Tag: die cutting

Happy 6th Birthday Reverse Confetti! Birthday Blog Hop and May Release!

Hey there crafty friends! Today is a super fun and fabulous blog hop to celebrate Reverse Confetti’s SIXTH birthday! Wooot! I’ve been a fan from day one and I’m very happy to be part of the party today. In honor of their birthday, there is a brand new, fun, birthday/celebration themed product release too! You’re gonna love it. Cake, ice cream, champagne…what’s not to love about that? CLICK HERE to see the new release! (Tip, you’re gonna want the new paper pad! EEKS. I used it on both my cards today!) Congratulations to Jen and the entire crew at Reverse Confetti! Cheers to many more fun years of crafting together! XO

I made two birthday/party themed cards to share with you. I used sherbet shades of mint and peach and gold. Delicious! I’ve been wanting to use this color combination for a while (I keep a journal of colors) and this party release was the perfect fit! So fresh and pretty! Both cards color coordinate and are A2 sized white card bases.

The birthday card was made using the brand new Cake and Champagne stamp set and the matching dies. I ADORE the little banner that you can put on top of the cake! This would look good in any colors for any celebratory occasion. The party card is a shaker card made with the party/celebrate word dies. I like them both for different reasons! Both are pretty festive!

I added lots of details to each card. I love that little touch of gold with the circle layer and the butterflies. And I added gold luxe Nuvo Drops on the tiny fireworks on the party card. The birthday cake and flowers were colored with Copic Markers to match that beautiful new patterned paper.

That banner!!!! LOVE.

The flower sprays and the banner and cake all have perfectly matched died to make your card look professional. I sprayed the white layer of this card with Brutus Monroe Gilded (Gold) Spray for shimmer. It’s kind of hard to see in the photo. The sentiment was stamped in rich black ink.

For the shaker card, I made my own confetti bits to go inside! I punched them out with this AWESOME punch! SO quick and easy. I punched out mint, peach and gold confetti from the paper used in the card. Perfect match.

For the shaker card, I die cut the party word die out three times onto a white paper panel. I added the acetate and the confetti and then backed the letters with the pretty mint and white striped paper. So much fun!!!!

I really like how this came out!!!!! IT’S FUN!!!!

I used the new stamp set called So Many Sentiments to add the black stamped words onto this card. That set is a bunch of tiny sentiments – I know it will be used a lot!!

Thank you so much for stopping by today to join the fun birthday blog hop for Reverse Confetti! I hope I’ve inspired you to get creative! That’s what it’s all about. Have a blessed and beautiful day my friends! XOXO (I have a secret – you might want to head over to my Instagram…hint hint)

TODAY’S BLOG HOP LINEUP!

Reverse Confetti Blog

Amy Kolling

Wanda Guess

Tricia Barber

Kelly Lunceford

Lisa Henke

Heather Hoffman

Michelle Short

Julee Tilman

Amy Tsuruta

Kathy Schweinfurth

Audrey Tokach

Jeanne Jachna

Leanne West

Becky Roberts

Deanne Kuntz

Ali Farmer

Annette Allen

Keeway Tsao

Raluca Vezeteu

TODAY’S SUPPLIES!

(Affiliate Links Used)

May 8, 2019
Easter Blessings with Hello Bluebird Stamps!

Hi everyone! I’m scurrying around still, trying to get all my Easter ideas executed!! I have sooo many cute new stamps and sooo many ideas. I don’t think I’m going to be able to get them all done! Easter is in a week now! It’s finally Spring time here and I’m excited for Easter festivities at church. Easter is my favorite holiday of the year. Everything about it – but especially the meaning to me as a Christian woman. I always try to think of Jesus and his last days during this time of year and be extra mindful of His sacrifices and His resurrection. It’s a time of reflection and prayer especially as we go into the coming week. I wish you and your family a beautiful Spring and Easter!

Today’s card was made with brand new stamps and dies from Hello Bluebird. One of my favorite stamp companies now. Every release is cuter than the last one! EEK. I also used a Christmas die on this Easter card! It’s full of spring pastels and furry friends… And those tiny bluebirds?? So sweet!

The finished card is an A2 card base covered with Pastel Gingham paper. Then I layered one layer of white cardstock for my top layer.

I used the awesome new banner stamps and dies with the cute animal stamps. I love how they’re looking up at the banner! This banner die is so versatile. I have loads of ideas for using it for different holidays and things! I used Spun Sugar Distress Ink to blend the color onto the banner. I splattered Worn Lipstick Distress Ink and White paint over the blended pink ink. I set that aside to dry…

Next I stamped and die cut out the animals and birds and leaves and colored them with Copic Markers. I added bits of highlights with a white gel pen.

Here’s a close up of the animals’ coloring. I stamped the “Easter Blessings” onto the pink banner in black ink.

I die cut the word Rejoice using the Christmas dies! I love to re-use supplies in different ways. I die cut it out of white paper and then inked it with a sponge and Distress Ink to match the blue of the gingham paper.

This banner die is really cool…. The ends of the banner pieces actually fold over the bar. It makes it look so realistic! Everything was attached to the card using foam tape.

I used a small flower from the Doodlebug Sprinkles collection to add to the leaves at the bottom of the banner.

That’s it for today! Have an awesome weekend everyone! Thanks for stopping by! See you soon. XOXO

SUPPLIES FOR TODAY!

(Affiliate Links Used)

April 12, 2019
Spring is here! Flowers and cute bees from Pretty Pink Posh!

Hi everyone! Happy Spring Friday! I hope you had a good week and have some fun things planned for the weekend. My week was sort of stressful and I turned to crafting to get out of my own head. As I’ve been saying for months, it has been raining…for months…here. It’s the weirdest, wettest weather I can recall. Just days and days in a row with pouring rain and wind. As a result, our home suffered some damages and some leaking. It has been a daily full time job trying to arrange inspections and contractors and roofers… It’s taken weeks to get it all arranged. And all of that I find to be really stressful. It’s stressful because something is wrong with the house, and it’s stressful to have strangers in my home and it’s really stressful trying to pay for all of this!! It all sort of came to a head this week with people working and delivering supplies and all that. It’s made my anxiety go through the roof. My Bible is open to the book of Philippians and I’m trying really hard to be joyful and not worry. I am a total worrier by nature – that’s the human side of me. I know God is in control and I know I’ll be okay – but I just fret. Life lessons of course! So, I have been trying to craft and forget what’s going on. Poor Lucky is freaked out by people on his roof. LOL. We’ll be fine but I am streeeesssssed. Send a little prayer my way!!

Anyhoo…on to this super fun and happy card I made yesterday! I find that coloring with my markers is excellent therapy. I went around the studio and got out all my Spring and Easter stamps and laid them out on my table… And the beautiful Pretty Pink Posh stamps spoke to me first! Spring is HERE!!! Now if it would be sunny that would be awesome!!!

This card is A2 sized made from Neenah Solar White cardstock. (I always make my own card bases). I layered on some sweet yellow and white gingham from a brand new paper pad. (Echo Park Easter Wishes). The gingham covers the entire front of the card. The card has a white stitched rectangle layer, and a stitched circle layer for the sentiment. The grass border die is the finishing touch. LOTS of die cutting on this one!

I wanted to create a pretty spring garden for those adorable bees to fly around in! I set to work stamping and die cutting out flowers, leaves and beeeeezzzzz. I die cut extra because I was in the mood to color. Lots of pretty Spring shades of pink and green.

Here is my little garden on my work table. This makes me smile.

