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.

Birthday Flowers

Therese's Inspiration Card

Almost out of time to enter the birthday challenge at Impression Obsession.  When I saw Therese's card for the Muse Challenge I was inspired to use her "coloring outside the lines" technique with my IO Five Roses stamp, J2441.  I used a water brush with 3 different Gelatos.  It's Your Birthday, A6977, is embossed, punched out & matted with a black punched circle.  I wrapped the panel with 3 rows

Greta's Card

of fibers I saved from the tags on some items I bought & then popped up the sentiment circle & the panel. Need to find more of the peachy-pink cardstock as it's a great match for the Gelato.  Also entering SSS Monday. Several snippets on this card, so I'm also entering at Pixies Snippets Playground. So glad you took time to stop by. Wishing you a great week.

Inspired by Cindy

Card by Cindy Brumbaugh

I've always loved Cindy's style, so when I saw that she was the Monday Muse this week I had to play along.  As you can see, I was inspired by pretty much everything Cindy did here! I'm also celebrating WCMD with Our Daily Bread Designs who is giving all entrants a 20% off coupon--pretty nice! 
The flowers from ODBD "Don't Worry" were inked with Memento Markers Summer Sky & New Sprout before stamping on watercolor paper that had been spritzed with Ink Potion No. 9.  I made the frame from a Cuttlebug embossing folder & backed it with a piece of printed paper.   
Luckily I had the right shade of blue cardstock to mat the piece & all edges are inked with Encore! Ultimate Metallic Champagne--a favorite of mine.
One more day of work & then a couple off so I'll be visiting all your blogs soon. Hope you have a great week.

Get Well Card

Tracey's MUSE card

A family member is having some medical problems & the current challenges at MUSE & A Blog Named Hero provided inspiration for my card. Tracey's layout is great for any occasion & works well when time is limited. I used my Memento inks to create a colorful, cheery card which I admire in Jennifer
McGuire's work.  My flower stamps & dies are Hero Arts/Sizzix Bold Pop Designs which I chose as my publication incentive awhile back. The leaves (stamp & die) is PTI & the sentiment is an old one from A Stamp in the Hand.  Thanks for stopping by--love to have you visit.


P.S.  Don't forget, Penny Black has a contest going & there's still plenty of time to enter. 

God Bless America

Anita's Card

Fortunately, I have family not too far away, so hopefully my card will make it in time for the July 4th holiday.  I really wanted to play along with the Muse challenge as I love Anita's card & it immediately made me think of my Penny Black circles & lines, 40-084.  Finally today my card came together.  

I easily masked so I could stamp just 2 sets of lines with space in the middle for my sentiment.  The images are white embossed with Stickles added to the dots.  The sentiment is an old favorite from DeNami & is stamped in Brilliance Mediterranean Blue.  I colored the stars with a marker & added Stickles.  The other day I was rummaging through a drawer & came across 1/2 a sheet of foam stars I've had forever.  They have adhesive on both sides, so I just removed the cover from 1 side & poured on Elizabeth Craft glitter (it's the kind that is flat, smooth & doesn't come off) & then removed the other cover & stuck them down.  
I think my brother & his wife will really like this card.  Hope you do, too. Tons of entries, but may as well join in the Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp.  I always appreciate reading your comments.  Wishing you a great week.

Flowers

Marion's Card

Lots of challenges that use flowers lately & that suits me fine as I have hundreds (maybe a slight exaggeration!) of floral stamps.  I haven't done a Stampendous! challenge for awhile & I combined it with the current Muse challenge.  My stamps are Stampendous! Agapanthus Cluster & Flower Path & I took the bright colors from Marion's inspiration card.  I used Memento markers to color the stamp & then spritzed it before stamping for a slight watercolor effect.  The panel was then sprayed with Glimmer Mist creating a lovely soft shimmer.  Some of the letters look a little funny, but that's how the stamp is made--artsy look, I guess.  Speaking of flowers, thought I'd share a picture of the roses I cut last night knowing our weather was changing from sunny & 75 to rainy & 55.  Hope they make you smile.  Thanks for your visit.

Hooray!

