Sunday, May 31, 2015

Thank you Simon Says



for
THANK YOU

I  experimented with some embossing frames

and was pleasantly surprised at the results.

I did a bit of masking to stamp the ferns

then found a stamped, colored and die cut butterfly in my UFO box.

Stamped a thank you (straight, yay!)

Popped it all on a card base and was done.

Hope you are having a great weekend.
We're trying to get caught up from a few days at the Outer Banks.
Would love to have stayed longer.

Thanks for stopping by.

Enjoy!
    **********
Card Recipe
Stamps:  Backyard Basics (retired), Butterfly Basics, Gifts of Kindness
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Old Olive,  SU Markers
Paper:  Solar White (Neena), Whisper White
Other:  Perfect Polka Dot EF, Embossing Frames (Darice), Simply Scored, Backyard Basics Framelits (retired)

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted



Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Another Butterfly

Do you remember the song "Accentuate the Positive, Eliminate the Negative"
or something like that?

This card makes me want to sing that song.


still has a few days left.
Here's the challenge....


I have been honored to be this month's Guest Designer
and loved sharing cards with dies and punched images.


I'm entering this in....


Add Diamonds, Pearls or anything Bling
on your project!

and


ANYTHING GOES


I've used my Big Shot to die cut the Butterfly subtly embossed the negative piece
with a NBUS Papertrey Ink Impression Plate.

I adhered that over a piece of Saturated Watercolor.  
(You can see Loll's video tutorial here.)

After I spritzed the butterfly, I popped it over the negative.

Then I added the bling that's been colored with a Blendability.

Another QACAS card.

Thanks for the visit.

Enjoy!
    **********
Card Recipe
Paper:  Solar White (Neena), Watercolor
Other:  Butterflies Thinlits, Stampin' Spritzer, Re-inkers, Basic Rhinestones, Blendability, Linen Impression Plate (PTI)

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Monday, May 25, 2015

Memorial Day 2015

A big thank you to those who serve to keep our freedom.

Remembering those who have served and lost their lives in service to our country.

And those who have since passed away.



Miss you Dad.


Taps
Day is done, gone the sun
From the lakes, from the hills, from the sky.
All is well, safely rest
God is nigh.

Blessings,
For Merry Monday post, please scroll down.


Virginia's Santa Claus for Merry Monday

It's Merry Monday time again.

Edited to add to Rudolph Days.
Thanks for the reminder, Maureen.


This week it's my friend Karren's turn to choose.


I was a little unsure about what to do for this challenge.

I don't have any newsprint stamps or paper.

Didn't even have a newspaper.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus popped into my head.

So I found it on the good ole Internet and printed it out.

The lovely Santa was in my UFO box.  The stamp belongs to a friend.

I colored him up with Copics and added a little distressing
 so he'd match the aged newspaper.

I die cut a bit of holly, sponged the teeny, tiny edges and popped it over
the stamped holly on his hat.

A bit of icy sparkle finished off his hat and beard.

Whew!

Another challenge conquered!

(I think my eyesight is failing.
All looked good until I saw the photo.
I had forgotten to color one side of Santa's nose.
It looked like he had a big zit!
I think I got the right marker to fix him up.
He's a little red faced from all that exertion.)

Since I used some snippets, I'm off to visit at
I've been missing the visits with the playmates there.

Thanks for the visit.

Enjoy!
**********
Card Recipe
Stamps: (????)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Basic Grey, Antique Linen (Distress)
Paper:  Naturals Ivory (retired), Very Vanilla, Whisper White
Other: Copic Markers, Holly Vine Die (MB), Circle Collection Die, Stitched Circle Die (Lil' Inker), 1/16" Circle Punch, Dazzling Details

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted



Saturday, May 23, 2015

Watercolor Coverup for Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge

I am Guest Designing again today for
Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge



This is the end result of trying a new technique with die cuts that just didn't work out.

I tried to use the negative of the die as a stencil to 
watercolor a butterfly.

