Corner Garden for PPA261.....

Hello again, everyone: Gosh!! it seems to me that I'm kind of in a roll making cards for challenges, I'm having a lot of fun, my friends, there are so many great challenges out there, with different sketches and color combinations and themes that I just can't help myself.
I like challenges because, besides being fun to have my cards out there for all of you to see, they provide me with the guide lines to create my cards.  Some really push me out of my comfort zone and others just give my mojo a sweet little kick to get me started.
This is the card I made for this week's Pals Paper Arts sketch challenge. I used the always pretty SU Corner Garden which is considered a background stamp.  So far,  I've only used it in parts, like in this card, but it can be use whole and it's gorgeous.                                  

I used my SU write markers and the aqua painter to color this image, somehow, at least for me, I find it easier to color just parts of it, instead of the whole stamp. Here is a close up of this pretty blooms. The little butterfly was stamped with the Papillion Potpourri and punched with the Bitty Butterfly punch.

The DSP is from Lily of the Valley and the CS is from my stash. I hope you like this card, please leave me a comment, reading your thoughts on my cards gives me so much joy.
This is the sketch that inspired this card, I just used it upside down. Hope it's ok.
Till next time, paper hugs to all.
Maria.

Paper: Canson water color paper, Lilly of the Valley DSP.
Inks:  Stazon Jet Black, SU write markers in Tempting Turquoise, Wild Wasabi, Daffodil Delight, So Saffron, More Mustard, Garden Green, Rose Red, Pretty in Pink. The stems on the flowers were done with a gold pen.
Tools: SB circle dies, SU Bitty Butterfly punch, SB tags dies.

Market Fresh for Freshly Made Sketches #196.....

Hello everyone: I have a card for you today made with a new stamp set from SU! It's called Market Fresh , I really like it, although when I saw it for the first time, I got the impression that the images were to big but then, I started seeing beautiful cards made with it and that convinced me to get it so I made this card with it for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge this week.

This was a quick card, I chose the Argyle embossing folder from SU (retired) because the design in it kind of resembles this yummy bunch of grapes. Here is a close up of it, I hope you can see the shimmer from my Wink of Stella on the grapes.

The pretty button and brad are retired SU details. The ribbon is from a bottomless container of ribbon that I can't seem to make a dent in, perhaps I should start using it a bit more or perhaps I should not be buying any more spools, LOL!!
I hope you like this simple, no fuss card so please let me know in your comments, I appreciate each word you write.
Thank you for visiting.

Maria.

Paper: Canson water color paper, Wisteria Wonder, Wild Wasabi.
Inks: Stazon Jet Black, SU markers in Garden Green and Elegant Eggplant, So Saffron, Soft Suede, Wink of Stella.
Tools: SU Argyle embossing folder (retired)

A blast from the past for Retro Rubber color challenge.....

Hello Everyone: Once again I have been asked to be a guest stamper over at the Retro Rubber  challenge blog, this is such a thrill for me and I'm very happy to share this card I made for it, here's the banner that inspired this card. I hope you join us and give this Color Inspiration Challenge a try.

 This image is from a Flourishes set called, what else....."Call Me".  The rules of this challenge is to use stamps that are at least one year old. I think this image was released back in June or 2013 so it's perfect for this challenge.

Did any of you had this types of phones? Isn't this phone just gorgeous? It takes me back to the era of rotary dial phones, when you didn't need to be an expert in computer science to make a phone call and you took pictures with a camera that was NOT part of your phone, LOL!!, I can still remember the noise you heard when you put your index finger in the hole with the number, push the dial around and then, let it go.  Ahh!! the good old days.....  Yup!! I'm a bit antiquated and don't get me wrong, I enjoy today's technology, after all, here I am, age 64, with a blog, copying and pasting and posting and sharing but, when it comes to phones, mine is as simple as they come, compared with my grandchildren's phones, this little devise of mine is a Dinosaur, but it does what it's suppose to do and that is all I need, it doesn't take pictures and it doesn't have Internet access but for my humble needs, it's just fine.

