Birthday Wolf

My SIL has a birthday coming up and I think I have the perfect card for him.

A few months back I stamped some images from the, now retired, In Wilderness set that my friend has.  When I was trying to think of a card for SIL I thought of this.  He's a graduate of NC State and their mascot is a wolf.  NC State Wolfpack colors are red and white.  I think he'll like this card.

I used LeAnne's sketch from Paper Players this week.

My image was the perfect size and shape for this. Thanks LeAnne!

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe

Stamps:  In Wilderness (retired), Teeny, Tiny Wishes

Ink:  Jet Black StazOn, SU Marker (More Mustard)
Paper:  Shimmery White, Basic Black, Real Red, Heavy backing from DSP package for card base
Other:  Houndstooth EF

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope you come back soon.

Enjoy!

Jingling Belle Bingo

Hello folks.  Jingle Belles is playing Bingo this week.

Here's how to play.

I scored across the bottom with dry embossing, tree and ribbon.

Retrosketch #26 really helped me out with this.  Here's the fantastic sketch by Danielle Daws. 

Shopping our Stash this week has us Using our Favorite Thing.  My Big Shot is probably my favorite thing with embossing folders and dies.  I hadn't used the Top Note Die in ages or that color of seam binding ever.  So my stash got some attention.

I wish the picture showed the glitter better.  I used Dazzling Details and IRL it sparkles real pretty. 

Those little birds are from the Itty Bitty Bits set.  I stamped with Real Red and fussy cut them out. (They kept trying to fly away. Wow are they hard to hang on to!)

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Evergreen, Itty Bitty Bits

Ink:  Always Artichoke, Real Red

Paper:  Crumb Cake, Whisper White

Other:  Big Shot, Argyle EF, Top Note Die, Always Artichoke Seam Binding, Dazzling Details

There's still time to play if you get a chance.

We've been watching the coverage of Isaac in the Gulf States, in between PBS Kids and Sprout.  Our prayers go out to the people there.  That's a lot of water!  Stay safe!

Thanks so much for the visit.  I love visitors!

Enjoy!

Three, Two, One

Three, Two, One is the challenge at Less is More this week.  Here's my card.

Here's the challenge...

This week we have a simple idea for you to use as the focus of your cards.

All that you need to do is to incorporate 3 of something, 2 of something and 1 of something else!

That sounded somewhat like a math problem and I don't like math problems.  But it's called a challenge so I thought I'd give it a stab.

Here I have 

1. One stamp
2. Two colors of ink
3. Three wraps of linen thread

The stamp was colored with markers and I love the watercolor effect it gives.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Love and Sympathy

Ink:  SU Markers (Baja Breeze, Wild Wasabi)

Paper:  Baja Breeze, Whisper White

Other:  Linen Thread

It's so nice of you to stop by.  I hope you come back again soon.

Enjoy!

Butterfly and Future Moth

In case you hadn't noticed, I love butterflies.  I love watching them flutter around the butterfly bush or flitting around in the woods behind the house.  I really ought to take the camera out and try to "capture" some of them.  Right now I'm going to share a Creative Elements butterfly.

I used the Dynamic Duos colors for this card.

I love Wisteria Wonder and Concord Crush together!

The layout is from the Sketch Challenge at SCS last Wednesday.  Here's the sketch...

Isn't this a fantastic CAS sketch?  And for those of you who are looking for a sketch to follow, you can usually print these sketches off so you can measure exactly for your card.  That was very helpful to me when I started doing sketches.  It always amazes me how people can come up with these!

I used the flourish from the Creative Elements set and stamped it twice in Wisteria, using the Stamp-a-majig for placement of the second one.  Then I stamped the butterfly in Concord Crush and cut it out.  It's adhered in the middle so his wings come up a bit.  There's a rhinestone on the body but I couldn't get a good sparkle for the picture. Then I colored the dots in the flourish with a marker to spice it up a bit.

