Holiday card #3

Another early card for Christmas - the focus of this card is from Newton's Nook

 and you will recognize Newton and his friend in a sleigh full of presents! 

The central image was colored with copic markers and adhered to a white circle which was then adhered to red card stock die cut from Spellbinder's Petite Scalloped Circles. The polka dot patterned paper makes a nice backdrop for this image along with the simple die cut "Christmas" from an Ellen Hudson Merry and Bright set. 

I used stamps of presents for the outside of the envelope and another one for inside the card along with a greeting perfect for any friend or family member on my list! This is a great holiday card for animal lovers.

Posting this on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge "Get Ready for Christmas!" and the Christmas Kickstart Challenge #20 It's a Gift.

Christmas card #2

Another version of my last card is shown below using the Snowflake Turn-a-bout from Concord &9th stamped in four colors: pink, aqua, silver and gold embossed. The panel was cut diagonally and the sentiment embossed in gold through the center space. This sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp "Merry Everything" set. Two tiny snowflakes were die cut using Lawn Fawn Mini Snowflakes and placed in the center of the largest snowflakes. Two others were used for accents along the center section of the card. I am entering this card in the Simon Says Stamp Get Ready for Christmas Monday Challenge.

Early Christmas Card #1

Starting Christmas cards early is absolutely necessary if I want to have enough in December. 

Lucky for me, Simon Says Stamp is running a "Let's Get Ready for Christmas challenge 

for this week's  Monday Challenge.
Plus, I am adding it to the Wednesday "Anything Goes" challenge.

This card's focus is snowflakes, stamped and die cut on top for dimension. The stamped images was made with Concord & 9th's Snowflake Turn-a-bout set using 2 ink colors as well as embossed gold and silver for a total of 4 colors of snowflakes. The large die cut snowflake on top was made with Lawn Fawn's Stitched Snowflake set.

I used the Heidi Swapp mini Minc machine to add the gold lines on the left side of the card and also to laminate the gold sentiment on the right side. This sentiment is from Gina K. Design. Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Smile Shaker

I was playing around with the colors for the My Favorite Things Color Challenge #126 

and came up with a cute shaker card. So this one is for the MFT Color Challenge. (see colors below) Some of the products I used were a MFT Stencil, the Rectangle Smile Die Namics, 

Orange Zest ink and Chocolate Brown ink. There are brown and silver sequins 

inside the shaker window behind the vellum.

      

I am also entering this card in the Simon Says Stamp "Anything Goes Challenge."

Hugs for Fall

Thanks for checking out my blog! Another card with fall colors - this one using lots of My Favorite Things products! I started with "You Gnome Me" and colored the gnome with copic markers. I love these little guys and although they are not new, they find their way into my cards all the time! I used the Blueprint Die #18 for the diagonal card front pieces, one in Grout Gray and the other with a pattern paper from Itsy Bitsy Polka Dot 6x6 Paper Pack, both from MFT.

For the focal point, I added a flower pot with stamped flowers from the set "Beautiful Flowers." The flower pot is also from an older set called "Sunflower Sweetheart." I noticed this set was just released again from the Vault! A great set for coloring with copics. The flowers were all stamped with Orange Zest, Milk Chocolate, and Gumdrop Green (MFT.)

Lastly, I die cut the word HUGS from a Die Namics MFT set (Sending Hugs) in brown and I used a brown marker to make faux stitch marks around the top panel for an extra accent. I really like the way this card turned out and am entering it in two MFT challenges. You can check out all of the entries here: Color Challenge 126  and  Wednesday Sketch Challenge 456.

One more challenge for this card is the Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes!
     

Sending Warmest Thoughts

This "general" greeting card can be used for various occasions. I made it 

by using a large daisy stamp set and MFT Orange Zest ink on yellow card stock. 

I used Nuvo drops in several colors to accent the centers of the flowers, 

and added the die cut sentiment "Thoughts" in brown paper.

I am entering this card in the My Favorite Things Color Challenge #126. Here 

are the colors for this challenge: 

Autumn Greetings

A cute Autumn Card - made with the Altenew Leaf Burst Stencil, Distress Inks, the cute fox from "Fall Fox" from Sugar Pea Design, and a sentiment from an older Inkadinkado Set. The fox was colored with copic markers and a few Nuvo drops were added interest. 

