Blue, Blue Birthday.....

Hello everyone: No, it's not a sad birthday card, it's just BLUE.  I will link this card to a few challenges at the end of this post, one of them requires using this color for our cards.

This yummy slice of cake is from an old retired Flourishes set called "Pinwheels and Popsicles" and I love it for really fun Birthday cards.

I stamped the image onto Strathmore water color paper with Versafine black ink and clear heat embossed it, then colored it with Sakura Koi water colors. After I finished coloring the cake, I felt like it needed something extra so I stamped the little candle from a House Mouse stamp called "Birthday Cupcake" and fussy cut it, what's a birthday cake without candles, right?

I just adore this chubby little mice, with their bellies full of cake.

The pattern papers are from my stash, the one with the flowers I think it's from Stampin' Up!, but I'm not totally sure.

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

Both the sentiment and the Pinwheel are from the same set. I die cut the sentiment with THIS Spellbinders die set called "Oval Regalia"

I'm linking this card to the following challenges.

The Paper Players with a birthday theme from Jaydee.

Double D Challenges

Paper Play Sketches

Tiddly Ink Challenge #202 "Make It Rectangle"

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.

So Sassy!!!!!

Hello everyone: I love Succulent plants but, for some reason, I haven't had any luck keeping them alive, I either water them to much or not at all, or they don't get enough sun or to much, which would be ok according to the directions on the pots so, maybe it's me 😕 so, I rely on stamped images to enjoy this sweet and beautiful little plants, like the ones on this card.

What do you think, eh? I would love to have this cuties on my window sill, that's for sure.  This image is from a Power Poppy stamp set called Sassy Succulents and they couldn't be more adorable.

I stamped the image onto a die cut panel of water color paper with Stazon black ink and colored it with SU markers and an empty Wink of Stella brush, that I opened and filled with water, (I'm going to show you some pictures of this process soon)  I'm going to link this card to a few challenges at the end of this post and one of them is the Power Poppy June Challenge "Go Ahead.....Bug Me!", one of the other challenges is the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge with a theme of "Succulents".  

Anywho, I wanted to use this images but I needed a BUG so, I thought and thought and then I recalled an old and sweet Stampin' Up! set called A Flower For All Seasons and there, on the image with the Sun Flowers, there is a teeny, tiny Lady Bug that totally and perfectly fits for this card, I truly hope this is ok with the Power Poppy Challenge.

So, after I colored the Succulents, I very carefully and using my MISTI and a black marker, I stamped this little bug on my Succulents, ohh!! I'm so super happy about the way it turned out.

The pattern papers are from a discontinued line from Lili of the Valley.

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

Both the sentiment and the image are from the same set.

Here are the challenges I'm linking my card to.

Mojo Monday

Power Poppy June Challenge "Go Ahead.....Bug Me!"

Curtain Call

Use Your Stuff Challenge #266 "Pattern Papers"

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #43 "Anything Goes"

Crafting From The Heart Challenge #162 "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 them more than words can express.

Until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Mousy Get Well Wishes.....

Hello dear blog friends: There is a new challenge over at the RETRO RUBBER challenge blog and it's one of the most popular ones, as the banner says, ANYTHING GOES this time so, I hope you find some time to play along with my teammates and I in our gallery.

Here is a card I made with, what I think, is the oldest stamp set in my craft room, one that was issued way long before I started stamping back in, if I recall correctly, 2010 or so. This set is called "Mice Messages" from Stampin' Up! and it's as cute as it can be.

As you can see, the date on the wood block is 1999, I saw it on Ebay and I just had to have it and here is the card I created with one of the images, I was smiling, from ear to ear as I was coloring this sweetie pie.

Isn't she adorable?  I stamped this image onto a die cut circle of water color paper with Stazon ink and colored it with Prismacolor pencils and paper stumps dipped in baby oil. The background was made with a Woodgrain background stamp and the "floor" is a piece of Lili of the Valley pattern paper, (discontinued)
The lilac pattern paper is also from Lili of the Valley and sadly, also discontinued.  The sentiment is from this stamp but I snipped it off just to be able to place it anywhere I wanted.
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Here is a picture of the finished inside of my card.

The sentiment and the bench are from an old retired Flourishes set called "Around the Arbor".
So there you have it, hope you got inspired by my card to play along with us at RETRO RUBBER for our "ANYTHING GOES" challenge, for more inspiration hop over the challenge blog and check out my awesome teammates creations.
Please remember to use at least one stamp that is OLDER THAN A YEAR, whether it's how long you've had it or the date it was issued, we want to give all of our older and a bit neglected stamps a chance to shine again.
Also, please limit your challenge participation to 10 challenges, including ours.

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.

