SOS CHRISTMAS IN JULY.....

Hello everyone: It's amazing how time flies, don't you think? Just a few months ago, we were still shoveling snow from our driveway and bundling up to go anywhere and now, we are in the middle of the year, enjoying warm temperatures, trips to the beach and water parks, cooking out, etc.
But my teammates and over at SHOPPING OUR STASH want you to think Christmas thoughts and join us in the gallery with your "Christmas in July" creations.
Here is my card, I went out of my usual style and used only dies to create it, hope you like it.

Thes cookie die cuts are done with a Papertrey Ink die set called SWEET HOLIDAY WISHES, it has a coordinating stamp set but sometimes, getting the dies is all you need.
The cookies are cut with the dies and I just added little dots with a white gel pen to decorate them a bit. The pattern paper is from an old Holiday pad and the ribbon from my stash of bits and pieces.
The sentiment is from a little box of left over sentiments, it was just the perfect size for my card.

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

The lacy border is from a retired SU set called "Bordering Details", the sentiment is from a retired Flourishes set called "Sweets of the Season" and the yummy cookie from my Papertrey Ink die set.

I hope you can come and play along with us at SHOPPING OUR STASH, please stop by the blog and click on my teammates' cards to see how they made them.

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.

Sip by Sip.....

Hello everyone: The RETRO RUBBER challenge has a fun and versatile sketch for you to play with so we hope you find a bit of time to come and join my teammates and me in our gallery.

Here is my card, for more inspiration, stop by the blog and check out the rest of the team's creations.

This cute line of Tea Pots is from a super old 1996 Stampin' Up! set called "Best Borders" and it has 4 borders with the cutest images, besides this one, there is a Snow Man border, a Bird House border and a Garden border, all sweet and adorable.

I stamped the image on watercolor paper with Stazon black ink and colored it with SU markers and Prismacolor Pencils. The lacy border is from a Martha Stewart punch and the pattern paper from a retired line from Lili of the Valley.  The sentiment is from a Power Poppy set called SHORT STACKS.

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

The sentiment is from the "Short Stacks" set, the little teapots from the "Best Borders" set.

I hope you visit the RETRO RUBBER challenge blog to check the rest of the Designer Team's beautiful creations and get ready to play along with 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.

Orchids Rock!!!!!

Hello everyone: Once again, THE FLOWER CHALLENGE has arrived at the halfway point so, my teammates and I want to give you a bit more inspiration to play along with us.

The theme is MONOCHROME, here is my card, done all in black and white this time, and I hope you stop by the challenge page and check out what the rest of the Designer Team has created.

This beautiful image is from a Power Poppy set called ORCHIDS ROCK and they totally do. These images on the set look amazing in any color.

I just stamped them on a piece of Drawing Paper with Versafine black ink and colored them with my black and white Prismacolor pencils. The sentiment is from another Power Poppy set called DAFFODILS, which is also gorgeous.

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

The sentiment is from the DAFFODILS stamp set.

I hope you find a bit of time to come and play along with us at THE FLOWER CHALLENGE, we can't wait to see what you create.

Please include our banner when you upload your card to the gallery, make sure the main image on your card are FLOWERS, you can link your card to 6 challenges, including ours.

There is a complete list of the RULES on our main page, please read them carefully, they are few but important.

I would like to play with the following challenges.

Craft Stamper Magazine "Anything Goes"

Simply Create Tool Challenge #140 "No Pattern Paper"

All Sorts Challenge "Week 476/477 Flowers All Over"

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.

An Apple a Day.....

Hello dear blogging friends:  The SHOPPING OUR STASH challenge has a really yummy one for you, we want to see FOOD on your cards, anything and everything that can be eaten, ok?  My teammates and I can't wait to see what you create.  Here is my card that hopefully will inspire you to come and play along.

This image is from a Power Poppy set called Farmers Market and it has the most beautiful and fresh images of good old fruits and veggies.

I stamped the image on watercolor paper with Versafine black ink and colored it with Sakura Koy watercolors, the nice red apple is from a retired Flourishes set called "Apple of My Eye", stamped on watercolor paper, colored with watercolors and fussy cut.  My sentiments in front and inside are from another Power Poppy set called Sassy Succulents. I added a few Rhine Stones just for a bit of bling.

The yellow pattern paper is from Lili of the Valley and the wood piece from my stash of leftovers from a pack I bought some time ago at the craft store.

