Drawing with color

Hello friends! Hope your summer has been wonderful. It's almost September! How did that happen?
I'm here today to share some cards made for a challenge. My favorite artist is Henri Matisse. I have had the good fortune to see two exhibitions of his work in my lifetime. Once at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC and more recently at the Tate Gallery in London. The show in NYC was a retrospective of his entire body of work and in London the show was just focusing on his famous cutouts. And that is what led me to creating this challenge.
Matisse said

“The paper cutouts allow me to draw with color. For me, it is a simplification. Instead of drawing an outline and then filling in with color-with one modifying the other-I draw directly in color...It is not a starting point, it is a completion.”

I asked some crafty friends to join me - in drawing with color - using shapes and color. 

Being cardmakers we use a lot of punches 

and dies to make shapes all the time, right?

I decided to use some dies and a punch to create the cards you see here.

The first card - I took some watercolor paper and a reinker and smooshed the color all over. I used my punch as I like to think Matisse used his scissors to cut out the colors and shapes I wanted. I arranged them in a square and used a starfish die and sentiment to complete my card. In this closeup you can see the colors and shapes in each shape that I punched out

 In this card I used a leaf die from PTI- very Matisse like shape don't you agree? I like to think this card has some of the movement of the shapes I see in many of Matisse' cutout pieces.

In this last card again I used a leaf die (as well as an impression plate for the background). I used more of that inked watercolor paper but also foiled one of the leaves with my Minc.





















Okay that's all for today. I hope, if nothing else, you'll go online and look at Matisse's cutouts. Google it - you'll see so many beautiful pieces of his. The shapes are beautiful.
I hope to be back to blogging on a more regular basis. In the meantime however you can find me daily on Instagram

Challenges: 365 Doodle and Popup Challenge

Hi there kids! Yes I've been a bad blogger. I'd like to blame it on summertime - yes let's blame it on that! The schedule is off you know? I would like to invite you to follow me on Instagram as it's quite easy for me to post things there on a daily basis - and really its a whole lotta fun. I've been participating in a 365 Doodle Challenge run by a wonderfully talented illustrator, Johanna Fritz. Not only is she amazingly talented,  she's also such a friendly and supportive soul.  As a matter of fact, I'm finding the Instagram community a very positive and supportive group. If you like to draw or doodle the 365 Doodle Challenge might be for you - check it out!

Another Challenge that is coming up this weekend is The Daily Marker's Pop Up Challenge. It's going to be a lot of fun - and there is a giveaway right now on her blog. Over the weekend she'll have videos and prizes so it would be a great time to get out your stamps and markers and play along!
The Daily Marker - Kathy - also runs the 30 Day Coloring Challenge I participated in twice over the last few months. She's got another one coming up in October. If you like to color - this is definitely a challenge you don't want to miss.
Okay, I need to get going - errands to run, doodles to doodle. Thanks for stopping by!

Let's Play: Turning solid stamps into one you can color

Hello friends! Yes I'm back today with something I've been playing with over the past few days but I've been thinking about for a while. Get your favorite beverage and set a spell.....
I love to draw and color. And I've been doing that a lot lately - especially with Kathy Racoosin's 30 Day Coloring Challenges (if you don't know about these - please get yourself on over to Kathy's blog and do a search pronto!). And it's been so much fun. While the challenge was going on - and I wasn't drawing something to color or using some stamps to color - I discovered something. I have a LOT of stamps I cannot color. The horror! I have a lot of stamps and the vast majority are solid image stamps. Meaning there are no lines - you stamp a solid color. Now of course some of them are 2 step stamping sets that add wonderful dimension but, in short, there are no lines. I thought I wish I could use some of these stamps in the challenge.... but how? They aren't the kind of stamps you can color in with markers, pencils, or watercolors. Then I had an idea. I'm sure someone else has had this idea but I haven't seen it anywhere. It's actually kind of the opposite of the "no-line coloring" that's so popular now - except you're putting in lines. Follow me....
So here's an image from Avery Elle's Petals & Stems on the left. On the right - same stamp!

