Trick or Treat for Freshly Made Sketches.....

Hello Everyone: I'm back with another sweet House Mouse card to participate in the 200 sketch challenge celebration for Freshly Made Sketches . I've been blogging since December of last year but even more recently than that, I started participating in several challenges, which helped me gain confidence about sharing my cards with not only my dear card swapping friends and my family but with all of you wonderful people out there in the card making world.
Here is the card I made to help celebrate this mile stone for FMS.

I adore this little mice, (secretly, I wish they live in my house). This image is so cute and so sweet that it was joyful to color. I use Prismacolor pencils and paper stumps dipped in baby oil, which when applied to the image, blends the colors beautifully. On my last post,  a dear friend asked me about this paper stumps and wanted to know where to get them, you can really get them at any craft store but I got them at Amazon, they are not that expensive at all.

I hope you like this card, I know Halloween is a couple of months away but I'm getting ahead in my card making for it, this card is for my 10 y/o granddaughter Anastasia.

Thank you for visiting and for your comments, I love reading them, and as always, if you have any questions, please ask me.  

This is the sketch that inspired this card, I just used it horizontally. Till next time

Hugs from Maria.

 

Back to School The Retro Rubber Challenge blog.....

Hello everyone: Today I have a card I made for the Retro Rubber Challenge blog . This blog encourages you to participate using any of your beloved, retired, older than 1 year, cherished and beautiful rubber stamps that you probably have neglected for a long time and give them a chance to shine again so, go dig into your (maybe forgotten) drawer, box, bag or whatever you keep this older stamps in and get to work, I do hope you give this challenge blog a try, it's fun to see the cards created with all of this very old images. Here is the card I made for this challenge, the theme is "Back to School", just perfect since by now, all of our children and grandchildren have gone back to the classrooms so all of us will have more time to craft.

I think this is the only stamp I own that has a school theme, it's a House Mouse stamp that I bought at my local craft store, I wanted to provide you with a link to the House Mouse on line store but I couldn't find this particular one.

Anyway, as you can see, this adorable image presents you with what, I think, ALL Teachers will be facing this new school year, whether the kids are little or big, there is always a few that just wont pay attention, goof around, fall asleep, etc. creating for the Teachers big challenges every single day.

One thing I must say, all Teachers deserve our outmost respect and admiration, they are in charge of educating and preparing our kids and grandkids for LIFE. I read a quote in one of my grandchildren's classrooms one day that I went to visit for Grandparents day, it goes like this:

 

"I TOUCH THE FUTURE.....I TEACH!!!!!"

 

Totally true, so keep all teachers in your thoughts, every day.

Here is a close up of this sweet scene.

I hope you can see the writing on the "blackboard", that was done by me, using a fine brush and some SU white craft ink, notice the little drawings, letters and hard "math", but also notice that little guy chewing on the pencil and that other one scratching the board, sheeesh!! do you remember that noise that made your hair stand on end? I get goose bumps just thinking about it. Here is another close up of the rest of this mischievous but adorable little mice.

The Teacher's look is one of patience and love, the year had just started and she knows there is more of this antics to come.  Look at that cutie pie chewing gum, that other one yawning and that other one doing a flip, this little mice are just adorable.

So, I hope you like this card, I didn't add any embellishments since the image itself is so darn cute, I didn't think it needed any and besides, this stamp is big so there was not enough room.

This image was colored with Prismacolor pencils and paper stumps dipped in baby oil, the flowers and grass were done with SU makers and an aqua painter.

I want to thank you for stopping by, please leave your comments, I love reading them and of course, if you have any questions, I'm here to answer it.

Till next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria. 

Paper Stumps   You can get them HERE 

 

Long Stem Roses for "Less is More".....

Hello everyone: Lately I've been trying really hard to learn to make CAS cards, my style is not to busy but, on the other hand, it's not CAS either so, as with every challenge I've taken in my life, I just jump into this one to see if I could pull it off.
In the process I've found several challenges out there that are all about CAS cards so, I took this chance and I've participated in two so far with great response from you.
This time I'm taking up the challenge over at Less is More with a theme of "Congratulations", this is the card I made for it.

I chose this image from I Brake for Stamps because the long stem roses look just perfect on the side of the panel, leaving enough white space to make it a CAS card, the sentiment was stamped and die cut to give it a bit of dimension.  I stamped the image on Ninah solar white card stock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored this buds with my Prismacolor pencils and baby oil using paper stumps, besides water coloring, this is my other favorite way to color.

Here is a close up of this beautiful rose buds.

So I hope you like this CAS card, I'm really enjoying this style now, I think I'm getting the hang of it. Thank you so much for visiting, please leave me your comments, I love reading them, they always make me smile. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

Till next time, keep on stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Cowboys and Bears for Mojo Monday.....

Hello dear friends: I don't know about you but, I just can't wait till the regular Football season starts.  I've been a hard core fan of the Dallas Cowboys since I was 15 years old, watching the games with my dad, dreaming of Don Meredith, Roger Staubach, Bob Hayes, Walt Garrison, Billy Dupree. Emit Smith.....the list goes on and on until the present time. I've gone through awesome seasons and down in the dumps seasons and everything in between.  Now, my grandson Gabriel, himself a Freshmen High School football player, is a die hard Chicago Bears fan ever since he was just about 7 or 8 years old, he will be 15 next month.
He and I have this "friendly" rivalry when it comes to Football and OUR TEAMS, we make fun of each other when our teams mess up and "congratulate" each other when they win games, it's fun and sweet and we love it.  The other day I went to pick him up to take him to Football practice and he said to me: "Grandma, Football season is about to start, so BRIN IT ON!!!" I laugh when I saw the smirk on his handsome face and I responded, "YOU GOT IT, KIDDO".
So, when I saw the sketch for Mojo Monday I couldn't help it and made this card for him. I know it's a Halloween card but this little stamp of the head butting pumpkins just called me. Here is my card.

