Hugs & Sunshine

Today's post is a cute card full of happy!  The yellow layer and the word "sunshine" were die cut using the WPlus9 die set, Sunshine Layers.  The sentiment is from a Simon Says Stamp set which was designed by Hero Arts, Prayers.  After stamping the sentiment, I used a corner rounder on the white layer to mimic the corners on the yellow DSP.  To embellish the card,  a little yellow punched flower with a rhinestone center and a little black twine bow add to the happy.  Have a great weekend and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Color Wash Background

Today's card is quite simple and pretty, too.   I used Shimmery White cardstock, taping it to a board in order to create a border around the painted area.  I chose Pistachio Pudding card stock and ink (retired) for the card, using as little water as possible to create the background with a paint brush.  (When removing the painter's tape, pull it off at an angle to avoid tearing of cardstock.) To embellish the card, I punched a balloon and candle using retired dsp and SU punches.  The sentiment is from the Cottage Greetings stamp set (wise purchase).  The card front is shimmery although it is not showing up that well in the photo. I am pleased with the way it all came together.  I can see creating a set of cards using the Shimmery White card stock and a variety of colors and sentiments as a gift for someone.  Have a great day!

Drawing of Nipper

Today, rather than posting a card, I am sharing Sydney's latest art.  When she was here a couple of weeks ago, I took a photo(s) of her holding Nipper before he went to bed for the night.  Two of Syd's birthday gifts included a special sketch book and sketch pencils.  To my surprise, yesterday Syd sketched the photo of Nipper into her sketch book.  The one thing Syd excluded was the strawberry on Nipper's beak.  She did a great job and I am a proud Grandma.  And little Nipper is soo cute!  Have a great day!

Fruit Stand Thank You

I purchased two packs of DSP from the annual catalog.  The paper I used today is from one of those packs,  the Fruit Stand collection.  I really like the colors and most of the designs. Today I matched two of the DSP patterns with a Watermelon Wonder card base.  The middle section was adhered using dimensionals.  For that middle section I punched a few little flowers from leftover watercolored paper scraps and placed them over leaves stamped with Pear Pizazz ink.  The little black rhinestones were to mimic the centers of the flowers on the DSP.  The sentiment is from the Circle of Spring stamp set which does not get enough attention from me.  Look how pretty that font is in the center of the white space.  This is a cheerful thank you.  Have a great day and find yourself a little stampin' time.

Birthday Cards For Syd

We had a fun time at Sydney's birthday party this weekend.  Today's cards are the cards I made for her.  MFT Stamps' Fun in The Sun set is one I used last week for a birthday card I posted.  But for Syd's card (since it was from Nipper) I replaced the sand castle with a little bird waiting for her on the shore.  Mixed in with the seashells are little presents.  A little heart on the swimsuit matches the one in her hair. The second card was created using Sunny Studio's Sweet Shop stamp set and die cuts.  For all the years (9) since we moved back to the area, John would take Syd to the local donut shop and she would get a pink frosted donut with sprinkles when she was here!  The set is very cute and has so many uses and I had to include the pink frosted donut!  (I should have colored the inside of the donut~~oops!) When it was time to open presents, she picked up the bag that had my cards in it and she said, "I know this is from Gay and John because she always decorates the envelopes."  The next present she picks up and say, "This is from Gandmum and Papa because Grandmum always writes my name on the envelope so fancy!"  Next year, envelopes are blank--lol!  Have a great day!

Happy Birthday, Sydney!

Today is a special day in my family!  Our granddaughter is celebrating her 12th birthday.  I made her a cute card, but can't post it until she sees it--lol!  So instead I am posting a card I made using the Avery Elle stamp set, Cupcakes.  The little flowers look so cute and the bakers twine adds to the cuteness.  Have a wonderful day, Sydney!  We are very proud of the beautiful young lady you have grown to be and love you a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck!  Hope everyone has a great weekend and keeps cool!

New Baby

My friends, Michelle and Shawn, welcomed their first baby to the world last month.  I have seen pictures of him and he is a beautiful baby~~truly beautiful baby.  His name is Tristan and the theme for his room is "under the sea".  I die cut his name using Stampin' Up's Little Letters framelits and adhered his name to cardstock that was embossed with SU's new Seaside embossing folder.  All the little sea creatures are included in an AMuse Studio stamp set, Sealed With A Fish. After stamping the little creatures with Versafine black ink and adding clear embossing powder, I colored them in with Spectrum Noir markers.  Once again, I used the Welcome Baby stamp from SU's Short & Sweet stamp set.  I haven't needed to create a baby card in quite a while and now I needed two at just about the same time.  Keep cool today and tomorrow!

