A Pair of Moons for The Twofer Challenge.

Hello everyone: Every time I post here on my little blog, I'm wishing for you and your families are doing well dealing with all the stressful issues we are facing every day but, I firmly believe change is coming and this means the healing will begin.  This will take some time, there's no doubt about that but, we must stand together and be patient and love each other through every step of this Journey.

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I have another pair of Twofers to participate in one of my most favorite challenges, I had a blast in the process of making these cards.

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This is my first card, I made it a 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" square.

I sponged the night sky with Memento black ink, I didn't want a solid sky, I wanted to give a hint of a foggy night.

I used Prismacolor pencils to color my image.

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This is the inside.

This is what I use to create the first card, inside and out.

Power Poppy "Feeling Fall" 

Martha Steward Witch Punch.

Spellbinders "Hemstitch Square dies.

Flourishes "Witching You a Happy Halloween" sentiment.

Ghosts, (stamped on Vellum and fussy cut), bat and tumb stone, and cat and pumpkin inside, from Kraftin' Kimmie.

The sentiment inside is from Inkadinkado.

Waffle Flower "Layering Marble" stamp set for the "Moon Craters"

DSP from my stash.

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This is my Twofer.

I also sponged the night sky with Memento black ink, I made it a bit more dark than on the Halloween card.

This is the inside.

This is what I used to create my Twofer, inside and out.

Katzelkraft Les Chiens (The Dogs)

Stampin' Up! "Holiday Home" (retired)

Purple Onion "Sign" 

The sentiment on it is from Power Poppy's Simple Joys (on sale😉

Waffle Flower for the "Craters on the Moon".

Power Poppy "Simple Joys" for the sentiment.

Power Poppy " Merry Littles. (gift).

I want to play with the following challenges.

Twofer Card Challenge

Thank you for visiting me today.

Stay healthy and safe.

XO

Maria.

Say it With Sunflowers.

Hello everyone: I hope all of you and your families are doing ok, I feel blessed that mine is fine, just hanging in there and trying to cope with all the stuff that keeps messing up things. I'm so very worried about my grandchildren who have started school, only one chose to stay home and do the work from home, at least for now.  I pray they will be safe and keep healthy, I miss them so much, we just communicate via texts and phone calls. 

We need to get a hold of our lives again, we need to start on the road to healing in every aspect of our lives, we can't go on living this way for much longer, change is badly needed, 4 more years of this chaos is a very scary thought.

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My favorite season of the year is Autumn, I just love everything about it, the colors, the cooler temperatures and the start of the Holiday Season.

I made this card for the new challenge over at SHOPPING OUR STASH, the theme is "Pile it On" so, I did my best to do just that, I'm not too good at layering, it's hard to mix and match papers and embellishments but, well.....here's my card, let me know if it's layered enough, 😉

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Here's a look at the inside.

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And this is what I used.

"Sunny Harvest" from Power Poppy. (on super sale right now)

Fussy cut my image.

Versafine black ink.

Clear embossing powder.

Windsor&Newton watercolors.

Strathmore Bristol paper.

Spellbinders Nestabilities Majestic Elements Rectangles.

Gina Marie Designs Enamel Dots.

Paper, ribbon and the wood stamped sentiment from my stash.

Martha Stewart Double Scallop Doilies Edge Paper Punch.

"Everything's Even Rosier" from Power Poppy.

"In Praise of Sunflowers" (on sale now)

I'm playing with the following challenges.

Hand Stamped Sentiments

Challenge #346.

Crafty Cardmakers

Challenge #261 "Lots of Layers"

Artsy Stamper Challenge

Fall Flowers.

Dream Valley Challenges

Challenge #230 "Add gems or pearls"

I hope you come and join my teammates and me in our gallery, we can't wait to see what you create, and remember,  JUST PILE IT ON!!!

Thank you for visiting me today.

Stay healthy, safe and please wear your masks.

Hugs.

Maria.

A Little Sparkly Reminder.....

Hello everyone: Once again, I'm praying that you and your families are doing well in these very trying times. 

Stay healthy, safe and please, please WEAR YOUR MASKS.

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We've arrived at the halfway point at THE FLOWER CHALLENGE, here's the card I created to inspire you and to invite you to join my fabulous teammates and me in our gallery.

