For the Bride and Groom.....

Hello everyone: The RETRO RUBBER challenge has a new challenge for you to play with and the theme is WEDDINGS.  I haven't had requests for Wedding cards lately so this was a great opportunity to make one and keep it handy.  I wanted to use this adorable cutouts I've had since like forever and this was my chance.  Here is my card, hope you like it.

 I had this little cutouts in my embellishments drawer, they were bought in Mexico some years ago and had been neglected for a very long time, I think they are the cutest. I had to fussy cut around the image as they have a somewhat wide outline and, since I wanted to put the Groom behind the Bride, that outline was in the way.

 I adore the faces of this images, the Bride, with a blissful look on her pretty face, so happy and dreamy, the Groom.....well.....he looks happy too but, judging by his grin and the sweat on his brow, he also looks.....Ehmm! worried? scared? I don't know, what do you think?

The lovely flowers that serve as a backdrop for the sweet couple are die cut with the fabulous and sadly retired "Botanical Blooms" die set that came out in the 2016 Stampin' Up! catalog, I only bought the dies.  The sentiment is from the 2009-2010 Stampin' Up! set "Teeny Tiny Wishes".
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Here is a picture of the finish inside of my card.

The sentiment and the little flowers in the corner are from a 2010 Flourishes set called "Picking Wild Flowers", the die cut is from a Spellbinders die set called "Oval Regalia".

I hope you join us in the RETRO RUBBER gallery, don't forget to visit my awesome teammates' blogs and see their fabulous creations, you'll be happy you did.

Here are a few guide lines for you.

Please make sure you use at least one stamp on your card that is older than a year.

If at all possible, please tell us the age of your stamp or how long you've had it.

Only new creations, no back linking.

You can participate only in 10 challenges including ours.

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 them more than words can express.

Until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Stars and Stripes.....

Hello everyone: My teammates and I have a new challenge for you this week over at SHOPPING OUR STASH, we want you to show us the colors of your flag. Well, I'm originally from Mexico City and I came to this Country as a new bride back in 1973.   I proudly became an American Citizen in 1990 so, I lived here more than in my native Mexico, since I got married when I was 21y/o and I've been married 44 years come this September.

So I made two cards this time, this first one is to Honor and Celebrate my Adoptive Country, in which I've raised my sweet family, made wonderful, endearing friends and done fabulous, amazing, memorable things along the way.  

Here is my first card that I hope will inspire you to join us in the gallery.

This was a super fast card to make, I had everything I needed already, so it was just a matter of die cutting, stamping a little and cut the paper to size. I cut red card stock for the front panel and blue for the inside of my card, I die cut the white panel with an old Flourishes die, the stars are from a set I bought at Hobby Lobby a long time ago, can't remember the name, so sorry.

The stamped words are also from an old Flourishes set that, at the moment, can't recall it's name.

Back  when I started stamping about 10 years ago, having a blog was not in my plans so I never bother to write down or save some information about the stuff I was buying, I totally apologize.

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

This also was stamped using the images from that Flourishes set.

Now, as I mentioned earlier, here is a card made with the colors of my native Country of Mexico.

I die cut the cute dress with the retired Stampin' Up! die set called "All Dressed Up!" (not quite sure about the name😕) The top was die cut using another one of the dies on some glitter paper. The ribbon is from my stash but I added Dazzling Details in Cherry Cobbler to match the top of the dress.

The hat on a rack is from a 2010 Flourishes set called "Friendly Reminders", I colored it with Prismacolor pencils. I die cut the frames both in front and inside with a Postage Stamp die set.

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

I used two sets from Flourishes for this panel, the banners are from the set "S'more Fun" and the word "Celebrate" from  a Power Poppy set called "Marcella's Mixtape Vol. 1", I used Garden Green and Real Red Stampin' Up! markers to ink it up. 

I'll enter the first card onto the following challenges.

Simon Says Stamp RED, WHITE and BLUE

Cards in Envy RED, WHITE and BLUE

Always Fun Challenges Patriotic.

Just Us Girls

Time Out Challenges #86 Celebrations with optional twist "One Layer Cards"

So there you have it, hope this cards will inspire you to join us in the SHOPPING OUR STASH gallery, make sure you visit my awesome teammates' blogs to find more inspiration and join us.

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 them more than words can express.

Until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

One More For My Halloween Stash!!!!!

Hi there everyone: Well, I don't know about you but, I like to have a good stash of Holiday cards ready for when the Season arrives, I've been making a good amount of Christmas cards but I don't have many for Halloween and Thanksgiving so, here is my first Halloween card of the year.  I'm linking it to a few challenges at the end of this post.

This is a really beautiful image from a Power Poppy set called Feeling Fall and, even though I think the intention of this image is for a Fall card, I made it Halloween by adding the scary spider from the retired Stampin' Up! set called "Dark and Dreary".  I often combine stamp sets, old and new, to create the scene I want, in this case, that spider did the trick.

The images are stamped onto a die cut panel of water color paper with Versafine black ink and clear heat embossed, then colored with some of my Sakura Koi water colors.  The sentiment is from the set and the pattern paper from my stash.

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

This images are from a retired Stampin' Up! set called "Bite Me!", love it!!!

I'm linking this card onto the following challenges.

Power Poppy June Challenge Add a bug.

heARTful Stamping Challenge "Anything Goes+a Stamp"

2 Crafty Critter Crazies Challenge #3 "Anything Goes with a Critter"

Happy Little Stampers 

Craftyhazelnut's Pattern Paper Challenge

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 them more than words can express.

Until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

My Kind of Vacation.....

Hello everyone: Well, kids around the USA are on Summer Break, I love it!!! because I get to see my grandkids very often, they come our house to go to the club house pool, they go on bike rides, spend the night, etc. Even if they are not little anymore, (19, 17, 14, 13 and 9), they still love hanging out with Grammy and Grandpy and Grammy and Grandpy couldn't be happier.

