Happy Birthday to.....

                                                 SWIMBIKERUNANDSTAMP!!!!!

Hello dear blogging friends: Well, today marks a very special day for me, December 9th. 2014 is when I venture into the unknown world of blogs, a totally uncharted territory for me, but I took this leap of faith and here I am, 2 years later, still at it and having a great time.
I've met a lot of fabulous new friends that joined my old time ones, (you know who you are 😉) from all over this great USA and the rest of the world.
I've been very busy with a kitchen full of workers that are giving me a new and beautiful, simple but elegant set of new cabinets, plus having to tend to my taxi service for my grandchildren and all the other things I must do daily but, I didn't want this day to go by without at least giving myself a pat in the back, making me a CELEBRATION card and sharing this with all of you.
So her is my card to ME, hope you like it.

This image is from Power Poppy by Marcella Hawley from a set called "Marcella's Mixtape Volume1" and it has a collection of other sets, all this images are beautiful.

I stamped mine onto a piece of Strathmore multi media paper with Versafine black ink and clear heat embossed it then, I colored it with SU markers and the aqua painter. I fussy cut the two horns and glued them to a small oval die cut then, die cut the swirls coming out of them and added a few Rhine Stones for a bit of bling.

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

The sentiment is from a retired SU set called Curly Cute, the fire works are from The Ton.

This post is just for me, as a celebration of this past two years with my blog, I still have a lot to learn but I'm having loads of fun.

I want to thank all of you who have been there from the start, without your support and encouragement, I wouldn't have made it this far. 

I always read every single comment you so kindly leave on my posts, I want you to know I appreciate this more than words can express.

Until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

A gift for you.....

Hello Everyone: There is a new challenge over at SHOPPING OUR STASH this week, this time we are asking you to join us in the gallery with a gift wrapping project, whether is a handmade box for some goodies, an envelope for a gift card, a box of tags or handmade cards, etc. we want to see it. I hope my project inspires you to give this challenge a try, I will have a link below to the video tutorial for this box.

This is a box for scented tea light candles, they are inexpensive and always a welcomed gift. The pretty box couldn't be easier to make so, please check out THIS VIDEO from Samantha Donald if you want to recreate this sweet little box. All I did was to change the pattern paper and the greeting, you can decorate it the same way or any way you want to.

Here is a picture of how it looks when it's open.

This candles are Vanilla scented, my craft room smells delicious. Believe it or not, you can fit 12 of them in this box, this would make a great little gift for your kids' and grandkids' teachers, coworkers, the mail lady, your hair dresser, neighbors, etc. 

So go ahead, give this a try and join us in the gallery.

For more inspiration, go check out my teammates blogs to see their awesome creations.

Thank you so much for stopping by, I always read every comment you so kindly leave on my posts, I want you to know I appreciate this more than words can express.

Until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Christmas Tea.....

Hello everyone, I'm so happy to share with you our new RETRO RUBBER Challenge, that will run from December 6th. through the 16th. giving you plenty of time to create a card inspired by our photo, use it for your color inspiration. This is the card I made, hope you like it.

This beautiful stack of porcelain tea cups is from a super old Flourishes set called "Christmas Tea", it's one of the first stamp sets I bought from this company back in 2010. 

I stamped this image onto a piece of Strathmore multi media paper with Versamark ink and then, heat embossed it in gold, I then colored it with SU markers and an aqua painter.

When it was completely dry, I fussy cut around it and, using a very sharp exacto knife, cut the holes on the cup handles, how I wish there were companion dies to this beautiful stamp sets.

The pattern paper is from my very old stash and so is the ribbon. The little sentiment is from the set.

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

The sentiment and the little row of cups and mugs are from the set, the frame around the sentiment is from another very old Flourishes set called "Country Charm Labels". 

I hope you join us in the gallery.  Please, take a moment to read our rules, they are simple but necessary. One of the most important ones is that we would love to know the age of your stamps, not so much the date they hit the market but instead, how long you've had them. 

Another important rule is that you can participate in up to 10 challenges including ours.

For more awesome inspiration, please hop over my teammates blogs to admire their beautiful creations.

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

The Ribbon Girl "Anything Christmas Goes with a Ribbon"

Dragonfly Dreams  "Christmas"

Come and Get it Challenge "Christmas"

Addicted to Stamps Challenge #137 "Christmas"

Left Of Center Creative Challenges #159 "Christmas Colors"

Thank you for stopping by, I always read every single comment you so kindly leave on my posts, I want you to know I appreciate this more than words can express.

Until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Staring In Wonderment.....

Hello everyone: I have a card I was supposed to post yesterday but I got sidetracked so, here it is today. I saw this die on Pinterest some time ago, it's from Poppy Stamps and it's called Snowflake Breeze and, as it's usually the case, added it to my never ending wish list, from which I pick some stuff to buy once in a while, wish I could buy it all but that would put my self imposed budget in the RED for a very long time.  But anyway, here's my card, hope you like it.

I cut a panel of SU Whisper White card stock with the die, then, I cut a piece of, believe it or not, Christmas wrapping paper, I wanted to cut it with silver glimmer paper but all I had was small pieces so I had to dig out this shimmery paper and, I must say, it worked great, hope you can see the speckles of glitter, I placed a panel of dark blue card stock behind the top panel to make those snowflakes really pop.

