Seas The Day

 Hello there on this Sunday evening!

It's been a very rainy day all day so perfect for reading and crafting. Tonight's post is a card for Freshly Made Sketches.  Verena's sketch had me thinking water - puddle, ponds, lake, but then I finally chose the an island on the sea.  I've had the Summertime Vacation and the Oh Buoy die sets by Spellbinders for a while now but never played with it.  So today I did.  

For Following Challenges:

Thank you for visiting my blog and hope you come back soon!

"Art is not a thing, it is a way.”

 – Elbert Hubbard

Nance

Love To Pieces

Hello and TGIF! 

 

Hope you're ready for a weekend.  I sure am! It's been an interesting week. Had to have a shot in both my knees so been a little less ambulatory the past couple days to let them take affect. Actually have been off my legs the whole week waiting to get the shots. Thankfully today they feel great again and hope it stays that way now.    

I guess one plus is that I have been able to get in my craft room and create a little more. This is one of my finished products for some special people. Yes, my Valentines will be late but hey what can you do. Do we really need a specific day to tell others how much we love them and appreciate them in our lives? NAH!

I recently bought the puzzle cover plate die from Hero Arts and have been playing with it this week. I have puzzle lovers in my fam and I not only created this card for some of them but I also actually created a puzzle for them to put together as well. There may be a photo below.  

I started though with the Layered Heart stencil by Waffle Flower.  After stenciling in Cotton Candy and Rockin' Red (CP Designs) I went over the entire thing with a light layer of Cotton Candy.  Then I cut it with the puzzle coverplate.  Next I cut out that adorable Peeking Chicken die by Hero Arts and pieced it together.  The sentiment is from Lil' Inker Designs.

I did this one specifically for the Color Hues challenge and at least I'm not totally squeaking in last minute. 

Other Challenges:

The puzzle I created with the In The Forest layered stencil by Catherine Pooler and using her inks.  Then I cut it with the Hero Arts puzzle die.  I actually doubled up my cardstock before I cut it, which was not such a great idea.  It took quite a few rounds through my die cut machine and then using some scissor and exacto knife to get the bottom layer all cut. 

Thank you for visiting my blog and hope you come back soon!

"Art is not a thing, it is a way.”

 – Elbert Hubbard

Nance

Another Year Looks Good

Good Afternoon to you!

We've had a small taste of spring this week after some very blistering cold (for central NC that is).  I know half the country has been that way much longer than us.  Yet, even this Yankee has had her blood thin I'm afraid over the 20+ years I've been in NC. So I'm hoping our brief very cold winter is done! 

Anyhoo, let's get down to card business!  Birthday card business!  It's Thursday and time for a new challenge at Seize The Birthday!

Glenda is our hostess and her Toppings for this challenge is CAS + Dies!  So hope you're ready to break out some fun dies as well as make it CAS!

I chose a new to me die - a bonsai tree die by Hero Arts. I did do a hexagonal cut out for a little more interest and added a trellis cover plate die in vellum behind it to help the bonsai tree pop a little more.

 

And if you're not into Toppings this time, or ever, you can always play in our ATG, Anything Goes Challenge as long as it's a BIRTHDAY CARD! We always need birthday cards of one sort or another.

Please stop by the STB blog and check out all the Team's beautiful Toppings creations.  Also welcome our Surprise Party Guests Helen and Valerie!  Give them all some blog lovin'!

I also chose a color palette for my card that's featured in another challenge this week:

Thank you for visiting my blog and hope you come back soon!

"Art is not a thing, it is a way.”

 – Elbert Hubbard

Nance

 

Cozy Moments

Happy Saturday!

It's a blustery cold one here in central NC.  

So my card today is most fitting for anyone needing some coziness.  

I subscribed to Waffle Flower's Sneak Peek Club and these adorable dies were the club goodies back in January.  I just now had a chance to play with them and a couple add-ons (lamp)they have to go with.  I saw the color challenge at Just Add Ink and thought it was perfect for my little comfy scene.  The background is a stencil, Mid Century Mod, from A Colorful Life Designs. The colors I used were: Cashmere, Over Coffee, Ginger, On the Lake and Daydream (CP Designs Ink).

