Does coffee give you wings, too?

Yes, I confess, I just couldn't wait to give my coffee cup wings.  The coffee cup die is from Simon Says Stamp, and the wings are from Spellbinders.

This was from the "use it up" spree I had back in March. I love the polka dot envelope I made to coordinate with it.

Birthday break!

I stopped with the holiday cards long enough to make a few critterless birthday cards.  I give my friend cards each year for her birthday and she hinted that she needs more birthday cards.  She also is not a big fan of critters, so there's that.

The first 2 cards are using the Simon Says Stamp Leafy Frames kit from last June. The sentiment on the front is from an older set, and the inside sentiment (the scripty "happy birthday to you") is an older one from Lawn Fawn.  "Queen for the Day" is an older sentiment from My Favorite Things.

As much as I liked the Leafy Frames kit, the sentiments were not really on point for me and my card making style.

Then, because I couldn't resist, I made another vintage red pickup truck.  From Queen & Co.'s Special Delivery kit.

Now that's done with I can get back to Christmas again!

It's finally cool in Florida, so sweaters it is!

Yay, we got a cool front here in South Florida, and temps are down to the '50s. It won't last long, but it really gets me in the Christmas card mood! 

All of these cards were inspired by Mary Polanco and a Youtube video she did a few weeks back about not overthinking your designs. I was going to follow her idea with my own dies, but I needed this sweater die that she used. 

A couple of things I don't remember Mary mentioning are that when you ink-blend onto a finished card base you will get ink on the back of the card. Well, I did, anyway.  Also, I used these kraft card bases and they warped, a lot.

I used some white acrylic paint watered down for the white splatter, and the paint picked up some of the Distress ink and turned beige or pink. I kept it.  I also cut the warped fronts off and attached them to some cream colored card bases that also have been in my  stash a long time.

Most of this paper is from "Say Freeze", new paper packs I picked up at Michael's last week. I especially enjoyed fussy cutting some of the images for the inside.  I used some washi tape that's been in my stash for a while, also.

The outside sentiments are from Simon Says Stamp and Concord & 9th.  

GOAL! I reached 10 cards from one kit!

Yay, I did it! I made 10 cards from the kit. This is the Simon Says Stamp monthly card kit for July 2019 called Be Yourself. Well, my self is a very slow card maker.

I had stamped a full sheet of bees in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, cut them out with the Brother Scan and Cut, and colored them with Copic markers.

For these two, I looked through my big old die stash to think of some backgrounds. The first card uses the My Favorite Things' Absolutely Fabulous die set. The bee on the bottom right is wearing a fabulous crown! None of my crown dies were the right size so I cut this one freehand.

Finally, the last of the 10!  The sentiment was printed on lightweight card stock and cut into strips with an orphan sentiment strip die. Orphan because it fell out  of a set and I can't remember which one.

Buzzing by to say, HI.

I'm going to make 10 cards out of this kit. Here are numbers 7 and 8! I have another kit and another "die of the month" waiting to be played with, so I'm determined to bring it home!

The first card used the Honey Bee stamp's embossing powder in the darkest color, Bee True. Both the bee image and the sentiment are embossed with the sparkly dark powder. Too bad I couldn't photograph it better. Speaking of photographs, there is no coloring on this card but I left the Zig markers in the photo. Oops.

The next card uses an alcohol inked background, cut into a honeycomb. The sentiment is a combination of an old Lawn Fawn set that said  "Flying by to say Hi". I stamped the word "Buzzing" using an old Alley Way Stamps' alphabet set called "Express Yourself". Ugh, now I remember why I'm not excited about alphabet stamps anymore.  This set had 3 fonts and only one Z in each.

These bees are stamped in Versafine Sepia ink and colored with Zig markers. 

Thanks for bee-ing there.

I can't seem to get enough of these bees from the July 2019 Simon Says Stamp card kit, "Bee Yourself".  In the above card I used some of the original group of bees colored with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers on Bristol smooth card stock. I had clear embossed them, so coloring them was easy!

