Peace, Joy, Love.....

Hello everyone: Well, Monday came and went for me, busy with my grandkids and granddogs , taking them to the pool, the park, or just having them here with me but, there is still time to play along with The Merry Monday challenge, hosted by Bonnie Klass and she is asking us to use the beautiful words PEACE, JOY, LOVE in our cards and, over at LiveLoveCards by Darlene DeVries, the challenge for June is LARGE SENTIMENTS, here is my card.

I don't have big sentiment stamps in my craft room, I believe this is kind of the only one from Flourishes dating back to 2012, I love this beautiful words, all decked up and happy for Christmas.

I stamped them onto a piece of Canson water color paper with Versafine Onix Black ink and cleared embossed them. I colored this images with SU markers and the aqua painter, sponged a bit of Broken China distress ink all around them and added some red Rhine Stones for some sparkle.

Here is a picture of the finished inside of my card, using the other word from the Merry Monday challenge, LOVE.

The word Love is die cut with a Penny Black die set called "Love and Joy", the ornament is from the set and it's stamped with Cherry Cobbler ink.

Here are the banners that inspired my card.

Use large sentiments.

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

Hugs from Maria.

Stamps I used.

Sip, Sip, Hurray!!!!!

Hello everyone: This week, over at the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge the theme is all about the Tropics, I unfortunately, don't live near anything like that, but now, Summer is on it's way up here in NW Indiana and we are enjoying the warmer temperatures, beautiful colors and tasty cold drinks.
To make this card, I used the sketch over at Mojo Monday, designed by Julie Tilman, excellent!!

There is nothing like a tall glass of cold, tangy lemonade when it's hot outside, right?

This image is from a retired Flourishes set called "On the Porch". I stamped it onto a panel of Canson water color paper with Versafine Onix Black ink and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder. I colored it with SU markers and the aqua painter and added some bright green Rhine Stones to the corners and the pitcher mixer, just for a bit of bling. The pattern paper is from a discontinued line from Lili of the Valley, the rest is from my stash. the sentiment is from the same Flourishes set.

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

The sentiment is from another retired set from Flourishes called "Magnolias", the little flip flops are punched with a super cute punch from EK Success.

Here are the banners that inspired my card.

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

Hugs from Maria.

Happy # 300 for The Paper Players!!!!!

Hello everyone: Today there is a fabulous sketch over at the Pals Paper Arts designed by my SU demonstrator and dear friend for many years, Mary Fish. When I saw the sketch I immediately thought of the celebration going on over at The Paper Players hosted by Jaydee and also, the CUE CARD over at CASology  "CONGRATULATIONS" so I jumped in with this card.

This card came out super fast, using the awesome images from the set Pyrotechnics from The Ton, I love, love all of this fireworks images, perfect for any occasion.

I stamped them with Versamark ink and heat emboss them using SU Tempting Turquoise, Melon Mambo and Crushed Curry embossing powders, the sentiment is from my stash and it's heat embossed in gold.

I made some score lines around the image to frame it.

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

The sentiment is from the same set and the flourish from Paper Inspirations 2005.

Here are the banners that inspired my card.

So congratulations to all the fabulous ladies of The Paper Players Design Team, you have inspired me and encouraged me ever since I started this blog just 18 short months ago, I've enjoyed participating in your challenges several times along the way.

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

Hugs from Maria.

                                                                           

Shopping Our Stash # 257.....Dresses.....

Hello everyone: It's time for another fun challenge at Shopping Our Stash, this week our theme is DRESSES, so go and find images with pretty dresses and or dress forms, and join us in the gallery, we can't wait to see what you create, here is my card.

This is an image from the Unity Stamp Co. Kit of the month called HEY GIRL, from May of 2014, it has lots of really awesome images and sentiments.

I stamped this one onto a panel of Canson water color paper and colored it with SU markers and the aqua painter but, the pink polka dot dress was stamped onto a piece of Lili of the Valley pattern paper and snipped out, I wanted this fore front dress to really stand out, I added some shadows to it with my Prismacolor pencils.

I sponged each of the corners with distress inks in the same colors as the dresses and I did the same with the sentiment, which is from Stampabilities, 2003.

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

The sentiment is stamped with SU Melon Mambo.  I hope you give our challenge a try and, if you want awesome inspiration, stop by the rest of the Design Team's blogs to see the fabulous cards they've created, we would love to see your card in the gallery.

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

Hugs from Maria.

Patriotic Rose.....

Hello everyone: It's time for a new and fun Retro Rubber challenge #41  and, with Independence Day just around the corner, our colors this time are good old Red, White and Blue, here is my card.

