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.

Growing Love.....

Hello dear crafting friends: I've been busy with my grandchildren almost every day, we go out to the pool, the beaches in Chicago, bowling, movies, water park, etc. it's fun but that cuts my card making time a bit, so most times, I start the card and then have to finish it in the next day or two, but we don't mind at all, having our grandkids around, from the oldest to the youngest, is a thrill and we love it.

Anywho, here is this little card I just finished and I will enter it at a few challenges at the end of this post.

This image is from an old Flourishes set called "From the Garden", I stamped it on watercolor paper with Versafine black ink and colored it with SU markers and a bit of Sakura Koi watercolors, the pattern paper is from a retired line from Lili of the Valley, the sentiment is from the set.

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

The sentiment and the flowers are from the set, the die cut for the sentiment is from a Spellbinders set called OVAL REGALIA 

I would like to play with the following challenges.

The Paper Players

Use Your Stuff Challenge #318

Crafter's Castle 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.

Happy Birthday, USA!!!!!

Hello crafting friends: My teammates and I at SHOPPING OUR STASH have a new challenge for you to play with that is just in time for the fast approaching 4th. of July celebrations.

Here is my card to inspire you join us in the gallery.

This sweet image is from a 2009 Flourishes stamp set called "Patriotism on Parade", I love all the images on this set but this one is my favorite. 

I stamped it on watercolor paper with Versafine black ink and clear heat embossed it then, colored it with SU markers, the pattern paper is from a small stash of patriotic papers, the ribbon was a left over piece that I died with some thread, the flower is a sticker.  The fireworks are from a set by The Ton called PYROTECHNICS  which I heat embossed with glitter embossing powder and the white heat embossed sentiment from a Power Poppy set called "Marcella's Mixed Tape Vol. 1"

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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", the little girl waving the Flag is from the Patriotism on Parade set.

I would like to play along with the following challenges.

Cute and Crafty Challenge #3 "Birthday"

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #214 "Embossing Wet or Dry"

Dragonfly Journeys Challenge #121 "Stars and Stripes"

A Gem of a Challenge Challenge #222 "Red, White and Blue"

Simply Papercraft "Anything Goes"

I hope you get inspired to play along with us at SHOPPING OUR STASH, visit the blog for more inspiration from my  fabulously creative teammates.

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.

Be Yourself.....

Hello everyone: I have a very simple and easy card to share today, I was able to finish it late yesterday, but I was too tired to write the blog post and upload it. 

But anywho, here it is, I will link it up to a few challenges at the end of this post.

These cute succulent images are from one of my favorite stamp sets from Power Poppy called SASSY SUCCULENTS, love all of these little and adorable plants.
I stamped the images on watercolor paper with Stampin Up! markers by applying the ink directly to the stamp then, with a small wet brush, I just pulled the color a bit, I didn't want a black outline.
I stamped the "ledge" for this little pots to sit on with the retired SU set called "Bordering Details"

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

The sentiment is from the same Power Poppy set and I found it in my "change my mind" sentiment box, you know how it is, sometimes you think a sentiment is going to work and then, well, you change your mind, I have a few of these saved up.

I would like to play with the following challenges.

Less is More


Inkspirational


Crafting with Friends Challenge #70  "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.