Singing Chicks for Freshly Made Sketches.....

Hello everyone: Today I'm sharing a card I made for Freshly Made Sketches  using another great sketch, here is my card.

This is a stamp from Stamping Bella called Caroling Chicks , I bought this stamp a while ago, super cute and easy to color with my SU markers in So Saffron, More Mustard, Cherry Cobbler, Marina Mist, Not Quite Navy, Garden Green, Soft Suede, Rose Red, River Rock and Basic Gray, in very little amounts since the chicks and their accessories are so small. I added a bit of Dazzling Details to the snow, a bit of my white gel pen for the snow flakes and some gold gel pen to the musical notes that are all around this cuties. The sentiment is stamped in Strawberry Slush.

I hope you can see the sparkle of the Dazzling Details on this picture. I embossed a panel of white card stock with a Sizzix falling snow embossing folder for the background panel.  This is the sketch, by Jane Timko  that inspired this card.
I hope you like this card, leave me your comments or questions about this card, I love reading them. I want to thank you for stopping by, till next time, happy stamping.
Hugs from Maria.

Paper Napkin for Muse.....

Hello everyone: I have a card to share with you today for the Muse challenge this week. Here is my card and I will explain how I made my "DSP" for the background.

Believe it or not, that beautiful panel is a paper napkin.  Some time ago I saw THIS video on Pinterest and I was just delighted and fascinated about it.  I'm always willing to give new things a try and this looked so very interesting and easy to do that I went to the kitchen, grabbed a paper napkin from the holder and proceeded to do this ''magic''.  To my absolute surprise it worked!! just like in the video, how cool is that!!! 

I bought the package of 24 paper napkins I used for this card for $1.00 at this Antique store here in town and I wish you could feel this card, it feels like I fused a piece of fabric to the card stock.  Now that the Holidays are approaching, there are tons of amazingly beautiful paper napkins designs out there and I plan to get me some, I hope you give this a try.

Now, I die cut the butterfly with THIS set I bought a looooong time ago from Serendipity Stamps. I think I've used it twice, sheeesh!!

Here is a close up of this beautiful and intricate die.

The sentiment is from a retired Flourishes set and it's stamped with SU Strawberry Slush ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I've discovered that stamping on Vellum takes long to dry and heat embossing it prevents the ink from smearing.  I applied a little bit of Wink of Stella to the wings, I hope you can see it in this photo.

This is the Muse card that inspired mine.I want to thank you for visiting me today. I hope you go take a looksee over at the Muse challenge blog and give this challenge a try. Please leave me your comments, I love reading them. If you have any questions, I will be more than happy to answer them. Till next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

A Ginger Bread House for Mojo Monday.....

Hello dear friends: Can you tell I'm having a fabulous time participating in all of this challenges? Well, today is no exception, I have a Holiday card to share with you for the Mojo Monday  challenge. Here is my card.

This image is from Power Poppy's Frosted Gingerbread stamp set. Have you ever made one of this adorable houses? Well, I'm sorry to say that I haven't but it's something I want to do for this Holiday Season.

The DSP is retired from Stampin Up!, I don't even remember the name of it, so if you do, please let me know.  I stamped the image onto Canson water color paper and colored with my aqua painter and SU markers. I used Chocolate Chip and a bit of More Mustard for the house then, for the candy tiles some Garden Green, More Mustard and Rose Red.

I was going to leave the snow on the roof and in the front, as well as the snow on the window with no color but, Canson paper is not white, it has a kind of an off white tone so, I grabbed my super old SU white craft ink pad, that fortunately still has plenty of ink on it, and with the back of my bone folder, I scraped some of the ink and applied it to all of the areas where there is snow with a small brush. Then I sprinkle some clear embossing powder and heat set it, it took several tries to dry it completely but it looks real nice. Here is a close up of this ''snow'' and the little pearls I added to the roof.

I also used my new Scalloped Tag Topper Punch , which is fabulous, I love it!!! for that little tag with the gold bow on the top.

Here is the sketch that inspired this card.

I hope you like this card, please leave me your comments, I love reading them. Thank you for visiting, I hope you come again real soon.

Till next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Spooktacular Fun for Fab Friday.....

Hello again: I finished this card a short while ago and I'm posting it, just in the nick of time to the FAB FRIDAY sketch challenge. Here is my card.

As soon as I saw the Spider Web Doilies from Stampin Up! I just couldn't wait to get my hands on them so, when the Holiday Catalog went live, I immediately placed this beauties in my order.

The Fab Friday sketch is just perfect for this doilies but I needed an image to kind of match the spider web theme I had going on. So I went to my Halloween stamp stash and found this cute little ghost named Hattie from Kraftin Kimmie, with her little spider friend flowing from  her hair and I knew I had found a match.

It took me a while to paper snip this ghostly gal after I colored her but it was worth it. I embossed the orange panel with an retired SU Spider Web embossing folder, the sentiment is from an old Flourishes Halloween stamp set and, to follow the sketch, I placed a confetti spider right by the doily that looks like it's getting ready to crawl down, (I bought a bag at the pharmacy with like a gazillion little spiders that probably will last me a life time).

