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Tuesday, December 19, 2017

We Wish You a Very Pink Christmas.....

Hello everyone: I have a super cute Christmas card done in pretty much non traditional colors to inspire you to join my SHOPPING OUR STASH teammates in our gallery.
The theme is to use mostly the color PINK in your creations, we can't wait to see what you come up with. This challenge will run for 2 weeks instead of the normal 1 week, we know how busy this time of the year can be, with all the preparations for family visits and friends dropping by so, one extra week will be just fabulous for all of us.


This card was made with mostly stuff from my stash of ribbons, left over die cut paper (the frame was cut last month I think, for a card but I changed my mind), I knew I had some die cut greetings in my little box where I keep them and there it was, the "Merry" word, all I did was to die cut it again on some fun foam for dimension, I also found there the three little Christmas Lights there, also left over from another project. The background paper is from my stash of pattern papers.
The sweet little Elf is from a My Favorite Things set called "Santa's Elves", I purchased a while back on Ebay but never used so, I combined a bit of old and new on my card.  I stamped this little sweetie with Versafine black ink and colored it with SU markers and the aqua painter, I added a bit of gold gel pen to the jingle bell on her hat.

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I always finish the inside of all my cards, this saves me time when I need to mail them.
I stamped all of this images with Tim Holts distress ink in Picked Raspberry.


So I hope you have a few minutes that you can squeeze in between shopping and cleaning to play along with us. For more inspiration, please go to the SHOPPING OUR STASH BLOG and check out the beautiful cards my teammates have there for you.

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 them more than words can express. 
Until next time, happy stamping.
Hugs from Maria.



Friday, December 15, 2017

A Little Reminder.....

Hello everyone: We have come to the half way point at THE FLOWER CHALLENGE "Anything but a Card" challenge so, here I am with a fun, and easy project for you that can be useful at the same time. Hope it gets you inspired to join my teammates and me in our gallery.


This is a Handmade Card and Tag holder that can later be used as a pretty organizer for your work desk. You can put pencils, pens, note pads, etc. 
You can see the VIDEO HERE, Angelina has the measurements for this project and easy to follow directions on her video.  
She also provides the link to the tags on her project so CLICK HERE to see how she made her tags, of course you can decorate this project in any way you want to and fit it to any occasion or season.
The flower on the front panel of this greeting card and tag holder is an Amaryllis, which is a flower you also see during the Holidays.
I hope you come and join us and play along, this projects are fun and easy to create and make super gifts for teachers, although I think anyone would be thrilled to receive one.

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 them more than words can express.
Until next time, happy stamping.
Hugs from Maria.

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Holiday Tags for SOS.....

Hello everyone: I've been absent for a while taking care of some family issues but now, I'm very happy to be back doing this that I love so much.
The SHOPPING OUR STASH challenge blog has a new theme for you to play with that I'm sure will help you a lot as the Holidays approach fast.
The theme is TAGS, which we all need to put them on our gifts under the Christmas Tree.
Here are a couple I made to inspire you to join my teammates and I in our gallery.


This tags are made with a favorite and sadly retired Stampin' Up! set called "Winter Memories".
I just made the tags with the SU "Scalloped Tag Punch", decorated each panel with an embossing folder, stamped my images and colored them with Prismacolor pencils.
The ribbon and gold thread are from my stash.  I plan to make more tags with other pretty images, the recipients of the gifts will surely love them.
On the inside there is enough room to write the name of the recipient and who is the gift from.

I hope you decide to come and play with us at the SHOPPING OUR STASH CHALLENGE, this tags can be easily mass produced with the MISTI and colored with any medium you'd like. 

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 them more than words can express.
Until next time, happy stamping.
Hugs from Maria.

Monday, December 4, 2017

Ceramic Tile Coasters.....

