Saturday, October 29, 2016

Christmas Plaid

Dear Ones~
Well, Michigan State lost to Michigan. I always like watching that game. Course I cheer for State, so there's that, but oh well. It's just a game.

I was so happy to find a little time to play today. It's been several days. Here's what I created:
I didn't have a lot of time, so I kept this fairly simple. I like to make rustic cards once in awhile and I think that's what this is. I just got the new GKD Nordic Winter Stamp set and wanted to get it inky. Here I heat embossed it with white on some GKD Dark Sage card stock. I always forget about this Dark Sage color, and I find it quite pleasing.

Here are the Ingredients:
GKD Kraft, Dark Sage and Red Hot Card Stock
GKD Nordic Winter Stamp Set
GKD Compliments of the Season Stamp Set for Greeting
DCWV Christmas Plaid Patterned Paper
SU Oval Dies
GKD White Embossing Powder
Stash Ribbon and Gems

I will be entering this card in:
Stamp TV Monday Challenge - Just a Touch (use a touch of red)
Simon Says Wednesday - Anything Goes

So that's it for me today. It certainly is fall - very dreary and damp. Hope you are having a good weekend. And thanks for all your nice comments, they mean the world to me!!

Just Us Girls #367 - Wild Card

Dear Ones~
This is the fifth Saturday of the month, so it's WILD CARD week over at Just Us Girls. Maria is our host and she has challenged us to MAKE THE SENTIMENT THE FOCAL.

Here's my example:
I love this greeting from Hot Off the Press. It says it all, don't you think? I just layered some patterned papers and then stamped and heat embossed the greeting in gold. I used the Fleur de Lis Squares die from Spellbinders behind the greeting. The flowers and leaf fronds are punched.

Here are the Ingredients:
HOTP Simply Susan Stamp Set
GKD Innocent Pink, White and Fresh Asparagus Card Stock
DCWV Butterfly Garden Patterned Paper 
DCWV Neutral Card Stock
Spellbinders  Fleur de Lis Squares Die
Stash Punches
Stash Pearls

Please visit the JUST US GIRLS blog to see the wonderful cards that our October Guest Designer, Jaydee, and the rest of the team have made this week. And remember, if you win Chic of the Week in any of our October challenges, you will be in the running to be chosen as our Guest Designer for the month of December!!   I hope to see you there. 

Good luck, and thanks for stopping by!!











Saturday, October 22, 2016

Just Us Girls #366 - Photo Week

Dear Ones~

This week is PHOTO WEEK over at Just Us Girls. Our host, Chris, has found this awesome photo for your inspiration. Isn't that cat amazing???

Here's my example:
I have absolutely zero cat stamps, but I do have this cute kittie die from Sizzix. I love the way he is after those little bats. The background was done with acrylic paint and alcohol. HERE is a video to show you how it's done. My background is subtle, but it's great fun to do....try it!! These photos are really, really bright. The card is NOT this bright in real life...stupid camera!!


 Here are the Ingredients:
GKD Black Onyx Card Stock
PTI Terracotta Tile & Summer Sunrise Card Stock
GKD Harvest of Wishes Stamp Set
GKD Wicked Stamp Set
Poppystamps Friendly Kittie Die
Martha Stewart Web Punch
SU Layering Circles Framelits
Copic Markers
Studio G Punches for Spider and Bat

Please visit the JUST US GIRLS blog to see the wonderful cards that our October Guest Designer, Jaydee, and the rest of the team have made this week. And remember, if you win Chic of the Week in any of our October challenges, you will be in the running to be chosen as our Guest Designer for the month of December!!   I hope to see you there. 

Good luck, and thanks for stopping by!!















Thursday, October 20, 2016

Golden Madonna



Dear Ones~
Well, today is Thursday, but it has seemed like Saturday all day to me. But then that's what it's like when you are retired. EVERY DAY is Saturday...lol.

Today I made a card for The Stamp TV Weekly Challenge. This week Sylvia has invited us to CASE (Copy And Share Everything) one of the designers on the Design Team, and she has picked Karen Hightower. Karen's work is FABULOUS!! Just go HERE and take a look at her fantastic creations.

Here is Karen's card I chose:

Birthday Wishes!

And here's my card:
I am such a fan of heat embossing on vellum, so Karen's card really caught my eye. I have to make a confession - I'm really, REALLY lazy. Karen had stitched the vellum to the patterned paper, and I just didn't feel like pulling out my sewing machine for one stitch line. So, I hand stitched the vellum to my patterned paper with gold thread. I kind of love how it turned out, and it really wasn't too much of a hassle. I used a tool called the Scor Bug Embosser. The Scor-Bug is a rotary tool which is used with a scoring board and embosses a row of pearl like little bumps adding texture and relief to your card stock. Oh, and I think the gold foiling on the background patterned paper is so elegant and matches the platinum embossing powder I used for the focal.

