Holiday Deer

Hello, everyone!  I don't normally share personal information on my blog, but I wanted to let you know that my husband is having a health crisis and I won't be blogging much for the next little while.  Sorry I cannot visit your blogs at this time, but I will do so when I am able to blog regularly again.  I hope that will be soon!  In the meantime, I am sharing a holiday card; I didn't want to miss out on Rudolph Day!

I made this inky background a couple weeks ago. It was created with Distress Oxides on photo paper. I layered each colour using the watercolour ink-smooshing technique and dried in between each colour. It's best to work from lightest colour to darkest. When finished, it had a dull appearance but when wiped with a baby wipe, it became vibrant and all the layers of colour were visible.

Dies:  Memory Box Curved Happy Holidays, Memory Box Leeping Deer, Memory Box Twightlight Snowflakes (silver snowflake), offcuts from Memory Box Snowy Scene (white snowflakes)
Ink:  Distress Oxides (Tumbled Glass, Shaded Lilac, Iced Spruce, Blueprint Sketch, more or less, I made the background a couple weeks ago)

I would like to support the following challenges:

1. Cardz TV 62 AG 3/3
2. Crafty Gals Corner AG 1/2
3. Die-Cut Diva's Silhouettes 1/4
4. Happy Little Stampers August AG with Dies UE
5. Mod Squad AG 1/3
6. Outside the Box Memory Box Challenge 40 Keep Cool and Carry On 1E
7. Pammie's Inky Pinkies AG 1/3
8. Rudolph Day August 1E C10
9. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday AG 1/5
10. Word Art Wednesday AG w Uplifting Sentiment wk1 1/5

Thank you for looking at my card!  Wishing you a joyful day!

Pawesome Kitty

Hello, everyone!  Today I'm sharing a kitty card inspired by rainbow colours - I went with a pastel version!

Clear stamps:  MFT Stamps - Purrfect Friends (cat), MFT Stamps - Catitude (sentiment)
Colouring medium:  Markers
Die: MFT Die-namics Bold Stripes Cover-up
Other:  Sequins and butterfly sequin (stash)

I would like to support these fun challenges: 2 Crafty Critter Crazies AG with Animals 3/5; Cardz TV 62 AG 2/3; Craft Stamper Take it Make It August 2/3; Cute N Crafty Animals 2/5; Dare 2B Artzy AG 2/3; DL.ART August AG Linky 1/d; Happy Little Stampers August AG with Dies UE; Jo's Scrap Shack AG 1/3; Lil Patch of Crafty Friends AG 2/3; MFT Stamps Summer School Rainbow; Mod Squad Butterflies or Rainbow (both) 1/3; Pammie's Inky Pinkies AG 2/3; Penny's Paper-crafty AG 2/3; Show Us Your Pussycats Furrything Goes Cats UE; Stamped Blessings heARTful Stamping AG plus Stamp 1/2; STAMPlorations Summer Theme and Sketch Stamps and AG UE; The Artistic Stamper AG 2/3; The House That Stamps Built Repeat Impressions Anything Goes Challenge ~ A2218; The Outlawz Twisted Thursday AG Optional Twist Primary Colours 1E; Word Art Wednesday AG w Uplifting Sentiment wk2 2/5

Thank you for looking at my card! Wishing you a joyful day!

Coffee-themed Gift Envelope

Hi, everyone!  Today I'm sharing something different!  It's a gift envelope that I made to enclose some happy mail for a crafty friend! (If I can fnd the YouTube tutorial I followed, I will link it.)

Digital images (precoloured): Owl, sentiment (Beccy's Place You're a Hoot), coffee cup, sentiment (Beccy's Place First Day Jitters)

Die:  Cheery Lynn Ivy Strip, double-stitched circle

Patterned paper:  Carson Dellosa

Other:  Doily (gift from Gail S, thank you!), washi tape, flowers (from my stash)

Here's a photo of the back of the envelope.  The flap is kept closed with a velcro semicircle.

Die:  Cheery Lynn Ivy Strip

Clear stamp:  Personalized stamp (Joy Clair custom stamp)

I would like to support these fun challenges: 2 Crafty Critter Crazies AG with Animals 2/5; Beccy's Place August Optional Embellishments UE; Cardz TV 62 AG 1/3; Crafty Creations AG 1/2; Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper August UE; Creatalicious AG Optional No Square or Rectangle Card UE; Cute N Crafty Animals 1/5; DL.ART August AG Linky 1/d; Hiding in My Craftrooom Use Die Cuts 1/3; Lil Patch of Crafty Friends AG 1/3; Pammie's Inky Pinkies AG 1/3; Penny's Paper-crafty AG 1/3; Pile It On New Technique (gift envelope) UE; PINspirational Inspired by the coffee inspiration graphic 1/5; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Food and/or Drink 1/5; Word Art Wednesday AG w Uplifting Sentiment wk2 1/5

Note to my followers:  I've fallen behind in my blog visiting but I'll be around to see you soon!

Thank you for looking at my gift envelope! Wishing you a joyful day!

Magnetic Bookmark 3

Hello, everybody!  I'm back again today with my third bookmark!  You can see the other two here and here.   There are two tiny magnets to hold the bookmark in place so you will not lose your page.  This is a great back-to-school project so I used a motivational statement suitable for older kids and teens, but it would be good for anyone working toward a goal.  I got the idea to make magnetic bookmarks after watching this video here.

Instead of using patterned paper scraps as in the video, I created a cool background with Distress Oxides on scraps of Photo Paper.  I layered each colour using the watercolour ink-smooshing technique and dried in between each colour.  It's best to work from lightest colour to darkest.  When finished, it had a dull appearance but when wiped with a baby wipe, it became vibrant like you see here.  I was inspired to try this technique after watching this video here.

Stamp:  STAMPlorations A Little Progress - Typografia Motivate
Die:  Gina Marie Stitched Rectangle
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Oxides (Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Mermaid Lagoon, Salty Ocean, Iced Spruce, Picked Raspberry, more or less, I was playing)
Other:  Neodymium Disc Magnets 5mm x 1mm (ebay), photo paper scraps

This photo shows how the bookmark looks when open and where the tiny magnets have been affixed behind the inky panels (approximately):

Here's how it looks in a book, held securely in place:

I would like to support these fun challenges: Cardz TV 60 AG 3/3; Craft Stamper Take it Make It August 1/3; Crafty Friends AG 3/3; Creatalicious AG Optional No Square or Rectangle Card UE; Creative Craft Cottage No Patterned Paper 3/3; Creative Fingers AG 2/3; Crop Stop Link Party 42 (Distress Oxides can be purchased at Crop Stop here) 5/5; Cupcake Inspirations Back to School 3/3; Dare 2B Artzy AG 1/3; DL.ART August AG Linky 1/d; Jo's Scrap Shack AG 3/3; Mod Squad Back to School 1/3; Pammie's Inky Pinkies AG 3/3; Penny Black and More Something Beginning with B (bookmark) 1/3; Penny's Paper-crafty AG 1/3; Pile It On New Technique (Distress Oxides on photo paper) UE; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Back to School 1/5; Simply Create Too Make a Bookmark; STAMPlorations Summer CUTplorations UE; STAMPlorations Summer Theme and Sketch - Stamps and AG UE; STAMPlorations Never-ending Anything Goes Challenge; The Artistic Stamper AG 1/3; Through the Craft Room Door AG 2/2; Word Art Wednesday AG w Uplifting Sentiment wk1 1/5

Thank you for looking at my bookmark! Wishing you a joyful day!

Magnetic Bookmark 2

Hi, everybody!  I'm back again today with another bookmark!  I made three of them - you can see my first one here, and stay tuned for one more.

There are two tiny magnets to hold the bookmark in place so you will not lose your page. This is a great back-to-school project so I used a motivational statement suitable for older kids and teens, but it would be good for anyone working toward a goal.  I got the idea to make magnetic bookmarks after watching this video here.

Instead of using patterned paper scraps as in the video, I created a cool background with Distress Oxides on scraps of Photo Paper.  I layered each colour using the watercolour ink-smooshing technique and dried in between each colour.  It's best to work from lightest colour to darkest.  When finished, it had a dull appearance but when wiped with a baby wipe, it became vibrant like you see here.  I was inspired to try this technique after watching this video here.

Stamp:  STAMPlorations What You Get - Typografia Motivate
Die:  Double-stitched Rectangle
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Oxides (Squeezed Lemonade, Picked Raspberry, Worn Lipstick, Abandoned Coral, Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, Broken China, Twisted Citron, more or less, I was playing)
Other:  Neodymium Disc Magnets 5mm x 1mm (ebay), photo paper scraps

This photo shows how the bookmark looks when open and where the tiny magnets have been affixed behind the inky panels (approximately):

Here's how it looks in a book, held securely in place:

I would like to support these fun challenges: Crafter's Castle AG Optional Elegant or Shabby Chic 1/3 C10; Cupcake Inspirations Back to School 2/3; Pile It On New Technique (bookmark with magnets) UE; Southern Girls Stamping 1E C10; STAMPlorations Summer CUTplorations UE; STAMPlorations Summer Theme and Sketch - Stamps and AG UE; STAMPlorations Never-ending Anything Goes Challenge

Thank you for looking at my bookmark! Wishing you a joyful day!

Magnetic Bookmark 1

Hello, everyone!  Today I'm sharing a magnetic bookmark!  There are two tiny magnets to hold the bookmark in place so you will not lose your page.  This is a great back-to-school project so I used a motivational statement suitable for older kids and teens, but it would be good for anyone working toward a goal.

I actually made three bookmarks, and I will be sharing each one in a separate post today.  I got the idea to make the magnetic bookmarks after watching this video here.

Instead of using patterned paper scraps as in the video, I created a cool background with Distress Oxides on scraps of Photo Paper.  I layered each colour using the watercolour ink-smooshing technique and dried in between each colour.  It's best to work from lightest colour to darkest.  When finished layering the colours, it had a dull appearance but when wiped with a baby wipe, it became vibrant like you see here.  This is a new technique to me - I was inspired to try it after watching this video here.

Stamp:  STAMPlorations Quitting - Typografia Motivate, twigs from STAMPlorations Frames and Flowers
Die:  Gina Marie Stitched Rectangle
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Oxides (Tumbled Glass, Shaded Lilac, Iced Spruce, Blueprint Sketch, maybe others, I was playing)
Other:  Neodymium Disc Magnets 5mm x 1mm (ebay), photo paper scraps

This photo shows how the bookmark looks when open and where the tiny magnets have been affixed behind the inky panels (approximately):

Here's how it looks in a book, held securely in place:

I would like to support these fun challenges:  Cupcake Inspirations Back to School 1/3; STAMPlorations Summer CUTplorations UE; STAMPlorations Summer Theme and Sketch - Stamps and AG UE; STAMPlorations Never-ending Anything Goes Challenge

Thank you for looking at my bookmark! Wishing you a joyful day!

Lighthouse It's Your Day

Hello, everybody!  Today I'm sharing a lighthouse card that I made for Brian's sister.  She adores lighthouses so I think she'll like it. 

This peaceful image is a precoloured digital from Doodle Pantry, but sadly they are no longer in business. I die-cut the image with a cross-stitched tag and then hand-cut black cardstock to use as a matte. I decided to create an extension of the lighthouse scene as the background. Using a handmade cloud stencil, I sponged some Hero Arts Unicorn ink. I masked off the cloud area and inked the ocean with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink. It didn't show up very well so I drew a line to represent the ocean, sort of continuing it from the image on the tag. I die-cut the grass from green cardstock and stamped the sentiment.

I would like to support these fun challenges: Cardz TV 60 AG 2/3; Crafty Creations AG 2/2; Crafty Friends AG 2/3; Creatalicious AG Optional Under the Sea UE; Creative Craft Cottage No Patterned Paper 2/3; Creative Fingers AG 2/3; Crop Stop Link Party 42 (Distress Inks can be purchased at Crop Stop here) 4/5; Die Cuttin' Diva's Birthday Wishes 1/3; DL.ARTAugust AG Linky 1/d; Double Trouble (1) Dog Days of Summer (I like to go to the ocean to cool off in the summer) and (2) link up to heARTful Stamping challenge 1/4; heARTful Stamping Dog Days of Summer 2/2; Jo's Scrap Shack AG 2/3; Mod Squad Water Element 2/3; Pammie's Inky Pinkies AG 2/3; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Distress It 3/5; STAMPlorations Summer TAGplorations UE; Through the Craft Room Door AG 1/2; Word Art Wednesday AG w Uplifting Sentiment wk2 4/5

Thank you for looking at my card! Wishing you a joyful day!

Nautical Scene

Hello, everyone! Today I'm sharing a nautical-themed card I made for a male family member.  I created an ocean background with acrylic paints in shades of blue (first time I've tried this!) and then added several nautical-themed images.

Dies:  Poppystamps Seaside Lighthouses, Poppystamps Stitched Landscapes, double-stitched rectangles
Digital images:  Beccy's Place Smooth Seas (precoloured)
Clear stamp:  Sentiment (Newton's Nook Newton's Summer Vacation)
Acrylic paints:  Dollarama

I would like to support these fun challenges: A Perfect Time to Craft AG 3/3; Allsorts From Boys to Men 1/3; Beccy's Place August Optional Embellishments UE; Cardz TV 60 AG 1/3; Crafty Creations AG 1/2; Crafty Friends AG 1/3; Creatalicious AG Optional Under the Sea UE; Creative Craft Cottage No Patterned Paper 1/3; Creative Fingers AG 1/3; DL.ART August AG Linky 1/d; Double Trouble (1) Dog Days of Summer (I like to go to the ocean to cool off in the summer) and (2) link up to heARTful Stamping challenge 1/4; heARTful Stamping Dog Days of Summer 1/2; Jo's Scrap Shack AG 1/3; Mod Squad Water Element 1/3; Pammie's Inky Pinkies AG 1/3; Penny's Paper-crafty AG 3/3; Papercraft Business August AG Optional Summer 3/3; Pile It On New Technique (using acrylic paints to make an ocean background) UE; Poppystamps PSC 47 Make a Splash 2/3; Three Amigos Blog Hop I went with June Challenge 15 Machine Die-cutting UE; Word Art Wednesday AG w Uplifting Sentiment wk2 3/5

Thank you for looking at my card! Wishing you a joyful day!

Blossom Bliss Tag

Hi, everyone! Today I'm sharing a tag I made with a free Blossom Bliss colouring page from STAMPlorations (thank you, Shery!).  This is my third project using the colouring page - you can see the two cards I made here and here.

STAMPlorations has been celebrating National Colouring Book Day (August 2), with a new colouring book, free colouring page, and blog hop! My colouring was done with markers. In between the flowers I sponged on Distress Ink (Tumbled Glass) and added some dots with a black marker. I also added white dots on some of the flowers.

Colouring page: STAMPlorations Blossom Bliss Sampler
Clear stamp: Sentiment (Pink and Main For You Penguin)
Distress Ink: Tumbled Glass (sponged between the flowers)
Dies:  Pink and Main Arch Tag
Other: Recollections small butterfly punch, teal sequins, eyelash trim

I would like to support these fun challenges: A Perfect Time to Craft AG 2/3; Butterfly Challenge Spin the Butterfly Wheel with the Letter F (I went with F for Flowers, French Blue, and butterflies) 3/3; Crop Stop Link Party 42 (Distress Inks can be purchased at Crop Stop here) 3/5; DL.ART August AG Linky 1/d; Get Creative Make a Tag 1/3; Little Patch of Crafty Friends AG 3/3; Penny's Paper-crafty AG 2/3; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Distress It 2/5; STAMPlorations Blossom Bliss and National Colouring Book Day 3/3; STAMPlorations Summer CUTplorations UE; STAMPlorations Summer Theme and Sketch - Stamps and AG UE; STAMPlorations Summer TAGplorations UE; STAMPlorations Never-ending Anything Goes Challenge; The Daily Marker 30-Day Colouring Contest UE; Through the Craftroom Door AG 2/2; Word Art Wednesday AG w Uplifting Sentiment wk2 2/5

Thank you for looking at my tag! Wishing you a joyful day!

Blossom Bliss Colouring Page

Hi, everyone! Today I'm sharing a card I made with a free Blossom Bliss colouring page from STAMPlorations (thank you, Shery!).   You can see the first card I made with this colouring page here.

STAMPlorations is celebrating National Colouring Book Day (August 2), with a new colouring book, free colouring page, and blog hop! I'm not a colouring expert but I had fun with my markers!  In between the flowers I sponged on Distress Ink (I think it was Squeezed Lemonade) and added some dots with a black marker.

Colouring page:  STAMPlorations Blossom Bliss Sampler
Clear stamp: Sentiment (Hero Arts Everyday Sayings)
Distress Ink: Squeezed Lemonade (sponged between the flowers)
Dies: Cheery Lynn Mini Dimensional Butterflies
Other: Yellow Stickles (added to flower centers), Ranger white embossing powder, black sequins

I was inspired by Sketch 465 at Tuesday Morning Sketches:

I would like to support these fun challenges: A Perfect Time to Craft AG 1/3; Butterfly Challenge Spin the Butterfly Wheel with the Letter F (I went with F for Flowers and Frame It, and butterfly) 2/3; Card Mania Anniversary 1/3; Crop Stop Link Party 42 (Distress Inks can be purchased at Crop Stop here) 2/5; Cute Card Thursday AG UE; DL.ART August AG Linky 1/d; Joy Clair Inspiration Photo (I was inspired by the colours and flowers) UE; Little Patch of Crafty Friends AG 2/3; Pammie's Inky Pinkies AG 3/3; Penny's Paper-crafty AG 1/3; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Distress It 1/5; STAMPlorations Blossom Bliss and National Colouring Book Day 2/3; STAMPlorations Summer CUTplorations UE; STAMPlorations Summer Theme and Sketch - Stamps and AG UE; STAMPlorations Never-ending Anything Goes Challenge; The Daily Marker 30-Day Colouring Contest UE; The Outlawz Festive Fridays FF080318 Wedding/Anniversary 1/3; Through the Craftroom Door AG 1/2; Word Art Wednesday AG w Uplifting Sentiment wk2 1/5

Thank you for looking at my card! Wishing you a joyful day!