Play Date Cafe Challenge 40

Love these challenges with black and white and a splash of color and this time it's green! Over at Play Date Cafe you will see some lovely creations. I love this stamp set by Stampin' Up...Asian Artistry...I think it has such an elegant look to it and pairs well with the black and white. I used my green inks to highlight the dragonfly and leaves, spica pen to add sparkle to the flowers and then sponged the edges. Hoping that everyone is looking forward to a great week-end. Still hot and muggy here in southwest Virginia and I can't wait until it cools off enough to turn the ac off and open my windows.

cs-SU white and black, Making Memories dp
ink-Memento new sprout and pear tart
stamps- SU Asian Artistry
acces- satin ribbon (Dollar Tree),gel pen star dust

Timeless Tuesday Lilacs

This is my first time entering a challenge at Flourishes Timeless Tuesday . We were to make a card using some type of pin (clothes, stick, straight, safety,etc) on our card. I have a few sets of their stamps and love the images. Today I used their set "Lilac" to coordinate with my dp by K&Co which is mounted on a piece of brown card stock and then layered on to textured ivory card stock. I love this satin ribbon in the chocolate brown, it is so rich looking. My pin and pearls are from Stampin' Up's Pretties kit.
Stop by and play with me if you have time this week...the challenge is open until Monday Aug 2nd at 6pm ET.

Quilts and Wreaths

Hey guys,
Just a quick post to show you the two cards that I made for the blast from the past and the inspiration challenges at StampTV . Linda Payne's blast this week is to create a quilt card with it being the focus and only using a sentiment and no stamped image. I made this card by punching scalloped squares and die cutting small peony shapes over the flowers in the dp. I added buttons and my sentiment on a die cut scalloped rectangle.
Brenda's inspiration picture was a lovely wreath and I usually am not so literal in my inspiration cards but decided to make a wreath. Again, I punched some of the flowers and then I stamped flower shapes and cut them out of the dp. I used pop dots to make different heights in my wreath. The sentiment is from Gina's new set Seeds of Kindness. I embossed the background with a cuttlebug embossing folder.
Hope you like them and will leave me a note..love hearing from everyone.


Wreath card: cs- SU white, rose red, DP Basic Gray Green at Heart
Ink-Versafine Onyx black
Stamps- GKD Seeds of Kindness
Accessories: Sizzix tag dies SU punches, Sizzix leaf die, GKD buttons, Cuttlebug embossing folder- Devine

Quilt card:
cs- Bazzill brown, unk green for base, dp- Basic Gray Origins
Ink- Versafine vintage sepia
stamps- Gina K Nana's Needlework
Accessories- SU scallop punch, nesties long scalloped rectangle, peony, buttons by GKD

Chillin' out at Isabella's

Happy Thursday everyone!
I am chillin' out at Isabella's Sketchbook for their anything goes this week as long as you use one of her images and blues and greens. Lovin' these colors....I decided to use her image Floral Tag 1 a little differently, by printing it out twice and coloring it, then I cut one of these in two and placed on the sides of the other one. I also trimmed off the tag part of the image and made it into a triptych. My dp is by Mind's Eye, their Bohemia collection. I colored the tags with prismacolor pencils and oms. The ribbon is a satin one that I picked up at the Dollar Tree. Please stop by and play at Isabella's....she has lovely images and even a freebie if you don't already have any. Thanks for stopping by. I have a couple of pictures to post for challenges at StampTV...will post them here later if you would like to see them.

Week 20 at the Shabby Tea Room

I am loving this card....the color inspiration for this came from Carla Suto at StampTV where she hosts the color challenge each Monday. We were to use black and ivory with one color as an accent. I am entering this in the week #20 1,2,3 challenge at The Shabby Tea Room where we are to use 1 ribbon, two buttons and three pieces die cut on our project. This is some of my favorite dp (K&Co), it is double sided, so I used the darker side as my base layer on a ivory card base and then cut with my labels 2 nesties by spellbinders a layer in the floral dp and one in the ivory to stamp my sentiment from the "Friends" set by GinaK. I used a SU scallop punch to make the back layer on my flower and then hand cut a flower from the dp. The brad attaching those two layers is also by K&Co. I used the aqua ribbon by Martha Stewart and the two buttons are GKD.I am also entering this at StampTV in Carla's color challenge. Hope that you can stop by both sites and play along. Let me know what you think of this....I appreciate all of you.