Anyway my friends, I colored this sweet image with Prismacolor Pencils, paper stumps and baby oil. This technique is my other favorite way to color my images, I love how the color from the pencil just blends beautifully on the water color paper. Have you ever tried this technique? you don't even need to buy Prismacolor pencils, any brand of pencils will do, the magic is in the use of the baby oil and the paper stumps, you can find them at your local craft store or on Amazon , they are very inexpensive.
So, I hope you enjoy my card today. I truly appreciate your visit and your comments, I read them all with a smile on my face and gratitude in my heart.  If you have a question, please just ask me, I will promptly answer it for you.
Have a fabulous day.
Maria.

 

 

Fresh Herbs for The Paper Players.....

Hello again everyone: The Paper Players have CAS challenge this week featuring Frames. Here is the banner and the card it inspired it.
I really tried to keep this CAS and follow the theme so, I hope it's ok.
I chose a brand new stamp set from Power Poppy's Sage Advice by Marcella Howley, I colored it with SU markers and the aqua painter. I just love this lovely red enamel colander full of fresh and delicious herbs.
The little scissors and the ribbon they are hanging from are part of this gorgeous set, I stamped them and fussy cut them to add a bit of dimension to my design but still keeping it CAS. Here's a close up of this cute little scissors.

So I hope you like this card, following the guide lines for this challenge, I die cut and framed the image with SU Window Frames collection (Retired)

I added a simple little sentiment punched with the Modern Label Punch.

As always, I love to read your comments, they really make me feel connected with all of you through this craft.  I appreciate each word you write. If you have any questions, just ask me, ok?

Thank you so much for visiting, I love making new stamping friends so, I hope you subscribe to my blog, I will do the same with yours and that way we can follow each other's stamping adventures.

Have a wonderful day.

Maria.

 

Paper: Canson 140lb. water color paper, SU Strawberry Slush, Garden Green.

Inks. Stazon Jet Black, Stampin Up! Write Markers in Old Olive, Basic Gray, Daffodil Delight, So Saffron, River Rock, Rich Razzleberry, Real Red, Regal Rose, Pacific Point and Tempting Turquoise

 

Old Fashioned Florals for Freshly Made Sketches.....

Hello everyone: I've been busy with the grandkids this Summer, but I still try to steal a bit of time for making cards to participate on several challenges. This time it's for Freshly Made Sketches with a really awesome sketch by Kim Singdahlsen. This is the card I made.

This pretty ovals are from a retired Flourishes stamp set called "Old Fashioned Florals", I stamped the images with Stazon Jet Black ink onto Canson water color paper and colored them with SU markers and the aqua painter, my favorite way to add color to my images.
I die cut them with Spellbinders Oval Regalia dies , embossed a piece of Strawberry Slush card stock with the Filigree Frame embossing folder (retired) and arranged them according to Kim's fantastic sketch, I added one of the small butterflies from SU Papillon Potpourri , I think it looks so sweet flying out of this pretty floral frames.
I hope you like this card, as always, I welcome and appreciate your comments and questions.
Have a great weekend, enjoy the heat, my friends. Up here in NW Indiana, we actually only have the rest of July, August and maybe September of warm temperatures, I just hope this year's Winter will be a bit kinder to us.
Many hugs.
Maria.

Paper: Canson 140lb. SU Strawberry Slush.
Inks: Stazon Jet Black, SU write markers in Old Olive, Pacific Point, Tempting Turquoise, Rose Red, Regal Rose, Rich Razzleberry and Elegant Egg Plant.
Tools: Filigree Frame, Aqua Painter.
 

Wilderness Awaits Fox for PPA #260.....

 Hello everyone: From the moment I laid eyes on The Wilderness Awaits in the new SU catalog, I wanted it immediately. All of the four images are stunningly detailed and gorgeous.  I have a hard time making masculine cards so, when I saw this set, it screamed MASCULINE to me loud and clear. 
The Pals Paper Arts sketch for this week is ideal to showcase the beautiful Fox, that looks up at you with a sweet, trusting expression that really is endearing. So, here is the card I made with this image

This card is destined for one of my dear Triathlon friends who is recovering from knee surgery, he loves the outdoors so I thought this image would definitely cheer him up.  As you can see, there is very little bling on this design, I really don't think it needs any, all I added was 4 little copper eyelets with my Crop-a-dile. I was fiddling with some ribbon to tie the leaf (made with the lovely but retired SU "Gently Falling" stamp set) and the sentiment, stamped with the Teeny Tiny Wishes in Rich Razzlelberry and punched out with SU Word Window Punch, love how all of the sentiments in this set fit perfectly in that punch. The leaf was inked with Versamark ink and stamped on water color paper, then I heat embossed it with Silver Pearl embossing powder. I colored it with SU markers in Rich Razzleberry and Pumpkin Pie.

I'm sorry that the picture doesn't show the shimmer of this embossing powder, it looks really beautiful in person. After trying several ribbons I decided to go with this very old twine to tie my bow, I think it looks just right.
So, there you have it, my little foxy all curled up and ready for a nap in a field of pretty Summer flowers, what do you think?  Please let me know, ok? and if you have any questions, I will be more than happy to answer them.
Till next time, hugs.
                              Maria.

 

A challenge within a challenge for Power Poppy.....

Hello everyone: The challenge for the month of July over at the Power Poppy blog is HANG SOME  PAPER!!!!! Hosted by the fabulously talented Leslie Miller . Now, this challenge is not about Card Stock, mind you.....Leslie is asking us to use patterned paper, goodness, gracious!!   Most of my crafting friends know that I just don't like DSP all that much, don't get me wrong,  I love the patterns, most of them are lovely, sharp, colorful but for me, they represent a challenge on their own.  My brain just can't deal with it, no kidding, when I see crafters making gorgeous cards combining patterns and cardstock I get so jealous.  ME?.....well, I see DSP and I freeze!!  I don't buy a lot of this type of papers, I do own some but I don't use it often, specially double sided DSP, if the one sided kind is difficult to deal with, the double sided paper makes it impossible (for me) to decide which side to condemn to obscurity forever.
So this Power Poppy July Challenge made me step out of my comfort zone and try, really try to come up with some kind of design that will follow the requirements for it.....this is the card that I made, please, just bare with me.

Believe me when I tell you that this rather simple card took me almost 10 days to complete!!!!! I made a ton of backgrounds with all kinds of papers from my very humble stash, my craft room look like something weird had exploded in there, there was paper clippings all over the floor and on my work table and on top of the counters, then the mess follow me to the kitchen table, where I showed some of the "layouts" to my ever patient husband who, I think, was even more lost than me when I kept asking "which one of this papers look best, honey?" and kept a stoic attitude through it all, gosh!!  Back in my craft room, I looked like a mad scientist experimenting, cutting, pasting, arranging and rearranging layouts with disastrous results.  So I left this alone for a while, I decided to let my brain rest, regroup, refresh, restart, recharge and I proceeded to cleaning up the mess and vacuuming the evidence of my experimentation, ughhh!!
Well, today I came back to face my nemesis , who patiently was waiting for me to resume the battle, I took a look at my stamped image, which is one from the lovely Potted Primroses by Marcella Howley, and finished coloring it, I stamped the sentiment and die cut the tag, sat at my desk and started again thinking about how I can create a card for this challenge, I really didn't want to give up.  Since I truly do not know how to combine patterns, I finally figured that I needed something that I can start building with so, I went to the closet and grabbed the box of pink paper scraps, I rummaged for a bit and finally I found that wide piece of DSP I placed under the bow, the colors are bright and pretty so I just grabbed it and let it guide me.  The lay out took some hard thinking too, I went from horizontal to star burst to vertical, cut skinny pieces, big pieces, die cut pieces, sheeesh!! until finally I arrived at this layout and when I did, I again walked away because I really liked it and I didn't want to start messing it up, later I came back and glued everything in place, took the picture and I was done.
This is the challenge banner that pushed me into the uncharted territory of DSP.

 I hope you like this card, I know I went on and on about this very simple theme (for most) which is DSP, I know I should not feel so darn intimidated by it but that is the way things are, I wish I could attend a seminar or something where I could learn not to fear this lovely papers and learn how to combine the patterns, that most times are so beautiful, to add variety and interest to my cards.
Anyway my friends, I thank you for reading this post and for your comments and as always, if you have any questions, (which I totally doubt for this post), please just ask me. I always try to reply to all the comments, ok?
Thanks again for visiting.
Many paper (not DSP) hugs for you.

Maria.