Very Merry Birdie Tree

Another Merry Monday challenge done.  Want to see it?

Well, I hope you can see it.  This isn't the best picture.  Maybe this will be better.

Or maybe not.

Here's Lesley' sketch for this week.

There's still time to enter so you might want to check it out.  There's some pretty cards in the lineup as well as the inspiration cards.

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Snow Much Fun, Short and Sweet
Ink:  Jet Black StazOn, Garden Green, SU Markers (Garden Green, Always Artichoke, Real Red)
Paper:  Whisper White, Real Red
Other:  Blender Pen, White Gel Pen, Dazzling Details (Clear and Cherry Cobbler), 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" Circle Punches, Big Shot, Square Lattice EF


Boy, this week has gone by fast.  I hope time will slow down over the weekend.

I'm so glad you could stop by.  I really enjoy your visits and I love to go over to your place and see what you have been up to.

Enjoy!

Fun Colors

The ColourQ colors caught my eye this week and since I don't have any events to prepare for, I was free to play.  This is what I came up with.

I love these bright Springy colors!

Aren't they beautiful?  I love that basket!

I stamped the little flowers from the Easy Events set with Jet Black StazOn and colored them with SU markers. I used the Tempting Turquoise Stampin' Pastel for the background and sponged with the Nesties die still on the circle.

I've adhered Certainly Celery, Daffodil Delight and Tempting Turquoise grosgrain ribbon on a scrap of DSP for the strip behind the design.  The butterflies are from the Kindness Matters set, colored with SU Markers and cut out.  The blue one is Tempting Turquoise but looks more blue in this photo.

I used the layout from retrosketches.  It's a new sketch challenge hosted by Arielle who also hosts colourQ.  This is the sketch this week.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Easy Events, Kindness Matters
Ink:  Jet Black StazOn, SU Markers (Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, Certainly Celery, Tempting Turquoise)
Paper:  Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, DSP
Other:  Nesties (non SU), Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise, Certainly  Celery grosgrain ribbon, Stampin' Pastels, Stampin' Sponges

I hope you'll check out both of these challenges for some great inspiration.

This week has gone by so fast.  I need to get my Christmas card done for the Merry Monday challenge.

Thanks for stopping by.  I love your visits.

Enjoy!

Seeing Stars

Here's a patriotic quilted card I whipped up.

I haven't had time to play with the Friday Mashup challenge for quite a while.  This week's challenge is

Here's the Mashup Challenge.

1. Make a project using the "Quilted Card Technique".
2. Or, make a project using "Something that's been forgotten (sitting in your stash forever)."
3. Or, "Mash it up" and create a "Quilted card with something you've forgotten about".

I didn't exactly use the Quilted Cards Technique because I didn't cut squares so I'm not sure if this is truly "Mashed Up".  The buttons have been around for several years.  I rarely use buttons because I like to mail my  cards.  But they just fit perfectly as centers for these stars.

It also qualifies for the LIM challenge this week to TAKE THREE CHALLENGES.  This time  I used...

1. Week 27 Colors of the Flag
2. Week 39 Stars
3. Week 55 Punches or Diecuts

I hope there's enough white space to qualify for Less is More.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe

Paper:  Not Quite Navy, Whisper White, Scraps of DSP

Other:  SU Large and Small Star Punches (Retired but may still be available on the Clearance Rack), Big Shot, Square Lattice EF, buttons (non SU), crochet thread (non SU)

We had such a nice visit yesterday with our friends.  You know it's a good friend when you can pick up right where you left off over 2 years ago.  It was fun catching up and having lots of laughs and hugs.  I wish they could have stayed longer.

Thanks for stopping by today.  I love your visits too.

Enjoy!

Lady in Black

The Less is More Challenge this week is TAKE THREE CHALLENGES.  We were to take any three of the past challenges and combine the criteria from them on a card.

One of my friends let me use this lovely lady stamp as couple of months ago.  She had been set aside until I had occasion to put her into a finished project. (The stamped lady, not my friend.)  I'm afraid I don't remember who made the stamp but it stamps beautifully.

I used 4 previous challenges:

   Week 12  Of Centre

   Week 18  Monochrome

   Week 23  Something with Legs

   Week 43  Bit of Bling  (See that rock on her finger?)

I am so excited.  Dear friends are visiting today.  I haven't seen them in over 2 years and it's well past time to get together.

Thanks for stopping by.  Your visits make me happy too.

