Turning the Page May 2018

Tomorrow we turn the page on our calendars to a new month.

I make calendars each year and I've been sporadic about sharing them with you so

I thought I'd set up a regular post on the last day of each month "Turning the Page".

I hope you enjoy these posts.

Here's our May page.

By the way, the calendars are clipped together and can be displayed on an easel

or hung on a push pin or magnetic hook.  We all have a different way to display them.

Happy May!

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Delicate Florals (PB)

Ink:   Distress Ink (Seedless Preserves, Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters)

Paper:   Neena 110 lb.

Other:  Slightly damp water brush

Holiday Home for Merry Monday and Rudolph Day

Hello friends.  I'm glad you stopped by!

It's time for

Rudolph Days at Scrappy Mo's.

Where every month it's Anything Goes for Christmas.

from the 25th until the end of the month to enter.

I'm also playing at Merry Monday today.

My lovely friend Colleen is hosting this week.

Aren't those little houses adorable?

I chose to go with one house and some snowflakes and red.

It was a really quick card for me because everything was in the UFO box.

I did have to emboss the snowflakes in the background.

There was a piece in the UFO box, but I put adhesive on the snowflake

piece instead of the back of the frame.  Way too much sticky going on!

I decided to toss that and do another.

I added some Dazzling Details to the snowflakes and snow bank

so there's lots of sparkle.

Another card for the Christmas stash.

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Holiday Home (SU), Mixed Christmas Sentiments (HLS)

Ink:   Cherry Cobbler (SU), Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Paper:   Cherry Cobbler, Neenah

Other:  Copics, Stitched Square Dies (SSS), Snowflake EF (Darice), Dazzling Details (SU)

Pennington Rose

Hello friends.  I so glad you stopped by.

Today's card features some watercoloring on die cuts.

It's one of my favorite things to do with die cuts.

The background was done with Loll's Splash Technique

splashing with leftover Gainsai Tambi ink on my pallet.

I'll join in at Memory Box

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Snippets (PB)

Ink:   Onyx Black (Versafine), Real Red, Old Olive (SU for watercolor)

Paper:   Neenah, Mixed Media

Other:  Pennington Rose (MB), Gansai Tambi (#43 Med. Yellow, #34 Dk. Pink), Stitched Rectangle Die (SSS),

April Flower-Sweet Pea

Hello friends.

I'm back with an April flower or should I say flowers.

These sweet peas are so little that I had trouble watercoloring them.

But perseverance paid off.

I stamped the image with gray Archival ink then colored with 

Distress Markers and a water brush.  

I find that I have more control of the colors if I swipe the marker on a pallete

and pick up the color with the brush.

The Flower Challenge #19

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Year of Flowers Collection (PTI), Botanical Silhouettes (PTI)

Ink:   Smokey Gray, Onyx Black (Versafine), Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick, Picked Raspberry, Shabby Shutters, Mowed Lawn (DM)

Paper:   Vanilla Thick, Watercolour (Arches 140 lb. hot press)

Other:  Opulent Ovals, Classic Ovals dies (Spellbinder), Raindrops (PTI)

Lots More Ornaments

Hello my friends.

I love these ornament dies by Elizabeth Crafts Designs.

A couple of my friends had used them and enabled me to add them to my
already plentiful collection of ornament dies.

I kept wondering how this combination or that combination would work and
before I knew it, I had five ornaments made.

I used the same layout and put them on different embossed backgrounds.

CAS Christmas Card Challenge

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Various

Ink:   Encore Silver, Encore Gold

Paper:   Neena

Other:  Ornaments 2 (Elizabeth Craft Designs)

Glory to God

Hello friends and welcome.

My friend Sue is hosting Merry Monday this week.

I have a lot of favorite Christmas verses but this one has a special place in my heart

and memories of Christmas pageants.

And I'm always happy to have a reason to use a NBUS set!

After punching out the embossed image, I die cut a circle a little larger 

than the image and heat embossed the edges.

I die cut the smaller mat from a piece of gold Inka Gold Smoosh  and

heat embossed the edges of the larger die cut mat.

The design was adhered to a piece of Acrylic paper (love the texture) that

was matted with some Brushed Gold cardstock.

Thanks Merry Makers for the win last week!

I am honored.

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Star of Wonder (PTI)

Ink:   Encore Gold

Paper:   Vanilla Thick, Brushed Gold (SU), Neenah, Sparkle, Inka Gold Smoosh, Acrylic

Other:  Gold EP (SU), Layering Mat Stack 3, Layerz Mat  Stack 3, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Infinity Circles (HA)

Kitty Watching for TwoFer

Hi there.  I hope you are having a great day and seeing some signs of Spring!