Some time ago, I saw THIS beautiful card on Pinterest and, ever since, I wanted to CASE it and our challenge this week gave me the perfect opportunity to do it. 

This gorgeous Rose is a single, wood mounted stamp from Stampin Up! dating back to 1998, that was gifted to me, along with another stamp of a beautiful Morning Glory, by my dear friend and card swapping buddie Lisa Poe.  She mentioned in her note that a friend of hers was at an auction and bought a box with miscellaneous goodies and, when unpacking this box, she found the two stamps at the bottom. I was more than thrilled when I saw them, this are the kinds of images I absolutely love. Just like the box of un mounted, beautiful Fairy stamps my aunt found at a second hand store, you never know what treasures you'll encounter in the most unexpected places.

I stamped this image onto a panel of Canson water color paper with Versafine Onix Black ink and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder then, I colored it with SU markers and the aqua painter, I added a bit of shadows with my Prismacolor pencils. I added some confetti stars to finish it.

The sentiment is from a retired SU set called "Perfectly Penned".

Here is a picture of the finished inside.

The images are from a retired Flourishes set called "Patriotism on Parade", I colored them with Prismacolor pencils.

This is the color challenge banner from Retro Rubber, I hope you join us and share your creations in our gallery.  Please remember that the stamps you use must be at least one year old and, if at all possible, we would love to know their age.  You can participate in up to 10 other challenges, including ours.

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

Hugs from Maria.

Stamps I used.

Bambino.....

Hello everyone: Well, I'm again, so darn late posting, I was desperately trying to find out where I got this digi image I'm using for this card and who I purchased it from, all I know is that I downloaded this image back in January 30th. of 2011 and, back then, when my printer was working, I printed it onto thick vellum and just saved it, waiting for a good reason to use it, just like with my little penguins I sketched on a piece of paper from one of my grandkids school books. But I guess I bought it because I just fell in love with it, plain and simple. Here is my card.

Isn't it just so beautiful?  I didn't do much to it in the form of color or embellishments, I knew I couldn't really achieve a perfect color for this baby so, taking the soft blue from the pattern paper, I just colored his little cap on the back of the image with SU Bashful Blue.

The rocking horse and the little safety pin are actually buttons I bought at my local craft store a long while ago, I just snipped the tab you use for sewing the buttons to the fabric and filed it down until it was flat, so I could add it to my card. The sentiment is from a retired SU stamp set called "Teddy and Train", all of this images are perfect for baby cards.

This is the picture of the finished inside of my card.

The sentiment is from a retired Flourishes set called "Hello Baby" and the little baby rattle from "Teddy and Train".

I'm linking this card to the IN{K}SPIRE_me challenge #254, I used the actual image in place of the diagonal strip and the rocking horse and safety pin as the embellishments. The sentiment is not a circle, it's punched with the retired SU "Modern Label" punch. 

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

Hugs from Maria.

PS. If any of you recognize this baby image, I hope you'll tell me, I'm really curious as to where it came from.

Stamp sets I used.

Flourishes set.

SU set.

I appreciate your comments so much, I read them all and, even if I'm a little late, I always reply to them, thank you so much for your words.

Maria.

WHAT???!! You're How Old???!!.....

Hello everyone and a very happy Father's Day to all the Dads, Grandpas, Brothers, Uncles and Sons in Law, who are surely being showered with the love of their kiddos, young and old today.
My card is for a dear Triathlon friend who's turning 50 y/o next Saturday, we've known each other for about 11 years and, during my first attempts at the sport of Triathlon, she was an important part of this process for me, she loves cats and the color yellow so, this card is for her, Happy Birthday, Janine!!!!!

This card is made with one of the fabulous images from Les Chats Russes from Katzelkraft, love those kitties. I stamped the image onto Canson 140lb. water color paper with Stazon Jet Black ink and colored it with SU markers and the aqua painter. The pattern paper is from my stash.

I needed a sentiment that would reflect the priceless expression of concern of this cat but I didn't have any that would do it for me so, I created my own by die cutting the word bubbles and writing my greetings inside.  My friend has been dreading turning 50 for about a year now, Ha!!!, like that is so bad, sheeesh!! I'm 16 years her senior, now.....that's scary, LOL!! and I don't care. 

"Age is a matter of the mind.....if you don't mind, it don't matter", words to live by.

Anyway, I'm sending this card to her tomorrow and I know I will get a phone call to thank me first and then, to let me have it!!!  Ha, ha, ha!!!

This is a picture of the inside, also funny, just so she knows how much I care, besides, isn't 50 the new 30? because I know 60 is the new 40, and that's THAT!!!!!

I'm entering this card to the Seize the Birthday "Anything goes".

And the Color Throwdown #397 

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

Hugs from Maria.