I am entering this card in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge "Anything Goes!" 

and the Collaboration between SSS and Altenew for Stamptember!

Happy Halloween

I just had to get this stamp from Studio Katia for this year's Halloween cards for my grandkids! And, since it was a special collaboration between Studio Katia and Simon Says Stamp, I am posting it on their special Collaboration Link Up Page. I am also entering the Wednesday Challenge, "Anything Goes!"

A few other products I used for these cards: Blended Distress Inks and Paper Smooches.

With Sympathy

Here's a card for the Simon Says Stamp Collaboration with Altenew. The stamp and die set is "Best Mom." I used copic markers to color the flower image and popped it up with dimensional tape. For this design I also used a Spellbinders Floral Oral Die, Impression Obsession background stamp with silver embossing powder, and lavender paper from my stash (see the enlarged pic.) The sentiment was made with a tag from Mama Elephant with a Taylored Expression stamp, also silver embossed. I have made this exact design in pink as well, but I like the lavender better for sympathy cards.

                    

Art Impression Thinking of You

The Art Impression water color stamps let you create your own scenes. This was one of my first attempts with the gate stamp and several flower/foliage stamps. I was pleased with the final product. Linking this card with the Simon Says Stamp Collaboration with Art Impressions for Stamptember!

Here is a second card I made with the Art Impression   

stamps using their water coloring technique.

Birthday Cheer Candles

Another card with yupo paper and alcohol inked background. 

I like this color scheme for masculine cards which are sometimes tough to create. 

This one uses a rainbow background and then black candles with yellow flames. 

Simple and to the point. The Birthday Wishes is a new die cut I bought from Honey Bee Stamps. Linking this card with the Simon Says Stamp 

Collaboration with Honey Bee Stamps for Stamptember!

Happy Birthday Floral Silhouette

This card was inspired by Gina K after watching one of her You Tube videos. I loved the contrast between the very dark image against the colorful background. It's been a long time since I watched the video, but if I can find it, I will link to it. I'm linking this card to the Simon Says Stamp's Exclusive Collaboration with Gina K for Stamptember!     

The stamp set is "Wild Blossoms" from Gina K Designs. I used Distress Ink for the background after masking off the area in Dried Marigold, Picked Raspberry, and Wilted Violet. The sentiment is from an old set I had in my stash. I also stamped the corner of the envelope.                                                                                                                                                                                                     

   
Here is another card using the same technique. This flower stamp is from the same Gina K. set. The Disress Inks were changed, obviously. I didn't write them down. Which card do you like better?

Big Happy Birthday

This was one of those cards which comes together quickly. I had used alcohol inks on some yupo paper in different designs, many with a rainbow theme. Later, when I bought this "Big Happy Birthday" die from Mama Elephant I knew I could cut it out, glue it on, and have a great masculine card. However, I added glossy accents to dress it up along with the little bow tie at the top. How do you like it?

I am linking this card to the Simon Says Stamp Collaboration with Mama Elephant celebration for Stamptember!

Turnabout Thanks

Here is the second of two cards I made using Concord and 9th Turnabout stamps 

along with a few other products of course! I am linking these up with
Simon Says Stamp Collaboration with Concord and 9th.    

     

This card was made with the "Lovely Blossoms" Turnabout stamp from Concord and 9th in several blue hues and shades of green/lime colors. The die cut flowers and leaves are from the "Sakura Blosssoms" from Altenew and the sentiment is from Lawn Fawn.

Smile with Tulips

Here is the first of two cards I made using Concord and 9th Turnabout stamps 

along with a few other products of course! I am linking these up with 

Simon Says Stamp Collaboration with Concord and 9th. 

This bright, happy card was made with the "Stitched Turnabout" stamp using 4 inks: orange soda and cornflower from Hero Arts and frayed leaf and forest glade from Altenew. The basket and tulips are from "Spring Basket" set by Gina K. Designs and the sentiment is from Impression Obsession. I am also going to link this card to the Simon Says Stamp Collaboration with Gina K!
















