Eastern Influences.....

Hello everyone: Well, I'm here again with a little reminder post for THE FLOWER CHALLENGE in which we are asking you guys to use your older, older stamps or dies, you know? those neglected sets maybe at the bottom of a drawer or up in a box somewhere in your craft room.

We want you to give them a chance to shine again.

This is the card I made to inspire you to come and play along with my teammates and I in our gallery.

This is my oldest flower stamp set, it's from SU, it's called Eastern Influences and it's from 2008!!
The flower and the swallows are stamped on a piece of white card stock with Stazon black ink, I colored the flower with my Prismacolor pencils and paper stumps dipped in Gamsol, then, I fussy cut all of this images.
I stamped the branch on a die cut piece of black card stock with Versamark ink and heat embossed it with white embossing powder then glued my images on top.
The Joy sentiment is from a Penny Black die set "Love and Joy".
I also found a little bag with this very shiny fabric so I thought of putting a piece in the back just for a bit of bling.
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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

I love this sentiment from Power Poppy's "Short Stacks", the punched detail at the top is from an ultra old Friskars punch, the cherry branch from the SU set.

So I hope you come along and play with us at THE FLOWER CHALLENGE gallery, just remember to read our rules and please add our banner to your blog post when you upload your card.

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.

I

The Merriest of Christmas.....

Hello everyone: Before I continue, I want to wish all of you who come to my blog and leave me your sweet, wonderful comments. It's an honor and a Joy to read them and to know you like the cards I make, I feel truly grateful for each word you say.

This is the last challenge for the year 2018 for SHOPPING OUR STASH, my teammates and I will be taking a Holiday break and will be back on January 8th. 2019 with the first challenge of the year, hope to see you then.

This challenge is a Christmas one and just in time for you to make a few more Christmas cards, I know from experience that, when you think you have all the cards you need for family and friends, there is always a couple more that need to be made so, here is my card that I hope will inspire you to come and play along with us in our gallery.

This stamp and die set are from Stampin' Up! and they have been in my stash since I bought them back in August or September of 2017 when they came out in the Holiday Catalog.

I just love the gorgeous silhouette images on the stamps and dies.

I stamped the image of Mary, Joseph and the Donkey on black card stock with gray ink and added a bit of color to Her veil. 

The buildings are die cut out of silver foil card stock and the sentiment is stamped once in black ink and a second time with silver glitter embossing powder.

The night sky is pattern paper I found at the bottom of my DSP drawer, lucky me!!!

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This is the way the INSIDE of my card looks like.

I had to cut the buildings a bit to fit the front panel but I didn't want to throw that piece away, it's just so pretty so I glued it to the corner, the sentiment is from another beautiful SU set called "All Ye Faithful".

I hope you go and stop by the SHOPPING OUR STASH blog to get more inspiration from my teammates and they come and play along with us.

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.

Blooming Beautiful.....

Hello dear stamping friends: THE FLOWER CHALLENGE has a new one for you and I'm pretty sure you will have the one element we are asking you to use and that is OLDER STAMPS.
We need to go dig them out from drawers, shelves, boxes, etc. and give them another chance, you will remember why you bought them in the first place and enjoy coloring these forgotten images.

The image I used for this card is from a 2008 Stampin' Up! set called "Blooming Beautiful", there are 3 images on this set, a vase with flowers, a little bee and this beautiful single flower.

I just stamped it on a piece of watercolor paper with Versafine black ink, clear heat embossed it and colored with SU markers.  

The background is from another old Stampin' Up! set called "En Francais" (2007), I really love this font, wish I could write like this, so beautiful.

The sentiment inside the envelope is from an old Flourishes set, it fits just perfectly.

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

I again used the flower, I added the little bee and one of the sentiments, love that font.

I know you have some older stamp sets you haven't used in a while so go find them and join my teammates and me in THE FLOWER CHALLENGE gallery, we can't wait to see what you create.

Please read our rules, they are few but important.

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.

A Sweet Smelling Christmas.....

Hello everyone: With the Holidays upon us it's a great time to make a few more Christmas cards, you can never have too many, that's what I always say.

So the RETRO RUBBER CHALLENGE has a new one for you and has this beautiful image to inspire you to come and play along.

I know it's a busy time of the year but still, we hope you all come and join us in our gallery.