The flower on the left is stamped as is with a dye ink. The flower on the right - stamped as is with Tim Holtz Distress Ink, inked (basically tracing the image) with a Copic friendly pen then colored with Copic Markers.
Crazy right? Completely different look and all from the same stamp!
Okay you want to see another???
This time it's one of my favorite stamp sets - Papertrey Ink's Cutting Garden It's just got the prettiest flowers and leaves! It's a bit more elaborate than the stamp above so let's see what happens with that shall we?

Here I stamped using the set as is - a couple of different inks and a little masking to put the small flowers and leaves behind the larger image but pretty straightforward stamping. (The sentiment is also PTI - Graceful Greetings for the record). You'll note there are white lines indicating the petals - but that's where the stamp didn't stamp if you follow me - the negative. No lines.....
Okay now let's see what it looks like when I want to make it a stamp I can color in with Copics!

Pretty cool huh? It looks completely different doesn't it? Again, I stamped with a Distress Ink (Fine Linen), then used a Copic Friendly pen to trace the petals and colored it with Copic markers.  Just for the record my Copic friendly pen for this isn't a Copic - it's a pen I draw with - it's a Pilot G-Tec-C4. Love that pen. But I've used it a ton and it works perfectly well with Copics.
Okay - are you curious about what would happen if you wanted to watercolor using this technique? I'm so glad - I tried that too!







And here's what it looks like colored in Zig Clean Color Markers and embossed with white embossing powder. Kinda pretty. I had to do this a little differently - using a Zig Embossing Pen - which I don't think are available anymore. It's basically the same as a Versamark pen (I couldn't find mine). You draw with the embossing pen over those lines in the stamp then add embossing powder, heat with your heat gun and go ahead and color. I did try with clear embossing powder - it works nicely. I'm not showing a sample here because again I had to use the Embossing pen - and that ink has a blue tint to it - and that blue tint stays trapped under the clear and you get pale blue lines - here with the white embossing powder you see none of that.

Just so you can see what it all looks like before I added color to the images here's a few pics I took while I was trying all of this out.

When I started with this I pulled out a few stamp sets. This rose is from Papertrey Ink's Rosie Posey. I stamped the rose in Fine Linen Distress Ink and then added the pen. I'll don't have a pic of the colored rose. I was going to watercolor this rose - stamped it - then inked with my Pilot pen - should've used my Pitt Pen which is waterproof - so you know how that went. I had the black ink running - ugh. I shall have to go back and try the rose with the Pitt Pen in watercolor because I think it would be pretty beautiful.

 I hope you can see this. This is before I heat embossed the image and added color. You're seeing the distress ink and the embossing powder there. When you color it in the Distress ink really isn't an issue

And here's the image stamped in Fine Linen Distress Ink, then inked in pen before I colored with Copics. I think besides coloring with Copics I loved this part the best. You really don't have to be someone who draws on a regular basis. You are just pretty much tracing what's there. And you can edit if you like. Say you want fewer petals ... you just draw in the ones you want! I was a little concerned having that much Distress ink in contact with my Copics. I happen to have a duplicate of one Ciao marker - so I tried with that first - thinking if it got ruined I always had the other pen. I swear it did not damage my pen.
So what do you think? I think I can now get a lot more life out of the stamps sets I own - and that's an amazing thing! And when I purchase solid stamp sets in the future I've got another technique in my arsenal to color them any way I'd like. Yay!
Okay that's quite enough for today right? I'll close saying that Kathy Racoosin is hosting another Coloring Challenge in either September or October - and if you love to color - you need to join in the fun! And please come over to Instagram, if you haven't already, follow me there - say hi okay? I really would love to know what you thought about today's post - can you comment below please? Thanks so much for stopping by!

Cat card

Hello friends! 

Not feeling creative in the post-titling department apparently right? LOL

Just wanted to share a card I made yesterday. I got off schedule with my "Dear Ones" cards. Too much stuff going on and being away at the beach threw me off schedule. And I really wanted to send my husband's Aunt a card. She's also a cat lover. 

I'm sort of in love with this line of stamps from Stampendous - called Pen Pattern. Everything looks like a doodle sorta. And you know I like a good doodle :-) I found these 2 stamps - the background is called Pen Pattern Light and the cat stamp is aptly named Pen Pattern cat :-). I thought that cat looked so sweet and cozy - like my Westley (or my girl cat Willlie for that matter) - all snuggled up on a rug. So the colors are inspired by the rug we have in our family room. It's all grey, cream and red. I colored the cat, fussy cut him out and mounted it with some foam tape onto the colored background. I'm not going to lie - the background took a while to color - more of the decisions of what color where kind of thing. But I love the coloring - it really was so relaxing and enjoyable. And for this Aunt - I'd color all day long the most intricate pattern there ever was -she's just so dear to me. 

That's it for today kids. I am working on a few cards with an interesting twist I think. I'm just playing around with them a bit before posting and hoping for tomorrow. It's all about getting more from the stamps I already have - and can't we all use that? Yeah I think so. Have a good day!

Challenge Get Well card

Hi friends... yes... another post this week! Crazy I know... but lets go with it!
I was watching a Sandy Allnock video and her accompanying post linked to another blog called Understand Blue. On that blog there was a giveaway for some Inktense Pencils. Well I don't always jump on these giveaways (I'm like... I'll never win) but this one had an interesting requirement for the giveaway - to send a get well card to the Costco greeter at the blog writers (Lydia) local store. I thought I love that idea! I may not win any pencils (probably not) but I can do my good deed for the day. (I like to score some points with the big Guy each day. It can't hurt.)
I am in a bit of time crunch - just tons of things to do today - so I kept it simple. I found this bandaid stamp (i think its Stampendous or Judikins but don't hold me to it) in my stash and added some Purple Onion Designs alphabet stamps; colored with Copics. And if you're a long time follower you may recognize this card is a lot like a card I did waaaaaay back in 2008. Heck it was so long ago it took me a while to find it - I'd posted it on Splitcoaststampers. I must say I don't know what I was thinking when I made that one - I like this one better. I hope it makes Alex smile.
You should join in too -  you might win some pencils and make a guy happy all at the same time!
Okay that's all for me today. Gotta go mail that card and run a few errands. Thanks for stopping by!

Well hello friends. Yes I've been a bad blogger. And I do apologize. We've been busy around here and blogging was the thing that got left by the wayside. I took a few trips and now I'm back home. At the moment wading through a pile of laundry and trying to get some things back to normal. It's going to take a few days.
We went to the beach house twice. During our first visit there I had the time to do a bunch of coloring. Before I left home I stamped a lot of images - one of them being this lovely one from Purple Onion Designs. I stamped this one with some Tim Holtz distress inks and tried my hand at no-line coloring (using some some distress ink pens - watercoloring). Since watercoloring is my nemesis I wanted to try and give it a go one more time and I really was happy with how this came out. (at first you don't succeed and all that!) Hopefully I'll post some more things I colored, while I was away, in the coming days. Thanks for hanging in there with me!

Hello Sunshine

Hello Friends! Hope you all enjoyed the holiday weekend. It was quiet around here - good for getting some things accomplished. I told you I've been purging and reorganizing The never ending project it seems. I'm trying to think of it more as steady progress toward a final solution to this room! Anyhow my husband and I took a little drive to Ikea and purchased a shelving unit. He put it together and my daughter helped me move it into my room yesterday. I'm kind of thrilled with it. It's close to waist-high and perfectly fits my printer and big shot  (and some baskets of dies) on top and can house my Silhouette portrait, more dies, Xyron, AG Minc,  label maker, embossing folders, Project Life stuff and a little bit more. I'm still rearranging things or I'd throw in a picture. Maybe soon.

Where's the card Tracy? You knew there was one right? I had started making some cards using Papertrey Ink's Bowl of Sunshine last week when I got together with my friends June and Amy (hi girls!). I'd intended to make these my "June Dear Ones" cards - and I may still. But I wanted  to send a card to an old friend  (we'd met last week for lunch when she was passing through the 'burg.) So I decided to use one of the cards in progress. I'd already embossed the front of the card with a StampinUp! embossing folder (using a Tim HOltz diffuser plate to create that main section that's plain). I just needed to add the image that I already die cut and stamped as well as stamp the sentiment. The sentiment is from the Hello Sunshine set - also PTI). Pretty quick and easy and I like the color combo a lot. 

Okay that's all from me today - thanks so much for stopping by!

Happy Birthday Little G

Today is my little niece's birthday. She is far away from me - on the other side of the country - but I sent along some presents and a bunch of handmade things that I hope she enjoys.

Back last year before Christmas I'd made my niece an apron to wear when she baked Christmas cookies with her mom (my sister). I think I posted a photo. Regardless, at the time I'd also purchased this cupcake fabric to make her an apron for her birthday. I thought she'd love the cupcakes and it would be fun for her to have another apron made just for her. This time I created one large pocket on the front (the Christmas apron had two pockets.) I used pink ricrac to trim everything and some wide grosgrain ribbon to tie at the neck and around the waist.

And doesn't a girl need matching potholders? Of course she does. (sometimes i get started on these little brainstorms and think midway - "what was I thinking?") And since I can't do anything really simply I decided I'd need to sorta quilt these little numbers and add more ricrac. They came out pretty cute but lets just say they were more involved than the apron. (between the batting, the ricrac and some stuff that i forget what you call it but its got some properties that help keep hands from feeling the heat - made for things like potholders - you sew in a layer of that inside....). They are pretty darned cute though so in my mind - time well spent!






Now I needed a card - i chose that Penny Black set again - so appropos for my niece.

 and some tags for all the different presents - i used the Enclosed flower die from PTI to cut them out and added some die cut leaves also from PTI. I stamped them all with lots of polka dots (to coordinate with this most cute wrapping paper i had)
Oh there was a lot of curling ribbon too. All so it would be nice and pretty for this little girly girl. While I'm typing this i realized I might have a little bit of fabric leftover to make her doll an apron too... hmmmmm.....
Okay - that's all for today!

Dear Ones cards for May

Hi there friends! It's time for more "Dear Ones" cards. This month I was determined to use a set from Papertrey Ink called Topiary Trio. I had to have it months ago and yet I still hadn't used it! This is a rarity for me - when I buy - I use LOL. But for some reason this set, which I adore, kept getting pushed to the back of my stamp bin. Anyhow, I played around with the stamps and finally decided to use just one of the little topiaries (and one pretty sentiment). I used the dies to cut out the image on white cardstock as I'd decided to stamp the stem/trunk and the container and use colored cardstock for the round leafy ball (what do you call that anyway?? - i think you know what I'm talkin about!) I used my Misti to do all the stamping - and I gotta say again here that Misti was one of the best tool purchases I've ever made. Not only did I crank out the stamping parts of these cards in no time flat - i was actually talking to my friend June (HI JUNE!) while I was stamping - something I normally cannot do. I gotta be concentrating ya know what i mean? But that Misti took all of the work (and concentrating) out of the mix and I could just chat, drink coffee, and stamp. I used the Lil Inker stitched rectangles again and the patterned paper is all from the Fine Linen Pattern Pack from Papertrey Ink. Pretty simple cards but I think they look rather elegant! And perfect for the recipients. That's all for today kids! Thanks so much for stopping by.

A few things to share

I know I know - I've been awol on the blog for a little bit. I just checked and it's been a few weeks and for that I apologize. I've been busy doing various and sundry things. Lots of instagramming which is so fun, a little more craftroom purging, cardmaking and sewing, and scrapbooking. I've been trying to finish up my daughter's 1st year album (she's 24.... its about time right?) but there always seem to be distractions and other things requiring my time. I'm sure you can relate. I thought I'd share a few things I've made lately.
I made this birthday shaker card for my nephew's wife using an adorable Penny Black Stamp set. I know it seems a little... juvenile? for a grown woman but I'm tellin you the girl likes some pretty shiny sparkly stuff and I thought she'd enjoy it something to make her feel like a little kid again - and she did. (Note the little blue box bottom left colored up like a box from Tiffany - this inclusion was not lost on her. And what girl doesn't like to receive a little blue box? heck I've even saved the boxes :-))

I made this next card for a grand niece's birthday. I had ordered this adorable stamp set from Simon Says Stamp - Baby Animals. Oh the cuteness! I couldn't wait to use it to make this birthday card. Lots of masking and coloring so a lot of "work" but it was so much fun and I was very happy with the results. And so was the recipient (well her parents loved it... :-))

Finally here's another card using that same Baby Animals stamp set. When I first saw this stamp set I thought the little animals looked like finger puppets - so I figured why not follow that through and make a card. To simplify matters, I cut the hand using my Silhouette Portrait. I fussy cut the animals after coloring them with Copics. And after much deliberation I decided to leave it with no sentiment on the front - the recipient can't read anyway! (another grand niece is having a birthday... we've got babies all over the place in my husband's family!)

I shall be back to show you some more things I'm making! Lots of birthdays mean lots of cards, gifts and tags. Thanks for stopping by!

Papertrey Ink April Blog Hop

Hello Friends! It's Papertrey Ink's Blog Hop day. The challenge was to create something using Navy and Pink. When I saw that I knew I'd have to play along. I love this color combo. It's just so classic. The other day I started playing around with some ideas but I knew I'd be doing something with either polka dots or stripes. And that I'd be making something that was kinda go-big-or-go-home. I made three cards. The first one here using Polka Dot Basics stamped with Fresh Snow Ink then embossed with white embossing powder (just to get those polka really white!) I used the Enclosed: Flower die and Berry Sorbet Cardstock. Then I backed it with white cardstock run through my Big Shot with a Cuttlebug Swiss Dot embossing folder. I also made a butterfly using Beautiful Butterflies and the Beautiful Butterflies Layers set, positioning the die cut so that curly part of the wing took the spot right over the dot
for the "i".


My second card: I used my Misti with the Background Basics: Super Stripes to create that striped background. (Creating backgrounds with the Misti was a big selling point for that tool for me - it made creating this background so easy!) I used the Graceful Greetings set (stamped twice, again using the Misti, to get a really solidly stamped sentiment in Enchanted Evening ink.) as well as the Ruby Rose set to create that embellished flower. I added a PTI button and some embroidery floss to finish it off. Oh yes... and a little machine sewing around the striped panel.

My third card is pretty much like the first one I just reversed the color scheme of Berry Sorbet and Enchanated Evening and using the same stamp sets and dies and embossing folder.

That's all for me for today - I'm off to do some errands then come back and check out everyone's cards on the hop! Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!

Making a card out of random stamping

Hi there friends!
I know... another post from me this week - is it some kind of holiday?
Nope, I'm just catching up around here. I was cleaning up around my drawing table yesterday afternoon and I came across this stamped piece of cardstock. I'd been having a little stamping morning (a few weeks back) with my friend June (Hi June!) and was fooling around with the Misti and this Papertrey stamp set called Brushed Blooms. I told you that I have to play with these tools, like the Misti, a while before I get a feel for them. At that point I was trying out how to stamp the layers involved with that stamp set. I kept moving and turning the cardstock as I tried out the blooms in different colors. When I was done June (clever one that she is) said you just need a sentiment for that and you have a card. And she was right. I recently got this other lovely Papertrey set called Graceful Greetings. So yesterday when I came upon that stamped cardstock I decided to take June's advice and stamp on one of those lovely Graceful Greetings sentiments. I added a little bit of colored cardstock as the base layer and I had my card. I'm thinking this would make a great "Dear Ones" card for May. It's just a cheerful mix of colors and that sentiment (actually all of them in that set!) are going to get a workout from yours truly.
Thanks for stopping by. Hope you're having a great day!

PTI Make it Monday Challenge #209

Hi there friends. Yes, a second post this week - wow! Right?
More on what I'm up to later in this post but you're here for the challenge card, right?
Okay so this week's Make it Monday challenge on the Papertrey Ink blog was to use white on white die cuts with a pop of color. I haven't been participating of late and this looked like a fun one to jump back in so here's what I came up with.
I loved all the beautiful samples that were in the video. I gave it a little thought a rifled through my Papertrey stamps and dies and decided on using the Button Stacks and Wet Paint dies. I tried out the Bitty Button Stacks too but finally opted to leave those out. I had all my diecuts and decided my splash of color would be in the sentiment and then realized I wanted to use a little embroidery thread to tie up those buttons. I did try white but it wasn't workin for me so I went with a blushy pink thread. I spent a lot of time trying various ways of lining up those buttons. I liked this version the best - it reminds me of a quilt or maybe lace?  I should confess I really wanted something that said Baby for the sentiment - doesn't it kinda look like a baby blanket? :-) I might make it again if I can come up with a good alternative to make a baby card.
I don't know about you - if you participated - but this was a tough card to photograph!
So now onto the why I'm not blogging so much of late.
I'm a purging stuff. Great amounts of stuff. And while it's taking me away from things like blogging, it sure feels good. I'm making great progress so I don't wanna stop. Well I do have to stop occasionally. The house needs tending and the family needs feeding and we need clean laundry blah blah blah.  I even got together with some dear friends and we had a little sale of our stuff a couple of weekends ago. While I didn't sell a ton, I did sell some and then the rest I donated to a local shop and that was really great. (It didn't come back in my house and went to a most worthy cause - win/win).

