Penny Black Birthday & Anniversary

Hi all - back with a couple of cards made with some new items to my stash courtesy of my extremely talented blogging friend Jean. Many thanks to Jean for the incredibly generous sharing from her stash - it'll take a looong time for me to use all the fabulous goodies!! I started with a darling Penny Black bicycle image over a Poppystamps die that I dry embossed.

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; Poptone Black Licorice

Hero Arts Pool Layering Paper

Stamps - Penny Black Touch of Whimsy

Die - Poppystamps Happy Birthday Background

Other - Copic Markers; washi tape; gems

I made this card for my baby sister who had a bday last week. She was delighted with the bicycle because it reminded her of our childhood. I used to pop her little self into my bike basket and haul off to the local swimming pool. We practically lived there all summer - this was back in the day when a 13 year old could roam the city with a 5 year old in tow.... Our other sister plus our only brother (both younger than I) joined us for the fun. Guess you could call me the leader of the pack!

Next I have a card for friends' anniversary. I flipped through more of the PB transparent sets Jean sent and found this darling pair of birdies on a floral heart - perfect!

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; Poptone Black Licorice;

BoBunny Penelope Collection (green pattern); 

Momenta Marbled Pastels (blue for label)

Stamps - Penny Black All Abloom; Hero Arts CL342 Everyday Sayings (retired)

Die - Spellbinders Romantic Rectangles Two; 

My Favorite Things Blueprints 13 (retired)

Other - Copic Markers

I created this card today & had to pop it into the mail right away. Please forgive the photo colors - it was an extremely gloomy day here! I had to edit a lot to get a yellowish cast off my white; the big flower was a deeper red in real life.

Thanks again to Jean for the goodies & for her inspiration over the years!! I'm sure I'll be back to post often using fun items she sent. And thanks to you for stopping by. Happy crafting!!

Twofer Challenge Leaves - Guest Designer!!

Hey everyone - I'm excited to be a Guest Designer on the Twofer Card Challenge this month!! I won the July Beverage Challenge with my champagne cards here. This month, get ready for some fun with leaves.

I'm not quite ready for fall so my cards have more summery leaves on them. I actually ended up using die cut leaves from two different Spellbinders sets on both cards:

You probably can spot the leaf die cuts I used - they're around the outside of the leafy wreath at left. They popped up at the end of the branch in the card at right. The sprig of leaves also found its way onto both cards. Here's a closer look:

Supplies: Paper - Hero Arts pool; Paper Studio yello

Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; scrap of vellum

Stamps - Hero Arts CL772 Written in the Stars (sentiment - retired)

Dies - Spellbinders Sweet Tweets, Flower Garden, & Royal Monogram Set

Hero Arts Nesting Circle Infinity Dies

My Favorite Things Die-Namics Blueprints (scalloped border -retired)

Other - Copic Markers; Hero Arts black ink

For this card I started with the leafy monogram frame from the Royal Monogram set (die cut from a green vellum), then added sprigs from the Flower Garden and leaves from Sweet Tweets. Finally added the flowers and a sentiment circle. It was missing something so I added the scalloped panel die cut from some Blueprints set - not sure which one....

Supplies: Paper - Paper Studio green and red,

Neenah Classic Crest Solar White,

Lawn Fawn Plaid, scrap of kraft, scrap of marbled Yupo

Stamps - Hero Arts CL342 Everyday Messages (retired)

Dies - Spellbinders Sweet Tweets & Flower Garden

Stencils - Tim Holtz Mini-Stencils Set 10
Other - Copic Markers; Spiced Marmalade Distress Oxide ink;
Hero Arts black ink

The die cut pieces to this card are all part of Sweet Tweets, except the sprig in the birdie's mouth. The sprig came from the Flower Garden die set. I die cut the sprig from a scrap of Yupo I had marbled with alcohol inks. To form the card I simply cut two of the scalloped panels and scored the back one to adhere to the front one. I mostly cut the scene bits from white paper, except the roof, leaves and heart. Colored the bird house yellow and then stenciled it with Distress Oxide ink. Also stenciled the branch. I colored the bird to be a bluebird, following a photo from the Internet - sorta looks right?!