After I colored everything, it was time to start composing my card layout. I tried to fit as much on as possible! Lol. Seriously so much cuteness. I ended up making a tiny garden at the bottom of the card and then put the bees on the top circling the sentiment. The bees and flowers were adhered with foam squares.

I added white gel pen accents to the bees and flowers… I added clear Wink of Stella to the bees’ wings and then just a few enamel dots – from the same collection as the paper pad. I tucked the flowers into the grass – and there are two layers of the grass border.

The center of the rectangle layer was inked with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and an Ink Blending Tool. I thought the card had too much white space and needed some ‘sky’ for those bees.

That’s it for today! I am wishing you a beautiful weekend! Take care and I’ll see you soon! XOXO

SUPPLIES FOR TODAY!

(Affiliate Links Used)

March 29, 2019
Guest Designing with Sunny Studio Stamps! Spring 2019

Hi friends! Happy weekend! I’m super excited to be the guest designer again today on the Sunny Studio Stamps Blog! Yippeeee! You guys already know how much I love Sunny Studio! Cute stamps, awesome embossing folders and my favorite gingham papers! What’s not to love? I hope you have a beautiful weekend! I’ll be sharing two cards on the SS Blog and also sharing them here on my blog. Lots to show you! And the themes are monkeys and roses!? LOL!

First up today is a super fun birthday card with the adorable new Love Monkeys stamp set! I adore them! I stamped and die cut out a bunch of monkeys and vines. I also made them some accessories like cake and party hats! I used the Purrfect Birthday stamp set for those add-ons. Then, for the sentiment I used the Two Scoops stamp set. Really, when I make cards, I love to mix and match stamp sets to create my own unique creation.

This is a long card – measuring 8″ x 4″. I love the Staggered Circles die cut and cut that out of a white panel. I backed the circles with beautiful blue gingham paper. I had fun coloring everything with my Copics in shades of blue, yellow and pink. Who wouldn’t want to party with these guys? The top white layer with the circles was mounted to the card using foam tape. Then I attached the monkeys and vines with foam tape also. Just the right amount of dimension, but not too much that it won’t fit into an envelope.

My second project is a card made with lots of neutral colors and the gorgeous Everything’s Rosy stamp set. I also used the beautiful Quilted Hearts Embossing Folder and some brown gingham. This card is an A2 size with a kraft card base. The flowers were stamped onto cream cardstock. The embossed background is also on cream cardstock. I layered gingham, vellum and kraft for my focal point of the card. I wrapped the kraft layer with pretty natural twine. I used gold paint to splatter gold flecks onto the cream embossed layer and the small kraft layer. Just a bit of added elegance. I stamped the roses using my MISTI in dark pink and pretty green shades. The sentiment is from the Happy Harvest stamp set! See – you don’t have to only use that set for Autumn! The roses and leaves were mounted onto the card with foam tape. I added a few sparkly pink enamel dots to finish it off.

BIG THANKS to Mendi for inviting me to be a guest on the Sunny Studio Blog! Enjoy your weekend! XOXO

SUPPLIES FOR TODAY!

(Affiliate Links Used)

March 9, 2019
Aloha Party Drinks!

ALOHA! It’s almost the weekend! I’m swinging by today with some tropical party drinks to start off the beginning of the beginning of the weekend! LOL. I love these stamps and colored them a bit ago for the coloring challenge. I had fun digging out loads of bright colors of Copic Markers. Then I layered on some glitter and lots of clear glaze. Whew. I get thirsty just looking at this card! Won’t you join me? Cheers! I hope you had a great week! I had a busy week which is good – lots of work to do. I’m grateful for it!

This card started with me coloring these awesome images with Copic Markers one night…. Then I designed a card around them. The images were drawn by my friend Peggy Jo Ackley for her line of stamps from Impression Obsession. Her company is called Pink Ink and it’s great! She is a local artist and I’ve had the pleasure of meeting her a few times and having her sign my coloring book and pencil in a stamp for me! I saw these clear stamps at my LSS and had to get them!

The finished card is a white A2 card base. I used a Pineapple Embossing Folder I bought at Joann to emboss another white layer for the card. I wrapped the embossed layer with some green striped paper from Sunny Studio. This formed the layers for the card itself. I also splattered some tropical green ink over the embossing. I die cut a white stitched circle for the drinks to sit on.

This word die is called Scripty Aloha, and it’s from Lawn Fawn! It was the perfect sentiment for this card!

I stamped and die cut out the four drinks and colored them with LOTS of Copic Markers! It took me a while to color all of these. I started by making all the glasses the same color – to tie the project together. To mimic glass I always use BG10 and BG11 with some 0 mixed in. This is the closest I can come to looking like a frosty glass. After I colored them all, I added white accents with a gel pen. Then I put about 10 layers of clear glaze over some parts using a Sakura Glaze pen. Put on one layer, let it dry, add another layer, let it dry…etc. etc. This project took a lot of patience!

Here are my little tropical drinks all lined up on the bar!

The drinks were attached to the circle die using foam tape. Then I glued the aloha word on with clear glue, using my tweezers.

ALOHA friends! I’m excited about my weekend! Tomorrow the hubs and I are going to the Stamp/Scrap Expo and then to meet up with friends. Then on Saturday my crafty friends from the bay area are coming to town for a class. Then we’ll get dinner and coffeeeeeeee. (Julie E is in town – woot!) Hope you have a delightful weekend! XOXO

SUPPLIES FOR TODAY!

(Affiliate Links Used)

February 28, 2019
Pretty Peonies from Spellbinders artist Stephanie Low!

Hi friends! Happy Monday! Are you ready to be creative this week? I am for sure! And it's Valentine's week so there's love in the air too! I hope you had a good weekend. I rested and did some crocheting. Most of our plans were for outside and everything got cancelled because of the rain. That's okay though. We need the water, and I never mind a rainy day. Actually rainy days are my favorite days. Here's to a great week!

Today I'm excited to share a project made with the brand new stamp release from Spellbinders, and Artist Stephanie Low. I am the guest designer today over on the Spellbinders blog! Please CLICK HERE to head over and share some love there too! BIG thanks to the crew at Spellbinders for inviting me to be a guest with them. I'm happy for this fun opportunity. My card is a super bright floral creation made with the beautiful new Large Peonies stamp set and watercolors. Spellbinders has recently merged with Fun Stampers Journey so I used products from both companies.

I love to water color flowers. That's my favorite thing to water color actually. This finished card is an A2 size, made with a kraft card base. I layered pretty bright pink paper and then a layer of watercolor paper and then those pretty blooms!

To start this card, I stamped several blooms and leaves onto watercolor paper. I colored them with vivid shades of pinks and greens and let them dry. I used the awesome Lots of Dots Background Die Cut and watercolor paper to create the dotted background. Then I added a wash of blue watercolor paint. I set that aside to dry also.

The sentiment was heat embossed with gold embossing powder onto a strip of vellum. I wrapped the vellum around the dots layer before I assembled the rest of the card.

Here are my step out photos! After the flowers were colored, I added paint splatters and white paint splatters. All these pieces are watercolor paper.

To put the card together, I layered the hot pink onto the kraft base. Then I wrapped the vellum around the dots layer. This part was attached with foam tape. Then the flowers and leaves were added, also with foam tape. One of my very favorite FSJ products is the Rainbow Drops. OMG I just look at them on my desk and they make me so happy!!! I'm trying to use them and not hoard them, so I added a sprinkling of the pretty blue drops onto my card.

Thanks for stopping by today! THANK YOU to Spellbinders for having me as a guest today! I hope you all have a wonderful week! Get crafty! Have a Happy Valentine's Day! (I have one more heart themed card, so I'll be back on Thursday to share it!) XOXO

February 11, 2019
Sweet kitties from Pretty Pink Posh!

Hey everyone! Happy Friday! How are you?? Did you survive the polar vortex this week? I hope everyone is safe and sound and enjoying the start of a new month. I felt sort of guilty this week as the temps hit 70 degrees here, and I was outside taking pictures of apple blossoms and daffodils. We didn't even have Winter this year in Sacramento. I feel like it was hot all through Fall and then one day of cold, and it's warming up again. Definitely a different pattern this year. I am super grateful that I don't have to shovel snow or wear ten layers of clothing. Californians are weather wimps. I digressed….just really meant to say I hope everyone is safe and sound. Happy February!

I haven't posted on my blog for a while. Not sure what happened, other than life. I have been a busy bee and time just got away from me. I was so excited that Kathy Racoosin started up the 30 Day Coloring Challenge again today! Just the push I needed to get out the markers and make something…but what to make? Lucky and I came in the studio and poked around and it came to me! Cuddly Cats from Pretty Pink Posh! Yay! I haven't inked up this set yet, so it was time. Today is the one year anniversary of the day my sweet boy Buddy passed away. I think of him every day, and especially today, so a kitty card was the perfect thing to make.

The Daily Marker 30 Day Challenge always pushes me to use my supplies, and I love that. I try to challenge myself to use different mediums and switch things up. Maybe try a different technique or be a bit more daring. Bust out the colored pencils more, or try a new Copic method… Have you joined the fun?? I love how it creates a sense of community when we are all posting our coloring on Instagram and Facebook every day! (And you know I love Instagram!)

I colored two kitties to look like my two favorite boys – Lucky and Buddy! I think they would have been sweet friends. How did I get so blessed to have two such sweet furry kids in my life? I feel like those of us who have been lucky to be touched by an animal soul never are the same. This past year many of my friends have lost sweet pets. It's so hard. But I always think – wow, it was good to know that kind of love. Now, on to my card…

I started with a white A2 card base and kept the entire card really clean and graphic. I used the fun and fabulous Stacked Edges Dies to make some diamond strips out of grey paper and then splattered white paint on them. Next I stamped and die cut out the two cats and the yarn.

I colored the images with Copic markers and added accents with a white gel pen. I die cut a stitched rectangle and stamped the sentiment across the bottom of it in black ink. I mounted the grey diamonds across the center of the card using foam tape.

The cats are so cute!! I love how the stamp set has cats that face both ways – so you can have them facing each other, or facing the way you want them on your project! I searched through my stash for a stamp set that had tiny paw prints! I found a Paper Smooches set, and stamped the paws in the corner of my card. I finished it all off with a few enamel dots. (of course).

Here is my super sweet studio assistant helping me choose Copic Marker colors! LOL.

And then he went to sleep on the job! I love how he has to be right next to me all the time. Lucky truly has healed my broken heart and is such a good boy. He is eleven months old now!

Here's a photo of some pretty blossoms I took yesterday when I was out doing errands. Spring is definitely arriving early in Sacramento!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! Hope you have an amazing weekend! And, I hope you get some time to create! I'll be back next week with a fun and bright project for Chinese New Year! Until then, take care! XOXO

February 1, 2019
My Favorite Valentine – with Waffle Flower Stamps!

Hey hey hey! How are you? I'm busy again this week, which is excellent! And I have lots to share with you! I seriously crafted all weekend. It was great! I had no deadlines and no pressure so I just went around the studio and made cards with whatever I wanted. YAY for that! LOL. I made a cool journal and three cards. After I make my cards I always lay them out on the kitchen table for my hubs to look at them. He is very supportive and loves to look at the details. He is a good person to help with ideas too! After I laid them out on the table I noticed one main thing – all three cards had bright, vivid colors and LOTS of white space! Hmmmmm. Maybe I'm feeling like being light and airy like Spring cleaning?? LOL. Definitely moving on from the dark moody colors of Christmas and winter. I can't wait to share them all.

For today, I'm using a brand new stamp set from Waffle Flower called Favorite Valentine! EEEEEP. SO adorable. It has a little boy and girl that face each other, and then loads of accessories for them to hold in their hands. I loved it the moment I saw it. And this stamp set has matching dies. This is my first set from Waffle Flower that has their 'new' die system. ALL OF THE DIES ARE ALREADY CUT APART!!!! What??? Yes, you heard me. Woot woot! Nina is a genius. Yay.

I started with a white A2 card base from Neenah Solar White 110 pound. I layered soft and subtle grey gingham (From Sunny Studio) and then one more layer of white. (See I told you – LOTS of white space!) For the top layer I die cut a stitched rectangle… I gently inked just the top of that rectangle with Broken China Distress Ink. Perfect.

Next I stamped and die cut out all the images: the girl and boy, the banners, CUPID!, the flowers, letter and balloons… And colored everything with Copic Markers. I added accents with a white gel pen and also added a bit of Diamond Stickles.

I used a couple of different stamp sets on this card. The banner is from one set and the xoxo is from another set. Supplies are listed at the bottom of my post. For the sentiment I used white embossing powder on deep black paper. I always love that look. It's so crisp.

I added a few white enamel dots on the card. These are new enamel dots from Waffle Flower! YES! An entire package of white and clear enamel dots! With lots of small ones! Again, Nina is a genius. You need these. (I bought four packs)….

All of the elements are affixed to the card using foam tape for dimension and pop.

I'm definitely in the mood for Valentine crafting! We have a month to get ready. Everything is so cheerful and happy with pink and hearts…. I love it all. Are you Valentine crafting yet? What are you working on?? Have a blessed and beautiful day! XOXO

P.S. Side note…. I am NOT going to Creativation (CHA) this year. It starts on Friday and I have severe FOMO right now. I am going to miss all my creative friends and I'm going to miss reporting back and telling you guys the scoop. Mostly I'm going to miss the hugs and laughter!!! It just didn't work out for me to go this year for lots of reasons. I can't wait to see all the news from everyone else though. Just wanted to tell you guys, because I know some of you wait for me to fill you in every year.

January 16, 2019
Merry, Merry, Pretty Layered Trees!

Hey everyone! How was your Thanksgiving!? And, did you go shopping yesterday?? Our Thanksgiving was really nice. We stayed home all day, and it rained ALL DAY! It was fabulous and cozy and perfect. Since it's just two of us here, I made us an Italian dinner for Thanksgiving. Baked rigatoni, salad and garlic bread…and of course pie! Sometimes I cook us an entire turkey dinner but this year I wasn't in the mood. We watched movies and I crafted… No running around all crazy like we do some years. Usually on Black Friday we are the crazy ones up at 4am and out shopping, but this year we didn't go! Again, it was pouring rain all day and we both felt like staying in and relaxing. Mark ran out to Lowe's and got us a new Shop Vac but other than that we didn't buy anything! Go us! I have been spending so much time decluttering and it felt good to not bring more stuff into our home. I'll venture out shopping next week sometime. Anyhoo – happy weekend! I've been doing lots of crafting, so I have projects to share!

