A Little Reminder in Blue and Yellow.....

Hello everyone: THE FLOWER CHALLENGE has come to it's half way point and here I am with a little reminder that there is still time for you to play along.
This challenge asks for you to use a previous challenge, you can find the link to all of them on the upper right corner of the challenge page, click on it and you will be shown the post with all of the cards and projects my teammates and I shared on that date.

Here is the banner for that challenge posted on January 5th. of 2017.


And here is the card I made using that challenge.

My image is from an old and retired Flourishes set called "Bees and Blooms" and was stamped on a piece of water color paper with Antique Linen ink,  that had been die cut with one of the dies from a Tim Holtz set Mixed Media Thinlitz, I used the Honeycomb one.

I colored the image with SU markers and Prismacolor pencils.

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

The border is from a retired SU set called "Bordering Blooms" and the sentiment is from another retired Flourishes set called "Sweet Peas".

I hope you come and play along with us in the gallery. For more inspiration, check out THE FLOWER CHALLENGE post to see my teammates beautiful creations.

Please include our banner on your blog post when you enter the challenge and don't forget to read the 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.

Calypso Coral with a Twist of Lemon Lime.....

Hello everyone: I saw the challenge over at THE PAPER PLAYERS and I decided to give it a try.  Color challenges are a bit hard for me because I don't always have the colors but this time I did and I'm loving this combination from the very talented Nance Leedy, it's very bright and cheerful.

Here is my card.

The images are from a stamp set that is so old that I lost the packaging but I think this stamps are from Our Daily Bread, (they came with the dies too) but I'm not 100% sure, I apologize. 

I stamped the flowers and butterfly on watercolor paper with Antique Linen ink and colored them with my old Calypso Coral ink pad for the flowers and butterflies and Sakura Koi watercolors for the green parts.  I'm really loving the No Line Coloring Technique.  The sentiment is from an old Flourishes set called "Words of Wisdom", the sentiments are from Mother Theresa and they are beautiful.EI was lucky to find some lemon/lime scraps and one fitted perfectly behind the die cut circle.

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like

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The border on the top is from a retired SU set called "Bordering Blooms", the sentiment is from the same Flourishes set and the butterflies from the same Our Daily Bread set.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges.

The Paper Players

Dare2BArtzy June Challenge "Bright Colors"

heARTful Stamping Challenge "Anything Goes + a Stamp"

Happy Little Stampers

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.

SOS Color Challenge.....

Hello everyone: The SHOPPING OUR STASH challenge has a color challenge for you to play with this coming week, the shades are rich and beautiful so I hope you come along and play with us.

Here is my card that I hope will inspire you to join my teammates and me in the gallery.

I used an image from a set by Art Impressions called SHOPPES, which contains 4 stamps to create a beautiful tri-fold card, I only used one of the images on my card.

I stamped it on a die cut piece of watercolor paper that had been glued to a Terra Cotta die cut piece of card stock that I had in my stash of "I changed my mind" box, colored it with a few SU markers that are still ok with ink. 

The blue layer is done with another piece of card stock from a pad called Kraft Core and sanded out a bit to reveal the undertones, I really like this paper.

The sentiment is from the set.

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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 little cup on the corner has unknown origins, my 20 y/o granddaughter bought it for me from the bargain bin at the craft store.

So I hope you find some time to come and play along with us at SHOPPING OUR STASH, please visit the blog to check out my teammates awesome projects for your inspiration.

I would like to play along with the following challenges.

Dare2BArtzy June Challenge "Bright Colors"

Happy Little Stampers

Stamping Sensations June Challenge "Anything Goes"

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.

Guest Designer for The Twofer Card Challenge.....

Hello everybody: I'm beyond thrilled to be the April Twofer Card Challenge Winner and to top this honor, I was invited by the fabulous Darnell and her awesome Design Team to be their Guest Designer for the TWOFER JUNE CHALLENGE #6 so, without further delay, here are my TWOFER cards that I hope will inspire you to come and play along in this fabulous and super fun challenge.

The Prompt for this challenge is TREES.  You must create two cards with two different designs for two different occasions using the same Tree stamp or die. 

Here are my TWOFER cards together, I will share an individual picture of them later on.

My TWOFER this time are a Christmas card and a Halloween card.....talk about two different celebrations and occasions, right?  The stamp I used on both cards in different ways is the Purple Onion Birch Tree Background, I used it to create the frame for the Nativity Image on my Christmas card and the "Spooky" forest for my little critters, all dressed up for Trick or Treating, on my Halloween card.

Here are the individual pictures of these cards, I will briefly explain how I created them and what I used on each.

For this card, I stamped the trees 4 times with Antique Linen distress ink and added some shadows with a Prismacolor pencil then, I fussy cut them and placed a brad on each corner to secure the frame, I also added a bit of glue to the corners for reinforcement.

I stamped the image form the retired SU set called "All Ye Faithful" with Stazon black ink and colored it with SU markers and Prismacolor pencils, I glued the frame on top and attached it to an embossed panel using a brick embossing folder. The pine branches, bow and gold detail are die cut with the retired SU die set called "Pretty Pines thinlits".

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This is how the INSIDE of this card looks like.

The sentiment is from a Power Poppy set called "Poinsettia", the little tree from "Merry Littles".

