Red, White & Blue

As you may have noticed, I've not been very productive lately.  Puppy Fritz has turned my world on end taking almost all my time when I'm not at work. Apparently, Mr Mojo isn't getting enough attention--hard to make a card worth posting. However, I was determined to get one 4th of July card made.  My sister would be very disappointed not to get one.  I love vellum & use it quite a bit, so thought I'd make one for the PTI MIM challenge.  I wanted to use a technique I learned when I began stamping years ago. You stamp a solid image on the card front & the outline image on a vellum overlay--not necessarily exactly lined up. I've always loved that look, but hadn't done it for a long time.  I used the star from PTI Framed Out 1 stamped in Brilliance Rocket Red. Since there isn't an outline star in the set, I used my Quickie Glue pen to draw the outline on the vellum & dumped on prisma glitter--very simple.  The sentiment is from the Oregon company--Peddler's Pack--& is stamped in Brilliance Mediterranean Blue.  The card front stitching is done with the Lil' Inkers die.  Turns out my card meets the requirements at City Crafter (first time entering there) & SSS Monday & SSS Wed. I do appreciate hearing from you & will keep in touch the best I can.  Enjoy your weekend.

May You Find Peace

Loosing a loving parent is something many of us have faced & I just found out I need a sympathy card for a friend going through this difficult time. I try to make beautiful, but simple sympathy cards & thought the sketch for MFT would be perfect.  I was thinking of brown & beige, but then I remembered the MFT Color Challenge.  
I like the neutrals with the soft green & dark blue & it seems peaceful & comforting to me.  I used MFT stamp sets Peaceful Wildflowers & Contempo Cage along with MFT dies Dizzy Doily & Royal Leaves.  The sentiment is stamped in Memento Nautical Blue & the subtle border on the card front is stamped in PTI Vintage Cream. The vellum strips & green cardstock were scraps, so I'll enter at Pixies Snippets Playground. Thanks so much for taking time to visit my blog.

Butterflies, Pearls, Glitter

Very last minute, but didn't want to miss the challenges at Colour Me & Freshly Made Sketches--love them both!
All the stamps are DeNami & my inks are Memento Rose Bud & Angel Pink and VersaMagic Aquatic Splash. I used vellum for my grid pieces, adding Stickles & Crystal Lacquer.  The large butterfly was heat embossed a second time & the wing sections were fussy cut, covered with pink Hero Arts glitter glue (ancient bottle in my stash!) & mounted with a glue dot in the center so both ends could be turned up.  

Light pink pearls finish it off. I'm behind again in reading blogs, but I'll catch up in the next day or 2. Wishing you a great week, my friends.

Pink, White & Silver

I've missed some Merry Monday challenges, but was determined to get something made for this week as pink is my favorite color. I also wanted to try Melissa's technique using impression plates & chalk for the PTI MIM challenge. I used Snowflake Flurries and some dots from Harvest Berries. White cardstock was impressed with the Canvas/Linen impression plate & then rubbed with 2 pink chalks.  I used VersaMagic Pink Petunia & Pixie Dust with the dots stamped in Ultimate Metallic Silver.  Then I used a white gel pen in each dot.  The sentiment from Snowflake Flurries is silver embossed on a die cut vellum oval mounted to another die cut vellum oval.  Some pink Rain Dots are the only embellishment.  

The texture really shows in the chalked background areas, but not so much with the stamped images.  May try it again with Rosie Posie & some dye inks like Melissa used. I'm also entering SSS Monday Anything Goes. So glad you took time to stop by.

First Birthday!

Puppy Fritz turns 1 yr old today!  It's been quite the 3 months around here as he's at the stage (hopefully it's just a stage--LOL) where he grabs whatever he can reach & puts it in his mouth. I can't hang my kitchen towels & he can't go in the walk-in closet, even for a minute!  That all means he's under constant surveillance unless he's in his crate--plus I'm trying to give him the needed multiple walks a day, so getting cards finished is quite an accomplishment--LOL.  I had an idea when I saw the challenge for 1 layer cards (card base plus a layer is allowed) at ODBD.  It didn't come out quite like I pictured in my mind, but does have the scallops & glitter that I wanted to use. The background stamp is Vintage Border Background which was stamped in Brilliance Ice Blue, Olive & Purple--close as I could get to the beautiful color combo at ColourQ. 

The scalloped edge is done with a Spellbinder die & I traced the edges with my Quickie Glue Pen to hold the Prisma glitter. "Hope" is one of the words in the Sweet William-Small set.  I had planned to use ribbon & tie a big bow, but couldn't get that to look right, so changed to this pretty trim.  
Since this is for a crafty friend friend going through treatment of a serious illness, I'm entering it at SSS Monday & SSS Wednesday. The white & kraft cardstock were scraps, so I'll also enter at Pixies Snippets Playground. Enjoy your weekend!

Happy Father's Day

So miss my loving dad--the world is just not the same without him.  Back from camping just in time to work the weekend & didn't get a card done for hubby before we left.  Since Fritz gave me a Mother's Day card, I wasn't going to bed until I made a card for him.  It's not very traditional, but I wanted to join in the PTI MIM challenge which required the use of re-inkers. Since I only have a few dye ones (blue, purple & red), my leaves are blue & purple.  Good thing hubby actually likes those colors!  The greeting is an old stamp from a local company no longer in business & the PTI stamps & die are Turning a New Leaf & Harvest Berries. A little hard to see, but I used the inlaid die technique.

