The Wilderness Awaits for The Paper Players.....

Hello everyone: I've been having some computer troubles, I don't even know if this post will get published today but, hoping for the best, here I am once again with a card I made for The Paper Players masculine card challenge.
Last Friday, my first SU order arrived, in it was a stamp set I fell in love with immediately after I saw it on the new catalog. This stamp set is called The Wilderness Awaits and each of this images is stunning in their detail. I picked the majestic male deer image for my card and I added some free hand background of snow topped mountains and trees.

For the snow on the mountain's top, I painted it with SU white craft ink and heat embossed it with white embossing powder, then I sponged a bit of Basic Black to give a bit of dimension, continuing down with a light sponging of Lost Lagoon and Wild Wasabi. The trees were done with an old sea sponge with a bit of Wild Wasabi ink.

I didn't want to add much to this image, it's just so beautiful on it's own. I just framed it with some dark brown CS on top of a heat embossed panel done with the Hardwood background stamp and clear embossing powder.  I stamped the Happy Father's Day with the Teeny Tiny Wishes using the Stamp-a-majig to fit it into the die cut label.
Here is the challenge banner that inspired this card.
It's a challenge in itself for me to make masculine cards so I hope you like my take on The Paper Players challenge for this week.
I truly appreciate your visit and your comments, this means the world to me. If you have a question, please don't hesitate to ask.
Have a wonderful week.
Hugs.
Maria.

Another First for Freshly Made Sketches.....

Hello and TGIF to you: Ever since I started this blog last December, besides learning a little something every day, I'm having a total blast participating in a bunch of challenges so, here I am again with another first, this time for Freshly Made Sketches. Here is my card.

This image is from an old Flourishes set called "On the Porch", I colored it with my SU write markers and the aqua painter. The little bird is from a retired SU set called "Scene in a Garden" and the background "wall" behind the chair is done with "Gorgeous Grunge".
I used one of the stamps on the retired "Day Dream Medallions" and stamped the image with Strawberry Slush, then died cut it with the matching Framelits.
Here is a close up of the image, I added a Candy Dot to the pillow to give it some dimension, I also stamped the little flowers with one of the stamps from another delightful SU retired set called "Furry Folk".

I hope you like this card, I've been having some Internet issues and it's been frustrating to be able to publish this post, to say the least. I've been trying since yesterday morning. I love my computer, I honestly don't understand at all how it works, all I want is for IT to work for me.
Here is the banner from Freshly Made Sketches that inspired this card.I want to thank you for visiting and for leaving me a comment. I read them all and I appreciate each and every word. Here is the list of materials I used to create this card. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
Have a fabulous weekend.

Paper: Canson Water Color 140lb. Matting CS from my stash.
Ink: Stazon Jet Black, SU markers: Old Olive, Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler and Chocolate Chip. Ink Pads in Costal Cabana and Mossy Meadow.
Stamp sets: SU Gorgeous Grunge, Scene in a Garden (retired) Furry Folk (retired[for the flowers in the pillow]) Day Dream Medallions. 
Flourishes In the Porch (retired)

My first Merry Monday Challenge.....

Hi every one: There is a first time for everything, right? So here I am participating on my very first Merry Monday Christmas Challenge, the theme is Sparkle, Bling and Shine. I like the idea of seeing Christmas cards all year round so here is my card and the banner that inspired it.

This lovely image is from a wonderful place where you can find amazing images called Power Poppy by Marcella Howlley. This particular image is from a set called "Bough Wow Wow", you can see it HERE, truly lovely. Here is a close up of the sparkle I added to the mitten's puffs and decorations.

I placed a little heart which I paper pierced and an old retired SU Glimmer Brad to add a splash of bright Christmas red to my design.
I hope you like this card, it was fun to color it sitting at my desk, with the windows open, enjoying a sweet, warm and beautiful Spring afternoon.  I recall the bitter winter of 2014-2015 than many of us thought it would never end, brrrr!! but it did, so it was fabulous to create this wintery card enjoying a gorgeous 73 degree afternoon.
If you have any questions about this card, please do not hesitate to ask.
Have a wonderful day.
Maria.

Supply List.
Paper: Canson Water Color Paper, Turquoise CS, Silver Glimmer Paper.
Inks: Stazon Jet Black Ink, Stampin Up! write markers in Tempting Turquoise, Baja Breeze and Old Olive, Aqua Painter.
Die Cut: Spellbinders Majestic Labels 25.

Oh Rats!!!!! For The Paper Players.....

Hello Everyone: This week's challenge over at The Paper Players is a fun one and my first time taking part on it. Laurie has a Tic Tac Toe theme with lots and lots of choices for us.
I picked the first vertical row: Washi Tape, Birthday and Die Cut, so here is my card and the banner that inspired it.

This cutie patutie image is from Whipper Snapper Designs and it's called, what else, "Birthday Rats". I colored them with SU markers in Basic Gray, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron and Daffodil Delight, for the grass I used Old Olive, for their party hats Tempting Turquoise, Calypso Coral, Garden Green, More Mustard, Not Quite Navy and Rose Red. The little banner with the birthday greeting is stamped with Teeny Tiny Wishes and punched with the Decorative Label punch, first one side then the other to get this cool shape.