Here are the Ingredients:
GKD Sandy Beach Card Stock
DCWV Copper Foil Card Stock
DCWV Cup of Cheer Patterned Paper
PTI Vellum
GKd Christmas Joy Stamp Set
Stash Gold Thread
Ranger Platinum Embossing Powder 
Martha Stewart Stars Punch

So that's it for now. Wonder what I will be doing tomorrow, when it feels like Saturday again....ha ha. Hope your week is going well. And thanks for your comments, they mean the world to me!!!!











Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Mod Squad Challenge - The Way We Were

Dear Ones~
This week Vicki Dutcher and I are hosting the Mod Squad Challenge. Our challenge is THE WAY WE WERE.  We want you to take one of your old creations and CASE YOURSELF. Use your favorite card and put a new twist on it.
One of our sponsors is the wonderful stamp company  
  https://www.kitchensinkstamps.com/shop/index.html
Kitchen Sink Stamps offers us a discount CODE: ModSquad15.
  These stamps are amazing. Most have a multi-stamp feature that lets you get great detail in your images using several colors. There is real dimension with a 3-D effect! And one of the best features of this stamp company is that there are color recipes for most of the multi-step stamps, so you don't have to guess what colors to use. There are even alternative colors if you don't have the inks that are suggested. Maria from Kitchen Sink Stamps is a member of our Mod Squad Challenge Facebook Group so feel free to say Hi or ask any questions.
 
THE PRIZE
A $25 GIFT CERTIFICATE to the store. 
You can pick your own goodies and there are lots of choices!

Here is the card I chose to CASE:

And here my CASE'd card:
I discovered a new product by Heidi Swapp called Minc Reactive Paint. It's a sticky paint that you apply with a brush and then run through your laminator with foil. I love it because it's clear and you won't get any black residue showing through from the toner. The butterflies were stamped with the 3 Step Butterflies Kitchen Sink Stamp Set and fussy cut. Then I painted the Reactive Paint around the edges and ran it through my laminator with Rose Gold Foil. The leaves are die cut from the Paper Smooches Foliage 2 Dies (thanks, Donna).


Here's a close up. It's my first attempt, so my lines are kind of thick. I think this is going to be a lot of fun to play with. There is also a mist that reacts the same way.
See more about the paint HERE.
See more about the mist HERE.


Here are the Ingredients:
GKD Dark Chocolate Card Stock
DCWV Neutrals Card Stock
My Minds Eye Fancy That Patterned Papers
Kitchen Sink Stamps 3 Step Butterfly Stamp Set
Paper Smooches Foliage 2 Dies
SU Blushing Bride Ink
GKD Innocent Pink Ink
Minc Reactive Paint
Minc Rose Gold Foil

Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to head on over to The Mod Squad Blog Challenge and play along. I can't wait to see your wonderful creations, and I adore your comments.


Saturday, October 15, 2016

Just Us Girls #365 - Color Week

Dear Ones~
 

This week is Color Week over at Just Us Girls, and I am the host. I have chosen the colors Olive, Gold and Rust.  As usual with color challenges, you are to use all three of the chosen colors as well as any neutrals that you need.  Neutrals are white, ivory, kraft, black, brown or gray.

Here is my example:
 Here I used Altenew's Beautiful Day Stamp set and Stampin' Up's Diagonal Stripes Background Stamp. I splattered with gold paint to add some shine.



Here are the Ingredients:
GKD White and Fresh Asparagus Card Stock
Altenew Beautiful Day Stamp Set
Various Stampin' Up Inks
SU Diagonal Stripes Stamp
Gold Watercolor
Stash Enamel Dots





Please visit the JUST US GIRLS blog to see the wonderful cards that our October Guest Designer, Jaydee, and the rest of the team have made this week. And remember, if you win Chic of the Week in any of our October challenges, you will be in the running to be chosen as our Guest Designer for the month of December!!   I hope to see you there. 

Good luck, and thanks for stopping by!!

Friday, October 14, 2016

Happy Snowman

Dear Ones~
This is my second post today....wow! I'm on a roll! This offering was made for the Stamp TV October Release Challenge. Gina has invited us to make a Christmas card using the wood grain background technique. I have chosen to use Gina's technique called Carved Wood. You can watch a video she posted showing how to do this technique HERE.

