SWIM, BIKE, RUN.....

Hello Everyone: Those of you who have known me for a while know that I'm a Triathlete, I've been a swimmer since age 15 but I became a Triathlete back in 2003. I had a great time doing this races, from Sprint Triathlons (400-800yd. swim, 24 mile bike ride and 3-4 mile run), to Iron Man Triathlons, (2.4 mile swim in open water, 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run), I've done 3 of this grueling races, with my sweet family, grandkids, daughters, my dear hubby, in laws, friends, cheering me on. Those are the best memories of my humble athletic career.  I'm a late bloomer, I did my first race at the ripe age of 52 and finished my last Iron Man Triathlon at the super ripe age of 60!!!  I'm still at it, with a few bumps along the way, and I will keep at it until.....heck!! I don't know!!!
When I saw the Freshly Made Sketches challenge, for some reason, this 3 image that represent the 3 sports of Triathlon, came to my mind. Perhaps it's because this sport has, and still is, such a big part of who I am, and also, because there is hardly any day that I'm not doing at least one of this disciplines, either at the Y or at home. So, here is my card.

I don't own any Triathlon stamps, I don't think there are any out there so, I Google this images and just hand drew them, in pencil first and then, finished them with the black Prismacolor pencil and a paper stump dipped in baby oil. 

The sentiment says it all for me!!!

So there you have it, a simple card celebrating the amazing sport of Triathlon, which I so love.

Here is the sketch that inspired this card.

Thank you for visiting, have a great Halloween weekend.

Hugs from Maria.

Pretty in Pink.....and Purple.....

Hello Everyone: Today I have a card to share with you for the CAS(E) this Sketch! challenge and the TIME OUT Challenge , which has a theme of Christmas with the optional twist of PINK and PURPLE, here is my card.

This image is from Stamping Bella and it's called Season's Greetings by Mo Manning. The image is stamped onto a panel of Canson Canva water color paper with Stazon Jet Black Ink and colored with the aqua painter and my Stampin Up! markers in Perfect Plumn, Elegant Eggplant, Olive Green, Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink and Real Rose. I added a bit of Bashful Blue to the snow on the ground.  The little sentiment is from a retired SU set called "Holiday Home". 

The snow flake is cut with THIS Impression Obsession dies out of a piece of silver wrapping paper, I also die cut it again on the water color panel to place the silver one back like a puzzle piece, I have a piece of Pretty in Pink card stock in the back.

I hope you like this card, here is the banner that inspired it.

Thank you so much for stopping by, have a great Halloween weekend. Do not eat to much candy, I'm hoping that the weather will stay, if not warm, at least ok enough for the kids to Trick or Treat, the weather folks keep saying it will rain up here in NW. Indiana, I really hope they are so totally wrong, otherwise I will be stuck with all of the candy and that spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E!!!!!

Tea Time for The Paper Players.....

Hello again everyone: This is my second post today so I have a simple card to share with you for The Paper Players sketch challenge by LeAnne, here is my card.

I had this image colored already in my little box where I keep them to use later. Sometimes I do this sitting in the living room with my hubby or late at night while watching a bit of TV. before we go to sleep, so I decided to make this simple little card that I will add to my card swapping stash.

This is the banner that inspired this card.

I want to thank you for stopping by, until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Sweetheart.....

Hello everyone: This week at the CASology challenge blog the Cue Card is HEART so I was a bit stumped there for a moment trying to remember if I owned a HEART stamp so, I grabbed my plastic box where I have my Valentine's Day stamps and found a Flourishes set called "From the Heart", (Sadly no longer available) that I think it's perfect for this challenge, I picked one of the images and this is the card I made with it.

This image is stamped onto a panel of Canson water color paper with Stazon Jet Black ink and colored with the aqua painter and my SU Strawberry Slush ink pad, that is it, no other colors were used. I don't know if you can see it in this picture but the banner is a separate addition to the heart image, I stamped it and colored it the same way and then, I snipped it out and placed it on top of the heart with SU dimensionals. 

Maybe you can see it better in this picture.

There, now you can see the shadow of the banner on the panel.  

I hope you like this CAS card, thank you so much for stopping by, until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria. 

All Ye Faithful.....for Mojo Monday.....

Hello Everyone: The Stamping Up! All Ye Faithful from the Holiday Catalog caught my eye the second I laid eyes on it. The images are sweet, beautifully detailed and just so perfect for the up coming Christmas Season.  The Mojo Monday challenge for this week is Tall and Skinny, the sketch is just so pretty so I made this card with it.

