Mousy Nap Time.....

Hello everyone: It's been a very mild Autumn up here in the Mid-West, yesterday we had temperatures in the low 70's!!! and it felt wonderful, we took advantage of it and finished racking the gazillions of leaves that finally fell from all the trees in our back and front yards, there are still some stubborn ones hanging on them but, for the most part, the trees are bare.
Today's card is a Mousy one, most of you guys know how much I adore the House Mouse siblings, they are always doing something cute or mischievous, sweet and funny, this image is no exception. I will link this card to a few challenges at the end of this post.

Didn't I tell you? Don't you just want to grab the knitted cap carefully, pick up their scattered little toys and take them with you?  I do, this image is so darn adorable and it's perfectly called  Snow Cap Nap  (HMCP55)

I stamped it onto a piece of Strathmore Muli Media water color paper with Stazon black ink and colored it with a few SU markers, I had to put several layers of Real Red on the cap to get the deep color I wanted, the rest of the image was super easy to do. 

The patter paper is from my stash of Holiday papers, the ribbon from my still abundant ribbon stash. 

The sentiment here is made Power Poppy's stamp set Cozy Cupfuls; only the word COZY is inked up from one of the sentiments to go together with the other sentiment from the set, I think it says it all.

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

The sentiment is from another beautiful Power Poppy stamp set by Marcella Hawley called Ponsettia and the warm mittens from the set Merry Littles, also from Power Poppy.

I would like to enter this card onto the following challenges.

Christmas Sweet Stamping Challenge Blog "Anything Christmas Goes"

Simon Says Stamp "Christmas Critters"

Crafty Creations Challenge #328 "Animals"

ABC Christmas Challenge "W for Wishes"

C.R.A.F.T Challenge #390 "Christmas" Anything that fits with this subject.

Thank you for stopping by, I always read all the comments you so kindly leave on my posts, I want you to know I appreciate this more than words can express.

Until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria. 

Olive and Oak Thanks.....

Hello everyone: When I saw this image over at the Power Poppy on line store, I immediately loved it but, it was a digi and, well.....I really like it better on a set so I patiently waited for Marcella to create a Photopolymer set with it and, when my patience was finally rewarded, I pounced on this gorgeous set called Olive and Oak.  As you can see, it needs nothing to look amazing, so I kept the design of my card simple, not clean mind you, just simple. I was tempted to add something like sequences or a bow but I decided to just let this lovely image speak for itself, all I added is a piece of ribbon that I bought the other day for $1.00 that happened to have the perfect colors for this card, hope you like it.

I stamped the image onto Strathmore Multi Media water color paper with Stazon black ink and colored it with SU markers, some ink refills and the aqua painter. I added some Baked Brown Sugar splatters with the retired SU set called "Gorgeous Grunge", I'm telling you, this set is the best to add really awesome details to your cards, the sentiment is from the same set.

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

The sentiment and the acorn image are from the set, the little frame from a retired Flourishes set called "Country Charm Labels".

I would like to enter this card onto the following challenges.

Kitty Bee Designs Challenge #84 "Fall Colors"

Dragon's Lair Designs November Photo Inspiration Challenge, I went with the colors.

Creative Corner Challenges Team Mel "Thank You"

Fashionable Stamping Challenges Challenge #117 "Tis the Season" Autumn or Winter.

Come and Get It Challenges "Ribbon or Twine"

Dragonfly Journeys Challenge #79 "Thankful Heart"The Card Concept, I think my card falls into the "Classy and Elegant" category, at least I hope so. 

JustFfor Fun Rubber Stamps November Challenge "Give Thanks"

Thank you for stopping by, I always read every single comment you so kindly leave on my posts, I want you to know I appreciate this more than words can express.

Until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

A Little Reminder.....