I used a honeycomb embossing folder on the dark teal cardstock, and pieced the other papers in horizontal rows, then added my gang of 3 bees. They look like they are flying in formation, right?

For this one, I had stamped the bees with Versafine Sepia ink, both first and second generation stamping. Then I colored them in with my Zigs.  The background was stamped with My Favorite Thing's Bundles of Blossoms background stamp and white embossed. I then blended on some Distress inks in a couple of yellows and blues and sprinkled water over all.

The "thanks" diecut (from Lawn Fawn) was covered with the Wow/HoneyBee yellow embossing powder. It's hard to tell in the photo, but it is sparkly and shiny. I then mounted it on a strip of vellum. Everything is glued flat to the front, there are no foam dots on either card. The only dimension is provided by the sequins and Nuvo drops.

More bees!

Another card from the Simon Says Stamp card kit of the month for July, 2019, "Bee Yourself" The twiggy flowers were die cut from unbranded dies and covered with embossing powder from Honeybee Stamps (and WOW).  The yellow embossing powder looks very much like pollen in the little container. Don't sneeze!

The bee was colored with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers on Bristol Smooth card stock with black Versafine ink and clear embossed. 

Funny thing, after I finish these bee cards I feel the need to eat something with honey. 

It's here! My March card kit!

Well, 2 months in a row I ordered card kits with a big ole' sheet of stickers. Really, those cardmakers on YouTube made it look so easy!

The kit also came with 2 stamp sets and the usual bunch of pattered paper and cardstock. So, without further adieu, here are my first cards with the Simon Says Stamp March 2019 card kit called "Lucky Rainbow".  As you can guess, it is full of St. Patrick's day themed stuff. But one of the stamp sets is generic enough to use all year.

The first stamp set is Simon's "Wooly Lucky".  Here are a few of the ones I have done so far:

Then, I made a couple featuring the stickers from Doodlebug, "Lots O Luck".

Then, to slap all that green outta my eyes, I made this one with the stickers plus a sentiment from the big stamp set, "Amazing".

I'm not quite done yet, so there are more to come. I think.

Green for the Season! With some gold thrown in, too!

I made a lot of green and gold tags, and wanted to feature one on a card. This specialty paper from Tonic is made from cotton, and is very soft, with hints of gold under the green. I love it and you will be seeing more of it in coming projects!

I didn't embellish the tag, I just put the "fa la la" and the music over top of it. The "fa la la" die is Simon Says Stamp (I think, I can't find the packaging), the tag is My Favorite Things' Tagbuilder Bluebrint 5, and the music is something I got at Michael's quite a few years ago.

My stash has reached the point where if I don't label things, I forget where and when I got them and exactly what brand they are. Dies, unlike stamps, look a lot alike under the packaging. Is this my subconscious telling me to stop buying stuff?  If so, no thanks.

The deer tag is one of several I'm working on. I'm loving the shiny gold "Mercury Light" paper.  It's also Recollections from one or 2 years ago. Also, it's hard to see in the photo, but the "fa la la" is covered with glittery shimmer paste from Tonic.  It's messy and fun.

Fa la la! etc.

This reindeer is from a stamp set in my collection for years. I think I got it in 2015, but it came out in 2012. It is "Fa La La" from The Alley Way Stamps.  The actual "falala" on this card is from a die cut, possibly Simon Says Stamp. I'm entering this one in the Retro Rubber Challenge as it is an "anything goes" challenge. I never seem to have the right theme going on for them, but this is perfect because it is anything, LOL.

I cut the falala from the gold foil background panel and covered up the hole with the brown patterned paper. After adding the cut falala on top, and the Copic colored reindeer, I decided to add a bunch of small die-cut snowflakes. These are from My Favorite Things and Paper Smooches. I cut them from foil and glitter card stock, and topped each one off with a drop of copper or gold Nuvo drops.

I added red Stickles to his nose, and when it dried flat I added Nuvo crystal glaze to give it more shine and some dimension.

It is kind of tricky to photograph mirror-foiled paper, but you can really appreciate all the shine on this one. It's one of my favorites so far this year. Deck the halls you all. Whenever you're ready, of course.

