With All My Heart

 Good Evening!  Happy February!  

I guess Happy Winter still too for six more weeks since the groundhog saw his shadow.  And yet, here in central NC, we are having a bit of spring like temps for a couple of days.  We had our 2-1/2 inches of snow two weeks ago.  So that's enough winter for me and why we live in central NC.

Anyway, a quick post tonight to get into this week's Tic Tac Toe Challenge.  I haven't posted for a bit because I've been busy creating instead of blogging.  Guess I need to find some time to do the latter more often.

I started off with some watercolor backgrounds from my stash. I used one as the top layer background and the other I used to cut the heart die
(Stacked Hearts by Simon Says Stamp).  As you see, I left some of the water colored inside hearts there.  I die cut a postage die from a dark pink cardstock in my stash (maybe Bazzill Bubblegum).  Then it is all adhered to a wonky stitched white cardbase.  I used a glimmer foiled sentiment by Spellbinders in pink foil and die cut it with a banner die.  Finishing touch was some sequins.

For Following Challenges:

I used column #1 - Pink, Valentine or Heart, White

Simon Says: With Love

Thanks for stopping by my blog. 

I hope you visit again soon!

All My Heart Blessings!

Spinning Into The New Year

 Hello there again!

I have several cards in this post to share. I saw a video  by Ardyth Percy-Robb last week using a salad spinner and so I ordered one and tried the technique. Do I order a salad spinner for lettuce? Oh NO, just for crafting!  HAHAHA Little did I know that this technique has been around a while, mostly as a kid's crafting tool, but I did find several other card makers besides Ardyth who have tried it.

While all of these were created with alcohol inks, I also tried my Catherine Pooler Reinkers on watercolor paper and glossy cardstock.  Those I will show at another time.  These are all using alcohol ink on Yupo paper.

Card #1 Supplies:

Tim Holtz Alcohol Inks

Yupo Paper

Black cardstock (Lawn Fawn maybe?)

Sentiment Die - Well Hey There Hexagon by Catherine Pooler Designs

Card #2 Supplies:

Neenah Solar White cardstock

Gold Foil cardstock

Yupo paper

Tim Holtz Alcohol Inks

Slimline background die -On The Rocks by Catherine Pooler Designs

Thank You Glimmer Foil sentiment and die - by Spellbinders

Card #3 Supplies

Neenah Solar white cardstock

Black cardstock

Yupo paper

Tim Holtz alcohol inks

Loon Die - Gina Marie Designs

Thanks die - Catherine Pooler Designs

Card #4 Supplies

Neenah Solar white cardstock

Black cardstock

Yupo paper

Tim Holtz Alcohol Inks

Polka Dot cover plate - Catherine Pooler Designs

Thank you die - Scrapbook.com

I did find that depending upon how much I spun or how many layers of ink I applied, I got different results. My spinner also had a stop button you could press to stop the spinning more abruptly.  I think that also played a factor in my results.  Some were splattered more, while some became more soft looking with less definitive lines.  Still, I loved trying this technique and creating some very interesting backgrounds. 

I'm glad you stopped by to visit. Hope you come again!  

Spinning Ink Blessings!

On Your Special Day

Hello there! Happy New Year!

It's been a very long time since I've been here. 

2021 definitely was a challenging year for me creatively as maybe it was for many others.  Halfway through the year I finally realized I needed to just go with the flow.  Then about 2/3 of the way I decided to take a bit of a break from crafting, stepping down from 4 Crafty Chicks and basically leaving my craft room more than not.  I dabbled a little here and there but not significantly.

And, then came the holidays and my holiday spirit took a nose dive creating even more of a gaping hole in my creativity.  I couldn't wait for January to be here so the holidays would be over.  Mind you, I was thoroughly excited to have both our boys back under our roof for the holidays and to celebrate with the family.  I just wasn't into all the normal hoopla of decorating, baking, etc, even though I did both. Our youngest son and his girlfriend moved back to the East coast in mid-December.  Presently they are in NC splitting time between their two families and preparing to move a little north to Virginia.  Our oldest and their wife are still with us as our daughter inlaw will begin her last semester in grad school this month. So while I haven't been too festive or creative, I have been enjoying my family. 