Enjoy,

Birthday Balloons

I love these balloons with their curly ribbons from the Crazy for Cupcakes set.

They seemed perfect for Susan's One Layer Wednesday challenge to use pinks and orange.  We could use as many shades of pink as we wanted but only one orange.

I did some masking and used Regal Rose, Melon Mambo and Tangerine Tango to ink and color the balloons.  The sentiment is done in Rose Red and Tangerine Tango. (I hope Rose Red is considered a pink.)

The first time I tried this, I had a smudge.  I cut off the smudge and mounted the design on a Melon Mambo card.

The sentiment on this one was stamped with Melon Mambo and Tangerine Tango.

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Crazy for Cupcakes, Happiest Birthday Wishes (hostess selection)
Ink:  Rose Red, Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango, SU Marker (Rose Red, Tangerine Tango, Melon Mambo)
Paper:  Whisper White, Melon Mambo
Other:  Scallop Trim Corner and Border Punches


It was so nice to see the sun today after several rainy days.  I'm hoping that the rain knocked most of the pollen down.

I'm so glad you stopped by.  I really enjoy your visits.

Enjoy!

Another Merry Monday

I've done another card for this week's Merry Monday challenge.  Want to take a look?

I stamped a border with the mistletoe stamp from the Easy Events stamp set then colored the leaves and berries with markers.  Then I double matted it and tied it up with a bow.

My Bird Builder punch hadn't had any love in quite a while and using it was like finding an old friend.  The body of the bird was punched from Real Red. Then I stamped the bird from the retired Hostess set, Punch Potpourri, with Craft white ink and punched the wings from that.

The sentiment is also retired.  I believe the set was Small Script.

Here's the sketch again in case you missed it last time.  

Stampin' Up! supplies

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Easy Events, Punch Potpourri, Small Script

Ink:  Jet Black StazOn, Whisper White Craft, SU Markers (Garden Green, Real Red)

Paper:  Whisper White, Garden Green, Real Red

Other:  Bird Builder Punch, Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon, Basic Pearl

We looked out the door yesterday evening and it looked so smoky that we thought there was a house on fire in the neighborhood.  But we didn't smell any smoke.  We realized that it was a cloud of pollen and rushed to make sure all the windows were shut tightly.  This morning everything had a thick yellow coat.  It is messy but a small price to pay to see the green on the trees and the flowers blooming.

I'm so happy you stopped by.  Thank you so much for leaving me comments so I can visit you too.

Enjoy!

Nature, Nature.

I have another masking project for the Less is More challenge this week.

First I stamped this lovely turtle and masked him. Then I stamped the grass and sponged the ground and background.  I used markers to color the turtle.  The dragonfly is hand drawn.  I practiced a lot on scrap paper before I dared to draw it freehand.

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Nature's Nest, Inspired by Nature
Ink:  Timber Brown StazOn, Soft Suede, Not Quite Navy, Night of Navy, Old Olive, SU Markers (River Rock, More Mustard, Soft Suede, Basic Black, Sahara Sand)
Paper:  River Rock, Naturals Ivory, Night of Navy
Other:  Stampin' Sponges


Jack is getting really good in the walker.  He's loves to empty the recycling bin and carried an empty apple juice jug around for a long time today.  I put him in the jumper to keep him in one place and he tried to walk in that!  He couldn't get very far so that didn't last long.  It's fun watching him explore.

Thanks for stopping by to visit.  Let me know you came and I'll return the favor.

Enjoy!

Masking

The Less is More challenge this week is....MASKING


A few weeks ago I did some masking on a one layer card  using the Greenhouse Garden flowers.  I really liked the effect and this was just the excuse I needed to try it again.

I'm not sure it's Clean and simple enough, buy I hope so.

This is a two-step stamp.  I stamped the solid flower head with Regal Rose and the outline with Rose Red.  I love these colors together. I inked the stems and leaves of the large stamp of the Just Believe set with my Old Olive marker and stamped over the flowers after masking all of them.  I actually stamped it more than once then drew some stems for the flowers with the brush tip of the marker.

The butterfly is from the Kindness Matters set. I love these little butterflies and they are as pretty cut out and separated as all together.

The sentiment is from a retired set, Bird on a Branch. And the embossed scallops were done with an Adorning Accents Embossing Folder.

The layout is from the CAS challenge yesterday at SCS to use this card as a sketch.

I also did this card using lighter colors but I thought it was too much for Less is More.

What do you think?