Here's my card:
I decided to go with a blue color palette this time. The Carved Wood Technique is so much fun and I plan on doing it more. And don't you just LOVE that happy snowman? This is one of my favorite GKD stamps from a past kit, Merry Little Christmas.

Here are the Ingredients:
GKD White and Blue Denim Card Stock
GKD Blue Denim, Ivory and Powder Blue Ink
Paper Studios Lattice Circles Embossing Folder
GKD Merry Little Christmas Stamp Set
Spellbinders Circles Dies
Spellbinders Pinked Circle Die
Various Stash Snowflake Punches
Stash Gems
Stickles
Nuvo Crystal Drops in Blue

Thanks for stopping by again, your comments mean the world to me. Now go rake some leaves or something....lol!!!

CASEing Heather

Dear Ones~
Hope this finds you in a good space, looking forward to the weekend. It's a nice sunny fall day here.

Create-along-with-us-heading

This offering was made for the Papertrey Ink Create Along with Us Challenge. I LOVE this card by Heather Nichols and thought it would be really fun to copy.

IMG_0405

Here's what I came up with:
Here I have used the PTI Tinsel and Tags stamp set. I just drew a circle on the Rustic Cream Card Stock and then stamped the pine fronds around. Easy peasy. Thanks for the inspiration, Heather. I thought I would stamp the squiggly line from a Fiskars border stamp set onto the kraft to add a little interest.

Here are the Ingredients:
PTI Rustic Cream Card Stock
GKD Kraft Card Stock
PTI Tinsel and Tags Stamp Set
SU Inks In:
*Cucumber Crush
*Cherry Cobbler
*Soft Suede
SU Linen Thread
Christmas Red Stickles
Fiskars Border a Plenty Stamp Set

Thanks for stopping by, I adore your comments. Enjoy your weekend!








Thursday, October 13, 2016

Altenew October Inspiration Challenge




Dear Ones~
Another post tonight. I really enjoyed playing in my craft room today. This offering is for the Altenew October Inspiration Challenge.

Here is the inspiration:
october2016_altenewinspiraitonchallenge_sveta 
And here is my card:
 I decided to stamp the 3-step leaf stamp from Altenew's A Beautiful Day on kraft card stock with white pigment ink, and then use colors for the details. I did the Rock and Roll technique with Delightful Dijon and Cherry Cobler for the detail image, and the outline was done with Cajun Craze. I really like the look. The stripe is a background stamp from Stampin' Up. 
I love it and use it a lot.

Here are the Ingredients:
GKD Cranberry Tart and Kraft Card Stock
PTI Rustic Cream Card Stock
Altenew A Beautiful Day Stamps
W Plus 9 Happy Birds Stamp
SU Diagonal Stripes Background Stamp
GKD White Pigment Ink
SU Inks In:
*Cherry Cobbler
*Delightful Dijon
*Cajun Craze

 So that's it for me tonight. Hope you had a lovely day. Tomorrow is Friday and the weekend will be upon us. Thanks for stopping by, your comments mean the world to me!








Power Poppy - Make It Move

Dear Ones~
A beautiful day in Northern Michigan. Our apples are ready and we will soon be making apple sauce. I'm taking advantage of this lull before the work begins to make a couple of cards. This one will be entered in the Power Poppy Power and Spark Challenge - Make It Move.

Here's my card:
The challenge was to make a card that had movement. I was kind of stumped! Not because I don't do interactive cards, LOVE doing those, but all my Power Poppy stamps are florals and I just didn't know what to do with those where I would create movement. Then today I watched a video by Dawn Griffith and I had my answer....a slider card. See her video HERE. A slider card has movement, right?? I kind of like how it came out. The rose is a digi stamp from Power Poppy and it was fussy cut after coloring with Copics

Here are the Ingredients:
DCWV Trade Winds Patterned Paper
PTI Rustic Cream Card Stock
Power Poppy Short Stacks Stamp Set
Power Poppy Springtime Love Stamp Set
Power Poppy Rose and Chamomile Digi Stamp
Copic Markers
SU Island Indigo Ink
Prima Dies Forest Leaves Die
Gold Stickles

This card was a lot of fun to make, and it's very clever I think. Thanks for stopping by. Stay tuned for another post tonight. I'm on a roll...ha ha. Oh, and I adore your comments.

Monday, October 10, 2016

Mummy-fied

Dear Ones~
This is my last post of the day.

Another card made from the Jar of Haunts stamp set from Stampin' Up. This little mummy just makes me smile.

