3 Challenges.....One Card.....

Hello everyone: I have a super fast CAS card to share with you today, I'm linking it to the CAS(E) this Sketch! challenge #152, the Addicted to Stamps and More #174 CAS challenge and the Retro Rubber Holiday Spirit challenge. Here is my card.

This card came together rather quick, I used a Memory Box die called Snowflake Ornament , it's so delicate and beautiful. I die cut it first using silver foil paper and a second time with blue foil paper and then, separated the little pieces and interchanged them like a puzzle to form the ornament.  The die cut "Merry" is part of a die set from Penny Black.  

The little silver bow is punched with a very old punch from Tonic Studios, I went to look for it but couldn't find it, I've had this punch for years, it punches the negative image of a candy cane and the bow is a "scrap" piece but it's really cute so I always save it.

The little blue dots around the ornament are punched with a 1/16" punch and attached with a little bit of glue, I wanted to follow the CAS(E) this Sketch! sketch closely.

Now, as I promised myself, I finished the inside of this card with a very simple greeting and a strip of blue foil paper punched with the retired SU Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, to match the ornament.

Here are the banners that inspired this card.

ADDICTED TO STAMPS AND MORE

CLEAN AND SIMPLE

Thank you for stopping by, I appreciate your comments so much.

Until next time, hugs from Maria.

Tea Pots and Tea Cups for Mojo Monday & PPA#279.....

Hello everyone: I like it when I can combine challenges with my cards, this time I made this one for the Mojo Monday Sketch challenge and the Pals Paper Art #279  color challenge, here is my card.

I made this card using a Verve Stamp set called Cup of Life , love those tea pots and matching little cups. I stamped them onto Canson water color paper with SU Mossy Meadow and Cherry Cobbler and matted them with gold foil paper. The Christmas Wreath is from Wplus9 stamp set called Woodland Wreaths , here is a close up of it.

I added a few burgundy Rhine Stones for sparkle. 

As I promised myself, I will finish the inside of the card before I post it, this will save me a lot of time when I'm sending my Holiday cards. I always finish the inside but not until later and it's very time consuming to have to do it all at once, by finishing the inside I not only can show it to you but, like I said before, the cards will be ready to sign and send.

This sentiment is from a retired SU set called Joy to the World and the little heart ornament is from a Penny Black set called A Bright Tomorrow , all of this images are just so beautiful.

Here are the banners that inspired this card.

Thank you so much for stopping by and for your comments, till next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

How Sweet it is.....

Hello dear friends: As this 2015 comes to an end, here at the Rodriguez household, we've been busy with all of our grandchildren Holiday events, luckily all of them have been on different days and times so we have been able to attend to all of them, we absolutely LOVE IT!!!.  I've also been busy finishing my Christmas cards, I needed to finish the inside of 40 cards, that I've collected for participating in lots of Christmas challenges, specially Merry Monday, which has helped me a lot with my Holiday card giving, so that is awesome, but I really never finish the inside so I had to cut the card stock and stamp the sentiment, then I wrote a little personal note to each of them and then I proceeded to addressing them, stamp them, weighing them and finally, taking them to the Post Office and now, I'm happy to say, all of them are on their Merry way to my dear family and friends.
I have a card for you to participate in the Merry Monday challenge with a theme of "Candy Canes" and to the "Anything Goes"  Holly Jolly Christmas Challenge  . Here is my card.

This image is from House Mouse Designs and it's called "Candy Gram", I couldn't find it at their store so I don't know if it's retired. I love this little mice and this image is no exception, when I saw the theme at Merry Monday I immediately grabbed this cute stamp to make this card. I stamped the image onto Canson water color paper and die cut it with SU Floral Frames Collection Framelits Dies , I colored this image with my Prismacolor pencils this time and paper stumps dipped in baby oil, I love this other technique, it's great for shading. 

The pattern paper is from my stash of Hobby Lobby papers, I love this little candy canes. This card is for my dear hubby, I'll send it in the mail, I think it will be cute for him to see it nestled among the bills and other stuff, and open it, I can almost see the grin on his face, I can't wait.

Now, here it is, for the first time since I started this little blog, the inside of this card, WOO HOO!!

I'm making an early New Year's Resolution, (one of many, how about you?) I will finish the inside of each card I post, whether is a Christmas card or for any other occasion, that way, come Christmas time all of my cards will be ready to sign, stamp and send. The same with all the other ones, it will save me a ton of time.

Here is the Merry Monday banners that inspired this card.

HOLLY JOLLY CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE

"ANYTHING GOES"

I want to thank you so much for stopping by, reading your comments really makes me 

HOLLY JOLLY indeed.

Util next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

JOY!!!!!

Hello dear friends: I hope your weekend was fabulous and not to cold, up here in NW Indiana, Winter is in full swing.
I have a card for you that I will link up to the Addicted to CAS "JOY" challenge and the Addicted to Stamps "HOLIDAY" challenge, here is my card.