Edit: This card received an honorable mention at The Shabby Tea Room

Masculine in Neutrals

I am submitting this card for two separate challenges...The first is for Play Date Cafe and their challenge involving neutrals. I love these colors and the inspiration picture this week. Please check it out. And my second challenge spot is at Speedy the Cat and their masculine card. I created an easel card using card stock from Gina K: ivory, brown, black and tan leather. I love this set by Stampin' Up entitled Travel Post....haven't used it a lot but should because I love the vintage elements to it. I sponged Versafine vintage sepia over the focal image on the tan leather paper and then sponged the twill ribbon. My hardware is also by SU. This is a very simple and quick card but I know all my male friends would appreciate it. Thanks for stopping by and checking it out...please leave a note.

Dog Days of Summer

Happy Magical Monday!
It's time for a new challenge at There's Magic in the Air and free goodies. Our theme this week is Dog Days of Summer and whatever that means to you. With the heat wave that we have been having I certainly can relate to this phrase. All I would want to do if I had to be out in the heat would be to laze around and sleep just like the dogs that I had as a child used to love to do. When I was a child my Dad owned a wooden boat that we would take out on the New River here in southwest Virginia and just float and try to cool off when the heat was too much. It is a special memory and when I heard what the challenge was I thought of Nina's image "Beached Boat". I made an easel card and after coloring my boat, I cut it out with my long scalloped rectangle Nesties and attached to the front which I had sponged to make a sky and background scene. The cattails are from another set that I own, but I thought they made the perfect touch to the scene. I hope that you will find time to check out our site and try the challenge. Below is a picture of the goodies that Nina is giving away this week.

This is the inside of my card.


Hope this is a great start to your week. Please leave me a comment if you have time and stop by TMITA and play with us at Paper Cupcakes.

CS- GinaK Ivory base
Stamps--Image "Beached Boat" PCC, GKD Gone Fishing, SU Botanicals (sentiment)
Ink- Memento Cantaloupe, Danube Blue, Summer Sky, Bamboo Leaves, Cottage Ivy, Versafine Onyx Black, Prismacolor & Oms

Seeing Blue, Gray and Yellow

At Just For Fun that is. Those are the colors for this weeks challenge. I broke out a set from Stampin' Up that I haven't used in a long time and made this card. I completely forgot that I was going to wait until my new stamps from Just For Fun arrived. This senility thing keeps getting in the way.
I used blue and gray Bazzil textured paper along with a piece of SU barely banana. I embossed the damask image from my Sizzix texture plate on the blue piece then stamped the script on the yellow. I distressed this piece and sponged.I stamped the castle image and sponged it before removing it from the labels 3 nestie. I layered it on the next size labels 3 in the gray. My ribbon is gray satin that I picked up at the Dollar Tree. Really nice tying ribbon. Love the colors at Just for Fun...come on and play along if you have time. Up for grabs is a gift certificate to their store. Last post for the night....be sure and check back tomorrow for Magical Monday!

Birthday card for Joan's Garden

I made this birthday card for the challenge at Joan's Gardens where she asked us to create a bright birthday card and add a flower in some form. I used this paper from DCWV and layered on SU whisper white for the card base. My images are also from Stampin' Up's set Birthday Bliss. I used Versafine Onyx Black and Memento Summer Sky and Pear Tart as my inks. The ribbon is from American crafts and I punched the flowers out and layered before attaching a silver brad. This is a set that I got back in the spring and am just now inking it...can you believe it? You don't have anything setting around that you don't use, do you? Like how these colors look together...hope you do too.

Isabella's Challenge #17 Cut it Out!

Good Sunday afternoon!
I am entering this card for the challenge at Isabella's for their 17th challenge "Cut it out". I am using their image Notecard which I colored with SU markers and cut out before popping up on 1/8" pop dots layered over a piece of blue Bazzill textured card stock and a piece of Mind's Eye Bohemia dp. Very simple and quick....hope that you like it. I love the images at Isabella's...please check them out and play if you have time. They have a freebie in their store if you do not own any of their images.

cs- SU whisper white, Mind's Eye Bohemia, 140 watercolor paper
ink-- SU markers, aqua pen

