Splashes of Watercolor

Hi, everyone!

Today is my Mom’s birthday and I wanted to make her a card that was simple, pretty, and in keeping with the season.  I’ve been itching to use the flower from the Our Craft Lounge Thankful Flourishes set, and as soon as I saw this piece of Indian Summer paper I knew the 2 would coordinate perfectly!

The flower was stamped on a piece of the Indian Summer paper and shaded with Copic markers.  The flower center was stamped on crushed curry cardstock and the leaf on soft suede.  Both the flower and the center are popped up on foam tape.

Gotta love those quick cards!

Thanks for stopping by today!

• Stamps: Thankful Flourishes (Our Craft Lounge)
  
• Paper: soft suede, crushed curry, Indian Summer 6×6 paper pad (Basic Grey)
  
• Ink: Memento rich cocoa
• Other: ribbon (May Arts), foam tape, Copic markers - 0, E43

This week the Angels Landing design team was challenged to finish the inside of our cards.  That’s always fun!

There’s a lot of sparkle on this card and it was so much fun to make.  The kitten from Ho Ho Hollydays was colored with copic markers.  The grungeboard ornament was painted white with an acrylic paint dabber then coated with blue topaz glitter.  Both the ornament bow and the flourish were covered with stickles, and the fur trim on the kitten’s hat is made with Sparkly Fluff.

Inside, the tiny bird’s fur trim is made with stickles and the piercing at the top of the white layer was made using one of the Faux Stitched Borders.

Here are some close ups.  You can click on them to see them larger.

There’s lots more to see from the wonderfully talented design team.  Please check the links our HERE.  Thanks so much for stopping by to check this sparkly cutie out!

• Stamps: Ho Ho Hollydays, Faux Stitched Borders (Angels Landing)
  
• Paper: Neenah white, kiwi kiss, Colorful Christmas Bright Stripes (My Mind’s Eye)
• Ink: computer, Ranger acrylic paint dabbers - silver & snow cap, Versafine onyx black
• Other: sewing machine, Martha Stewart blue topaz glitter, Tim Holtz Ideology grungeboard ornament & swirl, piercing tool & mat, stardust & lime green & pink stickles, raspberry fizz satin ribbon (Papertrey Ink), foam tape, sugar Sparkly Fluff, yellow metallic Sakura gellyroll pen, 1-1/4″ circle punch, Copic markers:
  

It’s time for Color Throwdown #67.  Tammy is our hostess-with-the-mostess this week and she’s chosen a wonderful color combination.  I wasn’t sure it would work for Christmas (I am hot and heavy into creating as many Christmas cards as possible before the rush!), but then I pulled out this Snowed In paper kit from My Mind’s Eye that I got at my LSS (Southern Scrapbooks) last year. I couldn’t use the soft sky with it, but Papertrey’s aqua mist worked perfectly!

Here’s this week’s color combo:

And here’s my card based on Laura’s Sketch 38 from 2 Sketches 4 You.

Be sure to visit the Color Throwdown blog to get all the details on this week’s challenge.  You could be our next Featured Stamper!!  And please show some love to our super-talented design team:

Barbara * Cathy *Danielle

LeAnne * Tammy * Elise (Guest Designer for November)

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Thanks so much for stopping by to visit!  See you soon!

• Stamps: Holiday Greetings (A Muse)
• Paper: kraft & aqua mist (Papertrey Ink), dusty durango & always artichoke, Snowed In paper kit (My Mind’s Eye), Fresh Paint glitter paper (K & Company)
• Ink: Ranger Archival coffee
  
• Other: corner rounder punch, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder, May Arts ribbon, foam tape, Quickie Glue Pen, DecoArt glamour dust, Martha Stewart snowflake punch, rhinestone

Hello, everyone!

I’ve accepted a position on the design team for Just For Fun Rubber Stamps.  They have some very unique and beautiful images and I’m excited to get to play with them!

