Thinking of you Autumn card.....

Hello everyone: Now that Autumn has officially arrived, I'm loving all the hints of color I can see outside my craft room window, those trees in my backyard are starting to show some of the awesome and gorgeous colors of this Season.
I made this card inspired by it and I will link it up to a few challenges at the end of this post.

This image is from a set by Power Poppy called Sunny Harvest, stamped onto Canson water color paper with Stazon black ink and colored with SU markers and an aqua painter. Pattern paper, ribbon and brad are from my stash. I wanted to make a border with some markers but I decided to do it with embroidery thread so, I just punched the corners and wrapped around the thread, it looks a bit rustic, well.....I think so. Sentiment is from the set.

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Here is a picture of the finished inside.

Both sentiment and corner image are from the same set.

I would like to enter this card onto the following challenges.

Crafting When We Can Challenges #128, "use your favorite mediums", I used water color markers.

The Ribbon Girl September Challenge "use any image".

Fashionable Stamping Challenges #115 "Use Autumnal Colors"

Pile it On Challenge #117 "Autumn Colors"

613 Avenue Create Challenge #189 "Anything Goes with optional twist of colors of the Fall"

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

Hugs from Maria.

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NEWS FLASH.

I have some very exciting news to share with you. 

My dear friend Aileen from Colour and Sparkle asked me to be part of the Designer Team for a brand new challenge blog called The Flower Challenge.  I'm super excited and totally thrilled to be joining her and my new and amazing teammates in this fantastic Journey. 

This challenge will be all about FLOWERS and that is just right up my alley, I think I have more flower stamps than any other kind so, I'm going to have so much fun making my cards to share with you.  So, please click on the tab "Design Team" to see who we are and learn a bit about all of us and then, on October 4th. we all hope you join us in the gallery, hope to see you there!!

Big Hugs.

Maria.

Strawberry Fields.....

Hello everyone: This week the new challenge over at SHOPPING OUR STASH is all about FRUITS AND VEGGIES so we want you to dig out your images of either one and join us in the gallery.  One of my favorite fruits are Strawberries so I chose this image form an old Flourishes set called, what else, STRAWBERRIES.....Here is my card.

I stamped this image onto a panel of Canson water color paper with Stazon black ink and colored it with SU markers and the aqua painter, I had to put several layers of Real Red ink to achieve this shade for the strawberries.   Now, from time to time I like to mix the old with the new to get the look I want for my images so in this case, I very carefully inked and stamped the two little bees from the Power Poppy set called Foxglove and Ranunculus Dynamic Duo, it was a bit tricky since this stamp is quite big but with my MISIT I was able to position my panel just right and stamp this hard working, busy gals. I just love this chubby little bees and I think they add a very sweet detail to this image.

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

The sentiment and the basket of strawberries are from the same Strawberry set, the frame around the sentiment is from another Flourishes set called "Country Charm".

Thank you for stopping by, for more inspiration, be sure to stop by my teammates' blogs and see their awesome creations.

Until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Ribbons and Bows.....

Hello everyone: Do you have a box or a drawer or a closet full of ribbons that seem to keep growing no matter what??!!! well I do, and I haven't even bought any spools lately, it's just the ribbon I've accumulated over the years that it's just staring at me every time I come into this room. When I go to the craft store to get card stock or ink I purposely avoid the ribbon sections although at this time of the year, they are there, on my way, as I walk towards to paper section of the store, trying to look away.  When the Holidays are approaching it's almost impossible to resist buying ribbon, it's just so beautiful but, as much as I like it, I don't use it nearly as often to make any kind of dent in the amount I have already.  That's why the new challenge over at RETRO RUBBER  is great for us ribbon collectors because we want you to use ribbon in your cards. Here is mine, I even made a double bow, but my stash of ribbon kind of looks the same, sigh!!