Now the tree and decorations are put away, a new year has begun and so has my creativity (thank goodness).  This card I created for my older brother, whose birthday was on the 5th.  I wanted to wait to share it until I knew he had received it.  I used the Winter Forest Layering stencil by Pinkfresh Studio to create my background and basically the card. I added a few extra lines of trees to fill it up.. The die trees are by Memory box, cut from inked paper in each of the green inks by Catherine Pooler Designs.

Thank you for stopping by my blog. I hope you will visit again.

New Year Blessings!

Happy Snowflake -Tic Tac Toe #140 - Guest Designer

Hello there!  

I have a special post today.  I am thrilled to be a Guest Designer with the Tic Tac Toe Challenge this week, TTTC #140!  I want to thank the whole TTTC Design Team for the opportunity to Guest with them.  This board gave me so many ideas I couldn't decide at first which column or row to choose.  

In the end, I chose the first column with Plaid, Layers and Die Cut to make my card.

I used some new dies by Pink and Main, that I bought recently, for my card. The Peppermint cover die is with what my background is created with some cute plaid patterned paper, by My Favorite Things, peeking through. That awesome layered/stacked snowflake dies are also from Pink and Main.  The snowflake layers are cut from cardstock I inked up using my Catherine Pooler inks in Deck The Halls, Rockin' Red, Lime Rickey and Be Mine.  They matched perfectly with the plaid paper.  The sentiment die is also by Catherine Pooler Designs.

I had so much fun playing in this challenge, I made another card to play along again as well. Look for it a little later!

I hope you will check out the Tic Tac Toe Challenge this week.  There is a new board every Thursday with lots of exciting elements to choose. And if you're like me and sometimes stuck on what to create, this challenge is a great jumping off point to get those creative juices flowing again.

I am also playing this card in a couple other challenges:

MLCCB #40 - November Anything Christmas Goes

Thank you for stopping by and visiting my blog today!

Tic Tac Toe Challenge Blessings!

Leafy Thanks

 

Good Evening!

I have a quick post tonight. I've been trying to make cards using my already made backgrounds. This card features a panel of foiled leaves I created using my new Glimmer Hot Foil System by Spellbinders.  Back in the spring (way too long ago), Bonnie Klass and I got together and played around with our hot foil systems and plates.  

I used a leaf foil plate I had also gotten from Spellbinders and foiled it on burgundy cardstock.  Along with the foiled panel, I used a leaf embossing folder by Carta Bella, embossing some heavy white cardstock.  Then, I gently ran a Versamark ink pad and brushing gold Perfect Pearls across the panel to add some shimmer.  Next I trimmed down the panel and adhered it to a cardbase and adding the foiled panel on top.  The last touch was a "thanks" sentiment die cut (Catherine Pooler Designs) in gold foiled cardstock, gluing it in the middle and adding some shimmery gems for even more sparkle.

I really like the final product and how the slight shimmer of the Perfect Pearls is just enough to enhance the Glimmer foiled leaf panel.

For Following Challenges:

I made this card specifically for the Just Add Ink challenge this week:

I used a Glimmer foiled die, shimmery Perfect Pearls, and foil cardstock.

Thank you for stopping by for a visit to my blog.  I hope you come back again.

Glimmer, Shimmered Blessings!

Hocus Pocus

Final post for tonight!  Halloween card #3.  

This card I created for the AAA Cards Challenge #201. 

Card Supplies:

Stamps: Witch (Riley & Co); Cauldron (The Rabbit's Hole). 

Paper: Black cardstock.  Cardbase - Neenah Solar White 110 lb.

Ink: Midnight, Grape Crush, Drive-In (Catherine Pooler Designs); Copics.

Extras: Bat dies (Spellbinders).

For Following Challenges:

Simon Says Challenge - Anything Goes

Spooky Blessings!

BOO!

Hello again!

Halloween card #2 for tonight...

This card began with the yellow watercolored panel coverd by the Wavy Cover Plate die by Catherine Pooler Designs.  Then, I created the eyes with a small oval die by Ellen Hutson and the inside o's of the Boo sentiment die cut in white cardstock.
 

Double Trouble Challenges

Simon Says - Anything Goes

Boo Blessings!

Happy Haunting

Good Evening!

Sharing some final Halloween cards I've done this week before the actual Spooky Day!

Here is the first one:

Card Supplies:

Stamps:Lick My Feet (Stampendous); Sentiment (Ellen Hutson).

Paper: White cardstock (Neenah Solar 110 lb); Fright Night Patterned Paper (Reversed Confetti).

Ink: Midnight (Catherine Pooler Designs). Copics.