Here is my card for this challenge.

This pretty image is from a Power Poppy set called Spice it Up which was released back in 2015 and that's how long I've owned this gorgeous set.

I stamped the image with Versafine black ink, clear heat embossed it and colored it with SU markers.

The sentiment is from a retired Stampin' Up! set called "Joy to the World", it came out back in the 2013-2014 Holiday Mini Catalog, I heat embossed it in gold.

I grabbed a Snowfall embossing folder for the front panel and wrapped a golden ribbon for a bit of sparkle.

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

The sentiment is from the same set and the little mug from another Power Poppy set called "Merry Littles, this set is perfect for embellishing the inside of your Holiday cards.

So I hope you go and dig out your OLDER THAN ONE YEAR stamp sets and come to join us in the gallery, we can't wait to see what you create.

Don't forget to stop by my teammates' blogs for more fabulous inspiration.

Ok, before I leave you I want to thank you for your comments on my RETRO RUBBER 100 CHALLENGE CELEBRATION POST so, here is the lucky winner of an OLDER THAN A YEAR BUT NEVER USED stamp set, and that winner is:

CAROL L.

Congratulations Carol, please email me with your home address at

grandmamaria5@gmail.com

and I will have your goodies fast on their way to you, please write WINNER OF 100 CHALLENGE POST on the subject line.

This is my last post for this year as my teammates and I take a little break to enjoy the Holidays with family and friends.

I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and may 2019 bring Health, Peace, Joy, Love, and Prosperity to you and yours.

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.

The Wilderness Awaits.....

Hello everyone: It's time for another fabulous challenge over at SHOPPING OUR STASH, our theme is MASCULINE CARDS.  Some people, me included, have a hard time creating these types of cards mainly because they must be simple but still appealing, not to busy but still, with a little fan fare so, here is my rendition to this challenge and I hope you come and play along.

Most of my stamp sets are of flowers and little cute critters so, when I see a set that is spectacularly masculine, I immediately get it, like this one from Stampin' Up! called "The Wilderness Awaits" from the 2015-2016 catalog, all four images are beautifully detailed and perfectly masculine.

I stamped my fox on a die cut piece of watercolor paper with Stazon black ink and colored it with SU re-inkers, I added a bit of white Prismacolor pencil to his handsome face and the tip of his tail.

I die cut a bigger piece of Copper glimmer paper to frame this image.  I embossed a panel of green card stock and rubbed it with copper ink, added a couple of copper brads, ribbon and the sentiment.

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

Again, nothing fancy, just a bit of decoration at the top done with the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set and a sentiment from a Power Poppy set called "Everything's Even Rosier".

So, I hope you come and join my teammates and I in our SHOPPING OUR STASH gallery, please stop by the blog and visit their blogs for more inspiration.

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.

A Washi Birthday with the Mice.....

Hello everyone: I hope your Thanksgiving was fabulous, full of good food, drinks and family.

This new challenge over at SHOPPING OUR STASH is all about Washi Tape, I confess I had a hard time finding some in my craft room, I thought I had a couple of rolls but then I remember I gave them to my granddaughter, she really liked them and I really don't use washi tape all that much, anyway, I had to really look hard to find this two designs for my card.

Hope you go look at your stash of Washi Tape and come join us in the gallery.

 

As you all know, I adore the House Mouse siblings so here they are again, doing what they do best, getting in trouble, LOL!! 

I stamped this image on white card stock with Stazon black ink and colored it with Prismacolor pencils, the Washi Tape was a lucky find, I now realize I better go get me some.

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Here is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

I added the last of the festive washi tape to the top of this inside panel, the sentiment is from a Power Poppy set called Short Stacks 

I hope you have some Washi Tape somewhere in your craft room so you can come and join us in our gallery.

I would like to play with the following challenges.

Pattie's Creations Challenge #152 BIRTHDAYS

Color Crazy Challenge Week 47 Anything Goes coloring.

Just Us Girls

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

Two Wreaths for Twofer Challenge #11.....

Hello everyone: Well, I'm coming in a bit late but still with 3 days to go to share my cards at the TWOFER CHALLENGE #11, this time, the theme is WREATHS, so we need to create two different cards for two different occasions using the same stamp, die or stencil.

Here are my Twofer Cards, first together and then, I'll share a picture of them, explaining how I created them.