I have a fun card to share with you today.  As soon as I saw the Muse Challenge card with the cute elephants I thought of my new DeNami giraffe--not yet inked.  Hopefully that isn't too far a leap--LOL!  I seldom make cute cards & a change can help get the creative juices flowing I think.  In addition to the 3 cute animals, I also incorporated a background with colors matching the animals.  I didn't have printed paper that worked, so I used the dots from DeNami Retro Borders One inked at an angle using my stamp positioner.  The colors are VersaMagic Pink Grapefruit, Mango Madness & Turquoise Gem.  I also used the same sentiment as Therese on my card by inking just the last word of one of the stamps in Hero Arts Happiness Messages.  Stickles are added to the images & the edge of the scalloped borders & a black Glaze pen was used for the eyes.  I have a hard time using my sequins, but decided one would work to attach the little tag--Just had to add a tiny gem, though!  I'm thinking this could be used for a young kid's birthday card.  My color choices came from the Cards Blog Challenge to use coral, yellow & turquoise, so I'm entering that challenge as well.  

Notice:  My Blog is on the surgery schedule tomorrow, so there will be a couple hours when it is not available.  I also have another fun surprise planned tomorrow & can't wait to share it with you. Enjoy your day, my friends. 

Therese's Card

Do Not Worry

Inspiration Card by Virginia

I wasn't completely satisfied with the card  in my last post finished in under 10 minutes.  This post contains the final version which I'm entering into the MUSE Challenge and the ODBD Challenge (nature & a scripture.)  I used Virginia's cheerful floral inspiration card for my basic lay-out.  I didn't want to stamp my flowers quite so close together, so using a masked space for the sentiment didn't work.  Instead I die cut an oval in the panel stamped with a blossom from ODBD Sweet William-Small using Memento Grape Jelly & Lilac Posies.  The verse is from ODBD Don't Worry! & is stamped using Memento Cottage Ivy.  I made 3 changes to the card as it was at the end of 9 minutes & 23 seconds.  First I lightly colored the flowers with the same inks using a Tsukineko Fantastix. Then I added Stickles--I do love sparkle!  The last step was to carefully remove the panel from the card front, cut around the verse, add a lot more foam tape to the flower panel & then attach it over the verse onto a green panel & onto the card front.  Now that I look at pictures of both cards, there I things I like about each.  Feel free to let me know which version you prefer.  I'm happy you stopped by today.

Best Wishes with Felt

MUSE card by Marion

When I first saw Marion's MUSE card for the current challenge, all I could think of was exactly what she had done--love the look of her card!  Decided to walk away & work on something else.  Today my card came together.  It's completely different than Marion's, but I was inspired by her elements of white space, 2 main colors & a simple sentiment.  Pinwheels make me think of Spring & I had so much fun making them a few months back.  I stuck with pink & purple but very different shades using these fun bright felts from MFT.  I cut the squares by hand & used the MFT rolled roses smallest die.  The open bracket border is also a die from MFT.  The simple sentiment is by Stampendous! & is stamped with my favorite black ink--Versafine Onyx Black.  I stamped on the textured cardstock perfectly the first time!  May save this for hubby's college age granddaughter as I think she'd enjoy it.  Since this will be a birthday card & includes the die cuts, I'm entering the Die Cut Divas challenge. Back to work tomorrow & for the weekend--don't know how I did full-time all those years--LOL!  Hope you have some sunshine--in your heart if not outside.  Thanks for taking time to stop by my blog.

Best Wishes

I loved Laurie's card for this week's Muse challenge when I saw it on Monday.  The first thing that caught my eye was the script on the panel. I have an old stamp I "splurged" on years ago & it just sits in the drawer.  I also loved the idea of the sentiment showing through a negative die cut.  Actually, I loved everything about the card & couldn't think of anything to do but copy it--LOL!  During my lunch break today, I went through various ideas.  I thought maybe something with kraft & white, but before I started I checked the current PDCC colors & that did it--love those neutrals!  I immediately thought of my K&Co paper pad I bought in clearance--one of my best purchases--& finally I do have a card to post.  Thanks for coming by--your visits are always appreciated.  Enjoy the weekend & stop by Muse if you'd like to vote on the winning cards.  Also entering Simon Says Stamp Challenge for a birthday/celebration card in honor of their 4th birthday.