Hello everyone: Well, half of November is gone, I can't believe it, time has just been flying by and soon, Christmas will be here, but for now, it's time for the middle of the month reminder for all of you for THE FLOWER CHALLENGE, there is still plenty of time to enter this month's challenge with a theme of OCCASIONS, whether is a Holiday or a Birthday, a Thank You or a Wedding, a New Baby or a New Home, just create a flowery card and share with us in the gallery.
Here is my card made with a stamp called "Morning Glory" that was given to me by my dear friend and card swapping buddy Lisa Poe. I love this sweet, delicate flowers.

I stamped this image onto a panel of Strathmore multi media water color paper (this has become my new favorite water color paper, it's smoother and whiter that others) with Versafine black ink and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder then, colored it with SU markers and the aqua painter, the inside of the flowers were highlighted with Prismacolor pencils.

The pattern paper is from Lili of the Valley, the wood grain panel was stamped with retired SU background stamp called "Hardwood", added some sequences and ribbon from my stash.

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

For the inside, I combined 3 different stamp sets to get the look I wanted. The bolder sentiment is from Power Poppy's set called Potted Primroses and the curved sentiment is from another Power Poppy set called Go Wild, I love how pliable the Photopolymer stamps are, I was able to curve this sentiment to fit it under the other one.

The beautiful Morning Glory image in the lower corner is from a retired Flourishes set called "A Year of Flowers 2".

I hope you join us in the gallery and go and see my amazing teammates cards on THE FLOWER CHALLENGE  blog and be sure to hop over their blogs for the details of their creations.

Please read the rules of our challenge, they are few and easy and don't forget to paste our banner on your post if you want to enter our challenge. Here it is for you.

Thank you for stopping by, I always read all the comments you so kindly leave on my posts, I want you to know I appreciate this more than words can express.

Until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

From the desk of.....

Hello everyone: I have a project to share with you today that is not a card although it does have a water colored panel on it. When I saw this week's theme for the SHOPPING OUR STASH challenge, I must confess I got stumped, because the theme is called "Front and Center" which means "create a project using something already out on your desk".
I have a small box on the left and back side of my desk where I put stuff that I kind of meant to finish, some die cuts that were not used because I changed my mind, stamped images that didn't stamp correctly, etc.  On October 13th. I saw THIS TUTORIAL  at Stamp Smiles, and I thought it was really cute and easy to do so, I just grabbed some card stock and follow the directions all the way to the scoring and that's where I stopped, I got busy with other stuff, like finishing some cards for my DT challenge duties, or just for challenge participation so, I just left this project in that box and forgot about it.  But then the SHOPPING OUR STASH challenge asked to use something already on your desk and that brought back the memory of this very cute and useful Post It Note Holder so I decided to finish it, and here it is. The directions are on the link I gave you, the only thing I did different was to double up on the panel for the holder, because a single layer of the card stock was not very sturdy.

Isn't it really cool? I think it would be a really fabulous gift for teachers or co-workers. The water colored image is from a retired SU set called "Every Moment", I just love this sweet little bird perched on the Catails. I did a bit of masking to fill the sides with one of the Catail images.

I colored it with SU markers and the aqua painter, the grass was done by inking the grass only from a Unity Stamp set called "Your Wings Exist" with a Wild Wasabi SU marker, a little sponging for the sky and grass and that was it. 

Here is a picture of how it looks when you open it.

I hope you can see the double layer of card stock. One more thing.....I cut one of this panels 1/16th of an inch larger on both the short and long sides just to accommodate the folding of both panels after I glue them together.

I hope you like this project and give it a try and, for more awesome inspiration, hop over my teammates blogs to see what they did with the stuff laying around on their desks. This is a great way to utilize this bits and pieces and unfinished projects or cards to clear your working table.

I would like to enter this project onto the following challenges.

Craft Your Passion Challenges #338 "Anything Goes"

The Paper Nest Dolls Challenge #11 "Anything Goes"

Love To Scrap Challenge #89 "Fancy my Fold"

Artistic Inspiration Challenge Challenge #167 "Anything Goes"

Crafty Boots Challenges "Things with Wings"

Thank you for stopping by, I always read all the comments you so kindly leave on my posts, I want you to know I appreciate this more than words can express.

Until next time, happy stamping. 

Hugs from Maria.