Botanical Builder CASE.....

Hello dear friends: I just recently purchased the Botanical Builder Framelits Dies and I'm really having fun with them. This set is an investment, you can use it for all occasions all year round.
The card I made to day is for two challenges, the TIME OUT challenge #56, where we have a beautiful card by Kay Miller and The Challenge #73 Inspiration Photo Challenge, here is my card.

I did my very best to CASE Kay's card, I love the stitched frame she used but I don't have it so I used the Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Nestabilities Dies instead.  The beautiful little flowers were die cut with the Botanical Builder dies, the flourish is from Cherry Lynn (I think?) and the splatter from Gorgeous Grunge, stamped in Old Olive ink. I added a few pearls to the center of the flowers and around.

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

The sentiment is from a retired SU set called Whimsical Words, from the 2010 Sale-a-bration catalog.

Here is the beautiful card from Kay I CASEd.

And the beautiful inspiration photo from The Challenge # 73, gorgeous colors.

Thank you for stopping by, until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Mojo Monday Strawberries.....

Hello everyone: The time is fast approaching to say goodbye to some of SU favorite sets, well.....some of mine and this is one of them, "Market Fresh". All of the images are great plus, the sentiments on each are clever and fun. This card is for the Mojo Monday #448 designed by Julee Tilman.

I stamped the image onto Canson water color paper with Stazon Jet Black ink and colored it with SU markers and the aqua painter, the strawberries were given several coats of Real Red and then, some more coats of my red Prismacolor pencil. I die cut the image with a Flourishes die from the set called "Berry Sweet", I love the pierced detail.

The pattern paper is from Lili of the Valley, the little heart punch is very old, I bought it at my local craft store and it's from "Punch a Bunch".

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

The sentiment and strawberry are from a Flourishes set called "Strawberries", the frame from "Country Charm Labels"

Here is the sketch that inspired my card.

and the stamps that I used to create it.

Thank you for stopping by, until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Purple Onion Christmas.....

Hello dear friends: I love the Purple Onion images, specially Stacey Yacula Christmas collection.  Today's card was made with the Christmas Tree and the Elm the Puppy rubber stamps , I'm submitting this card to the Muse Christmas Visions and the Sweet Stampin' Christmas May Winter Fun, here is my card.

The Christmas Trees were heat embossed in white then, I sponged each one from top to bottom with Tim Holtz distress inks in Shaded Lilac, Spun Sugar and Tumbled Glass, I love the beautiful pastel shades I get with this inks. The Joy die cut word is from a Penny Black die set called Love and Joy.

The little puppy was stamped onto a piece of Strathmore Multi Media 90lb. water color paper and fussy cut with my paper snips and the exacto knife and placed on the panel with dimensional foam adhesive, I'm getting better at using my exacto knife but, I found out the hard way that, for intricate and delicate images like the bow on the box top, it's better to reinforce the back with a couple of pieces of scotch tape, that way, when you go at it with the knife, the pieces cut better and wont rip off, this paper is let thick than the usual paper (Canson 140lbs.) I use but it's great if you want to fussy cut your images.

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

The sentiment is from Power Poppy's Cozy Cupfuls which has the most adorable images and the mitten is from my go to set for the inside of my cards, Merry Littles. 

Here are the banners that inspired my card.

Muse Christmas Visions.

May Winter fun.

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog.

Thank you for stopping by, until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

You Wild Thing You!!!!!

Hello dear friends: Father's Day is just around the corner so I'm making another masculine card, this time, with the awesome help of The Paper Players challenge from LeAnne, "Wild Thing" theme, asking us to use a wild animal in our CAS card, here is mine.

I struggle with masculine cards and making CAS masculine cards.....well.....that is double trouble but heck!! I'm adventurous, right?

I honestly tried to keep it as CAS as possible, I didn't add any layers, I just die cut the frame with the Labels Collection dies, one for my handsome lion, the next die for the frame around it and the last cut was on the panel, I added just 3 brads and the sentiment stamped on vellum.

I again, combined several stamp sets to complete this card, the lion is from the beautiful and retired SU Zoo Review, stamped onto Canson water color paper with Stazon Jet Black ink and colored with SU markers and the aqua painter. The "pebbles" on the ground are from the "Gorgeous Grunge" set, the sentiment is from "The Wilderness Awaits", which I bent on the MISTI to fit on that banner.

Here is a picture of the finished inside.

The sentiment is from my stash and the trees from SU "Serene Silhouettes", which is retiring.

Here is the banner that inspired my card.

Thank you for stopping by, until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

This are the stamp sets I used for my card.

Run, Cinderella, Run!!!!!

Hello gain dear friends: The Addicted to CAS challenge blog CODE WORD for this next 2 weeks is MIDNIGHT and, as soon as I saw it, I knew which stamp I was going to use. Here is my card, made with the Kraftin' Kimmie "Cinderella" rubber stamp. Unfortunately, I think it might be discontinued because I couldn't find it at their store.
I'm also linking this card to the Color Throwdown #392, the colors are Blue (her d ress), Brown (her hair), Gray (the wall and clock) and White (her gloves and pearls).

This card took a bit of patience and perseverance, I changed my mind about how I was going to create a night sky for this sweet Princess.  I thought about sponging the sky so I grabbed some scrap pieces of water color paper to practice but it was a disaster, all I ended up with was a blotchy mess and black finger nails so I decided to go with black card stock and the dots stamp from the SU Gorgeous Grunge stamp set for my starry sky. I ink just half of the stamp (one half has this design and the other half has the dots kind of more together) with Versamark ink and heat embossed it with silver glitter embossing powder, I really love the way those "stars" are shining down on sweet Cinderella. I don't have a clock stamp so I made my own, just die cut the circle, and eye balled the place for the numbers, sponged a bit of black ink on the edge and I put a mini silver brad to hold the hands, not bad, eh?

Now, as you probably already noticed, I had to fussy cut the top of this image, I just couldn't risk messing it up with the sponging so, I grabbed my snipping scissors and a brand new blade for the exacto knife to cut the areas by her arms, her neck and under the bottom part of her hair. It was a bit nerve wracking but I'm very satisfied with the results.

I gave her some beautiful pearls to wear, I thought of Rhine Stones but pearls look more elegant.

If it wasn't for the exacto knife, I don't think I could've cut this delicate neck without.....oh, the horror of it!!!  I colored Cinderella's dress with a wash of SU Tempting Turquoise, let it dry and then, went in with my Prismacolor pencil in Dark Blue, adding more in the shadow areas and all over the dress and blending it with the paper stump that is already saturated with baby oil, I didn't need to add more.

I drew the wall with pencil and then, also gave it a light wash with the Basic Gray marker, I added the bricks with the black Prismacolor pencil and blended the shadows of her dress and the bricks with the paper stump.

Here is the finished inside of my card, the sentiment and the little glass slipper are from the set.

Here is the Addicted to Stamps and More CODE WORD.

Here is the stamp I used for this card.

Thank you for stopping by, until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Fairy Tale Friendship.....

Hello everyone: I love Fairies, most of you know that, I love the mere idea that they might actually exist, most little girls dream of them, my granddaughters did when they were little, building houses out of twigs, leaves, flowers in my backyard, trying to lure them with shiny things, like glitter, scrap pieces of gold and silver paper, sequences and Rhine Stones, which I happily provide letting them come into my craft room and take what they needed. I really miss those days but I'm happy I was able to enjoy them. Over at the City Crafter Challenge Blog the theme for week #311 is "Fairy Tale Land" and this is the card I made to participate.

This image is from The Emerald Fairy Collection and it's called "Alley and Beeble", I bought the rubber stamp years ago and as of now, I only found it as a digi HERE, there are other super sweet images but I prefer rubber.

Anyway, I stamped the Fairy onto Canson water color paper with Stazon Jet Black ink because this is a rubber stamp, for my Photopolymer stamps I use Versafine Onix Black ink, which seems to work so much better. I colored it with SU markers and the aqua painter and added a bit of shimmer paint and glitter to her wings and to the flower she is sitting on. 

The embossing folder is from The Paper Studio.

The little hearts are punched with a retired SU corner punch that punches this teeny, tiny, perfect hearts, so pretty.

Here is a picture of the finished inside.

The sentiment is from a retired Flourishes set called "Gerber Daisies" and it's framed inside a frame from another Flourishes set called "Country Charm Labels", the sweet flower is from a SU set called "Flowering Fields".

This is the beautiful inspiration photo from City Crafters.

This is what Fairy Tales are made of.

Thank you for stopping by, until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Have your Cake.....

Hello again everyone: I have a quick card to share that was partially finished about a week ago, sometimes I like to just stamp my images, color them and put them away for the times when I need a card in a hurry, which is often the case with my daughters who sometimes ask for a card with only a few hours in advance. This card will be linked to the Retro Sketches #214.

I stamped this delicious slice of cake from the retired Flourishes set called "Pinwheels and Popsicles" onto a piece of Canson water color paper and die cut it with a circle die, then colored it with SU markers and the aqua painter. I stamped the little roses again, colored and fussy cut them to add a bit of detail. I added some really fluffy and shimmery yarn and some Rhine Stones, I embossed the background panel with a Cuttlebug embossing folder. The sentiment was stamped with Strawberry Slush and punched with the SU Modern Label punch (retired).

Here is a picture of the finished inside.

The sentiment is from a retired SU set called "Perfectly Penned", the candles are from another retired SU product, this was a candle wheel but I just took the rubber off the wheel and cut the individual candles, this way I can play with them better.

Here is the sketch that inspired this card.

and this are the stamps I used.

Thank youi for stopping by, until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.