Birthday Dog

 I have a fun birthday card to share today for anyone who loves dogs. I stamped and colored this Tim Holtz crazy dog image and fussy cut it, placing it on top of an embossed CB panel with a birthday theme. I had a strip of  watercolored paper in my snippets box so I added it to the side, then stamped the birthday party hat on a piece of it and fussy cut that as well. I added glaze pen colors to the circles and pom pom on the top, then covered it all with clear wink of stella. I added a SSS pre-printed sentiment backed with black for the final touch.

I'm sharing this with these challenges:

The Critter Crazy Challenge #63 - A/G featuring a critter

Happy Little Stampers June Watercolor challenge - A/G

Thanks for stopping by and I wish everyone a wonderful weekend!

Carol

Father's Day Fishing

Several of our friends love to go fishing, so I recently bought this Newton's Nook stamp to make some father's day cards. I started with a panel of white and sponged assorted blue Distress inks all over, spritzing with water to create the water. After it dried, I stamped a Kaisercraft fishnet image over it with Versamark ink, then heat embossed it with white ep. The image panel was stamped with Versamark ink, then heat-embossed in white and colored with gel pens. I added a few clear Nuvo drops for water bubbles. The anchor was made from gold mirror cardstock and a Marianne die, and laced with some neutral twine for the finishing touch. I used Lil Inker stitched rectangle dies to cut all 3 panels.

I'll enter this into the following challenges:

the Paper Players PP544 challenge - summer; with the following mood board:

the Happy Little Stampers June watercolor challenge - a/g

NBUS #27 challenge - Newton's Nook stamp (Never Before Used Schtuff)

Thanks again as always for checking in with me and I wish you the best day possible!

Carol

 

Happy Easter

I sponged the colors onto this card using Tumbled Glass, Citron and Raspberry distress inks. I sponged the middle section first with Spun Sugar, then used a die-cut cross for a mask, sponging over and around it with Raspberry ink to make the soft image of a cross appear in the sky. I added a SSS Bunny Hugs die-cut to the bottom, adding a Sweet 'n Sassy sentiment that I've had for probably ten years. I replaced the little heart in the bunny with some pink glitter paper for a touch of sparkle.

I will enter this into the following challenges:

the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - a/g

Cute Card Thursday challenge #680 - a/g

2 Crafty Critter Crazies April challenge - a/g must use a critter

Double D Challenges - skies

Happy Little Stampers April Water Color Challenge - a/g

the Retro Rubber Challenge #155 - Rainbow - use stamps more than 1 yr old

Wishing those who celebrate a very joyful and blessed Easter today. May your holiday be spent with loved ones once again.

Thanks for stopping by.

Carol

Sunflower Stem Birthday

With warmer weather just around the corner, I decided to make a birthday card with a flower theme. I used a SSS Sunflower Stem die to create this card, cutting it in black, white, 2 colors of green and some water colored paper sponged with 3 different distress inks in Mustard, Lemonade, and Fossilized Amber then spritzed with water. I inlaid the different pieces to give this some depth of color, adding the black outline to make it pop. I backed it with some polka dot DCWV designer paper and added a heat-embossed SSS birthday sentiment banner done with white embossing powder. I thought of adding 3 small yellow gemstones above the sentiment but I think I'm going to leave it the way it is. Sometimes simple is best.

I'm adding this to the Just Us Girls challenge wild week #525 - inlaid diecuts

Also sharing with the Happy Little Stampers March watercolour challenge - which is anything goes with an option of flowers

             

Thanks for stopping by and make it a great Monday!

Carol

Thinking of You

This card started with a panel of water colored paper that was spritzed with water and sprinkled with blue Nuvo shimmer powder. I die-cut the panel with a stitched square die and added a mat of red. The two designer papers were in my stash of snippets so I layered them in keeping with the red & blue color theme. The MB butterfly was done in red and a pastel yellow and seemed to match the colors well enough, so I added that, along with a SU! sentiment and some bling of red, blue, and a pale blue pearl. I wish I'd used a different color card base than white, but it's finished so I'm going to leave it alone.

I'll enter this into the following challenges:

Repeat Impressions "What If" Wednesday sketch challenge J2920

Happy Little Stampers February Watercolour challenge- a/g optional bling

Here's wishing you a wonderful week ahead with lots of sunshine! Thanks for stopping by.

Carol

Autumn Birthday

I was finally able to post a picture in blogger after about 5 refreshes to get the "add image" icon to work. I don't know why things became so complicated with blogger, but such is life. I'm glad I'm able to finally get a card posted and hopeful I'll continue being able to.

