Happy New Year

 Happy New Year!!!

Wishing the best health and creative fun to all my crafting friends. I sure appreciate you and I will be following you in the coming year, that is for sure.

Here a two of my favorite cards from 2024. Oops, the Scottie card wasn't from 2024. Silly me. I enjoyed making them and I hope you like seeing them again.

This last card I made last March for a card chain challenge. I love the big flower, but didn't idenify it then, and cannot find it now. If you recornize it, please let me know in a comment. Thanks so much!

Take good care of  yourself and keep on making pretty things. 

Hugs to you. See you soon. 😊

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again. Thanks for all the comments!

Merry Little Christmas

 

Happy, Happy Christmas and New Year,

Here is my card for the December 2024 Card Chain Challenge. The winter scene has traveled to Arlene in California. 

From the Tic Tac Toe challenge below, I chose the top left diagonal that asks for Saphire, Sock, Stars, Sparkle and Silver. IMHO the snowy and starry sky background in this DSP is pale saphine. Okay?

The dsp is retired SU called Feels Like Frost. I only have a bit left after covering almost all of an A2 size top folding white card base with it. 

 A new stamp and die set from Colorado Craft Co. is my focal point. I think the mouse giving stockings (socks) to his friend the bird is so fun. Isn't he cute? I should have colored the bird sitting on the branch a darker color cuz he doesn't show well despite the yellow beak.  Oops. The sentiment is from the same stamp and die set.

To complete the requirement to use silver, I die cut a star from white glitter paper and covered it with silver Encore ink. It sparkles too! The star is by Memory Box circa 2014.

The mouse, bird and socks were colored with various SU markers. I cut them twice for some dimension. Inside I wrote a friendly note. 

Well, cold temps and winter winds have come to MN lately and snow is coming HERE. I don't mind, and it is pretty. I prefer it to hot summers. What do you prefer?

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all my readers. 

Chilly Girl

 Holiday Hi!

A quick post tonight as I finish up my Christmas cards. This one tonight is a new favorite so am entering two challenges, Snippets Playground Challenge #495 and NBUS Challenge #69. 

This card was made for a neighbor who is dear to me. She is always saying she is cold so this cutie little girl all bundled up seemed just right.

The little girl stamp is new, from Penny Black called Let's Chill. After stamping her in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, I colored her with SU Blends in Boho Blue and Pink Pirouette. Just left the white areas alone. 

Next I fussy cut her out then glued her onto a Boho Blue background that I stamped in Hero Arts Unicorn (white) ink. The swirly snow scene is by Catherine Pooler. 

I figure that this little girl is a snippet as she is cut from a piece of scrap piece of white c.s. Hope Sarn and Di agree.

 

I've all my Christmas wrapping to do and need one gift card holder. You all done?

I have sent 14 cards this year, received 2 so far. Fun!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

Hugs too!

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again. 

White, Mostly

 

Holiday Greetings,

Here is the card that was sent off to Connecticut. As you can see, I used the color suggestion. Just had to add a teeny bit of color, however. Can you see the Encore! silver ink I used for the sentiment? 

The while cardstock for all this whiteness is PTI. The snowflake embossing folder is a really old SU one that I don't have the name for. If anyone reconizes it, please let me know.

Anyway, the star die is from a retired SU set called So Many Snowflakes. I embellished it with a single rhinestone.

The sentiment is from SU's cling stamp set called Peaceful Moments. It is retired also, sorry to say. Inside, I stamped another phrase from the same set. Done, a really simple card to make and I am pleased with it.

I have a good bunch of my Christmas card stamp and die sets out ready to make my cards. Just am not in that grove quite yet. I will now that Thanksgiving is over. 

Did you have turkey? We didn't, had salmon with lots of sides. My two college age grands are home, so that made the day special.

Theme Options: Nativity / Steampunk / Friendship

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again.

Peace, Love and Joy

Holiday Greetings~

My card joins the November Woodblock Wednesday challenge. The woodblock I chose is a really old one from Hero Arts. Sorry, it does not seem to be available anywhere. I sure love it. 

So here is my card, another one ready to send out this season.

It is hard to see, but the tree and greeting are both stamped with Encore! gold ink. I used an un-labled small design element to decorate the tree.

