March Beautiful Blossoms Challenge : I Am Here For You

 It's March. No way, it's March already! Hopefully winter will be over soon... I hope!

Until then, it's more days inside for us to craft... right?! LOL! 

Well then, lets see this months Beautiful Blossoms Challenge photo and you can play along with us!

Pretty yellows and greens, right?! I love how springy it looks! It makes me excited for Easter to arrive!

I stamped out my image from Flourishes (store closed) "Botanical Bookplates" stamp collection, and colored it in using Copics. I cut out the image using MFT "Stitched Rectangles", and stamped my sentiment from Say It With Stamps "Thinking of You" stamp set. I cut a yellow piece of cardstock in Bazzil's "Cornmeal", again using MFT's "Stitched Rectangles" dies. Then I cut out my bottom "base" using MFT's "Double Stitched Rectangles" in Simple Stories "Warm White" design paper (it has little light yellow polka dots all over it).

I deliberately kept my card simple and pretty, like the image evokes. Uncomplicated, unfussy, and pretty. Just clean and simple like the bouquet. 

I hope the challenge photo and the team's examples inspire you as much as they did for me! I can't wait to see all of your creations, and until next month, keep crafting, Friends!

Sweet Birthday Wishes

 Hello, Friends! I'm back with a card I made during Thanksgiving vacation, that I'm going to submit to a few online challenges. I Miss joining online challenges, but you know, working two jobs really takes all my extra free time away. So this is a nice and welcome bit of extra time I had to just play around with my little crafty treasures for a bit.

I created this card out of a "new-to-me" stamp set from Momma Elephant.

I stamped out Momma Elephant's "Yay A Party" and colored it in with Copics, then cut it out the main image with a stitched die from Paper Trey that has been long retired. I matted a yellow cardstock from Bazzil under it, called "French Vanilla", then matted that with a yellow chevron design paper, again cut from the Paper Trey dies from the same stitched rectangle set, but this one has scallops on the edges. There is no name on the Paper Trey dies, so I cannot name the set.

I kept everything simple and clean. I wish the lighting caught how soft the colors on the bunnies and the rest of the scene, are.

I'm submitting my card to the following online blog challenges :

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes

Pattie's Creations Challenge - Anything Goes

Just Add Ink - Add Dies

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes

All Sorts Challenge - Anything Goes

Polkadoodles - Anything Goes

Sweet Stampin Challenge - Birthday

Color Throwdown - Color Challenge (chose to feature only Yellow)

August Beautiful Blossoms Challenge: Be Joyful

 Welcome back to another Beautiful Blossoms monthly challenge!! Are you having fun and getting inspired? I know I am!

This month's photo inspiration is so cheery! I love sunflowers! I also love the color of blue this vase has. So pretty!

I chose to use the sunflower colors as my inspiration and play off those cheery yellows they have.

I chose to use a stamp from Flourishes, a company that went out of business years ago, and colored it in with Copics. I matted that over some Kraft Cardstock and rounded the Kraft paper's corners. I paired my image with some yellow design paper (I cannot seem to find it anywhere or I'd name it), and used a corner punch to clip the corners into a decorative design. I added some peachy orange grosgrain ribbon and bow, and then added a sentiment from Simple Stories.

I rather like how it turned out. Clean, simple, and cute. Just the way I like them. I like my cards with minimal fuss so the images can take center stage. But every now and then, I'll fancy it up for fun.

Thank you for stopping by and I'll see you here for next month's Beautiful Blossoms Challenge photo!

Let's Chill

 Ok Friends, I'm back with a fun card that's my new favorite! I just love Anita Jeram's images of the cute cat's holding ice cream!

I stamped out the images from Colorado Craft Company, called "Ice Cream Day" diecut them out and colored in with Copics. I cut out a frame with Stitched Scalloped Rectangles from MFT, in Bazzil "Chiffon" cardstock. I matted the scalloped rectangle with Echo Park's DP called "Kitty Plaid", and laid a Doodlebug Design "Mint" doily on top. After adding my doily, I put extra thick popdots under one of my images and thinner popdots under another image, for depth. I added a diecut tag from Momma Elephant's "Framed Tags", and stamped my sentiment from Colorado Craft's "Slimline Ice Cream" set, and added some candy dots from Bo Bunny's "Willow & Sage". 

I love the fun colors and images and how they turned out! Every time I look at it, it makes me smile :)

I created this card for the following Challenges.

Polkadoodles Card & Crafting : Anything Goes

The Outlawz Challenges : Use Blue

Stamping Sensations : Anything Goes

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends : Anything Goes

Love to Scrap : Anything Goes

Word Art Wednesday : Anything Goes

Ok, Crafty Friends, that's it for me today. Have a great crafting day!

Good Friends

 Welcome back, Friends! I have another card created from blog challenges.

This time, I'm going to be combining three challenges together. 

Color Throwdown Blog : Blue, Pink, Yellow

Inspired By Blog : Pillows/Bright Colors

A Cherry On Top Blog : Weekly Sketch

I was very much inspired by the colors and using just a sentiment. But I decided that my sentiment would run from "top to bottom", instead of side-to-side.

I chose a long retired, but never used stamp set from Just Rite stamps, "True Friends" (I think). I chose to stamp it in Staz-On Timber Brown (because the black was just too harsh looking, though it definitely stood out better), on Acetate. I framed my sentiment with an old piece of Ephemera frames from a card kit I received years ago that I found in my stash. I put popdots under my pink Ephemera frame, placing it over my a scrap piece of paper that has blues, pinks, and yellows, so it pops off the background. Then I cut out a scalloped square frame from Bazzil's Pink cardstock, using MFT's Stitched Scalloped Rectangles. Then I added a few pearls for an elegant finishing touch (without them it looked like it was missing something).

