Oh Rats!!!!! Twofer fun #4.....

Hello everybody: I have a couple of more cards for the awesome TWOFER CARD CHALLENGE #4. This time, the gals want to see cards with pets in them so, here are mine.

I personally never had a rat for a pet but I know that they are kept for that purpose by some people and the Katzelkraft rats are some of the cutest.

This image is from a stamp set called Les Rats de Ville and each image is just so darn fabulous.

Here are some individual pictures of my cards. The first one is a Birthday card, stamped with Stazon black ink and colored with Prismacolor pencils. The balloon is a die cut and the sentiments are from a retired Flourishes set called "Pinwheels and Popsicles".

This is how the INSIDE of this card looks like.

 

Sentiment is from Hero Arts called "Happy Today", fireworks from a set called PYROTECHNICS.

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For my second card I made one that could be a Valentine or a "Just Because....." card.

The sentiment is from Penny Black and I think the words "this much" are from a set by "Your Next Stamp", but it's so old I really can't remember.

The grass and flowers are from Arts Impressions.

And this is how the INSIDE of this card looks like.

The sentiment and the little flowers in the corner are from a retired Flourishes set called "Picking Wild Flowers"

So I hope you like my Rat cards, I know my friend Sonny Peterson is going to be thrilled about this post, right my friend? 😉

I'm entering this cards to the following challenges.

Twofer Card Challenge #4

Mod Squad Challenge Birthday card with a Balloon in it.

Everybody Art Challenge #423 "Use a Die"

2 Crafty Critter Crazies "Must have a Critter"

Craftliners Challenge #49 April

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 of a Kind.....

Hello everyone: The SHOPPING OUR STASH challenge has a new one for you to play with this week, our theme is "Hey Dude" which means "MASCULINE CARDS".  I must confess I always have a bit of trouble creating cards for guys, especially teens, oh my goodness!!! It's so hard because you can't really make a card with teddy bears or little trains anymore, ask me how I know this and I will tell you that, my grandsons grew out of the cute kid's cards a while ago so, I decided to use my one and only teen boy image from Penny Black called VIDEO BOY, as a rubber stamp and here is the link for the DIGITAL IMAGE, just in case you just want to print it anytime you need to, I just adore the intense look on this kid's face, totally concentrating on whatever game his is playing, I bet he is darn good at it too!!

I stamped the image on water color paper with Stazon black in and colored with a few SU markers, his sweet face is colored with a Crayola marker that I treasure because it's the only marker that gives me the skin tone I want, I can make it darker for shading by applying a bit more where needed, I gave him a bit of blush on his cheeks with a cotton swab and a bit of red chalk.

I colored his hair with my black Prismacolor pencil adding a bit of the white pencil for the shine.

The pattern paper is from MODASCRAP and it's called "Wood Effect", which apparently is sold out at the moment so I hope they bring it back because it's beautiful.

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

I really couldn't find a sentiment for a teen boy in my stash so I just added this one from a Power Poppy set called Sassy Succulents (the little sentiment on the front of the card is from the same set.)

I decided to stamp just the bag of chips, soda can and chocolate bar from the Video Boy image to decorate the inside, I colored this with Prismacolor pencils.

So, I hope you get inspired to join my teammates and me at the SHOPPING OUR STASH gallery, this challenge will help you create those masculine cards we all need at times.

For more inspiration, visit my teammates blogs, you'll be happy you did.

I would like to play with the following challenges.

MOO-MANIA "Masculine"

Inspire.Create Challenges #015 "Masculine"

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 Believe in Fairies.....

Hello everybody: Who doesn't love Fairies?? I know I do and, every time I make a Fairy card, I want to believe this magical, ethereal little creatures are out there, somewhere, unseen by humans, living happily on my flower beds and in the back yard's bushes and trees. 

This sweet image is from a stamp set called The Beauty of Jasmine from the collection "The Flower Fairies" by Cicely Mary Barker. I love all of these sweet and beautiful images.

I stamped the flowers (I know Jasmine flowers are white or off white but I wanted a little splash of color) and the Fairy on water color paper with Versafine black ink and heat clear embossed it then colored it with SU markers. I sponged a bit of  Shabby Shutters distress ink on the panel and stamped some dots with the retired SU set called "Gorgeous Grunge" I added Wink of Stella to the wings but, you know how hard it is to photograph this stuff. The sentiment is from a Kraftin Kimmie set.

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Here is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

The sentiment is from a retired Flourishes set called "Orchids" and it's my favorite one to add to my Fairy cards, the sprig of Lavender and butterfly are from the Fairy set.

I would like to enter the following challenges.

The Paper Players

Do-Al(l) Kreatives Challenge #16 "Pastel Colors"

Pink and Main Challenges #29 "Spring"

Sweet Stampers Challenge #19 "To Cute"

Thank you for stopping by, I always read every single message 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.

Water Lilies.....

Hello dear blogging friends: This is a friendly reminder from THE FLOWER CHALLENGE, we are at the half point mark for the SHAPE CARDS CHALLENGE in which we are asking you to create cards with other fun shapes besides squares and rectangles.

So this is my Designer Team card that I created using the diamond fold technique, following THIS VIDEO TUTORIAL I found on Linda Bauwin's blog called STAMPING WITH LINDA.

This images are from a retired Flourishes set called "Water Lilies" and it's truly beautiful. I stamped the image on watercolor paper with Stazon black ink and colored it with Sakura Koi watercolors, SU markers and Prismacolor pencils. The sentiment is from the set.  I stamped the big and small Lily Pads on the side panels and then, stamped the Lotus buds on scrap pieces of watercolor paper, colored them the same way and fussy cut them, propping them up with foam dimensionals.