That Time of the Month

Time to try out for a guest design spot at Gina K Designs!
Gina K is inviting anyone that would like to join her design team in a blog hop to create a card using one of the stamp sets released last month, thereby trying out for a chance as guest designer for the month of August. I decided to make a Christmas card using her new set Blessed is the Season. I don't understand what has gotten into me....90+ degrees most days ... maybe I am just hoping for cool, but I am in the mood to make holiday cards. I love this set! I stamped the script image a couple of times along one side and did partial cuttlebug embossing with a border in brilliant blue along the side of the Allegro embossing folder. I also used a couple of the small snowflakes from Theresa Momber's set Very Merry Christmas, also by GKD to stamp the horizontal strip. My focal image was done using the technique emboss resist . I stamped the snowflake with versamark ink and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder...then using Memento's Danube Blue to sponge over the image. Please check out these techniques at StampTV along with lots of others. My sentiment is also from this set. I am really pleased with how my card turned out...for those of you paying close attention, you may recognize Melissa's Sketch from her challenge at StampTV this week. If you haven't played yet, it is open until 8pm CT on Monday 7/26/10. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think of my card. Have a great week-end and see ya soon!

Huge Fun Coming Aug 11th

Just a heads up to all of you that starting August 11th we will be having a blog hop to showcase Nina's new releases at There's Magic in the Air . There will be sketches at each blog that matches their card free for you to take for your inspiration and we will each be doing a different image so that you can see all the images. I can't wait for you to see mine...it is so pretty. You will have between August 11th through the 18th to stop by each blog and leave a comment for a chance to win some of Nina's images for your very own. I will remind you of this again closer to the date but you don't want to miss it. Also, feel free to take the blog hop icon and post it on your blog.

I will be back later today with some new cards and things to show you.

Playing at Just for Fun...

How would you like to play a color challenge? Then join me this week at Just For Fun where the colors are Orange, Brown and Yellow. I won their challenge last week and received a $50 gift certificate to their store where you will find some great stamps. I will post some things as soon as my stamps arrive. I enjoyed doing this card and decided to make something with my Flourishes stamps that I have not used very much, the images are so pretty and I love stamping with them. My poppies were colored with various colors of Memento and Stampin' Up inks. My thank you ribbon is by Martha Stewart...hope you enjoy and please leave me a note if you can. Love hearing from you.

CS- SU ivory, so saffron, dp Basic Gray Offbeat
Stamps- Flourishes Poppy Patch
Ink- Versafine Vintage sepia, Memento Cantaloupe, Tangelo, Potter's Clay, SU So Saffron and Really Rust

Strawberries and Cream for TMITA

Today is the Day!
My first post for Nina May at There's Magic in the Air as a member of her design team. I have been playing in her challenges for awhile and a few weeks ago she posted a call for people interested in being on her design team and luckily I was picked.
Today we are playing with a new freebie "Party Cake" and going with the theme Strawberries and Cream. The first thing I thought of when I heard this was some ribbon that I bought ages ago at Michael's and it reminded me of Neapolitan ice cream...so I used SU's positively pink as my card base layered with Bazzill's textured chocolate. I cut and embossed a spellbinders frame in SU rose red to highlight Nina's image. I colored my party cake with Prismacolor pencils and oms. I think this reminds me of strawberry cream....just not the healthy version of fresh fruit.LOL

My inside sentiment is stamped with Memento Angel Pink ink.
Hopefully you can play with us this week for a chance to win images and some lovely watermelon buttons created by Nina! Thanks for stopping in and be sure to go by TMITA/PCC.

BIG News and Road Trip!

Been sitting on my BIG news and some of you may have already read about it at There's Magic in the Air but I made Nina May's design team! Yeah for me and I am so excited! This is the first team that I have been on so I will be asking for your support and if you see something I can do better or you would like to see, I am open to suggestions. Nina creates some of the cutest digital images...if you haven't tried working with these before, she will be putting a new freebie up tomorrow that is so cute and can be used so many ways. I will be posting my card using the new image (wouldn't you like to know what it is?) tomorrow at 6 am EST so please stop back by then and check it out and I would ask all of you that can to please play in the challenge this week. Nina is giving away some extra goodies that she created....


Who wouldn't want some of these cute watermelon buttons to put on your summer cards?