Thanks to Darnell and crew at the Twofer Card Challenge for having me Guest Design this month! I just love that challenge and am glad to be sharing inspiration this month! Be sure to stop by and see the rest of the beautiful creations by the team. Hope to see your cards in the pool too!

Thanks for stopping and have a crafty week!!

Wreath for CAS Christmas!

Hey everyone - I'm getting an entry in for the September CAS Christmas Card Challenge. Loll, Bonnie & company would like to see a wreath on this month's card.

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; Paper Studio red

Stamp & Die - Spellbinders Love Peace Hope Holiday 2017 (Wreath)

Silhouette for J & Y (can't remember the font)

Other - Copic Markers, Wink of Stella, gold gel pen, Joy Ultra thin foam tape

I was lucky enough to win a $25 Spellbinders prize during a recent blog hop; my comment on friend Virginia's blog was randomly chosen. Yay!! I couldn't resist this delicate wreath (nor a bunch of other goodies - LOL!). Many thanks to Virginia & Spellbinders!!

I cut and stamped the wreath and colored it with Copics, then added Wink of Stella to the roses (hard to tell in photo). What to do with the wreath??? The stamp & die set includes the little words PEACE, LOVE & JOY. Could've used one or all of those but seeing the JOY made me decide to use the wreath as the O. Yes, it's been done by legions but I couldn't resist. I found a font I liked in the Silhouette and cut the J & the Y. Note to self - be sure to write down the name of the font before you cut! I couldn't for the life of me find it afterward, even after trying a bunch of them - sigh... I added everything with my favorite thin foam to a top fold A2 card - done! This would be an easy card to mass produce and it's nice and flat for mailing.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you'll visit tomorrow when I'll be guest designing for the September Twofer Challenge. You'll see more of my new Spellbinders goodies in action.

Happy Labor Day - Missing Merry Monday!

Hi everyone - Happy Labor Day if you're celebrating in the USA!! It's raining cats & dogs right now but the weather looks better for this afternoon. Today Merry Monday would've returned from summer break, had the challenge continued. I miss it - both the people and the challenges!! Since the September themes had been planned, I thought I'd use them for inspiration this month. Gotta keep up that Christmas card production, right?!

For this week the challenge would've been: The True Meaning of Christmas. I chose a Nativity stamp with a sentiment to match. Here's my card:

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White,

Poptone Black Licorice; Paper Studio red & silver glitter,

scrap of Momenta Marble Pastel, & Paper Studio Magical

Stamps - Stampendous Nativity Christmas (retired)

Dies - Spellbinders Romantic Rectangles Two

Other - Distress Inks, clear ep, foam tape

Because the swirly frame measures 4x6", I made this an A7 card. Bigger than usual for me but I don't mind having a few cards this size. That's it for today - thanks for visiting! If you create a card with this theme, be sure to leave me a comment so I can check it out!!

Java Cafe

Hi all - it's been a while since I've posted anything! I've still been making cards but have been rather lazy about blogging them - oh well....

Since my last post, I've been busy with chorus activities. Our Director has been conducting small group rehearsals on choreography at a mirrored studio - very fun! Then he couldn't do one scheduled session last week so my friend JoAnn & I ran it (we're on the chorus Visual Team). The previous week I joined a group of 13 from chorus to sing at the VA Hospital in St Cloud MN. It was fun to sing for the veterans who've done so much for our freedom! Part of the event was a sing-along and one sweet gentleman got so into it, he started doing a solo of My Wild Irish Rose. The aide with him said she hadn't seen him smile like that in a while :) Another gentleman was dancing to our music, joined by his aide - so great to bring joy to our audience!

Today I'm sharing a card made with a beautiful cafe scene from the August My Monthly Hero kit by Hero Arts.

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; Momenta Marble Pastel;

Paper Studio yellow A2 card & red; Poptone Black Licorice

Stamp & Die - Hero Arts August 2018 My Monthly Hero Kit

Other - Copic Markers, Joy ultra thin foam

I die cut the scene from white card stock and colored most of it with Copic Markers. I cut it a second time, just the awning portion, in red and then inlaid those pieces into the white. Stamped the sentiment (also from the kit) and hand doodled the cafe sign. Done!