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

The little caramel apple is from the retired Flourishes set called "Apple of My Eye".

I hope you come and play along with us over at SHOPPING OUR STASH, and don't forget to go visit my teammates' blogs to see their beautiful 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.

Pretty in Pink.....

Hello dear blogging friends: The new challenge over at THE FLOWER CHALLENGE is all about MONOCHROME, you can use any color and the shades of that color on your cards, you can use black or white as an option and to stamp your sentiment.
Anywho, here is my card for the challenge, I hope it inspires you to create a card using perhaps your favorite color and join my teammates and me in the gallery.

This image is from a Power Poppy set called Countryside Bouquet Delux and I chose to use all kinds of pink shades on it. I saw THIS VIDEO on Pinterest and decided to kind of CASE the card, which is really beautiful. I added a few highlights and shading with a couple of Prismacolor pencils and a few Rhine Stones for bling, the corner die cuts, I found a piece of ribbon, that happens to look exactly as the colors of distress inks I used for the card in a bag where I save the last pieces from the spools, the sentiment was a leftover from another card, the pattern paper is from a discontinued line from Lili of the Valley.

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

The images and sentiment are from the same set.

I hope this card will inspire you to come and play along with us at THE FLOWER CHALLENGE, for more inspiration, please stop by the challenge to check out my awesome teammates' beautiful cards and check out their blogs to find out how they created them.

Please don't forget to include our banner for this challenge on your blog post when you link your card to the page and please also remember you can enter only 6 challenges including ours.

I would like to play along with the following challenges.

The Paper Nest Dolls ALWAYS ANYTHING GOES 

Use Your Stuff Challenge #319 MONOCHROMATIC

Incy Wincy Designs for July, FLOWERS.

Dream Valley Challenges #182 ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL

Crafty Sentiments Designs BRIGHT COLORS 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.

Quilted With Love.....

Hello everyone: A new challenge is on at the SHOPPING OUR STASH blog and we hope you can find a bit of time in your Summer activities to play along.  The theme is GEOMETRIC FIGURES, so get your circles and squares, rectangles and triangles, or whatever other geometric figures you have in your stash and join my teammates and me in the gallery.

This is my card, hope it inspires you to play.

As you can see, there is minimum stamping on this card, I just punched the Hexagons with a retired SU punch out of all of my Lili of the Valley scraps, taped them together and for the middle, I added a die cut circle I had in my stash of leftovers, then added some "stitching" with a gray marker.

I glued this "quilt" to a doily and stamped the sentiment on a banner I had also already cut.

The background pattern paper is from Lili of the Valley.

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

Both the sentiment and the little flower are from the same set.

I hope you join us in the SHOPPING OUR STASH gallery, we can't wait to see what you create.

Please visit the blog to admire my teammates' fabulous cards.

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.

CELEBRATE!!!!! with Retro Rubber.....

Hello crafty friends: I had so much fun creating this card that I'm so glad the day arrived to share it with you today as inspiration for the RETRO RUBBER challenge, I hope you find some time to join my teammates and me in our gallery.



I have this super old stamp set from Flourishes (sadly discontinued) that dates back from 2013 when it was finally released, I couldn't wait to buy it and I did as soon as it was available, tee hee!!
The images are simply adorable, as you can see here with this sweet and vintage RV camper trailer.
I love every detail on this image and I placed it on a warm Summer's night, with a starry sky and fun and festive Fireworks to celebrate Independence Day.
I stamped this image on watercolor paper with Stazon black ink and colored it with SU markers and ink pads, I love the glow that I was able to achieve coming out of the little door.
Then I fussy cut it and placed it on the panel after I stamped it again with white ink to have the grass under it, I just colored the pole holding the little awning with a silver gel pen and then, using part of an image from another Flourishes set called "Patriotism on Parade", I stamped the little American Flag, colored it and fussy cut it to place it on top of that pole, I was amazed how perfect the size was.
The fireworks are from a The Ton set called PYROTECHNICS and they are heat embossed with glitter embossing powders.

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

The sentiment is from a retired SU set called "Perfectly Penned", the image on the bottom form the Flourishes set.

So I hope you get inspired to come and play along with us at RETRO RUBBER, please make sure at least one of your stamps is older than a year, we would love to know it's age.

Stop by the blog to check out my teammates' amazing creations and then, play along with us, 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.