For Following Challenges:

Double Trouble Challenges

Haunting Blessings!

Blessing Leaves

Happy Friday!

Hope you're ready for the weekend!

I've been playing in the leaves this week.  Or rather, I've been playing WITH leaves.  Wanted to play in the CAS Mixup Challenge this month and the challenge was to take real leaves and either use a gel plate or watercolor to imprint them to make a card.  Well, I picked a handful of various leaves from our yard of 16 trees and went to town playing with my gel plate and just inking some leaves up with ink and water.

For my leaves, I sponged Cranberry Fizz, Flame, Glitz, Martini, and Uptown inks (by Catherine Pooler Designs) onto the backs of the leaves and spritzed them with water. Next I laid down the leaves onto wet watercolor paper and placed another sheet of cardstock on top.  I used my brayer to go over the paper to ensure I got a good imprint.  I love how this one turned out.  

The rest was very simple.  I inked up the edges of a cardbase in the Uptown ink for a border, gold embossed my stamped sentiment and added some gold paint splatters.

For Following Challenges:

I did: Stamping, Watercolor, Splatter, Embossing

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my creations!

Fall Blessings!

Hey Boo!

 Good Afternoon!

Guess who's back in crafty blogland?  

Seems like it's been forever, not just 2-1/2 months. . Life was getting so crazy over the summer, I decided I had to step back and take a break from a few things and refresh.   A little recap --- back in April our laundry room ceiling caved in due to a (still yet) mysterious water leak from upstairs, causing major damage to our laundry room and to our family room floor..  FINALLY, in late August everything was repaired and fixed with a new laundry room and new floors downstairs.  Then, the hubs and I took off for a much needed three week vacation to California to visit our youngest son. Oh what an adventure we had and a much needed life break for both of us, but most particularly for the Hubs!  We spent a lot of time with nature and beautiful scenery, sea scapes, forests, etc.  

Now, for the last three weeks I've been slowly getting back into East Coast time and regular life again. And just over the last week, I've also made it into my craft room a little more. I at first felt lost and like I couldn't remember how to even stamp but like riding a bike, it is coming back to me.  Of course, now I feel like I'm behind in stamping already with Halloween less than two weeks away and a ton of Halloween images staring at me to be colored and formed into cards.  Along with a list of birthday cards, a few thank you cards and oh yeah, Christmas cards!  Not to mention I had a small stack of new craft supplies waiting for me to open when I returned from vacation.

So perhaps it's only fitting the first card I finish and post here is of a couple, Halloween couple albeit, taking a little wooded drive....

For this card, I used new dies (from that stack awaiting me from vaca) from Spellbinders, the Sunday Drive and Halloween Sunday Drive.  I used colored cardstock by Gina K Designs for everything but the background and orange sun/moon.  I inked up a die cut circle with Limoncello, Tiara, Orange Twist and Rouge inks by Catherine Pooler.  The background is a stencil by Dutch Doobadoo that I've had for a very long time but not used. I inked it up in Sweet Sixteen, Pixie Dust, Grape Crush and Drive-In all also Catherine Pooler inks. That car with the skeleton and witch was so much fun putting together, I cut ALOT of them out in several different colors. 

For Following Challenges:

I used the diagonal row - Black, Orange Purple 

Thanks for stopping by and visiting my blog and creations!

Traveling Blessings!

Krafty Chicks Challenge #572 - Christmas

 Good Morning!

It's a Krafty Chicks Thursday!  

A HOT one too!  WHEW! August in the South is no where to be!

So a little winter weather sounds good about now, huh? Well, this week is our Christmas challenge...

Krafty Chicks Challenge #572 - CHRISTMAS

Stop by the Hen House and see the Team's projects, hop on over to their blogs and give them some blog love as well.  Then come think COLD and HOLIDAY and play along in our Christmas challenge!

Krafty Chick Blessings!

Krafty Chicks Challenge #571 - Stamp Act

 Good Afternoon!

I'm late today sharing my post for the newest challenge at Krafty Chicks.  Yet, better late than never! This week's challenge is our Stamp Act being the first Thursday of the month.  Leanne is our hostess.

Krafty Chicks Challenge #571 - Stamp Act 

(Must have stamping)

Check out the rest of the team's projects over at the Hen House.  Also, welcome our August Guest Designer, Lisa!  So thrilled to have her with us!  Then come play along and do some stamping to share with us.

Krafty Chick Blessings!