Also, I wanted to let you all know about our road trip yesterday to the StampArt Tour show in Winston-Salem, NC. A bunch of us from StampTV met up to shop and eat lunch together. It was so much fun for me to meet IRL so many of the faces that I had been talking with online and feel that I already know. Everyone is so nice and I can't wait until we get together again. Lots of new goodies to play with. My best deal was three set of Spellbinders that I didn't have that I got for half price. I also found the cutest basket stamp and template to make a basket....will post as soon as I can.
I only wish that I could meet in person even more of you. It's so much fun when you are of a like mind and enjoy the same things. Thanks Olga for the ride and Becky ... we are all waiting on your post.



Take care everyone and please check us out at TMITA/PCC when you can. I'll be looking for you!

2 for the price of 1

As most of you know that looks at my blog, I rarely do more than one challenge at a time...maybe that's because I'm already challenged enough! This card that I have made is using a card base of SU's sage shadow and dp from K&Co Ancestry.com and I used Martha Stewart's punch Cornice which is what both of my challenge sites this time asked for....use a punch on your creation. The image is from Isabella's Sketchbook . It is called Sweetheart Flower. If you love digital images then you need to check this site out. I am also entering this in the challenge at Mark's Finest Papers for their Speedy the Cat's Challenge #11. I adore cats and like to play here for the name as well as the fun challenges. So stop by and check them out. I used my SU markers in Sage Shadow and Mellow Moss to color the image and kept it more of a monochromatic look. I am kinda pleased with the way this looks....been told I'm my own worst critic.(probably is too true).I printed the image on a piece of floral distressed dp and it gave the image a different look than just on regular card stock. My sentiment is from Stampin' Up's set Whimsical Words. Hope you enjoy your Friday and have a great week-end to look forward to.

Ever have a fight with a card?

Well, I have fought with this card for days....and when I started it was going to be fast and easy. LOL I'll bet all you card makers out there understand or maybe if you don't you're just more talented than me. And the sad part of this story is that I am still not happy with it. Oh well, I am posting and think what you will because I have probably already thought or said it.
This is for the Christmas challenge this week at StampTV and I am submitting this card there. My card base is my new paper from Gina K All spruced up and I used her Ivory and some scrap red to layer. The image is from Gina K designed by Theresa Momber "A Very Merry Christmas" and the sentiment is by CCS. I colored with Prismacolor Pencils and OMS.
On to more pleasant things...this week-end is the Scrap-Art show in Winston-Salem and I am going shopping and visiting with my friends. I can't wait and will let you know about my goodies later. Have a great evening and take care everyone.

Happiness...

Happy Saturday!
It was a beautiful day, warm but a lovely breeze and not so humid. I did manage to get a couple of cards together and one that I wanted to show you is for a site that I found yesterday Just For Fun . Their challenges start on Fridays and you have a chance to win a $50 shopping spree at their website. This week's color challenge is to use the colors light blue, chocolate and cream. This came together quickly and I love how it looks. Not often I feel that way when finished with my cards...too critical I guess. Hope you can check out their site and play along. This is one of color combo favs.


Card stock-SU baja breeze, chocolate chip and ivory
Stamps SU Whimsical Words
Ink-Versafine vintage sepia
Cuttlebug embossing folder
Flower--Cloud 9

Open challenge at Isabella's

Back again...Rick and I had company for dinner last night, so I had leftovers today and the house was clean so I have played in my stamp room and Sable(one of my cats) and I took a short cat nap today. This is an image that I won at Isabella's sketchbook and I wanted to try something different during their anything goes this week. I had bought a few packs of flower seeds so I made a holder to attach to the front of my card to insert the package. I colored the image "1888 Seed Catalog" with prismacolor pencils and oms. I used Gina K's creme de menthe as my base and layered with dp from Basic Grey. I used my SU embosslit to make a butterfly. I love the images at Isabella's...so varied and just my style. Please check them out when you have time to window shop!
Here is a picture of Sable on the day bed in my stamping room! He loves crafting!

A "Fresh Monday" at Deedee's Digis

It was a "Fresh Monday" at Deedee's this week. Our theme this week is "Summer Fresh" and to use one of her digis in our design. She is offering a freebie this week which is what I used for my card. I colored it with Prismacolor pencils and oms. I had recently bought a couple of new packs of paper and used some of the textured paper by Best Occasions to layer up on a base of SU ivory. My dp is from Basic Gray's pack Origins. I think this image turned out so cute and will have to send this to one of my best buds. I have another card that I may get to post so if you have time later, check back.

