For the Princes

Dear Ones~
Okay, I am compelled to tell you that it is snowing HARD here once again. And that's all I have to say about that!
Today I have an Easter card for you that I made for The Adored Ones, our grandsons, ages 7 & 9. I'm entering it in the Mod Squad Challenge. This week we are making Easter cards.

Here's my card:

This is a peek-a-boo card. Here's the inside:

When you open it up, the greeting slides into the oval frame. I think they will like it. I grabbed the image off the internet. Can't tell you the website, it was among a bunch of digis. I printed it off and colored it with my Copics, and also printed off their names and colored them in. The font is called Agent Orange. Paper is from Recollections,  and die cuts are from Cheery Lynn, Tim Holtz, and Spellbinders. The "grass" was cut on my Cricut, as were the eggs.  And of course there's some Stickles in there too.

This is a quickie today - hope you are all doing well. I adore you comments, thanks for stopping by.

Tomato Soup and Onyx

Dear Ones~
What an awful, rainy, icy, dreary day here. The only good thing about it is that it's washing away the remainder of the snow in our yard.
Today's card was made for The StampTV Release Party Challenge, to stamp our own background, and for the Just Us Girls Challenge. My dear friend Nancy is hosting this week, and she has asked us to make a card using black and white, and one other color. In this case I chose to use GKD Tomato Soup, LOVE that color, it looks exactly like tomato soup!! And you KNOW I'm all about food - ha ha!!!

Here's my card:

I used 2 leaf images from GKD Flowers Bloom Stamp Set and stamped them in GKD Black Onyx Ink, and then used the starburst stamp from the GKD Hello Sunshine Stamp Set and stamped that in GKD Tomato Soup ink. The greeting is from that same set. And I love the linen look of the Frame and Filler stamp behind the die cut aster. I sponged the aster with Tomato Soup Ink and then added some clear Stickles. You know me, I gotta sparkle up everything!!!!

Here are the Ingredients:

GKD Black Onyx, White, and Tomato Soup Card Stock

GKD Hello Sunshine Stamp Set

GKD Flowers Bloom Stamp Set

GKD Frame and Filler Stamp Set

Spellbinders Asters and Poppies Die Set

GKD Back Onyx Ink

GKD Tomato Soup Ink

Stickles

Stash Ribbon

Hope it's nicer where you are, but we have to take what we get. Thanks for stopping by, I adore your comments. Have a wonderful day!!!

Butterfly Splatters

Dear Ones~
This will be a quick post today. I wanted to get this card into the Just Us Girls Challenge before the deadline. This is word week, and the word is "splatters".

Here's my card:

For this card I used Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Aged Mahogany, Peeled Paint and Wild Honey. I rubbed the inks on an acrylic block and picked up the color with a super wet paint brush to create the splatter on watercolor paper. WHAT A MESS - paint went everywhere!!!!! When I liked how it looked, I stamped the butterfly with Aged Mahogany and spread the color with a brush. You can't see it very well in the photo, but after the whole thing dried I splattered it with gold paint. Then I stamped the greeting on vellum and heat embossed it with brown embossing powder.

Here are the ingredients:

GKD Ivory and Tomato Soup Card Stock

Strathmore Watercolor Paper

Distress Inks:

Aged Mahogany

Peeled Paint

Wild Honey

GKD Take Flight Stamp Set

Greeting is from a GKD Grab Bag

Fine Tech Gold Paint

Thanks for stopping by, I adore your comments. Think spring, my friends!!

Trillium

Dear Ones~
It's me again, with my second post of the day. This is another card for the Mod Squad Challenge: Flowers. This week we are using flower stamps by Melanie Muenchinger, illustrator for Gina K Designs. Her illustrations are gorgeous.

Here's my second card:

With this card I used the GKD Fabulous Frame Stamp Set by Melanie. This is probably my most favorite of all her sets. There are endless possibilities. Here I stamped the trillium image from the set and colored it with Copics. The little butterfly and greeting are also from that set. I paper pieced the patterned paper from Recollections called Painted Fancy, and added some pearls. That's it. Easy, peasy. That's one of the things I love so much about the Fabulous Frame.

Thanks for stopping by again. It's sunny here, albeit chilly. But our snow is melting, and I can't complain. Oh, and I adore your comments!!!

Melanie's Flowers

Dear Ones~
Boy, I didn't know if I was gonna get this card for the Mod Squad Challenge done before the deadline or not. Thankfully, I found the time. We had our grandsons with us from last Thursday until Sunday. What fun we had. Then yesterday Himself and I went to Traverse City to pick up our new-to-us Subaru Forester. LOVE it!! So happy to have it.

But I digress - the challenge over at Mod Squad this week was to make a card with flowers. Our sponsor is the over-the-top talented Melanie Muenchinger, illustrator for Gina K Designs. If we use her stamps we get our name put in the prize pot twice.

