You Rock!!!!!!!

Hello everyone: My wish, as always, is that all of you are well, we still have a long way to go before thigs go back to even a resemblance of normality, this pandemic still upon us so, keep wearing your masks and insist that your children and grandchildren wear them too.

Now, the disturbing scenes of abuse we've all witnessed just add to the uncertainty and worry we all feel when we witness such atrocities, there's no excuse for it, no reason what so ever to impart fear and pain to another human being just because of our differences or the place where we were born. 

We've experienced such fears and worries ourselves when my husband and I traveled to Mexico to see our families, being separated at O'Hare airport 3 times, our suitcases searched, just because we had bought some toys for our grandchildren on two occasions and "because our names were very common".  The officers there just told us that there were a lot of Marios and Marias and that "stood up" for them.  It didn't matter that both of us are Naturalized American Citizens, that we had our passports, driver's licenses, credit cards, etc., as valid ID's. The last time this happened to me was when I went to Mexico for my mom's funeral services, this time I was really scared because I was alone, one hour passes by really slow when you don't know why you are being detained. My poor husband was so worried that I might have missed my flight, and even after I finally walked out, we were afraid to say anything and we just left, when I was safely in our car, I broke down in tears. 

Anyway, all I'm hoping and praying is for the wounds that have been open for hundreds of years finally start to heal and that the best reparation for all of the pain is the understanding and acceptance by all of us that, after all,  we are all God's Children.

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I have a fun card I made as a request from my youngest daughter for her 14-year-old nephew. I don't know about you but I hardly ever make masculine cards, which is a mistake because I have several men, young and old, in my life.

These types of cards are a bit hard for me to make, especially for teen boys so, I was so happy I own this fun Power Poppy set called "Well Played" (I think it's discontinued).

  

The stripped blue pattern paper was in my stash drawer, the musical notes are die-cut, the sentiment is from this set.

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This is the INSIDE of my card. 

The sentiment is from a Power Poppy set called Party Time, which happens to be on sale right now. The little candle is from a Hero Arts set called "Be Happy Today".

Thank you for visiting me today.

Stay safe and healthy.

Sending hugs.

Maria.

Have a Very Vellum Christmas.......

Hello everyone: I hope you and your family are doing well, staying healthy and safe. 

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I don't work with vellum often and that's weird because it always adds a very beautiful and soft touch to your cards.  Last year I bought a GROOVI PLATE with these beautiful Christmas ornaments and I couldn't believe how easy it was to create beautiful images using a stylus, parchment paper and these plates, it's really fun and it goes fast.

I used two of the ornaments on this plate, then I added Inka Gold paint to them, super easy, below is a picture of the golden detail on these pretty images.

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This is the inside of my card.

I apologize for the yellowish color of this picture, I had a really hard time photographing this card, the sun was covered by thick clouds and my lamp was not working well.

The sentiment is from a Power Poppy set called Glistening Paperwhites, which happens to be on sale right now, Woo Hoo!!!

The little Christmas tree is from another Power Poppy set called Merry Littles.

I'm linking up with these challenges.

CAS Mix Up Card Challenge

I added Inka Gold paint and a stamped sentiment.

Christmas Craft Creations

I die cut the golden bow and the sentiment tag.

Thank you for visiting me today.

Stay safe and healthy.

XO

Maria.

Golden Poppies.......

Hello everyone: Again, I'm hoping you and your families are doing well, it's difficult but absolutely necessary to be patient and observant of the guidelines that might seem very restrictive but they are so very important, wearing a mask might be uncomfortable and not very cool but, having to wear a respirator is much, much worse, I keep telling my grandkids this over and over.

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THE FLOWER CHALLENGE for the month of June is a color challenge. The colors are NAVY plus a color of your choice, just two colors, ok?
This is the card I made to inspire you to come and play along.

I heat embossed in gold this image from a Power Poppy set called "Poppies", which happens to be on sale now, just saying. The sentiment is also from this set. I apologize for not remembering where the butterfly die set came from.

I also added a couple of gold glitter card stock to the edges of the corner panels.

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This is the INSIDE of my card.

 

The sentiment is from another Power Poppy set called Everything's Even Rosier.

The Poppies on the corner are from the Poppies set.

I hope you stop by THE FLOWER CHALLENGE to get more inspiration from my fabulous teammates, we can't wait to see your creations in the gallery.

Please read our rules, they are simple but important.

Thank you for stopping by.

Stay safe and healthy.

Sending lots of virtual hugs.

Maria.

Ms. Dotty........

Hello everyone: I'm always hoping and praying you and your families are doing well in these troubling times, all I can tell you is to stay safe and healthy.
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I have this really fabulous stamp set from the 2014 kit of the month called "Hey Girl" I haven't used in a while, so here's this card which I will enter in a few challenges, I just love this girl holding this bunch of balloons.

I stamped the image on Strathmore Bristol paper with Stazon black ink and colored it with some SU re-inkers and watercolor pencils, I added some gold paint to her dress and balloons and red glitter to the hearts.

The sentiment is from a Power Poppy set called "Dynamic Duos: Peonies and Tulips.

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This is the inside.

The sentiment is from the Uniko set, the balloon from Hero Arts.

I want to play with the following challenges.

Less is More

 

AAA Cards

Thank you for visiting me today.

Stay safe and healthy.

XO
Maria.

Sip by Sip.......

Hello everyone: I know I might sound like a broken record, you know? a vinyl LP for those of us that actually remember those, but I think wearing our masks is of vital importance and, unfortunately, some young people still don't get it.

Like I tell my grandkids, it's either wear a mask or wear a ventilator.

Enough said.

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Well, where did Spring go?? Summer is here, I really didn't even remember that it arrived on June1st., sheeesh!!

But here's a card to welcome this beloved Season of the Year.

You already know how much I love the House Mouse Critters, right? Well, this image just makes me laugh, I honestly don't know what I would do if I ever find a mousy taking a dip in my lemonade, LOL!!  

I stamped this image on Strathmore Bristol paper with Stazon gray ink and colored it with Prismacolor pencils then, I fussy cut it, the sentiment is from a Power Poppy set called "Short Stalks", the pattern paper is from my stash.

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This is the inside of my card.

The sentiment is from a Power Poppy set called "Dynamic Duos, Peonies and Tulips", the little bucket and shovel from a small set with no name, I apologize.

I hope you can come and play along with us at RETRO RUBBER, remember to use stamps that are older than one year, also please read our rules, they are few but important.

Thank you for visiting me today.

Stay safe and healthy.

Maria.

Have a Very "Mice" Birthday.......

Hello everyone: Like always, I'm hoping and wishing you and your families are doing well, we're still hanging in there, and most importantly, we wear our darn masks every single time we go out to buy groceries, etc.

Take care, stay healthy, safe and wear your masks.

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I have a card to share with you, I'll play along with a few challenges.

The Penny Black critters are some of my favorites and these little mice are just adorable. This set is called Critter Party I stamped the image on Strathmore Bristol paper with Stazon black ink and colored it with Prismacolor pencils, the pattern paper is from my stash, the musical notes are from Memory Box, but I'm not quite sure.

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This is the INSIDE of my card.

The sentiment is from a Power Poppy set called Party Time which happens to be on sale now, Woo Hoo!!! 

The little kitty is from the same Penny Black set as my image in the front.

I'm playing with the following challenges.

Just Add Ink

Sweet Stamping

"Cute"

Double D Challenges

Coming in just in the nick of time

with Mice and Music.

Thank you for visiting.

Stay healthy, safe, and wear your masks.

XO

Maria.