We had great camping weather & took a couple day trips including one to check out this pretty lake. Thanks for coming by.  I'll catch up on blogs soon.

Masculine Birthday Card

Please scroll down for my DeNami Blog Hop Post.
My cousin is about to have a BIG birthday, so wanted to make a special card for him. He's a scuba diver who loves the water. Decided to use the smaller of my 2 Fred Mullett fish stamps--can't even remember the last time it was inked.  FMS has a wonderful sketch this week that I used for inspiration. The ColourQ challenge was perfect for a guy card & 4 of my Memento markers matched the colors: Danube Blue, Summer Sky, Tangelo & Bamboo Leaves.  
I colored the fish & stamped on watercolor paper saturated with Ink Potion #9.  When it dried I inked the fish with Distress Ink frayed burlap & overstamped.  Another piece of the wc paper was inked with the 2 blue markers using Tim Holtz Bubble stencil before being die cut with MFT Fishtail Flags.  The stitching is provided by Lil' Inkers Stitched Rectangles.  

I'm also entering the masculine challenge at SSS Wed. Hope you have a great week. I so appreciate that you made time to check my blog.

DeNami Blog Hop

Last DeNami Blog Hop until the Fall & with Bright Blossoms the theme I had to participate!  My first thought was to use my old favorite daisy blossoms, but then I saw the daisy flower & grass stamps in my collection.  I don't think I've made a card with either of them so decided it was time to ink them up.  Both images were white embossed & then colored over with Copic markers G02, R35, R22 with the ink going slightly past the embossing.  I really like the effect you get of texture. I had also never used the coral pen--a really beautiful color, I think.  The sentiment is also DeNami. I used the pens to color the ribbon & pearls & added Stickles to the blossom & leaves.  

The dies are Lil' Inkers stitched rectangles.  All the hop details are on the DeNami Blog including prize info. You should have arrived from Donna's wonderful blog & next is super talented DT member Wendy.  

My blogging friend, Darnell, is celebrating 500 followers with the NBUS challenge, so I'm linking up there.  Enjoy the hop!

Just a Note

I'm always looking for projects that aren't too complicated that I can make with my stamps in addition to cards.  When I saw Erin's PTI MIM video I immediately wanted to try making a little notebook. I've seen lots of darling ones in blogland & I had an idea of what I wanted to do. However, my first try didn't work since I forgot to allow for the fact that the decorative paper making the back must attach to the top of the front.  I knew with my schedule I had to get it made now or probably would miss the deadline.  Finally decided to keep it simple & I went with just white, blue & silver.  The stamp sets are Quilled Elegance, Tiny Tags & Snowflake Flurries.  My inks are Memento Nautical Blue & Summer Sky & Encore Ultimate Metallic Silver.  
I used light colored pages so writing on them with blue or black would show up easily.  I couldn't find printed paper that worked, so made my own.  I used Wink of Stella on the front image for a bit of sparkle & a watercolor look as it mixed with the ink. My sis loves blue & silver so probably will give it to her. Still hope to get my first idea to work when I have more time.  Enjoy your weekend & thanks so much for taking time to visit my blog.

Edited to Add: Entering the CAS challenge at Inkspirational.

Faith Hope Love

White on white is a favorite, so when I saw it was this week's challenge at ODBD I decided to make a card & not wait until the last minute--for a change--LOL!  I recently re-read in an old stamping magazine that you add interest to an all white card by using various shades & textures.  I used 3 white card stocks--textured, regular weight & heavy weight.  I would love to add Verve products to my collection & I really like the Mojo Monday sketch. I've never entered that challenge--fun to try something new.  
ODBD Vintage Border 
Background is embossed with an old satin embossing powder, as are the Sweet William flowers. The image from Fancy Labels was embossed with white ep. The words are also from Sweet William & are stamped in Memento London Fog.  These leaf dies from 4EnScrap are really pretty cut from the textured paper. Pearls are still my favorite embellishment & are what I think of with white on white. 

I'm also entering SSS Wednesday & Pixies Snippets Playground since the sentiment strip, flowers & label are from scraps.  In this case, I'm proud of myself for finally cutting into that beautiful white textured paper!  Love that you took time to come by--thank you so much.

Thanks

Cornelia's Inspiration MUSE Card

Late to bed & work tomorrow with someone I am not fond of, but we don't always get what we want. Anyway, I stayed up to make a last minute entry for the Muse challenge.  I saw Cornelia's neat card earlier in the week & it's been on my mind.  I really wanted to pull out my gorgeous Lumiere paints & play along.  They have a wonderful shimmer.  The sentiment stamped on vellum is from the Hero Arts set Friends are Treasures. I added splats of Memento Tuxedo Black using my water brush which works like a charm. Finished off with some black dots. I'll also add this to the Anything Goes challenge at SSS Wed. Thanks for your visit!

Another Mother Teresa Quote

I love my new ODBD stamp set--Let Us Begin. This is the second quote I've used--1 more to go. This week's challenge is to be inspired by one of 2 photos & I chose this one with it's beautiful, elegant look in ivory & lavender.  

I stamped the Sweet William blossoms in Distress Ink shaded lilac, sponged ink in the centers & then over-stamped.  I used Dawn's debossing technique with the matching Spellbinder Blossoms 3.  The scalloped edge is also a Spellbinder die.  The sentiment is stamped in Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate.  Tied on some ribbon & added ivory pearls.  Hope you like it.  I'll add this to SSS Wednesday: Anything Goes & Inkspirational: Bloom. Thanks for taking time to come by.