Playing Post-vacation Catch-up

Here I am, sitting here at the computer, with my chai tea, reading the blogs I have been following, and enjoying the gloomy, misty day. It's fall! I like fall. Fall is when we take a vacation. Now you have to understand that vacation is a broad term for us--it may mean a missions trip, a camping trip, or a trip to Grand Junction to get apples. It might even mean taking time off to do a project around home. But this time we ventured out to Yellowstone and the Tetons. It was cold at night (we were prepared with a heater for our tent) but the days were gorgeous, until the last day there. It was cloudy, rainy, blustery...but the "moods" of the Grand Teton on that day were spectacular!

Anyway, I have several challenges to get caught up on, and I did two yesterday.

This card is totally different from anything I have ever made...but I sure do like it! I started by planning for the CAS31 "pop it up" challenge using dimensionals. The pumpkin inchies are popped up. But it also fits CAS 30 because I took those images off of a card I made years ago in a workshop and this works as a "remake". Then there have been two challenges for "bling" or "sparkle" that fit the use of heat and stick powder with glitter (CAS21 and CAS27). I used a 1 inch punch for the inchies and a MS border punch so that fits CAS07 to use punches. Have I missed any?
The paper is SU Kraft, black and mustard DP. The orange dot is CM. I used Black hemp for the cord.

This card is for this week's CAS33 sketch layout. Again, I used an image from an old workshop card that was done with the technique where you put drops of reinker on a baby wipe and use that for a "stamp pad". The pear was done with green galore, tempting turquoise, and yoyo yellow inks. I just cut the image out to make this card.

The card is crushed curry, and I used turquoise and white cs and a turquoise dp that matched. There are two layers of dimensionals...under the box and under the pear. The picture doesn't do the sentiment justice...it is really much clearer IRL.

Thanks for stopping by.

Stamping at the Fair

A While back I participated in our county fair "action corners". That is where various different individuals/groups come for a block of time the first weekend of fair to demonstrate various activities and crafts to fair visitors. People are there quilting, spinning, knitting, doing model railroading, gardening...and on and on. I was there to stamp. I made a bunch of cards, and with some of them I got a bit distracted talking to people while I stamped. Those cards have a few problems LOL! But some came out pretty nice. I thought I would share a few with you. They are all fairly simple cards.


Paper: Kraft, Tangerine Tango, White
Ink: Basic Brown
Ribbon: Tangerine Tango stripe grosgrain
Stamps: Various wildflower silhouettes from Hero Arts and Rubber Stampede, All Year Cheer


Paper: White, Cameo Coral, DSP in celery
Ink: Celery, Coral
Ribbon: Coral
Stamps: In Full Bloom, Wonderful Words
Accessories: Dimensionals


Paper: White, Riding Hood Red, DSP in Mustard
Ink: Basic Brown
Ribbon: Mustard
Stamps: For a Friend
Accessories: Dimensionals, Rhinestone, Colored Pencil

Waltzingmouse Celtic sets

I got these wonderful Waltzingmouse sets in the mail (or post) a few weeks ago, and I made a few cards the same day. But did I post them here? No. Well, I have no excuses other than I have been neglecting my blog...again. Well, to be honest, I haven't visited a lot of blogs lately. But I'm remedying that!

What can one say about such elegant images. This card has one image stamped twice in the circle. I used my CM circle cutter for the circles, and my Scor-Pal for the scoring on the background. Colors are Handsome Hunter and White. Dimensionals pop the image up.


The soft colors on this card were inspired by one I saw on SCS, but I don't remember who posted it. I apologize. The claddagh represents friendship, loyalty and love. I will probably use this for a wedding or anniversary card. Colors are kraft, white, saffron, and mustard. Scoring is done with the Scor-Pal and the ribbon is cream. It really matches better than the picture shows. Again, I popped the image up with dimensionals.

And this elegant card is done in Elegant Eggplant and white. I used dimensionals to raise the image panel up.

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Happy Birthday to You...!

This week, for CAS22 at Splitcoast, we were to make birthday cards. Who doesn't need birthday cards? Well, I made several and I wanted to share what I made.

This punny card is the first one I made. The colors were a color challenge a while ago that I wanted to try sometime. The layout is one I go back to often, because it works well. Cardstock colors are Basic Gray, Going Gray, Yoyo Yellow,and white. The inside of the card has a white panel...and the greeting, "from some of your closest friends". The fishies in the can are watercolored.

This card was inspired by a Life is Good tee I saw at Jax Mercantile...one of my favorite stores. I would buy the whole Life is Good corner if I could! The colors are only Rose Red and So Saffron. The TAC greeting is heat embossed.

This one says, "an-udder birthday?" and is done with an older SU! set called Birthday Banter (the same one that the fishies above come from). The colors are Baja Breeze and Riding Hood Red.

This last one is also an old set from SU called Sketch a Party. The cake trim, candle and the greeting are all accented with Gelly Roll glitter pens. Colors are Not Quite Navy, Chocolate Chip, and Creamy Caramel.


If you want more details you can check out my gallery for today at Splitcoast. Have a wonderful weekend, even if it is hot!

Wonderful Color Combo

Just thought I would share a couple of cards I made last week with the Color Challenge on SCS. The colors were Baja Breeze, Ruby Red, and White.

The first card is one that was also made for the CAS challenge. The birds are a part of Inkadinkadoo's Birds Galore and the sentiment is from SU! set All Year Cheer 1, a retired set. The card is 5.5 inches square and the red layer is popped up on dimensionals.
The next card is one that I made for my dad for father's day. The layout is one that I used before with different images and colors, and I like this combination even better. The image stamps are from the SU! set Winds of Grace and the sentiment from an old retired set called Wonderful Wishes. I used a strip of Ruby Red CS on this card where I had used ribbon on my previous card. Why? Well, no such thing as Ruby Red ribbon in my stash!
Best thing about this card? My dad really liked it!
Blessings for this glorious week :)

Curious Iridescent Papers

I love these papers, but sometimes I forget to use them. I purchased both Cryogen White and Poison Ivory with some friends...from Cut Card Stock . I often think of ideas to use this beautiful, shimmery, iridescent paper, but today I actually did something about it. Some time ago I did a wedding card in white and ivory, and that provided the inspiration for doing this wintery card...in both ivory and white.

The card base is Poison Ivory. The first layer, in Cryogen White, is popped up, as is the image layer in Poison Ivory. The snowflake is stamped in SU! White and embossed in Iridescent Sparkle EP. The ribbon is SU! narrow white organdy. Hope you enjoy these pictures!

Color Dare!

Here is a link to the new Color Dare blog...Check them out in their new exclusive home, then sign up as a follower and be entered to win some wonderful blog candy.  Of course, if you sign up, then I have less chance to win...and I'd love to win!

BTW they used to be here...

Have a great day!

Being Krafty

Recently I made more cards with Kraft cardstock than I ever have before. I thought I would share some of those with you.
This first card is for this week's CAS18 challenge : a color challenge...to use Kraft, Corals/Pinks, and one other color. I added black for this one. See my gallery for details.

This is also for the CAS18 challenge. White is my additional color here. I have wanted to make this card for a long time and now I had a reason to do it! Details in my gallery.

This Tangerine and Kraft card was for the CAS17 challenge on SCS, which was an inspiration challenge, using beach towels and totes from Land's End. I chose a tan bag with orange handles that had butterfly fabric for the top closure. You can see it here. The details are at this link.
Hope you enjoy these!

Inspired by...

I particularly like to do inspiration challenges. Some are difficult for me, but sometimes things just "click" and I get something that I really like. I wanted to share some of my recent cards that are inspired by "something"...oftentimes clothing!

This first card is inspired by a new Life is Good tee. I used the single flower in Merci, and colored the outer half of the petals with Prismacolor Premier pencils. I then used the colorless blender pencil (also known as a burnisher) to smooth and blend the color out. It spreads the color a bit more into the centers of the flowers. The paper is heavyweight white and I stamped the flowers in Basic Black. The greeting is from the old SU! set Simple Sayings.

This card was inspired by my youngest granddaughter's t-shirt from Carters. They have the most adorable fabrics! The shirt was pale pink with an over-all flower design in orange, bright pink, and green. The paper for the card is Pirouette Pink, the flowers are stamped in Pixie Pink, Green Galore, and Pumpkin Pie. The stems are also Green Galore. The flower set is Big Blooms. Ribbon is from Michaels.

This last card was for the CAS11 challenge at SCS and was inspired by a JCPenney comforter. The card is Pink Passion. The flowers on the white panel are Pixie Pink, Rose Red, YoYo Yellow, Certainly Celery, and Taken with Teal. The flower stamps are from an assortment of SU! and CTMH sets, and the greeting is from Curvy Verses. The paper piercing on the corners of the card completes the card.

Monochromatic Cards

In the past few months I have made quite a few cards that fit the definition of "monochromatic". I wanted to share some of them with you.

This first one was for the CAS14 challenge on SCS, which was for rock and roll technique. I used apricot and pumpkin inks on the flowers. For the rest of the details see the card in my gallery.

This next card is a super-simple masculine card that I made for the CAS10 monochromatic challenge. Its details can be seen here.

This card uses the same apricot and pumpkin colors as the first picture above. I made this for the CAS10 monochromatic challenge as well, and I have left a space for a sentiment. This link will take you to the details.

Have a great day! and keep stamping!

Remake that strayed...

This card is one that I started as a remake...but it got far from the original design! I do like this one a lot. I try to make nice cards for my hubby...and he doesn't really like lots of layers, embellishments, backgrounds, etc...so this one makes it into his stash. The entire center panel is popped up on dimensionals.
Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Swirling Leaves Wheel, On Your Birthday
Ink: Chocolate Chip, More Mustard
Paper: More Mustard, Vanilla
Other: Chocolate Grosgrain Ribbon, Dimensionals

Redo-ing those old cards that don't quite make it...

The CAS challenge at SCS this week is to re-make an old card. Well, I have a bunch of cards that are downright ug-ly. Well, at least now I think so. Then there are some in my gallery that have pictures that don't and never did do the cards justice. I'm not going to delete them, but I think I will try to improve many of them. Here are a few:


This was an old (2005) Christmas card. See how it looks now:

Stampset: Christmas Cardinals
Paper: 110# White, Real Red, Summer Sun
Ink: Basic Black
Other: Watercolor pencils with aquapainter, SU! paper piercing set


I liked this spring card then, but it is better now:

Stampset: Spring Garden, Itty Bitty BG
Paper: Cameo Coral, Mellow Moss, White
Ink: Cameo Coral, Mellow Moss
Other: sponged some Moss on the edges of the images, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder

Oh, why do we even admit to making those old cards!?

Ahh...Life is Good!

Life truly is good! And I love the "life is good" tees. So when I got a new North Style catty and saw the collection of new ones, well, inspiration is what catalogs are for...right?



This is done on heavy white cardstock with the single flower from Merci. I used Prismacolors to put color on the outside half of the flower petals, then used the blending pencil (sometimes called a burnisher) to blend and shade out the color. The sentiment is from Simple Sayings, an old SU! set.

Back again...

Ah, well, my sidebar says that I blog without obligation. So I shouldn't feel obligated, should I?! But I do. I think I should be posting more frequently. I think that I am so far behind with what I have been doing lately that I don't know how to get caught up. But those 'shoulds' and 'oughtas' and all that just make me feel guilty for not posting...and I put it off even longer.

Well, I figure that I will not try for any 'shoulds' and I will post when I can. After all I "blog without obligation" right! So I'll just post what I want whenever I can!



This card is for the CAS15 challenge at SCS. We were challenged to use only black, white, and one (only one) Bold Bright. I used Gable Green. The image is Stampendous' Agapanthus Blossom and it is stamped on Shimmery White in Versamagic, which is the only black I could get a really good image with. Hope you like it!