Cupcake Twofers.

 Hello everyone: I hope and pray you and your families are well, keeping each other healthy and safe.

Well, it took me a bit of thinking to come up with these cards for The Twofer Challenge but finally, here they are.

Twofer #1

I saw THIS CARD ON PINTEREST and I knew right away I needed to CASE it, it was just perfect for this challenge.

Unfortunately, as you can see from the picture, there is no name, no watermark, no blog name, or anything that I can use to give credit and thank the original creator so, if any of you recognize the original card and you know who created please let me know, I always like to give thanks to the crafters who inspire me.

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This is the INSIDE.

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Twofer #2

This card was inspired by a song my grandchildren loved when they were at my house watching Sesame Street, do you guys remember The Ladybug Picnic? I sure do, it's been in my head since I started creating this card, LOL!!

This is the INSIDE.

Just so you know, I fussy cut all the cupcakes😊

And this is what I used.

Card #1

All the cupcakes are from a Penny Black stamp set called "Cupcakes" 

DSP from a retired Lili of the Valley line.

The Happy Birthday sentiment is from a 2013 SU set called

"Itty Bitty Banners"

My Twofer.

I used the same cupcakes, but I created a little Picnic for my Ladybugs.

I used a 2008 Stampin' Up! set called "A Flower for All Seasons"

but I only used the stamp with the little Ladybug climbing up the

flower pot with the Sunflowers, my MISTI came in really handy to stamp

the row of Ladybugs.

The smiley sun and clouds are from a Sizzix Bundle called "Welcome Home" 

It's a little pricey now, I bought it a very long time ago, I promise you I didn't pay this much for it.

The sentiments both in front and inside are from a Power Poppy set

called "Best Day Ever".

I want to play with

The Twofer Card Challenge

Thank you for visiting me today.

Stay healthy and safe.

XO
Maria.

Orange Peonies.

 Hello everyone: I hope and pray you and your families are doing well, taking care of each other and still wearing your masks.

I have this card to share today, I really love this Altenew set. 

I wanted to make sure that there were actually orange peonies so, here is a picture of them, just so beautiful.

I love the bud.

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This is the INSIDE.

This is what I used.

"Peony Bouquet" from Altenew.

"Poppies" from Power Poppy, for the sentiment in front.

"Everything is Even Rosier" from Power Poppy, for the sentiment inside.

Prismacolor pencils.

Tim Holtz "Spiced Marmalade" for the strip on the side.

I want to play with these challenges.

Perfectly CAS Challenge #15

"Repeat Stamping"

Freshly Made Sketches.

Sketch by Judy.

Thank you for visiting me today.

Stay healthy and safe.

XO
Maria.

A Little Reminder, the Regal Rose.

Hello everyone: I hope and pray you and your families are doing well, staying healthy and safe.  Keep taking care of yourselves and each other.

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THE FLOWER CHALLENGE has come to the half way point so I'm here with a reminder for this month's theme, which is "Use Your Favorite Flower".  Like you, I love all flowers but I can't help having some favorites.  For my first card I chose The Humble Violet, for my second card I chose the Regal Rose, here is my card.

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This is the INSIDE.

And this is what I used.

The Rose image is from a very old Stampin' Up! wood mounted stamp dating back to 1998 and it was gifted to me by my friend Lisa Poe, one of my card swapping friends in 2016, this is the CARD I MADE with this gorgeous image.

The sentiment in front is from an Altenew set called Beautiful Day

I used my MISTI to stamp each word on the little tag.

The lace is from my stash.

The inside sentiment is from a Power Poppy set called "Always Here"

Thank you for visiting me today, I hope you come to THE FLOWER CHALLENGE blog page to get more inspired by my awesome teammates and our Gest Designer for the month of May Bozena, please stop by her blog Art Card Box and check out her beautiful creations.

Thank you for visiting me today.

Stay healthy and safe.

XO
Maria.

Halloween Fun!!

 Hello everyone: As always, I hope and pray all of you are doing well, keeping each other healthy and safe.

The 2 OLD BATS HALLOWEEN CHALLENGE has arrived at the half way point so, my teammates and I have some fun cards to inspire you and encourage you to play along so we hope to see you in our gallery.

This is the card I created, hope you like it.

This is the INSIDE 

And this is what I used.

The Pumpkins are from Stampendous, but I think they are retired.

