September Classic Design Challenge : Alex Syberia Designs and Goha Digital Stamps

 Hello and Welcome back to another monthly Classic Design Challenge! Boy, am I excited to share the Cuuuuute image I colored in from Goha Digital Stamps!! I chose to feature Goha's Peaking Unicorn because it's so stinking cute!!

Honestly, just how cute is that?!?

I printed off my image and colored it in with a mix of Copics and Altenew alcohol markers. I cut out my main image scene with a Stitched Rectangle from MFT and stamped an old sentiment from MFT along the bottom. I chose to use a pink gingham background paper from Bo Bunny, and a solid pink cardstock from Bazzil. The decorative bottom edge is cut out by a long discontinued die from MFT that has no name, and I dressed it all up with some simple pink pearls from Honey Bee Stamps. Simple, Simple, Simple, so the main image stands out.

I love, love this image and how it all came together! Would you believe I was hesitant to color the mushrooms in? I couldn't decide if I wanted to go "Magical Woodland" and color them in pinks, purples, blues and yellows, or natural colored. I decided to go natural so that the unicorn would stand out more as an oddity in the setting.. But even then, getting the natural colors are tricky for me.. So I took a deep breath, trusted myself and the process and gave it a shot. I'm glad I did! I'm so proud of the mushrooms, their colors, and shading! Is it the best? No, but it's MY best! :) Don't doubt yourself, always push yourself to try. It's only paper! 

I can't wait to see your inspired creations this month! You always inspire me and make me push my art further and try new things, after I see all your ideas and creative inspirations! Thank you crafty Friends! See you next month!

Congrats

 Hello Crafty Friends! I'm just popping in because I randomly had a few extra minutes to toss a card together! Yay me! I love it when I get to do that :)

I challenged myself to create a card, using a challenge or two to jump start my ideas, and created something that I love.

I used quite a few items and dies to create this card. I cut a lacy rectangle base in Bazzil's "Peach Cream" with Lawn Fawn's "Lacy Rectangle" die, and layered Carta Bella's "Cowgirl" design papers over that, cut out with The Greetery's  "The Frame". I placed MFT's "Congrats" die over the lower half of my top base, and die cut it out, then placed more Carta Bella's "Cowgirl" design papers under it. After that, I cut a knit heart with Concord and 9th's "Knitted with Care" die set in the same "Cowgirl" papers. Then I layered a silhouette couple using Picket Fence Studio's "A2 She Said Yes", and added some burnished gold pearls from Honey Bee Stamps "Warm Pearls" collection. To complete my card, I randomly added some sponged "Crackling Campfire" Distress Oxide ink on parts of my card, for interest.

I'm submitting this card to the following challenges :

Simon Says Stamp - Get In Shape

Addicted to CAS - Anniversary 

Shopping Our Stash - Let's Get Sketchy

AAA Birthday - Use Patterned Paper

August Beautiful Blossoms Challenge : Get Well Soon

 Welcome back, Beautiful Blossom Challenge Friends! This month we have a beautiful challenge photo! I absolutely love this image! It's so pretty and inspiring!

I literally made three cards, just trying to match the beauty and those gorgeous colors. Nothing I made was good enough, I felt. They weren't as pretty as the image was inspiring me. Or so I thought. Sometimes you just get a great inspiration piece that pushes you to try harder and do better!

I stamped out my image from Flourishes "Tulips" stamp set. I cut the main image into a rectangle shape, then used an old Spellbinder border die on the bottom edge, and placed some I placed some thick foam tape under the image to lift it off the background design paper. I used an old piece of scrap design paper for my green background under the tulip image, then cut out a scalloped background edging using Spellbinders "Heartfelt Thanks and Scallops" die set. I chose a sentiment from Say it with Stamps "Get Well" set, then added some dark forest green pearls from Honey Bee Stamps "Pacific Northwest" pearl collection, for beauty and interest.

I love the colors on the flowers. I really tried to keep it light colored because the challenge photo shows light colored flowers. I also decided to feature the image vertically and cut in half using a border die for more visual interest just to see how it looked. I'm glad I tried it!

Thank you for joining me for this month's Beautiful Blossom Challenge, I really enjoy your comments and views! Have a great month and I can't wait to see your submissions for this month's challenge!!

