One seed can start a garden, one candle can light a room, one step can begin a journey, one conversation can start a friendship, one smile from a handmade card can lift one's SPIRIT!

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Seize the Birthday ~ Chevrons!!

Welcome back to another Seize the Birthday Challenge!  This time we are looking for CHEVRONS as our special topping...I hope you will check out the wonderful "chevron" inspiration from the design team over at Seize the Birthday .
I pulled out a chevron from a Studio Calico set and masked off part of my card to give it the angle, then I stamped the chevron across the page.  Since I was at my BFF's house for 4 days, I borrowed her "happy" dies from PTI and placed it along the edge.
I stamped the chevron in aqua mist along a narrow strip and attached it to both sides of the card.
The balloons are from PTI Heart to Heart with a little bow hanging off the "y".
As usual, this is just a "topping" for the birthday card,
you may do without if you like.
We would love to see whatever you create as long as it is a birthday card!
Our "Toppings" option this time is

"Chevrons"







Colour Me

scarlet jewel, raspberry fizz, orange zest, sweet blush, simply chartreuse
Those are the five colors I selected for the Colour Me Challenge # 5 .
this time you get to select your own colours!
My chevrons are made with a drop of sweet blush reinker into some embossing paste,
the stencil is a Heidi Swapp chevron stencil.
The flowers are all from Ruby Rose and Ruby Repose.
This is the 5th challenge for this Colour Me!  I hope you will play along!
 
 
 
 
 


Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Merry Monday ~ Ornaments

I started out by using some distress inks on my craft sheet and then placing my water color paper on the inks...kind of smeared it around to be sure it was all covered.
Then I die cute the  Memory Box "classic ornament" die.
I used the Memory Box "Snowflake Ornament die with white shimmer paper
and laid it on top of my colored solid image.
I took a strip of paper and using the blue and greed distress inks placed it to color it.
That is what I used for my side panels.
The sentiment is from PTI Rustic Wreath and embossed with Zing "leaf" embossing powder.
Merry Monday ~ Ornaments  is the theme for this week's challenge.
 
Heart Hugs,
Colleen

Monday, January 27, 2014

Stencil Class Day 3 And Day 4

I made this stencil for day 3 not realizing that Day four was DIY stencil day!!
I used my PTI hexagon die and cut it out with a piece of acetate left over from packaging.
I mixed  one drop of lemon tart reinker to a small amount of embossing paste.
The butterfly is a die from a friend...no clue the name brand, it came from the Netherlands!
The leaf is from Turning a New Leaf die cut with vellum.
I added a couple pearls and even colored one with copics.
I really do like the texture that the embossing paste gives to cards!
Have a good week!
Heart Hugs,
Colleen

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Stencil Card Class Day 2 Card # 1

This was a fun twist to the stencils. 
This is a Hero Arts Stencil that has 5 different shapes on it.
I used the smaller dots and the slightly bigger dots.
And I used colored pencils! 
 As you can see they give a nice texture and I did color them all the same direction.
Isn't that fun?
I really like how it looks.
Thanks for stopping by!

Stencil Card Class Day 1 Card # 3

This is a Tim Holtz stencil that my BFF gave to me as a surprise when I was at her house.
It was suppose to be for my birthday, but she couldn't keep it from me!  So glad she gave it to me!
I sponged on some distress inks and blended them in.
The sentiment is from PTI Hello sunshine.
I mounted it on a Terra cotta Tile PTI card.

Stencil Card Class Day 1 Card # 2

This is another Heidi Swapp chevron stencil and this time
I followed the example of Julie Ebersole. 
I sprayed my paper with a Heidi Swapp teal Color shine.
The "Love" is a PTI die that my BFF sent to me.
The little hearts are from various stamp sets.
 
Learning a lot and this is only card 2!

Stencil Online Card Class Day 1

Here is my first card for the Stencil Online Card Class as demonstrated by Debby Hughes:
I used a Heidi Swapp stencil and some distress inks.
With a piece of vellum, I white embossed the sentiment.
I colored the twine with copics,
added a couple drops of both white and pink Viva Paper Pens.
Thanks for taking a look!
 