Here's my Twofer for April

Twofer #4

I fell in love with this surprised kitty at the SSAT show last summer.

I think he looks more surprised because he'd sat in the NBUS box

not doing anything for so long.

He played nicely though.

Here's a close up.

I went very CAS with this card. (It will be one of the cards in my May class.)

I put a little more detail into the second one.

The witches hat is one of the Crazy Bird accessories. Another NBUS.

I fussy cut it after smacking it with Versamark and clear embossing it.

This Poppystamps fence was perfect.  I die cut it from a snippet of white

and sponged a little ink on it.

I had lots of fun with this one.

Poppystamps Challenge is 

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Kitty Watching (Technique Junkies), Crazy Things (TH)

Ink:   Jet Black Archival (R), Versamark, Scattered Straw (SU), Pumice Stone (DI)

Paper:   Neena, Basic Black

Other:  Watercolor Pencils, Blender Pen, Clear EP, Timeless Type Alpha Sizzlits (SU), Picket Fence (PS), Stitched Rectangles (LI), Bakers Twine, Green Sharpie

Another Ornament for CAS Christmas

Hello, Friends.

There's still time to play at
CAS Christmas Card Challenge

This is the challenge

I'd bought this Christmas Bits die set from Lil' Inker several years ago

and it got tucked away with some other dies by Lil' Inker.

They were in with the bunnies that I used last month.

I had never used this ornament die and I thought it was high time

it got some love and attention!

I die cut it once from a piece of Inka Gold smoosh.

I didn't really like that.

So I cut it again out of red glimmer paper and liked it much better.

I traced the outline of the ornament on the back of some

dazzling diamond glimmer paper and placed all the pieces together.

The frames were cut and in the UFO box.

I inlaid the square, stamped the pine branches several times

on the top corner (I may have overdone that) and 

hung the ornament amid the branches.

Oh, and I added some chunky white Frantage over some of the 

branches and heat embossed it.

I hope you'll go over to the CAS Christmas Challenge and check out
the fabulous ornaments the Design Team have done.
And the gallery is full of more gorgeous ornaments.

Get inspired and build that stash of Christmas cards!

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Christmas Pines (SU)

Ink:   Garden Green, Handsome Hunter (SU)

Paper:   Neena, Red Glimmer, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer (SU)

Other:  Chunky White Frantage (Stampendous), Stitched Squares Dies (SSS), Christmas Bits Die Set (LI)

Happy News with Lindys Magical for CAS Watercolour

Hello dear friends.

There's still some time left to enter at CAS Watercolour.

CAS Watercolour

My background was made by sprinkling Lindys Magicals on watercolor paper 

and spritzing with water.

I used a water brush to help move the color around.

See the shimmer from the Lindy's Magicals?

I love the shimmer and brilliant colors!

Thanks for the gift, my friend!

I cut my bird with the Penny Black Happy News die and then

added texture to the die cut with the PTI Linen Texture Plate.

There are lots of gorgeous birds in the CAS Watercolour gallery.

And more inspiration from our talented Guest Designer, Stef,

and our awesome team.

I hope you'll check us out!

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps: Walk by Faith (PTI) 

Ink:   Onyx Black (Versafine)

Paper:   Neena, Watercolor (Arches cold press)

Other:  Lindy's Magicals (DDG Green, Sassy Saffire, Blingy Blonde), Happy News Die (PB), Linen/Canvas Texture Plate (PTI), Stitched Shapes Framelits (SU)

More Rubber Band Technique for CAS Mix Up

Hello! It's the middle of April already!

I hope you are enjoying warm weather and pretty flowers...

and maybe a butterfly or two!

Using Rubber Band Stamping, Heat Embossing, Sponging (Emboss Resist), Stamping and Die Cuts

This card makes me smile!

CAS Mix Up this month is hosted by Julia.

We have some great video tutorial links at the challenge site as well as

wonderful inspiration from our Design Team!

We are joined this month by the very talented Hideko.

For this card, I masked off a section and used VersaMark to ink

my rubber band covered wooden block and heat embossed

with white embossing powder.

I used Distress Ink to sponge some color over the embossing then removed 

any ink from the embossed lines with a piece of paper towel.

To add emphasis to the design, I scored the length of each edge.