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Hello everyone: The new challenge at THE FLOWER CHALLENGE  is to make "ANYTHING BUT A CARD".  Now, that means you can make any project as long as FLOWERS are the main focus.
Some time ago while browsing Pinterest, I saw THIS VIDEO  by Tami White and Vanessa Brown about how to make beautiful coasters with ceramic tiles and stamped images, I thought it was simply amazing, beautiful and easy to do so I decided to give it a try.  I went to my local Home Depot (or any store of this type) to look for the tiles and I found them with no trouble and here are the tiles I made with them.




I followed the directions Tami gave on the video, I cleaned the dust from the tiles and stamped the images with Stazon black ink, I was amazed at how clearly the images were on the tile.
Then I colored with a set of chalks I had and never really used until now.
The images are from a set from Flourishes that has the flowers of each month, I really love how they look all colored, so very pretty. I stamped all 12 months and put little rubber feet on the other side, they really are waterproof after a couple of coats of the clear acrylic sealant.
I truly love the way they came out, it's simple and easy and fast, each tile took me like 10 minutes to color, the drying time of the two coats of sealant took longer. I do recommend you take your tiles outside to spray, or if it's cold or raining, take them to the garage for proper ventilation.
There is a second video that you can watch HERE with more samples.

So I hope this inspires you to do this project or, for more inspiration go check out what my teammates created at THE FLOWER CHALLENGE blog and leave them some comment love.

When you upload your project, please include the logo for this challenge, you can copy and paste it from the one at the top of my post.
Please read our rules, they are simple but important, and come and play along with us in our gallery, we can't wait to see what you create.

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 them more than words can express.
Until next time, happy stamping.
Hugs from Maria.


Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Snowbuddy Likes You.....

Hello crafty friends: It's time for a new challenge over at SHOPPING OUR STASH, the theme is SNOW or anything that has to do with it, this is another chance for you to increase your Holiday card stash so, get busy and join my teammates and I in our gallery.
This is the card I made to inspire you to play along.


These cute little characters and the fence are from Purple Onion Designs, Snowy the Winter OwlWinterberry (Small Snowman) and Snowy Fence, I did a bit of masking to stamp the Snowman in front of the fence, easy peasy.
Colored with Sakura Koi water colors.
I used a Snow Fall stencil to apply Ranger Texture Paste Opaque over my panel and on the fence and ground, I found 4 leftover snowflakes I've cut for another project and added them to the corners with glue dots, I also placed a Rhine Stone in the center of each for a bit of bling.
The sentiment is from a retired SU set called "Snow Much Fun".

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I always finish the inside of my cards, this saves me a lot of time when I need to mail them.


Both the sentiment and the little bird are from the same SU set.

So I hope you hop over the SHOPPING OUR STASH blog to get more inspiration from my teammates and come on and play along.

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 them more than words can express. 
Until next time, happy stamping.
Hugs from Maria.


Wednesday, November 15, 2017

A Little Reminder.....

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Hello everyone: My teammates and I at THE FLOWER CHALLENGE, want to thank everyone who participated in our First Anniversary Challenge.  The gallery was full of gorgeous cards, featuring all kinds of styles and techniques, we had such a great time looking at them, visiting your blogs and leaving you some comment love.  We enlisted the help of Mr. Random Number Generator to pick the winners of the prizes we had for you and I hope you will enjoy your goodies when they arrive if they haven't arrived already.  Thank you, thank you for making this challenge blog a success in our first year, we couldn't have done it without you.
So, here we go with our challenge for the month of November.  This time we want to see CAS cards.
Here is mine and I hope it inspires you to come and play along with us.


