A Valentine for Rocky

 Today I have a card I made to send one of my nieces and her family.  They purchased a pretty parakeet a few months ago and so I thought I'd send him a Valentine!

I recently received the parakeet stamp and die from PTI/Ink to Paper - it had been sold out but they restocked a couple of weeks ago. (now the die is out of stock but they have the stamp set)  It's the only parakeet stamp and die I've ever seen.  Of course, I wasn't looking before my niece purchased Rocky, but I have looked since.

I popped Rocky and the hearts up on foam dots and drew the strings on the hearts with an 01 Micron Black Fine line marker.

I'm linking my card to:

The Paper Players

I used the top row - Die cut, Animal, Scene

Inspired By

I was inspired by the bird and the branch

Stamps:  Feathered Friends Mini 5 - Ink to Paper (PTI), Cupids Arrow, Tiny Treats Valentines - PTI

Ink: True Black, Bright Buttercup, Green Parakeet - PTI, Blush, Iceburg - Altenew 

Paper:  White, Pure Poppy Dark Chocolate, Blueberry Sky - PTI, DP Harvest Festival - Honey Bee Stamps

Accessories: Feathered Friends Mini 5 die - Ink To Paper (PTI), Alphanumeric Tiny Type Upper Dies - Tim Holtz/Sizzix, Splendid Stitched Hearts die - Poppy Stamps, Woodland Branch die - Memory Box, Simple Stackers frame die - Penny Back, foam dots, 01 black micron pen. 

A Bucket of Hearts

 It's time to start working on the Valentines for the 4 grand nieces and nephews.  I pulled out some older Papertrey Ink stamp and die sets that I purchased on sale but have only used once - and made these cute little buckets of hearts.  

ETA:  They now have these dies and stamps over on the new company - Ink to Paper.

I made the white ones for the girls and the brown ones for the boys - just so they'd be different.  There's one girl and one boy in each family.

I added little heart stickers to the sentiment and a glitter puffy heart over the biggest stamped heart for a little sparkle!

I'm linking my card to:

Inspired By Challenge

I was inspired by the woodgrain background the rustic look and the hearts!

Now onto making a few Valentines for friends!

Stamps:  Tag Creations: Delightful Bunch, Tag Creations: Delightful Hearts - Papertrey Ink

Ink:  Pure Poppy, Dark Chocolate - PTI, Obsidian - Altenew

Paper:  White, Dark Chocolate, Kraft, Weathervane - PTI

Accessories:  Tag Creations: Delightful Bunch Dies, Tag Creations: Delightful Hearts Dies - PTI, foam dots, heart stickers - Michaels.

Mid-month reminder - CAS Christmas Card Challenge - Silhouettes

I'm here today with my reminder card for the January CAS Christmas Card Challenge - of which I am the host!   My challenge is to use a silhouette -  either a solid stamp or a solid die cut!

This time I used a tree die cut for my silhouette from Poppy Stamps.  I layered it over a circle of patterned paper and layered a circle die cut from Penny Black over it with foam dots.  I stamped this simple sentiment from Stained Glass by PTI above the trees.  The card itself is cut with Noted: Scalloped A2 die from PTI. I added some tiny silver stars for sparkle.

I first made this card on a smaller card base seen below - using  Noted Scalloped Square Die from PTI, but felt there might not be quite enough open white space on the smaller format - but I do like this - it measures 3 3/4" x 3 3/4".   

So I made 4 of the smaller version and and 1 of the larger version of this card. 

Five more cards into the Christmas 2021 box! 

You have until Jan 24th to link up your own  silhouette CAS Christmas card!   You'll find lots of inspiration from the Design Team and our creative January Guest Designer Pat over at the CAS Christmas Card Challenge blog!  Hope to see you and your card there!!

Stamps: Stained Glass - Papertrey Ink
Paper: white, True Black - PTI, DP North Wind - Craft and You.
Ink: True Black - PTI
Accessories: Tree Line Hill Die - Poppy Stamps, Stitched Square Circles - Penny Black, Noted: Scalloped A2 Die, Noted: Scalloped Square Die - PapertreyInk, foam dots, tiny silver stars - HoneyBee Stamps.

Blessed are the Curious

Yesterday, I  had a crafty Zoom meeting with several friends and one of the techniques we learned about was Geometric Sponging.  Eileen Godwin did a wonderful YouTube video on it here.  

Here is one of the cards I made using her technique.  I chose the colors from the Paper Players Challenge -  Ranger Distress Mustard Seed, Faded Jeans and Seedless Preserves.

The stamps are from a set I recently purchased - Theories from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous.  I added three enamel dots along the tight rope.

I'm linking my card to:

The Paper Players

Stamps:  Theories - Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous.

Paper:  White - PTI

Ink:  Obsidian - Altenew, Ranger Distress Mustard Seed, Faded Jeans, Seedless Preserves.

Accessories:  plastic sheet for edge to ink off of, enamel dots - Altenew

January Inspiration Team - Using Eileen Hull's Sizzix dies on Card Designs

 This month Eileen Hull's Inspiration and Educator Teams are creating cards using her Sizzix Dies.  You'll find them gathered every Wednesday on Eileen's blog.

I made two cards for my post today.

A Valentine using Eileen's Mitten Box Die.

(See the mitten box I made on my previous post here.)

A new home card using the smaller tag house die from her House Ornament  Die.

(See how I used this little house tag on a summer card on my previous post here.)

It's always fun to figure out how to use the dies you purchase in perhaps unthought of ways!

Please check out Eileen's blog every Wednesday in January to see how her Teams use her dies for cards.

I'm linking my mitten card to:

The Card Concept

My card is clean and layered

Mitten Valentine

Stamps:  Happy Valentine's Day from Perfect Match - Papertrey Ink, Sending Warm Fuzzies from Hero Arts set CL342.

Paper: White - PTI, DP Sweet as Sugar - Reverse Confetti.

Ink:  Obsidian - Altenew

Accessories:  Mitten Box Die - Eileen Hull/Sizzix, Skinny Strips Dies - Neat and Tangled, Nested: Pinked A2 die - PTI, foam dots.

New Home

Stamps:  A Cottage Home - Waltzingmouse (retired)

Paper:  White, True Black - Papertrey Ink, DP Farmstead Harvest Mat Stack - DCWV, Kraft Stack Classic - Tim Holtz/Idea-ology.

Ink:  Obsidian - Altenew

Accessories:  House Ornament Die - Eileen Hull/Sizzix, Noted: Scalloped Square Die - PTI, foam dots, Oval Punch - SU, Clay hearts - The Greetery

Happy Anniversary, Deer

I made this card for my son and daughter-in-law for their anniversary.  They live in a log home on a mountain in the woods and they have a herd of deer behind their house that visit them daily, so I use deer on many of the cards I make for them!

I cut a panel of water color paper and stenciled over it using Falling Trees Embossing Folder from Sizzix using Peeled Paint Distress Oxide Ink. Next, I smooshed the panel into Carved Pumpkin Distress Ink on my craft mat that I had spritzed with water.  Then I smooshed just the top half of the panel into Peeled Paint Distress Oxide Ink on my craft mat, also spritzed with water.  

The trees are die cut from green card using Woodlands Thinlit dies from Sizzix. I adhered them to the dried inked panel.  The deer are die cut from brown Kraft Core Coredinations paper using Reindeer Flight Bigz Sizzix die.  I also sponged them with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and added black enamel dot eyes.  I adhered the darker deer to the panel and then adhered the lighter deer on foam dots.

I'm linking my card to:

The Male Room Challenge

Stamps:  Hero Arts

Paper:  Watercolor paper - Canson Cold Press, white, New Leaf - PTI, brown and tan Kraft Core Coredinations.

Ink:  Ranger Distress Walnut Stain, Carved Pumpkin, Ranger Distress Oxide Peeled Paint, Leaf Green Wendy Vecchi Archival.

Accessories:  Falling Trees Embossing Folder - Tim Holtz/Sizzix, Reindeer Flight Bigz Die, Woodlands Thinlit dies - Tim Holtz/Sizzix, enamel dots - Altenew. foam dots.

A Conductor of Light

 A friend asked me to make a birthday card for her grown son who is an electrician and while I was trying to think of what I could use to personalize this card, I remembered I had purchased a light bulb set from Ellen Hutson probably a year ago - and never used it yet - so after I found the set in my craft room (!?) I created this card.

The sentiment and light bulbs are from a set called Conductor of Light - Essentials by Ellen.  The vagabond gentlemen was cut out of a a newly purchased DP - Sir Vagabond by Stamperia.  The solar system is a piece of DP from Cosmos by Stamperia that I purchased last year.  The birthday is in January so I turned the solar system so  that January was showing (just above the light bulbs) on the background piece.

I colored the lightbulbs and sentiment smooshing the pieces into Distress Inks spritzed with water on my craft mat.  I fussy cut the vagabond and layered him and the light bulbs onto the card with foam dots.  I added some Clear Glitter Wink of Stella around the filaments of the bulbs but it doesn't show up in the photo.

This card is 5 1/2" x 5 1/4"

This is what I stamped on the inside of my card -  the earth is from Big World by Altenew, the sentiment is from Stop Drop Party by Simon Says Stamp.

I'm linking my card to The Paper Players Challenge

I used new paper and stamps purchased a while ago but never used.

Stamps:  Conductor of Light - Essentials by Ellen/Ellen Hutson, Big Earth - Altenew, Stop Drop Party - Simon Says Stamp.

Paper:  Watercolor paper - Canson Cold Press, SP - Sir Vagabond, Cosmos - Stamperia.

Ink:  Seedless Preserves, Wild Honey, Squeezed Lemonade, - Ranger Distress Ink , Obsidian - Altenew

Accessories:  Conductor of Light Dies - Essentials by Ellen/Ellen Hutson, foam dots, Clear Glitter Wink of Stella.

CAS Mix Up Jan 2021 Splatter

 I've resolved to play more often in the CAS Mix Up Challenges in 2021.  So I'm starting right off in January!

I used splatters, Washi Tape, stamping and enamel dots on my card today.

Splatter is such a tricky thing, depending on what medium you use and the method of application, you really don't know where the splatter will go!   So mine worked out pretty well accept for that rogue dot in the sentiment!  I used a watery brown watercolor paint on a paint brush that I tapped with my finger over the panel.

There are two new members on the CAS Mix Up design team starting this month so be sure to check out the challenge and all of the DT's inspiration for splattering!  They also have some links to technique videos for splattering to help you hone your skills! 

You'll find the challenge here.

Stamps:  Coffee Set - Waltzingmouse (retired)

Ink:  Dark Chocolate - PTI

Paper:  White, Dark Chocolate, Soft Stone - PTI

Accessories:  Coffee Cups Washi Tape - Alexandra Renke, enamel dots - Altenew, brown water paint, paint brush, water.

January CAS Christmas Card Challenge - Silhouette

Happy 2021 everyone!  This just HAS to be a better year for all of us right?!!   

I hope you, your loved ones and friends have stayed safe and healthy during the holidays!

Welcome back to the CAS Christmas Card Challenge.  

The DT had a lovely break for December and we're ready to get back to making our Christmas cards, are you?!!  

I'm the hostess this month and I would like everyone to use a silhouette (stamp or die cut) on your CAS  Christmas card design!

I recently purchased this lovely tree line stamp from Rubbernecker called Winters Night.  It comes with 2 stamps; the curved tree line I used here, as well as a snowy sky with a star that I didn't use here to keep it CAS with open white space.

To give the subtle look of snow, I splattered some watery White Gouache over the panel with a paint brush (that is really hard to see!) and adhered a tiny clay star from The Greetery above the sentiment from Christmas Cuts Sentiments by PTI.

This card was so simple to create - I made 5 of them for my Christmas box!

I hope you'll join in my challenge this month at CAS Christmas!  You'll find lots of inspiration from the Design Team as well as our wonderful January Guest Designer Pat at  the CAS Christmas Card Challenge Blog!  

You have until Jan 24 to link up!

Hilary pointed out to me that my card design works for the Jan CAS Mix Up challenge as well!

I used stamping, splatter and a clay star!

Stamps:  Winters Night - Rubbernecker, Christmas Cuts Sentiments - PTI.

Paper:  White - PTI

Ink:  Obsidian - Altenew

Accessories:  Misti, White Gouache, water, paint brush, white clay star - The Greetery.

December Card Chain Challenge Reveal

 Last month I signed up to participate in the Card Chain Challenge.  You sign up to join in and you are given the name of someone to send a card to using the given monthly challenge.  Participants are from all over the world.  

I sent the card I made to Jutta in Canada.  And I will receive a card from Dee in Kenya! 

Check out this fun monthly challenge here.

The challenge for December was a tic tac toe board and I chose 3 across - YELLOW - BIRDS -EMBOSS IT.

I embossed the background with a holly embossing folder and die cut it with Crimped Frames from the Greetery.   I die cut the bird from Ink to Paper out of several colors of cardstock and adhered them together.  I layered the bird over the embossed holly panel with foam dots and added some enamel dots.  I stamped the sentiment on a strip of cardstock and adhered it to the corner of the panel.

So if you'd like to make a card, send it out and receive one yourself from around the world - check out The Card Chain Challenge blog and sign up for the next month - there is a cut off date each month to sign up.

Stamps: Tiny Text - Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous
Paper: Weather Vane, Harvest Gold, Smokey Shadow, Cocoa Bean - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Obsidian - Altenew
Accessories: Feathered Friends 5 die - Ink to Paper, Crimped Frame die - The Greetery, Holy Embossing Folder - Provo Craft, enamel dots - Altenew, foam dots.