Hi Cutie.....

Hello everyone: I have a card for you today that I will enter into the following challenges.
The Curtain Call Photo Inspiration challenge, color Lime Green.
The Double D challenge "Feeling Green" and
The Card Concept "Shamrocks, Patterns and Greens" challenge, I took the green part for my card.

This sweet little Dragon is from a company called Sweet Pea Stamps, unfortunately they closed their doors last November, which was a very sad thing. I'm lucky to own about 20+ of their amazing Fairy images, which were gifted to me by my aunt about 3 years ago, she found a box full of this unmounted rubber stamps in a thrift store, all dirty and stained, she knows how much I love Faeries and stamping so she got the whole lot for $10.00, there are some amazing images of beautiful Faeries but this image here is the only one of a Dragon. 

I stamped him onto a panel of Canson water color paper with Stazon Jet Black ink and colored it with my new Derwent water color pencils, I love the lime green in this set, which was perfect to enter this challenges. I sponged the sky with Broken China ink and then, with a wet aqua painter, created some clouds by removing some of the ink from the panel.

I added a bit of Wink of Stella to this little guy for a bit of sparkle, here is a close up picture of it.

I just love the smile on his sweet face. The pattern paper is from Lili of the Valley, the rest of the CS is from my stash.

Here is a picture of this finished inside.

The sentiment is from a Flourishes stamp set called "Magnolias", I just love the font, the little Fairy on the mushroom is from my stash, I think I got this small stamp set from the dollar bin at the store.

Here is the color banners that inspired this card.

Double D challenge

Thank you for stopping by, I hope you go check out this fabulous challenges and give them a try, the colors are just perfect for Spring. 

Happy stamping, hugs from Maria.

CAS{E} this Sketch! #162.....

Hello everyone: I have a card to share with you today for the CAS{E} this Sketch! challenge with a really fabulous sketch by Sam, here is my card.

I combined 4 different stamp sets to create this card, I will share the pictures of them at the end of this post, just so you can see how they look like and maybe find them and enjoy them, they are unfortunately, retired.

The images are stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black in onto a piece of white card stock and colored with my Prismacolor pencils and paper stumps dipped in baby oil. I punched the butterfly with SU Elegant Butterfly punch. I added some Wink of Stella to it's wings and the flowers.

Here is a close up hoping you can see the shimmer.

The panel is die cut with an old die, unfortunately I'm not sure but I think it's a Flourishes die, please correct me if I'm wrong. The sentiment in front is heat embossed in white, I first stamped it in black ink but it didn't look nice at all, so luckily I hadn't remove the stamp from the MISTI so I just inked it up with Versamark and stamped it again, the MISTI made it perfect.

Here is a picture of the finished inside.

Here is the sketch that inspired this card.

And here are the stamp sets I used to create it, this first one is called Peaceful Petals and it's from the SU 2014 Occasions Mini.

This one is also a SU set called "Peace Within" and it's from the 2009-2010 Idea Book and Catalog.

This one is from Flourishes and it's called "Humming Along", I think it's from 2012.

This one, also from Flourishes is called "Country Charm Labels", don't know the year.

I give you the names and pictures of this stamp sets just in case you can find them out there, I've found several of my Flourishes and SU stamps on Ebay.

Thank you so much for stopping by today, until next time, hugs from Maria.

CAS Tulips for Friends.....

Hello everyone: I have a card I made for the CAS Colours and Sketches Challenge #163, here is my card.

This beautiful Tulip is from a retired Flourishes stamp set called "Tulips for Friends", I stamped it onto a panel of Canson water color paper with Stazon Jet Black ink and colored it with my aqua painter and SU markers in Real Red, Garden Green and Chocolate Chip. 

The challenge consists of 3 colors, Real Red, Mint Macaroon and Cucumber Crush, I used the Garden Green to color the leaves, the frame around this beautiful bloom is cut out of Mint Macaroon CS. The sentiment is from the same set and it's stamped in Real Red ink.

I added some Rhine Stones in a color that is very close to Cucumber Crush, the rules of this challenge is that, if you do not have this specific colors of the challenge, you can substitute with a color that resembles the one they ask for, which I think it's really fabulous.

Here is a picture of the finish inside.

Here is a picture of the stamp sets I used, just so you can see how they look like, they've been loved for a long time.

This picture is looking outside my window onto the back yard, it's snowing, (sigh!)

I used the little tulips on the left side to embellish the inside of my card. This is another beautiful set by Flourishes.

And here are the colors from CAS Colours and Sketches.

Thank you for stopping by, until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Pinwheels SPINNING for CASology.....

Hello everyone: The Cue Card this week at CASology is SPIN so, I made this card that I'm hoping is CAS enough for this challenge, I admit I went a bit out of the box here for the requirements for this style but I'm going to take a leap of faith and get it in there anyway. Here is my card.

