Caroling Chicks.....

Hello everyone: I love to combine challenges every chance I have so this time I'm playing at  Mojo Monday with a really fabulous sketch by Julie Tilman , Merry Monday with the theme "Christmas Carols" picked by awesome Bonnie Klass and the Holly Jolly Christmas Challenge , USE YOUR STASH challenge, Here is my card.

This adorable image is from Stamping Bella and it's called Caroling Chicks , so cute, don't you think? This was a quick image to color, I stamped it onto Canson water color paper with Stazon Jet Black ink and colored it with SU markers and the aqua painter, I colored the musical notes with gold gel pen, I stamped the sentiment with Coastal Cabana ink, the patter paper on the small rectangle is retired from SU, the other one with polka dots is from my stash.

I die cut a snow flake. added a Rhine Stone to the center then, I  punched a circle with silver foil paper and ran it through the big shot with the polka dot embossing folder. 

Here is a picture of the finished inside of my card.

The sentiment is from a set by Power Poppy called Poinsettia , gorgeous images in this set. 

The Mistletoe and little gift are from another Power Poppy set called Merry Littles , with a whole bunch of adorable Holiday little images.

This are the banners that inspired my card.

"Use your Stash" challenge.

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

Hugs from Maria.

Butterfly Fairy.....

Hello everyone: I just stumble into a new challenge while checking a friend's blog, it's called the Alphabet Challenge , every week they go to a new letter in the Alphabet, this is very clever so, this time the challenge is "B is for Butterfly". I have a few stamps and dies with butterflies but I also  have my amazing collection of plain rubber Fairy stamps my aunt gave me a couple of years ago, after she found them in a thrift store, in a box, dusty, dirty, abandoned and unloved. I think this images were made for me, I washed them and now I'm enjoying playing with them. I'm linking this card also to the Retro Sketches #208 and the Craft your Passion #305 "Always Anything Goes". Here's my card.

I followed the sketch from Retro Sketches to create my card. The Fairy is stamped onto Canson water color paper with Stazon Jet Black ink and colored with SU markers and Prismacolor pencils.  I created a little landscape and I really tried to make it look like the sun was setting, since this Fairy is resting her head so I figured maybe she is going to sleep. I just sponged the sky with various distress inks and sketched the mountains in the distance, I colored them too with the markers. The "top" of the trees are done with the tip of a Fern stamp, the pattern paper is from Lili of the Valley.

I stamped the big butterfly from SU Papillion Potpourri onto water color paper and colored it with markers and pencils too. The golden corner embellishments are die cut with a Spellbinders die set.

I added a little charm that says "dream" and I put a lavender Rhine Stone to cover the hole.

Here is a picture of the finished inside of my card.

The sentiment is stamped with Rich Razzleberry ink and it's from the Flourishes set called "Orchids"

Here are the banners that inspired my card.

And here are the stamps I used to create my card.

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

Baby, Baby!!...

Hello everyone: Well, it's time for a new Retro Rubber  challenge and this one is super fun because it's ANYTHING GOES!! This really allows you to get your Mojo going, your creative juices flowing and let your imagination take over.  I haven't made a Baby card lately but I like to have some at hand for those awesome times when someone announces they are having a little baby, I made it in neutral colors, most times the parents to be don't want to know if there is a girl or a boy on the way.

This images are from a retired Flourishes stamp set called "Hello Baby" and it's cute as can be. I stamped the little onesie and booties onto Canson water color paper with Stazon Jet Black ink and colored them with SU markers and the aqua painter using Pistachio Pudding SU ink, then I fussy cut them and placed them on the panel with foam dimentionals. The pattern paper is from Lili of the Valley and the sweet rocking horse trim is from my stash, I couldn't believe the color was an almost spot on match.  I stamped a piece of Vellum with one of the stamps on this set with gray ink and the sentiment with the same Pistachio Pudding ink.  The bow is from a ball of yarn that it's just so soft and airy, I used a button brad to hold the loops and two smaller ones for the booties. 

Here is a picture of the finished inside.

I just love this sentiment from another Baby set by Flourishes.

Here is the banner that inspired my card.

And the picture of the stamp sets I used to create my card.

This set, "Baby Love" was released in 2009.

This one, called "Hello Baby" was released in 2012.

Thank you for stopping by, I hope you give this challenge a try, we would love to see your creations in the gallery. 

Until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

It's all about the Shoes!!!!!

Hello everyone: I have a card to share with you today that I'm linking to the "Less is More"  "Polka Dot" challenge this week, here is my card.

This is a super old stamp and I can't even remember when I got it, I do think I bought it at my local craft store, the stamp is from B Line Designs, LLC. but I went to look for it and I think it's discontinued. I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto a piece of white card stock with Versamark ink and then heat embossed it 3 times with black embossed powder, the sentiment is from a retired Kraftin Kimmie stamp set called Cinderella. 

Here is a picture of that embossed shoe, looks so much prettier in person.

And here is a picture of the finished inside of my card.

The sentiment is from Flourishes and the line of shoes is from my stash of unknown stamps.

Here is the banner from "Less is More"

POLKA DOTS.

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

Hugs from Maria.

The Little Mermaid.....

Hello everyone, I have a super sweet card (if I say so myself) I made with another beautiful stamp from my "lost and found" stash of plain rubber images of Fairies and Mermaids that my dear aunt gave me a couple of years ago. She found them at a thrift store inside a cardboard box, dirty, abandoned and unloved until I got my hands on them and, after a good soak in soapy water I brought them back to life. For a long time I didn't know where they came from, there was no information on them at the time but now, I know they were made and sold by a company called Sweet Pea Rubber Stamps that, unfortunately, has closed it's doors last November.
Anyway, here is this card I made for the Seize the Birthday with a "Toppings" option of WATER and the Match the Sketch challenge, I just change it to a vertical and added the stamped bubbles on the side as the sketch asks for, I hope it's ok., I didn't want to add ribbon or a piece of card stock so the bubbles are there instead.

This sweet image reminds me of Ariel, from the movie "The Little Mermaid", sitting on that rock, surrounded by all the "fish folk" and listening to poor Sebastian trying to convince her that "Under the Sea" life is so much better than up here, I kind of think so too.

As always, I stamped the image onto Canson water color paper and colored it with SU markers, the aqua painters, (I actually bought myself a new set) and added shadows and highlights with my Prismacolor pencils, I'm liking this way of coloring my images a lot.

Here is a close up of this sweet little Ariel, the shells are from a Flourishes set called "Seaside Life".

The shells are stamped, colored, fussy cut and propped with foam dimensionals, the sentiment is from another Flourishes set called "Pinwheels and Popsicles", I used the same set for the sentiment in front, the bubbles are from Designs by Ryn , you can have the stamps mounted or just plain rubber.

Here is a picture of the finished inside of my card.

And here is the banners that inspired this card.

WATER

And here are the stamps I used to create this card.

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

Hugs from Maria.