Monthly Archives: March 2017

Slainte!

For each petal on the shamrock
This brings a wish your way – 
Good health, good luck, and happiness
For today and every day.

One of my dear friends is the stereotypical Catholic Irish(American) from Boston. I like hearing her stories…stories of when she was younger, stories of her family, and her visits to see her grandmother in Ireland. My friend loves her Irish heritage and she loves celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. We celebrated this weekend with the customary corned beef and cabbage (and, of course, Irish beer).  Slainte!

I managed to get a few cards done today even though I mostly sat and lolly-gagged in my craft room for a good part of the day…in my pajamas.  Sshhhh. First up I’ve got a green card to keep the St. Paddy’s day weekend going…

MFTWSC Shamrock

I didn’t really want to make a St. Patrick’s Day card but it was leaning that way so I kept the sentiment generic enough so I can send it anytime.

I used the colors from this week’s Color Throwdown CTD434:  Green, Black, and Gold

combined with the MFT sketch #324.

Products used: (cardstock) MFT Sweet Tooth, Elf Green, Sour Apple, watercolor paper; (stamps) MFT (Lucky, PI sentiment); MFT die-namics, Distress Inks, MFT Black Licorice hybrid ink, Wink of Stella

Next, I’ve got this springy card…

No Line Crocus

Growing up in Buffalo, NY, the crocus peeking up through the snow was always a sign that Spring was just around the corner. So what better image to use for a spring challenge?

This was my first attempt at no line coloring. I stamped the image using Memento Desert Sand ink then colored the image with ZIG clear color brush markers – the verdict is still out on them. I’ve had them for a while but I don’t know that I really like them all that much.

I combined two challenges for this card:

  1. Adding to Friday’s Free-For-All #369 on Splitcoaststampers. The theme was Think Spring!
  2. Also adding this to Monday’s Challenge at Simon Says Stamp which was to use handmade flowers

Products used: (cardstock) MFT Smooth White, Daffodil, watercolor paper; (stamps) Technique Tuesday Crocus, Mama Elephant; ZIG Clear Color Brush Markers, Versamark, white embossing powder (Hero Arts), Memento Ink – Desert Sand

I’ve been incorporating cat and dog themes with some of the challenges I’ve been participating in because I’m preparing to send a stack of cards to a group that is collecting cards for animal shelters. Here’s a kitty card I made to fit SCS Color Challenge #626 (So Saffron, Cucumber Crush, Peekaboo Peach):

Kitty Color Challenge Products used: (cardstock) MFT Smooth White, Sour Apple, Chocolate Brown, misc. patterned paper, X-Press It Blending Card; (stamps) MFT; Copic markers, foam dimensionals, MFT die-namics, MFT Black Licorice hybrid ink, Wink of Stella

Thanks for checking out my cards. Have a great week!

Baby, It’s Cold Outside…

Brrr.  It rained all night and by the time I got up this morning it had turned to snow. It snowed ALL morning and afternoon. It stuck a little but I knew it wouldn’t last – it rarely does.  By dinnertime all the snow had melted. Snow in March is not all that shocking; I mean, it is still winter afterall. BUT snow in March in the south on the coast is a little less expected. Especially since it was almost 80 degrees last week. The good thing about getting this rain and snow is that it washed away all the pollen that accumulated all week. Everything had been covered with that fine, yellow dust. So, even though we got a Sunday Surprise, Spring is still on my mind and it was a blessing in disguise. I’ve got spring fever so I incorporated some spring elements into a few challenge cards I did this week.

I guess I’ll start off with this one.

I combined two challenges for this card:

  1. This week’s Wednesday Challenge at Simon Says Stamp focused on cards or projects for a special lady or girl with a nod to Penny Black products.
  2. I followed the layout from this week’s sketch challenge #635 on Splitcoaststampers.

Products used: (cardstock) MFT Smooth White, Black Licorice, SU! Kiwi Kiss, Neehah Solar White, My Mind’s Eye 6″x6″, Penny Black Stamps – April Showers, MFT Black Licorice Hybrid ink, Copic Markers, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, foam tape

Next up are some fun, colorful pups…

MMTPT450

I combined three challenges for this card:

  1. I participated in this week’s Teapot Tuesday Challenge MMTPT450 over at Splitcoaststampers and this card will be sent to a special 13-year old girl who has been battling cancer most of her childhood. She loves dogs and they were to be the focus of our teapot cards this week.
  2. I used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches #278. I stuck pretty much to the exact layout.

                3. The colors from MFT’s Color Challenge #65 were perfect colors for a
girl’s card and make for some fun colored puppies!

Products used: (cardstock) MFT Lavender Fields, Smooth White, Razzle Berry, Cornflower, Watercolor Paper, MFT 6″x6″, MFT stamps Lucky Dog, (ink) MFT Lavender Fields, Razzle Berry, Cornflower, SU! Bordering Blue, Versamark, Embossing Powder, foam tape, MFT die-namics

Next, is a card for this week’s Color Throwdown CTD433 : Cornflower Blue, Green, and White.

CTD433

Products used: (cardstock) MFT  Smooth White, Cornflower, MFT 6″x6″,  MFT stamps Tropical Flowers, (ink) MFT Field Day, Limelight, Versamark, Embossing Powder, foam tape, MFT die-namics, Nuvo Crystal Drops

Monday’s Challenge at Simon Says Stamp challenges us to make our own background with a focus on Dyan Reaveley’s Dylusions Products. I came up with this card by stamping and heat embossing the large butterfly stamp onto watercolor paper, then spritzing various colors of Dylusions ink sprays.  The sentiment is also a Dylusions product.

SSS Monday Challenge 3-6-17

Products used: (cardstock) MFT  Smooth White, Black Licorice, Watercolor paper, (stamps) SU! Swallowtail, Dylusions, Dylusions ink spray (Lemon Zest, Squeezed Orange, Pure Sunshine), Versamark, Embossing Powder, sequins

And, lastly is this card that I made for MFT’s Sketch Challenge MFTWSC323.

MFTWSC323

I combined the sketch challenge with this week’s Ways to Use it Challenge at Splitcoaststampers. We were to include glasses in our design.

Products used: (cardstock) MFT  Insulation Pink, Black Licorice, Peach Bellini, silver mirror CS, Crop-a-dile Corner Chomper, MFT Die-namics

I’m happy I managed to get a few cards done this weekend and look forward to new challenges this week. Thanks for stopping by!

Another Year Older…

Well, hello there! I didn’t post anything last week because it was my birthday week and there were a lot of things going on. My friend’s birthday is a couple of days before mine so she and I (and our husbands) go out to dinner to celebrate. Then, my dear BFF and her husband came to visit for a few days. Yay! We had so much fun. We’d have even more fun if we didn’t live 700+ miles away. *sad*

Although I did make a couple cards for a few challenges last week, I ran out of time and didn’t get a chance to post them. I got back in the groove and made a few cards this week.  First up is this little feathered cutie:

F4AMIXTPT

I combined a few challenges for this card:

  1. MMTPT449 SCS Teapot Tuesday called for Alice in Wonderland, Queen of Hearts, or playing cards. I included a stamped image of the Queen of Hearts (see it in the lower right corner?), mini hearts cut outs, and miniature playing cards. Oh, and a little crown for this special birdie. Being the first Tuesday of the month, it was “Tickle a Teapotter” which means this card will be delivered to a fellow teapotter’s mailbox. Can’t say who’s going to get this cutie but I will say it’s heading to Alabama.
  2. F4A367 Friday’s Free-For-All Challenge on SCS was to make a card based on Mary Poppins. It could be a quote or song from the movie, a character or perhaps a scene. I based my card on the scene where Mary is singing about the little old bird woman (tuppence, tuppence). I love that movie. I could make an entire set of cards based on quotes and songs from it.
  3. MIX214 I also played in SCS Mix-Ability challenge this week. We had to have some sort of peeking element. I cut the little hearts out on the gray top sheet so the white card base peeks through. My mixed elements include Brushos and Colorburst for the bird, Distress inks for the crown, SU! Basic Gray ink for the edging and Queen of Hearts images, and Nuvo Crystal Drops.

Next up is one of my new favorites…A-LO-HA! I made this for Freshly Made Sketches Challenge FMS277:

FMS277Aloha

There’s a back story to this card…PAJAMAS.  I recently got a new pair of pajamas and the bottoms look just like this! They’re royal blue with alternating rows of white and green pineapples. I love the color combo. I immediately thought of a card design but it took a couple of weeks to actually get it worked out. And, here it is!  I used the little pineapple stamp from MFT’s Birdie Brown Polynesian Paradise set. I alternated with white and bright green embossing powder starting with the white row in the middle. Then I moved on to the green rows and finally the two outer rows. The aloha sentiment die was layered four times to give it some dimension.

Last up for this week is my card for the Color Throwdown Challenge CTD432:

HUGSCTD432

The colors for this challenge included Red, Yellow, Green, and Aqua. To create my card, I started by first laying a stencil on a piece of watercolor paper then I sponged on distress inks: Abandoned Coral, Squeezed Lemonade, Cracked Pistachio and Tumbled Glass. After I lifted the stencil, I spritzed a little water over the entire piece letting it bleed a little bit before blotting with a paper towel. When it was completely dried, I ran it through my Vagabond with the HUGS sentiment (MFT). I cut an additional three layers and pieced them all back in the cutout ending with the colored pieces for a subtle ghosted effect.

Do my photos look a little better this week? It might be because I did get a lightbox for my birthday from my bestie, Michele. Now I just have to work on the sizing to eliminate the fuzziness. Baby steps.

Thanks for stopping by.