I really tried to keep the embellishments to a minimum but I think that pot might exceed the rules.

This Pinwheel image is from a retired Flourishes set called "Pinwheels and Popsicles", I stamped it directly on my card base with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored it with my Prismacolor pencils and paper stumps, I used only the oil that it's already soaked into the stump, I really didn't need more.  I wrapped a piece of Natural Jute around the pot, I think it looks better than just leaving it plain.  The sentiment is from the same set and it's stamped with SU Rich Razzleberry ink.

Here is a picture of the finished inside.

The sentiment is from a Hero Arts set called "Happy Today" and it's stamped also with Rich Razzleberry ink. 

Here are the pictures of this pretty stamp sets, this first one is from Flourishes.

This next stamp set is from Hero Arts and it was gifted to me by my sweet and dear friend Patti Willey, thank you so much Patti.

This is the Cue Card for the CASology challenge.

Thank you for stopping by, until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Up, Up and Away in my Beautiful Balloons.....

Hello everyone: I'm a little late with this post, I usually post early in the mornings but today, I've been super busy cleaning up my craft room and getting rid of stuff that was just cluttering it, (you know what I mean, right?)
Anyway, while I was cleaning the closet I spotted a rectangular box, skinny and tall, it was behind some bags of fabric and yarn, (that are already in the donation box for my 11 year old granddaughter's Art Club in school).  I grabbed this box and opened and inside were 5 rolls of beautiful, pastel colored Vellum, untouched and unopened, from Martha Stewart. There was also, 5 other rolls of Glassine paper in Red, Blue, Pink, Green and Orange, really pretty. But I digress.....The card I made today is for a couple of challenges, the Muse Challenge #155 and the CAS(E) this Sketch! which will close in about 16 hours, I already submitted a card, you can see it HERE if you'd like, it was posted on February 26th., I just wanted to give this challenge another try. Here is my card.

As many of you know, I adore the House Mouse mice, and this image is no exception, the only thing about it is that it belongs to a BIG stamp called "Fall Commuters", here is a picture of the whole stamp.

Can you find the little mouse I used? When I saw the Muse card I really loved it but, I didn't have an image that would really fit the challenge and then, I remember this stamp, so I grabbed it and, after a ton of washi tape for masking the rest of the mice, I isolated the one I wanted. After a couple of trials on scrap paper I was finally satisfied that all of the leaves and other mice were covered, I inked it up with Stazon Jet Black ink, removed the washi tape and,  holding my breath and hoping the Stamp-a-magig was not going to move, I stamped it onto my panel of Canson water color paper.

Phew!! the image came out perfect!!!

I sponged the sky with Broken China distress ink leaving some white spots to resemble clouds, then I sponged the bottom part with Peel Paint distress ink for the grass,  added some flowers and grass with some stamps from Purple Onion and Art Impressions, I colored my little mouse with the dark brown Prismacolor pencil and stamped the sign and the sentiment. 

Then, I grabbed my balloon dies and cut one with each color of Glassine paper, I love it, the paper is transparent and the balloons look real.

Using SU markers, I drew the string from each balloon to this little hands, the balloons are attached with a little piece of double sided tape.

Here is a picture of the finished inside.

The sentiment is from SU "Curly Cute" and the fireworks are from The Ton.

Here is the Muse card that inspired mine.

And the CAS(E) this Sketch! banner.

Thank you for stopping by, until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Come in, the water's great!!!!!

Hello everyone: This is my second post for today, sometimes I get the good old MOJO flowing so I take advantage. When I saw the inspiration photo at the Merry Monday Challenge and the request for us to go TROPICAL with our Christmas cards, my mind rushed to the adorable and sadly retired SU "Snow Day" stamp set from the 2013-2014 Holiday Mini. I had so much fun building up this card.

Ok, the challenge photo showed a snowman made with sand so I totally went in that direction. I stamped this image with SU Baked Brown Sugar ink with a "second generation" stamping, so the color wouldn't be so dark, then the hunt began for images to add to this sandy scene. I knew I had some stamps with beach accessories that I had for years and years, looked for it in the box marked "Kids" and there it was, the beach ball, sand pail, little shovel and the refreshing Margarita Mr. Sandman is holding are from that set, the adorable flip flops are punched, I think this punch is from EK Success, got it at the dollar bin, I always look in there, it's amazing what I've found over the years. I used the SU Gorgeous Grunge stamp set to make some "sand and pebbles", I think it worked out real good. Here is a picture of this cute accessories.

I just stamped them, colored them and snipped them out, just look at those flip flops, so darn cute.

Here is a picture of Mr. Sandman with his cold drink, I added a cap from the set, to keep it looking "Wintry?" LOL!! 