I must confess I'm still not very comfortable with the CAS style, I always hesitate about submitting my cards because I feel there is something missing.  In a CAS card there has to be a lot of "empty" space, no embellishments and a main image that leaves enough area around, I hope my sentiment didn't clutter the panel.
This image is from an old Flourishes set called Magnolias, love this amazingly fragrant flowers.
I decided to try to "color" this flowers with just my Black and White Prismacolor pencils after I watched THIS VIDEO, I thought it was a beautiful technique so I decided to give it a try. I don't have the paper she used so I just stamped my image with Stazon black ink onto a piece of light gray card stock. I sharpened my two pencils and went to work, using my white pencil on the areas that had no shading, then using the black pencil to add a bit of detail and contour. 
I thought of coloring the leaves a light green but decided to just do the whole image in white.
I also thought of adding some Rhine Stones or Nuvo Drops but I stopped myself, after all, this needs to stay as CAS as possible.

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I always finish the inside of my cards, this saves me a lot of time when I mail them.

 

I made the inside also CAS, but this time I stamped all of the images in light green.

I hope you come and join us at THE FLOWER CHALLENGE CAS challenge, give this style of card making a try, after all, this is a challenge, right?
Don't forget to stop by the blog and check out my teammates' creations and leave them some sweet comment love.
Please don't forget to add our banner to your post and link back to us, read our rules, they are simple but important and most of all, have fun.
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 them more than words can express.
Until next time, happy stamping.
Hugs from Maria.



Tuesday, November 14, 2017

On the Road Again.....

Hello stamping friends: This week at SHOPPING OUR STASH, my teammates and I have a new fun challenge for you to play with. The theme is TRANSPORTATION and we would love for you to join us in our gallery.  I made this card that I hope will inspire you to play along.


I love Shopping My Stash of old and beloved sets and this one is one my favorites.

This images are from a retired Stampin' Up! set called "Loads of Love", it made it's debut back in 2004  but I didn't buy it until much later, I love the little truck and all the fun accessories you can load on it.  One of my Triathlon friends is finally moving to her new home, after living in a small apartment with her husband, 2 little boys and two small doggies.  I know there are 3 doggies on this card but I told her that maybe now that she has a nice back yard, they could get a third, LOL!! 
I stamped all of this images on Strathmore watercolor paper and colored them with some SU markers, I stamped the truck two more times and cut the back portion of it to accommodate the furniture, boxes and gifts, which are some of the cute images on this set.
The background is done with SU "Lovely as a Tree", the birds are from SU "Up, Up and Away", the fence is a Martha Stewart punch.

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I've been finishing the inside of all the cards I make since January of this year and believe me, it saves a lot of time when I mail them, besides, the cards look nicely finished.


The sentiment here is from an old Flourishes set called "Magnolias", the trees from SU "Lovely as a Tree"
So I hope you come and join my teammates and me in the SHOPPING OUR STASH gallery, there you can check out what the rest of the team created for your inspiration.  Stop by their blogs and leave them some comment love.

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 them more than words can express.
Until next time, happy stamping.
Hugs from Maria.


Monday, November 13, 2017

White on White Christmas.....

Hello everyone: I have one more Christmas card to add to my stash, which is quite LARGE😉
I participate in Christmas challenges all year round so, by the time the Holidays are here, I'm ready with a lot of (excuse me for tutting my own horn) really pretty cards to send to family and friends.
Here is this one I just finished, I had a bit of trouble taking the picture since it's all in white except for the sentiment, which I heat embossed in silver.


There are a lot of different dies on this card. The large one I think is from Marianne Designs and it's old, I apologize for not knowing it's name.  The Snowflake Ornament and the Bow (Precious Hearts) are from Memory Box, the sentiment is from a Power Poppy set called Cozy Cupfuls.  I added a few Rhine Stones and also, someTwinklets Diamond Dust, this stuff is AWESOME !!!!! I saw it on THIS CARD by Therese Calvrid from Lost in Paper and I just fell in love with it. It's not glitter, it's actual glass flakes so it shimmers beautifully, I hope you can see it on the card.

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I always finish the inside of my cards, this saves me time when I need to mail them. 


The sentiment is from an old Flourishes set called "Christmas Candles", the little heart from a Penny Black set called A Bright Tomorrow.