I'm pretty quick to know what I like when I see new crafting supplies. Something usually grabs my attention right away or it doesn't. Well…when I first saw a project on Instagram made with the new Pretty Pink Posh Layered Tree Dies….I was like POW! Yes! I need that asap! Hahahaha. It's a set of dies that make a beautiful Christmas tree that you can layer. Genius and so so pretty. I chose to ink up some trees using Distress Inks… Then later I made some backgrounds for them – also with Distress Inks. Here are my two finished cards. Both cards are on white A2 card bases.

To make the trees, I used shades of green Distress Inks on the pieces. I used the small sponge daubers to do the blending. Each piece is not very big by itself so the small daubers are perfect. After the ink was dry, I splattered white ink over them to look like snow! I also used a clear Wink of Stella pen to splash shimmer onto the tree pieces. I attached the pieces together using foam tape. The star, trunk and some ornaments are all included in the die set.

For the backgrounds I used the brand new Swirls Dies from Concord & 9th. Another awesome genius product. I used them on another card too – to share later. I die cut the swirls into the paper layer and then inked shades of blue ink, keeping the color lighter in the center. I also splashed Wink of Stella pen onto this background layer. SOOOOO pretty! I added the Wink of Stella to the star too.

The Merry word was die cut from silver cardstock from my stash. The die is very large and actually says Merry and Bright! I used a pair of detail scissors to cut the word Merry out of the bigger die cut. It's the exact right size for this space! I glued it on using clear glue.

Here is my tree in my work space. You can see the dies in the background. LOVE.

The next card has a super bright red background! I made the card the same exact way as the first one. But with a red background and a gold word die. I also decided to add a snippet of black paper with the word Christmas embossed in white. I felt like that was A LOT of red so I wanted to break it up with some black.

Those swirls….sigh… They are so pretty!

Okay, that's it for me! I'll be back on Monday with a really cute coffee themed card made with supplies from Right at Home! Looking forward to sharing so much with you in the coming weeks. Take care and have a wonderful day! XOXO

November 24, 2018
Jingle All the Way! Honey Bee Stamps Deerly Loved Release!

Greetings and happy Monday! Let's kick this week off right with a happy, cheerful snowman! Did you have a good weekend? It was my birthday this weekend and I had a very nice weekend indeed. Friday we went shopping and walking all day, outside at this pretty mall and I got some new presents… And spent way too much money at Sephora! Yikes. I love that place! Then we had a day of rest and watched movies… Sunday I worked all day at the Voting Center and that was great too. Lots happening. Oh, and did I mention it was 85 degrees??? So, I am totally in the mood for a snowman! I need fog and rain, and I need to wear a sweater. Dang!! This is very unusual weather indeed. I'm trying to get my Christmas spirit going!

Honey Bee Stamps launched a new release last week called Deerly Loved, and it has the cutest and best new stamps, dies and stencils for Winter Holidays! CHECK IT OUT here! I fell in love with the Jingle all the way sentiment set and knew that's what I wanted to use first. Paired with an adorable snowman and you have today's card! This card makes me smile.

I started with a white A2 card base from Neenah Solar White cardstock. The top layer is Bristol Cardstock – because it really holds up well to all that Distress Ink! The background was made with two shades of blue DIstress Inks and heat embossing. YUM.

After I made my background, I stamped the snowman, his hat, scarf and birdie, and colored them in with my Copics. I added accents with a white gel pen, and then some Diamond Stickles for a bit of sparkle. The plaid on his scarf was made with the white gel pen. I colored it red first with Copic Markers and then just made diagonal lines across the red. SO easy!

To make the background, I die cut the scallop rectangle from Bristol paper. I used Broken China and Chipped Sapphire DIstress inks and an ink blending tool to add the color in a circular motion, with the lighter color in the center. Oops! First things first! I heat embossed the sentiment and the snowflakes in white embossing powder first! The distress inks were applied over the top of the embossed parts. I love this effect! I used the Distress Sprayer to sprinkle water droplets onto the ink for some blotches. Then I used a small paint brush and Copic Opaque White to add snow splatters!

This is the background before adding the water drops and white ink splatters. I like it this way too…

I attached the snowman onto the card base using foam tape. How cute is that little bird sitting on top of his hat? So fun! This stamp set comes with so many cute accessories – you can make your snowman a million different ways!

That's it for today! Have a wonderful, happy week! I will see you back here on Thursday to launch the brand new release from Reverse Confetti! XOXO

November 5, 2018
Pinkfresh Studio Holiday Cards Blog Hop!

Hi everyone! Happy November! Time to get in the spirit of the holidays! The rest of the year is coming fast and we're here today to help you plan out your holiday cards! I'm so excited to be part of this awesome Pinkfresh Holiday Cards Blog Hop today! This is a huge TWO DAY blog hop with fun, inspiration, prizes and a free gift with your order too! Please CLICK HERE to see the entire beautiful line of holiday stamps and dies from Pinkfresh Studio – one of my favorite companies! CLICK HERE to go to the Pinkfresh Blog to see all the details each day, or if you get sidetracked along the hop! The full list of all the designers is at the bottom of my post! Grab some cocoa and relax with us and get inspired for the Winter Holidays! Thank you for coming by today. If you're new to my blog – welcome welcome! Glad to see you!

I made two cards to share today – one is icy blue and the other is warm and extra sparkly. Both are made with gorgeous stamps and dies from Pinkfresh in their truly unique whimsical and pretty style. The images are happy and they make me happy too.

First up is a Magical Chrisma-corn! I just made that up! A Christmas Unicorn! Love her! She is flying through the air to spread glitter and sparkle over everyone. This stamp set is called Magical Christmas. Love. The card base is A2 in white. Then I layered red, some pretty patterned paper, and then vellum. I love the look of vellum over patterned papers…

I stamped and die cut out the Christmas Unicorn and then colored her mane and tail with Copic Markers in red and green. Her horn is silver embossed and the scarf is red ink. The head, body, scarf, and horn are all different stamps – so you can make them different colors. Genius I'd say! Made it so easy to stamp a red scarf and emboss the horn. I used a bit of white twine and pretty small silver bells to put around her neck. She is a Chrisma-corn after all!

The sentiment and the snowflakes were stamped onto the vellum with white pigment ink. I also used Copic Opaque White to make snowy splatters onto the vellum. Be sure to set that aside and let it get good and dry before attaching it to your card.

Isn't she beautiful?

Next up are these adorable bunnies skating by to say hello and Merry Wishes! This card was made with the Pinkfresh Skating Bunnies stamps and dies. I used an icy blue and grey color palette for this card. I love how it came out! This is also an A2 white card base. I layered grey and then pretty plaid patterned paper on a diagonal..

I stamped and die cut the bunnies and colored them with Copic Markers. I die cut a circle for them to skate on and used Distress Ink and a blending tool to make a pretty matching blue sky. I stamped snowflakes in blue onto the sky portion. I also splattered some of the same Copic Opaque White as on the first card. (Supplies are all listed below). They are just so so sweet skating around. The one on the left reminds me of John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever! He's going for it out on the ice! This card is perfect for any winter holiday occasion.

Now for the good stuff! Prizes and Free GIfts! Pinkfresh Studio will be picking SIX random comments from the designer blog posts, from each day to win a $25 gift card to the Pinkfresh Studio store. That's twelve total prizes! How awesome is that? AND – there will be TWO GRAND PRIZES picked from the Pinkfresh Blog posts: each day a different bundle of their holiday stamps & dies. (The prizes will be pictured each day on the Pinkfresh blog).

Pinkfresh Studio will pull the winners & post them on Sunday, November 11th by 2pm CST on their GIVEAWAY PAGE. Note: You must check that page & claim your prize within 2 weeks.

