Hello

I had something completely different in mind when I saw the challenge at Colour Me, but then I saw the MFT sketch. That sent me looking through my MFT dies for flowers & I also came across the Framing Flourishes, which I love.  
That meant I needed little flowers so went with my favorite center from Prima Donna Petals--makes a great little blossom on it's own, I think. The shape of the Vertical Greetings die complimented the flourishes, so used it for my sentiment which is from Peaceful Wildflowers & is stamped in Memento Morocco. The flowers are embellished with Sticko gold dots & I added 3 tiny pearls to finish it off.  This will probably go with a RAK package to a blogging friend. I used scraps except for the card itself, so will enter at Pixies Snippets Playground.

Quite the day--first bath at home for Fritz--the groomer has done the others.  It took both of us & hamburger bites, but we now have a sweet smelling pooch!  Hopefully each one will get easier.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend & thanks for coming by.

Happy Birthday

Hubby's granddaughter is about to turn 20--hard to believe! Used the PTI MIM video & the current ColorQ challenge for my inspiration. I used VersaMagic inks: Turquoise Gem, Spring Pansy, Key Lime & Persimmon.  I die cut the PTI hexagon coverplate & used it as a guide to stamp the outline hexagon.  Then I debossed the stamped piece with the coverplate & cut it apart, as you see.  
It was too plain, so added the little image from Quilled Elegance--made all the difference. 
I used a glue pen to add prisma glitter.  The sentiment is from PTI Heart to Heart #2--such a fun font.
Thought you might enjoy seeing the bouquet of roses I brought in the house & a picture from our camping trip. Thanks so much for taking time to check my blog. 
Edited to Add: Entering Anything Goes at SSS Wednesday.

Love the Here and Now

Only had to work 1/2 shift today & then worked in the yard.  We've gotten behind with hubby's surgery & our camping trip.  For my American friends, hope you had a wonderful holiday remembering those who sacrificed to protect our freedom.  Late challenge entry again, but at least it's not closing in 3 minutes like when I posted last night's card!  

Simple card using MFT's sketch challenge & color challenge.  I scored a frame & then stamped the saying from Chalkboard Greetings using a brown Faber-Castell Big Brush pen.  I sponged around the frame & the card front with kraft ink. 

The dies are Layered Rose, Hibiscus & Royal Leaves.  For a different look, I used the beautiful pink Mark Richards Mosaic stickers to embellish the flower centers.  So glad you took time to come by. I'm hoping to catch up on your blogs this week.

Enjoy

Last minute entry for PTI Blog Hop & MIM. Stamp sets & dies are Lovely Layers & Tiny Tags.  I found that the water brush worked so much better for making splotches--glad to have learned that. Work does get in the way of my stamping--LOL--plus I had to watch the Indy 500 tape hubby made for me. I'll catch up with all of you soon.

Peace, Happiness, Joy

Always fun to get away, but hard to catch up.  We had a great first camping trip with Fritz--barked very little.  My weekend to work & I'm still doing laundry, but did take time to make my card for the Merry Monday challenge. Last week I didn't get my post done in time & didn't want to miss another challenge.  Penny Black's Christmas Star is probably my favorite holiday flower.  No time for fussy cutting, so I colored directly on the stamp with pink & red Gelatos & then stamped onto wet watercolor paper.  I smudged it a bit with my finger before overstamping with Delicata Golden Glitz--my favorite gold ink.  I sponged some gold on the panel edges, too.  The sentiment is also Penny Black & is stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa.  

I'm slowly catching up on your blogs--can't wait to see what you've been creating.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Edited to Add: Entering the "Bloom" challenge at Inkspirational.

Blue & Yellow for Christmas

I had so much fun with my first card for the PTI MIM challenge that I decided to use the technique with some PTI stars for the challenges at Merry Monday (too late) & Colour Me.  The inks are Memento Nautical Blue & PTI Harvest Gold.  The sentiment (masked) is from Penny Black's yuletide greetings & the PTI stamp sets are Tiny Tags, Framed Out #1 & Harvest Berries. Yellow stickles is the only embellishment.  

May not have my computer for a few days, but I'll catch up with you as soon as I can.  Hope you have a great week.

DeNami Design Blog Hop

It's DeNami Blog Hop time & I'm so glad you've stopped by my blog. If you're going in order, you were just inspired by the talented Donna Bowman! I signed up for the hop with the idea that I would make pinwheels.  The card design just kind of evolved as I worked.  I made my double-sided cardstock using DeNami stamps Gingham Background stamped with VersaMagic Pixie Dust & Leafy Pick stamped with VersaMagic Pink Petunia.  