                                                       

So Thankful

Here's a fall card for My Favorite Things Wednesday Sketch Challenge #454.  The sketch can be seen below the card.

I combined Thankful Friend and Season's Tweetings stamp sets for this autumn scene and used copic markers to color the elements. For the background - MFT Mini Cloud stencil with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and SSS Grassy Edges in Mowed Lawn Distress Ink.


The striped design at the bottom of the card was created using MFT large Candy Stripe Stamp, coloring every other line with Orange Zest ink. Then I used an Acorn stencil from Echo Park in between each line alternating them for a zig zag effect with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.


The sentiment tag is clear heat embossed powder over top of Orange Zest ink and some light ink blending around the edges.

Gold Hello!

Card for Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge "Bling It On!"

When I found a strip of left over floral card stock which I had created some time ago, I decided to use it for a new card. I inked up and die cut flowers from an Altenew set of flowers and leaves; I gold embossed a floral design using a large stamp onto a piece of light pink card stock for the background; then I arranged everything on top of a doily with dimensionals and added a thin strip of gold between the patterned paper on the left and the arrangement on the right side. The gold embossed "Hello" die pulls the colors together. This is actually a lot of BLING for me!

       

Sending Healing Hugs

Wanted to try a new Hero Arts Stencil called Every Which Way, so I used three colors of Distress Ink on this card. But, first I gold embossed the large sentiment from a very new Simon Says Stamp set called Healing Hugs which I love! I really needed something new for "get well" cards and this set was perfect! When I saw it the first few days of STAMPTEMBER, I knew I had to buy it right away. When the layer was dry, I mounted it on a piece of color card stock and then white card base and added some matching sequins.

Entering this card in the Simon Stays Stamp Wednesday Challenge "Bling It On!
and the SSS Monday Challenge "Stamp It."

Happy Birthday Wreath

Even though it was a terrific day outside, I spent most of the afternoon inside at my craft table. I wanted to experiment with the Color Challenge choices for My Favorite Things Color Challege #125.
I had not used the Gina K Wreath Builder for a long time, and I wanted to try it with the flower stamps from MFT. I am entering this card in the SSS Stamptember "We love Gina K Products."

Using flowers and leaves from Beautiful Blooms, Fall Florals, and Mini Modern Blooms stamp sets, I arranged each element into the wreath using the Gina K. Wreath Builder template. I stayed with the colors in the challenge, only adding Daffodil Yellow as an extra flower color.


This photo does not pick up all of the intricacies of the card, but the square die for the wreath has stitching around it, and the persimmon paper has hearts from an embossing folder for added dimension. The sentiment die is from Lawn Fawn and the ribbon/bow are from my stash of extra embellishments.

Thanks for checking out my blog today!

Gerber Daisies

Simon Says Stamp created the best Gerber Daisy Background stamp recently and I used it on several cards. I am going to enter a one of these on their Monday Challege Stamp It here. Here are my cards:

 

Beautiful Flowers with Sympathy

This card is based on a technique from Kristina Werner - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0UmTSFFMiA where she used Ink Blending and Multi Color Stamping. I tried the same technique using the Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Flowers and am entering it into the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge "Stamp It."

One side note. I tried this twice. The second time I reversed the order, doing the stamping first and the ink blending second. That worked better for me than the original way Kristina Werner did it with the ink blending before the stamping. Not sure why that worked better for me, but I had to discard the first card and was happy with the results of this one.

One thing for sure, you can't get better at something until you try it which is why I love watching the card crafters I follow on YouTube because they always have tips to share! Thank you to the crafting world for all the sharing they do.

Beautiful Flowers Thinking of You

Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Flowers and Beautiful Flowers II are both gorgeous stamps which allow the crafter to achieve many different "looks." This card is water colored on top of white embossing. Entering this one into the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge "Stamp It."

Birthday Wishes

Here is a design I saw on Gina K a while ago and have used often. There are a number of different products in this greeting card including some from Gina K and Simon Says Stamp. Entering this card in the SSS Monday Challenge, Stamp It!

Hello

It's been ages since I posted a card. It's not that I haven't made them; I just haven't been adding them to my blog or entering them into any challenges. Starting that again as I have time. This card is for the MFT  Color Challenge #125.. Check out the colors below.