BUT WAIT! Pinkfresh is also offering a FREE Holiday Vibes die with $25 purchase in the Pinkfresh Studio shop. A photo of the free die is below! Yay!

November 1, 2018
Guest Designing for Sunny Studio Stamps with some happy, cheery Autumn projects!

Hey everyone! Happpppyyyyy Weekend! I'm excited to share some projects with you today! I am guest designing for AWESOME Sunny Studio Stamps today! YAHOOOO! You know I love Sunny Studio and I always love it when the kind and generous Mendi invites me to stamp with her gorgeous stamps and dies. I had a blast making today's card and treat bag to show you. Of course… as you've suspected… More Fall projects! The latest release from Sunny Studio is so great. I am especially smitten with the adorable Nutty For You acorn die set! EEP! A smiling acorn?? Yes please! Sign. Me. Up! CLICK HERE to go to the Sunny Studio Blog to check out all the other inspiration and projects! I used several new stamp sets – all the supplies are listed at the bottom of my post. Enjoy!

First up a pretty Autumn greeting! I featured the Happy Harvest Stamp set and then the sentiment from the Beautiful Autumn Stamp Set! I started with an A2 card base and layered beautiful Sunny Studio Gingham paper in pretty teal, and then vellum… Yeah, lots of layers on this one! The background was made with Distress Inks in Peacock and Honey – such a pretty combination!

All of the images were colored with Copic Markers. I LOVE to color! Looks at those cute crows on the pumpkins! And that tree with a heart carved into it???

I die cut the top panel using Stitched Rectangles dies. Then I used an ink blending tool and two shades of distress inks to ink the background. I also splattered some Copic Opaque White ink over the blended ink. I stamped the sentiment in black ink directly onto the panel.

After all the images were colored and die cut out with the matching dies, I layered them onto the card with foam tape. I used clear Nuvo drops to add a few sprinkles of dew around the card. Such a fun accent!

And next up I have a cute and sweet treat bag! I really like to make glassine treat bags for presents or place settings for a party or dinner. A glassine bag is a great blank canvas to decorate for any occasion. I put some gold almond Hershey's Kisses inside the bag before decorating it.

I used all kinds of mix and match patterned papers in Autumn hues for this project. Since the scale is small and the patterns are simple, it all just kind of works! I used yellow, brown, orange and marroon from the new paper packs from Sunny Studio. I'm quite sure I've mentioned about a million times how much I use these awesome papers!! You need them in your life. Trust me. I used the veins part of the stamps from the Autumn Splendor stamp set to stamp directly onto the leaf die cut shapes. I really like how this looks. The Nutty For You acorn dies set has all the pieces to make this cutie pie!

I wrapped maroon paper around the glassine bag first. Then I put the acorn together and glued him on with foam tape. I added twine to his little top hat! I die cut a circle and stamped the sentiment and some leaves onto it. That part is also attached with foam tape. I used Doodlebug black sprinkles for the eyes. Like, don't you want to give him a hug? LOL.

Okay! That's it for today! Thank you to Mendi for her kind invitation to guest design! I'm such a fan and always enjoy teaming up with Sunny Studio Stamps! Already looking forward to next time. I hope you have a wonderful weekend! XOXO I'll be back TOMORROW with something else super fun and fabulous! See you then!

September 15, 2018
My Monthly Hero – August 2018 Card Kit – Coffee or Tea?!

Welcome to the Hero Arts "My Monthly Hero – August 2018 Blog Hop!" Happy August! In my world August is just one month away from Autumn! Yippeee! I hope you're enjoying the lazy days of Summer and having fun. The new kit this month has a theme that is very near and dear to my heart…coffee! (and tea too!) Yummy stamps, dies, embossing powder and more! Do you love coffee as much as I do? You're gonna love this kit!

I'm happy to be here with you today launching the latest edition of the My Monthly Hero Kit. I hope you find some (many) things to inspire you. I have two cards to share today! One was made with the main kit, and the other one I made with some of the fun add-ons.

You may have arrived here from Nichol's Blog!  If you want to start at the beginning of the hop CLICK HERE to go to the Hero Arts Blog! As always, lots of fun and inspiration for you today from my awesome fellow bloggers! I'm always grateful to be included in the Hero Arts lineup! If you're new to my blog today – welcome. Enjoy the hop today! I will always warn you, THESE KITS SELL OUT VERY FAST (usually the first day) so if you like it, don't hesitate! I know I say that every time, but it's true! Get it while you can! They are such a great value! Each kit is $34.99 and the value is double that, at least. Enjoy the hop today! Get your kit while they last!

My first card for today features the stamps and dies from the main kit… I love fall and I love Pumpkin Spice Lattes so I made a Fall card! I adore the sentiments that come in the main stamp set. They're so on point! Lots of different coffee mugs to mix and match together. It's practically perfect!

I started with an A2 card base in white cardstock. Then I layered kraft cardstock and some new patterned papers. The focal point are the cute coffee cuts and the sentiment. I stamped and die cut the two coffee cups and the whip cream and straw, and die cut them out. I colored them with my Copic Markers! NOTE: The tiny pumpkin stamp is from another Hero Arts stamp set!! (It's in my supplies at the bottom of my post)

I attached the cups to the card using foam tape for added dimension. I used aqua and orange, which are complementary colors so they look good together! I tried to match the papers too.

For my accents I used a bit of twine and some Nuvo Jewel Drops!

We're the PERFECT blend!! 🙂

My next card was made using some of the beautiful add-ons for this month's theme! I made a watercolor tea pot card! This card was inspired by my own kitchen! Our kitchen has a French Country theme with blue, red, yellow…and roosters! I love that look! So I tried to re-create that in my next card. I used the awesome new Tea Pot Nesting Dies along with the brand new Spill The Tea stamps and dies. I watercolored everything and used my trademark gingham check to complete the look!

I chose to use bright red paper with crisp white embossing for the sentiment this time around! I kind of like this look! I'm going to try some different colors now! I used heat embossing and Hero Arts White Embossing Powder.

This card is an A2 horizontal card made with a Kraft card base. I layered gingham and white paper and then vellum as my foundation for the card. I die cut out the pretty tea pot die twice. (I used the second one to cut out the lid). I used Daniel Smith Watercolor Dots to color in my stamped images. I wanted it to look like a pretty teapot that would be in the kitchen! I stamped the lemons and flowers randomly onto the tea pot die cut (which was watercolor paper). I then stamped and die cut out the little chicken and colored her with the same watercolor dots palette! The Dot palettes are great for quick coloring or coloring on the go!! (supplies are listed at the bottom of my post) I used one giant red enamel dot to be the top of the tea pot lid. I then added pretty twine to complete the look. I love these colors together!

The new kit is available NOW! Yippeeeee! Below is a photo of THE ENTIRE MAIN KIT CONTENTS! This is a great value for $34.99! Hero Arts is VERY generous with their beautiful kits! The other supplies I used are listed below in my links! This kit is available for a limited time only! Once it's gone, it's gone! Kits begin shipping from Hero Arts on Friday, August 10th. These kits have a habit of selling out fast! So don't wait if you like this one. I have a sneaking suspicion this one will sell out!

August 6, 2018
Waffle Flower August 2018 New Release Blog Hop!

Hi everyone! Thanks for coming by today for the amazing Waffle Flower August Release Blog Hop! I have been so anxious to share these cool, creative and innovative products with you! I made three projects! That should tell you my excitement level! It's been hard to keep this one under wraps. Waffle Flower is one of my very favorite companies and the ideas that Nina comes up with are always awesome. I'm very honored to be part of this blog hop today introducing everything to you. Did you arrive here from the blog of my super talented friend CHANNIN?? To start at the beginning of the hop CLICK HERE to go to the Waffle Flower Blog!

The new items include cool stamps and dies to create your own color wheels, and paint/marker swatches. Like I said earlier – genius! Perfect for those of us that love to have our supplies organized! Also, a beautiful new Lacy Flower XL die and some cute stamps for coloring. The new products for August are geared towards the artistic side of all of us crafters. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced artist, you will find Waffle Flower’s newest release a great investment for yourself. This is a back to basics release that focuses on the function of stamps and dies and our preferences on coloring mediums. The goal is to help beginners gain confidence with coloring mediums, and to help experienced colorists learn more about their different mediums. There are some cool combos and packages available (CLICK HERE to see everything). A professionally printed guide will be included in the Color Swatches Combo. All combos come in beautiful Cloud Storage Pockets. CLICK HERE to check out the Waffle Flower videos with detailed instructions and background! Nina reviews everything in her professional video.

I have some color swatches to share with you today, and two cards made with the new stamps and dies. I had a really good time creating these projects – truly an artistic endeavor. I feel like taking the time to swatch my colors really made me think about the textures of my watercolor paints, and when I made the color wheel card I learned a lot about mixing my colors together. Like a self taught art lesson! Okay….let's get started!

I used the Swatch Stamp and matching dies to create swatches of my very favorite watercolor paints! These have been my go-to watercolors ever since I got them! I have a small palette swatch of these paints but now I have them on a beautiful ring I can hang on my bulletin board. I die cut the swatch die and the circles to go at the top. I used watercolor paper and black cardstock. After they were die cut I glued the black enforcers on. Then I used Versafine Onyx Black Ink (the only ink I use for watercoloring) to stamp the swatch image. I gave them a quick shot with my heat tool to dry the ink. Then I had FUN coloring in the swatch sections!! Aren't they pretty!!!??

Here is an overview of some of the new products – in the gorgeous rainbow packaging! Swatches, color wheels and shapes OH MY!

Masstone is the SOLID version of any color. I used my MIjello Mission Gold watercolors…. For the masstone portion, I used the tiniest amount of water to wet the paint enough to swatch it. For the larger swatch area I wet it first and then added the color, slowly getting lighter as it moves from left to right. This is great practice for coloring!!! I learned how to be more patient and slower to get the right gradation…

I literally cannot get enough of this!!! I used these for watercolors, but you could just as easily swatch your Copics or Colored pencils!!! Use them in whatever way makes it useful for you in your studio!

Next up are the two cards I created for the blog hop and release! I used the fabulous Color Wheels Stamps to make a card perfect for one of my creative friends! I used a couple of other Waffle Flower Stamp sets for the sentiment and paint brush and it all came together in a fun way! I will use the Color Wheel Stamps and Dies later to make color wheels of my Polychromos pencils! Can't wait to do that project.

My card is an A2 card base out of paper from my stash (in my fav color). I cut out a watercolor paper layer and stamped two color wheels in the opposite corners. I made sure to put different colors for each one. Then I stamped a few of the circles around them to balance out the white space.

Here is that cute little paint brush stamp/die from the Little Painters Stamp Set! I watercolored it too. The sentiment was heat embossed with white embossing powder onto black cardstock.

It was really fun to mix and match the colors to get fill in the color wheels. I have never done that before! It made me pay attention to each color and how it works with other colors mixed. I put on some music in the studio and enjoyed this process.

I added some black enamel dots to the centers of the color wheels and then some Pretty Pink Posh Droplets to look like water drops… I also added paint splatters (you know I love that!)

I attached the paint brush on the card and then layered the sentiment banner over it. I like the graphic look of that black and white banner. I tried to think outside the box and come up with a cool way to incorporate the color wheel into something else! A card!

Next up is a card featuring the GORGEOUS new Lacy Flower XL die! OOH LA LA! It's so pretty, especially since I colored it in bright vivid GOLD! YUM. This card is an A2 purple card base. Again I layered with watercolor paper on top. I used lots of water and some shades of blue and violet to create a loose watercolor background. Once it was dry, I splattered gold paint and white paint over the color for more visual interest. (My paints/supplies are listed at the bottom of my post)…

I used clear glue to attach the gold die cut on top of the colored background. Then I trimmed off the edges. Next I stamped the Waffle Flower Hugs and Prayers sentiment onto vellum using Stazon ink. I layered the vellum around the bottom of the card before attaching the card front to the base with foam tape. I added a few purple gems from my stash.

This is what that beautiful die cut looks like! I used these paints for the gold!

PRIZE ALERT! PRIZE ALERT! PRIZE ALERT!

To celebrate the blog hop, Waffle Flower is giving away $25 gift certificates to THREE lucky winners. You can leave comment on my blog and all along the hop by 11:59pm ET on 8/12/18 for your chances to win. Winners will be chosen at random from the comments left on any of the posts on this blog hop and will be announced on the Waffle Flower blog on 8/15/2018. As a bonus, all orders placed by 11:59pm ET on 8/15/18 will receive an Adhesive Eraser from our friends at Xyron! No code required; Limited 1 per customer; While Supplies last.

If you're a new visitor to my blog today because of the blog hop – welcome! I'd love to have you sign up to receive my post emails! CLICK HERE to subscribe! Or, Follow along with me on Instagram!

August 5, 2018
Cheerful Summer Cards! Ice Cream and Butterflies!

Hi friends! Happy Monday! How are you? I hope you have a great week. Last week I went down hard with a cold! YUCK. Summer colds are the absolute worst. Over 100 degrees outside every day and I'm hacking up a lung. It wasn't pretty… And I was pretty…crabby. UGH. Much better today – feeling human again and the morning was cool when I woke up. I'm in the studio trying to get some stuff done. I'm way behind now. I have good hopes though. It's still early and I've already checked off about six things from my to do list. Lucky is curled up on his blanket on my desk snoozing and my favorite podcast is on my phone. Bam…let's do Monday.

Since I didn't make anything last week I'm sharing a couple of cheerful Summer cards I made the week before. I've already shared these on Instagram, but not here on my blog yet. Sometimes I'm doing that from time to time…making a card and taking some pix and posting to Instagram first. Then I can circle around and blog later with the supplies, etc. Pretty soon it will be time to switch to Autumn/Indian Summer cards (yay) so I wanted to share Summer today!

First up is a pretty butterfly card combining lots of textures and colors. I love to mix papers!! Here I've used textured cardstock, vellum and metallic silver cardstock. I love the play and contrast of the mediums. I kept it simple – no stamping! Just a beautiful die cut from Pretty Pink Posh to finish it off…

I used a SUPER fun technique to make the background stripes!! If you look closely, you can see that I made that striped paper!! I took a sheet of white cardstock and covered it with sticky tape. Then I used several colors of AC Textured Cardstock and cut it into 1/4 inch strips. I laid the strips down onto the adhesive tape making sure to push them snugly against each other. Once I had enough stripes, I used a rectangle stitched die to cut it into a panel. SO easy! I can't wait to use different colors and different widths of strips of paper for different looks!! That served as the pop of color for the card, so everything else is pretty neutral. I die cut a butterfly from silver cardstock and the branches from vellum…then the sentiment from black cardstock (supplies at the end of my post). I used white ink to make splatters on everything! Glued it together and done!

Here's my lovely photo assistant! He has to be right where I am at all times! It's the absolutely sweetest thing ever. I don't mind one bit.

Next up is ICE CREAM! I made this card for National Ice Cream Day! I loooooove these stamps from Sunny Studio Stamps. They are my favorite ice cream stamps. You stamp them in three layers and the results are amazing. You can make such fun cards with this set. I used a beautiful background plate from Lil Inkers too….and Doodlebug papers….

I started with an A2 card base and layered pretty pink gingham (Doodlebug) and then a strip of plaid (also Doodlebug)… I used the cover plate to make the background on the white circle part…then die cut it into a circle. Love it as a background for ice creams!! I stamped the sentiment and some sprinkles onto a smaller circle. I stamped the cones, ice cream and cherry and added a few clear sparklies to finish. Another fun and easy card layout.

Thank you for coming by to see me! This week will be kind of quiet until Friday…then I have THREE new release blog hops that I'm in! SUPER stoked for those! I love the excitement of new releases and fun blog hops. Don't you? I hope your week is full of blessings and joy. XOXO

July 30, 2018
Let’s Chill! Fun Palm Tree Shaker Card!

Hi friends! Just popping in today quickly to share a card I made last week! I came down with a cold on Tuesday (BOOOO) and have been feeling yucky. It's worse because every day here has been over 100 degrees outside! I'm starting to feel better and it's just a cold. But I am being a total baby about it! LOL. Mr. Lucky has been a great nurse companion – sleeping and snuggling by my side all day. What a sweetie. Hopefully I'll be good as new in a few…. Hope you're having a great week!

I love working with Queen & Company! Both the awesome people, and the fantastic products! Everything about Queen & Company is pure bright color, and pure fun! Such a joy to make a quick shaker card and stamp the perfect sentiment. Their kits are the bomb. If you are intimidated by making shaker cards I would encourage you to try one of their shaker kits. It makes it so easy to put it all together. The foam is cut, the acetate is cut for you and all you have to do is assemble everything! CLICK HERE to shop their store. CLICK HERE to see videos on how to put the items together.

I made a super fun Summer shaker with a palm tree! I used rainbow paper for the background from Doodlebug. The perfect match! Take a look!

I started with a kraft A2 card base and layered rainbow paper. Then I die cut two white stitched rectangles and layered those. My palm tree shaker is adhered directly to that top layer of white paper. The sentiment was stamping onto an oval of white in dark black ink! Let's chilllll….I added some gems and bling inside – all in clear and green tones. You could add whatever you like! There are so many choices! I used Doodlebug Enamel dots in brown to look like coconuts! Every palm needs some coconuts right??

The shaker kits come with matching dies to use to cut out your patterned/solid papers. I used Doodlebug papers in brown and green.

Wonder why I feel like a trip to the beach right now!? Thanks for popping by today! I hope you have a beautiful day and a fun Summer weekend coming up! XOXO See you soon!

July 26, 2018
Autumn cards with Concord & 9th!

Hi everyone! Happy Monday! I hope you have a great week ahead of you. I had a super fun weekend with a trip to San Francisco to the farmers market and a foggy ferry ride. It's one of our favorite ways to escape the heat here in Sacramento. We are so lucky that we can go about 75 miles away and it's 40 degrees colder! We love going to the ferry building and hanging out for the day. My favorite photos from the day are on my Instagram! I really enjoy taking photos of flowers and gorgeous produce… I find all that color and natural beauty so inspiring. God truly is the master artist!

Lots of my crafting friends are already knee deep in Christmas crafting! I am so grateful that I can wait on that this year and enjoy the natural flow of the seasons in my art and creating. I can feel the light changing ever so slightly in the evenings signaling the first glimpse of fall… And that has me super excited and anxious for Fall cards. Because Fall is my favorite time of year. I'm sharing two cards today with Fall colors and themes. I couldn't help myself- couldn't wait! LOL.

There were two amazingly awesome new stamp sets that caught my eye from Concord & 9th recently. Angie and Greg were kind enough to send them to me so I could play! (they literally are the nicest people and I'm so glad they are my friends). I've seen lots of projects with both of theses sets (City Stacks and Furry Friends)… But I wanted to put my own twist on them – I made them Fall themed!

First up is a card using the beautiful and innovative City Stacks Stamps and Dies. One of the things at the very top of my life bucket list is to visit Central Park in New York in Autumn. I soooo want to do this one day. Until then, I've created a card to look like Central Park might look in October! I stamped and die cut and layered and water colored and had the best time making this!

I tried out some new watercolor paper for this project – for the city pieces and the trees/ground pieces. It has a nice linen texture to it, instead of the typical bumpy texture. It colored very nicely! Coloring the city was easy with my MIjello Mission watercolors. I mixed black with indigo blue to create a steely blue grey color like buildings. I did a wet on wet technique and really didn't fuss over it too much. I die cut them out with the matching dies. The dies include a pretty cloud border that I used at the top of my layers.

***One note about my watercolors… I got this set of watercolors about a year ago. They have been so 'life changing' to my crafting. Yes, they are expensive! But I have not regretted spending the extra money on them. The tubes are still about 80% full and I've been painting with them all year. So I figure that they will last me at least 6-7 years. They are creamy and vivid and beautiful. I never thought I would be able to see the difference but I can!! Just wanted to put that out there for some of you who are on the fence about the Mijellos. I like the set I bought because it comes with a palette and everything. XO

This finished card is a slightly modified A2. My card measures 5.5 x 4.5 inches.

The stamp and die with the ground and trees has three trees on it. I stamped and die cut out three of these pieces so I could have extra trees to put in my scene. I water colored the ground with a few shades of green and water colored the trees using vivid yellow, orange and a touch of red. This is how my brain sees Fall trees! LOL. The welcome die comes with the set. The stamped and heat embossed sentiment is from an old set that I don't know the name of!

Here's a close up of the trees/coloring. The biggest tree stamp has a tire swing on it, so I just trimmed that part off. This is how the city scene looks when stamped and die cut.

This photo shows how I layered everything…. You know I love layers!!! More is more!

If you look closely at the ground pieces you can see where I trimmed off the trees. Then I used foam tape to attach them where I wanted them! Never be afraid to play and change things up!

For this second card I used the awesome Furry Friends stamps and dies. This stamp set is SO GREAT!!! It has a deer, a bear, a fox and a horse and matching accessories. I love a good woodland creature stamp set, yes I do! I immediately wanted to make a deer with a flower crown! I mean, right?? I had just gotten some new Fall paper pads too, and I used two of them for the paper layout of this card. I combined it with my favorite wood grain paper too. Yes!

This finished card is A2 size. I started by layering my paper pieces. I used cream paper instead of bright white for this one. I used a bit of brown twine to add texture and softness to the overall feel of the piece. And, as I am known to do, I got some gingham in there.

I stamped and die cut out the deer, the antlers and the flowers/leaves. I colored them with inks and also with Copics. For the sentiment and the circle, I used Distress Ink and a sponge to ink the edges and make it look more vintage. I finished with a few enamel dots from my stash, picking up that pretty blue color from the paper pad.

That's it for my first Fall projects of 2018. I'll be back to making Summer projects later in the week! LOL. But I literally could not wait to stamp these stamps and bring these ideas to life. Thank you for stopping by my blog today! CLICK HERE TO shop Concord & 9th! I hope you have a great week. See you soon! XOXO

July 23, 2018
Reverse Confetti New Release Blog Hop! July 2018!

