Autumn Leaves

I love the Autumn with the colors of the leaves and cooler temperatures.

I hadn't colored with my watercolor pencils in ages.

I pulled them out and colored up these leaves.

Actually, I messed up coloring the leaves first go round.

So I stamped them again on the punched out piece and did a better job of coloring.

Then I fussy cut them out and shaped them with a bone folder 

before popping them over the mistake with dimensionals.

I love the dimension it added.

A happy accident.

I thought this embossing folder was perfect to 

let the leaves be the spotlight among the forest.

I've been enjoying the videos from the Online Card Class.

These videos are very informative and offer lots of tips and techniques.
Day 3 included Watercolor Pencils.

I'm so glad you stopped by.

Enjoy!

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Card Recipe

Stamps:  Lovely as a Tree (SU), Perfectly Penned (retired SU)

Ink: Black StazOn

Paper:  Solar White (Neena)

Other: Woodland EF (SU), Watercolor Pencils (SU), Blender Pen (SU)

Rainbows for Merry Monday

Hello and Merry Monday to you.

Our Kreative Kristie chose this week's challenge

I think this turned out to be one of my favorite Christmas cards!

The Design Team has done a wonderful job to inspire you.

Be sure to take a peek.

Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge

is about to close the gate.

If you hurry, you can still get in.

I'm going to enter at

Christmas Card Challenge #43

and

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

No Designer Paper

and

September Rudolph Days

and

Addicted to Stamps Challenge

ADDICTED TO HOLIDAYS
My holiday is Christmas.

Hope you'll join us at Merry Monday with your own Christmas rainbow.

Thanks for the visit.

Enjoy!

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Card Recipe

Stamps:  Hanging Ornaments (Hero Arts), Mixed Christmas Greetings (Happy Little Stampers)

Ink:  Encore Gold

Paper:  Solar White (Neena), Mixed Media (Strathmore)

Other:  Gold EP (SU), Zigs, Aqua Painter (SU), Needlepoint Border EF (retired SU), Uniball Gold Pen

World of Dreams

Sometimes I like to take a silhouette stamp and color it with markers.

That's what I did here.

I used different SU Markers and colored the different elements

then huffed on it and stamped.

I did a tiny bit of touching up with the markers.

I liked the way it turned out.

Much more tedious than doing it as a silhouette though.

There's still time to enter

The Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge

What an amazing gallery!

I'm entering in

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

No patterned paper.

This was an easy one for me.

My patterned paper is for hoarding purposes only. Ha!

DH and I spent a few days visiting his family.

The weather was wonderful and I spent a lot of time sitting on the patio 

reading a good book.

Such a nice, relaxing time!

But it has put me behind on commenting and visiting you.

Thanks for stopping by.

Enjoy!

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Card Recipe

Stamps:  World of Dreams

Ink:  Whisper White, SU Markers

Paper:  Solar White (Neena), Sahara Sand (SU), Vellum

Other:  White EP, Stripes EF (retired SU), Ovals Collection Dies (SU), Floral Ovals Die (Spellbinders)

Watercoloring for Merry Monday

Good Merry Monday morning!

This week our challenge is brought to you by our fantastic former 

Merry Maker, Katie.  Miss you Katie.

You know I love this challenge!

And I had bookmarked this card by my friend Heather Telford.

She always inspires me with her watercolor techniques!

I used the holly from a new Stampin' Up! set called Embellished Ornaments.

I love every stamp in this set!

I inked the holly with Garden Green and stamped on a piece of Mixed Media paper

then used my Aqua Painter to move the color.

I used a Cherry Cobbler marker to color the berries 

and stamped this fantastic sentiment from my Happy Little Stampers

Mixed Christmas Messages set.

A snippet of red twine and embossed rectangles finished this off.

If you want to see some other fantastic inspiration using the 

Happy Little Stampers sets,  do check out the Blog Hop over there.

If you follow the blog hop and comment on each entry, you have a

chance to win all Kylie's fantastic sets!

The Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge is

 

there's a prize up for grabs over there too.

and don't forget Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge

I hope you'll try a watercolor technique on a Christmas card

and join us at Merry Monday.

And be sure to go check out all the fantastic cards from the Design Team.

They are bound to inspire you!

I apologize for not getting around to your blogs like I'd like to.

Sometimes life gets busy and time gets short.

I'm hoping to get caught up soon.

Meanwhile, thanks for stopping by.

Enjoy!