I used Blushing Bride and Peach Pizzazz for the flowers, Old Olive and Daffodil Delight for the foliage, and used all three butterflies from the Kindness Matters set, cut them out and lifted the wings a bit.  Actually, the larger butterfly was stamped over the masked flowers.  I stamped it again and cut it out.  That way I didn't have to draw the antennae.  The yellow flowers were stamped, cut out and adhered.

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

Card Recipe (card 1)

Stamps:  Greenhouse Garden, Just Believe, Kindness Matters, Bird on a Branch

Ink: Regal Rose, Rose Red, Jet Black StazOn, SU Markers (Old Olive, Basic Black) 

Paper:  Whisper White, Old Olive

Other:  Adorning Accents Embossing Folder

Card Recipe (card 2)

Stamps:  Greenhouse Garden, Just Believe, Kindness Matters, Bird on a Branch

Ink:  Blushing Bride, Peach Pizzazz, Jet Black StazOn, SU Markers (Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Peach Pizzazz, Basic Black)

Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Black

I'm so glad you stopped by.  I love your visits.

Enjoy!

Guest Designer

It's Merry Monday time and this go round I'm so excited to be a Guest Designer.   I am so honored and love this week's sketch.  I'm sure I'll be using it a lot!

Here's the card I came up with.

Super easy with a base of Very Vanilla and a scrap of Cherry Cobbler and some Christmas DSP edged with the Adorning Accents Edgelit & Embossing Folder.  Then it was all wrapped up with a Christmas bow.

Be sure to go over to Lesley's blog to check out the Merry Monday #12 challenge.  I hope you will join us and get a head start on your Christmas cards.

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Many Merry Messages
Ink:  Cherry Cobbler
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler, DSP
Other:  Big Shot, Adorning Accents Edgelit & EF, Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding, Corner Rounder Punch


Thanks so much for the visit and welcome to my new followers.

Enjoy!

Snow Much Fun

I'm just under the wire on the Merry Monday challenge this week.  It's been a crazy week here, but I wanted to keep on my roll and be sure to get a card done.  I love this sketch too.

Here's what I did.

I took advantage of Torico's Birthday special on her Birdie Brown Etsy Store a couple of weeks ago and stocked up on her darling digitals.  Aren't these snow people the cutest? Your comments about heat setting the images to keep the ink from smudging works like a charm. Thank you for sharing these tips.

I cut the snow family on the Big Shot with the largest of the Ovals die and colored with SU Markers.  Then I used my non SU cutter to do a larger oval to mat the image.  Some embossing folders helped to add some snowy texture too.  I may go back and add some Dazzling Details. I haven't decided yet.

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Birdie Brown Digi, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink:  Real Red, SU Markers (Marina Mist, Island Indigo, Real Red, Basic Black)

Paper:  Whisper White, Island Indigo

Other:  Big Shot, Ovals Die, Perfect Polka Dots & Snow Burst EF, Word Window Punch, Brights Brads

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend and finding time to do some stamping.  I'm so glad you took the time to stop by.

Enjoy!

Magnetic Bookmarks

Our Papercrafting group met on Wednesday.  This month's project was magnetic bookmarks.  These are the projects that we worked on.

Simple stamping and embossing with the Bigshot are favorite techniques.

When the bookmark is removed, There is still a lovely card to enjoy.

There are magnetic strips to hold the book on the page.

Card Recipe (card on left)
Stamps:  Charming
Ink:  Crumb Cake, SU Markers (Island Indigo, Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight)
Paper:  Island Indigo, Whisper White
Other:  Scallop Border Punch, Lucky Limeade ribbon (Free with $50.00 order during Sale-a-bration),
Non SU EF


Card Recipe (card on right)
Stamps:  Clearly for You
Ink:  So Saffron, SU Markers (Rich Razzleberry, Crumb Cake)
Paper:  Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry, Barely Banana (retired)
Other:  1 3/4" Scallop Circle & 1 1/2" (non SU) Circle punches, White Gel Pen, Rich Razzleberry Polka Dot Ribbon (retired), Non SU EF


I can't believe it's Friday already, although I am so ready for the weekend.  I have some Christmas cards to do.  Hopefully I'll have one to show you tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by.  I love hearing from you.

Enjoy!

Spring Colors

The Paper Players have a color challenge this week.  These are the colors we are to use....

Don't they look like Spring?