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For this wreath I used this very old W Plus 9 stamp and die set called Woodland Wreaths, it has a coordinating die that you can find HERE, I heat embossed this wreath in gold.  The Jingle Bells I think are from Memory Box, but I'm not to sure about that, they are also very old.

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This is how the INSIDE of this card looks like.

The sentiment is from a Power Poppy set called "Poinsettia" and the flower from "Merry Littles".

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For my Twofer card I created a baby wreath, I saw this awesome baby wreaths for baby showers where people put all of the baby stuff on them, they look super cute so I decided to create one.

The wreath is heat embossed with SU Crushed Curry embossing powder and all of the baby items are from a 2010-2011 SU set called "Baby Bundle", they were the perfect size for this wreath.  

I stamped them, colored them and then, fussy cut them, cute eh?

The sentiment is from an old Flourishes set called "Baby Love".

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

Both the sentiment and the baby rattle are from the "Baby Love" set.

So there you have them, my twofer cards for the awesome Twofer Challenge #11 "WREATHS"

I'm playing along with the following challenges.

Hand Stamped Sentiments

Crafting from the Heart

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #222 "Lots of Layers"

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.

Shock Top Cheers!!!!!

Hello everyone: There is a new challenge over at SHOPPING OUR STASH and this time we want to see cards that are inspired by a food or beverage label so you can take your inspiration from the colors, the images, the food or beverage itself, etc. 

So here is my card that was created using one of the labels of these delicious beers.

Isn't this illustration just super cool?  I love the colors, the image and all the awesome details of it, like the hair made of wheat straws and the face made with an orange segment and those sunglasses, WOW!! But anyway, since I don't have a beer mug stamp, I decided to sketch this mug from one of ours, LOL!!  The other time I made a card with a beer mug in it was THIS ONE in which I traced the mug on a SU catalog. 

The pattern paper is from my stash, the sentiment is from a retired SU set called "Happy Hour" from the 2012-2013 catalog.

This card is for one of my hubby's friends from work who's celebrating his 63rd. Birthday next week.

I'm sure he'll get a kick out of this card, tee hee!!

Here is a peek at the collection where this label came from.

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

A simple sentiment from Hero Arts for the inside, guys don't like to much fuss.

So I hope you come and play along with us at SHOPPING OUR STASH, 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.

It's a CELEBRATION!!!!!

Hello everyone:  The new RETRO RUBBER CHALLENGE is a celebration of our 100th. Challenge and for that, we have our first ever BLOG HOP, with prizes for everyone who leaves a comment on the Designer Team's blogs.  Each one of us has a prize which is a brand new but older than a year stamp plus a little something extra so, we all hope you come along and play.
Here is the card I made to celebrate this super fabulous occasion.

I picked the diagonal line, BALLOONS, CONFETTI AND CAKE.  

These balloons were cut out of glitter paper with the retired SU die set called "Balloon Pop Up", the confetti embossing folder is also from SU and the cupcakes are from a Penny Black 2013 stamp set called "Cupcakes", colored them with Prismacolor pencils and glitter pens. 

The sentiment is from a retired 2010-2011 SU set called "Curly Cute".

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

The sentiment is from Inkadinka Do, the lines from retired SU set called "Gorgeous Grunge" the balloon from Penny Black.

Here are the links to my teammates' posts, please stop by and leave them your comments for a chance to win. 

Claire Grantham

Neva Cole

Donna Idlet

Maria Rodriguez (you are here)

Jan Clothier

LeAnne Pugliese

Jane Knudsen

I'm sure you'll find tons of inspiration along the way stopping by my awesome teammate's blogs,  leave them a comment for a chance to win.

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 and good luck.

Hugs from Maria.

A Little Reminder.....

Hello everyone: Well, here I am with a little reminder for our November Challenge which is a SPECIAL OCCASION so any celebration would be fabulous.
My card is to celebrate a birthday, 

I love the look of Vellum, especially when its heat embossed so I did just that with my flowers using the Altenew stamp set called "BEAUTIFUL DAY and WOW Pearlescent embossing powder.

I then colored the flowers and leaves with SU markers, fussy cut them and arranged them on my panel with glue dots, the sentiment is from the set. 