Here's my card:

Here I stamped Melanie's Inspiration Mosaic image. This is a background stamp that provides all those layered rectangles. I love it, so many possibilities. After I stamped it on GKD White Card Stock, I masked off some of the rectangles and stamped those big flowers from Melanie's A Year of Flowers Stamp Set. The greeting is from the Inspiration Mosaic set too. I colored those flowers with Copics, and paper pieced the patterned paper from HOTP in the other rectangles. Then I mounted the whole thing on GKD Wild Dandelion, Black Onyx and Jelly Bean Green Card Stock. I thought those yellow pearls were a good final touch.

So that's it. I had so much fun crafting again. It has been too long, almost a WEEK!!! Yikes!!! I'm hoping to get another card done today. We shall see. It's St. Paddy's Day, so I need to get my corned beef going. Have a wonderful day, and thanks for stopping by. I adore your comments.

Got Gold?

Dear Ones~
This is my second blog post of the day. Wow, don't usually do this many in a row....lol. This card was made for the Power Poppy March Challenge - give it a little shimmer with GOLD, and the Mod Squad Challenge -  make your own background.

Here's my card:

I have been obsessed with watercoloring flowers lately. Can't get enough of it. The background is made on watercolor paper with Distress Inks. I love the look of all the splotches. I used the masking technique to stamp the flowers in a cluster. Then fussy cut them out after coloring.

Here are the Ingredients:

MFT Peach Belini Card Stock
GKD Nature's Greetings Stamp Set
GKD Ivory Card Stock
GKD Gold Embossing Powder
Paper Studio Textured Card Stock - Darks
Paper Studio Embossing Folder
Peerless Watercolors
HOTP Flourish Die
Stickles

Thanks again for stopping by, I adore your comments. The snow is continuing to melt and I can see bare patches of grass along the driveway. There is hope, my friends, there is hope!!!

Make Yourself Smile

Dear Ones~
We are listening to the start of the Iditarod Race, a very grueling 1,000 mile dog sled race up in Alaska. We are particularly interested this year, because a young man from Grayling, Bryan Bearss, is participating. Bryan graduated from high school with our daughter, Sarah. He is racing for a gal who was in a car accident last fall and broke her back. Her dogs were already trained, so Bryan stepped up and is racing her dogs for her. This is his second Ititarod, having raced first back in 2006. They start in Fairbanks and end up in Nome. Godspeed, Bryan.

Today's card is made for the Mod Squad Challenge, create your own background. No patterned paper.

Here's my card:

I just got this amazing set of dies from Sizzix called Mixed Media, by Tim Holtz. There are 4 dies in the set, and they are all kind of funky and grungy - just corners and odd patterns. I love them. For this background I stamped the pattern with Versamark and white heat embossed it to create a resist. Then I watercolored with my Peerless Watercolors. I am so pleased that the pattern from the background stamp matches the die cut so well.

Here are the Ingredients:

GKD Ivory and Black Onyx Card Stock

Strathmore Watercolor Paper

Versamark Ink and GKD White Embossing Powder

Peerless Watercolors

Sweet and Sassy Delightfully Delicate Background Stamp

HOTP Simply Susan Stamp Set for Greeting

Cheery Lyn Designs Small Butterfly Die

Tim Holtz Mixed Media Thinlits Dies by Sizzix

Thanks so much for stopping by, I adore your comments. It's 52 here today, the sun is shining, and the snow is melting like crazy. I am a happy woman!!!

Just Beachy

Dear Ones~
Hope your Wednesday is going well. Happy Hump Day for those of you still working. For me every day is Saturday, because I am retired. I am blessed!!
Today's card was made for the MIUM Challenge over at StampTV My online BFF Donna Phelan is hosting this week, and she has asked us to do something beach-y. Now you have to know she lives on Cape Cod and is only a few blocks from the ocean, so she has her own beautiful beach to enjoy. She is a lucky girl.

Here is my card:

I'm not crazy about how this turned out. I think it's kinda busy. But I did have fun making it. I used my beloved Brusho Crystal Colors for the background around the oval center. I think it kinda looks like sand. And I love Melanie Muenchinger's stamp set, Fabulous Frame. All I did was stamp it out on the watercolor paper after I used my Brushos and paper pieced everything. Oh, and that wonderful Adirondack chair die cut is from my dear friend Kathy. It came to me white, and I just sponged it with GKD Black Ink. Thank you my dear!!! It works perfectly here.

Here are the Ingredients:

GKD Blue Denim and White Card Stock.

Brusho Crystal Colors on Watercolor Paper

GKD Inks in:

*Ocean Mist

*Turquoise Sea

*Sweet Mango

*Bubblegum Pink

GKD Fabulous Frame Stamp Set

GKD By the Sea 2 Stamp Set

Distress Markers

Stickles for the Waves

White Gel Pen for the Waves

Thanks for stopping by, I adore your comments. Maybe someday soon it will be warm enough for us all to enjoy a beach like this!!!