Friday, January 31, 2020

Turning the Page February 2020

Time to turn the page on our calendars to a new month.

I make calendars each year for my desk and my family.

I thought I'd set up a regular post on the last day of each month to share them.

I hope you enjoy my “Turning the Page” posts.

Here's our February 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.

If you would like a word document with the calendar, email me
and I will be glad to send it to you so you can design your own.

Email link is on the sidebar.

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!



Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Dreamy Baby Wiped

Hi there.  I'm so glad you stopped by!

Today I want to share a card made with the baby wipe technique.


I never get tired of the magic of wiping off the paper and seeing the bright colors appear!

I'm sharing with...
Craft Stampers Magazine Take It Make It Challenge: Anything goes. Must have stamping.
Krafty Chicks Challenge: All Occasions week.


 


Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!


Card Recipe
Stamps:  Dreamy, Special Wishes (PB)
Ink:   Faded Jeans, Pine Needles, Mustard Seed, Twisted Citron (DOX), Whisper White (SU)
Paper:   Neenah, Night of Navy, Photo (HP Advanced)
Other:  Baby Wipe, Leaf Stitched Frames Dies (PB), White EP, Foam


Monday, January 27, 2020

Penguin Love

Hi there.  I'm so glad you stopped by!


I have one card today for three challenges.
I wish I had time to do three separate Christmas cards as I'm sure
I would be happy with that growing stash.  But it's been a very busy
week and another coming up.

I had fun watercoloring this sweet penguin.
He was a gift to myself and he's been sitting patiently in my NBUS box
waiting for an outing.  I hope it's considered new enough for
Jingle Belles

The penguin covers Christmas Kickstart

and being a Christmas card I can take this over to Scrappy Mo's
Rudolph Days.



Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!


Card Recipe
Stamps:  Penguin with Heart (Wild Rose Designs OOB)
Ink:   Versafine Onyx Black, Archival Shadow Gray
Paper:   Watercolor (TH), Neenah, Basic Black
Other:  Arteza TwiMarkers (321 Charcoal Gray, 324 Shadow Black, 101 Noir, 249 Bumblebee Yellow, 234 Camel Brown, 335 Raw Umber, 119 Peach, 114 Ruby Red), White Gelli Roll pen, Snowflake Die (IO), Kars Snowflake EF (ret. Cuttlebug), Nuvo Crystal Glaze, Silver Stickles


Thursday, January 23, 2020

Blooming Thank You

Hi there.  I hope you are doing well and I'm glad you stopped by!


This was an attempt at partial die cutting using a flower die and a frame die.

It didn't work out as well as I'd hoped but not bad enough to
throw away.

I'll share it with the Penny Black Saturday Challenge
ANYTHING GOES/Optional Something New.
I didn't go with the option this time.
We're still using partial die cutting at CAS Mix Up.
Challenge ends on the 24th.


Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!


Card Recipe
Stamps:  Blooming Garden (PB), Wildflowers (TT)
Ink:   Old Olive, SU Markers (Regal Rose, Raspberry Ripple, Old Olive, Always Artichoke)
Paper:   Neenah
Other:  Field of Dreams Die (PB), Leaf Stitched Frames (PB), Colored Pencils (Caran d'ache supracolor), Subtle EF (SU)


Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Finishing Flowers in Bloom

Hello friends.  I'm glad you stopped by.

Last week I shared a photo of my homework for the
Online Card Class Coloring Challenge Road Trip class.

I've tweaked it and have a finished card.

I added some dots with a white gel pen.  I think that little bit made
the flowers really pop.  I also added some gems to cover some
not so nice areas from my shadow around the flowers.

I really enjoyed this class and I know I'll be going back
again and again to pick up more tips and tricks.

Thank you Kathy Racoosin for a fantastic class!


Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!


Card Recipe
Stamps:  Flowers in Bloom (MFT), Many Everyday Messages (HA)
Ink:   Memento Tuxedo Black, Whisper White
Paper:   Neenah, Basic Black
Other:  Copic Markers (B000, B21, B24, V05, V09, YG03, G99, YG67, C2, 0), White Gel Pen (gelly roll 10), White EP, Marshmallow Confetti Mix (PPP)


Tuesday, January 21, 2020

More Playing with Color

Hi there.  I'm so glad you popped in!

