Seeing Dots!!!!!

Hello dear blogging friends: Yes, yes, my teammates and I are seeing dots in our new challenge over at RETRO RUBBER and we want you to come and play with us in our gallery.

Here is the card I made to inspire you to join us.

The image on this card is from a very old and beautiful Stampin' Up! set called "Apothecary Art" that came out in the 2012 Occasions Mini and it' has the companion die set and a piercing mat design too.

I chose this very bright yellow colors to perk me and you guys up during this very long and cold Winter season.  I stamped this image on watercolor paper with Stazon black ink and colored with SU markers, the dots on the background were made by inking one side of a dots embossing folder and running my panel through the Big Shot. I didn't have dotted ribbon so I created my own with a Daffodil Delight SU marker.  For the butterflies, I stamped some dots with Daffodil Delight and the "Gorgeous Grunge" stamp set (2013-2014 Annual Catalog) and then punched them out with the Butterfly punches that coordinate with the "Papillon Potpourri" (2012-2013 Idea Book and Catalog). I added a cut out doily sponged with Daffodil Delight for a bit of texture.

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

The sentiment is from a set from Paper Tray Ink, the dots from Gorgeous Grunge.

So I hope you get inspired to come and play with my teammates and I in the RETRO RUBBERgallery, we can't wait to see what you can create.

For more inspiration, go to the challenge PAGE and check out the rest of the team's awesome creations.

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.

I LOVE TO TRI!!!!!

Hello dear blogging friends: I guess by now, the picture on my blog lets you know I'm a Triathlete. The Sport of Triathlon is very dear to me because I've been able to accomplish the dream of becoming an Iron Man. 

Some of you might not heard of this race so, without going into to much detail about it, (which I tend to do since I love it so much) the Iron Man Triathlon consists in swimming 2.4 miles in a lake or the ocean, biking 112 miles and then, running a 26.2 Marathon.  The thrill of completing one of this grueling races is beyond amazing and I've done it 3 times!!!!!

So, when I learned that the theme for this week's challenge over at SHOPPING OUR STASH was "SPORTS" the first one that came to my mind was Triathlon.  I don't have any stamps for this sport so I had to get creative and figure out how I was going to make a card with this theme.

So, I went on a hunt on the net and I found THIS CARD that I used for my inspiration.

I put the image of the card on my computer screen and traced the little figures onto a piece of Vellum. Then I remember I had a set of  old dies with wavy designs on my stash and I thought they would be perfect for replicating the design on the card on Pinterest.  After I cut the card stock with the dies, I positioned them on my watercolor paper panel to figure out where I was going to draw the figures, I  then held the lines with a bit of tape and took this panel to the light box, where I traced the figures with pencil and then, fill them out with a black watercolor pencil and a small brush.

The words were printed on the computer and punched out with the SU Word Window Punch.

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

This sentiment is done using two stamp sets, the words are from an old Flourishes set called "Old Fashioned Florals" and the stars are from a Fiskars "Graduation" set.

So, whether you have some sport stamps in your stash or not, we hope you get creative and come and join us in the SHOPPING OUR STASH gallery, we can't wait to see what you make.

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.

Paper PIECING, not PIERCING.....

Hello dear friends: My teammates and I at THE FLOWER CHALLENGE, have a new and fun and not to often used technique for you to have some real fun with. We are talking about PAPER PIECING which should NOT be confused with PAPER PIERCING, ok?

So here is the card I made to inspire you to come and play along with us in our gallery.

I used some of my beloved, one sided pattern paper scraps from Lili of the Valley, this line of papers is sadly discontinued but, I was lucky enough to grab about 10 fabulous, 8x8 paper pads with the most beautiful colors and designs.  So I stamped my flowers from the retired Stampin' Up! set called "Fabulous Florets" and the leaves, from another retired SU set called "Peaceful Petals with Stazon black in onto the paper scraps and then, fussy cut them. I sponged a bit of distress inks one each of the pieces and arranged them on my embossed panel, the sentiment is from the Peaceful Petals set.

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This is the finished inside of my card.

I used one of the leftover flowers and leaves I fussy cut to embellish the inside, the sentiment is from a retired Flourishes set called "Dahlias".

So, there you have it, I hope you feel inspired to join my teammates and I in THE FLOWER CHALLENGE gallery, we can't wait to see what you create.

For more inspiration, go to the blog and check out what the rest of the Designer Team created, you'll be glad you did.

Please include our banner when you upload your card and don't forget to read our rules, they are few but important.

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.

Candy Cane Christmas.....