I'm playing along with the following challenges.

The Paper Players A color challenge from Nance

Crafty Friends Challenge #70 "Christmas"


Christmas Cards Challenges #25 "Christmas"

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 them more than words can express.
Until next time, happy stamping.
Hugs from Maria.

Sunday, November 12, 2017

Sweet Embroidery with the PB Mice.....

Hello everyone: I love little critter stamps, especially when they are this adorable. 
This is an image from a Penny Black stamp called Stitch in Time and, as you can see, this little mice are as cute as can be.


I stamped the image on Strathmore watercolor paper with gray Stazon ink, I wanted softer lines to be able to color using SU markers and my Prismacolor pencils and have an image that looked like I did the "no line coloring" technique, I don't know if I achieved this but I still like the way it turned out.
The sentiment is from an old, retired Flourishes set called "Smore Fun", I punched the three corners with a Martha Stewart punch.
The bow is made with a piece of twine from my stash.

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I've been finishing the inside of my cards since January of this year, it saves me a lot of time when I mail my cards and they look nicely finished.


The sentiment is from a retired Flourishes set called "Dahlias", the little critter is from Penny Black.

I would like to play with the following challenges.

Tic Tac Toe Board created by featured designer Amy Ottmers.
I chose the first horizontal row: "Sentiment/Fall Colors/Twine.

Hanna and Friends challenge #286 "Animals"

Kitty Bee Designs challenge #107 "Use at least 2 colors"

Allsorts Challenge #441 "Colors of Autumn"

Crafty Calendar Challenge November Challenge "Autumn Colors"

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 them more than words can express.
Until next time, happy stamping.
Hugs from Maria.

Saturday, November 11, 2017

Warm Woolen Mittens.....

Hello everyone: Well, I have yet another Christmas card to add to my stash, believe me, I have more than enough but, you never know if I will have a last minute request from my family for a card for a teacher or friend. I will link this card to a few challenges at the end of this post.


This image is from a Power Poppy set called Bough Wow Wow, love this cozy and warm looking mittens.  I stamped the image on Strathmore watercolor paper with Versafine black ink and clear heat embossed it, I really line the outline of the melted embossing powder to add color because it stays in place without running to the next section. I used SU markers to color the image.  The sentiment is from another Power Poppy set called Merry Littles, love the little images on it.  The embossing folder is from SU and it's called Pretty Paisleys, which is on sale right now, I love it. 
I added 4 brads to the corners from my stash.

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I always finish the inside of my cards, saves a lot of time when I mail them and they look nicely finished, believe me, it's worth the few extra minutes.


The sentiment is from the Ponsettia set from Power Poppy, the mitten from Merry Littles.

I'm playing along with the following challenges.

Merry Monday. Use Kraft card stock and the color RED. 

Daring Cardmakers "Warm Woolen Mittens"

Craft Rocket Challenge #43 "Christmas is Coming" 

C.R.A.F.T Challenge #441 "Winter"


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 them more than words can express.
Until next time, happy stamping.
Hugs from Maria.

Friday, November 10, 2017

My Favorite Season.....

Hello everyone: I love Autumn, my reasons.....the COLORS!!!!! besides the temperatures, not to hot, not to cold, are great for working outside raking leaves and getting the garden and flower beds ready for Winter.  I have a card today made with one of my favorite Altenew stamp sets called Persian Motifs, I love it for it's versatility, this flowers are perfect for any season of the year.


I stamped this images on watercolor paper, (Strathmore) and colored them with Sakura Koi watercolors. The sentiment is from a retired Flourishes set called "Lots of Thoughts", which was heat embossed in gold. I added some Rhine Stones for a little sparkle.

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I always finish the inside of my cards, it saves me a lot of time when I mail them and they look nice.


I'm playing along with the following challenges.

