Christmas, Love, Thinking of You

Hubby & I both got our first vaccine doses.  I got Pfizer & he got Moderna.  Neither of us has had any side effects so far, except that his arm was sore for a day.  We're grateful to be in a small town with appointments going pretty smoothly.  I did have to stand in line about an hour & was so lucky it wasn't a rainy day.  Hubby went early on his day & no line at all.  No matter what, it's worth it!

Here's a Christmas card I made last year & never posted.  I used Lumberjack Days embossing folder along with PTI Spruce & Sprigs, Shape Shifters: Circle 3 & Botanical Blocks IV. 

I stamped & die cut the foliage in PTI inks & added glitter glue to the berries.  I tied the die cuts together with a white crochet bow & added some clear dots.  

I'm entering Rudolph Days & SSS Wednesday. 

Next is a card with a heart embossed vellum panel using TE Swiss Hearts ef.  I used an old Gelly Roll glitter gel pen to color some of the hearts--so pretty in person.  

Thanks to my friend Rosemary's inspiration, I die cut 2 AJVD hearts to make an open heart from silver glitter paper.  Then I stacked the PTI love die cut 4 high & double white embossed it.  I also stacked the hearts & colored the top one with the same pen. 

Then I put it in place, but left it slightly above the level of the word.  This might work for hubby's granddaughter's wedding card.  I entered Let's Squash It & SSS Wednesday via IG.

My final card was inspired by one on IG made by my friend, Ivana.  Her new company's grand opening is March 1 & I love the sneak peek card with a floral frame.  My version looks very different, but it does have die cut images framing a sentiment.  

I have a pack of PTI Fine Linen cardstock that I've barely used, so cut a panel & stamped ITP Nifty Plaid in Fresh Linen ink.  I moved the paper slightly & restamped, purposely not completely inking the stamp.  The blooms & leaves from PTI Garden Gild were die cut from Bristol & watercolored with Zigs.  The sentiment was stamped in Fine Linen several times & then in Versamark so I could clear emboss it.  

Love the ITP Essential Sentiments stamp set & coordinating dies.  I attached some fine, gold thread behind the sentiment before attaching it to the panel & added Shimmer Pico Embellisher dots to the flower centers.  Think I'll put an Easter greeting on the inside.  I'm entering ITP PTI Thinking of You Challenge & SSS Wednesday.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Altenew & Spellbinders

Big surprise this morning--got an email to sign up for my vaccine & my appointment is tomorrow!  In case I don't feel great afterwards, here are my latest 2 cards.  Hubby's granddaughter just got engaged, so gave me a good reason to pull out the January Spellbinders Small Die Kit.

The sentiment is Altenew.  I spritzed with shimmer spray & added glaze to the heart.  Hopefully they'll like it.  

I'm entering SSS Wednesday.  

I haven't used my Altenew floral dies in a long time, so I pulled out the Wild Rose 3D dies & used lots of scraps for the Altenew February Inspiration Challenge.  I brushed all the edges with Altenew inks & splattered with white gouache.  

A friend sent me the Altenew Watercolor Stripes vellum die cut which I attached to a soft stone panel.  The sentiment from Altenew Flower Vine was stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne & I added some yellow gems from my stash.  I'm also entering TTTC101, Vellum, Stripes, Hugs.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Memory Box, Poppystamps, Pinkfresh Studio

Three cards for February monthly challenges.  First up is Memory Box where the theme is Pretty Purples.  I pulled out some older MB dies to make a square friendship card using 2 shades of purple textured cardstock. 

The dies are Jasmine Frame, Moonlight Butterfly & Kaleidoscope Butterfly.  The top butterfly wings were cut from silver glitter tape & the body from a black scrap.  I added a few clear Pico Embellisher dots to the frame & stamped the sentiment from Poppystamps Grateful Heart.  I'm also entering SSS Monday, SSS Wednesday (die cutting glitter tape) & DRU.

Next is a card for hubby which I can use for our anniversary or as a Valentine, thanks to Poppystamps theme of I Love You.  

I've always liked the color combo red, white & gray.  I had just enough of the gray cardstock to cover the card front & I used one of my million white scraps to die cut Poppystamps Triple Heart Twirl.  

I backed it with a piece of red metallic cardstock I've been hoarding & white embossed the sentiment from Poppystamps Grateful Heart.  Love the little heart embellishments from Gina K & thought the white one was just right for this card.  I'm also entering The Snippets Playground & Double D.