We, hubby and I, have been so fortunate to have this children in our lives from the moment they were born to right now, we were able to take them on Spring Break vacations since the oldest ones were toddlers, for 15 consecutive years, we went all over the USA and Mexico with them, our best memories of this vacations were to the beaches of Mexico and Panama City FL.

The SHOPPING OUR STASH challenge is a super fun one, it's all about what you like to do when you are on vacation, for me.....give me a beach, surf, sand and a cold beer, let me watch my grandchildren splash around and build sand castles, that's the ticket.

Here is my inspiration card for you, if you want more inspiration, hop over the challenge and see what my awesome teammates created, you will be happy you did.

This image is from my older stash of Power Poppy stamp sets, it's called Best Day Ever, the little shells are from an old Flourishes set called "Seaside Life" I just stamped them with gray Stazon ink, colored them, fussy cut them and adhered them to the panel with glue dots, the word "memories" is from my stash of metal sentiments, it's just perfect for my card.

I stamped this images onto water color paper with Stazon black ink and colored with my Stampin Up! markers and my FIXED WINK OF STELLA brush. The sentiment is from the same set.

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

The sentiment and shell are also from the sets.

So come on over to the SHOPPING OUR STASH challenge blog and join us, I'm sure you have tons of memories of past vacations, whether on a beach, the mountains, interesting cities, camping, cruising, etc., you could share them with us in the gallery.

Don't forget to hop over my teammates blogs to see their beautiful creations, I'm sure you will be super inspired.

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 them more than words can express.

Until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Cats Rule.....Dogs Drool?????

Hello everyone: Some time ago, I discovered a fabulous stamp company on Pinterest called KATZELKRAFT, after looking at the fabulous cards on this board, I went to the site and I fell in love with their stamp sets.  So here is this card made with two different sets, I will link it to a few challenges at the end of this post.

Don't you just love this pair of friends?  As a cat and dog lover, I've seen this happening in my own house and it's hilarious.  The doggie wants to play and the cat wont have it, ha, ha!!! 

The dog image is from the set called Les Chines and the cat image is from the set called Les Chats Russes.  I stamped them onto a die cut circle of water color paper, using THIS TECHNIQUE, with Stazon black ink, I made a mask of the doggie to be able to stamp the cat next to it, colored with SU markers and aqua painter.

The embossed panel with the doggie/kitty paws is from DARICE.

The sentiment is from a Power Poppy set called Sassy Succulents.  Using my MISTI, I stamped the words to make them fit on the banner.

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

The sentiment is from an old Flourishes set called "Picking Wild Flowers", the little bone is from the Dog set, I just thought it would look so cute dangling there, as if the cat gave it to the dog but, judging by the expression on the kitty, it's kind of like he didn't really wanted to give it to him, LOL!!

The bow and thread were drawn by hand.

I'm linking this card to the following challenges.

The Paper Players

Sweet Stampers Challenge #8, Dies and or Punches.

2 Crafty Critter Crazies, your card MUST include a creature.

Crafting When We Can Challenge #147, "Use an Image"

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 them more than words can express.

Until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Christmas Teddy and Train.....

Hello everybody: In a continuous effort to have a good stash of Christmas cards for the Holidays, I made this one using a super sweet, retired set from Stampin' Up!, images like this are timeless.

I like to combine stamp sets, both old and new, to achieve a certain look on my cards, I have a good stash of vintage, beautiful and retired sets from all over the place, here I combined two old and one new to create this card.

The sweet, fluffy Teddy and the adorable little Train are from a retired Stampin' Up! set called "Teddy and Train", this set is perfect for baby cards but, like in this case, also for a cute Christmas card.  The pile of beautifully wrapped gifts the Teddy is leaning on is from a retired Flourishes set called "All Wrapped Up!".  The sentiment here is from a new Power Poppy set called Wreaths Plain and Fancy.  I die cut the oval from Spellbinders Decorative Elements Floral Ovals.

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

The sentiment is from a Power Poppy set called Poinsettia, the little gift from Merry Littles.

I'm linking this card to the following challenges.

Merry Monday

                             Christmas at Sweet Stamping June Challenge "Anything Goes for Christmas"                                     Crafting By Design "Animals" Hope my little Teddy Bear counts.

Crafty Gals Corner Challenge #128, "Any Holiday"

ModSquad Challenge Use lots of colors on your creation.

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 them more than words can express.

Until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Muse Farewell to Jenni.....

Hello everyone : Jenni Murray from the MUSE CHALLENGE is having a goodbye post as she is leaving the DT.  Her card is simple and, at the same time, a bit tricky to make, I wanted to give it a try and, after a couple of fail attempts and thanks to my MISTI, I was able to create this card, that looks a lot like hers. Here is my card and Jenni's.

I went to look for sets that had "Thank You" sentiments in them,  I tried to find the ones that would fit the 3"x3" center panel and, after a short while, I found two, both sets are old and retired from Flourishes, I used one called "Picking Wild Flowers" for the center sentiment and another one called "With Gratitude" for all the sentiments around it. This stamp is a long one with the word "Thank You" in English, Spanish, French and German, with really beautiful fonts.
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Here is a picture of the finished inside of my card.

The sentiment and Humming Bird are from an retired Flourishes set called "Humming Along", the little flower is from a retired Stampin' Up! set called "Happiness Shared".

I'm linking this card to the following challenges:

Muse Challenge #221

ModSquad Challenge "Colorful Creations" Use many colors on your card.

Sisterhood of Crafters"Anything Goes" but try to think outside the box.

I've never made a card like this so, I hope it's ok. for this challenge.

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 them more than words can express.

Until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.