The tree die cut came from my recent card making evening with my demo Kelly Duncan. It is from Stampin' Up! I placed an extra one behind for some dimension. 

The sparkling green background is also SU's Glimmer Paper placed on a Very Vanilla top folding card base.

Love, joy and peace to our world and all of my visitors. 🕊 

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again. Please leave a comment and I will come visit you too!

Happy Thanksgiving and Holidays wishes to you all. See you next time.

Joyful Snowflake

 Hi~

After watching Mindy Eggen's video on the blackout embossing technique, I just had to try it as blue is my favorite color. She used dark blue instead of black. So here is my card CASEing hers.

In this photo, the colors look dark aqua and pink, but in real life my card is SU Blueberry Bushel and retired Bashful Blue with a touch of Disress Oxide Seedless Preserves which came out looking pink. So I ran with that for my focal point and sentiment strip.

I started with chosing an embossing folder. This one is an older SU one, but I don't know the name. If anyone knows it, please leave a comment. The e f pushed down on the colored paper so when I dragged the darker blue pad acrossit it the backfround and some areas became colored. A magical technique! 

The pink star was cut from Pretty In Pink c.s. with a die from the old So Many Snowflakes die set and I added a dot from my stash. The sentiment is from redired Peacful Moments SU set.

My first holiday card for this season. I like it. Texture, blue and pink, how can one go wrong! :-)

It is getting colder here late this week, but that is okay by me.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again.

Hello Friend

Hello!

My CCC card for October went to New Jersey and used the Friendship and Plaid ideas shown below.

Here is my card:

 

I made the flower by playing with an old Turnabout stamp from Concord & 9th. I cut out it with an SU die from the newer Spotlight on Nature die set. To finish  I used a resin dot in pale pink. The plaid papeer is from an old paper stack probably also by SU and the blue paper is from my "UFO" bin. My greeting is from the older Inked & Tiled stamp set. With hindsight, I should have stamped it several times to darken it. 

Inside I added a stip of the plaid paper and wrote a note. 

Theme Options: Bears / Transylvania / Friendship

Product / Technique Options:  Needle and Thread / Plaid

 

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again.

Hello Pup

 Greetings!

My Card Chain Challenge card has flown over to Greece this month. I chose to use the color options plus two of the other options. I am highlighting my love of Shih Tzu dogs. So here he is, done up in SU embossing powder Cooper, the closest I have to bronze and he has paws, right? 

 

Theme Options: Egypt / Paws / Friendship

Product / Technique Options:  Embossing Powder / Inlaid Die Cut

The pup wooden stamp is from Rubber Hedgehog Stamps and the hello is by SU from the Let's Chat set. I masked him and a cloud stencil then lightly sponged Distress Inks for the sky and ground. Notice his red bow. A friendly message inside completed this card.

What do you think? Another senior moment came when I realized I hadn't taken a picure, so had to redo the envelope. I opened the side 'cuz global postage was already on. That worked out fine. Whew.

We had lovely Fall weather temps the final week in September, but back to the 80's for the next week and on to October.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again. Thank you so much for commenting. 

A Special Card

 

Hello Stampers

Adding this card to the September Edition /Woodblock. I found an old Hero Arts wood block stamp from 2012 in my stash. It did not stamp very well as you can see. This is the best of many tries and many pictures. 

I think this is a fun stamp and the card will be sent to one of my adult grandchildren soon. 

I used VersaMark and VersaFine Onyx Black for the stamping. The little pumpkin is part of an old Hampton Art stamp. The cardstock is SU, am not sure of the color name, maybe Pale Papaya.

Hopefuly I will finish the other Halloween cards before time to mail them. The one for my great granddaugher won't be scary! 

Summer weather here is sticking around here in MN. Me, I am ready for Fall and cool temps.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again. Thanks for commenting, I love hearing from you.

Blog designed by Loll Thompson - 2017

A Colorful CCC Card

 Hello!

Here is the card I sent to Linda G. To be honest, I tweeked an old card made a while back by changing the colors to sorta go with the color suggestion this month. See?

I also added a green (Old Olive instead of real lime) colored square with a friendly Hello Friend stamp by SU. 

I colored the flowers with SU blends Dark Calypso Coral and Dark Magenta Madness while the background was already done in green. Made this background by inking up the SU embossing folder called Sea Bed with ink and running it through my Big Shot.

I have a great stamp Rubbernecker saying "Friendship is the only flower that blooms in all seasons". I stamped that inside.  A Wonderful stamp, right?

That is all from a hot and humid Minnesota summer days and nights lately. Stay cool if you are near by and warm if far away like in Australia. 💗

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again.

Pretty White Flowers

Hello Crafty Friends,

This is the card I've sent to Linda W for the July 2024 Card Chain Challenge. Trying to use my new card stand to photograph this, I forgot about all the mess on my desk, so now you have a peek into my craft area. 😬

To make this card I used some card parts from a kit I bought from Drucie Heinen ages ago. That is, the oval topper and the flowers and the card base. I left them white with no sentiment, liking that look. I do make CAS cards mostly even though I have oodles of bling. 

I am still learning how to do ink blending. Here I used Distress Inks in Faded Jeans, Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint for a simple background behind the floral die. Luckily I have the Picket Fence Paper Pouncers to use. Such Fun! I wanted this to look like a horizon and to make the whole card follow the sketch option shown below. 

This sketch option got me thinking about all the card parts I have. Many more lanquishing around here, I confess. You too?

That's it for this month. I really think this challenge is the best one around. You get to meet crafters from all around the globe! I really suggest you join up.

A nice cooler day here as I write this, but we still have August to get through with the heat and humidity. I prefer winter! 😉

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again.

I Love Flowers

 Hi~

I have been wanting to make a book-binding card after watching many videos, and I finally made one. I am quite happy with this, what do you think? It was fun to make so I will make more. I am not sure which video gave me the idea to use designer paper and die cuts, but thank you whoever you are.

I used Stampin' Up! Delightful Florals dsp liking the colors. I do love purple and pink!! The card base and flower are are in Fresh Freesia with a square of Calypso Coral. I have the coordinating die set which after a struggle made the flower. It is popped up on dimensionals. 'Twas also hard to figure out where to put the stamens die cut. I am quite an indecisive person, so I kept moving it and took many pictures. LOL 

My simple hello greeting is from the Irresitable Blooms set. Inside I cut out a little flower from the dsp scraps and will write a note when I send this card.

Way too hot and humid for my liking these days, but my fans work nicely. Today two of my grandkids (college age) are coming by and bringing me a new desk chair. A happy day.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again.

Pup in a Wreath

Greetings Crafty Friends,

This card was made for the Woodblock Wednesday July 2024 challenge. I hope it is Christmas-y enough with the traditional colors and thank you. I think a thank you card for a Christmas gift is a good thing.

The wreath is by Hero Arts from 2011 and is just called Flower Wreath. I stamped it with Memento Tuxedo Black ink so I could use my Stampin' Up! achohol blender pens. I used Real Red and Old Olive.

I made this card for my old rescue group to sell for fund raising, so a Shih Tzu puppy stamped in the middle seemed just right. He is from a company called Snigglesloth, and is a wooden peg stamp. 

It is a beautiful summer day here in MN with mid 70's temps and low humidity. Changes coming tomorrow. :-)

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again.

A Sailing Ship

 Hello Again!

Well, senior moments have struck again...I forgot to take a picture of the card sent to Tina for June CCC. Hopefully she will send me a picture when she gets the card. Wish me luck. 

I am pretty sure I used the Maritime and Friendship option, using a ship from my wood stamps collection. If I am right, I do have that picture and can post it here. 

Well, my card has not arrived, but I think this is the card, so am posting it. OK? edit: card arrived yesterday! 

The stamp is an old one from Stampin Up that I stamped on a scrap of white with black ink and fussy cut out. Am pretty sure the green background map is designer paper.* The greeting is from SU set called Inked and Tiled. And I used as usual, PTI white for my card base. 

When I hear Tina has her card, I'll be relieved and glad I made this post. I apologize to all about my poor memory these days. 

Happy Summer wishes to you all. It is delightful here right now.

Theme Options: Summer / Maritime / Friends

* And the dsp is SU's Take to the Sky.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again.

