A Valentine in Blue

I finally started to get busy making Valentines, and created this one in the colors of white, blue and silver using an Inky Antics stamped image. I sponged clouds on the background with Tumbled Glass distress ink, then use a silver heart-shaped doily from my stash. The word balloon die is by PoppyStamps. I used SU! snippets of designer paper in Pacific Point blue along with black and white to add a 2nd balloon to match the one the bear is hanging onto. The bear was colored with Copics and fussy cut and I added liquid applique for his fuzzy little tail. The sentiment is also by Inky Antics.

I'll share this with the Double D Challenge of "Fun with Balloons"

as well as the Repeat Impressions J2220 challenge of "anything goes."

Thanks for stopping by today and make it a great day whatever you do!

Carol

Happy Dancing!

As soon as I saw these bunny dies from Tim Holtz, I knew I had to have them because they just made me happy! I die-cut 3 of them from snippets of rust-colored card stock and just grinned as I thought how silly they look but how fun they are at the same time. They just reminded me of someone doing a happy dance, so I went with that thought and made a birthday card. I used a SU! stencil and Tumbled Glass ink to make the background clouds, giving these guys a serious lift from the ground below. Next I used a grass die to ground them with a little bit of greenery. The stamps are all from Casual Friday and the final touch was to add a few aqua Nuvo drops for a little sparkle. I matted this with a piece of Soft Sky card stock.

I'm entering this into the following challenges:

Dies R Us Challenge #137 - Birthdays

The Male Room Challenge #127 - anything masculine goes

Not Just Cards Challenges January 2020 - anything goes

Cute Card Thursday Challenge #617- something new  (bunny dies) 

Craft Rocket Challenge #66 - something new (bunny dies)

Thanks for stopping by and have yourself a fantastic day!

Carol

Stenciled Birthday

I recently chose this Stencil Girl "Rooted in Nature Botanical" stencil as part of a prize package I won from Simon Says Stamp. I placed it on a white card base, and sponged distress inks of Coral, Marmalade and Amber. I used Memory Box Darla and Vivienne butterfly dies, and cut them in daffodil, orange, red, and early espresso - swapping negatives to make a colorful butterfly. The sentiment was heat-embossed on black with white ep and I used both SSS and SU! stamp sets combined to personalize this for a daughter's birthday card I was asked to make.

I'll enter this into the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge which is to use a stencil.

I'll also enter this into the Seize the Birthday #181 challenge - stencils

Have a happy Friday and a great weekend as well! Thanks for stopping by as always :)

Carol 

Pink Valentine

I found this black die-cut heart in my box of snippets, and with Valentine's day just around the corner I decided to make a card with it. It's a die bought from Ebay and I placed a heart on the top right that was cut with a SU! framelit die and some SU! glittered card stock. The card base is Lawn Fawn pink, and I embossed it with a brand new Sunny Studios quilted hearts embossing folder. The ribbon is from Walmart, and the little tag was done with a very old retired SU! stamp, colored with a glittered pen and layered with SU! retired large and small tag punches. I added a little twine bow to the tag just for fun.

I will enter this into the following challenges:

Crafty Calendar Challenge for January 2020 - add a tag

Tuesday Throwdown TT448 - use something new (embossing folder)

Not Just Cards Challenge for January 2020 - anything goes

Thanks for checking in with me today, I always appreciate your visit and taking time to leave comments :)

Carol

Lots of Hearts!

It's a new Year and time for the January Twofer #23 - with a theme of "hearts." I've chosen to make a valentine and "sending love" theme. I wish I could be more creative with the twofer as most are, but my brain always seems to make cards that are similar to each other, in spite of being different themes. I guess that comes from making duplicate cards for Operation Write Home for so many years, who knows?

I used Unity's "Alfie" stamp on each card, as well as the same CB embossing folder. I colored Alfie with Copics and used MFT stitched circle die cuts to give him a place to sit. The lower border was done with a SSS star parade die and some snippets of assorted red and white papers. The word "love" is a die cut from SSS and the white-embossed "sending you" on black was cropped from a Gerda Stein stamp. I added glossy accents to Alfie's heart and nose just for fun along with 3 tiny red heart-shaped gemstones from Recollections to the largest heart in the border. This card is going to a friend of mine who is battling for her life with liver cancer, and I think it's more meaningful than a get-well card under the circumstances.

I'm also entering this card into the Snippets Playground #369 - where you need to use snippets to make your card.

I will also enter this card into Pammies Inky Pinkies challenge #202 - which is "anything goes"

Here's the 2nd card of my twofer- a Valentine made with the same image and placed on some MFT die-cut banners. The vertical panel was done with a Martha Stewart heart border punch and a snippet of Recollections striped dsp, while the sentiment panel was die cut with a SU! Chalk Talk framelit die and heat-embossed with white using a Dr's Designs sentiment. I wrapped and tied some neutral twine and added a Recollections clear gemstone heart for some extra sparkle. Alfie's heart is covered with glossy accents to make it shine too.