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Card Recipe

Stamps:  Embellished Ornaments (SU), Mixed Christmas Messages (HLS)

Ink:  Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler Marker (SU)

Paper:  Solar White (Neena), Cherry Cobbler (SU), Mixed Media (Strathmore)

Other:  Stitched Mats Rectangles (Lil' Inkers), Red twine (stash)

Happy Little Stampers Blog Hop

Happy Little Stampers are celebrating the first release of their stamps with a blog hop! 

Comment on the HLS blog, and then continue on to each Designer. You must comment on all the blogs in the hop to be eligible for prizes.

You should have come to me from Susan's blog. If you got lost, don't despair. Just start back at the Happy Little Stampers blog.

The blog hop will run for one week giving you enough time to hop through and check out what the designers will be creating.

The prizes

GRAND PRIZE

One lucky commenter (selected randomly) will win the whole release! That's four sets of stamps with a value of AUD$69

MINOR PRIZES

Four lucky commenters (selected randomly) will win a gift certificate to the HLS store!

My card has been created using Butterfly Birthday.

I used the Butterfly Birthday set for this card and stamped with 

White Ink on a snippet of vellum.

After heat embossing, I fussy cut it out and perched it on a

background that had been colored with the acrylic block technique.

I hope I have inspired you today with my cards. The designers and I have had so much fun playing with these stamps!

 Next you need to hop on over to Valentyna's blog. 

I hope you'll join us in this blog hop.

Don't forget the fabulous prizes offered!

Thanks for stopping by.

Enjoy! 

A Different Way of Coloring

 I tried a different coloring technique for me.

I had so much fun doing this card!

The image was stamped with Whisper White ink.

using my MISTI!

Love that tool!

I quickly heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.

Then came the fun.

I colored using sponge daubers and my Stampin' Up! inks.

I pretty much plopped the dauber in the center of the flower and sponged outward.

Some of those flowers were pretty small.

It's not exact but it pleases me more than precise coloring

which I cannot  prefer not to do.

When I was all finished, I went over it with a damp Aqua Painter

to fill in some white space.

(Good thing I used watercolor paper.)

I couldn't decide what to put for a sentiment so 

I quit stressing about it and left it blank.

I can add something later if need be.

The whole panel is popped up on a piece of fun foam

and is a little bigger than my usual cards.

What kind of coloring (or colouring)

do you like to do?

The Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge is

and

Simon Says Monday Challenge is

LOVE THIS TECHNIQUE

Coloring images is one of my favorite techniques.

Thanks for stopping by.

Enjoy!

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Card Recipe  (Card size is A7)

Stamp:  Corner Garden

Ink:  Whisper White, Blushing Bride, Regal Rose, Calypso Coral, Marina Mist, Wisteria Wonder, Pear  Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight, Soft Suede

Paper:  Watercolor (Arches hot press), Pear Pizzazz

Other:  Clear EP, Aqua Painter, Sponge Daubers

Sentimental Christmas

It's Merry Monday time again

and we're back on our regular weekly schedule.

Lovely Kathy chose our challenge this week and I think you'll like it!

The design team has outdone themselves!

Be sure to go by and take a look.

I'll slip over to Christmas Card Challenges with this too.

and this brand, spankin' new stamp set will get me in for the 3rd and final time at

Darnell's NBUS Challenge

and

Snippet front piece and Glimmer Star will get me into

Pixies Snippet Playground

again.

Here's the key if you want to join the fun.

Christmas is coming at us at breakneck speed.

Maybe  you'd like to make a sentiment the focal point of your Christmas card

and join us at

Merry Monday!

I'm so glad you stopped by.

Enjoy!

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Card Recipe

To make this card I arranged all the sentiments until I was happy with them,

closed my MISTI to mount the stamps, inked and stamped on my white piece.

They all stamped beautifully the first time.

Then a little embossing and decorating the "tree" and it was done.

Stamps:  Mixed Christmas Sentiments (Happy Little Stampers)

Ink:  Mossy Meadow, Soft Suede (SU)

Paper:  Mossy Meadow, Whisper White, Red Glimmer (SU)

Other:  Scrollwork EF (Cuttlebug), Red Gems (Stash)

Vintage Leaves

I don't usually post on Sunday, but  last night when I saw the sketch at

Freshly Made Sketches, I just had to make this.

Here's the sketch by Jen Mitchell

This NBUS stamp and die set I'd got on Friday, seemed perfect for this sketch 

and also for Darnell's NBUS Challenge.