I've really enjoyed playing with color!
Kathy Racoosin's Online Coloring Road Trip has been a great inspiration!


I used a new to me stamp set called Mon Ami to stamp these flowers with 
a light color ink and did no-line coloring with Distress ink to color the flowers. 

Then I used colored pencils to add depth in
the nooks and crannies like she showed on day one and added some
outlining like she showed in day 3.

I used the same stamp inked up with black ink, again coloring
with Distress inks and adding darker color to the
nooks and crannies.

Kathy showed how you can jazz up an image by using
a gel pen to add dots and dashes.

Here is how it looked when I began with the dots.

And the finished project.

Here they are side by side.  Which do you like the best?

There are a lot more tips and tricks in the class.  While the class is officially over tomorrow,
you can take it anytime.  There's so much good information that I'll be
enjoying this class for a long time!

Thanks, Kathy and friends for sharing your talent.


Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe (card 1)
Stamps:  Mon Ami (CAS-ual Fridays)
Ink:   Distress Ink
Paper:   Watercolor (TH), Basic Black, Neenah
Other:  Caran d'ache Supracolor pencils, Double Pierced Rectangles Die (AE), White Gel Pen (Signo Uniball)

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Mon Ami (CF)
Ink:   Versafine Onyx Black, Distress Ink
Paper:  Watercolor (TH), Basic Black, Neenah
Other:  Caran d'ache Supracolor pencils, White Gel Pen (Signo Uniball)


Sunday, January 19, 2020

Twofer Hearts

Hi there.  I'm so glad you stopped by!

I'm also glad that I got to do some crafting.


This month's Twofer Challenge is celebrating 
their 2 year Blogaversary.
Congratulations Twofer!

This month's challenge is

My first card went with an non-traditional design from a heart die.

I've die cut the heart twice from coordinating decorative paper and trimmed
with scissors for the bathing suit shape.

For my twofer, I've gone more traditional that can be used
as a valentine, wedding or anniversary card.
The smaller heart is from the same die as the bathing suit.
This time I used my griddle and lots of clear, white and gold embossing powder
to do a faux enamel technique.

The larger heart and love were cut from a piece of packaging or envelope lining
that I had saved and the background is a bit of paper with gold sparkle.


The Krafty Chicks Challenge is asking for CAS cards this week.
So I'll stop by there too.


Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!


Card Recipe (card 1)
Stamps:  Thoughtful Wishes (Stampendous)
Ink:   Versafine Smokey Gray
Paper:   Neenah
Other:  Prim Hearts Die (Splbndrs), Double Stitched Circle Die (LI), Seaside EF (SU)

Card Recipe
Stamps:  
Ink:   
Paper:   Neenah, Sparkle Paper (wish I knew), 
Other:  Prim Hearts (Splbndrs), Small Love You Die (SSS), Gold EP, White EP, Clear EP, Electric Griddle


Saturday, January 18, 2020

More Guest Designing for Penny Black Saturday Challenge

Hello.  I'm so glad you could stop by!


There's still time to join in at Penny Black Saturday Challenge.
'ANYTHING GOES/OPTIONAL 'SOMETHING NEW'

For this card, I masked and watercolored with Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolour.

When it was completely dry, I stamped my new Fragile Beauty stamp using
gray ink.  I let that dry and rubbed my embossing buddy all over then stamped 
with white pigment ink and heat embossed.

I removed the mask, stamped a sentiment.  The die cut popped over the top
was inspired by my friend Ros.  I love how it adds dimension.

Since I've used cool colors to watercolor, I'll add this to the gallery at


And do check out the wonderful inspiration from the Design Team
and join in at the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.


Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!


Card Recipe
Stamps:  Fragile Beauty, Eloquence (PB)
Ink:   Versafine Smokey Gray, Whisper White (SU)
Paper:   Watercolor (TH), Neenah
Other:  Gansai Tambi (64 Blue, 67 Deep Blue, 139 Purple), Airy Die (PB), White EP


Wednesday, January 15, 2020

CAS Challenges More Inspiration

Hi there.  I'm so glad you stopped by!

I have a triple post today reminding that there's still time to play
at CAS Mix Up, CAS Watercolour and CAS Christmas.

You might want to grab a cup of coffee.  This is a long post!