The sentiment in front is from a Flourishes set called

"Witching you a Happy Halloween" (2010)

The bats inside are from Stampin' Up! "Googly Ghouls" (2012)

The witch is from a Martha Stewart punch.

Thank you for visiting me today, I hope you come and play along with us at 

2 OLD BATS HALLOWEEN CHALLENGE.  It's so much fun to make Halloween cards all year round and, think about it, you will have a nice stash to send out when October rolls around.

Stay healthy and safe.

XO
Maria.

S'mores Anyone?

Hello everyone: I hope and pray you and your families are doing well, things are starting to get better as more and more people are getting vaccinated but, we're not out of the woods yet so, keep taking care of each other and keep wearing your masks.

Well, it's been a while since we went camping, but I remember those camping trips with our daughters when they were young and then, with our grandkids.  One of the highlights of the day was making S'mores by the fire in the evenings, this image reminds me of that.

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This is the INSIDE.

And this is what I used.

Flourishes "S'more Fun" (2013)

The sentiment on the front and the banner inside are from the same set.

The sentiment inside is from "Grab a Cup" (Flourishes 2010)

The little flowers on the corner are from "Picking Wild Flowers"

(Flourishes 2013)

Prismacolor pencils.

I want to play with:

CASology

Paper Minutes #691

"Create a Scene"

Thank you for visiting me today.

Stay healthy and safe.

XO

Maria.

Water Lilies and Koi.

 Hello everyone: I hope all of you Moms out there had a wonderful Mother's Day last Sunday.  In these difficult times, we've all learned to adjust to all these rules and regulations that have been created for our safety and that of our loved ones, there still a long way to go so all we can do is to keep the faith and trust in God and Science. My family is getting vaccinated, my daughters have had their two shots, my grandchildren are waiting for their second one, all is fine with all of us, I hope and pray it's the same for you and your families.

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Hello and welcome to another SHOPPING OUR STASH. The theme for the next 10 days is "FISHES", so we hope to see your wonderful creations in our gallery.

This is my card, I hope it inspires you to come and play along.

This is the INSIDE.

This is what I used.

 "All the Good Thigs" (2018-2019) from Stampin' Up!

 "Water Lilies" (2009) from Flourishes.

"Rising Bubbles" from Designs by Ryn.

Distress Inks from Tim Holtz.

Please hop over the SHOPPING OUR STASH challenge blog for more inspiration from my fabulous teammates, we hope to see you in our gallery.

Stay healthy and safe.

XO
Maria.

A Letter.....or a Card.....

Hello everyone: I'm always hopping and praying that you and your families are doing well, taking care of each other, and wearing your masks.  I also hope that you Moms out there had a wonderful Mother's Day, it's hard to celebrate like before but, it's all for the best.  My husband and I are fully vaccinated, our daughters are waiting for their second shot and 4 of our grandchildren are scheduled to have their first shot in a few days.

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As you can see, the RETRO RUBBER has this fun Tic Tac Toe grid for you to play with, there are lots of wonderful combinations so we hope you have fun with it.

This is the card I created using the diagonal "Pinks or Reds, Heat Embossing and Romantic".

To me, there's nothing more romantic than a handwritten letter or card, I love to see my friends' handwritten notes on the cards they send to me and, of course, my hubby's words on a card for my Birthday or Mother's Day, I treasure the fact he still does this after almost 48 years of marriage. I really hope the art of writing with pen and paper is not lost forever in this age of electronic messages.

This lovely image is from a 2009 Flourishes set called "From the Desk of....." and this image is the first ever I saw from Flourishes and the one that made me fall in love with this stamp company.

I stamped the image with Versafine black Onix ink and clear heat embossed it, then, colored it with a few Stampin' Up! markers and an aqua painter, the tip of the fountain pen, the centers of the flowers and the flower vase are colored with metallic paints in gold and copper.

This is the INSIDE.

And this is what I used.

Flourishes set called "From the Desk of....."

SU markers.

Versafine Black Onix ink.

Clear embossing powder from "WOW"

I hope you come and play along with us over at the RETRO RUBBERchallenge.

For more inspiration, visit our challenge blog and check out my awesome teammates' cards.

Please remember that you MUST USE STAMPS THAT ARE OVER ONE YEAR OLD.

And if you know their age, we would love to know it.

Also, please include our banner on your blog post.

Thank you for visiting me today.

Stay healthy and safe, my friends.

XO
Maria.