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This is the INSIDE of my card.

This is what I use to create this card.

"Blossoming Basket" Stampin' Up! (Retired)

"Gorgeous Grunge" Stampin' Up! (Retired)

"Merry" from Penny Black "Love and Joy" die set.

"Precious Hearts" Memory Box die set.

"Stitched Rectangle Wonky Dies" My Favorite Things.

Gina Marie Designs Enamel Dots.

For the inside.

"Merry Littles" from Power Poppy. (Poinsettia)

"Scallop Trim Border" Punch. (Retired)

The sentiment is from my stash of unknowns.

I hope you stop by THE FLOWER CHALLENGE blog to check my teammates' fabulous cards and come to play along, we can't wait to see what you create.

Thank you for stopping by.

Stay healthy, safe and wear your masks.

Hugs.

Maria.

Twofer Moon or Sun.

Hello everyone: I hope you and your family are doing well in these very trying times.  Take care of yourselves and each other, and wear your masks, I honestly don't understand why some people refuse to do this even knowing it can save your life and the lives of your loved ones.  I mean, you put a seat belt when you get in your car or board an airplane, right? that saves lives so why, oh why not wear a mask, if you think about it, there is no valid reason not to do it.

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Every month I wait patiently for the fabulous gals from The Twofer Challenge Design Team to reveal the theme of the next one and I'm always delighted to participate, the theme for this challenge is "Moon or Sun" so here are my Twofer cards for the new challenge.

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First Card.

This is what I use for my first card.

Art Impressions Beach Babes.

I snipped a little piece of green foil paper for her ginormous Emerald ring.

The birds are from Stampin' Up! "Up, Up & Away. (retired).

The "sand" is from SU "Gorgeous Grunge" (retired).

I used Power Poppy Dynamic Duos: Peonies and Tulips for the words

"happy birthday", the "beach hottie" is from the AI set.

Lawn Fawn "Outside Stitched Scalloped Rectangle" dies.

Inside.

Stampin' Up! "Bordering Blooms".

The sentiment is from the AI set.

The shell is from a retired Flourishes set called "Seaside Memories".

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My Twofer.

This is what I used for my Twofer.

I stamped the sun from the "Beach Babes" set several times on card stock and colored the "flowers" with Prismacolor pencils and fussy cut them.

Tim Holtz "Brick" embossing folder.

Stampin' Up! "Beautiful Bouquet" for the steams.

Lace border punched with a Martha Stewart punch.

The sentiment is from a retired Flourishes set called "With Gratitude"

The butterfly is from a retired Flourishes set called "Gerbera Daisies".

Gina Marie Designs Enamel Dots.

I'm playing along with the following challenges.

Twofer Card Challenge

Paper Craft Crew Challenges

Crafty Gals Corner

"Summer Fun"

Thank you for visiting me today.

Stay healthy, safe and please wear your masks.

XO

Maria.

In Love With These Poppies......

Hello everyone:  I hope you and your families are doing well, please take care of yourselves, wear a mask and keep your distances, I truly believe these are some of the most important things we can do, to help contain and eradicate this virus.
God Bless us all.
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At the beginning of July, my dear friend Brian King (www.stampwithbrian.com) had his now famous Spring "Sending Love One for One Card Swap", in which he asks his followers to create a handmade card, send it to him and he, in turn, will send the cards randomly, back to us. It's fun because you can receive a beautiful card from somewhere here in the good USA.
Oh, and by the way, he has a "Holiday One for One Card Swap" too so stay tuned and I hope you participate.
This is the card I made for his Spring One for One Card Swap.



When I saw this Stampin' Up! die set on the 2020-2021 Annual Catalog I immediately knew I was going to get it. It has a stamp set but I just got the dies, I figured I could still create pretty cards this way.
I don't know about you but I save magazine pages that have pretty colors advertising from wall paint to nail polish to delicious food just to see color combinations and, like on my card, I used the page to die cut the flowers, buds and leaves. I added some shading to the flowers with Prismacolor pencils.  I used the Spellbinders "Hemstitch Rectangle" dies to frame my bouquet, I added some enamel dots from Gina Marie Designs.
I can't remember where the die-cut sentiment is from, I'm sorry.
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This is the INSIDE of my card.