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

The sentiment is from a Power Poppy set called "Farmers Market", the border on top from a retired

SU set called "Delicate Borders"

There is still time to play along with us over at THE FLOWER CHALLENGE, we can't wait to see your creations on our gallery.

Please remember to add our challenge banner to your blog post when you add your card.

Make sure flowers are the main focus of it.

Only new work please, no back linking.

You can enter up to 6 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.

Abigail is Painting.....

Hello everyone: It's time for another challenge over at RETRO RUBBER and I know this theme is a favorite of you guys. I haven't used my Stamping Bella stamps in a while so here is this one, which is one of my favorites because I always picture my granddaughter Vanessa hard at work.

The name of this image is "Abigail Painting", stamped on watercolor paper with Stazon black ink and colored with some of my SU markers and Prismacolor pencils. The DSP is from Lili of the Valley,(discontinued), the sentiment is from a Power Poppy set called "Sassy Succulents.

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

I combined 3 different sets here.  The sentiment is from a brand, spanking new SU set called All The Good Things, the border on the top is from a retired SU set called "Delicate Borders" and the little image on the corner is from a Mo Manning stamp called "The Artist", I have it in rubber but it can also be bought in digital format.

I hope you come along and play with us over at RETRO RUBBER, for more inspiration, please stop by the blog to see my teammates amazing cards and leave them some comment love.

Please don't forget to use at least one stamp that is OLDER THAN ONE YEAR.

Please let us know how long you had this stamps or the year when they were released.

You can enter 13 challenges including ours.

I hope you go dig out your beloved older stamps and join my teammates and me in the RETRO RUBBER 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.

Woof and Miaw.....

Hello everyone: I've often been asked if I'm a cat lover or a dog lover and I always answer BOTH!!  My hubby and I grew up in a home that always had cats and dogs, plus birds, hamsters, and fish so there was no surprise that this challenge from SHOPPING OUR STASH was right up my alley.
Here is the card I created for your inspiration.

I don't know about you but, I simply love the Kaztelkraft critters, I have several sets of this totally funny and fabulous animals whos facial expressions are simply priceless.

I used two sets of stamps here, the grumpy kitty is from the set called Russian Cats and the smiling doggies from The Dogs set.

Stamped the images with Stazon black ink and colored them with SU markers and Prismacolor pencils, the sentiment was painstakingly stamped with this super old alphabet set, it was a bit tricky to line up the word "Cheese", so thank goodness for the MISTI.

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

The sentiment is from a Power Poppy set called "Sassy Succulents" and the little chickies from Tiddly Inks and it's called For the Birds. 

So I hope you go and dig out your kitty and doggie stamps and come to play with us in the gallery.

Don't forget to visit my teammates' blogs to check out their fabulous creations and leave 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.

Spring Blossoms in November.....

Hello, hello: I can't believe it's November already!! where did the year go!!!  But I hope it has been a good year for you guys and that you are all geared up for the upcoming Holiday Season.

So, the theme over at THE FLOWER CHALLENGE is SPECIAL OCCASION so, we want to see cards celebrating Birthdays, Weddings, Accomplishments, a New Baby, Engagement, etc.  

I created a Congratulations card, I hope you like it and then you go to our challenge page and check out my teammates' amazing creations.

This beautiful image is from an old Flourishes stamp set called "Spring Blossoms" illustrated by Marcella Hawley, this set came out in 2013 and now, Marcella has this lovely image on her Power Poppy store in DIGITAL FORM so you too can enjoy it.

I stamped this image on a panel of watercolor paper that I embossed with this pretty embossing folder from Sizzix, with Stazon black ink using my MISTI, I colored it with Sakura Koi watercolors and then, I gave it some shading and highlights with my Prismacolor pencils. 

After I was done coloring it, I placed the panel back on my MISTI, inked my stamp with Versafine black ink and clear heat embossed it, sometimes after coloring with Prismacolors the stamped image kind of looses the edges so stamping it again brings back the nice outline.

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

The sentiment is from a Power Poppy set called SHORT STACKS, the flowers on the corner are from the same Flourishes set, colored with Prismacolors.

So come by THE FLOWER CHALLENGE blog and play along with us, my teammates have some beautiful cards for you to get more inspiration from.

Please remember to upload our banner to your blog post and make FLOWERS the main focus on your card.  You can enter 6 challenges INCLUDING OURS, please.

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

Until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.