Simple flowers for thanks

You know, sometimes it's really hard to get your mojo back. I was distracted by sewing for a while, too. Sometimes it seems all I want to do is buy new supplies, but I may not be so keen on doing anything with them when they come in the mail.

I challenged myself to use several things that I simply HAD to have and hadn't used in months. So, I did some flowers (always a good start) with my Mission Gold watercolors, and used a cute word die from (I think) Simon Says Stamp.  The flowers are also SSS, Even More Spring Flowers.  I don't remember where I got the holey background die. I do know that I will probably never try to prop it up on dimensional foam dots again. It's lovely in real life, but what a pain!

I love watching the YouTube artists watercoloring flowers. I wish I were half as talented as they are. But, I keep chugging along. Some day, some day.

I cut the "You" word die (also SSS) from 3 layers of black card stock and one of a deep teal, and glued the layers together. Seriously, did I really forget to put the pin back in the lid of the glue bottle the last time I used it? You bet I did, so I had to soak the lid to get it freed up again.

I white embossed the "thank" word on black card stock, from an old Sizzix set I got from Michael's. It was one of those sets of clear stamps that were a direct copy of the original Tim Holtz designs that were red rubber.

So, I think I may have jump started my creativity, just a little. We shall see, I suppose.

Side story:  The computer I was using since last August had been back at HP at least 3 times, and had its motherboard replaced that many times, too, from about April to late June of this year. When it died again a week after its last return I took out the hard drive and trashed it.  Stupid HP All-In-One. I went back to a desktop tower (Dell this time, thankyouverymuch). I really hope I'm over the computer drama.

One (or two) more "Valentines" and then I quit.

Just a couple more valentines from THE KIT and then I'm done with it until next year. I may use the stamp, though. I just hope I have learned my lesson and really study the contents of the kit to see why I must have them.  Stickers are not big in my book and I should have known that.

Speaking of stickers, here's one of a unicorn that I put on some of the patterned paper from the kit. I turned the pink rectangle into a banner with a V shaped die and some more patterned paper. I slapped on another banner sticker for the sentiment, and a row of hearts, just because.

The kit is the Limited Edition Valentine Kit 2018 from Simon Says Stamp. Here is a picture of the kit, and I believe it is out of stock, but you can still get the bits of it separately, which is what I should have done. Oh well.

My Punny Valentines

Yes, I love puns.There you have it.

These are from Simon Says Stamp's Foodie Friends stamp set, which came in the Limited Edition Valentine's Kit (January/February 2018).  These tiny images were colored with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers on mixed media paper, and cut with my Brother Scan N Cut. I put them on small white panels that had a smear of Distress Oxide color and stamped with the coordinating puns that came with the set. I used a few of the heart stickers from the set on the "Soda-Lightful" card, but the others were mounted on a ripped paper die and then layered with some black and white accent paper.

I am almost avoiding talking about my buyer's regret with this kit. The main part of this kit, aside from the stamp set, is the large sheet of card-stock stickers. So far I've made 2 cards featuring the stickers and I'm completely under-impressed with them.

Back when I was first making cards I learned about the phenomenon of "sticker sneeze"", where stickers were put down seemingly at random.  Want to see an example? Here you go:

The group of flowers in the lower right are part of the patterned paper, and the 3 big images are stickers.  I'm totally unimpressed with this one, alright?

Floral Bliss, Part 4

For this floral wedding card, I used (again!) the large spray from the Simon Says Stamp June card kit. I used the barely beige ink from the kit, but the stamp still had Versafine from the previous stamping, so the lines were somewhere between in darkness.

I used the Daniel Smith watercolors for most of the flowers and all the leaves. The small pink flowers were water colored with the Worn Lipstick Oxide ink that came with the kit. I gold embossed the sentiment onto a strip of dark Kraft card stock and mounted it to the center between the 2 sprays.

I cut the panel out using a Gina Marie Designs die and mounted it to a Kraft card base. I used a white gel pen in the centers of the flowers and finished off with some large no-name iridescent sequins.

