Sizzix Little Sizzles Texture
Sentiment: Inside, Merry Christmas, S.U.
Ink: Real Red, S.U.
Bling: Stash again

Thanks for stopping by.
Edited to add that I am submitting this card to  The Paper Players PP271and this card was chosen as a CAS Favorite for the Week ending December 6, 2015.

Just a couple of Fall cards!

Hello! Here's two I finished recently. The first is my Society of Sampaholics October 2015 CCC card (Betty has received it) and the second is for my BFF in California, Beth, who has a birthday today. Who knew mail from MN to CA can get there in only 3 days!

Lots of pasting for those little leaves, I tell you. But then I remembered a trick from somebody or other...lay down a layer of double sided tape or tape runner, placing the main image die negative on top. Then the pieces go in easily and stick. Works great.

Which one do you like better? The photo of the one with the white background is much better, I do know that! 

Here are some details. The stamped sentiment and die are both from Papertrey Ink, sets called Mighty Oak, and are CASEd mostly from designer Heather Nichols. I used many colors to make all the leaves, though didn't stamp them with the various patterns available. Made use of some scraps that are mainly Stampin' Up! colored card stock. I tried to make the blue background look like the sky, so had to make some ground too. The dark brown tree and some leaves are recycled from some junk mail as I liked the texture. 

That's all for today. Happy Fall to you all. I hope the leaves are pretty wherever you live! 

A Card for World Card Making Day and PP #265

Today is World Card Making Day 2015. Happy Day to you crafty card makers! I hope you all had a chance to make a card today.

Being that it is October now, here's my first Halloween card. It will probably go to one of my grandchildren. Well, maybe not. In all honesty, the kids are probably all too old to go trick or treating, but they'll still get a card from me! What age do you think kids should stop dressing up in costumes and going out for candy? Also, do you make cute cards or scary ones? I vote for cute, myself.

Isn't this little guy cute? It is from Recollections. I've had it for years. The smiling goblin was stamped with VersaMark and embossed with white opaque embossing powder from Zing. For emphasis, I placed him on a black circle die-cut probably from Spellbinders. The background is just sponged with some Black Soot  Distress Ink onto piece of white card stock. The little plastic treat bag is from my stash of Halloween doo-dads for some added fun and texture. The whole focal point is on a layer of Stampin' Up! Pumpkin Pie orange and placed on a card base of purple from Bazill. I am quite happy with my card. It was fun to make and made me smile.

I have made a lot of cards lately, so I hope you will stop back and visit to see some! Thanks for coming by.

Edited to add a link to The Paper Players PP 265 and their logo! Hope you like!

Purple and Blue Hello

Here's the card that I recently made for the Society of Stampaholics  September 2015 challenge. If you are not familiar with it, check it out and come join us! This monthly challenge is called CCC for Card Chain Challenge and this card was made specifically for Lisa at The Purple Place. She also loves purple.  :-) The card is pretty clean and simple with plenty of white space. Can you see the dry embossed background? It is much prettier in real life. The only stamping is the flower. I used the in-laid technique for the hello die with some blue bits and added enamel dots for balance. The card may meet the suggested friendship guideline, but the dots were supposed to be for the up-coming October challenge. Oops.

I used PTI white for the card base. The Bashful Blue, Purple Plum and Basic Black card stock, an embossing folder called Fancy Fan, and the Candy Dots are all from Stampin' Up!  The hello die is from Mama Elephant. The SU flower is from a set called Mixed Bunch and is cut out with the matching punch.

I am so into dies and punches and embossing folders that I rarely seem to use stamps anymore. Need to remedy that. Anyone else not using stamps much?

Thanks much for stopping by. Be back soon with fall or Halloween cards.