Gold sequins & pink enamel dots cover the centers where the points come together. I masked the sentiment (also DeNami) so I could stamp just the word Hello on a flag cut with vellum attached to white cardstock. Some very old & discontinued gold dots were added. The card front is debossed with a Cuttlebug folder that was first inked with the Pixie Dust. To finish off my card I glued on the pink trim. I cut the back circle with a craft knife so 

the card will stand.

All the hop details including prizes & the list of participants can be found on the DeNami Design Blog. Better keep going--lots to see!  Next up is the super creative DT member & someone I consider my friend, Emily Keaton. Enjoy the hop!

Fun Technique!

Heather Nichols cards

I had my doubts watching Heather's PTI MIM video.  Her cards came out great--not sure I could get the stamping right. However, I totally loved the process & end result--yah!  I suspect the ink & paper have a lot to do with the look you get.  I used Distress Inks tumbled glass & broken china as well as PTI Harvest Gold.  

I'm also playing along with ColourQ as I really love the current challenge colors.  PTI Snowflake Flurries was on my desk, so I didn't even look for other options.  It's one of my all-time favorite sets--so versatile.  I remembered that I have the Friends are Treasures Hero Arts set which I don't think I've ever inked.  I masked off the smaller words & it worked great!  As you can see I really cased Heather using sequins & one of her designs. 

I also used a very neglected corner punch that I thought complemented the images & gave me a way to add a touch a twine.  I'm planning to use this idea with other images & colors for fun, quick & flat to mail cards. Hope you're having a great weekend.

Balloons...Not for Kids

I've never participated in the Inkspirational Challenges. The current challenge is the first one since my friend Carol became a member of the DT. No way I was going to miss it!  The beautiful challenge photo is festive & yet sophisticated--an adult celebration that could be anything from an engagement to a birthday or a new job.  
I finally opened my bottle of Distress Rock Candy Stickles glitter to give a more subtle sparkle to my balloons die cut with a Penny Black balloon die using various cardstock scraps.  I mounted the balloons onto a piece of vellum die cut with Lil' Inkers stitched rectangles which is attached to the card front. I thought vellum helped convey the feeling I got looking at the photo.  
The sentiment is from Stampendous & is heat embossed using VersaMagic Jumbo Java. I'm also adding this to Pixies Snippets Playground. So glad  
you came by as I know everyone is busy & there are lots of blogs to visit. Enjoy the rest of your week.

The Whole World is a Garden

I signed up for the Random Acts of Kindness on my friend Joy's blog here.  I already received my gift from Joy--the beautiful Graphic 45 paper pad called Secret Garden.  I've opened & admired the pages several times, but hadn't cut anything until now.  I wanted to play along in another World Cardmaking Day challenge at 4EnScrap.  This time we have a beautiful photo 

for inspiration & it made me think of my 4EnScrap dies: Feuillage & jardinage.  I began by cutting out & matting the quote from one of the papers. Then I did the die-cutting using an off-white scrap cut into 3 squares.  I stamped the negatives with Impression Obsession C-A-C Spatter using Memento Pistachio & sponged the edges with Distress Ink old paper. The beautiful purple paper was dry embossed & then sponged with Distress Ink old paper before attaching the squares. I used just the corner of one of the green printed papers to die cut the leaves which were attached to the quote panel before it was mounted with foam tape. The card front was stamped in Memento Peanut Brittle with an old SU script stamp & the edges were sponged with Distress Ink old paper.  
The pretty little violets on the quote panel mean I can also enter the challenge at SSS Wednesday: Spring Flowers.  It really wasn't too painful to cut into these beautiful papers--of course, I still have a lot left I can continue to admire--LOL!  The card, squares & kraft mat were scraps, so I'll also enter at Pixies Snippets Playground. I really appreciate your comments--thank you for taking time to leave them for me.

Roses

Double Delight Tree Rose

I love the beautiful Impression Obsession Five Roses stamp so it was my choice to use for the IO Welcome to my Garden challenge. I'm also entering the Spring Flowers challenge at SSS Wednesday.  I actually had hubby take out all but my tree roses in back so we can let Fritz run off a tether without getting stuck by the thorns.  60 roses is way too many for me to manage at this point anyway & I still have the ones in front.  