I'm also going to enter this card into the Repeat Impressions Tic-Tac-Toe challenge J820 which uses the following grid:

I used the center horizontal line of twine, sparkle, and die cut.

Also entering into the 34th 2 Crafty Critter Crazies challenge for January - where you must use a critter on your card.

Thanks so much for stopping by and make it a great day whatever you do!

Carol

Gnome Birthday

I had a request to make several birthday cards for a sister and a daughter, and this is one that I came up with using a Simon Says Stamp gnome die and some snippets of card stock. The background was embossed with a CB birthday ef and the lower portion was die-cut with a SSS dot scalloped border die. The balloons were done with a MS punch while the birthday sentiment was done with a SNSS birthday stamp. The white-embossed sentiments on black were done with a retired SU! set and cut with a word window punch. I had to give that gnome a bright pink nose with a fluorescent pink Copic just for fun.

I'll enter this into the following challenges:

Shopping Our Stash SOS#411 - gnome sweet gnome

Happy Little Stampers HSL January anything goes with dies challenge

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you a wonderful day whatever you do!

Carol

Fun with Florals and Snippets

I decided that during the coming year I'm going to sort through my snippets box as often as possible and use up those assorted elements that just accumulate and take up room. This card was made entirely from snippets, except for the sentiment panel in blue. I found a previously die-cut SSS fresh daisies piece and the rest of this card was built around that. The die-cut stitched square, small and large outer frames, along with a pastel blue piece that was already embossed with a gemstone ef seemed to look good together, so I used them all. The dsp is long-retired SU! and I heat-embossed a birthday sentiment on some Pacific Point blue cardstock to match the daisies. I decided to leave the one bud dangling outside the frame just for fun, and added 3 tiny gemstones in pale blue for interest.

 I'm going to share this card with the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge which is "Fun with Florals." 

I was stunned when I opened the SSS Wednesday challenge and saw my card was randomly chosen as the winner last week! It must be my lucky day and that's good news as my Big Shot died recently, and a couple days later my vacuum bit the dust as well........sigh. I'm grateful for the turn-around to some good luck :)

Thanks for stopping by and make it a great day whatever you do!

Carol

Masculine Birthday Card

While I had the Lawn Fawn stitched Windy background die out, and had a leftover piece of that pastel blue card left over from the previous posted card, I decided to make a masculine birthday card. I used a MFP (Now closed) stamp and clear-embossed it after stamping. I colored his jacket with some blue Copic markers, then stenciled some crackle with a Kaisercraft stencil and some Pumice Stone distress ink. The sentiment is heat-embossed with white on black and from SSS. The sketch was from a challenge that just closed before I could get this entered LOL

I'm sharing this with the Cardz4Guyz Challenge #235 - Blue is the Color

Also sharing with the Repeat Impressions DCCJ120 - stamp a childhood memory. (Hopalong Cassidy anyone? Maybe I'm just too old for any of you youngsters to remember that fun cowboy tv show I watched as a child with my grandfather?) 

Sharing too with Seize the Birthday #180 - layer it!

Also sharing with the Male Room Challenge #127 - anything goes

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you a wonderful day whatever you do!

Carol

Birthday Time Again!

A friend of mine celebrates her birthday in January, so I made this card for her. I received this beautiful Stitched Windy Backdrop die recently from Lawn Fawn and used it for the first time to make the background - as time seems to just fly by with the wind. It's actually a beautiful pastel blue color but with no sunshine for many days in a row, this was the best photo I could get. (click the photo to enlarge to see the details) I used an Impression Obsession Clock Face die  and cut it from black and white, interchanging the negatives for a different look. I added some glittered Nuvo Dots into the tiny circle dots as those negatives were just too fiddly to replace. The sentiment was heat-embossed with white and die cut with a MFT fishtail flag banner in black and white. The last element was to add a tiny twine bow and this is ready to drop into the mail in a few days.

I'd like to enter this into the Dies R Us challenge - which is a/g using dies from their store. (I.O. Clock Face)

Also entering into the Paper Players Theme Challenge #PP472 - something new - Lawn Fawn stitched windy backdrop die / new year

Craft Rocket challenge #66- something new (backdrop die)

Thanks for stopping by and make it a great day whatever you do!

Carol

Gnome for Christmas

 A thoughtful friend gifted me with this adorable Simon Says Stamp gnome die and a great Kringle & Co paper pad for Christmas, and I just can't stop playing with it! I chose 2 of the papers for the background, adding a cherry cobbler panel that was done with a SU! Scalloped edge border punch. The gnome was "dressed" with 2 little snippets from the paper pad, and placed on a Lawn Fawn die-cut tag, adding the stamped sentiment on the side and coloring his nose with a Copic marker. I added a piece of sparkly silver ribbon to the top and called this one done!

I'll enter it into the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - use something new 

Little Red Wagon challenge #529 - use your NBUS 

Double D Challenge - use a punch

MLCCB #18 - January anything Christmas goes

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Carol