Here are the Ingredients:
GKD Moonlit Fog Card Stock
Paper Studios Trick or Treat Patterned Paper
SU Jar of Haunts Stamp Set
SU Circles Framelits
Stash Sequins
Black Crystal Drops inside the Sequins

I will be entering this in:

That's it for me. Guess I better go do something productive. As always, I adore your comments, thanks for stopping by.

Fall Basket

Dear Ones~
Another Autumn card. I love making them because of all the wonderful, vibrant colors.

I love this stamp set by Stampin' Up. It's alled Basket of Wishes, and has several containers with images that can be inserted as you wish. Here I colored the basket and fall vegetables with my Zigs.

Here are the Ingredients:
GKD Dark Chocolate & Ivory Card Stock
Paper Studios Natural Botanicals Patterned Papers
Stampin' Up Basket of Wishes Stamp Set
SU Circles Framelits
Zig Clean Color Brush Markers
Stash Twine and Enamel Dots

I will be entering this card in:
Double D Challenge - Pumpkin Time
Simon Says Wednesday - Halloween/Fall

So this is another one on the books. I have one more to post today. Hope your week is going well. Thanks for looking, your comments mean the world to me.

Pumpkin Time

Dear Ones~
I have a couple of Halloween cards to make, so thought I would get busy.

Here is the first one:
I love this happy guy. Also love using all the wonderful bright Halloween colors, so fun.

Here are the Ingredients:
GKD Black Onyx & Ivory Card Stock
SU Rich Razzleberry Card Stock
Paper Studio Trick or Treat Patterned Paper
SU Jar of Haunts Stamp Set
GKD Wicked Stamp Set for Greeting
Copic Markers
Studio G Spider Punch

I will enter this card in:
Double D Challenges - Pumpkin Time

Thanks for stopping by, your comments mean the world to me. It's a beautiful fall day here, albeit kinda cool. Hope you  have a great week!!!
 

Sunday, October 9, 2016

Background Building with Frames

Dear Ones~
This will be short tonight. I wanted to get a card in to the Papertrey Ink Make It Monday Challenge. See more HERE.

Here is my Card:
I'm not crazy about this card, but there you just are. The challenge was to use frames to create a background.  I don't have any frame dies, so I made my own with the Spellbinders Labels 4 Die.

Here are the Ingredients:
GKD Ivory Card Stock
SU Flirty Flamingo and Mint Macaron Card Stock
SU Blooms and Bliss Patterned Paper
PTI Friendly Flowers Stamp Set
Flirty Flamingo, Mint Macaron & Sweet Sugar Plum Ink
Black Crystal Drops

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you had a good weekend and are looking forward to the week ahead. Thanks also for your sweet comments, they mean a lot to me!!

Saturday, October 8, 2016

Just Us Girls #364 - Trend Week

Dear Ones~



It's Trend Week over at Just Us Girls, and our host Sue has chosen PINEAPPLES. Yum!!
 



Here's my example:
Thank goodness I have one pineapple stamp. It has never gotten inky, so this was it's maiden voyage.  I kinda like it, will pro'ly use it more often. Here I stamped it three times and paper pieced it with some cute patterned paper. I used the Botanical Gardens patterned paper from Stampin' Up for my background, and the leave fronds are from SU's Botanical Blooms.

Here are the Ingredients:
GKD Fresh Asparagus & Ivory Card Stock
SU Botanical Blooms Patterned Paper
Fresh Squeezed Stamps Friendly Folk Stamp Set
GKD Sunkist Autumn Stamp for Greeting
SU Botanical Blooms Dies and Stamps
Spellbinders Circles and Pinked Circle Dies
Nuvo Crystal Drops


Please visit the JUST US GIRLS blog to see the wonderful cards that our October Guest Designer, Jaydee, and the rest of the team have made this week. And remember, if you win Chic of the Week in any of our October challenges, you will be in the running to be chosen as our Guest Designer for the month of December!!   I hope to see you there. 

Good luck, and thanks for stopping by!!

Sunday, October 2, 2016

Angel Friends

Dear Ones~
This is my last post of the day. I am getting ready to have my Dear Sister as a guest for a few days. Can't wait for her to get here, we are gonna play and shop. Traverse City, here we come!!

This card was created for the Stamp TV World Cardmaking Day Challenge. It's Challenge #4, use a stencil on your card.

Here's what I came up with:
I don't have many stencils and don't use them often. So I decided to use a Tim Holtz die by Sizzix called Mixed Media 2. I die cut it on card stock and used it as a stencil. I kinda love the way it turned out.