June Beautiful Blossoms Challenge : You Are My Shield

 Welcome back, stamping Friends! We're already into our June challenge! WOW!  This challenge I am really excited about, because the inspiration image is just So Beautiful!! I mean, how could you not just fall in love with a bouquet like that?!

Look at those beautiful colors and textures! Whew! What a bouquet!

I stamped out Colorado Craft's "Thinking of You Magnolias" and cut it out with the coordinating die, then colored it in with Copics. I cut out a "base" for my image and sentiment, using Papertrey Ink's "Scalloped Ovals" in Ivory cardstock, then stamped out my sentiment, also from Papertrey Ink called "Psalm 3:3". I cut out some design paper from Simple Stories "Front Porch", using Pink Fresh's "Stitched Rectangles", then more Ivory cardstock under the Stitched Rectangle diecut. I placed some foam popdots under the double matted Stitched Rectangles diecut to give it some lift off of the Bazzil "Aqua" cardstock base, and foam popdots under my Magnolia branch to lift it off the paper for dimension. I added some light green Pearls from Honey Bee Stamps "Pastel" collection to finish the look.

Thank you for joining us this month at Beautiful Blossoms Challenge. I hope you are as inspired as I am by this month's inspiration photo! We can't wait to see your inspired creations!

March : You Bake Me Happy

 Happy March, Ya'll!!! Is it spring yet?! Not so much here, but it hasn't been the worst winter, so I can deal.

This month, the Classic Design Team is featuring Dr. Digi's designs again. Dr. Digi has a huge selection of great images to choose from, and at a reasonable price, too. Take a look at the store here : Dr. Digi

I chose to use Bertha's Bread Baking Bonanza image. I chose it because I struggle and look as lost as Bertha, when I make homemade bread!!

I printed off the image and coloring it in with Copics. After coloring the image in, I taped off the edges of the image and sponged Antique Linen and Weathered Wood Distress Inks around the edges. I used Taylored Expressions Easy Edgers die to cut a pinking edge on some soft brown gingham paper from Simple Stories, from their "Gingham" collection. I adhered the gingham paper to a heavy Kraft cardstock, and added a ribbon from Maya Arts to the base. After tying the ribbon on the card, I placed the image over the front of the card base, then stamped my sentiment from Honey Bee stamps, then added three pearls from Honey Bees "Warm Pearls" collection.

I really had a hard time picking an image to color in, but I love how nice Bertha turned out!

I hope you're having a great spring and enjoying the warm weather!! Or I hope it's at least headed your way, soon! :) 

October Beautiful Blossoms Challenge : Celebrate You!

 Happy October everyone! This is my favorite month of the year!! Not because it's almost Halloween, But because Autumn is really in full swing by now, everywhere! Growing up in Northern Minnesota, October was very nippy out and either crisp and sunny, or damp & rainy. I loved them both!

This  months Beautiful Blossoms Challenge photo features orange predominantly, and looks very ethereal.

I really looked at this photo and wanted to make an orange card in the worst way possible, because orange is one of my favorite colors. But, I like what looks like a "blue" secondary color in the photo, and I decided to make a card based off of that.

Now, I know you say that this card looks nothing even close to the photo, but I want to remind you that these example photos are purely inspiration to help you. It's how YOU interoperate the design image :) 

I chose to stamp out Honey Bee Stamps On The Line : Succulents onto watercolor paper and lightly watercolor them in then diecut them out. Then I found a white paper doily and a blue doily from Doodlebug Designs and put them under my sentiment from Pretty Pink Posh. I matted some blue paper from Simple Stories "Vintage Berry Fields" over Simple Stories "Warm White" Textured cardstock, using dies from Pink Fresh and My Favorite Things. Then I diecut a Gold Metallic paper from Tim Holtz with their Stitched Eyelet Lace Rectangle and placed all my previous cardstock on top of that to frame it, then the paper doilys, the sentiment and watercolored succulents, and lastly, the blue pearls scattered around the card.

I love how it turned out, though I really fought hard not to make it an orange colored card or overly complicated.

I can't wait to see all of your unique creations and how you were inspired! And until next time, Keep Creating!

Classic Design Challenge : Scottish Lass

 Hello and welcome back to another Classic Design Team Challenge. I missed last month's challenge after an unfortunate two week internet outage, but I'm back with this month's inspiration.

