Thursday, June 29, 2017

winnie walter hi birthday girl

Had to give it a go when I saw this color combo at Winnie and Walter's June color challenge.


"Tactile" was all I could think. How about rows of satin adhered to cardstock and die cut with that In a Word "hi"? In the end, laziness won out, but tactile remains in the form of  Simply Graphic die cuts popping off the page. And a nod to the black lines with some hint of woodgrain from Scenery: Into the Woods to ground the "hi".


Can you guess how I "colored" those leaves? Grabbed some pink, turquoise, yellow and olive Adirondack inks - I still love the vibrancy of these inks - and stamped sentiments from Sentimental Winter with them and spritzed with Perfect Pearl/water mix to get a little ink bleed before die cutting the leaves! Who cares if they read "sparkle and shine" and "happy new year" and "tidings of comfort and joy"? You can't really decipher them!


I'm playing at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge where it's Anything Goes this week. CU there ;)

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

STAMPlorations inspiration #140

Time for another Tuesday inspiration from the STAMPlorations inspiration team where all the team members feature stamps from one of our talented stamp designers.

Today we're using Shery's Shery Russ Designs stamps. And in honor of STAMPlorations 4th Birthday, from now until July 3rd all stamps, stencils and dies are 15% off in the STAMPlorations store! Use the code STAMPGIRLMARIA for an extra 20% off too!

I chose both a stencil and stamp of Shery's for this card. And a happy rainbow of Distress Inks.




Here is a another project using the same stencil with a different technique. And another.

Don't forget the birthday sale going on at STAMPlorations. With the STAMPGIRLMARIA discount on top, now would be a good time to pick up any of the products on your wish list. Just sayin'.

And don't forget to leave comments on the June inspiration posts. One random commenter will be chosen each month to win a $10 GC to the store. Here's the lineup.

Monday, June 26, 2017

STAMPlorations 4th birthday blog hop - day 1


There's a humongojumbo party going on this week to celebrate four years of STAMPlorations! Congratulations, Shery, on where you've taken STAMPlorations over the past four years. And thanks to Kat for letting you do it ;)  I'm honored to have been around for the ride.

In celebration of Birthday #4 Shery has created a humongojumbo release. And a humongojumbo blog hop (OK, I'll stop now ;) to show you all the goodies (see 'em in that graphic?) at work.

I've got a couple projects to share with you today, so let's get to it.

You may have seen my Spotlight about using kids' markers to color your stamps. Well I've done that again today, this time with a cool, new sentiment stamp, Celebration Word....


I colored each letter of the stamp with random colors of waterbased markers, spritzed it and stamped it onto a white cardbase. I spritzed it again and stamped it again and got this next one which I think would work for a baby card, don't you? There's a matching die, BTW!


Then I had some fun creating a party on a card cuz I couldn't wait to showcase this Prosit Word die. It happens to be one of my very favorite words ;) And BTW, it also comes in stamp form!


I tried out a combo of watercolors and Copic markers as I'd seen Kelly L. do in this video. With all those champagne glasses from Party Mates I had to add lots of champagne bubbles, right? Including sparkly golden ones.


There's so much eye candy coming at you over at STAMPlorations this week. Believe me, you won't want to miss it all.

Shery's offering all products in the store at 15% off during the celebration - until July 7. Add my discount code STAMPGIRLMARIA for an additional 20% off!

 And what's a birthday celebration without presents? You know how generous Shery is. There will be gift certificates. And grab bags. You might even win your Wishlist!!! How's that for fun? Help us celebrate, won't you? You can check out all the deets here.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. Check out my Instagram page for a little giveaway in celebration of STAMPlorations too ;)

Sunday, June 25, 2017

summer coffee lovers blog hop


In case the weather in your hood keeps you guessing, it's a good thing we can count on the amazing Amy T. and Chaitali N. to keep us on track. Yep, it's summer. And time for the Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop!

Here's what I did to thank my Dad's neighbors who are truly a perfect blend of neighbor and friend.


Distress ink blending with the ELY makeup brushes from Target which Laurie W. recommended. And two STAMPlorations dies - Coffee Cup Silhouette and Lowercase Alpha Plate. Oh and those little beans stamped onto the "e" are from a great little set Latte Love.