Remember my problems with the One Layer Script card a few days ago?  The design was OK on one of the discards so I cut it off and used it on this card.  The little butterfly is also from the Charming set and looks so happy sitting on the sentiment piece.

I liked these colors so well that I did another card too.

My friend Peggy lent me this cute bunny stamp and I thought he would look very handsome in Crumb Cake.  I used the same colors for the flowers and stamped after masking Mr. Bunny. The grass was in my scrap bag and the scalloped piece the design is on was also a discard.

I used the Itty Bitty Shapes punch for the flowers and dressed it up with some Pool Party seam binding from the Occasions Mini catalog.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe (card 1)

Stamps: Charming, Teeny, Tiny Wishes

Ink:  Crumb Cake, SU Markers (Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder, Pear Pizzazz, Crumb Cake)

Paper:  Whisper White, Pool Party

Other:  Square Lattice EF, Word Window & Slot punches, Pool Party Seam Binding

Card Recipe (card 2)

Stamps:  Charming, Bunny (Inkadinkadoo)

Ink:  Crumb Cake, SU Markers (Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder, Pear Pizzazz, Basic Black)

Paper:  Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Pear Pizzazz, Wisteria Wonder

Other:  Adorning Accents Edgelit die, Adorning Accents EF, Itty, Bitty Shapes punch, Pool Party seam binding, Basic Pearls

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Ya'll come back soon.

Enjoy!

Scripting

Is that a word? Scripting.  Spell check thinks it is.  The Less is More challenge this week is to use

SCRIPT

on a one layer card

Here's the first one I did.

Well, it's not actually the first one.  Or even the third one.  You wouldn't believe the trouble I had doing a card for this challenge!  First I stamped the sentiment crooked.  On a one layer card, that's it.  It becomes trash. On the second try, not only did I stamp the sentiment crooked, but I smudged it too. On the third try, I had the script all wonky.  Note to self.  When using a Stamp-a-majig, be sure to restamp on the plastic thingy when the stamp has been removed from the clear block and replaced.  LOL, I can't believe I did that when I had been warning people about doing the same thing during a class the day before!

I gave up on that design.  Actually, I was able to save the design from the first card and  you'll see it on another card later this week.  It's not a one layer card anymore.

So, on this card, I just stamped the script once and the flower overlapping.  Then I used my Stamp-a-majig to draw the lines around the script.  It works really well to draw straight lines.

I really wasn't happy with this card so did another and I think I like this one better.

The leaves are starting to pop out on the trees around here, so I stamped these leaves from the French Foliage set in Certainly Celery, masked them and stamped the script in Crumb Cake.  I scored a couple of lines above and below the design and inked just the sentiment on one of the Perfect Punch stamps with Marina Mist to brighten it up a bit.

When I was driving down the Interstate on Saturday I saw a whole field of blue.  I'm not sure what the flowers were, but it looked like a blue carpet and the contrast with the Spring green was lovely.

I usually like to do one layer cards, but this week I really struggled.  Next week that's probably all I'll want to do.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe (card 1)

Stamps:  Charming

Ink:  Crumb Cake, SU Markers (Crumb Cake, Island Indigo, Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight)

Paper:  Whisper White

Other: Gold flat backed beads

Card Recipe (card 2)

Stamps:  French Foliage, Perfect Punches

Ink: Certainly Celery, Crumb Cake, SU Marker (Marina Mist)

Paper:  Whisper White

Other:  Simple Scored

That's all for tonight.  I'm so glad you stopped by.

Enjoy!

Always Creative Swirly Blues

The One Layer Wednesday challenge last week was to have some Swirly Fun.  This is what I came up with.

I was undecided which swirly stamp to use.  When I saw the CAS challenge today at Splitcoaststampers called White with Shades of Blue, I made the choice.

The image was stamped with Night of Navy and I used Pool Party, Island Indigo, and Marina Mist markers to color the image.

Then I used my Simply Scored and the new Simply Scored Diagonal Plate to score some lattice on the bottom of the card and wrapped some Marina Mist Taffeta Ribbon above the scoring.

And did you notice the bling?  Not much, just a touch.

I have some exciting news.  My Through the Window card won at Merry Monday last week.  I'll get to be the guest designer there next week.  Yeah!

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Always Elegant
Ink:  Night of Navy, SU Markers (Pool Party, Island Indigo, Marina Mist)
Paper:  Whisper White
Other:  Simply Scored, Marina Mist Taffeta Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones


We had another beautiful Carolina day.  Every day I see a little bit more green on the trees.  I took Jack outside with his walker.  He kept going in the grass and getting stuck.  In the house though, his little feet just fly.  When he figures out how to steer, we'll be in trouble.