Thank you for visiting my blog and hope you come back soon!

"Art is not a thing, it is a way.”

 – Elbert Hubbard

Nance

 

Colorful Birthday 🎈🎈🎈

Hello there!  Glad to see you!

It's Thursday and everyone over half the U.S. are prepping for a "Major Winter Weather Event" as the weather guys are calling it.  Here in Central NC we've gone from hearing 3-6 inches of snow/sleet/freezing to now maybe 1-3 inches of snow/sleet/freezing rain.  I know around here even 2 inches of snow is major but personally, anything under five inches of snow I don't call "major".  Then again I grew up in WV and we got our fair share of winter storms way beyond 1-3 inches. And my hubs, being from Michigan, loves the snow and misses it immensely.  He was very excited initially to hear we may get lots of snow.  Now he's just annoyed. He is one of those who literally did walk a mile in a foot of snow to school.  LOL

But on to the real important things --- cardmaking and card challenge! 

Today there is a new challenge up at Seize The Birthday.  Cathy is our hostess and her choice for Toppings is Rainbow of Colors!

I love doing rainbow colored cards but for some reason this time it stumped me! And then I made not one, but two cards! hahaha  The first one, above, I kept very simple.  I used the Bookshelf die and stencil by Waffle Flower to create my rainbow book background.  I had already picked out my sentiment before that I knew I wanted to use.  Then I found that cute book napping cat stamp, by Gerda Steiner, in my stash and combined it with the sentiment (SugarPea Designs) embossed in white on vellum and fussy cut.  I love how it all came together.  I will confess, the stenciling did take a bit figuring out the order of colors and carefully stenciling. 

My second card is fairly simple too. Again I used Waffle Flower stamps (Cattitude) and dies (Happy).  I also used a postage stamp die by Catherine Pooler that was already cut.  I cut the Happy in the white panel and ink blended it so the letters would be inked as well.  Next I layered three white Happy dies with the colored one to pop it up.  Next, I stamped the cats around the letters in Midnight ink (CP Designs) and the sentiment.  Placed it on a black card base, glued in the stacked Happy. 

🎈🎈🎈Please stop by the STB blog and check out all the rest of the team's beautiful rainbow colored birthday cards including our Surprise Guest, Helen! I truly am blessed to be part of this talented team.  Remember, we also have our ATG Birthday challenge if you're not feeling a Toppings challenge.  We love having you play either way! 🎈🎈🎈

Thank you for visiting my blog and hope you come back soon!

"Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.”

 – Twyla Tharp

Nance

 

Chirp Chirp Hooray!

Happy New Year!

New year, new month and new challenge at Seize the Birthday! 

I hope everyone had a nice holiday. 

Barbara is our hostess and 

her Toppings is "Make your own snowflake background"!

I have to admit I am glad we had a break for the holidays. My break meant having to curtail any crafting and a lot of other regular activities due to tenosynovitis (form of tendonitis) in my right hand and wrist(dominant hand).  It's an injury I got back in the summer and had to have a shot then. Then, in early November, the hubs and I decided to repaint several rooms and the tendonitis came back with a vengeance exacerbated by newfound arthritis.  Two months wearing a brace, little use of my hand and four shots within that time.😩 UGH

Today's card was my first attempt at crafting earlier this week and I'm so happy I could do it minus pain.  So, <knocks on wood> hopefully back to normal!

Please stop by the STB blog and check out all the rest of the team's beautiful snowflake birthday cards.  Also, welcome to our Surprise Guest for the next two months, Helen! Be sure and give her a big welcome! Remember, we also have our ATG Birthday challenge if you're not feeling a Toppings challenge.  We love having you play either way!

Thank you for visiting my blog and hope you come back soon!

"Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.”

 – Twyla Tharp

Nance