Lighthouse for SOS.....

Hello everyone: Well, Father's Day is almost here and the SHOPPING OUR STASH challenge blog is having a challenge with a "Masculine" theme so, as I often do when I need to make this types of cards, I reached for my very small stash of masculine stamps where I found this handsome "Lighthouse" stamp from Impression Obsession called Ocracoke Island Lighthouse that's perfect for the guys so, here is my card that I hope will inspire you to join my teammates and I in our gallery.

I don't know about you but for me, it's hard to make masculine cards.  When I buy stamp sets, I navigate towards the flowers and cute little critters and it's rare to find out there beautiful images for men so, every time I see something like this image, I buy it immediately.

Masculine cards can't have a lot of embellishments so, all I did is create a "Sailor's Knot" following THIS TUTORIAL, you can use any type of string, I used a piece of Jute twine, I took two pieces instead of one. You just have to practice a bit, it took me a few tries to get it right but I think it adds a really rustic and beautiful touch to this card.

The image was stamped onto a piece of water color paper with Stazon black ink an colored with Prismacolors, I made a mask for the Lighthouse to sponge the sun and the sky.

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

Keeping with the Nautical/Masculine theme, I stamped a couple of images from the retired SU set called "The Open Sea", which is another awesome masculine set.

I hope you are inspired to play along with us at SHOPPING OUR STASH, please visit my teammates' blogs to see their awesome creations and join in.

I'm linking this card to the following challenges.

Cards in Envy "You're the Man"

Simon Says Stamp "Simon Says Masculine"

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #190 "For a Special Man/Boy or Father's Day"

Unicorn Challenge Blog Challenge #22 "For the Guys"

Crafting by Design Challenge #162 "Always 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 them more than words can express.

Until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

500!!!!! Farewell and Thank You!!!!!

Hello everyone: Today is a sad day for the challenge blog community because the always fabulous and fun MOJO MONDAY challenge is saying goodbye.

I've only started blogging a little over two years now but this challenge has been around for an outstanding 9+ years with an amazing 500 sketches created by the incredibly talented Julee Tilman, please hop over to the challenge to read her heartfelt reasons for saying goodbye and enjoy one last time, the amazing creations of the Design Team members, thank you all for all the inspiration.

So here is my card, hope you go and play along just one more time.

I love Sketch challenges and Mojo Monday had some of the best around, this sketches helped me so much to learn how to layer pattern papers, colored images, etc. looking at the awesome inspiration of the Design Team every Monday, was amazing and made it easy for me to create a card.

The image on this one is from a Power Poppy stamp set called Sunny Harvest, I stamped it onto a small piece of water color paper with Stazon black ink and colored it with Prismacolor pencils then fussy cut it.

 The sentiment is from Verve Stamps set and it's called Bountiful Harvest, which I won entering the Mojo Monday challenge last year, I stamped it with Spiced Marmalade DI onto a piece of cream color card stock that I die cut with a cross stitch die.
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Here is a picture of the finished inside of my card.

The sentiment and the butterflies are from a retired Flourishes set called "Gerbera Daisies", stamped with Spiced Marmalade distress ink.

Here is Mojo Monday sketch #500

 

Thank you Julee for sharing your creativity and your wonderful sketches with us all this years, I want to wish you all the best, enjoy your sweet little boys, which are the most perfect reason to bid us farewell.

Thank you all 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.

Behind the Picket Fence.....

Hello everyone: It's time for a new challenge over at THE FLOWER CHALLENGE and it's one of the most popular ones....."ANYTHING GOES" so, come on over and play along with us, we can't wait to see what you create.

For my inspiration card I used a spanking new Power Poppy set called Natural Beauties I just got about a week ago and I couldn't wait to ink it up, all of this images are amazing and a joy to color.

So I stamped the image onto a piece of water color paper and colored it with my Sakura Koi water colors and SU markers for shading.

I added the cute little picket fence I cut with a Sizzix "Flowers and Fence" die,to make it look like a little garden.

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

The sentiment is from Elizabeth Craft Designs and the little flowers from the same Power Poppy set.

I hope my card inspires you to join my awesome teammates and me in THE FLOWER CHALLENGE gallery, please go check out their beautiful cards and don't forget to leave them some comment love.

Also, please read our rules, they are few but important and add our challenge banner to your blog post when you upload your card to the gallery.

I'm entering this card onto this challenges.
Just Us Girls Challenge #396 "Die Cuts" my fence is a die.
Crafty Purple Frog "Fabulously Floral"
Crea Chicky's challenge. "Flowers"
Classic Design Team Open Challenge "Anything Goes"
A Bit More Time To Craft Challenge #45 "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 them more than words can express.

Until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.