I made this for someone who had an early October birthday, so I used Autumn colors and a water colored die-cut stitched leaf from Lawn Fawn. I used some Yupo paper and distress inks and water to make the leaf, then placed it on a Coral Reef stitched circle die cut from MFT. I added an embossed panel that was done with a Darice Autumn leaves folder, then sponged a little Coral Reef ink (GinaK) randomly on the leaves. The background papers were snippets from my stash and it's all on a soft stone card base. The sentiment was heat-embossed with white on a black fishtail banner.

I'll enter this into the following challenges:

Dies R Us Challenge #132 - Trees and/or Leaves

HLS November Watercolor challenge - Anything Goes -*optional animals

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great weekend!

Carol

Watercolored Birthday Card

This card began with a panel of water color card where I brushed on some watered down cracked pistachio, mermaid lagoon and tumbled glass Distress inks and then let it dry. Next I used a Cornish Heritage Farm chicken wire fence background stamp with white pigment ink. It didn't turn out to be visible, so I went into plan B. I pulled out a WRMK next level Geometric embossing folder and gave it an embossed look of chicken wire. I still wasn't happy, so I stamped the chicken wire background in black on the lower portion of the card, and now I can see it with that silly bird sitting right on top of it :) The Tim Holtz crazy bird was colored with Copics, while the hat and balloons  were colored with distress inks and fussy cut for placement. The sentiment is by Tim Holtz and was heat-embossed with white ep, then die cut using a MFT fishtail flag frame die. I just used the inside portion of the die without the frame. For the final touch, a few black and aqua Nuvo drops were added just for fun. The bird's eyes are covered with Glossy Accents just for fun.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Cute Card Thursday challenge #593 - anything goes

Happy Little Stampers August watercolor challenge - anything goes/optional "ocean"

Dies R Us challenge #126 - use bright colors

Thanks for stopping by and here's wishing you a great Monday!

Carol

Retirement Card

I was asked to make a retirement card recently, so I made several, and I'll share one with you today. I began with a piece of vanilla card stock, sponging some antique linen ink through a SU! brick stencil just in the center of the panel. Next I used a Cuttlebug "clockworks" embossing folder, then used an aqua brush and several inkpads to add watercolor stains. The metal clock hands and brad are from Tim Holtz - something I've been hoarding for years! The sentiment is from the MFP stamp set "Take Time to Live" and I heat-embossed it with gold on an espresso snippet of card stock, then tore it around the edges to age it a bit. The inside simply says "Happy Retirement" and it's on an early espresso card base.

I'm sharing this with the Happy Little Stampers January Watercolor challenge which is anything goes with texture.

Thanks for stopping by and make it a great weekend! Always take time to live - life is short!

Carol

Sick as a Dog

My husbands' friend has been quite ill lately with a 2nd stay in the hospital. Yesterday morning I made this card before we went to visit him. When he opened it, he cracked up laughing and smiling, so this card did what I hoped it would do. I used a Tim Holtz crazy dog image, coloring with Copics. I made his tongue a fluorescent green color (because he's sick, right?) and coated it with glossy accents. I drew faint red lines in his eyeballs too before coating them (and his nose) with glossy accents. I added an Impression Obsession die-cut bucket and added a SU! sentiment to the front of it. The image panel and striped dsp panels were cut with Lil Inker stitched rectangles, and the little grey cloud was done with a Lawn Fawn stitched cloud die, while I drew in the raindrops with a Copic. The horizontal panel was a water colored snippet left over from a previous project which I embossed with a Cuttlebug Cape Cod ef. The cardstock base and striped dsp are SU! Pacific Point while the bucket is Lemon Lime, also from SU!

This card was made mostly from snippets, so I'm sharing it over at the Snippets Playground #339.

Also the Happy Little Stampers November Anything Goes with Dies challenge.

Also sharing with the Happy Little Stampers November Watercolour Challenge - anything goes with an optional twist of "get well."

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope all sickness has bypassed you this week! Enjoy the sunshine!

Carol

Water Colored Birthday

I had a play with some distress and distress oxide inks yesterday and made 4 panels, just mixing colors to see what I could come up with. For this background I used Iced Spruce, Worn Lipstick, and Spun Sugar. I smeared the ink pads randomly onto a craft mat, then spritzed with water and dipped the wc paper  until I got the results I was looking for. There was a leftover strip of wc paper that I dipped into solid Iced Spruce to make the leaves. I went into my doo-dad box of pre-made/pre-cut items to find the elements to put this card together. The rose is from GinaMarieDesigns, and I made it some time ago, using 2 different colors of mauve and pink, inserting the lighter pink negatives into the rose shape, then covering them with glitter. I wasn't crazy about the glitter, so I covered it with glossy accents and then tossed it into the box to use another day. Today it got used :) For the leaves, I scored the wc strip longway, and ran it through a paper crimper at an angle, then fussy cut the leaves and popped them up on foam dimensionals. The birthday sentiment is by SNSS and the happy was a previous die-cut from the box. I put this all on a smoky slate card base and added a few snippet stems cut with a SU! Framelit die set, and added some black Nuvo drops for the final touch.