I'm ready to move on to different images now, I think.

Floral Bliss, Part 3

Today's edition of the floral bliss card is simple watercoloring using the stamp, paper, and paint from the June Simon Says Stamp card kit. I used Versafine ink and heat embossed the image, painted witht he Daniel Smith water color sample in the kit, and cut the panel with a cross-stitched rectangle die. I used a white gel pen to highlight the center of the flowers, too.

I got the idea to cut the big leaves and raise them up a little from Vicky P. on YouTube. I foam-mounted the panel on a royal blue card base.

Floral Bliss, Part 2

Once again, I used the Simon Says Stamp June 2017 Card Kit, and tried my hand at no-line water coloring. I'm not thrilled with it, but I pushed on with it.

I started by stamping the image with the SSS Barely Beige ink that was included in the kit onto some Ranger watercolor paper, also included. This was my first experience with the Ranger paper, and I was surprised at how lightweight it was. The 140 lb paper I've been using is quite a bit heftier. I think if I ever want to cut more water colored images with the ScanNCut that this might be the way to go.

I then colored the pretty flower spray with the Daniel Smith watercolor samples that were also in the kit. After blundering my way through the painting I had to walk away from it for a while. When I came back to it I had a plan of action!

I fussy cut the image and mounted it to an oval of light yellow card stock that had been cut with a Gina Marie dotted oval die, and embossed with a Darice script embossing folder. 

I chose a very bright stripe background from a My Favorite Things paper pack called Fun and Frolic, and mounted that to an eye-watering bright yellow card base. I chose a sentiment from Simon Says Stamp's Sketchy Banner, and used the matching sketchy banner die.

Finally, I used my gloss white crystal Nuvo drops to highlight the center of the flowers and the upper right and lower left of the card. 

Floral Bliss Part 1

I was thrilled to get the Simon Says Stamp June card kit, featuring the Floral Bliss stamp set.

Many of the crafters on YouTube are embossing the main floral spray image in gold on black and water coloring it with Finetec Mica watercolors.

I'm working with what I have, which is Artist's Loft iridescent watercolors.  

I heat embossed the image twice with generic gold embossing powder onto heavy black cardstock and painted the images with my cheapo watercolor set. 

I used some patterned paper from the card kit, and a banner die from Avery Elle. I messily embossed the edges of the banner, too. Finally, I splattered the whole thing with gold watercolor paint from my Gansai Tambi set. 

You know, I don't know anyone who's getting married. But at least I'm prepared!  

Let the Christmas cards begin!

I'm so happy to start doing Christmas cards! They are my favorite of all the cards I make, so yay for the season!  We will ignore the part where I'm in Florida and have exactly 4 days of experience in snow. So yes, we will be seeing a lot of snow themed cards, because that's the norm at Christmas.

I had a lot of fun water-coloring these poinsettias from Simon Says Stamp's Winter Flowers set. I used my new (to me) Mission Gold Watercolors and painted these on white embossed water color paper. I first gold embossed the sentiment from My Favorite Things' Hand Lettered Christmas in the center of the panel, then white embossed the flower, berry, and leaves in white around it.

Note to self: don't touch the wet color with the heel of your hand. I saved this one by cutting out and around the smeared bits. Here's the panel with the smeared bits on the right.

After I took this picture I also added some gray shadowing around most of the images. Then I messed with the shadowing on the main flower some, too.

I mounted the trimmed piece with a lot of foam tape on some heavy-weight dark red card stock that was cut down to A2 size.

So, here come the Christmas cards! I love them.

Give thanks.

I decided to go with the messy water coloring for this Thanksgiving card. Really messy. The stamp is an older set from Lawn Fawn called Harvest Season. The "Thanks" border is from Simon Says Stamp, and I cut the letters for "Give" with Bottle Cap Letters from My Favorite Things.

I stamped a row of leaves inside with various Simon Says Stamps dye inks.

Here's a picture of the old Lawn Fawn stamp set:

I believe it is the first Lawn Fawn stamp I ever bought. Now my stamp tray is bursting with them. Yay.