A lesson in why to use stamps!

Or get better at watercolor!


Now, I could have done like Darnell did and use a fine point marker to 
add some detail to the butterfly.

But I had a die cut just sitting there. 

So I popped it on.

Then I stamped the sentiment directly on the watercolor.

What?  You don't see it there?

It was crooked.  And I mean really crooked!

Soooooo......

I tore it off and stamped on the card.

I really had to work hard for this one!

I added three black pearls.

One snuck away before I could get the photo.

I noticed that it was missing and added one before I mailed it.


Thanks for the visit.

Enjoy!
    **********
Card Recipe
Stamps:  Proverbs 3:5 (Verve)
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Watercolor (Arches 140 lb. cold press for design, Strathmore for card),, Basic Black
Other:  Reinkers (Daffodil Delight, Strawberry Slush, Butterflies Thinlits, Black Gems (SSS) [looks like one fell off...

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Zoo Review Zebra for ATCAS

Today's card is QACAS
(Quick and CAS)


I finally inked up this NBUS stamp that I've had for several years.

I bought it so long ago that I don't even remember why I bought it!

It came in handy for this challenge.

brought to us by Joanna (Harty by Heart)


The lovely and talented Monika is our Guest Designer again this time.

and our sponsor is

Prize is 12.50 euro (1 stamp set)  to our winner.

Be sure to check out the rest of the Design Team cards.

There is lots of inspiration there!


I'm entering in
X, Y, Z......
Z is for zebra


I appreciate the visit.

Enjoy!
    **********

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Zoo Review, Perfectly Penned
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, SU Basic Black Marker (for doodling)
Paper:  Naturals White, Basic Black

That't all.  A truly QACAS card

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted





Thursday, May 21, 2015

Soft Wings on Mixed Media

Hello, blogging buddies.


I don't do a lot of mixed media.

For some reason it's a scary thing to me.

Sounds like too many things for my brain to have to process.

But I find if I take it one step at a time, it's not so scary.

So let's see if I can remember  how I did this...

The background was sponged, stamped with the French Script stamp and
stenciled with Frost White paint through a harlequin stencil.

The butterfly was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and
colored with Copic Markers.

Then I smacked the butterfly with VersaMark ink
and clear embossed to bring out the colors.
Then I die cut it with the matching Delicate Wings die.

I adhered the butterfly with dimensionals to the background.

I'm going to enter this is the

Mixed Media Card Challenge
WINGS


and


DIES AND PUNCHES
I used a Penny Black Die.

and

TREES OR NATURE
The butterfly stamp is Penny Black's Soft Wings.

and

Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge
DIES AND PUNCHES

and

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge
SIMON SAYS STENCIL IT
The Harlequin stenciling is very subtle, but it's there.


I'm glad you could stop by.

Enjoy!
    **********
Card Recipe
Stamps:  Soft Wings (PB), French Script (retired SU)
Ink:  Pool Party, Sahara Sand (SU), VersaMark
Paper:  Naturals White, Whisper White (SU)
Other:  Copic Markers, Clear EP (SU),   Delicate Wings Die (PB), Harlequin Stencil (Silhouette), Frost White Paint (Tsukineko), Sponge Dauber  

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted


Monday, May 18, 2015

White Christmas for Merry Monday



chose our challenge this week.


This is the fifth card I did for this challenge.

The first 3 ended up in the trash.

The 4th is impossible to get a decent photo of.

And now there is glitter everywhere!

So I decided to get down to black and white.

I like a little red with my black and white.

No glitter!

I tore some scrap paper and sponged around it for snowbanks, then 
masked the areas I didn't want to stamp and stamped the trees.
The little bird was stamped with Smoky Slate and colored. 
I fussy cut the bird because I didn't want to have to trash this card.
I like that he looks fat and fluffy!