A black die cut butterfly with a vellum backing and sentiment finishes this off.

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Botanical Silhouettes (PTI)

Ink:   VersaMark, Scattered Straw, Mustard Seed, Worn Lipstick (DI), Onyz Black (Versafine)

Paper:   Neena, Basic Black, Vellum

Other:  Rubber Bands on a wood block, Sponge Daubers, Moonlight & Kaleidoscope Dies (MB), Simply Scored

Another Ribbon for Merry Monday

Hello and welcome.

I have another ribbon card for Merry Monday.

In the course of making the mitten card that I shared yesterday,

I scrounged through my ribbon snippets and found this snowflake ribbon.

I immediately visualized another ribbon card.

This one was much quicker!

The snowflakes were already die cut so tying the bow

with the red metallic twine took longer than anything else!

Merry Monday

While I was at it.....

I love the crisp look of teal and red with white!

Embossing done while creating with a friend.

This one is for Less is More #369
I'm bringing that ribbon back

Two more cards for my Christmas stash.

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Festive Snippets (PB)

Ink:   Whisper White (SU)

Paper:   Naturals White, Crumb Cake, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer (SU)

Other:  Snowflake Duo Die (PB), Pinewood Planks EF (SU), (Ribbon & Twine ???)

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Mittens (Serendipity), Holiday Snippets (PB)

Ink:   Island Indigo, Real Red

Paper:   Neena, Mixed Media

Other:  Double Pierced Rectangles Die (Avery Elle)

Mittens and Ribbon for Merry Monday

Hello dear friends.

This week sure has whooshed by!

I've had time to be creative this week so I have a Merry Monday card ready earlier than usual.

Is it just me or are these weekly challenges coming quicker?

Nina is hosting at Merry Monday this week.

I don't use ribbons much these days.  But I have lots in my stash.

I wanted to use them in a way that didn't add bulk to a card

since the PO wants to charge more and make me stand in line if I add them.

This mitten stamp from Serendipity Stamps was sitting on my table.

It reminded me of how my Mom would tie my mittens together

and thread them through my sleeves so I wouldn't lose one.

I liked the earthy colors of the prompt and had a piece of narrow ribbon

in a gold brown color.  Everything clicked together and here we go!

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Mittens (Serendipity), Festive Snippets (PB)

Ink:   Baked Brown Sugar, Soft Suede (SU), Pine Needles (DI)

Paper:   Crumb Cake, Naturals White (SU), Mixed Media

Other:  Pine Sprigs Die (PS), Pinewood Planks EF (SU)

Promise Me Pink Tulips

Hello, my friends and welcome.

The tulips are pretty much gone by here
but they still flourish in the studio.

I've had this stamp for a while and love it.  When I saw there was a die

to match, I bought it.  Then it sat in the NBUS box for a year or so.

I'm glad I finally got it out.  It works so well with the stamp!

First I die cut the tulips from a piece of mixed media paper cut

quite a bit larger than the die.

Once I had the cutout, I placed the out cut in my MISTI, laid the

stamp into the out cut, and closed the MISTI to set the stamp.

Then I placed the die cut into the out cut piece and it

stamped perfectly.

Sorry if my explanation isn't very clear.  Here's a tutorial on

Splitcoaststampers that may help.

I stamped on my die cut and used a water brush to move the

ink around.  Then stamped again to get the details back.

I have to admit that the stamped and die cut piece got shuffled around

on my work space for a week or two.

When I found this heat embossed script piece, I found a home 

for the die cut.

A little sponging with a damp baby wipe over the embossing

made a nice soft background for the pastel tulips.

A couple of stacked layers of the die cut sentiment and sequins to

balance the design and my table was a little neater!

Penny Black Saturday Challenge: Anything Goes or Spring Flowers 

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Promise Me (PB), French Script (Darkroom Door)

Ink:   Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick, Peeled Paint, Scattered Straw (DI), Whisper White (SU)

Paper:   Neena, Mixed Media

Other:  Promise Me II Die (PB), Hooray Die (PB), White EP (SU)

Hello Friend

Hello my friends.

A dear friend gave me the Penny Black Layered Scene Dies.

I've only used one of them  here because I wanted to keep it very CAS.

The background is a snippet from a watercolor piece.

CAS Watercolour

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Friendship Messages (SSS)

Ink:   Gathered Twigs (DI)

Paper:   Neena, Watercolor

Other:  Layered Scene Die (PB), Stitched Squares, Stitched Rectangles Dies (SSS)