CAS Mix Up
Using Partial Die Cutting, Inking with Markers, Stamping, Embossing with Die
and Heat Embossing


I've inked this stamp with markers and stamped, then used a damp waterbrush
to blend the colors.  I've used the die to die cut just the top of the butterfly,
then used the die to emboss the bottom.  Then I went over the butterfly with 
Wink of Stella so it shimmers in the light.

The sentiment has been stamped and heat embossed with Silver.

*******

CAS Watercolour

This month's challenge is

I've done stripes of blue and pink for my cool colors.
When dry, I sprayed with some shimmer spray.
It has a nice shimmer to it.  Brrr!

The snowflake was die cut from a snippet of Neenah smacked with a 
Wow embossing pad and heat embossed twice with a
sparkly teal embossing powder.

*******



This was super quick.  I trimmed the front of a repurposed Christmas card from last year
and used a tag topper punch for the top and corner rounder punch for the bottom.

I've popped it on top of a piece of embossed Neenah and added a 
sparkly die cut merry.  A little gold twine finished it off.

I hope you'll join us at

The challenges close on the 24th.


Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!


Card Recipe (card 1)
Stamps: Soft Wings (PB), Gorgeous Grunge (SU), Deepest Sympathy (HA)
Ink: Twisted Citron, Peacock Feathers, Gaathered Twigs (DM), Encore Silver, Wow Emb. Pad
Paper:  Mixed Media (Strathmore 400 series), Watercolor (Strathmore 300 Series)
Other:  Delicate Wings Die (PB), Pewter EP (SU), WOS

Card Recipe (card 2)
Stamps:  Special Sentiments (PB)
Ink:   Versafine Smokey Gray, Wow Embossing Pad
Paper:   Watercolor (Strathmore 300 series), Neenah
Other:  Gansai Tambi Watercolours, Shimmering Bliss (Technique Junkies), Snowflake Duo (PB), Long Island Teal EP (Wow)

Card Recipe (card 3)
Stamps: None
Ink: None
Paper: Neenah
Other: Repurposed Christmas Caard, Tag Punch, Corner Rounder Punch, Snowflake EF (all retired SU), Holiday Words Script Die (TH)


Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Coloring Challenge Road Trip Online Card Class Day 1

Hello friends.  I'm so glad you stopped by!

When I saw that Kathy Racoosin of The Daily Marker Blog was leading
n Online Card Class based on her Coloring Challenge Road Trip,
I just had to sign up.

I have a class this week so I'm really stretched for time, but I
was bad and treated myself to watching Kathy's videos yesterday and
participating in Day 1.  What a treat!


I pulled out my Copic markers because I'm not as comfortable with them as with 
my watercolors.

I'll admit that I struggled.  And I'm not super happy with the results.
But only practice will make improvement.  Right?

I really made a mistake by using too dark of a violet shade at the base of
the petals.  I had to work out a lot of the color with the 0 marker.

I think that will become my favorite marker!

And I didn't leave enough of a sweet spot.  So I pulled out a white Supracolor pencil
and sweetened it up.

Here you can see it in close up.

If you stand back a ways, it looks much better.  LOL!


I haven't put this on a card yet, because I really need to get ready for my friends to come.

I'll finish it up and show you the finished product in a few days.  I hope.


Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Flowers in Bloom (MFT)
Ink:   Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:   Neenah 110 lb. Solar White
Other:  Copic Sketch Markers, Caran d'ache Supracolor Pencils


Sunday, January 12, 2020

Nance's Tag on a Card

Hi there.  I hope you've had a nice weekend.

I had some time today to play.


I didn't think I'd be able to play at Jingle Belles this time...
MAKE A CARD USING WRAPPING PAPER OR GIFT TAGS

I'd already put all my Christmas stuff away in the attic.

But then I remembered the tags.  I had kept some special tags out.

This was the tag that my friend Nance had on my bag of goodies.
I changed the ribbon to one slightly less bulky
and added it to some embossed snowflakes.

Thanks again, Nance.

Nance is on the Design Team for the Krafty Chick's Challenge
They've changed their format this year and the second week of the month
is Christmas.  So I'm going to share this with them.
and don't forget that we're putting tags on our Christmas cards at
CAS Christmas this month.


Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!