Hi there.  I'm so glad you stopped by! Classes are over and I'm using up leftover pieces. This one is already on the way to a friend and her pooch. I stamped this pup and the friendly butterflies with Memento ink and colored with Copics. He makes me smile.  I hope he makes my friend smile too. Challenges: Color Throwdown #828- Light Brown, Dark Brown, Blue Penny Black Saturday - Use PB with option of On the Farm  Darnell's I.D.E.A.S. - Week 3 Embossing Folders Oh, and Happy St. Patrick's Day too! Card Recipe Stamps:  Critter Party (PB), Banner Sentiments (PT ..read more

Hi there.  I'm so glad you stopped by! It's time for another challenge from Color Hues and Julie has chosen perfect colors to remind us that spring is around the corner. The colors she chose are.... I've had a lot of fun playing with my Waffle Flower tulips lately and since I love yellow tulips, it was an easy choice of what stamp to use.  Luckily I got the dies too. I stamped on mixed media paper with Versafine Onyx Black ink and after waiting for it to dry, I laid the die cut flowers on another piece of mixed media paper and messily  watercolored with Distress Re-inke ..read more

Hi there.  I'm so glad you stopped by! Did you know that the Ginkgo tree is believed to be a living fossil and a symbol of peace, hope and vitality?  According to Google that's the case. It seemed to me that it was perfect paired with this Irish blessing. I found this blessing as a digi image at Etsy, since I didn't have a stamp with it. The ginkgo was die cut from watercolor paper and I used Distress re-inkers and a waterbrush to color it.  There are two pieces to each leaf so I used a darker color on the base and lighter color on the top piece. Since the sentiment was ..read more

Hi there.  I'm so glad you stopped by! This NBUS stamp is such fun.  I chose to have her belting out the Happy Birthday song.  She could just as easily be excited about something ....or screaming in frustration. I chose for her to sing today. I've colored her with Ohuhu markers and used the die that I bought with her and placed her on a background from my stash.  I'm not sure how I did that background because there were no notes on it. I looked and looked for a musical notes stamp or die in my stash, but couldn't  find one. I feel sure there is one there somewhe ..read more

Hi there.  I'm so glad you stopped by! It's been quiet on my blog.  Between life and preparing for a class, there hasn't been much time to create for a challenge or just for fun. After coloring this ginkgo as a possibility for the class and deciding to go in  another direction, I put it on a card instead of in the UFO pile. It's very simple but will be good to send to a friend in the skilled nursing home for this month. Maybe it will help her to enjoy St. Patrick's Day a little more. I die cut the ginkgo from Neenah Solar White and colored with a finger dauber and green i ..read more

Hi there.  I'm so glad you stopped by! These Waffle Flower Tulips were a good investment.  I've had a lot of fun with them.  You'll be seeing them again this Spring. I used them for our March calendar page and had so much fun coloring them with Copics.  But I wanted to try coloring them with Distress Re-inkers like Jill Foster does for Penny Black. The colors of the re-inkers are very intense and it took a bit to get used to how much water to use with them.  I'll keep working with them. I used one of Jill's sketches for this card too. Challenges: Double D  ..read more

Hi there.  I'm so glad you stopped by! It's time for a new challenge at Color Hues. This month, our creative Carol picked these colors... These colors are perfect for the upcoming St. Patrick's day but sadly I  needed a sympathy card.  The ginkgo was a perfect fit for the green, and Nance suggested pussy willows for the berry dies.  Both were die cut from Neenah Solar White and colored with Copic markers.  The Pussy Willows were cut  from white felt for a fuzzy feel. The very talented Design Team and our equally talented Guest Designer, Nance  have s ..read more

Hi there.  I'm so glad you stopped by! Time to turn the page on our calendars to a new month.   I make calendars each year for my desk and my family.   I thought I'd set up a regular post on the first day of each month to share them.   I hope you enjoy my “Turning the Page” posts.   Here's our March page. By the way, the calendars 4 ½ x 7 inches and and can be displayed on an easel or hung on a push pin or magnetic hook.  We all have a different way to display them.   If you would like a word document with the calendar, email me and I will be glad to s ..read more

Hi there.  I'm so glad you stopped by! This month the Group of Seven Cardmakers tried a Floating Frames Technique. Here's what I came up with... I used this video tutorial for my cards by stamping, coloring and die cutting these NBUS flowers.  I arranged them around the framed sentiment and added them with dimensional dots.  I probably shouldn't have popped up the sentiment, but it's not coming off! Then I used a large stamp, stencil and die set for a second card. I started coloring through a stencil with a pink blending brush then added a little  extra color.&nbs ..read more

Hi there.  I'm so glad you stopped by! Snow days mean play time for me. I had a chance to play with some Christmas presents from two dear friends. I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment and cut the piece with a label die for the center.  The background was dry embossed and daubed with white ink. The flowers, leaves and berries were all die cut from Solar White cardstock and colored with Copics then assembled on the card front around the label. I arranged them, then lifted the label and glued them in place.  The label has a  piece of foam on the back to lift it up ..read more