The sentiment took longer than the rest.  That's mainly because I couldn't make up my mind what to use.  After stamping I trimmed it and fed it into the sides of the Decorative Label punch.

Now for the future moth.  If you're a bit squeamish about bugs, you might want to stop right here.  But if you enjoy the curiosities of nature, read on.

This is what Pop and Luke brought home from the park last Friday.

We looked it up on the computer and it's a Hickory Horned Devil.

He was about 5" long and rather scary looking.  Even Pop wouldn't handle him.

When he arrived he was a bright green and in the course of the afternoon, he turned this turquoise color. We learned that meant he was mature and ready to burrow into the ground.  Pop let him go in the woods behind the house.  Hopefully he burrowed down and will emerge as a Royal Moth.  Wouldn't it be something to see him/her when he comes out?  I added a link above in case you're not totally grossed out and would like to read more.

God certainly created some amazing creatures!

I'm really glad you stopped by.  I hope you are too!

Enjoy!

Merry Monday More Snow Fun

Wow, can you believe it's week 30 of the not so new year?  And I have a snowball throwing snowman this week for the Merry Monday challenge.  Watch out!

Here's Lesley's wonderful sketch.  I knew right away what I wanted to do with it.  I flipped the sketch again to make this guy and the sentiment work.

I randomly stamped some snowflakes with Whisper White craft ink on Crumb Cake.  The snowman is stamped with Jet Black StazOn and colored with markers.  Then I added some Dazzling Details around the edges, on the snowball and the ground under the snowman.

Have you seen the More Merry messages set yet?  It's fantastic and there are four sets of sentiments.  Not only the outside sentiments but some forthe inside of the card too.  This one fits in the largest of the Bitty Banners Framelit die.  I adhered it in the middle and flipped up the ends just a bit.

Check out the rest of the Design Team cards.  They're fantastic!

Lesley Croghan

                      LeAnne Pugliese (off this week)

Nina Forsyth

Wendy Aungst

Narelle Farrugia

   Bonnie Klass (me)

        Debbie Henderson (FD)

    Beth Beard (GD)
Mikki Sarkisyan (GD)

I hope you'll join us at Merry Monday this week.  Christmas will be here before we know it!  And it's going to be sweet having most of those Christmas cards already made!

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Snow Much Fun, More Merry Messages

Ink:  Whisper White, Jet Black StazOn, Cherry Cobbler, SU Markers (Cherry Cobbler, Basic Gray, Tangerine Tango

Paper:  Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler

Other:  Bitty Banners Framelit Die, Dazzling Details

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I really appreciate your comments and I love going to visit you and be inspired!

Enjoy!

Sketch and Color

This simple little card takes in three challenges.

Here are the challenges:

Freshly Made Sketches:  A sketch from Jen Mitchell      

Shopping Our Stash:  Use and link to any sketch.  I really dug into my stash for the stamp set.  I've had it for years and I don't think I've ever inked it.  It's about time!

Color Challenge at SCS:  This weeks colors plus neutrals of choice

Regal Rose

Bravo Burgundy

Summer Starfruit

    Dessert option is to use metal.  I skipped dessert this time.

All Supplies are Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe

Stamps:  In Full Bloom, So Happy for You (both retired)

Ink:  Jet Black StazOn, SU Markers (Regal Rose, Bravo Burgundy,  Summer Starfruit)

Paper:  Confetti White (retired), Bravo Burgundy, Whisper White

Other:  Blender Pen, Scallop Trim Border Punch

I stamped the design with Jet Black StazOn and colored the flowers with markers then blended the petals.  When you blend Regal Rose and Bravo Burgundy it resembles Rich Razzleberry which is one of my favorite colors.

I hope y'all have a great weekend.  Thanks for stopping by.  Hope you come back soon.

Enjoy!

On a Tear

At Less is More this week, they want to see Tearing.  So I tore up some of that paper that seems to grow in my scrap box.

And in honor of the CASology challenge, I used Green.