On to my card done with Gelatos on watercolor paper. I spritzed the flower panel, the background & the lace with Tattered Angels Wheatfields. 

The background piece was done by applying the Gelatos directly to the C-A-C Spatter & the swirl in the Follow Your Heart set which also contains the quote I embossed using Memento Olive Grove. The spatter
is stamped on the kraft card using Distress Ink frayed burlap.
Fritz was ready to play when I got home from work yesterday.  Hard to get him to stay still long enough for a picture!  Hope you have a great week & thank you for checking my blog.

Happy Mother's Day

Work day for me, but hope you mother's are having a lovely day.  Always a little sad with my mom & grandmas gone, but happy memories of those loving women that made a difference in my life.  I'll get kisses from puppy Fritz when I get home--he's a sweetie!  

I don't usually decorate envelopes, but didn't want to miss the PTI MIM envelope wrap challenge.  I pulled out the card I made for the watercolor splotches challenge & made a very simple wrap with room to write the recipient's name.  The Distress Inks are what I used for the card: faded jeans, broken china, salty ocean & peacock feathers.  Stamps are PTI Snowflake Flurries.  I splattered the envelope with the same inks mixed with some water.  Dots of Stickles add a touch of sparkle, just like on the card. Fun idea--might make some more for cards I hand carry.  Thanks for taking time to visit my blog.

Love Just Gives

When I saw the recent clearance sale at ODBD, I knew it was time to use my gift certificate.  I bought 3 of the stamps & used 2 of them (Three Butterflies & Let Us Begin) for my card to enter the current Wing It challenge. I love the color combo of pink & green, so decided to submit my first entry in a ColorQ challenge. Hard to tell, but I did use 2 shades of green: Memento Pistachio on the solid swirls & Pear Tart on the dotted ones, plus the enamel dots are very close to Pear Tart. The pink inks are also Memento: Rose Bud & Angel 

Pink.  I sponged a little Angel Pink on the dry embossed strip for a tone on tone look & to highlight the beautiful roses. Not sure I've ever used my pink rickrack, but think it was meant for this card, don't you? I haven't played in a Muse challenge for awhile & I love Vicki's card. I loosely used her layout, including the lovely tone on tone side strip.  

Vicki's Inspiration Card

My little butterflies are coated with Wink of Stella & the wonderful quote is stamped in Distress Ink walnut stain.  Pretty appropriate, I think, with Mother's Day tomorrow.
I appreciate your visit--always makes my day.

Background into the Foreground

I've always liked using the same image for the background & the

foreground or focal point. Recently I saw a card done that way & have wanted to make one.  When I saw dark red is the challenge at Colour Me, I immediately thought of this beautiful Poinsettia Script Penny Black background.  I'd been thinking of using 2 printed papers for the Merry Monday sketch, but decided to see if I could combine the challenges.  I used Distress Ink fired 

brick & spritzed with Ink Potion No. 9 before stamping on watercolor paper.  The wooden star was colored with the same ink which was also used to stamp the sentiment from Penny Black's Crystalline set.  Stickles was added to the star for some sparkle to tie in with the sparkly red ribbon.  I actually finished the card with the die cut circle inlaid into the dry embossed panel. I tried to convince myself that it was OK, but this morning I carefully removed the star with the sentiment flag, the gems & the button so I could pop up the entire poinsettia over the partial image on the circle.  
The only thing ruined was the sentiment flag which was easily redone. It was worth the effort as I like the card much better now.  Since I used 5 gems I'm also entering SSS Monday.  
On another note, we found a great harness for Fritz.  It's easy to put on & since it attaches in the front instead of on the top of the dog's back, it also provides control without using a choke chain. Here's the link if anyone is interested: http://www.walkyourdogwithlove.com/
Hope you have a great weekend & Mother's Day & thank you for taking time to visit my blog.