The balloon die cut is from My Favorite Things and the pretty flower is from SU Petite Petals stamp set and punched with the coordinated Punch, I added a Candy Dot to the center, the washi tape is from my stash.

So there you have it, my take on this fun challenge, I hope you like my card so please, let me know, will you?

If you have any questions please ask me and I will respond the best way I can.

Till next time, happy stamping.

Maria.

A bit of Vintage for The Retro Rubber Challenge.....

Hello Everyone: Well, it's time for a new Challenge at the Retro Rubber Blog , this time the theme is Vintage with a bit of lace.  I really had fun with this challenge, so much so that I actually made 2 cards, one with lace the other without. Here is the first one:

I used some old DSP from The Paper Studio, I love the fact that it looks like wall paper.
This cup board image is from I Brake for Stamps , I got it out of the clearance rack along with other ones a while ago. This image reminds me of visiting our sweet grandma, (my mom's mom) over the Summer and staying in her little house with a backyard that had a fantastic chicken coupe among other glorious things for us kids to play with.
My other card was inspired by a baby card I saw on Pinterest, it was a baby's dresser and I just loved it, you can see it here. I decided to make a hutch using a very old SU Bigz die called Peek-a-boo Frames. I hope it's ok I post two cards on this challenge, I just couldn't decide which one to choose. Here is the second card:

I used the same DSP because I really love the golden tones. The plates on top of the hutch are cutouts from a magazine, I just snipped them out and glue them to CS and snipped them again. The stuff "inside" the little doors is also a cut out from a crafts magazine, it fit perfectly inside the cabinet. Here is a close up of the doors, I glued a piece of transparency for the glass.

I stamped the little design on the drawers with another very old SU stamp called "Kindness Matters" I remember those old hutches almost always had a pretty design inlaid in the wood.

The legs of the hutch were done with SU Decorative Label Punch , I love how it makes perfect "legs" for this 3-D cards plus a ton of other things.

So there you have it, a couple of Vintage cards (I hope they look vintage enough) I had so much fun making and I hope you like them too.

I want to thank you so much for your comments, I want you to know I appreciate every single word you write, your visit always makes my day.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

Have a wonderful day.  

Father's Day for the Pals Paper Arts.....

Hello everyone: Well, when I saw this sketch this morning on the Pals Paper Arts blog, I had to sit back and kind of study it a bit to be able to think what I was going to do to with it.  Then I thought that, Father's Day is just around the corner and I was going to make some cards anyway so why not use this fabulous, never seen before, challenging sketch Ms. Nicole Watt provided for us today.
This is my card.

It's always challenging for me to create masculine cards, I tend to buy flower stamps and cute critter stamps, romantic stamps but I have to confess I have very few sets with beautiful images like this one on the SU Wet Lands that fortunately and happily is being carried over in the new catalog, this is truly a must have set for masculine cards .  Another of the difficult parts of making this type of cards is that they can't really be embellished to much, (that's just me) maybe a unassuming ribbon and bow, or a bit, just a bit of bling?? I just chose to add neither, instead I stamped the sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes and placed a couple of Candy Dots on the edges.  I embossed the Pistachio Pudding panel behind the image with the lovely (and on the retire list) Argyle Embossing Folder, just to give it texture, I love the way it looks.
Here is the sketch that inspire my card. I want to thank you for visiting today, I appreciate your comments immensely. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.  Have a fabulous day.
Maria.

Sleeping Beauty.....

Hello again, everyone: I have a question for you.....Do you believe in Fairies?  This magical, whimsical, ethereal, lovely and, at times, mischievous little creatures, really mesmerize me. Whether you are a believer or not, the images of them, real or created, are a delight to see and enjoy.
I was given a box of un mounted rubber stamps my aunt bought at a thrift store a couple of years ago, they were all dirty and stained but, with a lot of love and a good soapy soaking, I was able to wash away the ink and dust from them to reveal the most amazing images of Faeries I've ever seen. For a long time I didn't know who made them, what company sold them, etc. until I came across one of this images on Pinterest.  I found out that they are from a company called Sweet Pea Stamps and the artist who designs this magnificent images is Rachel Anderson , if you click on her name you will be in her gallery, just enjoy it.
Here is a card I created for the May Water Color Challenge over at LiveLoveCards

This is just a lovely scene, funny to, I think. This little Fairy is sound asleep and a drop of dew is about to fall on her, perhaps her little furry friend is trying to wake her so she wont be startled. Here is a close up of it.

I stamped the image on Canson Water Color paper and colored with SU markers and Prismacolor Pencils and baby oil. When I finished I felt that her beautiful, little wings needed a bit of dimension so, I inked up only the wings with gray Stazon onto Calque paper, colored them with Prisma pencils and snipped them out, leaving a little piece on the bottom to insert them through the small slit I made on the base of the stamped wings.

I hope you can see them from the pictures, this paper is very thin but it worked great for what I wanted to do with her wings. I tried it on Vellum but it was very stiff, her wings needed to be very transparent.
I applied a bit of Wink of Stella to them and to her pretty face, arms and hair. The twigs you see in both, the foreground and background are done with a stamp that has corals, I just inked up the ones I needed.
I hope you like this card, it was a joy for me to color.
Thank you so much for visiting, I want you to know that I truly appreciate your comments and, as always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
Till next time, keep on stamping.
Maria.