Four Pups

 Hello,

Today I am entering my card to the June Edition Woodblock Wednesday Challenge.  I made this card for my old Shih Tzu rescue group to sell at their dog adoption reunion in September. Since this challenge ends soon,  I took a picture of the card with the wood block. 

The wood block is by Rubber Hedgehog Rubber Stamps and is dated 2012. I love this stamp. 

To make the card I first embossed a Very Vanilla card front with my Darice dog print embossing folder.

I inked up the doggie stamp with Versfine Onyx Black ink onto a piece of SU Pecan Pie card stock and then die cut it out with one of the Spellbinders Fluted Classic Recctangles. The greeting is from SU's Happiness Abounds set.

After glueing this focal point onto the card base I was done. The inside is blank except for a thin strip of the brown paper.

Today in MN it is cloudy and cool, just as I like it. Happy Summer to you all.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again.

Flowery Thanks

 Hi~

Today I am joining a new challenge to me,  Color Hues The Color Challenge. They want pink and moss green which I have lots of both inks in my stash.

As I mentioned somewhere, I have been learning to stencil. This card is one of my first! I followed completely a Gina K video using the Layered Peony Art Stencil that I bought a while ago.

I used three colors of pink, Wendy Vecchi Pink Peony and SU Rose Red and Cheery Cobbler.  Luckily I have various sizes of blending brushes. The green leaves are colored Mellow Moss and Old Olive inks. The "thanks" is from the old Good Morning Magnolia Set 1. I embossed it with Brutus Monroe Alabaster powder.

The card base is Basic Black c.s. that I folded wrong, but the white piece inside shows okay, I.M.O.

I showed this card to my dauther a while ago and she asked me to make it again for her saying happy birthday. Mind you, her birthday is in December. LOL

It is supposed to rain some all week here, so card making and rearranging my craft area are things I can do. A messy crafter, I usually end up with just a small spot to craft in. You do that too?

Bye for now. Thanks for all the comments lately!

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again.

A Few Lotus Flowers

 Summer Greetings!

A lot of fussy cutting went into my card today, but I don't mind. The card turned out okay, if I say so myself. See? I am sending this card to The Flower Challenge #92.

As you can see, I followed their sketch closely. I started out with a SU embossing folder called Seabed inked up in Old Olive that was in my to-use bin. I pasted that onto a top folding A2 card base.

I chose an oldie but goodie stamp set by Dee at Stamplorations called Lotus Love for the flowers. They were colored with SU Blends in shades of Daffodil Delight and Magenta Madness and cut out.  A water stamp from the set has the flowers floating. 

I left off a sentiment as I am not sure for what occassion I will send someone the card. 

Because I used snippets of white cardstock to stamp my flowers etc. I am sending the card on to the Snippets Playground Challenge #482.

First card completed in June! I almost have too much stuff to chose what to make. That's why I like challenges. Anyone else have that problem? 

 

Bye for now from a rainy day in Minnesota. :-)

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again.

P.S. I see my card is sideways in the challenges, I don't know why. If you do, please let me know how to fix them. Thanks.

Three Colors

 Hello Crafty Friends!

My card this month is wending its way to Germany. Hope it arrives by the end of the month. 

I used all three colors chosen for this month using the closest ones I could find in my stash of craft goodies. The Glorious Gingham 6x6 DSP from SU had this paper called Blueberry Bushel.  I die cut a piece of it with the PaperTrey Ink die set called Love to Layer: Torn Edges for a background. I really like this layout and will use it again.

My flower and leaf are from the new SU Happiness Abounds stamp set. After stamping onto white scraps, I heat embossed the two pieces with Ranger Gold embossing powder.  To finish this part I used the matchiing dies. 

This challenge always has a theme of friendship and I liked the friend word from the same set. I embossed that in the gold as well then fussy cut out around it.

Lastly to get a raspeberry color, I used SU Polished Pink cardstock for my card base. I have Ranger Distree Oxide ink in Picked Raspberry that matched well, so I knew I was on the right track.

 

Lovely late spring and going into summer weather here with warm temps and rain to keep the flowers growing. I sure miss growing a garden outside, but have lots of house plants. 

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will come by again.