Day 1

Vacation is over & I made it through day 1 of orientation for my new job.  My brain is on overload!  Since I haven't oriented in 17 years it's a bit stressful.  I know things will begin to make sense over time.
I was able to get my DeNami 1 layer card done last night for the current challenge HERE.  I knew I wanted to use this older flower stamp & mask the area to be colored.  I discovered that temporary adhesive becomes permanent pretty quickly, so this is the second one I did as the mask tore my card the first time around.  Live & learn!  The Distress inks I used are tumbled glass, spun sugar & milled lavender.  I scored a couple lines above & below, stamped a newer DeNami greeting & added pearls.  I very seldom make a 1 layer card, but I plan to try some more.  Thanks for stopping by.  Hope your week is going well.  By the way, Sunday is the next DeNami blog hop & I'm participating.  Check it out if you can--Ribbon is the theme.

Happy Easter

When I began stamping over 15 years ago, I started buying Penny Black stamps.  I have quite a collection which continues to grow, as they are one of my favorite companies.  I recently discovered the Penny Black Saturday Challenge Blog HERE & hope to regularly participate.  This week the challenge is to CASE this gorgeous card by Helen:  

"He arose, He arose, Hallelujah Christ arose!"  I love the old songs from when I was a kid.  Wishing all of you a blessed Easter.








I love everything about this card, including the colors, water-colored image & dry embossing.  I'd never embossed 2 sheets at the same time--it works great!--& in this case it means the images automatically are lined up.  I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder.  Yes, I know daffodils are generally yellow, but one of the things I love about this craft is that you can use any colors you want for any image.  This is Penny Black O March! colored with Distress Markers concord grape & sage green.  When it was dry I over-stamped without spritzing & added some Distress Stickles in the same color.  The torn edges are swiped with PTI Vintage Cream & the card & twill are the same.  I just added the pearls in one corner & mounted the flower piece with foam tape to finish it off.

Thanks for taking time to stop by.  I always appreciate your comments.

A Spring Birthday Card

This week's Flourishes TT Challenge "here" is to create a birthday card.  I pulled out one of the March release stamp sets that I was lucky enough to win--Botanical Bookmarks.  The background is another one made with COPICS (see the inspiration here) using Y02, Y21, V12, V17, G02, G07.  I stamped the flowers with VersaFine Black Onyx, brushed them with Shimmer Spritz & cut the piece with Spellbinders Labels Nine.  It's matted with a piece of light yellow cardstock cut with the largest die & then embossed with TH Stripes folder.  The same flowers are stamped on the green textured cardstock using VersaMark.  The diecut piece is attached with foam tape & the gems are colored with Y02.  I've liked cards using parts of a diecut, so decided to do that here.  The greeting is from Flourishes Tag Lines--a super versatile word set.

Hope you're having a lovely weekend.  Thanks for stopping by--I love hearing from you.

Friday Fun!

My time off between jobs is coming to an end, so today hubby & I went out to brunch (yummy!) & then I headed out to shop.  Wanted a pair of pearl earrings--just Monet brand--not expensive.  I'm one of the few people in the world who doesn't have pierced ears & I have been known to loose an earring or 2--LOL!  I found some & they were supposed to be 25% off, but when she rang them up it was 60%!  I got 2 pairs for less than $12, so if I loose one I'll still have a pair!  Then off to my LSS where I had a completed buyer's card which means a credit.  I love just looking at all the stamps & products--finally narrowed down my choices.  At checkout, she had 1 plastic egg left giving a percent off or a free item & it was 30% off one item--not bad!  I left with quite a few goodies and spent under $6!  Of course, I also put in an order for a few things, but I'll be back working before I have to pay for those--& besides, I like to support a local small business--good justification, don't you think?!
Now for my card--this is for PTI MIM using generational stamping--a technique I really like.  I used my Rosie Posie set (so glad I finally got it) & stamped with VersaMagic Malted Mauve & Aloe Vera.  The edges are sponged with Distress Ink old paper.  The greeting is from Lovely Leaves & is stamped in VersaFine Vintage Sepia.  The bg paper is ChatterBox I've had forever & just love.  I can't begin to make cards like Peet "here" but she has inspired me to try & use my pp.  I also used my Sew Easy for the stitching.  The greeting banner & the flower panel are mounted with foam tape.

Thanks for taking time to visit & let me know your thoughts.  Hope you have a lovely Easter weekend.

Cards for Friends

For some reason I always think I have plenty of time to make Easter cards after Valentine's Day & then I never get as many done as I intend to!  A couple made it to the recipients, so I'm sharing them today.
The first one uses my favorite Penny Black stamp called christmas star.  After watching Elizabeth Allan's coloring video "here" (she should be a teacher!) I used a coupon to get a package of the Brushstix and gave it a try.  Coloring is not my forte, (at all!) but even I was able to use her technique.  The inks are Brilliance Pearlescent Crimson, Pearlescent Beige & VersaMagic Pink Petunia.  I finished by brushing on Shimmer Spritz.  Penny Black simple scroll is stamped on the background & the embossing folder is Sizzix for SU.

The second card was the first one made with my new Memory Box Easter egg die.  I used some old glitter paper & at first I threw out the little pieces.  Then I realized I could mix & match them, so I went through the wastebasket (all it has are pieces from diecuts (LOTS of little pieces of paper!) & found all but one--amazing!  The colors aren't very good in the photo, but it is bright pink with green & blue with purple.  The spellbinder die always reminds me of an Easter basket so I used it along with the Penny Black simple scroll (instead of grass).  The greeting is TPC Studio.

Wishing all of you a blessed Easter weekend with family & friends.  Thanks for visiting.

Black & White with a Splash

The current Shining the Light Challenge is to use your favorite ODBD stamp set "here".  It's hard to pick my favorite, but I do love the Vintage Border Background which was one of my first purchases.  This time I stamped it in white & embossed with clear EP on this great frame my friend Sue (scrumplescrunch) sent to me.  My Little Things set is another favorite, so I popped up the frame over the quote stamped with VersaFine Onyx Black.  Decided to make it into a "splash of color" card & used the smallest blossom from the Sweet William-small set to make the 2 panels that are stitched using my Sew Easy.  The butterfly is my newest MS punch & the clear dots are colored with COPICS RV09 to match the bright pink cardstock.  Tiny black pearls on the butterfly finish it off.
We're having typical Spring weather--sun, clouds, rain, hail--all within an hour!  In between showers I saw the first 2 bright yellow goldfinches at my feeder.  I love all the birds, but especially the goldfinches.  Hope you've had something to bring a bit of joy to you today.  Thanks for stopping by.

Easter Card

Computer was gone again, so didn't make the Flourishes TT challenge "here", but I needed another Easter card & even though I was rushing I like how it turned out.  I used the new Magnolias set with a Stampendous! greeting. The images are colored using Brushstix with VersaMagic Pink Petunia and Aloe Vera.  The flower is painted with Shimmer Spritz for a lovely shine. Thanks for stopping by & hope you're having a great week.