I'm joining the Colorful Creations fun at Mod Squad too! Hope to see you tomorrow when the STAMPlorations 4th Birthday celebration starts...

Friday, June 23, 2017

an indigo mood board

The goddess of layers, Kate L, put together a fabulous moodboard, rich in layers and indigo hues. Have you seen it over on IG? I was quick on the take with a technique idea but slow with a design.


My self-imposed constraints for my crafting session were: two anniversary cards (needed) incorporating die cut die cuts (to play at Seven Hills Crafts June challenge). 

What catches your eye amidst that beauty? My eye was drawn to that gown. I saw die cut waste, gold embossing and distress inking! This is what I made.



The couple whose wedding I stood up to in a peach gown way back when gets a piece of peachy PP behind the die cut die cuts (one inked with Tea Dye and Festive Berries) and various bloom die cuts in navy on the smaller heart.



I stood up to this recipient couple's wedding in teal - couldn't make that happen here ;) Brought in more lines in a nod to that cool pant suit in the form of PP and washi. Used feathers on the smaller heart. And added some tiny red hearts to mimic a tab on the left. Hearts = love = anniversary.

Thanks for the inspiration Kate! And thanks for stopping by today.

feathers die





Tuesday, June 20, 2017

STAMPlorations inspiration #139

Welcome to Tuesday inspiration from the STAMPlorations inspiration team. Today we're showcasing Deepti's Artsy Impression stamps.

I've kept it one layer, black and white with a pop of color.



I stamped and masked the gal then inked the flower spray with three colors of pigment ink before stamping it. Makes a great corner-filler-floral, doesn't it?

Today we're using Deepti's Dee's Artsy Impressions stamps. And in honor of STAMPlorations 4th Birthday, from now until July 3rd all stamps, stencils and dies are 15% off in the STAMPlorations store! Use the code STAMPGIRLMARIA for an extra 20% off too!

And don't forget to leave comments on the June inspiration posts. One random commenter will be chosen each month to win a $10 GC to the store. Here's the lineup.

Friday, June 16, 2017

when cardmaking is like pulling teeth...

... take the time to find your good wire snippers! Yep, that's how my dilemma started.

I've a story for you today. Actually it all started when I wanted to play with my new Distress Oxides AND play along with the Ellen Hutson Mix It Up challenge with Concord and 9th products. They were still out on my workspace.

I got the idea to create some DO backgrounds and then cut one with my new heart dies. It's been awhile since I'd used my wire snippers to cut new dies apart and the ones I grabbed out of my tool drawer were old ones. Actually, I didn't realize that I had better ones! The darn things were too thick to get between the hearts to snip the wires. And because of the way the hearts were wired together, there was no way to wiggle them back and forth to break the connection - if you know what I mean. So frustration took over and I die cut my DO piece with the hearts just as they were in the package.

And I gathered my EH and C9 products and set out to make several cards for the challenge. Hmmm. No ideas. Sometimes it's nice to create with limitations. Not this time. Having read about B/W with pops of bright colors in this post, I was able to come up with this card.


Two die cut hearts down. Two to go. And then a day passed.

And then... story of my life.... the Mix It Up challenge ended. Ha! Serves me right.

But a Pin-Sights Challenge went up and lucky me - my DO piece was pink, orange and yellow - the colors in the inspiration! I conveniently continued plugging on, pretending I'd had this planned all along ;)


Like pulling teeth, it was, let me tell you. Stuck with my two die cut hearts. What to do with them? Since you listened to my story I'm going to share my creations with you. Not that they're my best work but I bet you've all had one of those crafting sessions where you back yourself into a corner and even with a craft room full of supplies you can't get yourself out of that corner!


The least daunting, I started with the negative to use as a card front. Filled the heart area with a large sentiment surrounded by a few water-softened DI blooms. Still two hearts left...


Having seen Time Out Challenge's graphic, and keeping Pantone's Greenery in mind, I added a fabric-y flower BG and a tropical leaf to one heart. Notice the hexagon in a nod to the invitation in the inspiration photo? Did you know you can make one easily from a circle? And the gold embossed edges in a nod to that scrummy cake. I'm also taking this flower-laden card to The Flower Challenge.




Couldn't bear any more pink. The last little heart with its yellow/orange tones got lots of black to parther with. Simple. And done, finally. Whew. Like pulling teeth it was. BTW, I've since found my good wire snippers and the dies have been freed ;)

love stamp (absolutely love this sentiment font)

Thanks for bearing with me today. Happy weekend.

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

spotlight on markers as watercolor medium

I'm over at the STAMPlorations blog today with a tutorial for coloring stamps with your kids' markers. If you're interested, check it out!


STAMPlorations inspiration #138

And welcome to Tuesday's inspiration from the STAMPlorations inspiration team! As you know, we're all featuring stamps from one of our talented stamp designers.

Today we're using Becca's Big Grins stamps. From now until June 19 you can get Big Grins stamps at 10% off in the STAMPlorations store, A Snarky Birthday and A Cuppa Love are 20% off!

Ready for some snark?



Pretty simple stuff. Until it came to Copic coloring - aarrgh! I was OK with the shading. Then had the brilliant idea to use the colorless blender to add a highlight. Well that blending solution blobbed right outta that marker so I had to go with the flow and add more blobs to make polka dot balloons. Whatever.

If you're interested, here is another card using A Snarky Birthday.

Feeling a snark attack coming on? With the STAMPGIRLMARIA discount on top, now is definitely the time to pick up any of Becca's stamps on your wish list, don't you agree?


Monday, June 12, 2017

a happy day - rainbowed

I've always loved me a rainbow. And then Laura Jane's daughter proclaimed that everything looks better "rainbowtized". I agree completely!

You might remember this cake card. So when I pulled out my second new stamp from Concord and 9th, it got rainbowed with Distress Inks and a paintbrush.


I actually intended to play with Where Creativity meets C9 Floral challenge, but alas it's over! The new challenge is about Layers so I'm going to claim that these cake layers fit the theme ;) And I'm playing over at The Flower Challenge too.


And then, because the layers of the cake image reminded me of the Altenew June challenge photo, I watercolored the layers with mauve and purple tones and the blooms with a bit of white and Wink of Stella.


The XXL heat embossed sentiment gives this simple one-layer design a little kick.


I'm taking both these cards over to Happy Little Stampers Watercolour...



And because Sunday's sky was just so darn gorgeous, I'll leave you with this...









Saturday, June 10, 2017

bold and graphic father's day

Did you see yesterday's card inspired by this photo? Bold. Graphic. Pink.

Well I combined that idea with the Winnie and Walter Rerun - Scenery Stripes to make a Father's Day card for my Dad. CASEd the oh-so-talented Keren B.'s card.



Keren's elements are all there - background stripes, frame, hugs, animal. Just in a slightly different format!

And still inspired by Card Concept #75 I used a cream cardbase with white embossed stripes like the blinds - which as an aside are like my Dad's blinds through which the deer peek in the winter! Thus the deer! The hot pink heart is a nod to the pink in the photo as is the washi with gold.


I'm playing at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday and at Bastel-Traum - where it's about the men and boys this week.


Hope you're having a great weekend! There's a Riesling Lounge planned for ours ;)






Friday, June 9, 2017

bold and graphic plus pink

This inspiration photo caught my eye. Bold. Graphic. Pink. And very, VERY symmetrical.

 Well I can do all of the above - minus symmetric, that is!


It's very hard to catch in the photo, but the sentiment sticker and the bit of sheer fabric with stars on it (in a nod to all the textiles) are both mirrored gold in a nod to the mirror. Isn't that pink luscious - pink, purple and orange Dylusions ink smooshing happened for that.


But I decided to make a less busy BG so made a second card.


Kept this one super CAS, just coloring a scrap with Copic RV04 and heat embossing half of the sentiment ("birthday" is on the inside). And the row of hearts is die cut from silver mirrored CS.



Come by tomorrow. I made another card that picks up on the neutral beiges in the photo ...

Besides linking these CAS cards to Card Concept #75, I'm joining the fun at AAA Cards, Stempelkueche and The Flower Challenge. Happy Birthday AAA Cards!!!







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