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

The brad holds this little door to the main panel so you just swing it open to read the sentiment.

There is enough room in the "inside" panel to write a short little message.

I would like to play along with the following challenges.

Quick Quotes Challenge #86 Theme "Include a Fold"

All Sorts Challenge Week #463 "Spring Flowers or Showers"

So there you have it, I hope this inspires you to come and play along with us at THE FLOWER CHALLENGE gallery, we can't wait to see what you create.

Please read our rules, remember FLOWERS should be the main focus on your cards.

You can enter up to six challenges, including ours.

And please, add our banner to your blog post.

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 very CAS Christmas.....

Hello everyone: I have another simple Christmas card to add to my growing stash, I will play along with a few challenges at the end of this post.

This image is from a 2013 WPLUS 9 set called WOODLAND WREATHS (out of stock at a the moment). I haven't used this set in a long while so I'm bringing it back from obscurity as well as some old Champagne color Rhine Stones (I had to pick the ones that are not loosing their color backing) and some pearls rarely used.

The twine is from my stash.

Super simple card, the sentiment is from a 2015 Power Poppy set called COZY CUPFULS.

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like. 

Here, I'm bringing back a retired 2013-2014 SU Christmas set called "Joy to the World", the pine needles and pine cones are from a Power Poppy set called MERRY LITTLES.

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

"Less is More"

The Merry Christmas Challenge #15 "Anything Goes/optional theme Christmas Trees.

DOUBLE D CHALLENGE Theme "Twine"

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #381 

Brown Sugar Challenge #277 Pearls or Mother's Day Theme.

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.

Twofer Fun #4 with the Kats.....

Hi there, everyone: I have a couple of cards to share with you for the Twofer Card Challenge #4 in which Darnell and the team are asking us to create two cards, for different occasions using the same stamps or dies, the prompt word this time is PETS so, here is my take on this challenge, using a couple of my Kaztlekraft adorable kitty images.

I must say that I'm an animal lover person, when our daughters were young, we had our share of both kitties and doggies in our house plus hamsters, frogs, fish, mice, and quite a few backyard birds and ducklings and bunnies that were rescued as little babies and raised by us and then, let go free. 

 These cats are from a Katzelkraft set called "Russian Cats",  these images are all fun and fabulous, you can really create all kinds of cards by just changing the sentiment.
I stamped these kitties on watercolor paper with Stazon black in and colored them with SU markers.
All the accessories and sentiments are from several stamp sets that were perfect for the themes on my cards, I love it when I can use a whole bunch of stamps from my treasured stash.

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Here are some individual pictures of the cards.



The pattern paper on this card is from MODASCRAP and it's called "Wood Effect", the gifts are from a retired Flourishes set called "All Wrapped Up!", the little cup cake is from a Penny Black set called "Cupcakes" (temporarily out of stock 😞)
The sentiment is from two Power Poppy sets, I just added a couple of extra "O's" and "U's" to the words to make sure you guys know this kitty is singing his little heart out.
The hats were handmade with some scraps of glitter and foil papers.

This is how the INSIDE this card looks like.

The sentiment and the little horn are from a Power Poppy set called "Marcella's Mixed Tape 2"

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This is my second card, using the same cats, I just added a table from the retired SU set called "Scenes from a Garden", a couple of little Santa's hats for the kitties from the Power Poppy set called Merry Littles  and a line of die cut Christmas Lights from Whimsy Stamps, hope you can see the Glossy Accents on them. The Sentiment and the musical notes the kitty is singing are from a Stamping Bella set called "Caroling Chicks , the same gifts from Flourishes. Colored everything with SU markers and added Dazzling Details to the pom poms and rim of the hats.

This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

The sentiment is from a Power Poppy set called Ponsettia, the little gift from "Merry Littles"

I would like to enter these cards on the following challenges.

Twofer Card Challenge #4 "PETS"

Aud Sentiments Challenge #201 "Happy Birthday"

CCEE Stampers Challenge #1815 "National Pet Day"

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge #463 "Christmas"

Seize the Birthday "Vibrant 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 them more than words can express.

Until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

We're in this Together.....

Hello everyone: They say that April Showers bring May flowers but up here all we've seen is snow, shigh!! I'm just hoping that Spring comes soon with a bit warmer weather, I'm very tired of the cold, gray days and I've just about had it with snow!!

Anywho, here is the card I created for the new challenge at RETRO RUBBER, hope you get inspired to join my teammates and me in the gallery.

This image is from a 2014-2015 Stampin' Up! Annual Catalog called "In This Together", I just love these pretty girl images all decked up and styling.
I stamped this image on watercolor paper with Stazon black ink and colored it with SU markers, the pink pattern paper is from a retired line from Lili of the Valley, the other graphic one is from my stash. I added some Rhine Stones to the opposite corners for some bling, the umbrella top was stamped on a piece of pattern paper and fussy cut then, popped up with small dimenssionals.

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

The sentiment is from a 2014 Power Poppy set called Sassy Succulents, which contains some of the cutest little succulents I've seen, beautifully detailed and simply adorable.
The flower in the corner is from a retired SU set called "Fast and Fabulous" from the 2010-2011 idea book and catalog, I love the double stamping on these images.

So there you have it, I hope you got inspired to come and play along with us at the RETRO RUBBER gallery with my teammates and I, we can't wait to see what you create.

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.