Party Animal

For my Hubby's birthday- he loves these balloon animals.

I used the sketch from Just Add Ink  and the colors from ColourQ

The pattern paper is from Stampin Up - the Balloon Animal and sentiment is from Avery Elle -- I used archival inks to ink the balloon and die cut it and popped it up.  

It was really simple to put together.  

Hope all is well with you!  Thanks for looking.  

Anniversary Heart

My Aunt and Uncle will be married for about 60 years this year.  I'm not sure of the exact number.  This is for them.
I used the colors from:
Colour Q

And the design from  Freshly Made Sketches 

The stamp is from Outlines (no longer in business).  I colored it with Zig clean water-color markers. 

Thanks so much for looking!  Enjoy your summer.

Twenty-One

This is for Niece #4 (of 6).  She is turning 21 next week.  Where has the time gone?  I had selected a card from my stash for her birthday - a mermaid card, more for a child.  My mom reminded me how old she will be, and I had to come up with a new idea.  Now, I'm not sure how her mother will react to this card . . . :)  

But turning 21 and being able to drink  . . . well I thought this would be more appropriate.  

I needed this card and fast -- it has to be mailed.  So I found this sketch:
Sweet Sunday Sketch

And this color challenge:  Just Us Girls color challenge.  My niece is a red-head (ginger), so I thought these colors would be good for her card.

The stamp is from Totally Stampalicious (now out of business), but available as a digital image on bugaboo stamps.  I colored the image with Copics; and added some crystal effects to the glasses (wine and eye).  The pattern paper (including the numbers) is from My Mind's Eye.
PS -- I did color her eye before I mailed it, but didn't have time to do another photo.

Thanks so much for looking.  I hope you are enjoying your day -- all this coloring of wine . . . now I'm off to  . . .  well you know.

Merry Christmas

When I saw these cards  by Marika, I just knew I had to give her technique a try.  She made it look so easy . . .

 

I tried to play around with the kraft colors, but I didn't like how mine came out.  So I tried this holly branch (from Hero Arts) on a muted green paper (DCWV).  Better - but it could still use some tweaking.   Maybe another day. 

I am putting this onto the following challenges:

Winter Wonderland Challenge where the challenge is traditional Christmas colors.

a2z Scrapbooking Blog - the challenge is Clean and Simple -- this really was simple.  And fun to create.

The bit of pattern paper is from Stampin Up.  I used Inktense pencils to color the leaves and berries.  

As always, thanks for stopping by and taking a peek.  

Autumn Leaves

I made this card -- just because -- because I had the time (yippee).  Because I wanted to play with "no-line" watercoloring.  And because I thought I would get a start on Thanksgiving cards.  

The stamps are from Stampin Up: Vintage Leaves

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge

Creative Colors - Pick at least 4 colors and add twine.  I choose the greens, oranges, yellows, and red.  Twine on the button.  Ribbon, Button . . .  Hmmm -- using my "old" stash feels good.

I decided not to put a sentiment on the front -- this way I could use the card for whatever comes up.
thanks so much for looking.  Have a great day.

Book Stack Congrats

I have been wanting to make a card for my daughter-in-law, but just did not have the time until this week.  She just got a full-time position (starting in September) as an elementary school librarian.   Watercoloring is all the rage lately -- and I wanted to try the "no line" watercoloring that I've seen on various blogs.

So I stamped this image from Flourishes in distress antique linen.  Then colored it with a combination of distress markers and the new Zig clean markers.

Here is an up close view:

I knew I wanted to use this stamp, but I was not sure exactly now to show it off.  So I went looking for sketches and colors.  I thought these two challenges would go nicely with the stamp.

CAS(E) this Sketch

Colour Me

That's about it for me.  I hope you are having a good day!  And thanks for taking a look.

Chicken Dance Birthday

If you'd like to hear the Chicken Dance song while you are reading, click HERE  :)

This card is for my future daughter-in-law's (woo hoo) birthday.

