Warm Winter Wishes.....

Hello everyone: As much as we want to see some signs of Spring, it's still Winter up here in the cold Mid West, there is a dusting of snow on the ground and it's just about 28 degrees, which will be the temperature throughout the day.....oh well.....it's a good day to craft, right? so here is this card, which I hope, will give you a warm feeling, I will link it to a few challenges at the end of this post.

This card was made with several retired stamp sets, the cup is from the Flourishes set called "Grab a Cup", the cookies are from another Flourishes set called "Fresh Baked" and the sentiment from the Stampin' Up! set called "Winter Memories", I love it when I can combine my beloved stamp sets.

All of the images were stamped onto Strathmore multi media paper with Versafine black ink, heat embossed with clear embossing powder and colored with SU markers and an aqua painter. 

The cookies were fussy cut and I added Wink of Stella and a few teeny, tiny hearts punched out with a retired SU corner punch out of Cherry Cobbler card stock, love this punch, it cuts this perfect little hearts. 

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

Both the sentiment and the Poinsettia images are from a Power Poppy set called Merry Littles, perfect little images to finish the inside of my Holiday cards.

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

Merry Monday

Creatalicious Challenges "Anything Goes"+optional "Winter"

CCC Digi Creations Challenge #65 "Use die cuts and or punches"

4 CRAFTY CHICKS Challenge #335 "Water Color" (my favorite medium)

Moving Along With The Times Challenge #37 "Swirls and or Curls" Taking a chance with the Swirls on the coffee that a Barista would make. (I've only had this a cup with a design like this once, I didn't want to drink my coffee, it was just so beautiful)

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. 

Golden Azaleas.....

Hello everyone: We have a new challenge over at SHOPPING OUR STASH for you to play with, this time we want to see you use GOLD on your cards or projects.  You can heat emboss it, use gold glitter, gold paper, gold embellishments, gold inks, etc.   Here is my card that I hope inspires you to join my teammates and I in the gallery.

This lovely image is from a Power Poppy set called Azaleas. I stamped the image onto a panel of Strathmore multi media paper with Versamark ink and heat embossed it with gold embossing powder then, I colored it with SU markers and the aqua painter.

The golden frame around the image is cut from, believe it or not, Christmas wrapping paper. When we open our gifts I can't bare to throw this lovely papers away so I save them and trim the parts where they were taped and use them on cards. This challenge was a perfect opportunity to do just that. The die I used is from Spellbinders and it's called Fleur de Lis from the Decorative Elements Nestabilities collection.

The sentiment is from the set, I also use a small piece of this pretty golden paper. The ribbon is from my never ending stash.

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

The sentiment is from a retired Flourishes set called "S'more Fun", the border is from a new Stampin Up! set from the Sale-a-bration brochure and it's called "Delicate Details", I know this is brand new on my stash but I couldn't help it, love this beautiful, lacy stamps.

Now, hop over my teammates blogs HERE  and see their wonderful creations, get more inspiration and then, come and play with us in the gallery.

I'm entering this card onto the following challenges.

Power Poppy January Challenge "Blossoms to Warm Up your Winter"

My Creative Scoop Color Inspiration Monday "Use any medium of your choice"

Scrapbook Stamp Society Challenge #108 "Anything Goes with Ribbon/Lace and Pearls"

Use Your Stuff Challenge #248 "Heat Emboss and Water Coloring"

Colouring in Scrapland January Challenge "Anything 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 this more than words can express.

Until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Friendship Never Stops Blooming.....

Hello everyone: The title of this post is one of my most favorite sentiments, it's so true and I can attest to that.  Even before I started my little blog 2 years ago, I had already made sweet friendships through this wonderful craft of card making but, when I decided to create this blog, (with a lot, and I mean A LOT, of encouraging from my dear card swapping friends), a whole world of new friendships was born coming from all over this world, reaching out from miles and miles away to my home. I treasure this friendships, I enjoy them, thrive in them, learn from them and will cultivate them with love for many years to come.
I have a card to share with you today that I will link to a few challenges at the end of this post.

Monarch Butterflies are pretty amazing little winged  jewels, their migration South from Eastern North America to the Siarra Madre Mountains of Mexico is nothing short of incredible and sublime. HERE is a link from the USDA Forest Service with information and migration routes and how you can help this gorgeous Butterflies reach their destination.

This beautiful image is from Northwoods and it's called Two Monarchs On Flower. I stamped it onto a die cut panel of Strathmore multi media paper with Versafine black onix ink and clear heat embossed it then, colored it with SU markers and an aqua painter.  Sponged Tumbled Glass and Shabby Shutters distress inks on top and bottom.  The small butterfly perched on the sentiment is also stamped with Versafine ink, heat embossed and then, very carefully fussy cut, the embossing powder gave the legs and antenna a bit of thickness so I could snip them out.

The blue pattern paper was cut with Spellbinders Decorative Lables 8 die set.

The banner for the sentiment is also from Spellbinders, you can find it HERE 

The sentiment is from an old Flourishes set called "Tulip for Friends"

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

Sentiment is from another Flourishes set called "Gerbera Daisies"

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

Sketch Saturday Challenge week #447

Sweet Stamping Challenge "Use dies/punches"

INKspirational

A Gem of a Challenge #186 "Hearts and or Flowers"

Crafting When We Can Challenge #136 "Spots and or Stripes"

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.