All this purging - and I should be specific - it's craft room purging I'm talking about - is very freeing. I have been bogged down way too long with a lot of stuff I'm never going to use. Lots of guilt there. Guilt that I shouldn't get rid of stuff I spent good money on, guilt that I am getting rid of something someone gave me. Oh the guilt. I could write a book. And I finally said to myself - it's wearing you down. The room is a mess. I spend too much time organizing it and reorganizing it - time I could better spend drawing and making cards and scrapbooking. And I am almost done. And it feels wonderful. And it's clean... well almost. But heck the floor is clear! And that my friends is kinda amazing. So thanks for stopping by. I appreciate your visits and your comments. And if you're not commenting - please do - I love hearing what you have to say - what you're making etc. Okay?

Dear Ones - April

Good morning friends! Finally getting back here to post my "Dear Ones" cards for April. 

I'd started making them last Wednesday when I got together with some crafty friends (Hi June and Amy!). 

I'd recently gotten the Misti and wanted to give it a little work out. (I don't know about you, but when I get a new tool I really have to spend some time with it. Learn the in's and out's and so forth. The Misti, for me at least, was no exception. It took some time to get acclimated. Beforehand I watched a number of videos and then I really just played with it for an afternoon, not making anything but trying out the possibilities. It's not that its hard LOL it's more there are lots of ways to use it and I want to take full advantage of my purchase :-))

Anyway I knew I'd be seeing my friends on  Wednesday so I played all Tuesday afternoon with the Misti. I decided that at the playdate I'd make 12 cards so I'd have my Dear Ones:April edition done plus some extras to have on hand. 

I set up my Misti so that I was all set to stamp each layer/color when I saw my friends on Wednesday. I should say here that when we do these get togethers, I do more talking than stamping normally. I am more of a solitary stamper/artist (read: I work better alone LOL). But with my Misti set up, ready to go I was feeling confident I'd get some cards made. 

And I actually did get my cards created. There was one stamp that I had to use repeatedly (that tiny 3 flower stamp that appears 2 times on each card. That one I did by hand later when I got home). Of course there was still the assembling to do but that went quickly - and yes I did that at home as well. 

I have to say that Misti really made the whole job much quicker and not like a job at all. And really - the stamping is supposed to be fun isn't it? Okay kids - that's all from me today. I have fooled around enough with blogger for one morning! Thanks for stopping by!

Somebunny is having a birthday

and that somebunny is my little sister. Her birthday is actually Wednesday but I need to get this card in the mail!
I didn't take the best picture of the card using the My Favorite Things stamp set. It's a little off center however you can see the important part - that adorable bunny image and the cute sentiment. I actually cut apart the sentiment - it was a long one piece affair and I needed to have the two parts stacked as you see it here. I watercolored - something I've never mastered but I keep trying nonetheless. And I just threw in the little flowers as I watercolored. I used that rectangle stitched mat die from Lil Inker again - I just love how it finishes things off.
Okay I gotta run to the post office. Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Thank you Bouquets

Hello Friends!

Today's cards are a whole slew of thank you cards.


I needed to make one for use right away but figured while I was at it I might as well make a few more for my stash.


I'd been wanting to play with a stamp set I hadn't gotten to use yet - Bitty Bouquets from Papertrey Ink. It's got the cutest little bouquets you can stamp up in various colors with very little effort.


I had also recently purchased a paper pack from Papertrey Ink called Chicken Scratch Gingham. I thought it was a great choice when you need a fast card. The paper pack has 6 colors and a lovely linen finish. And of course it coordinates perfectly with PTI cardstock - so your chances for a really pretty outcome on your card are immediately upped!


I stamped up all my images and sentiments on white cardstock that I cut from the Lil Inker Designs Stitched Mats: Rectangles.


Then mounted them on a coordinating cardstock and patterned paper.

It's pretty wild that the cardstock I mounted the image on just fits perfectly inside that rectangle on the patterned paper - and I hadn't even measured it to do that!


Probably the fastest bunch of thank you's I've ever made!

That's all for today friends. Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs are the best medicine

Hello Friends. Sorry I've not been posting here in the last week. I have been posting a good bit over on Instagram playing along with the 30 Day Color Challenge. It's a lot of fun and great way to get in some coloring (read: therapy) every day. I've been managing to sneak in some coloring everyday and it feels good. I'm also in my sketchbook everyday which is very good for me.  But have I been making cards? Well of course.
I made this one for my Aunt this week. I wanted to try out that technique you see here - where you cut into your card with a word die then raise that word up (stacking the diecuts). I'm sure someone has given this clever technique a name - regardless it makes a pretty nifty card. I fashioned my card after one I saw Laura Bassen make. I used a Heidi Swapp stencil and a bunch of different inks to create the background. The die and sentiment are from a Papertrey Ink stamp set called Big Hugs.
Okay that's all from me today. Thanks for stopping by!

Doodlie-do Thinking of You

Good Morning Friends!

Since I've been participating in the 30 Day Coloring Challenge, I've been pulling out stamps that I haven't used in a while.

Doodlie-do is one of those stamp sets. I made two cards using the stamps. One card colored in browns and teals and the other card colored in pinkish tones - not unlike Papertrey Ink's color Berry Sorbet.

I used a die from the Keep it Simple Frames and added a sentiment from Keep it Simple: Thinking of you.

That's all for today.
Thanks for stopping by!

Dear Ones March Card - Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day Friends!
Not a huge holiday for everyone but in my house - it's a big deal. My mother was 100% Irish - first generation American. My grandparents came through Ellis Island. I could go on and on but suffice it to say we are proud of the Irish heritage. Every year I bake some Irish Soda bread - my grandmother's recipe (I skip the corned beef and cabbage however....). I wish I could share that with my "Dear Ones" but they are all so far away. So this month's addition of my Dear Ones is a St. Patrick's Day card. I know they'll be happy to see this shamrock and all the green! The shamrock itself is a PSX stamp, The tag die and paper are from Papertrey Ink. I colored the shamrock with Copics.
That's all from me for today. Thanks for stopping by!

It's Spring! (or at least it feels like it)

Hello Friends! Can you tell I'm loving the warmer temps? It definitely feels like Spring and, after a particularly cold winter, temps in the 50's are amazing! When it's warmer out I like to open the doors and windows and let the fresh air in. As some of you may know I have two crazy kitties. They are indoor cats. But when the weather is like this I open up the doors to our deck and our kitties can also enjoy the wonderful weather. (Part of the deck area is enclosed so no worries.) The other day I did exactly this and Willie (our girl cat) went zipping in and out of those doors - clearly she was happy about the warm weather too. I'm coloring away at the 30 day challenge by Kathy at the Daily Marker (which has been so wonderfully motivating!). I decided I'd use a stamp from Simon Says Stamp - Pawesome. Such an adorable kitty - totally reminded me of little Miss Willie zipping all over our house. I stamped the image three times across the top of the card. I also wanted to use some alphabet stamps from Papertrey Ink - Outlines. These alphas have been on my wishlist forever - and now that they're retiring at the end of this month - headed to Papertrey's Vault - I finally took the plunge. I stamped out the words and began coloring them and the cats in Copics. It was so much fun to settle in and color. Not only fun - it's thoroughly therapeutic. You get in that wonderful zone and completely forget about everything else.
Okay - that's all from me today - thank you so much for stopping by!

Welcome Spring

Good morning friends. I am still coloring away on the 30 day challenge on Instagram. I decided to color this bunch of flowers - it's an older stamp from Hero Arts - one of my favorites. When I've colored it before I've colored the image as is - its an outline stamp and those flower centers end up being black. So this time I decided I wanted to color them in and make the flowers into daisies. Kinda springy - light and bright. I colored everything with Copics. Then I got to those black centers - I decided to use a white gelly roll pen to cover over the black. Then I went back in and colored them with a yellow Copic. It worked out pretty well. I finished it off with a little banner and sentiment (both from Papertrey Ink).
Thanks for stopping by!

Year of Thinking of You - November

Well I think I'm done with the Year of Thinking of You cards. I decided to try coloring with one Prismacolor pencil (and odorless mineral spirits with a blending stump). I chose this image from Papertrey Ink's Year of Flowers: Mums. Such a pretty image don't you think? As this card is for the November card again I wanted to pick something seasonal and I think this flower fits the bill. I colored and blended and colored and blended (lather, rinse, repeat) and finally decided to stop here. I can obsess over this stuff and couldn't let it get too out of hand. In general I'm happy with my result. I added the sentiment (PTI Keeping it Simple: Thinking of You) and was done. It's definitely a departure from the other cards and I hope my sister-in-law likes it. It certainly won't take more than one stamp :-)
Hope you're having a great day - thanks for stopping by!

30 Day Coloring Challenge

Have you been following the challenge from Kathy at The Daily Marker? I saw her posting on Instagram and decided it was the perfect challenge for me. I love to color and thought it would give me something to work on every day. I've been posting every day on Instagram and it's been a lot of fun to see what everyone has been coloring. If you haven't gotten in on it - why not join today?
I've been coloring up a storm!
I made this card for my 96 year old Aunt - she is pretty amazing. And unfortunately had to have some surgery last week so I sent this get well card. The image is from Lockhart Stamp Company and the sentiment and patterned paper is from Papertrey Ink. I used some Copics and Prismacolor pencils to color the image and did some stitching (a little crooked LOL) to finish off the card.
Thanks for stopping by and check out that challenge!

Year of Thinking of You cards - December

Hello friends! I'm almost done my "Year of Thinking of You" cards. Today's edition is for December. Only November to go! Now you'd think with the weather being so wintery outside that I'd have no problem getting ideas for a winter card. But I think for the very same reason I've been only thinking spring time colors, warm weather etc. So I started flipping through my stamp sets to find something that would work for a December card. Since I store my PTI stamps alphabetically, it took a while to come upon the Winter Hills stamp set ;-) I remembered when I bought the set there had been a card that Nichole Heady had made that kinda sealed the deal on my buying Winter Hills (the woman is Enabler Extraordinaire!). I wanted to try and create a card in a similar vein - a scene with a lot of atmosphere. I think I was somewhat successful. I used a lot of inks, blending with my little Tim Holtz blender tool, and a bit of masking and for the house- a copic marker. Yes the sentiment is ever so slightly crooked. Not pleased with that - I had one shot at that after I had inked up that driveway to the house :-) but all in all I am pleased with it.  I went back and forth deciding on a color for a mat for the card. After much deliberation I decided on the red mat. It keeps the card a little brighter and happier in my opinion.
Thanks for stopping by! I really appreciate all the lovely comments lately. You have no idea how much.

Year of Thinking of You - September

Well - this edition of my "Year of Thinking of You" cards should probably be August - but I got a little mixed up when I was posting all these cards. No matter - my sister-in-law will send the card she wants to send at the appropriate time right?
We're a big beach family - we've got a family home at the beach in Delaware. This sister-in-law (the one who is sending these cards) is especially fond of the beach and the friend she's sending the cards to has been a visitor to the house on many occasions. I knew my s-i-l would like to include a beach-y card to her friend.
I found the sentiment in the Silhouette design store a few years ago. I actually made t-shirts for us all with that cutfile :-) So I decided to put it to use again this time by making it a print & cut file. I printed it off and distressed the edges a little then mounted it on a piece of cardstock I ran through my cuttlebug with the Woodgrain Impression plate from PTI. I distressed that woodgrain piece after adding some Fresh Snow ink. The stamped the background cardstock with some stamps from StampinUp (long since retired - Stipple Shells) with Versamark. Finally I tied on some Rustic Cream twine. Ooops - almost forgot - I diecut that starfish using an old die from Quickutz. Thanks for stopping by!

Year of Thinking of You - October

Hello friends! Another "Year of Thinking of You" cards for my s-i-l. Today's edition is for October. My sister-in-law told me what she loved about my "Year of Cards" gift at Christmas was the cards were all seasonal. So I've been trying to keep to that - and October is a good month for fall-ish looking cards right? I used Papertrey Ink's Leaf Prints, Keep it Simple: Thinking of You and the Keep it Simple Frame die. Thanks for stopping by!