Pink & Gold

I've always loved pink and gold, but only in the last couple years did I realize they are wonderful together.  Since the inspiration picture for the Curtain Call challenge has 2 shades of pink plus gold I used that inspiration to make my card following (sort of--LOL!) Alexandra's wonderful sketch for one of 4EnScrap's challenges celebrating World Cardmaking Day.  
I'm also entering Pixie's
Snippets Playground since the leaves were in my box of cut but not used die cuts & both the gold & stamped panels were done with scraps.  The solid die cut leaves are Penny Black (designed by Alexandra) & the open leaves are 4EnScrap.  The beautiful embossed vellum butterflies were a gift from my sweet friend, Lai-Yoke. I would love to have Pan Pastels, but not in the budget, so I pulled out my inexpensive Studio G chalks & used 2 shades of pink to color the white cardstock before I stamped Penny Black's Diamond Pattern in Versamark & then rubbed over the image with the same 2 chalks. The sentiment is from Penny Black's Lace Delight & was stamped in Versamark & rubbed with the darker pink chalk using a cotton ball. The excess wipes right off with a soft tissue.  The bottom butterfly was colored with markers & the top one was swiped with Delicata Golden Glitz--also used on the Candi embellishment.  It looks odd in the picture, but matches the colors in real life.  I don't have many sequins & my gold ones didn't match & were too big. Gave me a chance to use my neglected Gold Leafing Pen--worked like a charm to color some of my very old yellow sequins.  Since I used 5 sequins I'll enter the SSS Monday challenge.  Always makes my day to read your comments--thanks so much for taking the time to come by.

Edited to Add: Also entering the new challenge at Dies R Us.

For You

Beautiful monthly color combo at MFT & a neat sketch for the weekly MFT challenge, so I combined them.







The 3 flowers let me also enter my card at CAS-ual Fridays, although I'm not sure about the 1/3 of the card requirement. My sentiment is stamped & embossed, so I think that qualifies for the May challenge at STAMPlorations--first time to enter there.  I used MFT Prima Donna Petals dies for my flowers & the sentiment is from MFT Tag You're It.  I really like the debossed side of the vellum for a background--done with a Cuttlebug folder.  I used a Spellbinder square die to emboss my frame & cut both ends of my scrap with MFT Fishtail Flags. Snippets were used for everything but the card itself, so I'll take this over to Pixies Snippets Playground.

Saturday was special:  hubby felt well enough to take care of himself for a few hours, I dropped Fritz off at the vet as a boarder & I headed north to meet an old friend I used to work with over 20 years ago.  She calls me every year on my birthday, but we've only seen each other once since she moved to Texas.  Her granddaughter was graduating from college with a degree in nursing & in between events she took time out to go to lunch with me.  

It was fun & the waiter gladly snapped this picture for us.  Thanks so much for your visit & leaving me a comment.
Edited to Add: Just realized I can add this card to the lottery at SSS Wednesday where it's Anything Goes!

Just Dandy

Melissa's Inspiring Card

Got off work early today so was able to finish my card for PTI MIM to make a paper scraps pie chart.  I don't have a lot of printed paper scraps, seeing as how most of my printed paper is still whole sheets!  However, my cardstock

scraps are overflowing, so I used some of them.  Maybe if I make 100 or so of these cards I'll be able to see a dent in my scraps--LOL!  Seriously, this technique is really a lot of fun & I do want to try it with a variety of die cut shapes.  For this card I used a Penny Black balloon die which I embellished with a sequin & pearls. I don't have a triangle die, so just hand cut them. The sentiment is from PTI's Flower Fusion 

#8 & is stamped in PTI Classic Kraft.  I popped up the panel for dimension & added a couple more sequins. I'm also entering the challenges at Colour Me, & Pixies Snippets Playground.  I really appreciate your stopping by.
Edited to add: Also entering the new challenge at Dies R Us.

Thank You Card

Not much chance for cardmaking lately. Hubby had outpatient surgery & Fritz hasn't quite healed up--probably got his activity restriction lifted too soon. Anyway, I'm being a nurse at home.  Hubby's improving every day & we're all sleeping better. Poor Fritz can't romp & jump--just walks. Tonight I finally put together a card for the 200th ODBD challenge to use Spring colors.  The sketch at FMS inspired me.  I used 2 images from ODBD Bird & Butterfly Labels & inked them both with the same Distress Inks (salty ocean, squeezed lemonade, mowed lawn) using a lighter touch on the top one which is mounted with foam tape.  I need a thank you card for my co-worker who bought me lunch while I waited for hubby to get out of surgery.  
Nice to actually use some of my 
alphabet stickers that fill a drawer! I added a touch of Stickles & used white paper twine. I'm also entering the Anything Goes challenge at SSS Wednesday.  
Thought it was time for another Fritz picture--he's such a cutie--not that I'm prejudiced!  Hubby thought I placed the bone on his paw, but he did that himself! So glad you stopped by.  Enjoy the weekend.