Those fancy sunglasses are from an old sheet of stickers, I snipped them out to eliminate the border and carefully colored the place on his face where I was going to put them, they were clear and I wanted dark glasses, after I did this, I peeled the top part and placed them on his smiley face. The drink is stamped twice, once on the panel on top of the hand and the second time on a piece of white card stock, colored, snipped out and glued in place. The sun is die cut with THIS stamp and die set. I added a teeny pom pom to the hat, the top part was impossible to cut out and it looks so cute too.

Here is a picture of the finish inside. The sentiment totally says it all.

Here are a few pictures of this cute stamp sets. 

And here is the inspiration photo that totally inspired this card.

See what I mean? 

Thank you for stopping by today, until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Calla Lilies for Mojo Monday #437.....

Hello everyone: It's time for another fabulous sketch over at the MOJO MONDAY challenge blog. I'm so very ready for Spring, Easter, warmer temperatures, flowers, the good old Planet Earth waking up from the long and cold slumber of Winter so, I went with soft colors for my card and a beautiful image of Calla Lilies.

 I stamped this flowers, from the retired Flourishes set called "Calla Lilies", onto Canson water color paper with Stazon Jet Black ink and colored the flowers with the white Prismacolor pencil and the stems, ribbon and little chick, from retired Flourishes set called "Signs of Spring", with SU markers and the aqua painter. I was going to leave the flowers with no color but the water color paper has a off white hue and I wanted the flowers white. The sentiment is from the dollar bin at my local craft store. The pattern paper is from Lili of the Valley and the seam binding ribbon is from SU in Daffodil Delight.

I die cut all of this images with Spellbinders scalloped oval dies. 

Here is a picture of the finish inside.

The sentiment is from another Flourishes set called "Lenten Rose", I stamped a partial image from the same set as in front, both using Wild Wasabi ink.

Here is the sketch that inspired this card.

 

Here are the pictures of this 3 stamp sets.

Thank you for stopping by, until next time, happy stamping,

Hugs from Maria.

Butterfly Kisses for Retro Rubber #33.....

Hello everyone: I have a card to share with you today for our new Retro Rubber  challenge this week.  With Spring just around the corner, I wanted to change the colors and images a little to keep thinking of warmer temperatures, sunny days, flowers blooming, butterflies fluttering about.....So here is a card that hopefully will send a bit of warmth your way.

This images are from two sets of Stampin Up! stamps and punches you probably recognize. The beautiful Papillion Potpourri stamp set with the Small Butterfly punch came out in 2012-2013  catalog and both are still available.  The equally beautiful Petite Petals stamp set with it's companion punch came out in 2014, this is also still available.
I stamped the images onto Canson water color paper, colored them with the aqua painter and SU markers and punched them out, then I die cut the circles from a strip of white card stock,  using the smallest one from the Spellbinders Nestabilities Circle dies .  The top embossed panel is done with SU "Delicate Designs" Textured Impressions embossing folder, I just love the lacy look of it.
The pattern paper is from Lili of the Valley, the sentiment is from a retired Flourishes stamp set called "Tulips for Friends", stamped with Tempting Turquoise ink and it's die cut using the Spellbinders Shapeabilities die set called Ribbon Banners . Here is a picture of the finished inside.

And here is the sketch that inspired this card.



Thank you so much for stopping by, I hope you give this fun sketch challenge a try, we can't wait to see what you create in the gallery.  Until next time, happy stamping.
Hugs from Maria.

Happy Leap Year!!!!!

Hello everyone: Well, it's here, February 29th. 2016, it's funny but, I for one, never really paid to much attention to this day, all I know is that it happens every 4 years and, according to THIS explanation, it's because actually, the Earth takes 365.24 to go around the Sun so, they (who ever "they" are), added one day to our calendar every 4 years to keep the Seasons of the year synchronized otherwise, the Seasons would shift around the calendar and then, every 750 years June would be in the middle of Winter.....so weird that would be!!!
Anywho, over at the "Just Us Girls" has a photo inspiration challenge for today, February 29th. so here is my card.

This image is from a company called "Alotastamps", that apparently closed it's doors a while back, I tried to look for this stamp and I couldn't find it, but I love this frog, happily submerged into what appears to be a Martini....."Shaken not Stirred" please!! Hmm.. I don't know about this one, I think it's both shaken and stirred, LOL!!

I just stamped the happy froggy onto a panel of Canson water color paper and colored it with my new Derwent pencils, the color green is just perfect for this frog. The olives were colored with SU Old Olive, I stamped one extra and snipped it out and placed it there on the side falling, I think this frog is just about done!!

I added a bit of Crystal Effects to the glass and the drops.

Here is a picture of the finished inside.

This stamps are from the Retired SU "Happy Hour" stamp set.

Here is the picture that inspired this card.

Thank you for stopping by, until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.