The border is from a retired SU set called "Delicate Details" (2017 SAB),

the sentiment is from a 2016 Power Poppy set called In Praise of Sunflowers, which, by the way, is on sale right now!! It's a gorgeous stamp set.

I want to play along with the following challenges.

Die Cut Divas

All about the Flowers.

Heart 2 Heart Challenges

Green Thumb for Flowers

The House that Stamps Built

"In The Dark"

Anyway, thank you for stopping by today.

Stay healthy and safe and please, wear your masks.

XO

Maria.

Pop Up and Twisted

Hello everyone: As always, I pray and hope that you and your families are doing well dealing with all the goings-on happening at the moment.

Please take care of yourselves and each other.
Oh, and wear your masks!!!!!

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Welcome to the new RETRO RUBBER challenge, this one is a very popular one, basically, you can do ANYTHING as long as you use at least one stamp that is OLDER THAN ONE YEAR, easy peasy, double cheesy, right?

Here's my card to inspire you to come and play along.
This is the card closed.

I took a little break from blogging, I've been in a kind of slump, with all the stuff going around it's been difficult to convince my MOJO to come back. But now, I'm here again doing one of the things I love the best so I figure I might as well be adventurous and do something I've never done, and that is to try this new (to me) fun fold video I saw on Utube by DAWN STAMPING THOUGHTS, I hope you give it a try, there are many videos but I really like hers.

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This is how the card looks when you open it.

I really like how it turned out, I propped it against the window in front of my work desk that overlooks hole #5 on the golf course, we had to install that mesh you see behind my card, which I hate because it obstructs the pretty view but the "golfers" kept braking our windows, we had to replace that particular window twice.
But I digress.....
Here's a list of what I used to create this card.
All the images were stamped on watercolor paper with Stazon black ink and colored with Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors.

For the front of the card.
Stampin' Up! "Pretty Pines" thinlitz (retired)
Stampin' Up! "Poppy Moments" die set.
The pattern paper is from my stash.
The sentiment is called "May the Bounty", from Hero Arts.

The inside.
First image: 1998 Stampin' Up! "Feathered Hope" (retired)
Second Image: 2011 Flourishes "A Season of Thanks".
Third Image: 2010 Flourishes "Apple of My Eye".
Fourth Image: 2011 Flourishes "A Season of Thanks".
Sentiment on the bottom: 2018 Stampin' Up! Holiday Mini.

I hope you go and check out the RETRO RUBBER challenge blog for more inspiration from my awesome teammates.

I want to play along with the following challenges.

Crafty Friends Challenge
Anything Goes.


Pammie's Inky Pinky Challenges
Anything Goes.


Incy Wincy Designs
Triple Choice, Sketch, Interactive or Fantasy.
I picked Interactive.


Crafting Happiness Challenges
Challenge #61 "Anything Goes"



Thank you for visiting me today.
Stay healthy, safe and wear your masks.
XO
Maria.

May Your Holidays Sparkle.....

Hello dear friends:  I've been taking a break from blogging, this is my first post in almost 2 weeks. I've been feeling very stressed out by the events happening here int he USA, the uncertainty and violence make me feel very worried and fearful of the storm that's brewing in the ever-approaching distance and that is why, every time I post in my blog my dearest wish is that you and your families are doing well dealing with these very difficult and painful times.
Please take care of yourselves and each other.
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THE FLOWER CHALLENGE'S theme for the month of August is "SPARKLE", who doesn't love a little bling, eh?
This is the card I made to inspire you to come and play along with my teammates and me in our gallery.

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This is the INSIDE of my card.

This is what I used to create this card.

Serene Scenes from Power Poppy.

Spellbinders "Majestic Labels 25"

Cherry Lynn "Corner Lace Deco Dies"

The sentiment is from COZZOO 

Stampin' Up! punch for the inside.

The sentiment is from Power Poppy "Glistening Paperwhites".

The little candle is from Power Poppy "Merry Littles"

DSP and Rhine Stones from my stash.

For more inspiration, I hope you go check THE FLOWER CHALLENGE blog to see my teammates' beautiful cards and come join us in the gallery.

Thank you for stopping by.

Stay healthy and safe.

XO

Maria.