Creative Sketchy Girls challenge #17 "Autumn"

ATC Around the World challenge #35 "Autumn"

Creative Knockouts challenge #219 "Favorite Color Combo"

Cardz 4 Galz challenge #60 "Thank You/Thanksgiving"


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 them more than words can express.
Until next time, happy stamping.
Hugs from Maria.

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Naturally Merry.....

Hello everyone: One of the best ways to have a good stash of Christmas cards when the Holidays roll over is to participate in Christmas challenges so, here is this card to add to my stash that I will link to a few challenges at the end of this post.


This fabulous Pine Cone image is from an old and retired Flourishes set called "Naturally Merry".
This is one of my favorite sets dating back to 2012 when this company was still in business and the fabulous Marcella Hawley was designing for it. This is one of her amazing images in this set.
I stamped the Pine Cone on watercolor paper with Versafine black ink and clear heat embossed it then, colored it with Sakura Koi watercolors. When it dried, I fussy cut it and placed it on the die cut panel with foam dimensionals. The sentiment is from the set stamped with Barn Door distress ink, I placed a few red Rhine Stones to add a bit of bling, the ribbon for the bow is from my stash.

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I started finishing the inside of all the cards I make on January of this year as one of my New Year resolutions, believe me, it saves a lot of time when I mail them and the cards look nicely finished.


The sentiment is from a Power Poppy by Marcella Hawley set called Spice it Up, the little Pine Cones and Branch are from another Power Poppy set called Merry Littles, this is my "Go To" set to add some sweet detail to the inside of my cards, all the images are sweet and beautiful.

I'm playing along with the following challenges.

The Paper Players with a challenge from LeAnne.

Christmas Card Challenges, with the option of using kitties on your card, I went with the Anything Goes as long as it's Christmas.

Get Creative Challenges #64 "Holidays"

Cards und More Challenge #197 "Anything goes with RED. 

Thank you for stopping by, I always read every single comment you so kindly leave on my post, I want you to know I appreciate them more than words can express.
Until next time, happy stamping.
Hugs from Maria.


Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Sitting Here.....


Hello everyone: The SHOPPING OUR STASH Challenge has a beautiful color palate for you to play with this week, these colors are warm and bright at the same time. This card started with a totally different image, I wanted to make a leaf bouquet or spray but I just couldn't get the colors right, so I searched for another stamp set in which I can combine the colors on different images and I found it on this sweet set from Stampin' Up! called "Sitting Here" from the 2016-2017 catty, I love each of these images, perfect to create beautiful scenes for any occasion.
I also used 4 stamps from an Altenew set called "Birch Land", the branch, which I stamped twice, the leafs and the two birds.
The bench, doggie, kitty and pillows were stamped with Stazon black ink onto watercolor paper and colored with SUmarkers and inks. I did a quick watercolor wash for the sky and grass.
The sentiment is from the set and it's heat embossed with white embossing powder.


This is the color palate from which I chose the colors that were as close as possible.

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I've been finishing the inside of my cards since January of this year, this was one of my New Year resolutions, I'm loving this, it saves me tons of time when I mail my cards, I don't have to be scrambling to finish the inside anymore.


The sentiment is from my stash of unmounted rubber stamps, the little flower pot is from the set.

I'm playing along with the following challenges.

Dream Valley Challenge #167 "Add a Sentiment"

Crafty Calendar Challenge "Autumn Colors"

Hiding in my Craft Room Challenge #325 "Fall Colors"

So I hope you come along and play with us this week at SHOPPING OUR STASH, be sure to stop by the challenge blog and check out my teammates beautiful creations, you'd be happy you did.

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 them more than words can express.
Until next time, happy stamping.
Hugs from Maria.





Every Leaf is a Flower.....

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Hello everyone: There is a new challenge over at RETRO RUBBER that will help you get your Autumn/Thanksgiving cards started so, hop over to the challenge blog and check out what the rest of the team has created for your inspiration, here is my card for this challenge.