Hi my crafty friends! Happy weekend! I hope you had a great 4th of July! I'm here today to share something really fun! I'm going to be joining in with the Reverse Confetti team every other month to help launch the new releases! YAHOOOO! Jen is a friend of mine, and any time she wants my support I try to give it! Plus….cutest stamps ever! I'm delighted to join a big fabulous blog hop today showing the new July 2018 release. I made two cards to share! CLICK HERE to SHOP the entire new release! Full blog hop list and specific shopping links are at the bottom of my post. Enjoy!

First up is a FUN and sweet camping card with adorable little animals having some s'mores by the fire. Reverse Confetti has the cutest critters in their stamp sets. I also love the tent and the funky trees! I used lots of stamps and dies and built a scene. Even the sentiment is super cute! The new set I'm featuring is called Greatest Adventure!

I started with a White A2 card base and layered some blue and white gingham from my stash. I used large oval dies to die cut two green hills to layer at the bottom of the card. I used a very very old wood stamp and some versamark ink to stamp the splotches onto the green cardstock. Then it was a matter of stamping and coloring the images! I used Copic Markers and then added some Diamond Stickles to the clouds and the fire. The clouds are from another, previously released Reverse Confetti Stamp Set. Everything works great together!

I stamped and die cut out all the pieces and colored them in with natural, outdoorsy shades. Everything is attached to the card using foam tape. I stamped the sentiment in the corner. CUTEST font ever, right?

Next up is a bright and funky floral card using the brand new Mod Floral stamps and dies. I thought this new stamp set was a perfect match for the already released Eyelet Cover Plate (which I LOVE). I used some 70's shades: aqua, green and orange, and popped it against dark grey and white. I really like how this card came out! I started with a white A2 card base and then die cut the cover plate and layered that over the white using foam tape.

I wrapped a strip of vellum around the entire front of the card. I used beautiful cardstock and stamped the patterned flower sections onto the cardstock using Versamark Ink. It's a very subtle and pretty look. I used the matching dies to cut the florals out.

I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment onto black cardstock with bright white embossing powder! Looks pretty with the other colors I think! The final touch was to use a few enamel dots from my stash.

Thank you SO much for joining me today on my stop on this awesome blog hop! YEAH for the new Reverse Confetti July Release! LOVE IT! The entire new release is available for shopping now! Woot! What are you most excited about? Enjoy the hop! Next up is the talented and lovely Lisa Henke! Full Hop list at the bottom of this post!

July 8, 2018
Happy 4th of July 2018! Sharing a patriotic card today!

Happy 4th of July! WOO HOOOO! Wishing you a wonderful, happy, fun filled day today with your friends and family! Not sure what we're doing today… I think I'll be making hamburgers and fresh corn on the cob… And maybe we'll do some fireworks here at the house. It will be a mellow day for us and that's fine with me! Happy Summer Holiday everyone! I made a quick card this weekend to celebrate the occasion. I have a big bin full of patriotic and Americana stamps and papers. Everything I used for this card is from my stash and is all old. I love using my old favorite supplies. It's also been a minute since I made something vintage-y and distressed. I kind of like how it came out! Have fun today! XOXO

I started with a cream card base in A2. All my layers are cream, and not bright white. I die cut an oval and a circle with my stitched dies. I used some old papers with a red white and blue color palette.

I stamped Lady Liberty onto the oval in black and then used blue ink and yellow ink to stamp stars and fireworks around here. Then I stamped the sentiment in blue and added yellow stars. The background paper was handstamped with Antique Linen ink onto the cream paper. Everything was inked around the edges with a sponge dauber and Antique Linen Ink. I added the metal stars as an accent. I also used a bit of red and white twine wrapped around the layers for some texture.

Since all of the supplies are old they are not available any longer. So no supply list! The Statue of Liberty Stamp is from Paper Inspirations, the fireworks stamp is from Savvy Stamps. The sentiments are from the set from Taylored Expressions called Yankee Doodle Homestead. I saw that some of them are listed on Ebay if you're interested in stamping like I did!!

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY Independence Day from our home to yours!

July 4, 2018
Stay Golden! Watercolor Pineapples!

Hello creative friends! How is it Monday already? This weekend went by FAST! I'm so happy hubs is home and he and kitty are fast friends already. That kitty is so easy to love and quick to be comfortable with us! Yeah! I had a great time on Saturday at Hero Arts at the Coloring Road Show. I saw so many friends there! Not too much coloring happened actually…mostly visiting and watching Kathy color and just enjoying fellowship with other crafters. What a great time – I so enjoy hanging out with other stamping girls. Now that all the stamp stores are closed…there's really no where to hang out with each other like we used to. I hope you had a wonderful weekend too! Some more about the Road Show at the bottom of my post!

Today's card is another Summer themed tropical creation! This time I used the awesome Stay Golden Stamp Set from Ellen Hutson. I love this stamp set! It's all pineapples and flowers… And the best sentiments!! It makes me happy to stamp out those golden pineapples! This time I chose to use dIstress inks to water color them. And I kept a cool vibe with my natural color palette. Stay Golden everyone!

The card is a white A2 card base. Then I layered some olive-y green paper from my stash. I used a new pineapple embossing folder to emboss kraft paper for my center top layer. I think the embossing folder is the Joann's brand. I didn't recognize the packaging??!! It's aqua and clear and I've only seen it at Joann's. I stamped and die cut out the pineapples from watercolor paper.

The pineapple stamps are in two parts – the top and bottom. The top part is a solid stamp with no outlines. I wanted an outline, so after I colored the leaves I added a wonky, fast outline with a pen. The coloring was done with a water brush and a few colors of distress inks in yellows and greens. I also splattered Opaque White over the pineapples and the kraft layer. I think it looks kind of artsy. After I attached the pineapples onto the paper, I added two golden Doodlebug Sprinkles.

Here are my FINE-apples!

Some of my supplies – and that awesome stamp set!!

For the sentiment I used vellum with gold heat embossing. I thought I should use gold because of what it says! I wrapped some natural thread around the top layer before attaching the pineapples.

Here's a close up of the embossing!

Thank you guys for all the love about my new kitty! I really appreciate everyone being so happy for us. I know lots of you were very upset when Buddy died…and now you are happy for this next chapter and our new furry bundle of joy. Thank you for that. XO Mr. Kitty officially has a name now! His name is Lucky! (get it, Lucky Guess!) We named him that because he is very happy go lucky and because we feel so lucky to have him. He has already brought so much joy to our home.

If you ever have the chance to attend one of Kathy Racoosin's Coloring Challenge Road Trip events I would say – GO! She donates the event fee to charity which is so nice. The events are all over the country. The one I attended yesterday was at Hero Arts which is about an hour from my house. I was surprised that there were people from all over there! Virginia, Texas, LA, etc. all came together. It was truly a day of laughter, fun, good food, crafting, friendship and happiness. Kathy did demos all day with small groups talking to us about her personal coloring style. It was fun to watch her in person and learn from her. I met lots of my blog followers which was AWESOME and had good conversations all day. I colored one tiny thing! LOL. I was expecting that because I'm kind of a chatter box. I met some wonderful women who are local and I hope it's the start of some new crafting friendships. Four of us even went out to dinner together. It was very good for my soul. These kinds of things really uplift me. Here is a shot of the whole group!

And me and Kathy! XO

Thanks so much for coming by today! Hope I put you in a tropical mood to start your week off! What are you planning to do this week? Happy 4th of July too! I'll be back on Wednesday with a patriotic card! XOXO

July 2, 2018