That's it for today. Hope you're enjoying these last days of summer. We've been experiencing a lot of rain but are still behind on our rainfall for the summer. Looks like it'll be a sunny holiday weekend though. Thanks for stopping!!

Distress It & another Twofer

Hi all - just a quick post to get something in for the current Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Distress It, plus another pair for the Twofer Card Challenge - Geometric. Here's the pair:

I used a Tim Holtz stamp & stencil set I bought at Michael's - don't see it there online but it might still be in some of the stores. Besides the circles, it also has some hexagons. On the card at left I stamped and white embossed the connected circles twice. Then I blended Distress Oxide inks (Spiced Marmalade, Worn Lipstick & Fired Brick) for an emboss/resist background. Spritzed it several times and dried quickly with a heat tool. On the card at right I created a panel with the connected circles, this time I used the center circle as my focal point, overlapping that one when I stamped the circles twice.

Here's each card individually; starting with the distressed background card.

** Update ** Supplies: Paper -  Neenah Classic Crest Solar White & scrap of orange;
Paper Studio Teal; Poptone Black Licorice; scrap of marbled Yupo
Stamps - Hero Arts H4772 Friend Collage (retired);
Tim Holtz THMM101 (circles)
Dies - MFT Blueprints (retired);
Memory Box hello from an exclusive Columbine Frame set
Other - Distress Inks, sequins (no packaging for brand);
Hero Arts White Puff embossing powder; Distress Embossing Ink

** Update ** Supplies: Paper -  Neenah Classic Crest Solar White
Paper Studio Red; Poptone Black Licorice
Stamps - Hero Arts CM136 Birthday Messages;
Whimsy Stamps Autumn Bonus Bundle (small dots)
Tim Holtz THMM101 (circles)
Dies - Hero Arts DI199 Nesting Circle Infinity Dies
Other - Distress Inks (Fired Brick & Iced Spruce); Hero Arts Black

Thanks for stopping!!

Geometric Twofer

Hey everyone - back with cards for this month's Twofer Card Challenge - #8 already!! This month Darnell and company would like to see geometric shapes on our cards. How fun is that?!

I went with a scribble circle die from Poppystamps. Here's my Twofer:

Many months ago, I die cut the three shapes from Scribble Trio using gold glitter paper. Every now and then I'd pull them out alone or together, move them around a card base, and then toss them back in the UFO box. When I saw the Twofer prompt this month, the light bulb in my brain went off! I'd intersect all three on a horizontal card. Decided to make it a Christmas card so used a green card base & embossed a word in each of them, added sequins, done! Here's a close-up:

Supplies: Paper - DCWV A2 card; Paper Studio glitter

Dies - Poppystamps Scribble Trio

Stamps - Hero Arts CL998 Happy Holly Days

Other - Silver embossing powder; Darice sequins

What to do for the second card? I had knocked a few stamp sets off my table while looking through the UFO box. Spotted the rocket stamp and suddenly I knew another scribble circle could be the rings of a planet. Here's a close-up:

Supplies: Paper - Hero Arts pool; Paper Studio glitter & teal;

Poptone Black Licorice, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White;

scrap of Yupo I marbled with alcohol ink

Dies - Poppystamps Scribble Trio; MFT Blueprints (retired)

Stamps - Hero Arts CL922 Rocket Thanks (retired);

Simon Says Stamp Falling Stars

Other - White embossing powder; Distress spray; Copic Markers

I got a bit wild with the Distress spray and had to wipe a bit off the bottom of my teal panel - oh well. That's par for the course around here. Then I had to take my photos twice because at first I'd forgotten to color the word thanks which stamped in outline. Quickly colored it and photographed all over again. I like it much better colored!

That's it for today. Chorus did a park concert yesterday - it was extremely warm but everything went great even if the audience huddled in any available shade!! We were on a shaded stage but got no hint of the lake breeze - I couldn't believe how hot & tired I got. Didn't help that I stayed up til 1:30 this morning reading!! Will definitely need a nap before I do anything else - LOL.

Thanks to the Twofer crew for a fun challenge and thanks to you for stopping by! Hope you have a crafty week!!