This image is from a retired Stampin Up! stamp set called "Blooming Beautiful" that made it's debut in the 2008 Occasions Mini, it's one of my favorite images.   I stamped it onto a piece of Canson water color paper with Stazon black ink and colored it with SU markers and the aqua painter, the darker centers of the Pansies are done wit Prismacolor pencils.

The pattern paper is from a retired line from Lili of the Valley, the ribbon and bow from my stash.

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

For even more inspiration, hop over my teammates' blogs and see their amazing creations.  Please don't forget that your stamps MUST BE AT LEAST ONE YEAR OLD, make sure you tell us their age or at the very least, how long you've had it and also, please limit your challenges to 10 including ours.  Now, a good place to find out the age of your SU stamps is Splitcoaststampers, go to the gallery and all the stamps are listed there in alphabetical order. Another place is Pinterest, if you know the name of your stamp set, you can see there when your stamps were used by visiting the blogs of the people who made the card.  

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

Hugs from Maria.

Welcome Autumn.....

Hello everyone: Today is the first day of Autumn, although the weather still feels like Summer but, the days are getting shorter and some of the trees around my house are already starting to show a hint of gold and orange, specially at the top. I love this time of the year, it's my most favorite so, I have this card to share with you that I will link to some challenges at the end of this post.

This beautiful Acorn and Oak Tree leaves are from a Power Poppy by Marcella Hawley stamp set called Olive and Oak. I stamped the image onto a piece of Canson water color paper with Stazon black ink and colored it with SU markers and the aqua painter, I added a bit of shadowing with my Prismacolor pencils.

The frame is done with the retired Dotted Scalloped punch from Stampin Up!. I love how pretty this looks and how super simple it's to make. You can check the video HERE if you'd like.

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

Both the sentiments in front and inside are from the same beautiful set.

The Oak leaf is from a Our Daily Bread set called "Autumn Blessings".

I would like to enter this card onto the following challenges.

Fairy Tale Challenge #151 "Fallen Leaves"

Cards Und More Challenge #167 "No DSP"

Creative Moments Challenge "Anything Goes with a twist of Fall Colors"

Moo Mania "Fall Foliage"

CASOLOGY week #216 FRAME.

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

Hugs from Maria.

A card for Elysha.....

Hello everyone: Today I'm sharing a card I made for the daughter of a dear crafting friend of mine who lives on the other side of our World.....AUSTRALIA!!!!! Her name is Aileen Ryan and  her blog's name is Colour and Sparkle.  I've never had a friend from all the way Down Under so, this is truly exciting for me. Here is the card I made for Elysha and I hope it endures the long Journey and arrives in one piece so the birthday girl can enjoy it.

Aileen told me that her daughter loves the color pink and purple so I used those colors to make this card.  The image is from a retired Flourishes set called "Pinwheels and Popsicles", I stamped it onto a piece of pink card stock and colored it with my Prismacolor pencils. I made the shaker using the Cross Stitch die from Gina Marie Designs, the beads are from my local craft store, the sequences from SU, the pattern paper from Lili of the Valley (retired), ribbon from my bottomless ribbon drawer, I can't seem to make a dent, I'm not constantly buying so I guess I need to use it more.

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Here is a picture of the finished inside. I apologize for writing a little message for Elysha before I took the picture, I was just so excited and eager to get this card in the mail ASAP. Aileen asked to write in big letters so that's what I did.  The little dashing Hedgehog is from Penny Black, I stamped it masking the balloon and die cut my own in Elysha's favorite colors, I also colored this cute little guy with Prismacolor pencils.

The sentiment is from Power Poppy's Potted Primroses. 

I would like to enter this card onto the following challenges.

Can You CASE It? Challenge #138 "Shaker Cards"

Deep Ocean Challenge #138 Anything Goes.

City Crafters Challenge Blog week #330, use pencils. I used my Prismacolors.

Die Cutting Divas Challenge #284 "Birthday".

The Unicorn Challenge #13, Birthday.

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

Hugs from Maria.

A Fairy Challenge.....

Hello everyone: It's time for another fab challenge over at SHOPPING OUR STASH and this time the theme is FAIRIES  AND ANGELS!!!!!  So dig up your magical, beautiful images of this beautiful and magical creatures and join us in the gallery.  My card for this challenge inspiration was made with one of 20+ rubber stamps my aunt gifted me with some years ago. She found them in a thrift store in a cardboard box, dirty, stained, dusty, abandoned, unloved. She knows how much I love making cards so she bought the whole lot for $10.00, they didn't have a name or where they came from but years later, I found out they were made by a company called Sweet Pea Designs, that unfortunately, is no longer in business. Am I a lucky person or what?!
I couldn't tell what images were in this plain red rubber, unmounted stamps so, I soaked them in hot, soapy water and scrubbed them a bit, rinsed, dried them and started to ink them up and, to my complete astonishment, I saw the most gorgeous Fairy images I've ever seen in a rubber stamp, all of them are amazing, here is my card.

See what I mean? Isn't she just beautiful? I stamped this image onto Canson water color paper and die cut it with the retired SU Labels die set then, colored it with SU markers, the aqua painter and added some highlights and shadows with Prismacolor pencils, I also added Wink of Stella to her wings.

One thing I must point out.....that little butterfly is not part of this stamp, I put it there to cover a black smudge (grrrr!!) I made when I was coloring her hair, I froze, I was almost done and I didn't want to start over so, I went into my stash of stamps and found this little butterfly on the retired SU set called Kindness Matters, it was just the perfect size, I stamped it onto a scrap of water color paper, colored and fussy cut it, VOILA!! mishap averted, I was super happy with how it turned out.

The pattern paper is from a discontinued line from Lili of the Valley, I was so lucky I grabbed a bunch of 8x8 pads and some of the packages. 

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

This sentiment is one of my most favorites, it's from a retired Flourishes set called Orchids, it's words are just so beautiful and so true as well.

Now, go and check out my teammates fabulous creations at the SHOPPING OUR STASH and visit their blogs to see the details, don't forget to leave them some crafty love.

I would like to enter this card onto the following challenges.

The Fantasy Crafters Challenge Anything Fantasy Goes.

Creative Knockouts Challenge Winged Wonders.

Sparkles Christmas Challenge #68 Angels or Fairies.

Paradise of Stamps Challenge #48 Fairies.

Just For Fun September Challenge Photo Inspiration.

(taking a chance here, my card has orange, green, brown.)

Here is a picture of this beautiful Fairy rubber stamp, all cleaned up and trimmed.

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

Hugs from Maria.

The beauty of a handmade note.....

Hello dear friends: I've been off the grid for 3 days, sick with some kind of bug that had me all congested, sneezing and coughing my lungs out, ugghh!! since Friday.  I'm much better now, the weekend helped me rest and recover, hubby took good care of me, even if I looked like something that the cat dragged in from the alley. They say that, you know someone truly loves you deeply if they hang around while you are sick with the flu and then, stay. Love this guy, after 43 years, I still feel the love.
Anywho, I have a card that represents the awesomeness of receiving a handmade card or letter. In this day and age of electronic everything, the art of writing is sadly disappearing but we card makers are keeping it alive and I'm sure it will still be around for many years. Here is my card.

This image is from Impression Obsession and I bought it a while ago on Ebay for about $3.00, I just love it. I stamped it onto Canson water color paper with Stazon black ink and colored it with SU markers and the aqua painter. The pattern papers are from a discontinued line from Lili of the Valley, the sentiments, both in front and inside are from retired sets from Flourishes.

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

I would like to enter this card to the following challenges.

The Ribbon Girls Challenge Anything Goes.

Crafting When We Can "Use your favorite medium" for me is Water colors.

Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge.

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

Hugs from Maria.