I was cracking up when I was making it, this is just how Gabriel and I feel about each other's teams.  Notice I chose the BIGGER pumpkin to wear the Dallas Cowboy's star, the little pumpkin is wearing the Chicago Bears "C".  Here is a close up of the "helmets", LOL!!

I hand drew both the star and the "C" and snipped them out.  Also notice that for the lines in the sketch I chose blue and white for my Cowboys and orange and black for the Bears.

I think my grandson is going to get a kick out of this card, which I will give him on his birthday, September 8th. (mine is on the 7th. ain't that a fabulous thing?)

So, there you have it my friends, a funny card for my Football star, I can't wait to watch the games with him, which we do sometimes and hear all about the good and the bad our teams put us through. I get very emotional on game day, my hubby knows to keep his distance and never, ever make fun of my Cowboys, there will be a stiff penalty, applied immediately if he crosses the line. The only one that can make little jokes (and I mean little) is Gabriel.

 

Thank you for visiting, please leave me your comments or questions or both, I will be happy to answer them. Till next time, keep on stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

 

 GO DALLAS COWBOYS, GO!!!!!

 

 

Shabby Chic for Power Poppy.....

Hello dear friends: Lately, I've been stepping out of my comfort zone and trying other styles of card making. I made my second CAS card ever and posted it yesterday and now, here I am trying my hand at the Power Poppy "A little Shabby, a little Chic" challenge for the month of August.
I have been enchanted by Marcella Howley's images for years, they are sweet and fun and gorgeous.
Here is my entry for this challenge.

I honestly had to find out what the term "Shabby Chic" meant, I don't think I've ever made a card that is Shabby or Chic so, after a little trial and error, and a lot of looking at other cards, this is what I ended up with.

According to the definition, this style focuses on old and worn out things that are repurposed and made beautiful again keeping the vintage look so, I stamped this image from Power Poppy's Poinsettia onto water color paper and colored it with my SU markers. I wanted to keep the colors soft as to give this card an old feel, I sponged around the image with SU Hello Honey and Baked Brown Sugar and then, I frayed the edges with a pair of scissors, bending the corners a little.

I added a piece of pattern paper and a gold embossed panel with this beautiful writing in it, to finish it off, I rummaged through my bottomless drawer of ribbons and found this little piece of lace that really didn't need much to look old, I just sponged it a bit with Hello Honey and Baked Brown Sugar and glued it to the side of the image.

I think in this photo you can see it better. I added a bit of highlights with my gold gel pen all over the image, a vintage button (retired SU) and a piece of gold thread.  Here is the banner that inspired this card.

 

So there you have it, my first attempt at Shabby Chic, I hope you like this card, please let me know in your comments. I love reading your thoughts and, if you have any questions, I'm just an email away.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog, I hope you come again.

Till next time, many hugs from Maria.

 

Paper: Canson water color paper 140lbs., The Paper Studio.

Ink: Stazon jet black, SU markers in Real Rose, Rose Red, Rich Razzleberry, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Garden Green, More Mustard, So Saffron, Soft Suede.

Stamps: Power Poppy "Poinsettia", Stampabilities "Faded Text" background stamp.

 

 

 

Another CAS(E) this Sketch card.....

Hello again everyone: I'm always open to trying new things, I've been making cards for about 8 years now and in all that time, the idea of getting a blog never crossed my mind, heck!! I didn't even know what that was, all I knew is that a lot of people had them, they shared their creations in them and that I enjoy visiting them.  So, after getting some encouragement from several of my stamping girlfriends, I took the plunge last December 9th. and created this little blog of mine.
I've been having so much fun with it, I think can honestly say I'm addicted to it, specially now that I discovered how to participate in a bunch of challenges, this has helped me with my confidence about showing my cards out there for all of you to see.  The CAS(E) this Sketch challenge is one that has pushed me to get out of my comfort zone which means, trying to make pretty cards with very clean and simple designs, I have a bit of trouble with this concept, not because it's not fabulous, which it is, but because CAS cards are not easy for me to create, I get nervous about a lot of white space left in them but on the other hand, this style is elegant and fun.
So, here is my card, I think it's the most CAS I've ever made.

And this is the sketch that inspired it.As you can see, there is not much going on here, this adorable little SNAIL is from Purple Onion Designs and the artist is Stacy Yacula, her images are just so adorable.  I stamped the image onto a Ninah Solar White panel with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored it with Prismacolor pencils. The grass is stamped with  two teeny, tiny grass stamps from Art Impressions.

So I hope you like my interpretation of this CAS(E) sketch. Believe me, my hands were itching to add another layer or maybe some pattern paper or something to fill in that empty space at the bottom but I resisted the temptation, all I added were those teeny, tiny hearts.

Please leave me your comments or questions, I enjoy reading both and I will respond to you right away.

Take care and keep on stamping.

Hugs from Maria.