Edited to add to the Moxie Fab World's  Repetition challenge.   Thanks, Colleen, for the suggestion.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Elementary Elegance

Ink:  Lucky Limeade

Paper:  Whisper White, Summer Smooches DSP

Other:  Dragonfly brad (unknown origin)

I actually turned one of these little squares the other way on purpose.  It's more soothing to my eyes.  And I'm kinda liking the funky look.

Thanks for stopping by.  Your visits and comments brighten my day.

Enjoy!

River Rock on Black

The Dynamic Duos is having Black Tie week....One colour plus black with a dessert option.

The colour this time is...

It took longer to find the paper I knew I had stashed in the scrap box than it did to make the card!  I didn't add any brads for dessert.  Maybe the colored pearls will count some.

Do try to visit the Dynamic Duos site.  What a wonderful group of inspiration both by the design team and the participants. Wow!

I had a visit from Di of Pixie's Crafty Workshop yesterday.  Hi again, Di. She hosts the Pixie's Crafty Snippets Challenge.  And since I used these pieces of leftover DSP that were in my leftover box, I'm going to take this over on my next visit.

And, finally over at SCS, the Technique Challenge this week is No Stamping.  No stamping here.  I almost forgot, but pulled back at the last minute and added ribbon instead.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe

Paper:  River Rock, Basic Black, DSP (retired)

Other:  Elegant Butterfly punch, Basic Pearls, Black Grosgrain Ribbon (non SU), Silver Metallic Pen (non SU)

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I really enjoy your visits, especially if you let me know you stopped by.  Thanks for the tips on sizing the pictures.  I haven't decided which to go with.  Today it's extra large.  Sorry for those of you that have to scroll down to see the whole card.  I'll do a smaller picture next time just for you.

Enjoy!

Super CAS with Nature Walk

My friend Benzi led me to the CCEE challenge.  This week the challenge is one of my favorite techniques ~ using marker direct to your stamp.

This one uses Baja Breeze and Always Artichoke.

And though this looks red, it's Melon Mambo and Always Artichoke.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Nature Walk

Ink:  SU Markers (Baja Breeze, Always Artichoke, Melon Mambo)

Paper:  Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Melon Mambo

Other:  Big Shot, Square Lattice EF, Ticket Corner Punch (retired), Scallop Trim Corner Punch, Linen Thread)

This challenge is open for one more day.  If you like to color your stamps with markers, you might want to go for a visit.

I'm so glad you stopped by today.  I hope you come back soon.

Enjoy!

Merry Monday Sending Peace

It's Merry Monday time again.

Here's the fantastic sketch Lesley gave us to work with this week.

I flipped the sketch again.  Seems like my life is topsy turvy lately!

I used a piece of the decorative paper from my Festival of Prints Designer Paper Pack for the background.  Then I added the two strips of Whisper White that had been embossed with the Delicate Designs Embossing Folder.  I love that it looks like snowflakes!

The medallion was cut with the Delicate Doilies Sizzlit.  I used the backside of foil that my tea bags are packaged in.  It's gold on one side with the brand name, but on the back it's this shiny silver.  I decided not to try to poke the little holes out and left it intact.  The sentiment is from an old, retired set called To You and Yours and punched with a 1" circle punch.  I inked around the edges of the circle to give it a bit of definition.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe

Stamps:  To You and Yours

Ink:  Island Indigo

Paper:  Whisper White, Festival of Prints DSP, Repurposed foil

Other:  Big Shot, Delicate Designs EF, Delicate Doilies Sizzlit, Silver Cord (non SU), Basic Rhinestone

I hope you'll go over to Merry Monday and join us this week.  And don't forget to take a peek at the other Design Team cards.  I can't wait for you to see them. They're fantastic! 

Lesley Croghan

LeAnne Pugliese

Nina Forsyth

Wendy Aungst
Narelle Farrugia
Bonnie Klass (me)

Debbie Henderson FD

 And a special welcome to 

Sue Joyce

 and

Nancy Brown

our Guest Designers this week.