Finally, here's my entry for Pinkfresh Studio's Alphas/Words challenge.  I love PFS Classic Holiday Words dies & Delicate Wreath.  Decided to try coloring directly on the wreath with 2 green Altenew watercolor markers.  

I put the wreath in my Misti, colored random parts of the wreath, spritzed with water & stamped.  I repeated the process multiple times until I was happy.  Gotta say, the markers worked great for the technique!  The panel was dry embossed with Spellbinders Floral embossing folder & spritzed with gold glimmer mist--so beautiful in person!  

I die cut the sentiment from Tim Holtz red glitter cardstock & the shadow from vellum stacked 2 high.  Finished off with gold adhesive dots & a green mat.  This was really fun to make & I love how it turned it!  

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Snowflakes Plus

I was lucky enough to win the Uniko Stunning Snowflakes stamp set & I've made 2 cards with it.  First is a thank you card using emboss resist with DO faded jeans & wilted violet.  

I stamped the Simply Said Blocks sentiment in black ink multiple times on a strip of white cardstock using my MISTI.  I used black for the mat & added the snowflakes panel.  I'm entering SSS Wednesday (emboss resist) & Uniko Challenge 63.

I used the same Uniko stamp sets to make a birthday card for the Uniko 9th Anniversary Celebration.  This time I stamped snowflakes in DO faded jeans, wilted violet & rustic wilderness.  

The sentiment was stamped in Brilliance Graphite Black & I added splatters.  CAS, 1 layer card ready to mail.

Recently I watched Gina K's video & was inspired to pull out a dark Copic & give it a try.  I gold embossed the image from Gina K A Big Hello & colored all the vanilla cardstock with R59.  

Then I gold embossed again for thick, smooth lines.  The texture was made by dabbing with Alcohol Ink Blending Solution on a piece of felt.  The edge was made with a PPP die & the sentiment from Sketched Wreath Builder was stamped in PTI Scarlet Jewel.  

I colored the little hearts with a gold glitter pen & added gold splatters.  I used several pieces of cardstock behind the focal point before adding it to the card front.  I'm entering the GK February Monthly Mix challenge.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Goodby 60s, Hello 70s

Lots of February birthdays in my family, including mine!  On Friday I turned 70 with a nice quiet day at home.  I relocated this first professional family photo.  Yep--I was born with a lot of dark, wavy hair.

I received lots of wonderful cards from friends & family.  I display them on the shelves where I keep my music box collection.  That way I see them when I'm in my recliner.

We missed the worst of the storms, but there was enough ice to bring down a lot of branches.  Lots of people lost power, but ours was only out a few hours.  Hope you had a nice Valentine's Day.  

Here are a couple cards I shared on IG.  I was inspired by the tutorial on SCS.  Instead of drawing, I stamped an ancient, unlabeled wood mounted lined heart image.  

Then I used the wet to wet watercolor technique with DI salty ocean & mowed lawn.  The word die cut from silver glitter tape & the sentiment are W&W. 

Next is a Valentine for next year made with the Spellbinders January Small Die of the Month kit.  I used a piece of light pink metallic cardstock I recycled from a store bought card.  

Hard to capture the beautiful soft color which I combined with gold & ivory.  

The dies are so pretty I almost didn't add a sentiment, but I do like this one from W&W gold embossed on a strip of heavy vellum.  I'm entering The Snippets Playground.

I don't know why I left the embossing folder that came with my Gemini Jr in the box rather than putting it with my other folders.  It's absolutely gorgeous & here's the first card I made with it. 

I inked one side with DI speckled egg before running it through the machine.  I colored the edges of the card & the PFS Dainty Blossoms die cuts with the same ink.  Love this old Spellbinders label die & need to use it more often.  I stamped the HA sentiment on it with the same ink--a big advantage to using the oxides, I think.

Last is the card I made for the current ITP PTI BD challenge.  I used the PTI Large Scallop Stackers die cut that a friend gave me & stamped Friendship Jar Flowers on it in Prairie Grass & Simply Chartreuse.  

The big blooms were stamped in Winter Wisteria & Versamark to clear emboss.  Then I brushed on Lavender Moon, stacked them 2 high & added clear gems.  The little flowers were stamped in Lavender Moon & the centers were filled with Wedding Dress Pico Embellisher.  I stamped the sentiment from Take 3 Summer in Cocoa Bean & used Winter Wisteria cardstock for the mat--remembering to cut out a rectangle from the center & replace it with white cardstock.  I added 4 additional rectangles to give just a bit of dimension.  Gotta say--love how this turned out!

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.