HOPE EVERYTHING'S ROSY IN 2019!!!!!

Hello, dear blogging friends: Before I continue and share with you the new theme for THE FLOWER CHALLENGE, I want to thank all of you who visited my blog during 2018 to check out my cards and leave me such beautiful, heartfelt comments, it's a thrill to read them and I appreciate each and every word, I hope you continue to visit me from time to time this year.
I want to take this opportunity to wish all of you a Healthy, Joyful, Peaceful, Love filled and Prosperous 2019.
So our theme for this first challenge of the year is



This is a really beautiful color combination, PINK and GRAY and I'm sure you'll have lots of fun creating your cards, we can't wait to see you in our gallery.
This is the card I made and I hope it will inspire you to come and play along with us.

The image is from a Power Poppy set called Everything's Even Rosier, I stamped it with Stazon Gray ink on water color paper and colored it with SU Markers and Prismecolor pencils.

The pattern paper is from Lili of the Valley and the lace border is stamped with SU "Delicate Details" stamp set (retired).

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

The sentiment is from the set stamped with Picked Raspberries distress ink.

At this time, I wanted to share with you a few of my favorite cards I made last year, I picked them because they have different techniques and styles, I hope you enjoy this group.

There is dry embossing, heat embossing, no line coloring with Prismacolor pencils, water coloring and  heat embossing on Vellum.

I hope you come and play along with us at THE FLOWER CHALLENGE first challenge of 2019, please remember to display our banner on your blog when you upload your card to the gallery.

You can only participate in 6 other challenges, including ours. 

Thank you for stopping by, I sure appreciate your kind comments. 

Until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Eastern Influences.....

Hello everyone: Well, I'm here again with a little reminder post for THE FLOWER CHALLENGE in which we are asking you guys to use your older, older stamps or dies, you know? those neglected sets maybe at the bottom of a drawer or up in a box somewhere in your craft room.

We want you to give them a chance to shine again.

This is the card I made to inspire you to come and play along with my teammates and I in our gallery.

This is my oldest flower stamp set, it's from SU, it's called Eastern Influences and it's from 2008!!
The flower and the swallows are stamped on a piece of white card stock with Stazon black ink, I colored the flower with my Prismacolor pencils and paper stumps dipped in Gamsol, then, I fussy cut all of this images.
I stamped the branch on a die cut piece of black card stock with Versamark ink and heat embossed it with white embossing powder then glued my images on top.
The Joy sentiment is from a Penny Black die set "Love and Joy".
I also found a little bag with this very shiny fabric so I thought of putting a piece in the back just for a bit of bling.
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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

I love this sentiment from Power Poppy's "Short Stacks", the punched detail at the top is from an ultra old Friskars punch, the cherry branch from the SU set.

So I hope you come along and play with us at THE FLOWER CHALLENGE gallery, just remember to read our rules and please add our banner to your blog post when you upload your card.

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.

I

The Merriest of Christmas.....

Hello everyone: Before I continue, I want to wish all of you who come to my blog and leave me your sweet, wonderful comments. It's an honor and a Joy to read them and to know you like the cards I make, I feel truly grateful for each word you say.

This is the last challenge for the year 2018 for SHOPPING OUR STASH, my teammates and I will be taking a Holiday break and will be back on January 8th. 2019 with the first challenge of the year, hope to see you then.

This challenge is a Christmas one and just in time for you to make a few more Christmas cards, I know from experience that, when you think you have all the cards you need for family and friends, there is always a couple more that need to be made so, here is my card that I hope will inspire you to come and play along with us in our gallery.

This stamp and die set are from Stampin' Up! and they have been in my stash since I bought them back in August or September of 2017 when they came out in the Holiday Catalog.

I just love the gorgeous silhouette images on the stamps and dies.

I stamped the image of Mary, Joseph and the Donkey on black card stock with gray ink and added a bit of color to Her veil. 

The buildings are die cut out of silver foil card stock and the sentiment is stamped once in black ink and a second time with silver glitter embossing powder.

The night sky is pattern paper I found at the bottom of my DSP drawer, lucky me!!!

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This is the way the INSIDE of my card looks like.

I had to cut the buildings a bit to fit the front panel but I didn't want to throw that piece away, it's just so pretty so I glued it to the corner, the sentiment is from another beautiful SU set called "All Ye Faithful".

I hope you go and stop by the SHOPPING OUR STASH blog to get more inspiration from my teammates and they come and 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.

Blooming Beautiful.....

Hello dear stamping friends: THE FLOWER CHALLENGE has a new one for you and I'm pretty sure you will have the one element we are asking you to use and that is OLDER STAMPS.
We need to go dig them out from drawers, shelves, boxes, etc. and give them another chance, you will remember why you bought them in the first place and enjoy coloring these forgotten images.

The image I used for this card is from a 2008 Stampin' Up! set called "Blooming Beautiful", there are 3 images on this set, a vase with flowers, a little bee and this beautiful single flower.