As I said, I could have used black ink but I decided that I liked it better, almost faded looking. It was just too strong of a color with all the light colors in the card. Too striking for me. That being said, if you're stamping on Acetate, keep in mind it's slippery and difficult to get a nice crisp image. You really have to work on finding just the right pressure so it imprints, but not so much that it slides as you're pressing the stamp onto it.

Thank you for stopping by my little blog to check out my creations, I'm happy to see you here! Please leave some love, and come back soon!

Yellow Roses

 There's a certain elegance to roses that I love. I am a lover of roses, and though they aren't my favorite flowers, I can certainly appreciate them. Their fragrance, form, and beauty. There's just nothing that compares to it when you walk through a garden of them.

I found this image of a couple rose stems in a glass vase on Amazon, from an unknown company and vender, but I just had to have it. I colored the image in with Copics and matted it underneath with Tim Holtz's 8x8 Metallic cardstock. Then I found some patterned paper from Paper Studio that had some gold design in it, and placed that under the gold matting cardstock. I matted everything in gold cardstock again and added some very small gold pearls at certain intersections of the gold and deep blue patterned paper.

I didn't add any sentiments on it, intending to use it for any upcoming Wedding or if I'm ever in need of a Sympathy card. I like to keep many of my cards blank on the inside incase I'm need of a card real quick and I can't create one fast enough. I like to have a few on hand for that reason.

Well, I'll see you next week and until then, take care!

Fuchsia Flowers

 I made a couple of watercolor Postcards just for fun, a while back and decided I should post them.

One of the Postcards I watercolored was of a Fuchsia vine. I decided I was going to use some pretty strong colors on the flowers instead of using some softer colors I would normally like to use for this image, for no reason other than to do something different.

I believe this is a stamp set from Stampendous or Heartfelt Creations I stamped and colored in using Distress Inks and my Aqua watercolor markers. After coloring the image, I sponged a background and border in with more Distress Inks.

This isn't the most prominent image I've ever made or anything, but there's beauty in the simplicity of all art and I love that. I love the shadows and colors I chose for the flowers. They're so unique and different, I love how it turned out, and if I tried to create those flowers again I'd never be able to duplicate them, and I love that.

Happy Birthday!

 Of all the kinds of cards I create, I love making Birthday cards the most! 

I realized I haven't made a nice, bold card with colors that POP! I wanted a card that just said summer, using some of my favorite "tart" vivid shades that invoke those summer vibes. 

So I created this card for my daughter's birthday last week, and she LOVED it.

I stamped out half of my (large!) image from Colorado Craft Company, called "Sweet Friend Cupcake" and colored it in with Copics, using some strong colors that would Pop off the card. Then I stamped my sentiment with a stamp set from Spellbinders called "Birthday Pennants". Then I matted my image using Doodle Bug Company's "Pistachio" cardstock, layering that over some really vivid patterned paper (no designer given on it). I placed the PP over some "Buttercup" yellow cardstock from Simple Stories and added some white cardstock under that that I punched out a "lace" edge using Fiskars "Swiss Dots" edger. I placed more Pistachio cardstock under the white Swiss Dot punched edge paper, but I popped that off the Pistachio using PopDots to offer depth and keep it from feeling "flat". I then added the image over the PP using more PopDots so there'd be some "lift" and life to the image.

This has to be one of my favorite cards I have made of recent. I love all the bright, bold and sassy colors! They just make me squeal with delight! I could make a hundred cards using these colors and they'd still make me smile. I don't know about you, but I'm just not ready for summer to end!

Kindness Is The Way

 Kindness. Hard to find these days, at times. I like to remind myself it's a long sought after but rarely found gift. I believe in being as kind as you can to everyone as best as you can.

That's why I love this image.

I used Power Poppy's "Kindness Is The Way" free digital stamp to create this card. I used a lighter paper to print it out on, almost vellum like, and colored it in with Copic markers. I paired it with a very light blue gingham checked paper that just added to the intense POP of color I colored the flowers in with that didn't distract from them. After that, I added a simple border of stitching around the image to keep it looking simple and cheery, like I wanted it to be.

Gerbera Daisies are some of the most colorful and cheerful flowers I have ever seen. I mean, who wouldn't want to be given a beautiful bouquet of them?! If you can't give real flowers, this card could certainly take their place, it's so bold. I could walk in a garden of these for hours, they bring such a smile to my face and heart!

Happiness

 Hello again, World! 

As I assume you've guessed, I haven't been active in the scrapping, card making, or general crafting community for quite a few years. My family and I have been through a divorce, a move across half the country, a new job that takes all my energy and leaves me no mental clarity for creativity, and more drama then a soap opera that I'll generously spare you from. 

With two growing teenage children, I don't often have much time to sit down for "Me Time". Yet, here I am. I'm enjoying playing with inks, alcohol markers, and pretty papers. I've missed it all and yet, I'm rustier then a Model T Ford in the rain. But like anything, a good challenge can shake that mental dust off..

Power Poppy is offering a month long challenge on their blog, to create a card showcasing Glass. I picked Power Poppy's "Tea in the Garden" set, showcasing my favorite summertime beverage: Lemonade.

I colored the image in with Copics, found some papers from Fancy Pants, and embellished it with some odds and ends pieces of decor items that my Mom bought for me from a nearby scrapstore, keeping everything fresh, light, and fun.

I feel better after starting that challenge and I plan to blog and post when I can, around my busy life schedule, but until then, I'm just happy to be here, playing with my "toys" and feeling grateful.