Here are the Ingredients:
GKD White Card Stock
SU Mint Macaron & Flirty Flamingo Card Stock
SU Blushing Bride Ink
Sizzix Mixed Media 2 Die
GKD Primitive Blessings Stamp Set
SU Layering Layers Circle Framelits
Ranger Platinum Embossing Powder
Stash Punches for Flourishes
Stash Gems and Silver Thread

Okay, I gotta go vacuum. Thanks so much for stopping by, I adore your comments.
 

Non-Traditional Christmas

Dear Ones~
Here's another card created for the Stamp TV World Cardmaking Day Challenge. This is Challenge #3 - use non-traditional colors on a Christmas Card.

Here's what I came up with:
I decided to use navy, kraft and copper on this card. 
I kinda like the combination.

Here are the Ingredients:
GKD In the Navy, Kraft, & Copper Card Stock
GKD Merry Little Christmas Stamp Set
Ranger Copper Embossing Powder
WE R Memory Keepers Gems Embossing Folder
Stash Gems

Thanks for stopping by, I adore your comments. I am very busy today so this is short. Hope your weekend has been fabulous!

Saturday, October 1, 2016

Lovely Foiling

Dear Ones~
Another card I created to celebrate World Cardmaking Day.

This is another card for the Stamp TV World Cardmaking Day Challenge. This time we were to do foiling, or metallic heat embossing. The butterfly and dotted background have been foiled with silver. We all know how difficult it is to photograph shiny things, so most of the foiling looks black, but trust me, it's shiny silver. After I foiled the elements I sponged with GKD Ocean Mist and Applemint Inks. In hindsight I would have sponged before I foiled, because the foiled was rubbed off slightly. We learn from our mistakes.

Here are the Ingredients:
GKD White and Ocean Mist Card Stock
Stash Silver Card Stock
GKD Birthday Blessings Stamp Set
GKD Sending Love STV Kit for Background
GKD Ocean Mist and Applemint Inks
GKD Dogwood and Butterfly Stamp for Greeting
Darice Brick Wall Embossing Folder

This will be entered in:
Simon Says Wednesday - Anything Goes

So that's it for me today. Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend. Thanks for stopping by, I adore your comments!

Faux Hand Carved Wood

Dear Ones~
Happy World Cardmaking Day!!! Who knew there was a day set aside especially for us cardmaking junkies? I feel so honored.

Here is one of cards I made to celebrate:
The background is a special technique I just learned from Gina over at Gina K Designs. To see how it's done, click HERE. Using several different inks, an embossing folder and a scoring tool we can get the look of old hand carved wood. I think it's really cool. I stamped the leaves and fussy cut them, and punched that cute little dragonfly out of copper card stock.

Here are the Ingredients:
GKD Tomato Soup and Ivory Card Stock
GKD Fall Foliage Stamp Set
GKD Sunkist Autumn Stamp Set for Greeting
GKD Inks In:
*Charcoal Brown
*Kraft
*Ivory Pigment
*Tomato Soup
*Prickly Pear
*Cranberry Tart
Darice Fall Leaf Embossing Folder

This will be entered in:
Simon Says Wednesday - Anything Goes
Simon Says Work It Wednesday - Use Red, Orange, Yellow and Brown

Stay tuned for another card today.....after all, it IS World Cardmaking Day!! Thanks for stopping by, I adore your comments!!

Just Us Girls #363 - Word Week

Dear Ones~
It's WORD WEEK over at Just Us Girls, and our host Sharyn has chosen the word LEAVES.

Here's my Example:
Here I have used a lovely leaf stamp from the SU stamp set Thoughtful Branches. I sponged some of them, others I partial stamped with a couple of different colors. The background is a stamp by SU called Hardwood. I love that stamp, there are so many possibilities when you use different card stock colors with different ink.

Here are the Ingredients:
GKD Warm Cocoa and Sandy Beach Crd Stock
GKD Inks In:
*Prickly Pear
*Sweet Mango
*Fresh Asparagus
*Warm Cocoa
*Faded Brick
SU Hardwood Background Stamp
SU Thoughtful Branches Stamp Set
GKD Sunkissed Autumn Stamp for Greeting

I would like to welcome our Guest Designer for the month of October, Jaydee. She is over-the-top talented and I can't wait to see what she creates for us this month. Go visit her BLOG and see what I mean.

Please visit the JUST US GIRLS blog to see the wonderful cards that our awesome Guest Designer  and the rest of the team have made this week. And remember, if you win Chic of the Week in any of our October challenges, you will be in the running to be chosen as our Guest Designer for the month of December!!   I hope to see you there. 
Good luck, and thanks for stopping by!!