My card today uses the North Pole Post stamp.  I’m a sucker for penguins and I love this guy!  He’s stamped in black directly onto the Eskimo Kisses paper, then coated with Ranger Distress rock candy crackle paint.

I’ve used the MOJO111 sketch and what a great one it is!  The Heidi Swapp clear ghost star was painted on the back using a Ranger silver acrylic paint dabber, then coated on the front with Glossy Accents and Flora Craft diamond dust glass flakes.

I’m very excited to be working with Just For Fun Rubber Stamps and the super talented design team.   I hope you’ll visit them and give them some stamping love:

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Heidi Blankenship * Linda Duke * Sandy Sandrus

Sherry Cheever * Starla Nelson

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Thanks for visiting me today!  I appreciate it!

• Stamps: North Pole Post (Just For Fun Rubber Stamps)
  
• Paper: vintage cream (Papertrey Ink), Eskimo Kisses (Basic Grey), Rock On Tadpole (My Mind’s Eye), magazine page
  
• Ink:Versafine onyx black, Ranger Distress old paper
  
• Other: sponge dabber, Ranger glossy accents, Flora Craft diamond dust, Heidi Swapp ghost star, Ranger Distress rock candy crackle paint, Ranger acrylic silver paint dabber, vintage cream ribbon (Papertrey Ink), silver cord, silver bell, pewter Liquid Pearls, foam tape

Sadly, I have decided to step down from the Rubbernecker Stamps design team.  I’ve been with them for 3 years and it was time for me to move on and grow in another direction.  I will sorely miss Dave, Pat and all the wonderful, special ladies on the design team.  They’ve been my family for 3 years and will continue to be some of my closest friends.  I love them all!

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The fun announcement??  I’ve been invited to be on the Our Craft Lounge design team!!  Of course, it took only a few seconds to say yes!  It’s been a dream of mine to be able to work (play) with all of the super-talented ladies already on the team and I love all of their fun and playful stamp sets!  But most of all, I really, really love Cambria and Joy and couldn’t wait to work (play) with them!

So thanks for inviting me ladies, and I can’t wait to get into the swing of things with you all!

To start things off, I’ve made my first card.  Well, I’ve made several when I previously participated in the OCL blog hops for new releases but this is my first card as a DT member! (Yippee!)

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I used the For the Love of Birds stamp set for this card.  The images are so delicate and beautiful.  I immediately thought to pair this love bird image with the Spellbinders eyelet pendant die and add the new Martha Stewart double loops border punch to the mix.  Great match, don’t ya think?  Some vintage cream satin ribbon, half-back pearl stickers, and some Cosmo Cricket Earth Love paper complete the package!

Thanks so much for visiting me on this beautiful Sunday!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

• Stamps: For the Love of Birds (Our Craft Lounge)
  
• Paper: vintage cream (Papertrey Ink), Earth Love (Cosmo Cricket), soft suede
  
• Ink: Memento - rich cocoa
  
• Other: eyelet pendant & scallop circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), tiny tags die (Cuttlebug), double loops border punch (Martha Stewart), vintage cream ribbon (Papertrey Ink), linen thread, pearl stickers, foam tape
  

My dear friend Tammy passed this blogging award on to me.  It was so much fun reading her answers and then trying to give my answers (only one word, ha!)  That sounds hard!  Let’s see how I do.

The Rules are:

1. You can only use ONE word!!!
2. Pass this along to 5 of your favorite bloggers!
3. Alert them that you have given them this award!
4. HAVE FUN!!!
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Just ONE word…let’s see if I can do it!