We drove to the beach today...a gloriously sunny day
and our granddaughter was playing in a basketball tournament.
We still had time to walk the "boardwalk" and the town of Seaside
and get salt water taffy! 
It was a wonderful day!
Have a good Sunday.
Heart Hugs,
Colleen

Saturday, January 25, 2014

PTI Blog Hop Card # 3

You all know the Papertrey Blog Hop is going on, right?  It is all day TODAY only!  And it is all about PINK.  I once again used the Simon Says Stencil, Falling Hearts...I had mixed up some embossing paste with the raspberry fizz reinker, so I had to use it up!  I just embossed several cards and then finished them the next day...it doesn't really take all day to dry, I was just onto other things!
I really like this cute little bear with the bow...and this is from a Polka Dot Parade Stamp set.
Here is the inspiration photo from Capture the Moment :           
January-Blog-Hop 
 
I hope you can play along...it lasts all day today only!
 
Have a fun day!
Heart Hugs,
Colleen

January Blog Hop Card 1

It is the 25th of the month so that means another Papertrey Blog Hop time!  You can go HERE  to read all the details.  Here is my first card for this hop:
I was with my BFF in Washington and we played...and I got to use some of the stamps that she has, but I do not have...that is always fun ...this is a Polka dot Parade stamp, sorry I do not remember the number...the die cut is from Wonderful Words:  Baby.
The first thing I did was get out the embossing paste and put a few drops of the reinker into a bit of the paste...then I used a Simon Says Stamps stencil, Falling Hearts, and embossed.  I had to set it aside and let it dry before proceeding.
January-Blog-Hop
I attached it to a Lil' Inkers stitched mat and a piece of Raspberry Fizz paper for backing.
Thanks for taking a look!  Have a super weekend!
Heart Hugs,
Colleen

PTI Jan Blog Hop ~ card 2

I went with a valentine theme for this card and layered a few more pinks on the card, starting with a Sweet Blush card base!
Stamps:  With all my Heart, Heart 2 Heart # 11
ink:  hibiscus burst, sweet blush, simply chartreuse, black, versarmark
Paper:  sweet blush, raspberry fizz, hibiscus burst
And you can go HERE  to read all about the Blog Hop!
January-Blog-Hop
Now I must go check out the blog and see what everyone created!
Have a safe and fun weekend!
Heart Hugs,
Colleen

Friday, January 24, 2014

Card Concept # 2

I was low on thank you cards, so I thought I would do one more for this challenge. 
Again I used the canvas Impression Plate for texture.
The flower is from PTI Flower Garden.
I cut the angle myself...no die,
and added a strip of Pure Poppy striped pattern paper.
the 'thanks' is from Embroidered Blooms.
You can go HERE to play along.
 


CAS(E) this Sketch 61 and Card Concept # 2

A sweet, simple little 'thanks' card.
Dry embossed with the canvas PTI Impression Plate.
PTI Floral Foliage, SSS Thanks die
new leaf ink, red copics
soft stone paper
Lil' Inkers stitched Mat
You can go HERE to play along with this challenge.
Will also link up with the Card Concept  asking for some texture on the card.
 

 


Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Dynamic Duos # 86

Nice soft colors this week at Dynamic Duos Challenge #86 so I took advantage of it to make another sympathy card.  I am with my BFF, Lin in Seattle, so I used her PTI "Willow". Stamped the trunk in kraft the the leaves in sweet blush,  I added a strip of aqua mist paper and stamped the same leaves in aqua mist ink.  A Lil' Inkers stitched mat stack
was the base for the tree.
I hope you will have a chance to play along.
Heart Hugs,
Colleen


Monday, January 20, 2014

Merry Monday # 92

Have you all been to the NEW Merry Monday blog?  The new challenge this week is to use, red, brown, kraft and vanilla along with a ribbon or twine.
stamps:  Wplus9: silver bells
ink: pure poppy, kraft,
paper:  kraft, rustic cream, brown
dies:  silver bells
 
Had a good time today crafting with Lin...we went to Staples and bought a Brother
Label maker...I have been wanting one for a long time...and we got it for 50% off!!
 
Heart Hugs, friends, hope you all are keeping warm, dry and safe!
Colleen

MIM # 149 LOTS of glitter!!

Over at Capture the Moment  Heather has a video showing how she used different glitters on a single die cut....it is the new Make it Monday video.
I used Wonderful words: Hello die and ran it through the xyron on both sides...using a craft knife I selectively cut through the top layer and peeled off the top layer to add the first glitter, unfortunately the colors of the glitter are not showing up very good in the picture, but they are aqua marine, white gold, and rose...these are martha Stewart glitters.
I used the Limited Layers:  Hearts dies using the solid heart image and the scalloped heart.  I backed the solid piece with
some acetate on the back side.
The sentiment is from With all my Heart.
The sun is peeking out from the fog, so I think Lin and I are going to go shopping for some crafting goodies and have lunch out!!
 
Have a terrific week friends,
Heart Hugs,
Colleen

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Colour Me # 3

I am just sneaking in under the wire for the Colour MeChallenge ..,not sure how I missed this week's colors earlier on...but now it is done.  I was needing a few more sympathy cards for the stash, so I pulled out Beautiful Butterflies and stamped it in Sweet Blush and memento London fog to get the pink and gray, then I added some Viva Gold Pearl Pen for dots.
the challenge ends tomorrow at noon, so you need to hurry if you want to join in the fun.
 
Have a great Sunday!
Heart Hugs,
Colleen

Merry Monday & Festive Friday

Greetings from cloudy Seattle...but it is okay because my BFF, Lin, and I are just crafting away.
I was able to combine these two challenges.
Merry Monday  which is asking for a snowman,
and Festive Friday which has a very nice wintery scene.
I used PTI Winter Hills and used copics to color the house, white enamel accents for the roof, and the snowman, embossing paste and SSS snowfall stencil along with some American Craft WOW! glitter on the trees.  The sentiment is from W Plus 9 Silver Bells.

 

The Seattle Seahawks are playing for a chance to get into the super Bowl.  the fans are crazy wild about this game...Lin and I are just crafting away!!
Heart hugs,
Colleen

Saturday, January 18, 2014

SSSHHHHH....heading to a surprise 85th Birthday Party tomorrow!

I get to go to the Seattle area for a surprise 85th party, and then lucky me gets to stay over until Wednesday with my BFF, Lin...and can you guess what we might do???  I will take the train home on Wednesday.  DH isn't happy about the length of time, but he will survive and maybe appreciate all I do a little more??  Sadly, my dad is not going to go with us...he is 92 and has not been feeling that great lately and just doesn't think it would be easy for him to make that 3 hour drive and he really doesn't want to stay overnight...so that turns it into a 6 hour drive!!  He will be missed by all because everyone in the family loves him so...

Here is my card for Hank...don't you love that name?  So old fashioned...it is really Henry and that name is coming around again...


I oversized the card...it's okay because I had a BIG envelope...a spare one from something...and I wanted to use those BIG numbers, so I made a BIG card for this birthday celebration.  My brothers bought 2 bottles of wine...so I made a bag to put them into:
Well, that is it until Sunday when I can craft with my BFF...I need to take my granddaughter to her basketball game tonight as her parents are in New Orleans until Monday.
Have a super weekend!
Heart Hugs,
Colleen

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Seize the Birthday Challenge!

Our second challenge of the year is one that we would like you to "COLOR"...if you are a 'toppings' kind of person...if not, then as you know, anything goes!  Get out your colored pencils, markers, copics, whatever medium you have and give it a try!  Go to Seize the Birthday  and see what the other design team members have made to inspire you...OH and we have THREE new team members too...go meet them!



I like to color I am just not very good at it. 
 
I pulled out a clear Hero Arts stamp and gave it a try ...YOU can too!
I colored with some copics and cut out the little purse that will hold the goodies when she goes birthday shopping for herself!!

Please join the team and myself with this challenge to make birthday cards and practice your coloring skills...you have two weeks to post a card for this challenge.  And if you don't want to color, that is OKAY, just make a birthday card and post it to the blog!

Have a great day friends,
Heart hugs,
Colleen
 


Saturday, January 11, 2014

Merry Monday ~ First for the New Year!

A brand new blog for the Merry Monday Challenge , this time they are looking for twine or ribbon on your Christmas card. 
                                                                     
It is nice to get a good start on your Christmas cards...I know it seems way too early, but trust me, you will love it come November when you need to start addressing your envelopes.
Papertrey white, and shimmer paper
Nativity Silhouettes, Nativity Additions, Rustic Wreath
kraft, versamark, gold embossing powder
May arts twine 

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

COLOUR ME!

I am trying this again, but getting the card done in plenty of time  last time I missed the deadline by a few hours! This is the second challenge and the colors are blue and pink...check out Colour Me! and join in the fun!
                                     
     
It is time for me to send some cards to my Aunts...90, 91, 94 years young.
I pulled out PTI Heart to Heart # 4.
I used blueberry sky and hibiscus burst.
 
Thanks for taking a look!
Hope your week is going good, we are almost to the weekend and I have another one being spent in the gym watching the granddaughters play volleyball!
 
Heart Hugs,
Colleen

The Card Concept ~ A new challenge!!

Another NEW Challenge in town people! You must go check it out...go HERE ... it is another challenge created by Lesley from Always Playing with Paper ...you know her...she creates Seize the Birthday, Merry Monday and so many others.  This one has 12 designers, two for each "style" of card making...
   Clean & Simple (CAS)
   Clean & Layered
   Clean & Graphic
   Freestyle Collage
   Shabby Chic
   Classy & Elegant

I think maybe this card would be Clean and layered? 
I love these colors this week!
The challenge ends on Monday the 20th noon PST
PTI vintage cream and sweet blush pattern paper
Ruby Reprise stamps
kraft, sweet blush and dark chocolate ink
Lil' Inkers die, Ruby Rose dies
 

Monday, January 6, 2014

Colour Me!!!

Edited:  Challenge closes at Noon EST...I am Pacific time, so I missed it by several hours...I will try the next one and be more on top of things!!

There is a new Colour Challenge in town friends...go HERE to check it out.  The colors this week are:  Island indigo and neutrals...

I don't have island indigo, but I did use a HA  cornflower blue and kraft and brown for my neutrals.
this was a free set from PTI called Ruby Reprise.
Thanks for taking a look!
Happy Monday...all the grandkids are back in school and life will be somewhat "normal".
I spent all day Saturday in the gym watching my 10 year old grand daughter play in a volleyball tournament and they won the silver division!  Yahoo for her!
On Sunday I watched two games of a volleyball tournament for my 12 year old grand daughter and they won all their matches too!!
 
Have a great week!
Heart Hugs,
Colleen

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Another MIM # 146 Angled Background

LOVE IS IN THE AIR!
 
I couldn't resist one more angled background card!
I used some papers from  the Simple Valentine pack from PTI.
Sorry the card is leaning...kind of like the Tower of Pisa!!
 
and watch the video that Ashley put together for this challenge.
 
Heart Hugs friends!
Colleen

Make It Monday # 146 Angled Background

Have you all been to Capture the Moment
to see the FIRST MIM video of this New Year?
Ashley show us how to use up scraps and make
an angled background...go check it out.
 
I had a paper pack from Studio G that was all the same color.
I pulled it out and away I went with angling my background paper.
I wanted it to be a birthday card, so I cut a PTI Birthday Trio die with Pure Poppy and then
added "wishes" from Wonderful words:  Birthday.
The candle is from Wishes come True with a little clear rock candy stickles on the flame.
 
Thanks for taking a look and Happy New Year!  Now I have to remember to write 2014!!
 
Heart Hugs,
Colleen

Make It Monday # 146 Angled Background

Have you all been to Capture the Moment
to see the FIRST MIM video of this New Year?
Ashley show us how to use up scraps and make
an angled background...go check it out.
 
I had a paper pack from Studio G that was all the same color.
I pulled it out and away I went with angling my background paper.
I wanted it to be a birthday card, so I cut a PTI Birthday Trio die with Pure Poppy and then
added "wishes" from Wonderful words:  Birthday.
The candle is from Wishes come True with a little clear rock candy stickles on the flame.
 
Thanks for taking a look and Happy New Year!  Now I have to remember to write 2014!!
 
Heart Hugs,
Colleen

Seize the Birthday ~ with a NUMBERS topping!

Welcome back to another Seize the Birthday challenge where the topping this time is "numbers", remember if you are not a "toppings" kind of crafter, then just go with a birthday card...we love them all!

This card will be for me daughter (the one who survived lymphoma cancer)...you can guess how old she will be on her birthday! *wink*  I have to apologize for this picture...it is the fourth one I have taken and  just can't get the card to look white all over, but trust me it is...it is not "dirty"!!

I hope you will play along with us this week and make a birthday card...I have an Uncle who will be celebrating 85 years, so I will be making another one with those numbers on it!

And I want to wish Sheri, one of the team members for Seize the Birthday,  a BIG SHOUT OUT because she is celebrating a birthday TODAY!  Go HERE  and give her some love and see what she created for your inspiration!  And to play along with this challenge, go HERE to Seize the Birthday  and play along with us!

PTI white paper, winter wisteria pattern paper
stamps:  Wplus9 Fresh cut Florals
ink:  simply chartreuse, plum pudding, HA Passion flower, Memento grape jelly
a little wink of stella brushed across the leaves and flowers for a little bit of shine!!

Happy New YEAR everyone!!
 
Heart Hugs, Colleen