Floral Birthday

 Good Afternoon!

It's a gorgeous Carolina blue day here in Cary, NC!  Hope it's just a gorgeous wherever you are.  I have been sitting outside enjoying the nice weather and trying to get some blogging done while listening to an audiobook.  Got to love multi-tasking! LOL

I have another birthday card to share at Timeout Challenges during their 8th Birthday challenge these next two weeks.  

The flowers on this card are Altenew's Wallpaper Art flowers.  I actually watercolored them a long time ago, I think back in 2019 during a trip to Sedona.  Yes, they've been stuck in my stash.  I'm still trying to use up things in my stash (will it ever empty?)!  I cut the Petal Connection Cover Plate by Catherine Pooler Designs from black cardstock and slipped gold foil cardstock by Lawn Fawn behind it.  I also cut the Leaf Canopy dies by Altenew in the same gold foil to set behind the flowers.  I finished the card off by adding a gold embossed sentiment (Catherine Pooler) on black cardstock.

For Following Challenges:

Happy Birthday Time Out Challenges!

Floral Birthday Blessings!

Happy Birth-They

 Hello again!

Here I am piling on the blogging again.  I still have several cards I have not shared.  I try to wait to post in the evenings when the Hubs is at work but lately the evenings have been either busy or I've fallen asleep in mid-sentence. It's very late again so I fear the latter may happen again!

We had a milestone birthday this past weekend.  Our oldest, Arrow(dead name -Patrick), turned 30!  How do I have a 30 year old I don't know because I don't feel much older than that myself!  Anyhoo it's reality.  This is the birthday card I made for them.  I know many people are not very familiar with all the gender pronouns and such.  Our oldest, birth name Patrick, has been a member of the LGBTQIA2s+ community for several years now and this past summer announced their preference for nonbinary gender identification publicly.  Thus they chose to change their name to a non-gender bias name, Arrow.  So, long story short, they identify as nonbinary using "they/their/them".  And with embracing that with them, I created their birthday card using the nonbinary colors, which are yellow, white, purple and black.  They loved it.

I used stamp sets, Birthday Cake Remix, Milestone Birthday number dies, and Hey Mister stamp set by Catherine Pooler Designs along with Limoncello, Grape Crush and Midnight CP inks.  It did take a little creativity to make the "birth-they" as I don't have a "they" stamp.  It was a collaboration using a "hey" stamp and a single "birth" stamp that is part of the Hey Mister set with a small "arrow" in between.

I'm still trying to get used to the fact they're 30 so I guess I can no longer claim I'm still 30! LOL

For Following Challenges:

Birth-They Blessings!

Cards For Ukraine

Good Evening!

I am joining the online cardmaking community this week in showing support for Ukraine through handmade cards.  I made sunflowers, Ukraine's national flower, in the colors of the Ukranian flag (blue and yellow).  Please pray for Ukraine and that this conflict ends very soon with their victory.

Peace and Hope for Ukraine

🙏

Mountainous Birthday

 Good Afternoon! 

I have a quick post to share my card for this week's Color Throwdown challenge.  

Playing with some older Sursee goodies, (Scenic View and Something For Everyone) from Catherine Pooler Designs.  Had a lot of fun using that scenic die cut and cutting several color versions to come up with my final one.  I used Catherine Pooler Inks, swiped each color on some white cardstock to create some colored cardstock before cutting each color with the die.  And, I created the colored mountain by spritzing each color on my glass mat and smooshing it on watercolor paper.  So I created another custom colored background of the blues, green and brown inks.  I have enough pieces to put at least four more scenes together.

I set the scene piece on top of a Tim Holtz sunray embossed background and added a stitched brown circle die on top to frame it and add some more contrast.  The sentiment is from the Something For Everyone sentiment set.

For Following Challenges:

Thanks for stopping by my blog.  Hope you visit again soon!

Mountainous Birthday Blessings!

Love Enclosed

 Hello and Happy Thursday!  It's almost the weekend. 

It's a glorious spring like day here in Cary, NC.  Got all the windows open to let in some fresh air.  The weather is a mixed bag these days - spring one day, winter the next, back and forth and back and forth.  I just wish it would stay 70 for the next six months.

I have a post to share today.  Still trying to get blogging caught up. Not enough hours in the day.

I have been playing with the January club goodies (small die club, glimmer foil club and stamp/die club) from Spellbinders. Still have several cards to piece together.  However, couldn't resist creating this one for the current Time Out Challenge and case Michele Ferguson's card.

For Following Challenges:

Time Out Challenges #207

Heartfelt Blessings!

Glimmered Greetings

Good Morning!

Season's Greetings!

This post is for the Christmas challenge at Krafty Chicks.  I have been wanting to play with Krafty Chicks again ever since I stepped down from the DT.  It just took me seven months to get it done.  

The background is a glimmer foil die by PinkFresh Studio on pink cardstock with gold foil.  The sentiment is also a foiled sentiment die from PinkFresh also.  The snowflake dies are by Catherine Pooler cut in white and gold foil cardstocks.

For Following Challenges:

Krafty Chicks Challenge #598 Christmas

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I hope you come again soon.

Seasons Blessings!

Edited 2/17/2022

Cherish Moments

Hello! 

Finally getting around to posting some more cards.  The first one is the last one I made using some new stamps and dies.  How cute are those cats napping in those plants?  Reminds me of my two kitties, Crystabelle and Annabella so I tried to color them like them.

Card Supplies:

Stamps:  Just Roll with It (Catherine Pooler)

Paper: White cardbase (Neenah Solar White); Potted patterned paper (Catherine Pooler).

Ink: Do Si Do, Bellini, Flame, In The Park, Mardi Gras (Catherine Pooler); C0, C1, C2, C3 (Copics); Versamark.

Extras: White embossing powder (WOW); Valencia sequins (Catherine Pooler); Stitched frame die; To The Point cover plate die (Catherine Pooler).

For Following Challenges:

Thanks for stopping by my blog!  

Feline Blessings!

 

Blessed

 TGIF friends!  

The weekend is upon us once again.  I have crafting, a little shopping and some family time planned.  What are you doing this weekend?  I hope if you've been in the path of the latest storm or going to be that you will be safe and warm!  Thankfully central NC is not in the path this time.

Here's another card I finished this week. 

My ink blended (Catherine Pooler inks) background was already made and stamped.  The heart stamp is "In My Heart" (Catherine Pooler), stamped with Versamark and embossed with WOW white embossing powder.  The plaid stamp on the bottom is "Laundered Linen"(Catherine Pooler) stamped in Mardis Gras maybe? Then the sentiment die cut I cut four times in white Neenah cardstock. The top layer I ink blended in the reverse color order of the background.  The sentiment strip is from "So Happy Sentiments" (Catherine Pooler).

And here is a pic of my sweet Annabella (Bella) who decided to pose by my card.

For Following Challenges:

Simon Says: With Love

Life's Blessings!

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!