I'm so glad you stopped by.  And thank you so much for all the wonderful compliments and welcome to my new followers.

Enjoy!

Through the Window

It's taken all week but I've finally finished this card for the Merry Monday challenge to use this sketch...

This month Sandi MacIver is the featured designer.  I've been a fan of Sandi's for a long time and have CASEd several of her beauties over the years as well as taken advantage of her wonderful tutorials.




I fiddled and played with this and had lots of fun.

When I first saw this sketch, I thought about my window die.  I wanted to create a scene looking in from the outside.

First, I masked an area the size of the window with sticky notes and stamped the tree with Old Olive ink kissed with Always Artichoke.  Then I sponge the rest of the area with So Saffron to imitate a lighted room.

It was so much white that I decided to score clapboard and sponge with a bit of gray ink.  Some punched greenery and colored Basic Rhinestones and Pearls decorate the window box and spray above the window.  I used some of the colored stones to decorate the tree too.

All items are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted


Card Recipe
Stamps:  Lovely as a Tree
Ink:  Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Basic Gray, Going Gray
Paper: Whisper White
Other:  Basic Rhinestones, Basic Pearls, Simply Scored, 1/8" Real Red Taffeta Ribbon, Poppy Stamps Small Madison Window and Window Box, MS punch

I don't think I will trust this card to the Post Office.  But I always send some packages to family and it will fit well in one of them or handed to a special someone.

I really love to do this challenge even though it seems to take me days to complete it.  By Christmas last year I was so tired of making Christmas cards.  It's kinda fun to do one a week and know I'll have a wide variety of cards by Christmas.

Thanks for stopping to visit.  I so enjoy hearing from you.

Enjoy!

Spring

I noticed this morning while driving Luke to school that the forsythia is starting to bloom.  I've never been able to decide if I like the yellow or pink the best.  No matter, these lovely bushes say Spring to me.

Edited to add:  I almost forgot that the Paper Players challenge is Spring has Sprung.  I'm sending this over to that challenge.  If you get a chance, go take a peek.  When I looked a bit ago to get the link, I saw an amazing bevy of beautiful cards already entered.

This is a very simple card but it makes me think Spring.  It was really tough getting the photo right.  It really is a softer pink and white.  I worked longer on the picture than the card. LOL, sometimes that's the way it goes.

All Supplies are Stampin' Up!

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Simply Soft, Happiest Birthday Wishes
Ink:  Jet Black StazOn, SU Markers (Pretty in Pink, Rose Red)
Paper:  Pink Pirouette, Basic Black, Whisper White
Other:  Basic Pearls


I hope you saw a sign today that Spring is not far off.

I'm so glad you came to visit today.

Enjoy!

Neutrals

We're back to a colour challenge at Less is More this week.  And the colour is

Neutrals

This could be anything from off white to black with any shade of beige brown or gray in between.

I dug into that UFO box and found this design I did last year and never put on a card.  The stamp set has been retired, but it's one that will stay in my collection.

I wanted to do something new for this challenge too.  So I made this card.

I played around with the new Labels Framelits dies and found that I could emboss with it.  I was so excited to do it that I forgot to write down what I used for shims.  LOL, I can't remember what I used!

I stamped the cross with Chocolate Chip ink on a scrap of Naturals Ivory and die cut it with a Framelit.  I cut 2 more of the same size Framelits from scraps of Chocolate Chip to make a mat for the design.  All this is adhered with dimensionals.  Stamped the sentiment and it was done.

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

Card Recipe (card 2)

Stamps:  Crosses of Hope

Ink:  Chocolate Chip

Paper:  Naturals Ivory, Chocolate Chip

Other:  Big Shot, Labels Collection Framelits Dies

Card Recipe (card 1)

Stamps:  Easter Blossoms, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink:  Jet Black StazOn, SU Markers (Soft Suede, Daffodil Delight)

Paper:  Naturals White, Basic Black, Crumb Cake

Other:  Signo White Gel Pen, Small Oval Punch

I tried to link yesterday's card at Styles Ink for the OLW challenge and wasn't able to get my card to link up. I see that Inlinkz has some changes going on and thought I did what needed to be done.  Anyone have any suggestions?  Isn't that always the way?  If something works well, change it!

Thanks for stopping by.

Enjoy!