1. Where is your cell phone? purse
2. Your hair? shorter
3. Your mother? sweet
4. Your father? comedian
5. Your fave food? dessert
6. Your dream last night? none
7. Your fave drink? water
8. Your dream/goal? retirement
9. What room are you in? office
10. Your hobby? kayaking
11. Your fear? illness
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? beach
13. Where you were last night? home
14. Something that you aren’t? retired
15. Muffins? blueberry
16. Wish List Item? retirement
17. Where did you grow up? Florida
18. Last thing you did? work
19. What are you wearing? yellow
20. Your TV? small
21. Your Pets? ancient
22. Friends? many
23. Your Life? blessed
24. Your Mood? tired
25. Missing Someone? Dad
26. Vehicle? Pilot
27. Something your not wearing? necklace
28. Your fave store? Target
29. Your fave color? aqua
30. Last time you laughed? lunch
31. Last time you cried? Grey’s
32. Your best friend? daughter
33. One place that I go to over and over? work
34. One person who emails regularly? Karen
35. Fave place to eat? steakhouse
36. Facebook? nope

Hmmm.  There seems to be somewhat of a theme here.  I must be looking forward to retiring to the coast!!  Ya think??

I’m supposed to pass this on to five of my favorite bloggers.  I did a “close your eyes, point and click” in my blog list and here’s who I came up with:

1. Heidi

2. Joan

3. Elena

4. Christine

5. Susan

Have fun, ladies, and thanks again for choosing me, Tammy!

~

Happy Halloween, y’all!

When I printed this little cardinal from the Season’s Tweetings stamp set from Angels Landing, I knew I wanted a rustic look but I also wanted the card to have a little elegance as well.  That’s how I ended up coloring with Prismacolor pencils on the kraft cardstock, then mounting it on the delicate white Spellbinders Fleur de Lis die cut.

I think the patterned paper adds to the textured rustic feel and the flowing ribbon dresses it up a little too.  To keep the ribbon tails in place, I coated them with a thin layer of liquid glue then pressed only certain points to the paper and allowed it to dry.  This adds a little bit of stiffness to hold it in place and keep it looking pretty!

Check out what all the other design team members made this week for the “Wild Card” challenge:  Angels Landing blog!

• Stamps: Season’s Tweetings - Angels Landing
  
• Paper: kraft, white, ruby red, Yuletide Greetings - Christmas Magic - Fancy Pants
  
• Ink: computer
  
• Other: Prismacolor pencils, gamsol & stump, Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Pendant die, scallop square Nestabilities, Copic marker R59, Cuttlebug Olivia alphabet dies, ribbon, foam tape, Tombow aqua glue
  

Would you just look at that precious face??  I just can’t stop looking at it and smiling!  This little fella has complete stolen my heart!

He’s one of the adorable Penguin Chicks from Angels Landing.  And I chose him to be on my Color Throwdown card this week.  The colors that LeAnne presented us with just seemed perfect for a warm woolen hat and scarf.

The blue background layer is covered in sparkly snowflakes as is his snowy fur.  The snow on his little sign is liquid pearls with a touch of glitter as well.  The sheer, sparkly edged ribbon was heated just enough to crinkle the ends.  He’s colored with several different shades of grey markers (and qualifies as an entry to this month’s Copic Creations challenge - coloring black with copics).

We would just love it if you would play along with us!!  We don’t have a sponsor this week, but you have a chance at being chosen Featured Stamper of the week!!  You can find all the details on the Color Throwdown blog and then there’s so much more inspiration here:

Barbara * Cathy *Danielle

LeAnne * Tammy * Lisa Kind (Guest Designer for October)

I can’t believe this is already Lisa’s last week as Guest Designer!  Thank you so much, Lisa, for joining us and allowing us to showcase your gorgeous creations!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I’ll have a new Angels Landing creation for you at 9 a.m., so please come back!

• Stamps: Penguin Chicks - Angels Landing
  
• Paper: white, bordering blue, razzleberry, eggplant
  
• Ink: computer
  
• Other: curved rectangles - Nestabilities, foam tape, white opal liquid pearls, 3/4″ circle punch, ribbon, CB snowflakes folder, Stardust stickles, heat tool, Copic markers:

I’m just finishing up my Halloween cards.  Good thing too, because some of them have to go to Virginia and some to Florida.  They’re all going in the mail today!