I've had this stamp set from Penny Black for a long time, and  haven't really used it -- but I love it.  It actually has 4 chickens on it, but I covered the 4th chicken (that was carrying a bouquet of flowers) with post-its before I inked the stamp.  This way it fit the design of the sketch I was following.

I really like the design of this CAS Colours & Sketches sketch.

And the colors from Color Throwdown

Now, I am NOT a fast crafter -- a card takes me hours sometimes.  But I have to say I am quite happy to report that this card from start to finish (once I found this sketch !!) took me less than an hour to create -- including the inside.  I knew from my other card, that I love the colors from Color Throwdown - so all I needed to do was to find a paper pack with these colors (My Mind's Eye).

I colored the chickens with some Inktense pencils and water.
The "happy" was die cut (from MFT ?) and the birthday is from PaperTrey Ink.  And it was done.

Thanks so much for looking - I'm off to bake brownies for a family BBQ.  I hope you are having an awesome day.

Skating Birthday

This is for niece #6's birthday.  She lives in upstate NY and is an avid skater.  

I used the sketch from Mojo Monday --  The center is a shaker - I made it round to better fit my sentiment - which is from Hero Arts.

The colors and bling factor were inspired by this Runway Challenge and by the Verve Inspirational Challenge - Stripes  - for both the stripes and the color combination. 

I've had this Stampin Up paper, quite a while, and never really used it.  I thought it would go well with the skating theme.  I love the bling-y feeling to this paper.   I die cut the skate from a die set by Carte Bella.  

Thanks so much for looking.  I hope you are feeling "cool" today.

Computer tech Thank you

The tech guy where I work is always helping me out with my computer issues -- He makes it look so easy.  Of course he is in his 20's, while I am in my  --- well, let's just say, not my 20's.    And I am pretty tech-savvy.  But every now and then, there is something I cannot figure out.  And he comes to my rescue.  

Inkspirational Challenge - Grunge - since this was for the IT (tech) guy at my job, I tried to make it more masculine -- It was kinda fun using techniques I hadn't used in a while - tearing, distressing with inks.   

I used the sketch from Fab Friday -

The stamp is from Inky Antics - colored with color pencils.  The paper is from ? ? 

As always, thanks for looking.  Have an inky day.

Hairdresser Congrats

This is for my niece (#1 of 6), who just opened her own hair salon.  She has been the manager of a successful salon here in NY.  And finally decided to open her own shop.  If  you've ever opened a business you can image all the paper work and hoops she had to jump through.  But finally after 4 months of hard work (and frustrations) her dream became a reality.  Her salon is primarily grey, black, and eggplant.  With a hint of aqua.  I focused my card on the purple, with hints of the other colors - taking some inspiration from:

Colour Q -

Virginia's View - 100% stamped .  Well, I guess so, if you go with the samples.  My images are all stamped - I stamped the black "Wistful" (by Penny Black) image, then colored the swirls and flowers.  I masked her, and then sponged around the main image with distress inks. No pattern paper was used.  The "congratulations" is from another set.

Here is the view of the inside - the sentiment is from RubberNecker -- I love this sentiment!

Thanks so much for looking.  I hope you have a gorgeous day.
Now, go get your hair done :)

Friends are Like Shoes

Color Throwdown - I LOVE these colors. I used a turquoise green instead of the celery green.

Fantasy Stampers - theme is spots and stripes -- I think these shoes qualify :)

This should fit with the Retro Rubber Stamp Challenge - to use stamps at least a year old, and this sketch - which I tweaked a bit.  

The shoe stamps are from Hero Arts (copyright on the package 2014).  I hand lettered the sentiment.  On the inside I wrote, "you don't need a few hundred, just a few good ones."

The pattern paper is from Stampin Up.  

As always, thanks for looking!  Enjoy your day.

School's Out for Summer!

This is for my co-teacher.  She and her family love Sweet Frog -- a local frozen yogurt shop.  

The ice-cream was made with dies from Reverse Confetti -- then embossed with a folder to add the swirl, sponged over with distress inks.  The sentiment is from an old $1 set from Michaels.  I added crystal effects over the cherry to add some shine..

This is for the following challenges:

The Paper Players challenge is Summer Treats:

Freshly Made Sketches : 

I love this sketch -- It is so easy to work with! That's why I made 2 cards with this design.

thanks so much for looking!

Weeoooo - Weeoooo

This is for my future daughter-in-law.  She just passed her NY State Paramedics tests!  Woo Hoo!!  We are so proud of her.  

Freshly Made Sketches 

The stamp set is from Stampin Up - "You're my Hero"

The congrats is from PaperTrey Ink

This is a short and sweet post tonight.  Bedtime is fast approaching.  Thanks for looking!  

Happy Anniversary

This is for my son and daughter-in-law's 2nd anniversary -- which they are celebrating this Memorial Day weekend.  I've been pondering what kind of card to make for them.  Then I came across these two challenges, and the idea clicked!  They love these colors, and why not change the circles into hearts!

I used the sketch from Happy Little Stampers and the colors from Colour Q :

I'm also linking up to CAS-ology where the theme is Wedding.  While this is  not really a "wedding" card, it does celebrate a wedding.  And it could certainly be changed into a wedding card.  

The stamps are from assorted sets -- mostly Stampin Up and Paper Smooches.  I used dye inks for the hearts; some have Wink of Stella and/or crystal effects over them.  Some of the hearts I inked in one base color and lightly "kissed"  it to another color (yellow and orange).  I embossed lines above and below the xoxo line.  

Thanks so much for looking.  I hope you are having a glorious weekend.

Happy SUPER Birthday

If you've followed my blog a bit, you know I have a grand-nephew, Caleb.  He will be celebrating his first birthday this week!! Caleb was born at only 24 weeks gestation, and only 1 pound 9 ounces.  He spent the first 5 months of his life in the NICU.

Today we are doing the March of Dimes fund-raising walk, on Team Super Caleb.  Caleb's mom and dad refer to him as their "super hero" because of how well he is doing.  So this card is for Caleb's Super Birthday.

Here is the card info -- more on Caleb at the end of the blog.

I totally lifted my idea from Torico's Stamparadise - with her circle-shape shaker card.
The major difference between my card and Torico's is she made her card base a circle.  I made the buildings go across the whole front, then cut out a part of it as the circle.  It gives a really cool effect!

Clear it Out Challenge This week's theme is KIDS, and the challenge is to use Primary Things (paper, embellishments) I knew I had to make a shaker card to use up some of those so-many sequins I have.

I used the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches as the basis of my card:

I'll also put this into Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.  Both are "Anything Goes"  

Card info:  The boy and building are from My Favorite Things.  I colored the boy with watercolors.  The building were embossed with black powder, and I sponged distress ink over them, then used a stencil for the rays.  The sentiment is from another Super Hero set from Sugar Peas - the 1st is from another set.

Here are photos of Caleb when he was born.  That is me with Caleb on the left,  and Caleb in his Daddy's hand on the right.  He was so tiny, but a real fighter.  He breathed on his own for a few days before he needed to be intubated.  Which was a blessing because Mommy and Daddy got to hold him. 

  

And here are photos from today's March of Dimes Walk:

Mom, Dad, Caleb

Super Caleb!

Team Super Caleb - with his cousin walking out of the picture

Caleb's "corrected age" is about 8 months.  And thankfully he is doing the things 8-month old babies do.  He is trying to crawl.  He just got his second tooth.  He reaches for and holds his toys.  He is eating baby food.  All good things.  He is indeed a Super Miracle!

Thanks so much for looking.  Hope everyone in your family is doing well.