I hope you'll put some non-evergreen trees on a card
and share it with us at

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Enjoy!
    **********
Card Recipe
Stamps: White Christmas, Bright and Beautiful
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Smoky Slate, Cherry Cobbler
Paper:  Solar White (Neena), Whisper White, Basic Black, Red Glimmer
Other: Kars Snowflake EF (Cuttlebug retired), Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, Tiny Tag Punch (retired)

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted




Saturday, May 16, 2015

Fresh Daisies for Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge

I am enjoying being the Guest Designer at
Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge.



Here's the challenge



I die cut 8 of the flowers from Whisper White and sponged
Marina Mist ink on them.

Three more were cut from some scraps of  DP not being too fussy about complete blooms.

Using Loll's technique, I shaped the blossoms and layered them by gluing 
just the bottoms of the blooms together with some Crystal Effects and 
dropping some faux flower soft into the glue.

I glued the blooms to the stems and assembled them on the stenciled piece.

Here's a look at the same design with single blooms and no shaping.



I'm so glad I went back and did the shaping.

While I like the single flowers,  I LOVE the shaped ones!

Simon Brand Products this week.


I hope you'll be inspired to create a CAS card using die cuts 

Thanks for stopping by.

Enjoy!
    **********

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Enjoy (PB)
Ink:  Marina Mist, Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive
Paper:  Solar White (Neena), Marina Mist, Whisper White
Other:  Fresh Daisies Die (SSS), Stencil (Silhouette), Linen Thread, Basic Pearls, Faux Flower Soft (Styrofoam crumbs died with re-inker)

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted



Thursday, May 14, 2015

Mixed Bunch and Friends


The Mixed Bunch stamp set is set for retirement.

I've enjoyed this set.

I stamped and embossed one of the flowers with Whisper White on
Perfect Plum cardstock and punched it out.

I used a little shaping on the flower and finished it off with a retired fancy brad.

The die cut enjoy is by Penny Black.
Love it!

I used a snippet of DP from the snippet box.

Something I really enjoyed
was a chance to meet two awesome ladies in person.


Mary and Darnell are just as lovely in person
as they are on their blogs.

What a wonderful day and a day I will always cherish.

Glad you stopped by.

Enjoy!
    **********
Card Recipe
Stamps:  Mixed Bunch
Ink:  Whisper white
Paper:  Solar White (Neena), Perfect Plum, DP (?)
Other:  Hooray Dies (PB), Brad (retired), White EP, Daffodil Delight Blendabilities

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Monday, May 11, 2015

Snowflakes for Merry Monday

Good Merry Monday morning!


This week's challenge is brought to us by Delightful Deanne.


I got some happy mail last week from my friend Loll (Stamping with Loll).
Not only was there a beautiful card, but some snowflake stencils.

How's that for perfect timing.

Thanks again, Loll.

I used the snowflake corner stencil and sponged with Soft Sky ink.

Then I raided my UFO box for some sparkly snowflakes to add,
stamped and heat embossed a sentiment with silver EP, 
and added some rhinestones for a bit more sparkle.

I love this stencil!

I hope you'll find a stencil
(or cut one with your favorite Christmas die)
and join us at

Also sharing this with
HOLIDAY

Thanks for the visit.

Enjoy!
**********
Card Recipe
Stamps:  Christmas Blessings (Amy R.)
Ink:  Soft Sky, Encore Silver
Paper:  Lost Lagoon, Whisper White
Other:  Snowflake Corner Stencil, Silver EP, Snowflakes (?), Basic Rhinestones

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted


Sunday, May 10, 2015

Butterfly on Coral

I love the Butterfly Thinlit Dies for
QACAS (Quick And Clean And Simple) cards!



Using a piece of Decorative Paper makes me happy too.

And I used a NBUS Embossing Folder to boot!

is about using coral this week.
I love this Calypso Coral Paper.

Gotta run.

Thanks for the visit.

Enjoy!
    **********
Card Recipe
Paper:  Solar White (Neena), DSP, Whisper White
Other:  Butterfly Thinlits, EF (Cuttlebug), Basic Rhinestones

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted