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!

Friday, March 27, 2015

Seize the Birthday NO TOPPING

Seize the Birthday Challenge has NO TOPPING this time!!
You can make any kind of card your heart desires!
We look forward to seeing your creations in the gallery!
I pulled out Ruby Rose and Ruby Reprise along with my Tip Top dies to make this card.
The happy die is from Wet Paint I.
 
 
 


Thursday, March 26, 2015

CAS(E) this Sketch 116

I am playing with CAS(E) this Sketch.
Have I mentioned how much I LOVE the MISTI?  Well, I do!
It is so fun to stamp two or three times and get a nice solid crisp image every single time!
I even showed my granddaughter how to use it with die cuts... perfect every time..and when she stamped the sentiment on her card, it wasn't inked very good.  No problem, she just reinked it and it was perfect!
stamps:  MFT Easter Bunny, PTI Keep it Simple:  Thinking of you
Paper. Doodlebug:  spring
Dies:  MFT stitched square

 

 


Merry Monday~ TREE

I am back in the studio!
Had a wonderful time in Spokane watching both granddaughters play in the Pacific Northwest Qualifiers Tournament, from there we drove to Montana to visit a cousin. 
First time in Montana...OH MY, what a gorgeous state!
Today I am playing with the Merry Monday Challenge
I laid down some paper from Lawn Fawn:  Peace Joy Love... isn't it cool?  It has the bokeh look to it which I thought really looked great behind the tree.
I die cut the tree four times, two in white then two in green to have it on both sides of the tree.
 
Dies:  Memory Box:  Frosted Christmas Tree, SSS: Christmas Blessings
stamp:  PTI Wet Paint: Holiday
 

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Stampin Celebration #100 & Addicted to Stamps

This is my first time with this challenge: Stampin' Celebration, .  They have a really pretty inspiration photo:
 
I used PTI's Beautiful Brushstrokes and what I liked about the photo was the white and green...but then I saw a bit of silver and gold too.  I stamped the flowers off each time I stamped the three layers....I didn't want pure white, just a touch of the green but this was the lightest I could get it! the sentiment is from PTI Wet Paint.
My next card is for Addicted to Stamps and this might be my first time for this challenge also.  The challenge this week is for "ANYTHING GOES!"  I loved that Lawn Fawn was sponsoring this challenge.
I have adored these Lawn Fawn bunnies from the Snow Day stamp set and thought they would be perfect for an Easter card.  The little eggs are an older Hero Arts quatros set called Fanciful Eggs.
I used the Lawn Fawn stitched hillside borders and the grassy borders dies.  The sentiment is from a PTI set called Egg Hunt.
I sponged some distress ink for the background,
 


Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Two Challenges ~ One Card

I am seriously in need of comfort cards and sympathy cards for my bible study ladies, I can barely keep up with the demand!  Sad, isn't it?  Lucky for me there were two challenges that worked for this card.  The first is CAS ology:  Blossoms
The second is CAS(E) this Sketch # 114
I pulled out my favorite blossom stamp from Clearly Besotted:  Happy Everything and I white embossed it and used water with distress inks to paint in the petals and leaves!
I then used Lil' Inkers Stitched rectangles die and cut out the center portion and adhered it flat to the card base.  The frame was attached with dimensional tape to raise it up.
 
Thanks for taking a look...hope you all are having a fantastic St. Patrick's Day...hope y9ou didn't get "pinched" today!!
 


Merry Monday ~ Gifts!

 What a fun challenge this time around!
I used some Lawn Fawn Paper and my dies from PTI Make a Wish to make my little assortment of Christmas gifts!
The sentiment is from PTI Stylish Sentiments.

Monday, March 16, 2015

MIM # 205 confetti Cluster Stamping

I think doing the cut threw for the sentiment didn't work so good this time..not sure if it is because I needed it wider than normal, or if I should have actually cut a section out rather than one cut and separate, if you know what I mean.  The poor bottom butterfly looks a lot distorted!  Could you even tell they are butterflies?
I traced the die and then used these stamps for stamping inside the butterflies:
Birthday Style:  the confetti
Feather Finery: the inside of the smallest feather
the sentiment is from Life is Beautiful

Saturday, March 14, 2015

MIM # 204 Water color or "Smooshing"!

I think this is my fifth card with this technique!  Betsy makes it look so easy, but seriously some of my "smooshes" left a lot to be desired!  ha ha!  I do like this one a lot and I also incorporated the  "doodling" technique from the week before.
If you want to watch the video and play along, go  HERE and be inspired by Betsy!
 
Stamps:  Frilly Flowers, Keep it Simple: Thanking of you
inks:  summer sunrise, hibiscus burst, simply chartreuse
misc:  sequins from the Shaker Market Kit.

These are just a couple of the other ones I made using this smooshing technique.

Thinking of YOU ~ The Card Concept

I just had to try my hand at the "doodling" or sketchy technique again that was shown on MIM two weeks ago.  I used the same flower that Ashley used.
I am entering this in the Card Concept Challenge.
I am not sure, but maybe this would be a "freestyle collage"??
Stamps:  PTI Enclosed flower, Keep it Simple:  Thinking of you
Inks:  W Plus 9:  wild mango, Miami spice, sweet nectar, sweet gelato, PTI sweet blush, berry sorbet
dies:  Keep it Simple
paper:  white, berry sorbet
 
Thanks for taking a look!
Have a wonderful weekend!
We are volleyball free this weekend, but getting ready for a trip north to Spokane Washington for a three day tournament that will start off the Spring Vacation for the girls next Thursday!  then we are going to drive to Montana to visit a cousin for two days!  Looking forward to the trips!

Friday, March 13, 2015

Seize the Birthday ~ the sentiment as focal point

Welcome to another Seize the Birthday challenge
Today our topping is to use your sentiment as the focal point.
If you are NOT a toppings person, then you can always go with
"ANYTHING GOES"! 
 
My friend gave me a pack of these American Crafts diecut chalkboard frames for Christmas.  I thought they would be perfect for the birthday sentiment!
I made the background with strips of tape and a sponge dauber.
I hope you will join us in this challenge
 
The topping:  Use the sentiment as your focal point
OR...ANYTHING GOES!


Have a great week!

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Merry Monday # 149 Monochromatic blues

This week I am getting the Merry Monday card done first thing so no chance being late to the party!
Lil' Inkers stitched rectangles and Hillside borders
Distress Inks:  salty ocean, chipped sapphire, stormy sky
Heidi Swapp stencil
Paper Smooches: A Blessed Christmas
 


Sunday, March 8, 2015

Merry Monday

Just getting in under the wire here with a card for the
A one layer card that is pretty simple and easy...in fact I made four of them and I used the Misti that everyone is raving about...and YES it is fabulous!!
Okay, so much for being under the wire...this challenge is already closed!!  So four cards for the stash!!
 
Holiday Cheer, Think Big # 20

Curtain Call ~ Lucky

Well this was "lucky" for me because my SIL has a birthday on March 17!!!  I die cut some balloons and added the shamrocks to the face of the balloons!

 
 
 
Stamps:  Avery Elle Cake & Candles, Verve:  Shamrocks
Dies:  PTI:  Birthday Style

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Another direct to paper card

I used a little masking, a little stamping and then swiping the ink directly to the paper.  I used glossy accents to simulate the rain drops and I covered the umbrella with and handle with glossy accents...kind of looks like they are wet!
It seems my friends need cards for friends that are having health issues and a lot more "C" issues too...hate that!

Dye Ink Direct to Paper!

These are both the same technique which is swiping the dye ink directly onto paper.  This first one has the HUGS cut out and layered it over the inked background.  I die cut the hearts out of the same paper...added some heart & small plain sequins.  This is PTI Big Hugs die and stamp set.

The "Hello" is a WPlus9 die and the stars are a PTI border die...the little stars attached to the face of the card are from the inside of the star border.
 
Fun and bright cards to send to friends!  Have a great weekend friends!

Colour Me # 61

I tired another stencil using Jennifer McGuire's technique...lay the stencil down and use a white pigment ink to daub over the stencil.  Then let it dry thoroughly and using the same stencil move it off set just a bit and use the same color ink as the paper...you end up getting what looks like three colors on your card when in fact you only used two inks.


The Crafters workshop stencil Mimi Flower Piecing, PTI orange zest paper and ink, HA white unicorn pigment ink, Keep it Simple Dies, PTI terra cotta tile paper, Big Hugs die, DCW gold thread.
thanks for taking a look!
We have a gorgeous day...almost 70 degrees and beautiful blue skies!

Getting Inky with my BFF

My partner in crime (BFF!!) has been here for almost a week and we have been playing with different techniques...like this one from Jennifer McGuire using stencils.


And this one using distress inks then white pigment ink to get the "Bokeh" effect (found out it is pronounced "Bow Ke" (as in ke-ttle)

And this one is called "Joseph's coat" again using distress inks that are sponged on, then stamp flowers, leaves etc with versamark and then clear emboss them...swiped all over with black ink!  I know, it was scary...then you wipe the black off the embossed images and voila!
 
I will be back with a few more to share...only two more days for my friend to be here...we have to make the most of it and really get inky!
 
Card 1:  MFT Spring Flowers stencil, white pigment ink, PTI raspberry fizz ink, PTI circle scribbles die in silver, Keep it Simple Dies
 
Card 2: Distress Inks: salty ocean, chipped sapphire, peacock feathers, HA unicorn white pigment ink, butterflies from Martha Stewart punch, SSS Butterfly friends, PTI Butterfly Dreams, SSS Flower Friend
 
Card 3:  Distress Inks:  spiced marmalade, mustard seed, wild honey, ripe persimmon, black memento ink, HA Misc. sentiments


Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Getting more Sketchy!

I just had to try the doodling technique again that was shown by Ashley on Make it Monday.  They ask for only one card be entered, so this is just for the stash and for practice.
I used a Wildflower Garden stamp and added a lot more sketchy lines to the solid color flower and leaves.
The sentiment is from Keep it Simple: Get well Wishes which I selectively inked and stamped one word on a line. 
Linda and I are having fun in the "Studio"!!  She is here for a week to help me celebrate my birthday...it does last for a week, right? Especially since this is a BIG one for me, my "older friend" already reached this milestone!  tee hee!!

Monday, March 2, 2015

MIM ~ Doodling with Stamps

A new MIM with a video from Ashley over at
Capture the Moment

I used Beautiful Brushstrokes and stamped the first two layers of the flowers, then I added my lines with a pen...getting sketchy...a little tricky for me!  Ha I am not the artistic type...maybe I need to practice this some more!  I do like the look a lot and Ashley's was really pretty.
Thanks for taking a look..