Hello everyone: I have the joy to be a Guest Designer for the HOUSE MOUSE AND FRIENDS MONDAY CHALLENGE and this is my second contribution to it. If you want to you can see my first card HERE and the card that won me this DT spot HERE.  It's no secret that I adore this little critters so, being a part of this challenge blog is simply fabulous.
Here is my card for today, February 5th. challenge which is "Anything Goes with an option Challenge Theme of SWEETS OR HEARTS"

This image is called "Candy Gram", isn't it just the sweetest?

I stamped it on watercolor paper with Versafine black ink and clear heat emboss it then, colored the brown mousy with some very old Derwent watercolor pencils, I really love the brown colors on this set. The black little mousy is colored with a SU black marker as well as the candy canes.

The pine branch details is done with the retired SU die set called "Pretty Pines", the pattern papers and the ribbon, are from my stash.

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

The sentiment is from another retired SU set called "Joy to the World", the candy canes on the bottom corner are from a Power Poppy set called MERRY LITTLES.

I hope I inspired you to come and join the party at the HOUSE MOUSE AND FRIENDS MONDAY CHALLENGE, for more inspiration, take a look at the amazing and beautiful creations of the rest of the Designer Team.

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.

A Bit Of Spring.....

Hello dear blogging friends: I'm so tired of this cold and gray days, I long for Spring and Summer, of days full of sunshine and warmth, right now it's 4 degrees here in my town, the weather channel says it feels like -8!!!!! Brrrr!!  

I wanted to make a card that will give me a bit of a taste of Spring, which is kind of almost here and imagine the Fairies fluttering about in my Tulips and Hydrangeas.  I will play along with a few challenges at the end of this post.

This dreamy image is from a company named 49 & Market, I bought this set plus a couple of more sets with the Faeries from Ebay and today, I searched for a website that would sell them but couldn't find any. There are some that sell some 49 & Market stamps but, even if I found several places that sell their stamps, I couldn't find any that sell the Fairy ones.

I stamped the image onto a piece of die cut watercolor paper with Versafine black ink and clear heat embossed it then, colored it with Sakura Koi watercolors and a small brush.

The pattern paper is from a retired line from Lili of the Valley, the Vellum rose on the bottom corner was die cut with Vellum and colored with Distress Inks and a sponge dauber. 

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

The sentiment and the image on the corner are from the same set.

I'm playing along with the following challenges.

Sweet Sketch Wednesday

Color Throwdown #478

Addicted to Stamps and More

Crafting by Design "Things with Wings"

Always Fun Challenges Challenge #43 "Monsters or Fairies"

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.

A Rosy Valentine.....

Hello dear blogging friends: Valentine's Day is just around the corner so the SHOPPING OUR STASH challenge have a great one for you to play with and help you create some Valentines for your sweetie, friends and family, this is the card I made to get you in the mood, hope you join my teammies and me in our gallery.

I have a large stash of glorious Power Poppy stamp sets and this one is called Go Wild.

I stamped this image on watercolor paper with Versafine black ink and colored it with SU markers, the pitcher was colored with some very old shimmer paints.

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

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As always, I finished the inside of my card, the line of little hearts, the sentiment and the very pink flamingos are from a retired SU set called "Valentine Defined"

So here is your chance o create some Valentines for friends and family, for more inspiration stop by the SHOPPING OUR STASH blog and check out my teammies awesome creations.

I'm playing along with Scrapbook Stamp Society Challenge #133 "Anything Goes" option "Valentine"

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.

Ruby Red Valentine.....

Hello everyone: With Valentine's Day just around the corner, my teammates and I at the RETRO RUBBER challenge want to inspire you to create some sweet Valentines for your family and friends so, here is my card and I hope you come and play along with us in our gallery.

I bought this rose stamp set on Ebay back in 2016, I'm so glad I wrote the date on the back of the set, I'm not very good at remembering when I buy my stuff, this is a good idea to kind of keep track of when and how many sets you buy. 

I stamped this rose onto a die cut panel of watercolor paper with Stazon black ink and colored with Prismacolor pencils.  The die cut "Love" sentiment is from a Penny Black die set called Love and Joy, the 4 sentiments cut really beautifully.

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This is a picture of the finished inside of my card, the sentiment is from a retired Flourishes set and the single rose from the above stamp set.

So I hope you come and play with us at the RETRO RUBBER "Love, Love, Love" challenge, for more inspiration, top by the blog and check out my teammates gorgeous creations.

I would like to play along with the following challenges.

The Crazy Challenge #267 "LOVE"

Scrapbook Stamp Society Challenge #133 "Anything Goes option Valentine"

Dream Valley Challenge #171 "LOVE"

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.