The new Addicted to CAS Challenge is up

Simon Says Monday Challenge

STAMP AND PUNCH/DIE CUT

Over at Pixie's Snippet Playground there's a birthday party going on

Our Miss Di is celebrating her birthday with a fabulous playground prize this week.

Do go over for a peek and wish her a very happy birthday.

Here's the keys if you don't already have them.

The leaf is from a snippet of sponged cardstock from last fall and the sentiment is on a tiny snippet.

After a busy week of preparing for classes, it was fun to create

and especially fun to have a new stamp set with matching dies to play with.

There are signs of the leaves beginning to turn.

Autumn is almost here.

I love fall with the warm colors and cooler days.

I hope you are having a great weekend.

Thanks for spending some of it with me.

Enjoy!

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Card Recipe

The base for this leaf was a piece of Daffodil Delight cardstock sponged with 

oranges, golds and brown.

I stamped the maple leaf with Tangerine Tango Ink thumped with Real Red

then used a blender to blend the ink just a bit.

I went over the veins and stem with a Soft Suede Marker and then used a stylus

to add some textural detail.

The die is a great fit.  Love that it's so much easier than fussy cutting!

Stamps: Vintage Leaves, Happy Fall (Verve)

Ink:  Tangerine Tango, Soft Suede, Whisper White

Paper:  Naturals Ivory, Sponged Daffodil Delight, Chocolate Chip

Other:  Leaflits Framelits, White EP, Hemp Twine (stash)

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted 

NBUS Open Heart

Darnell is having another NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff) Challenge.

Like most of you , I have a box full of NBUS!

I loved this set when I saw it.

We have some of these little Carolina Wrens that come to visit the feeders.

They're quite apt to perch on the corner of the deck and serenade us.

Noisy little fellas!

I had so much fun doing this card that I did another.

A twofer as Darnell would say.

Addicted to Stamps Challenge
ANYTHING GOES

TIME OUT Challenges
Make Your Mark
I used my Stampin' Write Markers to color the bird and berries

And since I used snippets of  white for the wrens, I'm off to

Pixies Snippet Playground
where Sarn has challenge me to a game of tag.
Let's see who I can catch.....

Gotta run.

Thanks for stopping by.

Enjoy!

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Card Recipe

Stamps: Open Heart

Ink: Garden Green, Crumb Cake, Memento Tuxedo Black, SU Markers

Paper: Crumb Cake, Whisper White (1st card), Sahara Sand, Whisper White (2nd card)

Other:  Deckled Rectangles (Spellbinders), Stitched Mats Rectangles (Lil' Inker), Color Spritzer Tool, Small Oval Punch, Burlap Ribbon

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

A Sunny Pair

This is one of my first watercolor pieces.

It's been sitting in the UFO box.

I'm still not sure it should come out of the box.

The dark green wants to look blue.

But it is green.

Less is More
has a colour challenge this week.

GREEN and GOLD

Penny Black and More September Challenge

ANYTHING GOES
I hand stamped the flowers and the sentiment.

Thanks for the visit.

Enjoy!

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Card Recipe

Stamps:  Sunny Pair, Special Wishes (both PB)

Ink:  Rich Cocoa (Memento), Chocolate Chip (SU) 

Paper: Watercolor (Strathmore 140 lb cold press)

Other: Koi Watercolors, Corner Rounder Punch (Fiskars)

More Holly for Merry Monday

We're having another week of holly at

Merry Monday

This is a snippet from the January page of this year's calendar.

I die cut the image, pulled out a snippet of black to fit it on,

die cut another banner, embossed it, wrapped some twine

and stuck it down.

A quick greeting and it was done before the daughters and grandchildren got here.

I'll go by Pixies Snippet Playground

for a quick swing.

and

Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge

and

Cuttlebug Mania is back from summer vacation with

I used my Big Shot to die cut the banners and embosss.

I hope ya'll have a wonderful week

and put some holly on a Christmas card to join us at

Merry Monday!

Thanks for stopping by.

Enjoy!

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Card Recipe

Stamps:  Beautiful Season (retired SU), Season's Greetings (There She Goes)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, SU Markers (Garden Green, Real Red, Cherry Cobbler, Peach Parfait, Sahara Sand)

Paper:  Solar White (Neena), White 110 lb. (Staples), Basic Black

Other:  Blender Pen, Cherry, Woodgrain EF, Cobbler Baker's Twine (SU), Sequins (PPP)