I stamped the image onto Canson water color paper with Stazon Jet Black ink and colored it with the aqua painter and my SU markers in Bashful Blue, Cajun Craze, Chocolate Chip, Night of Navy, So Saffron, Cherry Cobbler and Basic Gray. I added a little bit of gold shimmer to Baby Jesus's Halo, so very sweet.

The DSP is from the retired "Winter Frost" collection, the other piece, the star brads and the gold ribbon are from my never ending stash.  

The sentiment is from an old Flourishes stamp called Lenten Rose, (unfortunately this awesome company closed it's doors over 2 years ago) and it's stamped with Hello Honey ink and punched with the retired Modern Label Punch from SU. 

In this picture you can see my little label better, on the first one, I kind of cut it off.  

I need to learn how to have a water mark on my new camera, sheeesh!!

So, I hope you like this card, I thank you so much for visiting my blog today, here is the banner that inspired this card.

Until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

A ''cute'' Zombie for CASology.....

Hello there: I'm back with a card to share with you for the CASology "ZOMBIE" challenge.
Here is my card.

This image is from Kraftin Kimmie and it's called, very appropriately Zelda the Zombie .

I stamped her with Stazon Jet Black ink onto a panel of Canson water color paper and colored her with SU markers in River Rock, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron and Sahara Sand, her ragged blouse and teared jeans were colored with Prismacolor pencils, just to avoid the color bleeding.

I added a bit of ''blood'' to her numerous scars and some silver gel pen to those nasty nails stuck on her head, as cute as she is, she would give me a fright if I encounter anywhere.

So I hope you like this ''scary'' Zombie girl, thank you for stopping by.

Here is the cue word that inspired this card.

Until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Cookies anyone?.....

Hello again everyone: The gals at Less is More have a very CAS sketch for us to play with, here is the card I made with it. I'm also linking this card to the LiveLoveCards "White Space" challenge.

This image is called Frosted Gingerbread from Power Poppy by Marcella Howley, this collection of sweet images are a joy to color. I just stamped this image onto a panel of Canson water color paper with Stazon Jet Black ink and colored with the aqua painter and SU Write Markers in Garden Green, Real Red, Baked Brown Sugar (from the ink pad), Marina Mist, Certainly Celery and More Mustard, I added a bit of Silver and Gold gel pen to the small dots around the images. The sentiment is from this set and it's stamped with Baked Brown Sugar.

I score the panel twice on the left just to add a little embellishment to the card and glued it to a dark craft card base.

This is the sketch that inspired this card, I just turned it up.

That's it my friends, thank you for stopping by, until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria. 

PEACE for CAS(E) this Sketch!.....

Hello everyone and happy Sunday: Well, I survived the Freaky Fun Zombie Run in Portage, IN. yesterday afternoon, as a matter of fact, my dear hubby, my daughter Adriana and two of my grandkids, Vanessa and Gabriel, survived it too. It was a 3 mile race through a beautiful wooded park with a few really freaky hills and totally freaky set ups with Zombies jumping at you trying to "eat" you and take your ''life'', which was a flag you had hanging on you. It was hilarious and fun and we all had a great time.  Our oldest daughter Gaby took pictures and video, which I will share as soon as she gives this to me. I finish in about 36 min. kind of slow but those hills were awful. The best time was after the race was over, the organizers had delicious grilled brats and hot dogs, chips, fruit, Gatoraide, juice for the kiddos and.....BEER!!!!! for the tired and sore adults, LOL!! some delicious Sam Adams October Fest, which tasted so good with my delicious brat. Oh, by the way.....I came in first in my 60-65 age group, and so did my hubby, Adriana (38) came in first in her 35-40 age group, Vanessa (17) and Gabriel (15) also came in first in their 15-20 age group, so it was a winning race for the Rodriguez/Alicea/Garcia family.
Ok now, changing the subject.....I have a card to share with you I made for the CAS(E) this Sketch! challenge this week, here is my card.

A very CAS card using an old Flourishes stamp called Peace and Joy (retired). I stamped the image onto a panel of Canson water color paper with Versa Mark ink and heat embossed it in gold, then I stamped part of one of the images from the Stampin Up! Gorgeous Grunge stamp set and I also heat embossed it in gold. I gave a bit of color to the Holly leaves with SU Certainly Celery marker.

That is it, a CAS card that I hope you enjoy.

Thank you so much for stopping by and leaving me your comments, they always make my day.

Until next time, (I suspect later today) happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.