Laurie's Muse Inspiration Card

Happy Easter

Card By Ardyth

MFW Tuesday Trigger

We have a wonderful inspiration card by Ardyth for this week's Muse challenge. I really like the rainbow of 5 different colors, the embossed sentiment matching the card base & the CAS design.  I was still working on Easter cards & loved the Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger with the pretty pastels, so my inks are 5 favorites by Brilliance.  To keep with the really fun nature of this card, I used the somewhat funky images from Stampendous! Bold Blossoms set.  Decided gray was a better choice than black with my colors, so that's what I used for the card & the sentiment.  Now that sequins are in I randomly added some clear ones & put a tiny pearl in each center.  Thanks for coming by--your comments always brighten my day.

Happy Spring

Marion's card

I'm really loving the new Muse Card Club Challenges.  Having the inspiration of a designer's card really helps me get started creating.  Just look at Marion's work--fabulous!  The first thing it made me think of was the COPIC background cards I made following a PTI MIM video.  Haven't used that technique in a year & it's really fun.  I'm finishing up Easter cards, so decided to use these pastels: BV00, B00, RV21.  I love the white flowers on the Muse card, but instead of stamping I used MFT Prima Donna Petals dies to cut white textured cardstock & each is embellished with a pearl.  The Stampendous! sentiment stamp is inked with Versafine Onyx Black.  I mounted the panel to the card front with foam tape.  Check out the Muse Blog, if you haven't & remember everyone can vote for their favorites.  Thanks for stopping by.

Congratulations...& a cute picture

Card by Therese

One of my college roommates has been divorced a long time.  Recently I was delighted to get a "Save the Date" card from her for a summer wedding.  I wanted to use those colors as much as I could to send her my congratulations.  The MUSE inspiration card this week by Therese gave me a starting point.  As you can see, I used the layout, yellow floral background & blossom focal point.  My background is made with Penny Black "blissful" stamped in Distress Inks scattered straw & wild honey onto spritzed watercolor paper.  The flower is the inside part of the blossom in Penny Black's "to you" clear set.  I black embossed it twice, sponged on VersaMagic Turquoise Gem & Aquatic Splash, fussy cut & attached them together with foam tape.  The center is accented with gold micro beads & a touch of gold Stickles.  I bent the edges up for dimension & mounted it to the card with foam tape.  After die-cutting a circle, stamping the sentiment from Flourishes "Taglines" in VersaMagic Gingerbread & wrapping it with white fibers, the top panel is also mounted with foam tape.  Kept getting interrupted so took several days to put this together, but I'm happy with the final result & I think she'll like it.  

Before I go, have to share a cute picture of my old puppy dog, Keesha.  Couldn't figure out where she was--looked throughout the house & then went back to my work table & realized she was sleeping under my chair!  It's amazing I hadn't stepped on her when I got up.  Hope you have a great weekend & thanks for coming by.

Beauty in Bleach

I was honored & thrilled to have my card voted a top pick for last week's MUSE challenge--took awhile for my feet to hit the ground!  The Muse this week is Laurie Willison--a great designer who gave us a wonderful card for inspiration.  I used her basic layout & kraft card base along with a sentiment stamped in black, a black ribbon &  colored punched accent.  I substituted cream for the white & used my Penny Black berry wreath stamp instead of flowers in the corner.  I wanted a card to send to a couple, so needed it to be appropriate for a guy.  I remembered using bleach on a man's birthday card several years ago & he really liked it.  I think this image has a neat look stamped in bleach.  The sentiment is also Penny Black.  I substituted some piercing for the faux stitching & lightly inked the piece with Memento Toffee Crunch.  The card & panel edges are inked with VersaMagic Gingerbread.  The red piece is done with an EK Success punch & the bottom was trimmed with scissors for the look I wanted.  Finished off with a piece of black grograin ribbon & a bit of twine.  Glad you took time to come by.  Enjoy your weekend--I'll be working--more money for stamps--LOL!

Snowflakes

Deanna Jean's Card

PTI's Snowflake Flurries set caught my eye the first day I saw it.  The cards I've made with it do not use it as snowflakes--just pretty images.  As part of the Splitcoaststampers Christmas Card Challenge I've set a goal to make 3 Christmas cards per month, so this card uses the Let It Snow sentiment from the set.  My design comes from the beautiful MUSE Challenge card this week by Deanna Jean.  I used her layout & similar colors (minus the green) provided by Brilliance Pearlescent Poppy, Brilliance Pearlescent Coral,  Vivid! Peach & Versafine Smokey Gray. I tried doodling a frame on some scratch paper & quickly decided to go with embossed lines instead--oh, it was bad!  Good thing I buy gems on sale in big packages--I love to use as many as I want on a card.  Thanks for stopping by.  Check out the MUSE blog if you haven't yet.  It's really neat that everyone gets to vote for the winners.