So I hope you like this card, it was fun and entertaining to make and I think I'm getting better at paper sniping.  I colored this image with my SU markers in Elegant Egg Plant, a little Basic Black and Basic Gray, More Mustard and some neon green paint from my ceramic days. The ribbon is also from my bottomless drawer of this stuff.

Here is the sketch that inspired this card. I want to thank you for stopping by and for your comments. I hope you go take a looksee at the Fab Friday challenge blog to see the fabulous creations of the DT and join in the fun.

Till next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

A Daisy Umbrella.....

Hello everyone: Most of you know I totally adore the House Mouse siblings, they are so sweet and super cute so, here I am again, sharing a card I made to participate in The Card Concept  with a theme of Daisies and also in CASology  with a theme of Umbrellas.  This image couldn't be more perfect for this 2 fabulous challenges. Here is my card.

I stamped THIS image on Canson water color paper with Stazon Jet Black ink and colored it with the aqua painter and my SU markers in So Saffron, More Mustard, Old Olive, Wild Wasabi, Night of Navy, Not Quite Navy, Marina Mist, Pretty in Pink, Basic Gray, Soft Suede and Chocolate Chip, the sentiment is from Power Poppy's Dynamic Duos: Peonies and Tulips  , I stamped it with my SU Hello Honey ink pad.

Don't you want to chill out like this little mouse, just floating away, totally happy and with no cares in the world? at least for a little while?  I bet you do and so do I!!!!

I hope you like this card, I want to thank you for stopping by and I also want to encourage you to stop by CASology and The Card Concept blogs and join in the fun.

Here are the banners that inspired this card.

Till next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Make Merry for "CAS(E) this Sketch!.....

Hello Everyone: I'm back today with another card to share with you, this time is for CAS(E) this Sketch!   Here is my card.

This was a quick and simple card to make, the image is from a very old Flourishes stamp set (this stamp company has sadly closed it's doors about 2 years ago) I stamped it on a panel of Ninah Solar White paper with Stazon Jet Black ink and colored it with my Prismacolor pencils and Paper Stumps dipped in baby oil, this technique is easy and fun to do, the baby oil blends the colors really beautifully.

To follow the sketch, I cut 2 strips of my brand new SU Winter Wonderland Designer Vellum Stack , this paper is so GORGEOUS, ELEGANT, AMAZING. I received it just last week and it really took my breath away.

Here is the sketch that inspired this card.

I hope you like my very CAS card, I'm having so much fun making this style of cards, it's something really new to me but I'm getting the hang of it.

Thank you for visiting and for your comments, they always make my day.

Till next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Best Wishes for "Less is More".....

Hello dear friends: I'm back with another card made with the totally irresistible Purple Onion Designs and  Stacey Yacula collection little critters, this time I used Snowy the Owl , isn't he just so darn cute? I made this card to participate in the "Less us More" challenge this week and the designer team is asking us to make a ONE LAYER CARD with a theme of "Wishing" in it.  Here is my card.

I chose this design because of THIS card by the amazing Marika Rahtu, you can visit her blog Me and Minime Crafting to take a look at her incredible work. When I saw that card, I just had to CASE it.  I used a different little critter and I placed the trees on the opposite side.

The images are stamped on Canson water color paper with Stazon Jet Black ink, I colored them with the aqua painter and my SU markers in Old Olive, Not Quite Navy, Basic Gray, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron and Pumpkin Pie.

I hope you like this one layer card, I was itching to stamp the balloon again, color it and paper snip it but the challenge called for a ONE LAYER card so I resist the temptation.

Thank you for visiting, it's always a real treat for me to find your comments, I appreciate every single word you say.

Till next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Autumn is almost here.....

Hello everyone: I feel like I'm in a roll, making cards almost every day for all of this different challenges and I'm having a ball!!!!!  This new adventure has given me the chance to expand my card making abilities to include CAS cards, which I just recently started learning how to do.
Today I will share with you a card I made for the Addicted to CAS  challenge, the theme is ''LEAVES" which suits me just great since Autumn is my absolute favorite season of the year.
Here is my card.

I stamped this images with a very old SU set called "Gently Falling", I think it was released back in 2011, but correct me if I'm wrong.  I love this leaves, their uneven edges give them a rustic look I really like. This is a two step stamp set but I just used the outlined images.  I stamped them with Stazon Jet Black ink onto Canson water color paper and then gave them a wash with my SU markers in Pumpkin Pie, Bravo Burgundy, Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive.  I wet the paper really good so the ink could just run and blend, then I heat dried it to be able to apply some color to the outer edges.  I splattered a little bit of watered down Old Olive ink with an old toothbrush and stamped this retired Flourishes sentiment from a stamp set called ''Pears'' in SU "Hello Honey" ink.

This is the banner that inspired this card.I hope you like this card, thank you for visiting, till next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.