I like it when I can combine stamps from different companies to create my cards, in this case, I used Tiny Jumper Monica Jumping for Joy from House Mouse Designs and a couple of stamps from Purple Onion Designs, Christmas Tree and Little Packages .

I stamped all the images onto Canson water color paper with Stazon Jet Black ink and colored them with the aqua painter and SU markers in this colors: Garden Green, Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, More Mustard, Perfect Plum, Rose Red, Baked Brown Sugar, Soft Sky and Pretty in Pink, I added a bit of gold and silver gel pen to some of the ornaments and the ribbons.

I snipped the little packages to give a bit of dimension to this little scene.

I was going to stamp a sentiment with the word JOY but I really didn't leave any space for it, I didn't want to clutter the images, besides, I think Monica's expression on her tiny face says it all, she is really jumping for JOY at the sight of those presents under the Christmas Tree.

This are the banners that inspired this card.

ADDICTED TO STAMPS

HOLIDAY

I want to thank you for stopping by today and for leaving me your comments, they truly give me tons of JOY!!!!!

Till next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Winter Birds.....

Hello: This post is to see if my blog is working ok. I've been having some difficulties with Blogger and I don't know if anyone is able to receive my blog posts.
I had this card in my stash, I don't know why I never posted it so, I'm doing it right now as a test to see if anyone out there is receiving this post.

I just hope you guys can see this post.

Thank you.

Maria.

A bit of sweet yummyness!!!!!

Hello everyone: I've been off the grid for a few days due to the fact that we had a dear friend from Mexico visiting our home, what better reason to put card making on the shelve for a spell.
But I'm back once again sharing a card with you that I'm linking to the CASology challenge with the Cue Word "PIE" for this week, I hope you guys give this fun challenge a try, here is my card.

This card was made with a retired Flourishes set called "Fresh Baked" and, as you can see, that pie looks really yummy.  I stamped it onto a panel of Canson water color paper and colored it with my SU markers in Old Olive, Not Quite Navy, Chocolate Chip, Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard, Cajun Craze and a little bit of River Rock for the recipe, I wanted it to look a bit aged.

I die cut this image with a Flourishes die that has a companion stamp set called "Berry Sweet Frames" that I bought from one of the DT ladies, her name is Christine Okken , as a matter of fact, I've bought several Flourishes sets from her, I hope you guys go to her blog to check out her "For Sale" place, there are still plenty of Flourishes sets available plus stamp sets from other places at really good prices.

Here is a close up of this Cherry Pie for you.

I put a little Crystal Effects on the pie to resemble the fruit oozing out when you take it out of the oven, I can smell it, oh sooooo goooood!!. I hope you can see the shine.

I set this image onto a Stampin Up! Cajun Craze card base .

Again, I tried to follow the CASology guide lines by having my focal point on the bottom 1/3 of the card base but, this image is a bit big and so is the die.  I also added a narrow strip of yellow Gingham paper that, to me, matches the color of the pie dough and gave me some space to stamp my sentiment, which is from this same set. 

I'm having so much fun making CAS cards and posting them on my blog, sometimes I achieve the style, sometimes I kind of go a bit, just a bit over the line but, in the end, it's all about having fun and, believe me, I just love this little blog of mine and participating in all kinds of challenges.

Here is the banner for this fun CASology challenge.

Thank you so much for stopping by, I appreciate your comments more than I can express here, I read them all and they give me such joy. Most times, I personally reply to them, other times, I just write a small note in the comment section, thanking all of you for your sweetness.

Until next time, Happy Stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Purple Onion Best Wishes.....

Hello everyone: I have another card to share with you for the CASology Week #174, with a Cue Card "OWL", here is my card.

This little sweetie is from Purple Onion Designs, his name is Snowy Winter Owl and I think he is just adorable. The Fence and the Sign are also from Purple Onion and right now, they are having a HOLIDAY SALE with 25% off all their stamps!!

Anyway, have you ever made a card and then look at it and then start adding stuff to it and then you feel you should STOP!!???  Well, this happened to me while I was making this card. I needed to keep it CAS but, after I finished coloring the little owl and the fence and after I sponged the sky, I thought "Hmm.. wouldn't it look really nice if snow was falling?" so I grabbed a stencil from Simon Says Stamp Falling Snow and added some snow with SU white craft ink pad and I heat embossed it with clear embossing powder. Then I added some Dazzling Details to the snow on the fence and the ground but I forgot to stamp my sentiment before adding the Dazzling Details so I was wondering where I was going to put it. Then I remember that sign so I stamped on a small piece of water color paper, stamped the sentiment and attached it to the fence with 4 "nails".

 

I think this card is kind of border line with a CAS requirements but, in my defense, I think it looks cute.  

I stamped all of this images onto Canson water color paper and colored them with the aqua painter and SU markers in Chocolate Chip, Night of Navy, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler and More Mustard.

I hope you like this card, I hope it meets the CAS rules too. 

Until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.