I just stamped it on a piece of watercolor paper with Versafine black ink, clear heat embossed it and colored with SU markers.  

The background is from another old Stampin' Up! set called "En Francais" (2007), I really love this font, wish I could write like this, so beautiful.

The sentiment inside the envelope is from an old Flourishes set, it fits just perfectly.

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

I again used the flower, I added the little bee and one of the sentiments, love that font.

I know you have some older stamp sets you haven't used in a while so go find them and join my teammates and me in THE FLOWER CHALLENGE gallery, we can't wait to see what you create.

Please read our 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.

A Sweet Smelling Christmas.....

Hello everyone: With the Holidays upon us it's a great time to make a few more Christmas cards, you can never have too many, that's what I always say.

So the RETRO RUBBER CHALLENGE has a new one for you and has this beautiful image to inspire you to come and play along.

I know it's a busy time of the year but still, we hope you all come and join us in our gallery.

Here is my card for this challenge.

This pretty image is from a Power Poppy set called Spice it Up which was released back in 2015 and that's how long I've owned this gorgeous set.

I stamped the image with Versafine black ink, clear heat embossed it and colored it with SU markers.

The sentiment is from a retired Stampin' Up! set called "Joy to the World", it came out back in the 2013-2014 Holiday Mini Catalog, I heat embossed it in gold.

I grabbed a Snowfall embossing folder for the front panel and wrapped a golden ribbon for a bit of sparkle.

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

The sentiment is from the same set and the little mug from another Power Poppy set called "Merry Littles, this set is perfect for embellishing the inside of your Holiday cards.

So I hope you go and dig out your OLDER THAN ONE YEAR stamp sets and come to join us in the gallery, we can't wait to see what you create.

Don't forget to stop by my teammates' blogs for more fabulous inspiration.

Ok, before I leave you I want to thank you for your comments on my RETRO RUBBER 100 CHALLENGE CELEBRATION POST so, here is the lucky winner of an OLDER THAN A YEAR BUT NEVER USED stamp set, and that winner is:

CAROL L.

Congratulations Carol, please email me with your home address at

grandmamaria5@gmail.com

and I will have your goodies fast on their way to you, please write WINNER OF 100 CHALLENGE POST on the subject line.

This is my last post for this year as my teammates and I take a little break to enjoy the Holidays with family and friends.

I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and may 2019 bring Health, Peace, Joy, Love, and Prosperity to you and yours.

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.

The Wilderness Awaits.....

Hello everyone: It's time for another fabulous challenge over at SHOPPING OUR STASH, our theme is MASCULINE CARDS.  Some people, me included, have a hard time creating these types of cards mainly because they must be simple but still appealing, not to busy but still, with a little fan fare so, here is my rendition to this challenge and I hope you come and play along.

Most of my stamp sets are of flowers and little cute critters so, when I see a set that is spectacularly masculine, I immediately get it, like this one from Stampin' Up! called "The Wilderness Awaits" from the 2015-2016 catalog, all four images are beautifully detailed and perfectly masculine.

I stamped my fox on a die cut piece of watercolor paper with Stazon black ink and colored it with SU re-inkers, I added a bit of white Prismacolor pencil to his handsome face and the tip of his tail.

I die cut a bigger piece of Copper glimmer paper to frame this image.  I embossed a panel of green card stock and rubbed it with copper ink, added a couple of copper brads, ribbon and the sentiment.

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This is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

Again, nothing fancy, just a bit of decoration at the top done with the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set and a sentiment from a Power Poppy set called "Everything's Even Rosier".

So, I hope you come and join my teammates and I in our SHOPPING OUR STASH gallery, please stop by the blog and visit their blogs for more inspiration.

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.

A Washi Birthday with the Mice.....

Hello everyone: I hope your Thanksgiving was fabulous, full of good food, drinks and family.

This new challenge over at SHOPPING OUR STASH is all about Washi Tape, I confess I had a hard time finding some in my craft room, I thought I had a couple of rolls but then I remember I gave them to my granddaughter, she really liked them and I really don't use washi tape all that much, anyway, I had to really look hard to find this two designs for my card.

Hope you go look at your stash of Washi Tape and come join us in the gallery.

 

As you all know, I adore the House Mouse siblings so here they are again, doing what they do best, getting in trouble, LOL!! 

I stamped this image on white card stock with Stazon black ink and colored it with Prismacolor pencils, the Washi Tape was a lucky find, I now realize I better go get me some.

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Here is how the INSIDE of my card looks like.

I added the last of the festive washi tape to the top of this inside panel, the sentiment is from a Power Poppy set called Short Stacks 

I hope you have some Washi Tape somewhere in your craft room so you can come and join us in our gallery.

I would like to play with the following challenges.

Pattie's Creations Challenge #152 BIRTHDAYS

Color Crazy Challenge Week 47 Anything Goes coloring.

Just Us Girls

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