This month we are featuring Moondrea Designs and we had plenty to choose from!! I chose the design I did because I immediately pictured a Scottish princess in contemplation.

I printed off the image, then colored it in with Copics. After coloring it in, I cut the image out with a die I bought from Amazon, which I matted with 49 & Market paper that I die cut with a MFT Scalloped Rectangle. I found some old DP that I used as my background paper, then matted with a co-ordinating cardstock. I layered a leftover piece of lace, swirly pearls, and pieced together flower and leaves. 

I love how it all turned out!! I'm glad I chose the deep green to really contrast with her red hair, it all looks so pretty.

I'm so glad you joined me for another Classic Design Team Challenge. Join us next month for another Classic Challenge! Have a great day!

Classic Design Team Challenge: Surfing Santa

 Welcome back to another fun Classic Design Challenge, I'm glad you're here!

This month, we're featuring digi's from Dr. Digi, himself! Dr. Digi has many fun and quirky designs that appeal to everyone. I chose to keep it simple and use his Surfin' Santa digi. Again, like always, I chose to make it a clean and simple card,  using Christmas reds and keeping the focus on the Santa image.

I don't color Santa's in very often, or that much skin for that matter, but I thought I'd have a little fun with it. Because he's Santa, 

I kept to the Christmas theme as best as I could without being too overt, but also elegant.

I printed off the image onto Gina K paper (it's thicker) and colored it in with Copics. After coloring in the image, I sponged some sand on using Distress Inks Antique Linen and a blue sky with Tumbled Glass. Then I cut out the main image with MFT Stitched Rectangle, then cut out the bottom with another MFT that's been long since retired but I can't remember the name. Then I cut out an A2 rectangle from Spellbinders from Bazzil Ruby Slipper red cardstock, and embossed an edge around it. I finished the card with some black pearls.

I really enjoyed coloring this image in, and if you can tell, I added some subtle pink highlights in some areas to give Santa a "sunburn". I hope Santa enjoyed his vacation. He works so hard all year, so deserved it! :)

Have a great day and I'll see you next month on the next Classic Design Team Challenge! 

June Beautiful Blossoms Challenge : A Little Hello

 Hi Friends! Welcome back to my little blog, I'm glad you're here!

It's actually June, can you believe it?! The year is half over! And it's time for another monthly blog challenge. This month's photo is my favorite so far. So patriotic :)

I was so inspired by the Red, White & Blue, I made so many card attempts. I just couldn't get the right shades of reds and blues for my card without it looking so strongly garish. I really wanted it to be soft but distinctly Red, White & Blue.

I chose a stamp that I picked up at a local scrapbook store's stamping Garage Sale event. After I stamped out my image and colored it in, I diecut out the image with the corresponding die. I cut out some light blue background paper with a stitched rectangle die from MFT, and put it on some white cardstock cut out with MFT's Mini Scalloped die. I put some popdots under the image and placed it over the design paper and base. I cut out an oval piece of white cardstock and stamped out the sentiment.

I like how the card lightly touches on the red, white, and blue color requirements, but without it being so strong. My favorite kind of cards are the clean and simple kind :)

Thank you for joining us at Beautiful Blossoms this month and we can't wait to see you next time for a new challenge!!

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!

Love You Very Much

 Hello again Crafty Friends! I'm back again with a new Card Challenge that I found online. This weeks challenge is from My Favorite Things. Their challenge this week is a Sketch, and here it is.

I Love, Love this sketch and I got so many ideas from it! Without further adieu, here is my submission.

I chose MFT's "Wish You Were Hare" stamp & die set, colored it in with Copics, and set it aside. I cut out and embossed the background with Taylored Expressions Diamonds Piercing Plate, then I cut out the Stitched Mini Scalloped Square to frame the background. I chose to use Bazzil'z Blush Polkadot pink background, cut into scallops using Simon Says Stamp's "Slim Line Borders", sponged in with "Tattered Rose" Distress Inks. I cut the Sentiment out using a retired die set from MFT called "Blue Prints 2", and finished the card using some blush pink Zva Pearls.

I absolutely love how cute the card turned out and non-fussy it looks. The only difficulty I had was choosing what design papers I wanted to use! :)

Well, that's it Friends! I'll see you the next time I post my challenge creations. Until then, stay Crafty! :)

God Gives Me a New Song

 Life has gotten so busy lately!! Hopefully, it will start to slow down soon. Winter is coming and with that, a slower way of life.... I hope. That's my intentions anyway! 😄

My good friend, Rebekah, has the sweetest parents, whom I met over the summer and have gotten close to.  Joy, Rebekah's Mom, sends me random beautiful handmade cards she's made on the computer. I wanted to send her a simple card that would make it through the postal system with minimal damage, but still look pretty.

I chose to use Power Poppy's "Helping Hands" stamp, featuring a sweet bird, chirping a melody.

I stamped out my image and colored it in with Copics, then cut it out with Mama Elephant's "Framed Tags : Union Square" die. 

Then I picked a background design paper from Mintay Papers "Peony Garden" collection, and adhered it to a diecut scalloped edges card, that I cut from Kat Scrappiness "Stitched Frame" die.

After that, I added popdots under the main image and centered it on the card, then I added some green pearls from Honey Bee's "Pastel" collection. Inside I stamped a Bible verse about how God gives us a new song.

I think it turned out nice. I love how CAS it looks :) 

Creating

 I'm back. But where has the time gone? Where has the creativity gone? I don't know about you, but I used to have endless creative ideas. But then life takes over and when you finally have a minute, you're creatively done. Nothing. Toast. 

It used to bother me until I realized, that's life. There's an ebb and flow to everything. It's been a year or more since I have had the energy to create. And that's ok. I re-joined my favorite craft site, SplitCoastStampers, and I'm using their weekly challenges to inspire some new ideas in me.

This week's CAS (Clean And Simple) challenge is : Recycle. You can recycle anything to use on your card.

A couple weeks ago, I attended a store that was closing and found a badly damaged hymnal with many loose pages. This was the perfect way to reuse them in a way that they would be appreciated again.

So, I created the following card from the challenge.

I stamped out my image and colored it in with Copics, fussy cutting it out.
I cut down my music sheet to what size I needed. Then, I matted it against some Chiffon Bazzil Cardstock, that I matted over some Kraft cardstock, making them the base of my card.

I Cut out a frame, using Avery Elle's Pierced Birthday Frame die, and put PopDots under the frame to pop it up a hair off the card, for some small form of depth. After that, I glued my chipboard down, and placed the colored in image of the Cross on top of it, and added a few pearls for some interest.

I'm not certain if I can actually call it a CAS card anymore, but I love how it turned out!!

So, if you're ever finding yourself stuck in a crafting rut, or feeling uninspired, don't let it get to you. Eventually, it'll come to you! Until then, don't be too hard on yourself, it's all just the ebb and flow of life :)

Fall Pumpkins

 Fall. The most beautiful time of year and also my favorite. 

Pumpkins are quintessentially the most symbolic representation of fall and cooler weather, so I decided to create a card featuring my favorite fall food item.

 I chose to use my Flourishes Autumn Blessings stamp set and color it in with Copics. I lightly sponged the edges of the image with Antique Linen and Tea Dye Distress Inks, I matted that over a lacy cupcake doily, and some patterned papers that look like the pages of a book. I found a frame that I added some acetate to and stamped out my sentiment on it using Staz-On Timber Brown, placed some Popdots under it and placed it over my image. I added a corner diecut and some pearls to complete my look.

I really love how it turned out and wish all my cards would turn out as nice as this one!!

Happy Fall, Friends!

Lift Up My Eyes

Hello again Friends! Today I have a Clean And Simple card to share.  

A few weeks ago I got a message from a friend I'd lost touch with, telling me that he was in the hospital and his body was essentially breaking down to the point of paralysis. My heart broke for him and I created this no frills, simple card, to be and encouragement.

I used a leafy stamp from an Altenew set called "Rosy Blooms" and watercolored it with a combination of Aqua Markers and Arteza watercolor brushes. I paired the image with a verse from Verve Stamps I've had for years, to offer encouragement.

I matted it with Bazzil "Jade" green cardstock and cut a decorative edged bottom with a Spellbinders die. Then added a watercolored butterfly I put Popdots under it to give it lift and dimension so it looks like it just landed on the leaf, and some pearl gems to finish the card.

I kept it clean, simple, and as masculine as I could, keeping the focus on the message and not the image, for once.

I hope it brings the encouragement and comfort, that I'd try to give if I was able to see him in person.

JUST BECAUSE

 Have you ever done something or blessed someone "Just Because"? I have and it's such a joy and blessing when I am able to! So I translated that message and sentiment into a card.

I chose Power Poppy's "Everything's Even Rosier" set that I stamped in Versafine Onyx Black and colored in with Copics. I lightly sponged "Antique Linen" Distress Ink around the edges of the image and patterned paper, and added half a white, paper lace doily, white and gold polka dot washi tape, and some light gold pearls.

I wanted the image to pop, and everything else to have a calming influence in the background, keeping it super simple so the message and the image would shine. Sometimes less is absolutely more, as it is in this case.

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!

Delight in the Unexpected

 I'm back with a new card and a happy surprise.

This month's card is inspired by Power Poppy's challenge this month : Going Sentimental.

I've been playing around with an idea to make a black and gold card for quite sometime, and after I saw this month's challenge, I knew I had to try to combine my idea with it. 

Speaking of Power Poppy, I'm both stunned and thrilled to find out that I won last month's Blossom Challenge on their blog! I sincerely can't believe it, they have such beautiful stamps!

I stamped out my card and watercolored it, then matted it with Tim Holtz's Metal Cardstock. I placed some Popdots under the gold cardstock to pop it off the black and gold patterned paper background and give it depth. I added some lace and back striped paper from Simple Stories called "Vintage Lakeside" to the black and gold patterned paper. I matted it all in more black and gold cardstock and placed three small black pearls on the card to complete the look.

Every card is a fantastic journey into learning something new or creating a unique look, and I love the process! There are days I get stuck, but I refuse to re-invent the wheel. Rather, I like to find the beauty in an image and enhance it as best as I can while still making sense. I think many of us feel pressured to create something amazing every time, but there's no need because every card is beautiful.

I hope you all have a great day and I'll see you all next week with another card!

Holiday Hello

 Hello and welcome back! I'm still on a Christmas card making kick and I'm enjoying finally feeling creative again after not being able to craft for so many years! 

So while I was pondering how I wanted my next Christmas card to look like, I knew exactly what stamp set I wanted to use, though I wasn't sure if it would turn out. I'd been itching to break out this set and use it since I bought it, but I gave it a go.

I chose to use Power Poppy's "Under Glass: Christmas Keepsakes", coloring it in with Copics. After coloring it in, I cut the edge of the image with a Spellbinder border die and matted it with some patterned paper. I created the layers I wanted and sponged everything with Antique Linen and Tea Dye Distress Inks to age it and give the vintage look and feel I wanted. I used some "puffy" popdots under my image to pop my items off the card to create depth and interest, keeping everything from looking flat and uninteresting. After that, I added lace, silk ribbon and some dark blue pearls to complete the card.

I love how the card turned out, though I wished I'd remembered to stitch my card while I was creating it! I was so in the groove and excited to color in my new stamp set, and I was loving how it was all coming together so quickly, I'd completely forgot to stitch my card in! More times than I care to admit, I'm always forgetting to stitch around my card. It happens :)

Peace and Joy

 Once again, it's Christmas in July!! In only six more months it will be Christmas Day! I can't wait! All those fun, festive traditions, food, and family fun! I love it!

Until then, I'll enjoy the countdown to the festivities by creating Christmas cards, inspired by Power Poppy's Monthly Blog Challenge. Why not? :)

I chose to create a card using the Power Poppy "Simple Joys" stamp set and coloring it in simply with Copics, only emphasizing the red glass ball ornaments. I chose some fantastic cozy looking patterned paper from Brutus Monroe called "Playful Plaid", adding some simple craft store lace, a blue silk ribbon, and some bronze pearl embellishments. 

I purposely kept everything simple so that the image and sentiment shines, but cheery paper colors to keep it from looking too dull.

I really enjoyed this months' Power Poppy challenge. At times it's great to get the old inspiration gears turning and realize new ideas and creativity by accident, just by participating in a fun challenge! I'm looking forward to next month's Power Poppy Challenge!