Just A Note



Peekaboo Peach cardstock and Chocolate Chip butterflies make for a pretty card for any occasion.  I used a sentiment from the Watercolor Wishes stamp set.  This particular stamp set is part of the Watercolor Wishes Card Kit and not sold separately.  I must say, I use this stamp set very often so for me it was a worthwhile investment.  Back to the card!  I stamped a number of butterflies (Papillon Potpourri) on Peekaboo Peach cardstock and punched them out using coordinating punches.  The larger butterflies were adhered with dimensionals.  Using Peekaboo Peach ink and a stamp from Timeless Textures, I randomly stamped the background.  I did stamp off the ink once before stamping onto the card so it is a very subtle added bit of texture.  Have a great day!

Adorable Birthday Card

How cute is this?  The little girl on the raft is an image from a stamp set from My Favorite Things Stamps, Fun In The Sun.  I made a little beach background using Ranger Distress Ink and a blending applicator.   You can also use a sponge to blend the Distress Inks.   The little girl, sand castle and shells were colored with Spectrum Noir markers.  The sand castle and shells are from Lawn Fawn's Life Is Good while the sentiment, sand granules and seagulls are from miscellaneous stamps I have in my collection.  Once again, a die cut piece of craft foam pops up the sand castle.  And as you can see, I had to add a few little sequins!   This card was very fun to create and makes me happy just looking at it!  Have a great day and find yourself a little stampin' time.

Baby Bear

Happy Monday!  This is another instance of I didn't think I needed a certain stamp set, but I do.  I have seen the Baby Bear stamp set used for a variety of occasions~~new baby, wedding, get well and more.  My friend, Paula,  let me use her Baby Bear set the other day.  I stamped the bear a few times using different color combinations. My favorite is the one I used for this card which is Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip and Early Espresso.  This is a three-step stamp and using the Misti made it so much easier to stamp the layers almost perfectly!  The one thing I did do was trim the bow down a little bit after I stamped it.  It just seems too big for this little bear.  I used the Little Letters framelits to spell out my brother and sister-in-law's new grandbaby's name using Melon Mambo cardstock.  The sentiment is from a long-retired stamp set, Short & Sweet, and one set I will keep forever!  Little hearts and punched corners (another retired item I will keep until it breaks) complete the card.   Have a great day!

Just For You Butterflies

If I am not playing with tropical/seaside stamps, then there are probably butterfly stamps on my island.  Today's card actually began as something totally different.  I was trying to use Flirty Flamingo and Peekaboo Peach ink with water on an acrylic block to create a watercolor background.  Well, either the square was very off center or I dripped water somewhere else on the card front.  So after starting with a 4" inch square on a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of watercolor paper, I was able to save a 2 1/2" inch square and some scraps.  I stamped the image from the In The Meadow stamp set and the sentiment from Work of Art on what I could salvage of the "oops" squares.  After adhering that to a white square, I decided to use black as the background for the card front.  With the remaining scraps of watercolored paper, I punched or die cut the butterflies.  I sponged Peekaboo Peach ink on white bakers twine to embellish the card.  So today's card isn't what I had in mind, but it is still nice.  Have a great weekend and find yourself a little stampin' time.

Beach Thank You

Today's card has the same image as a post from earlier this week.  It is actually the first card I created using this stamp.  Since it was a thank you to Regina, I didn't put it up earlier as I needed for Regina to receive it first!  This image was stamped in Memento Gray and colored using Spectrum Noir Markers rather than colored pencils.  I tore the edges and then sponged Pool Party ink on all edges.  I noticed  a little too much white space in the lower right corner, so I used another image from Pink Ink Stamps that I had purchased when I was visiting Regina in January, 2015.  The photo doesn't do this card justice as the color combination of gray and Pool Party is not showing properly. Today's card is more casual than the one posted earlier this week, but I like the end result of each~~same image, two different feelings.  Have a great day!

Distress Ink Stripes

After reading a post on the Sunny Studio Stamps blog, I decided I would try the background that was on the card in that post.  In the blog post she mentioned that she used Washi tape between the lines of color.  So out came Washi tape and white cardstock.  I lined things up on my SU grid paper and started adding the ink to the stripes using Distress ink.  I was all done and I started to remove the Washi tape.  To my surprise, I started removing cardstock, too!  That was ruined.  Time for a second try.  Before adding the Washi tape to the white cardstock, I tapped it against my clothing to get rid of some of the tackiness.  I finished inking and carefully removed the Washi tape.  For the most part, removing some of the stickiness did the trick.  I then splattered a little water to leave little lighter shades of ink in the stripes.  I was happy with the way it turned out and now what?  It was bright and colorful so I pulled out the Avery Elle Cupcake stamp and stamped the cupcake and frosting and die cut them.  I used a Spectrum Noir Marker to color the frosting a light chocolate and then went over the frosting with a Wink of Stella clear glitter pen.  The sentiment is from the same stamp set.  I added little confetti/stars and not only do I have a cute card to send to someone, I tried a new technique and I do it again!  Have a great day!