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This is my second card using the same Purple Onion Birch Tree background.

I stamped the Birch Trees on a panel of black card stock with white ink and added the shading with a white Prismacolor pencil,  the little critters are also from Purple Onion and they are TROUBLE the Halloween Bat, SHADOW THE OWL and BUTTERCUP BUNNY, I hand drew the Owl's cape and the Bunny's mask and cape myself since I didn't have the rubber stamps with these images, the sign is THIS ONE, I love it because it's perfect for stamping small sentiments, the one here is from the SU TEENY, TINY WISHES, love this set, it has a sentiment for every occasion.

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This is how the INSIDE of this card looks like.

The sentiment is from my stash and the PUMPKINS from Purple Onion, the little bat is from Kraftin Kimmie.

So there you have it, my TWOFER cards for my GUEST DESIGNER SPOT!!!!!

So, come on over to the TWOFER CARD CHALLENGE #6, check out the amazing cards the Design Team have for your inspiration and join the fun. 

Thank you so much Darnell and all the amazing ladies of the Design Team for inviting me to join you guys this month, I'm thrilled and honored to be in such fantastic company.

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.

On Fire with the Mice.....

Hello everyone: Well, all of my 5 grandchildren are finally on Summer Brake and that means, a house full of kiddos, even the "older" ones, wanting to go to the pool, ride their bikes, etc. So, my time for crafting is a bit limited so that's why I created this card for the SHOPPING OUR STASH challenge with an image that I had already colored but changed my mind about giving it to my daughter for a friend of hers in church who was celebrating a birthday and she just doesn't like mice so, I gave her something else and kept this fun image in my stash of unfinished cards.

This card fits the SHOPPING OUR STASH CHALLENGE because this week we are asking you to create your cards using your favorite image, technique, colors, papers, etc.  As you can see, I used my favorite little critters, the House Mouse siblings and I used my favorite way to stamp and color them, using Versafine black ink, clear heat embossing it and colored with my watercolors.

I added a few enamel dots and a sentiment also from my stash of leftover or put on hold sentiments.

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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" and the fireworks from The Ton "Pyrotechnics" set.

So I hope you find some time to come and play along with my fab SHOPPING OUR STASH teammates and me in our gallery.

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.

Tissue Paper Dispensers.....

Hello dear blogging friends: It's time for a new theme for you to play with over at THE FLOWER CHALLENGE, this one is USE A PREVIOUS CHALLENGE and that means you should go to the tab at the top of our page and see the different challenges we've had since we started and pick the one you want to play with, I hope you have fun and join us in our gallery.
The theme I chose was "Anything but a Card" which was our Challenge #15 for December 4th. 2017.
I had so much fun with this challenge, you can check my projects HERE and HERE and of course check both posts from THE FLOWER CHALLENGE HERE for the December 4th. 2017 and HERE for the reminder post on December 16th. 2017 so you can have some ideas and loads of inspiration from all the projects my awesome teammates shared on those dates. 



Here are my projects for this challenge, hope you like them and come along to play, I made two because you can get make them out of one 8x11 sheet of cardstock.



As you can see, these are Kleenex dispensers for the travel size packages.  I saw THIS VIDEO and I thought these were so darn adorable and an easy and fabulous gift to give to teachers and coaches or just about anybody so, I hope you like them.



This first dispenser is decorated with pattern paper from Lili of the Valley (retired), the bouquet of Sunflowers is from a Power Poppy set called Sunny Harvest, stamped on watercolor paper, colored with SU markers and fussy cut. The sentiment is from another Power Poppy set called Olive and Oak Expanded.

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The second dispenser is also created using some scraps from Lili of the Valley, the center flower is from a Power Poppy set called Simply Camellias, stamped with Antique Linen distress ink for the No Line Coloring technique and colored with Prismacolor pencils.

Here is a picture of the sentiments.

So there you have it, hope this inspires you to come and play along with us at THE FLOWER CHALLENGE , you can choose from any of the past challenges by clicking on the link at the top of the page, please remember to copy the logo of THE FLOWER CHALLENGE and the logo of the challenge you chose, explaining briefly which one it is in your post when you upload your card to the gallery.

Also, please remember to link your project or card to only 6 other challenges, including ours but most importantly, have fun.

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.

Class of 2018.....

Hello everyone: Well Graduations will be taking place all over the Country in the next weeks so my teammates and I, over at the SHOPPING OUR STASH CHALLENGE have a great challenge for all of you who will soon need these types of cards to give to friends and family whose kids are graduating this year.   

Here's the card I created for the son of my youngest daughter's friend from Church, who's celebrating this amazing accomplishment soon.

The request was to create a card for a young man, which is always really challenging, masculine cards always are but this one more so because this young man is 18 years old.

So I kept it simple, used the Hobart, Indiana High School colors which are purple and bright yellow and just die cut a hat, diploma and the words "Class of" and hand wrote the year on the punched out piece, added a couple of purple Rhine Stones and that was it.

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

 

Also, very simple with the sentiment from the retired SU set called "Perfectly Penned" and just a bit of bling with the fireworks from the Pyrotechnics set from 

The Ton.

So I hope you get inspired to play along with us at SHOPPING OUR STASH, please visit the blog to check out what my awesome teammates have there for you.

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.