This images are from "Scene in a Garden", one of my all time favorite stamp sets from Stampin' Up!, it came out back in 2009 in the Occasions Mini. I stamped this images on watercolor paper with Stazon black ink and colored them with SU markers, Sakura Koi watercolors and the aqua painter. I masked the little pot I stamped on the left so I can just use the bottom one to stamp some little flowers from Arts Impressions. The pattern paper is from Lili of the Valley, the spray of leaves are die cut with a die set from Impression Obsession.

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I always finish the inside of my cards, saves a ton of time when I'm ready to mail them.


The beautiful sentiment and leaf are from Our Daily Bread.

I hope you go and dig out some of your beloved, older than one year stamps that haven't seen ink in a while and come and play with my teammates and I in the RETRO RUBBER gallery and be sure to stop by their blogs to see the way they created their beautiful cards. Please tell us how old your stamps are or how long you've had them, we surely appreciate that.

I would like to play with the following challenges.

Always Fun Challenges #31 "Watercolors" I colored the images with watercolors.

Addicted to Stamps Challenge #156 "Autumn"

Glitter 'N' Sparkle Challenge #264 "Fall Colors"

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 them more than words can express.
Until next time, happy stamping.
Hugs from Maria.

Monday, November 6, 2017

Have a Meawy Christmas.....

Hello everyone: I'm here with another Christmas card to add to my stash, you can never have enough Holiday cards to send out, right? I will link it to a few challenges at the end of this post.


I absolutely love these cats from the Katzelkraft stamp set called Les Chats Russes, you can create cards for any occasion, the expressions on their faces are just fabulous.
I stamped these two cats on a piece of Strathmore watercolor paper with Stazon black ink and colored them with SU markers and then, Prismacolor pencils for shadows and highlights. I give the images an even watercolor wash and when it's dry, I go in with the pencils.
I stamped the Christmas hats on a couple of watercolor scraps and colored them the same way.
The hats are from a Power Poppy set called Merry Littles, I just had to cut them a bit so they will fit the front panel.
The sentiment and the little music notes are from a Stamping Bella set called "Caroling Chicks", I just snipped the notes to be able to use them separate from the main image. I keep them safely stored in a mini ziplock bag with the stamp set.

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I always finish the inside of my card, this saves me time when I need to mail them.


The sentiment is from an old Flourishes set called "Naturally Merry" and the little Christmas Tree from "Merry Littles".

I'm playing along with the following challenges.

Christmas Card Challenges  Have cats on  your card.

Challenge Up Your Life "Use die cuts or punches" I used the cross stitch die.


Inspired by All the Little Things I took the colors red, black and white.

Crafty Friends Challenge #70 "Christmas"

Jingle Belles "Not a CREATURE was Stirring"

Get Creative Challenges "Holidays"

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 them more than words can express.
Until next time, happy stamping.
Hugs from Maria.


Sunday, November 5, 2017

DANCE!!!!!

Hello everyone: The sentiment on this card says some pretty amazing words that I deeply believe in. 
I think I've followed this quote to the letter pretty much all of my life, after all, if you don't try something because it might be hard, you will always wonder if you could have been successful.
I don't know if any of you have heard THIS SONG BY LEE ANN WOMACK, the lyrics always make me very sentimental, I hope you like it.
I'm not a ballet dancer but one of my Triathlon friends has a ballet studio so I often make her some tags with this beautiful ballet shoes image to give to her new students along with some goodies when they start taking the classes.


I stamped the image from Stamp Addicts on vellum with Stazon black ink and dried it a bit with the heat gun, then colored it in the back with SU markers. I stamped the sentiment (from Hampton Art) on the front. The pattern paper is from Lili of the Valley (discontinued line), ribbon and charm from my stash.

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I always finish the inside of my cards, saves me a ton of time when I mail them.


The sentiment is from Stampabilities and the flower from a retired SU set called "Fast and Fabulous"

I'm playing along with the following challenges.