There's still plenty of time to enter my Blogiversary Challenge if you'd like to CASE one of my first year's cards.  There are some great entries!

It's Been A Year!

Marion's Card

Today is the 1st anniversary of my blog & I now have 50 followers--thank you everyone for your encouragement & support! As I start my second year I'm posting my card for the challenge at a new blog I've joined called Muse. Marion's bright & cheery card is this week's inspiration. I haven't really joined the Washi tape revolution, so I used stamps to make my strips.  The little flower & star are from Penny Black's Sentiments set & the graphic image is from Penny Black's Puzzle Parts set. I really had fun making this card & hope you like it. The inks are Memento Dandelion, Cantaloupe & Teal Zeal and VersaMagic Mango Madness.  The stickers are Recollection.  I wanted the card to have a bit of "me" & not be a total copy of the inspiration, so I added flowers.  The blue one is inked with the Teal Zeal & covered with Glossy Accents.  The white one is MFT Mini Rolled Rose with a pearl in the center.  The orange one is Recollections with a touch of Stickles yellow which is also added to the center of the blue flower & some of the little stamped ones.   

Would you like to help me celebrate?  How about a challenge?  All you have to do is CASE one of my first year's cards.  Then come back & leave a comment with a link to your blog or photostream showing your card.  Don't forget to say which card you CASED.  Challenge will end March 10 at 8pm PST. 3 winners will get a little prize from me. I'm so glad you stopped by & hope you'll consider entering my challenge.

Find Joy

Therese's card

I really like the basis of the new MUSE blog & want to participate as often as I can. Anyone can vote for their 3 favorite cards.  I'm hoping it won't be a popularity contest & that lots of deserving people will get recognition.  Unfortunately, I failed to note the deadline time to enter, so I'm too late to post the card I finished late last night.  I was happy with the result, though, so that's always good!  I used Therese's card as a sketch, used 2 colors plus white & colored one word of the sentiment.  Just got Hero Arts Love Jar clear set & stamped the leafy branch in Brilliance Pearlescent Thyme & VersaMagic Aloe Vera.  The sentiment is from my well-used HA Find Joy set & is stamped in Versafine Smokey Gray & Brilliance Pearlescent Sky Blue.  The printed paper is from a DCWV stack that was a Christmas present & it's cut with a Spellbinders border die.  Stickles Star Dust is added to the leaves & Baby Blue to the word "Joy".  Finished off with a bit of lace & pearls.  I'm putting it into the monthly Hero Arts challenge, since the strip of lace makes it qualify.  Thanks for taking time to look & hope you're having a great weekend.

Red, Pink & Gold

Thanks to Maria (Madcat2002-Flickr)I learned about a new blog called Muse.  I love that it's a Card Club & the members are active participants including voting for the winning cards.  Unfortunately I missed the first challenge, but I hope to join in from now on.  This week's inspiration card by Suzanne really caught my eye--the design with the rounded top, the grouping of 5 different flowers, the use of printed paper & the double interest at the seam.  If you go to Suzanne's blog you can watch a video of how she made the rounded top.  I love seeing something that I can do, so immediately I went off to try it.  My oval Nesties don't include one quite big enough, but Labels 10 worked great! I tend not to use my printed paper, so got out 2 in my Valentine's section that gave me 3 colors to work with.  I covered the seam with 2 ribbons (it's taking over my house, so have to use it!)--a red velvet rickrack & a somewhat shiny soft pink with subtle darker vertical lines.  I've been making a lot of flowers since I now have dies, but decided it was time to use up some of my stash.  This is the first time I've used a variety of different blossoms on a card & it was fun choosing the ones that worked.  I had to use gold Tattered Angels on an ivory one, but the rest were the right colors.  For the centers I used a velvet brad, heart sticker, heart button (inked with Brilliance pink & clear embossed) & gold ball stickers.  I love flourishes but for some reason I have a hard time getting the gem ones positioned.  Fortunately, this time it worked!  The only stamping will be the greeting inside.  I hope my card-making friend will like it.  I have some new followers which is so gratifying to me.  

Suzanne Dahlberg's card

Thank you all for visiting & giving me your opinion. 

 

PS--Go Niners!  Super Bowl should be fun this year!