Lovely Lilac Birthday

I decided I should make use of  things I own and rarely use~~the Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens for starters.  The flower from Stampin' Up's You've Got This stamp set is a great image on which  to practice.  I find it easier to watercolor inside the heat embossed lines of an image.  So I stamped the flower on watercolor paper using Versafine Black ink and then heat set clear embossing powder.  Versafine ink stays wet a little longer than dye-based inks. By using Versafine ink, I can sprinkle on the clear embossing powder and not have to worry about random black specks appearing as sometimes happens when using Versamark ink and black embossing powder.  I painted along the edges of the petals and with a paint brush and water spread the color to cover the full petals.  (Everything was fine until I chose to paint the center of the flower with orange instead of yellow!!) I die cut the flower and a 1/8" piece of craft foam using a die I purchased for this set from Dies by Dave.  After stamping the edges of each piece of white cardstock using images from Timeless Textures in Lovely Lilac ink, I assembled the layers and  adhered the flower to the foam piece. Before adhering that to the card, I stamped the sentiment (Cottage Greetings).  It turned out ok and I will try again using non-retired ink and cardstock color and a yellow center!  Have a great day and find yourself a little stampin' time.

Warm Wishes

This beach stamp was a birthday gift from my friend, Regina.  The stamp is from Pink Ink Stamps and I do love it.  After stamping the image with Brown Memento ink, I used Prisma colored pencils and Gamsol to color it.   The white layer was embossed with Stampin' Up's new Seaside embossing folder.  The sentiment was stamped and then punched using a retired punch and  layered on Pool Party cardstock.  That Pool Party piece was cut using a coordinating and retired Sizzix die.  The linen thread completes the beachy feel.  I had a great time playing with my new stamp over the weekend.  Hope you all have a great week! 

I needed a card for today and my mind was a blank.  So I took out Wisteria Wonder ink and cardstock and my butterfly thinlets.  After creating the card, I was not happy with it.  It just felt dull.  So out came Flirty Flamingo ink and cardstock and I made this improved version.  The sentiment is a stamp from an old My Paper Pumpkin kit.  The font has a "happy" feel to it.  With the color, a Timeless Texture stamped image under the butterfly and some random little flowers, the entire card is "happy"!  Have a happy weekend!

Tropical Thank You

Once again I am using the Close To My Heart Calypso paper for my inspiration.  The little flamingoes are so cute.  Just yesterday I received the Stampin' Up Pop of Paradise stamp set.  Needless to say, I had to use the flamingo from the stamp set together with the CTMH flamingo paper right away.  I played around a little to get the stamped flamingo to be similar in color to the paper.  I ended up inking the stamp with Melon Mambo ink and stamping off once on a piece of scrap paper.  After wiping the Melon Mambo off the legs and beak, I colored the legs and beak directly on the rubber using the Basic Gray Stampin' Up marker and stamped the final image. The thank you banner I stamped in black, fussy cut and adhered using dimensionals. A few random sequins were added to the card front.  On the inside, I repeated the inking up of the flamingo and stamped it in the lower right corner.  The Calypso Paper Pack is retiring at the end of this month.  Should I get another pack and hoard it for years just to be sure I have it in case?  LOL!!!!!  Have a great day!

Tropical Get Well

As you know, I really like Stampin' Up's  Botanical Builder framelits.  Recently,  I was looking thru the Close To My Heart catalog on line when I came across a pack of paper that was a "must have".  The Calypso Paper Packet  has a  flamingo pattern, pineapple pattern and other pretty tropical patterns and colors. (Eventually you will see most of them used on my projects!)   When I saw the green palm frond pattern paper, my first thought was that the small flower in the tropical builder framelit set would be the perfect size for this print~~a couple of little flowers would not hide the pretty pattern,.  After deciding on colors, I die cut, stamped and assembled this pretty card.  I so enjoy it when I can combine my Stampin' Up products with products from my other favorite companies.  Have a great day and find yourself a little stampin' time! 

4th of July

Happy Independence Day!  Created the bag topper using the Sunny Studio's Stars & Stripes stamp set and Spectrum Noir markers.  I must say that as much as l like this stamp set, the festive mini Hershey bars are the highlight of this favor.  I saw these patriotic Hershey minis at Walmart and a bag of these mini bars made its way into my cart.   Enjoy the day!

A Special Birthday Cake

My friend, Cherie, took me to breakfast to celebrate my birthday.  John dropped me off at her house and when I walked in, on the kitchen table was this beautiful birthday cake!  I absolutely love it!  I have seen these cakes on Pinterest and always admired them.  But they are a lot of work. The roses are extremely pretty and each slice of cake is filled with candy. I do not know how many hours Cherie put into this, but it truly is a most beautiful gift~~and most appreciated.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart~~for this cake, breakfast and most of all, your friendship!  I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend.  Have safe travels and enjoy the fireworks!