These first 2 cards are for the 2 youngest granddaughters - ages 15 months and 6 months.  The 6 month old is dressing up as a ladybug, so this Pink Cat Studio digi stamp Itty Bitty Betty - Ladybug Costume is just perfect!!  I know red is not your usual Halloween color, but it’s certainly appropriate here.

How about those gorgeous tissue paper flowers??  (You really have to click on the photo to make it larger so you can get the full effect of how pretty they are.)  Mona Pendleton did a fantastic video on how to make them.  You’ll find it HERE on the JUGS challenge blog, because that’s this week’s challenge - to make something with one of Mona’s flowers on it.

I followed Mona’s instructions, but used the Dahlia Nestabilities because I don’t have the Blossom ones.  My white tissue paper was brayered with real red ink.  I may not have let the brayered tissue paper dry long enough because when I took the eight layers out of the die, they were kind of melded together and I had to take my piercing tool and carefully separate the layers. I did try it again later with precolored pink tissue paper and did not have the same problem.  Another time saving hint: instead of cutting 8 squares for each size die, I just folded my tissue paper until there were 8 layers.  Much easier!!

Individual photos:

Now here’s the last of my Halloween creations.  It uses the MOJO109 layout and the Rubbernecker Stamps Halloween Set 2 cute little “Witchie Poo”.  Don’t you just love the Skull Trick or Treat paper from Fancy Pants?

All 3 of these cards qualify for entry to the Copic Creations challenge #14.  Check it out!

Thanks for visiting me today!  See you soon!

CUTIE PIE HALLOWEEN SET:

• Stamps: Itty Bitty Betty - Ladybug Costume digi stamp - Pink Cat Studio
• Paper: Neenah white, red, Boo to You from Bewitching Webs - My Mind’s Eye
  
• Ink: computer, red
  
• Other: brayer, tissue paper; Dahlia, circle, scallop circles Nestabilities; paper piercer & mat, white gel pen, rhinestone brads, foam tape, Distress stickles - rock candy, sewing machine, Copic markers:
  

WITCHIE POO:

• Stamps: Halloween Set 2 (474), sentiment - Halloween Set 1 (473) - Rubbernecker Stamps
  
• Paper: Neenah white, Fresh Paint glitter paper pack - K & Company, Skull - Trick or Treat - Fancy Pants, Monster Mash - Boo to You - My Mind’s Eye
• Ink: Memento - tuxedo black
  
• Other: classic rectangle, circle & petite oval Nestabilities, ribbon, stickles - black diamond, starry nights, corner chomper - deco, foam tape, white gel pen, Copic markers:

This week’s Angels Landing challenge for the design team was to use sewing (real or faux.)  I chose to use my sewing machine…I certainly need the practice!  But I got so carried away coloring the image and matching the patterned paper that I almost forgot to use sewing at all!

This is my newest favorite holiday color combo - red, aqua and brown.  Bright and happy, yet warm and yummy !

I used several brown Copic markers to make the frame have a woodgrain look. The smaller brown layer and the aqua layer are dry embossed and the sewing actually attaches the Cosmo Cricket Jolly by Golly patterned paper to the larger brown layer.

All the berries and ornaments are covered in fired brick Distress stickles.

You can see all the beautiful design team creations by going to the Angels Landing blog.

Thanks for stopping by to check in today!

• Stamps: Season’s Tweetings - Angels Landing
  
• Paper: Neenah white, vintage cream - Papertrey Ink, chocolate, Jolly by Golly mini deck - Cosmo Cricket
• Ink: computer, Versamagic (tea leaves)
• Other: sewing machine, ribbon, button & twine (PTI), CB Moroccan Screen folder, Tim Holtz holiday grungeboard, 3/4″ circle punch, Distress stickles (fired brick), foam tape, Copic markers: