MIM: Using Vellum to Soften Patterns

Just a quick post for my entry into this week's MIM using vellum to soften patterns. As I look at this card I realize I didn't soften the pattern, but did use the vellum attachment technique Lizze demonstrated.

This is a birthday card for a little 3 year old who just loves trucks and cars. I thought it would be appropriate.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

PTI April Blog Hop

           Oops! As I was getting ready to write my post and get the link for this month's blog hop sponsored by PTI, I quickly looked at the inspiration photo

and noticed that the colors to be used were navy and pink.  For some reason I had it in my mind that the colors were navy and melon.
           Anyway, here is the card that I made. I would have much preferred to use the pink. However, I do like how this turned out.

    I am quite embarrassed to tell you how long this card took to make. (over 2 hrs) However, I did stamp the stripes on the diagonal as well as the pattern on top of the card. This was my first time using the Brushstroke stamp set and it turned out quite nicely using my MISTI. (love that tool)
   I am sending this card to a dear cousin who I found out had a stroke recently. A few weeks ago, I went back to Jersey for my aunt's 90th surprise birthday party. I saw many relatives I hadn't seen in ages and was hoping to see her there. This card will let her know that I am thinking of her.
Have a super fun time looking at all the beautiful creations this blog hop. Thanks for taking a peek.

Sunday 4/26/2015: I just received a phone call that my cousin passed away this morning.

MIM: # 209 White on White Die Cuts

     Seems forever since I last posted. It's not that I haven't been making cards; it's taking pictures and up loading them to the computer that stops me from posting.  How lazy of me or should I just say simply 'not motivated'. ( My camera also leaves a black splotch on my pictures. Need to get a new one.)
     I loved this week's MIM at PTI. Although I had seen Lexi's cards during releases, it never occurred to me to make this type of card.
     Since I am super behind on making my Christmas cards for 2015, I decided I would pull out my Christmas stamps. (actually, I have never put them away. They are always in the corner on my stamp shelf.)
     I found a new Christmas Card Challenge that I will  play along .There is an inspiration photo this week,

   My card(s)

I really like how this turned out.  Even though you can only submit one entry for the MIM, I thought I would go ahead and make a 2nd card using this technique since it is so fast.

Since my sentiment was from a red rubber stamp, I didn't notice the dab of ink on the red rubber and ended up getting a splotch.  Any ideas of how to fix this??

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.  

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop: March

Just a quick post for today's blog hop at Papertrey Inks.  The challenge is based on this photo.

 Here's my card.

I used my MISTI to stamp the multiple bitty bouquet die cuts.  Soooo easy and fast too! I just love that tool. So worth the price.

 Here's a different version; added the ribbon and left off the raindrops.

Do you have a favorite?

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek. Enjoy the blog hop.

A Couple of March Birthdays

  When I bought The Shaker & Sprinkle kit I rationalized my purchase that I would create a shaker card for everyone's birthday. Here it's 6 months later and I'm just beginning to make good on my promise. I have several March birthdays. The first card is for my sister. The pink and ruffle heat with a little bling definitely makes it girly.

 For my son's card, I changed the colors, omitted the ruffles and bling and changed the sentiment. Since I really don't like working with the sticky foam that came in the kit, I used multiple layers of the die cut to build up the shaker. I definitely like that method much better. In fact the sprinkles inside tend to move better instead of sticking to the foam.

I'm submitting this card to Unilo Studio Challenge where the theme is birthday.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Easter Invitation

 It's snowing right now. Expecting at least 6 inches before day break. It's hard to believe that Easter is just a month away. I decided to break out some old stamp sets to create some Easter Invitations.
My idea was to combine the chick in the egg with the flowers from Sweet Spring. However when I assembled the card, I wasn't exactly crazy about it.

With a few minor changes, I ended up with this version.

I used my computer to generate the sentiment and my MISTI to stamp the label and flowers. Love this tool. It makes multiple card stamping a breeze. So which invite do you think I should actually send?

I'm submitting this to the challenge to Addicted To Stamps.  The theme is holiday.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Layered Christmas Card

I love Melissa Phillips' cards. Her designs are awesome. I just love all the layering she uses. This week she is featured in PTI's Make It Monday: Anchoring with Border and Banner Dies. I just wish my cards looked half as good as hers.  This is my take; a Christmas card.

I actually like the way this card turned out. (But I'm not going to divulge how long it actually took to make this card) The white banner was actually cut from white glitter paper; it just didn't show up in the photo. I also used my MISTI to stamp the sentiment in Fresh Snow 4 times and then stamped it with glue so I could glitter the sentiment (from Peaceful Pine cones) to accompany the glittered banner.

I'm also back participating in this week's Merry Monday's challenge which is stars.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

PTI Blog Hop: February 2015

My blog continues to be neglected. Not much crafting going on lately. Instead I have been spending time away from the cold cruising the Caribbean.  Now that I'm back I thought I would make a quick card for this month's Bog Hop at PTI.  The challenge is to create something based upon the inspiration photo below.

 My background was created using a stencil and inks on glossy paper. I'm still learning how to use my MISTI (most incredible stamp tool invented) with die cuts. It worked perfectly doing selective stamping with the sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek. I'm volunteering at our hospital's gift shop, so I'l be blog hopping this evening. Enjoy!

Papertrey January Blog Hop Contest

      A quick post for my 2nd entry for PTI's January Blog Hop featuring hearts. I used this week's sketch from Retrosketches.

My version:

 I just purchased Wink of Stella (clear) and decided to ink up the hearts. Was almost finished when a glob fell right onto the big heart so I had to redo it. I think I need to practice using this new product.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

PTI January 2015 Blog Hop: Hearts

 My favorite time of the month; the 25th. I love participating in PTI's monthly Blog Hop.  The theme

this month is hearts. Of course that means a Valentine for my husband.

I was inspired by the picture of the 3-d hearts that were laid out in rows.

 Here's a close up of the stamped hearts. I used Ombre Builders and Polka Dot Basic #1.

This is the message inside:

A hundred hearts would be too few
To carry all my love for you.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

From Our Home to Yours

   Still on a roll making Christmas cards in between Valentine and birthday cards. I decided to use
sketch # 149 at Retrosketches for this card.

I am also submitting it for this week's challenge at Merry Monday. The theme is houses. I don't own any stamps with houses on them so I decided to use the die from Love Lives Here.  This is the first time I also used that particular sentiment stamp from Holiday Wishes. Never could figure out a good use for it, but I think it goes perfectly with this card. Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Merry & Bright

Happy Friday!  I have a card today that I made for the challenge this week at Showcase Your Style.
It is a Color Challenge. I usually don't participate in color challenges, but when I saw this beautiful palette, I thought it would make a great Christmas card using non-traditional colors.

Needing a layout I used this sketch #148 from Retrosketches. (I can't believe I made the dead line for submission)

My card:

Since I don't have a reinker for VersaMagic Turquoise Gem, I used Copic BG15 to color the ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

NBUS Challenge: Wedding Card

I was in need of a wedding card for my sister-in-law who remarried last month. She is having a reception this weekend. Looking over my stash, I came across the Framed Love Die that I ordered eons ago but never used. When I saw that the cue word for this week at the CAS-ology Challenge
was NBUS, I decided to play along.

For those who do not know what the acronym NBUS stands for, it means "Never Been Used Schtuff". Every dedicated stamper has NBUS and lots of it.

Here's my card.

I had originally wanted to emboss the flourishes with Bridal embossing powder, but couldn't find mine (as my room is still a mess) so I settled for Judi Kins Iridescent Sparkle.
Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

MIM: Colorful Card Corner Take 3

  I'm back with my 3rd card for this week's challenge at PTI: Colorful Corner Card. I love this design that Danielle Flanders focused on this week in her video. This card is my favorite one of all three.(#1, #2) I finally got brave to stamp a bold background and just love the way it turned out.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

MIM: Colorful Card Corners: Christmas

 I made another card for PTI's MIM Colorful Corner Card. Since I am not burned out making Christmas cards and on a roll for 2015 (I already have 4 made) I used Peaceful Pine Cones to make another Christmas card.  This time I added a small star image in the background.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

Merry Monday: Snowflake

 I'm so happy to be participating in Merry Monday's snowflake challenge. Last year I was able to make half my cards prior to the holiday season. However, once I started prepping for my granddaughters' birthday parties in July, making my Christmas cards fell to the wayside. Hopefully this year all my cards will be done by October especially since I will be traveling the entire month of November.

This is the insspiration photo for the snowflake challenge.

My card.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

MIM: Colorful Card Corners

    I am very excited about this week's MIM challenge at PTI. Danielle Flanders created several cards where the focal point is in the corner.  This is a different perspective for me.  Since I need another birthday card for this month, I decided to use balloons as my image.

(little natural light today; snowy)

I combined sentiments from Heart to Heart and Star Prints. I love the way the card turned out. I thought about stamping the circle confetti from Birthday Style, but loved the white space on my card, so I left it as is. I would love to make some more cards using this idea. Hopefully, I'll find some time to do so. Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

MIM: A la Carte: Confetti

   Back with another card for this week's A la Carte MIM Challenge at PTI.  This time I chose the video Make your Own Confetti by Danielle Flanders. I just found out one of my nephews is turning 40. I couldn't miss this opportunity to send him a card. I thought the confetti card was perfect.

I also included the technique "Camouflaging Die Cuts. I think that technique is awesome.  I've tried it before and wanted to do it again. Since I used my Cameo to cut the numbers, I had to estimate placement of numbers. The shading is a bit higher than I would have liked.  Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

MIM: A La Carte: Diamond Wallpaper Stamping

   Now that the holidays are over and I can get back into my routine, I have time to not only make cards, but post them on this neglected blog. I love this week's challenge at PTI's MIM: A la Carte which is to revisit a challenge one did not already participate in. Although I did quite a few in 2014, there were still some I missed.
  My husband and brother-in-law both have a birthday in the middle of January.  I thought the
MIM: # 174 Diamond Wallpaper Stamping technique was perfect for a masculine card. I used a stamp from Square Prints to create my diamonds. This is my take.

   I used the color combination from this month's Inspiration Archive at PTI.

Now I have to decide who is getting this card. My husband or brother-in-law. I guess that depends on how my next masculine card turns out. Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

MIM: A la Carte

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  Here's wishing everyone a healthy and happy 2015.
I'm back with another card for this week's MIM challenge at PTI which is to participate in a challenge that was missed. This time I picked # 179 which is Emboss Resist Die Cuts. I have only two cover plates and chose the Diagonal to make this card.

At first I wasn't too happy about the way the ombre background (Ripe Avocado, Simply Chartreuse, Limeade Ice) turned out. However, once I placed the poinsettias on the card, I thought it looked much better, I'm still on a roll with Christmas cards for 2015. This makes my 4th one already.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.