A quick question.  Do you like my card pictures large or extra large?  It's large this time, extra large last time.

I'm so glad you stopped by!  I hope you let me know that  you've visited so I can return the visit.

Enjoy!

Moving Forward with Paper Players

Every year Stampin' Up! has a stamp set that helps make a difference to the Ronald McDonald House.  For each set that's purchased, Stampin' Up! sends $3.00 to this worthwhile charity.  This year's set is adorable.  And here's the first card I've made with mine.

The Paper Players challenge this week is Ann's wonderful colour challenge...

I'd pulled out some new DSP from the Holiday Mini Catalog.  It's on p. 20 and called Festival of Prints.  There's some beautiful papers in there and not all for Christmas.  I immediately thought of this paper that has all the colors for this challenge. Do you suppose Ann had been looking at this paper pack too?

And the CAS challenge at SCS this week is a sketch challenge based on this fun card by Tenia Sanders-Nelson.  I love this skewed panel.

I found the top punched piece in my scrap bag and cut the bottom piece with one of the Finishing Touches Edgelits.  The button is made from my Sweet Button Embosslit.  I cut 3 of them, adhered them together and covered with Crystal Effects.  Linen Thread has been tied through it.  I also added some Crystal Effects to the boat.

Did you notice the the sail and flag have been pieced.  I stamped twice and cut out the sail and flag from one. I rolled it a bit with a bone folder and attached over the first boat with dimensionals.  There's a pearl colored with a permanent marker on top of the mast.

I was just thinkin' that this boat looks like it's going up some kind of conveyor belt.  LOL, hope it doesn't fall off the edge!  Hopefully it will be suitable for the next birthday party Luke is invited to.  I never seem to have enough kid cards.

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Moving Forward, Wow Flowers (retired)
Ink:  Not Quite Navy, SU Markers (Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Not Quite Navy)
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Not Quite Navy, Cherry Cobbler, DSP (Festival of Prints)
Other:  Scallop Trim Border Punch, Big Shot, Finishing Touches Edgelit, Sweet Buttons Embosslit, Crystal Effects, Linen Thread, Basic Pearl

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Enjoy!

Less is More with Fur

Over the weekend I stamped with my friends in Roanoke Rapids.  Our group has been stamping together for almost five years now and I always look forward to going even though it's a 2 hour drive.  I have to admit that I enjoy the time to listen to a book and be by myself for a while.  

Nell brought two new House Mouse stamps with her.  She has a whole box of these delightful stamps and we've had House Mouse Saturdays more than once.

When I saw the Less is More challenge that morning was

ONE LAYER CARD

and this time the subject of your creations should feature

FUR or FEATHERS

I wasn't sure what I was going to do.  I had some bird stamps but nothing that I thought I'd want to do on a one layer card.

Well, Nell took care of that in good form.

Here's another.

I hadn't done Halloween cards before last year, but with a Preschooler around, Halloween cards are great for the teachers.  

And for Mom to put on the shelf to remind him of Trick or Treat time.

I may just have to put one of these on my shelf!  These little guys always make me smile. And smiles are good.

I'm also entering the House-Mouse and Friends challenge which this week is Double Trouble. Thanks Kate for leading me to that challenge.

And the Lawnscaping Challenge this week is to do a One Layer Card.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe

Stamps: Wacky Wishes (c.2), Holiday Best (c.1, retired), Lil' Punkin (c.2), Sweet Find (c.1) (House Mouse Designs)

Ink:  Jet Black StazOn, SU Markers (Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, Crumb Cake, Pink Pirouette, Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant)

Paper:  Whisper White

And the mistake on yesterday's card...If  you look closely at the ornaments, the green one doesn't have any white space around it.  It's a little narrower than it should be.

Thanks for the comments and the visits. Ya'll come back soon.

Enjoy!

Hark the Herald

This card started out as a Merry Monday card for this week, but I decided to go another direction for my Design Team card.  Here's the runner up.  (If you want to see the Merry Monday card, scroll down to the last post.)

When I was visiting blogs, I saw a couple few other challenges that this would fit and thought I'd play along with them.

Christmas Stamping All Year Long - Anything Goes
My Mum's Craft Shop Challenge - Christmas in August
Christmas Card Challenge - Texture
Winter Wonderland - Inspiration photo

Merry Monday #28 - Sketch

I used the Essentials Paper Piercing Pack to do all that fancy piercing.  The templates have lots of designs to choose from.  The new SU Paper Piercing Tool is easy to hold and works wonderfully.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! (unless otherwise noted)

Card Recipe

Stamps: Rejoicing with You, Many Merry Messages

Ink:  VersaMark

Paper:  Very Vanilla, Brushed Gold

Other:  Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack, Paper-Piercing Tool,  Large Scallop Edgelit, Delicate Designs EF, Gold Embossing Powder, Scallop Trim Corner Punch

I hope you've enjoyed the Christmas posts today.  I've sure enjoyed your stopping by.  And thanks so much for commenting. I really enjoy hearing from you and seeing what you're doing too.

Enjoy!

Merry Monday Ornaments

It's Merry Monday time again.

Here's Lesley's fantastic sketch.

I flipped it over to put the ornament at the top left.

I was so excited to get this Ornament Keepsake bundle.  The stamp set and Framelit dies can be bought separately or bundled for a great savings.  There is such a beautiful selection of ornaments in this set and they all have a companion framelit die so they can be cut out quickly and easily.

And here with all this easy, I miscut one ornament and it's trimmed closer than it should be.  I had turned the paper over and stamped on the back when I wasn't satisfied with the stamping on the front.  I smacked all the stamped ornaments with VersaMark and clear embossed them for a shinier look.  When I cut them out, I wasn't paying close attention evidently and cut that one out on the unembossed side.  Oh well, it's not perfect, but you can tell it's handmade!

I stamped the round ornament with Encore Gold and embossed with gold.  Then I punched the center out with my 3/4" circle punch and adhered it to the center of the ornament.   I used the Gold ink on the hangers too.

Some gold cord hangs the ornaments from the sentiment.

I hope you'll join us for the Merry Monday challenge this week.  Be sure to check out the rest of the design team's cards as well as our featured designer.   (I've had a sneak peek and they are fantastic as always.)

Lesley Croghan

LeAnne Pugliese

Nina Forsyth

Wendy Aungst
Narelle Farrugia
Bonnie Klass (me)

Debbie Henderson FD

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted.

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Ornament Keepsakes, More Merry Messsages

Ink:  Real Red, Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler, Encore Gold, VersaMark

Paper:  Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Whisper White (for the ornaments)

Other:  Big Shot, Square Lattice EF, Holiday Ornaments Framelits dies, Clear and Gold Embossing Powder, Gold Cord (non SU)

I'm so glad you stopped by.  I got a bit behind on my visiting and commenting last week. I'm slowly but surely getting caught up.

Enjoy!

CAS - Dark Blue and White

Here's another card that I made while playing with the baby wipe technique.

The CAS challenge at SCS this week is to use Dark Blue and White.

I used Bashful Blue, Not Quite Navy and Night of Navy re-inkers on the baby wipe.  I went heavy to the darker colors.

Here's one that we made at Papercrafting using Marina Mist, Baja Breeze and Certainly Celery.

And with a Marina Mist card and a little branch from the bird punch.

I think I like the last one best.

The embossing folder is in the new Holiday Mini.  It has a little Christmas tree embossed in it but by placing the bird strategically it's not just for Christmas.  Thanks for the idea,  Doris.

When I was finished, I laid a piece of cardstock on the baby wipe and pressed it down.  It made a delightful background.  I haven't had a chance to stamp anything on it yet.

This ended up being a long post.  Thanks for bearing with me.  I'm not going to add a card recipe.  I'll be glad to answer any questions.  Just email me.

And thank you for all your kind comments.  I really appreciate them. I love it when you come to visit!

Enjoy!