I'm entering this into the Snippets Playground #334 where it's always a/g using your snippets.

I'm also sharing it with the Happy Little Stampers September Watercolor challenge which is a/g with an option of using a butterfly.

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you all a wonderful weekend, with a special wish going out to my American friends for a happy Labor Day holiday weekend!

Carol

Anniversary Rose

I made this card for a friend's anniversary and it all started with the water colored background. I just smeared several colors of distress ink on a craft mat, spritzed with water, and then dabbed the paper in to add some color. After it dried, I embossed it with a stencil to add a little interest, then die-cut it with a stitched die. The rose is by Stampendous, colored with Copics and clear-embossed before fussy cutting. The leaves are by Hero arts, fussy cut and popped up on dimensionals. The card base is PTI Berry Sorbet where I used a Lil Inker stitched rectangle die, and the white heat-embossed sentiment is by SU! I added a few Nuvo glitter drops on the leaves just for fun.

I'm sharing this with the Happy Little Stampers August Watercolour challenge where there is an option to use flowers.

Thanks for the visit, it's always great to have you, and I wish you a wonderful day.

Carol

Thank You in Lavender and Green

This card started with the background piece. I sponged it with wilted violet distress ink and added droplets of water which gave it some white spots. After it dried, I stamped it with white craft ink using a SU! stitched background stamp. I wanted to add more, so I stenciled with some citron distress ink and a TH burlap stencil on 2 corners, and then sponged a little antique linen ink lightly over the stenciled corners. As a final touch, I embossed the panel with a WRMK next level gemstones ef. 

Next I stamped the SU! blended bloom flower twice, fussy cutting the center portion and popping it up with dimensionals over the lower portion of the flower. I colored the flower with Copics and gel pens. The leaves were done with a Hero Arts stamp on some granny apple green striped dsp from SU, fussy cut, and popped up on dimensionals after being curled around a glue stick. The white stems were done with a SU! bouquet Bunch framelits die and 2 dies from a set of dies by Precious Maricke called Leaves. The ladybugs were done with a Memory Box set of dies enhanced with a white gel pen, and the sentiment is by Lawn Fawn, embossed with white ep on black. For the final touch, I added some Nuvo clear sparkle drops to the leaves and placed this on a granny apple green cardstock base by SU!

This will be going into the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - make your own background

Double D challenge Don't Bug Me - use bugs

Happy Little Stampers August 2018 Watercolor challenge - a/g - option to use flowers

JFF August 2018 challenge - stripes

Tuesday Throwdown #403 challenge - stenciling

Thanks so much for the visit, it's always great to welcome you! Do have yourself a fantastic Friday and an even better weekend as well!

Carol

Watercolored Wedding Card

I needed to add a few wedding cards to my stash so I started by making this one. I began with a piece of watercolor paper sponged with worn lipstick distress oxide ink. I added water until I liked the results, then die cut it with a stitched heart. I also die-cut the Spellbinders Love Vine from white and placed that in the center of the watercolored heart. I used a MFT fishtail banner die for the SU! sentiment, embossing it with gold; then made 2 wedding rings from gold mirror cardstock by die cutting them with a Memory Box Loopy Rings die. I added a tiny white bow to the top of them and embossed the background with a Sizzix (TH) damask embossing folder.

I'm sharing this with the following challenges:

Happy Little Stampers October Watercolour challenge 

anything goes with an optional twist of gold

Dies R Us Challenge #82 - Life's events

Thanks for stopping by and have a good Monday. 

Carol  

Sympathy Bouquet

Today I have a card with a water colored panel made with Squeezed Lemonade, Worn Lipstick, Spun Sugar, and Mustard Seed distress inks. I just randomly sponged the panel and lightly spritzed it with water and let it dry. For the bouquet, I used die-cuts done with SU! Bouquet Bunch framelit dies, adding some Nuvo pink glitter drops to the centers of all those tiny flowers. The little bow on the stems was coated with Stickles frosted ice glitter glue for some subtle sparkle. The sentiment was heat-embossed with white ep on black and cut with a SU! word window punch. I matted the image panel with black and placed it on a white card base.

I'm sharing this with the Happy Little Stampers September Watercolour Challenge which is anything goes with an optional twist of "spritz."

Thanks for stopping by and make it a great Friday!

Carol