The little Snowman is from a retired SU stamp set called "White Christmas", from the 2014 Holiday Mini catalog, super cute images, love the look on his sweet face, I just love this set. The sentiment is from SU Teeny Tiny Wishes.

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

I used a strip of the same paper to "hang" my sentiment, which is from the same set, the star and the little Polar Bear too. I inked each letter with SU markers.

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

                                                 
       Craftyhazelnut's Challenge #310 "Vintage or Anything goes as long as it's Christmas.
                                                  Fantasy Stampers Challenge #77 "CAS Christmas"
                                                All Sorts Challenge Blog Week #392 "CAS"
                              A Gem of A Challenge #183 "Snowman/Snowwoman"
                                                Challenge Up Your Life Challenge #55 "Snowflakes"
                                             

Thank you so much for stopping by, I always read every single comment you so kindly leave on my posts, I want you to know I appreciate this more than words can express.
Until next time, happy stamping, hugs from Maria.

Picking Wild Flowers.....

                                                                           
Hello everyone: Well, here we are with another fabulous challenge for you to play with over at THE FLOWER CHALLENGE#3, this time, we want you to go dig out some of your favorite, OLD flower stamps and/or dies, and join us in the gallery. You know how it is sometimes, we keep buying new things and the old favorites get a bit forgotten, right?  Well, here's your chance to give them another chance to shine.  My card has an image from a stamp set called "Picking Wild Flowers" that I bought from a company called Flourishes back in 2010. That original company went out of business about 3 years ago. The die is from Spellbinders Nestabilities Decorative Labels 8 and it's also an old friend, I've had it since 2012.

I stamped the image onto a panel of Strathmore multi media paper with Versafine black ink and clear heat embossed it then, colored it with SU markers and the aqua painter. I die cut this panel with the retired SU Labels Collection dies and I glued it to the purple Spellbinders die, the card base is in Basic Black, I added a few Rhine Stones for a bit of bling.

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

I hope you give our Challenge #3 a try, I know you have old stamps and dies, so why not enjoy creating a beautiful card with them and join us in the gallery. 

Please read our rules, there are not many but they are important. 

For more inspiration, hop over THE FLOWER CHALLENGE and my teammates blogs and check out their awesome creations.

Also, please display our badge on your blog post, here it is for you to copy.

Thank you for stopping by, I always read every single comment you so kindly leave on my posts, I want you to know I appreciate this more than words can express.

Until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Good Tidings.....

Hello everyone: Well, it's here!!! December 1st!! I don't know about you but for me, this year just flew by at warp speed so now, it's time to crank it up and finish those Christmas cards with enough time to send them out so, I look for Christmas challenges to get a few more on my stash.
This one has totally NON TRADITIONAL Christmas colors but it's really pretty, if I say so myself. Hope you think so too. I will link this card to a few challenges at the end of this post.

This image is from a set from Power Poppy by Marcella Hawley called Cozy Cupfuls, all of the images are beautiful.  I stamped this one onto a die cut panel of Strathmore multi media paper with Versafine black ink and clear heat embossed it, then colored with SU markers and an aqua painter.

The sentiment comes in this set, the purple vellum paper is from my stash, the golden one from SU but it's retired.

Here is a close up of the pearls.

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

The sentiment is from another Power Poppy set called Spice It Up, also with gorgeous images of oranges and cloves, hmmmm!! smells so good.

The images at the bottom are from Merry Littles, my "go to" set from Power Poppy, to adorn the inside of my Holiday cards.

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

Color Throwdown #421

Crafty Creation Challenges #329 "Christmas"

Sweet Sketch Wednesday

The Sisterhood of Crafters "Use Some Pearls"

The Paper Shelter Challenge #275 "A Christmas Card"

Thank you for stopping by, I always read every single comment you so kindly leave on my posts, I want you to know I appreciate this more than words can express.

Until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Bargello anyone?????

Hello dear blogging friends: This new challenge over at Shopping Our Stash  is a real fun one, we want you to make your cards using the BARGELLO TECHNIQUE.  Must tell you, I've never tried this technique, I've seen it but never tried it so I knew I needed study this a bit to be able to do it right, the good thing is that the video is really fabulous and easy to follow, we hope you give this technique and our challenge a try.  What I found out is that this is a great way to use all of those left over pattern paper pieces that you can't bring yourself to trow away, here is my card, hope you like it.

Once I had watched the video a couple of times, all I needed to do is dig into the box where I put all of my leftover patter paper pieces and get to work, it was actually relaxing and surprisingly easy. 

You know me, I must have a stamped, water colored image so I grabbed this old favorite from Power Poppy's Poinsettia stamp set, stamped it with Versafine black ink and colored it with SU markers and the aqua painter. I stamped the sentiment onto a piece of Vellum just so the design could be seen, I didn't want to cover all my hard work.

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

Sentiment is from the same set, the little tree in the corner is from Power Poppy's Merry Littles, which is my "go to" set to finish the inside of my Holiday cards, all of this images are simply adorable.

So, I hope you give this easy and fun technique a try and then, please join us in our gallery, we can't wait to see what you create.  Don't forget to go check out my teammates beautiful cards on their blogs for more awesome inspiration. 

Thank you for stopping by, I always read every single comment you so kindly leave on my posts, I want you to know I appreciate this more than words can express.

Until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.