Free digis and a challenge

If you love digis and a generous soul then you need to check out Create with Tlc . Paulette gives away tons of freebies every day. She has challenged us to use her "Vintage Cooking" image and create a card and upload by 4:30 pacific time today. I love this image and this card was super simple...just double sided dp by Making Memories, a black grosgrain ribbon and the image layered on a piece of black card stock and count it finished. Simple but I love the look. Hope you do!

Speedy the Cat

Evening all!
I made this card for DH's birthday next month and am entering it in the challenge at Mark's Finest Papers . This is my first time entering a challenge for them and it was very simple this week, we were to use a die cut of our choice. I used the Stampin' Up top note and then layered an oval in ivory card stock with my lion image from SU's retired ( a long time ago) set "Serengeti". My husband has been to Africa hunting 4 times and loves this set. I placed a piece of burlap type ribbon behind the die cuts.

The card base is SU chocolate chip and I layered another piece of the ivory stamped with the female lions on the inside.
Have a great evening and if you are stuck in the heat wave like me, try and stay cool.

Joan's Garden Challenge #4

Happy Day to all!
I have made a card today for Joan's Gardens challenge this week. Joan wanted us to use red/white/blue and celebrate our nation's birthday while also using some type of embossing. I chose to use a script cuttlebug folder on my unknown navy card stock and place it as my first layer on the SU white card base. I stamped two images from my SU set Liberty for All in SU real red and then layered on real red card stock. I angled a piece of white grosgrain. This ended up being a CAS card ... seems like I needed something else but couldn't decide what so I decided to leave it be.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great rest of the week!

Another card for DT call for TMITA

Hello All!
Hope your Monday is going well. I decided to enter one more card at the DT call for TMITA/PCC. If you would also be interested in trying out click here and go to the post at Nina's blog.
This is an image that I purchased from Nina the other day and I think it is adorable. My card base is SU old olive and I layered pieces of a retired dp pack from SU to match her sketch on a piece of real red. The image "Cozy and Bright" was colored with a mix of SU markers and Memento inks. I created my tag by layering pieces of ivory and real red and using my tag punch from SU. The sentiment is one that I recently won from Clear Creative Stamps.
One more Christmas card ready and waiting for the season. I know it is hard to think about that when the temperatures are near 100, but he was just too cute not to use.
Well gang, better run...one of our dear friends lost his Dad this week-end and we need to go to the funeral home tonight and I have a few things to take care of before then.
Be safe and talk to you soon!

TMITA/PPC

I created this for Nina at There's Magic in the Air . I used K&Co dp Ancestry.com which is double sided and I stamped images from Tim Holtz set French Market. I used a brad from Making Memories. The image was colored using a watercolor brush and several inks including Memento Sahara Sand, Bamboo Leaves, SU Taken with Teal, Creamy Caramel and Going Gray. This is her image Flower Teacup which I just bought and adore. I want to try paper piecing this sometime. I added a small piece of brown mulberry behind the focal image. Nina has a call for anyone interested in a spot on her design team. I am probably crazy for attempting this but thought I would give it a shot. Please stop by her site and join in if you can. Thanks for stopping in and taking a look. Please leave a comment if you have time.

Anything goes at Isabella's

Happy Sunday and July 4th!
I am posting the card that I made for challenge #14 "Anything Goes" at Isabella's Sketchbook . You must use one of her images, but if you don't own any, she has a freebie that you can use.
This is one of the images that I won last week called Floral Ring 1. When I saw it I thought it would look great with a sentiment in the middle. I used SU blue bayou as my card base and the dp is also SU...a retired paper pack called porcelain prints.I used one of my large round nesties to cut it out. The inks I colored with are SU blue bayou and certainly celery. Please check out Isabella's and play along. I think you will love her images.

Flip Flopping Away!

Happy 4th of July everyone!
I found a new site and a free digital image at Crafting with Deedee's Digis and I created a card using the cute flip flops. I am loving all the digital images out there. She asked us to use her image and the colors turquoise/ocean blue, pink and green. I used card stock from Gina K designs in the colors innocent pink, turquoise sea and creme de menthe. The ribbon and rhinestone are also GKD. I used a cuttlebug embossing folder to highlight the pink layer. Hope you will stop by and see what Deedee has to offer and play this week. Thanks for coming by.