Moving Along with the Times Challenge #57 "Add a Charm or Tag"
In the Pink Challenge #126 "Ribbons and or Bows"
As You Like It Challenge "Christmas or Not Christmas and why?"
I have a good stash of Christmas cards so I wanted a little bit of change.
Brown Sugar Challenge #272 "Breast Cancer Awareness"
Alphabet Challenge "Q is for Quote"

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 them more than words can express.
Until next time, happy stamping.
Hugs from Maria.

Saturday, November 4, 2017

The Flower Challenge #14.....CAS.....

Hello everyone: The First Anniversary of THE FLOWER CHALLENGE was a total success!! We want to thank all of you who participated sharing your beautiful cards on our gallery, my teammates and I had a blast admiring your creations every single day. 
CONGRATULATIONS to the winners, we hope you enjoy your prizes and continue to join us every month for the next 12 months and beyond.

 Now, our next challenge is one that many, including me, find a bit difficult to do and that is CAS.  
I like the simplicity and elegance of CAS cards but, at the same time, it's hard for me to leave a lot of empty space, I always feel like there is something missing that I need to add but I stop myself and just leave the finished card alone.
So here is my card that I hope will inspire you to come and play with my teammates and I in THE FLOWER CHALLENGE gallery.


When I'm stumped as to what to do, I always go to Pinterest for some inspiration and I'm never disappointed, it's there that I found THIS CARD  by Sarita Simmonett and decided to CASE IT. 
The flower is from a retired SU set called "Every Moment". I stamped it on a die cut piece of Strathmore Mixed Media paper with Versafine black ink and colored it with Sakura Koi watercolors.
I added a bit of bling with some tiny Rhine Stones and tied a little bow with Silver metallic thread.
The die cut word "amazing" is by Die Cuts and More.

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Here is a picture of the finished inside of my card. I always finish the inside, it saves me lots of time when I mail my cards.

I tried to keep the inside also CAS so I just stamped the sentiment from a Power Poppy set called Orchids Rock, the little bees are from another Power Poppy set called Dynamic Duos: Foxglove and Ranunculus, I very carefully snipped out these two bees from the stamp to be able to use them separate, I keep them inside a little zip lock bag taped to the set.

 I hope you come along and join my teammates and me in the gallery. Be sure to go visit THE FLOWER CHALLENGE blog to see what the rest of the Designer Team created for your  inspiration, you'll be happy you did. 
Please read our rules, they are simple but important and don't forget to add our banner to your post when you upload your card to the gallery.  Here it is so you can just copy and paste it, ok?


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 them more than words can express.
Until next time, happy stamping.
Hugs from Maria.

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Warm Inspiration from Merry Monday.....

Hello everyone: The cozy season is here and with it comes warm sweaters and mittens, hot and delicious coffee and cocoa, with all kinds of goodies on top.
This card really warms me up, I have a hot mug of strong coffee with a bit of almond creamer to sweeten it up.

The images are from a very old Cornish Heritage Farms set called "The Cafe", I love all the images of tea pots, coffee percolators, mugs, cake, muffins, etc. 
I stamped the images with Stazon black ink on a piece of Arches watercolor paper that my granddaughter gave me to try, the texture is not as smooth as my other papers but I love it, perfect for water coloring. I colored the images with SU markers and an aqua painter. The pattern paper and the ribbon are from my stash, the sentiment is from a retired SU set called "Snow Day", super cute snow man in this set.

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I always finish the inside of my cards, this saves me a lot of time when I mail them.


The sentiment is from a Power Poppy set called Ponsettia and the little mug from another Power Poppy set called Merry Littles.

I'm playing along with the following challenges.



The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #18 "Anything Christmas Goes"
Tuesday Throwdown Challenge #367 "Watercolor"
Christmas at Sweet Stamping "Anything Christmas Goes"

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 them more than words can express.
Until next time, happy stamping.
Hugs from Maria.