Pastel Festivities

 Happy Monday!

It's a nice cool day today.  Hope your day is going fine.  I got a little crafting done over the weekend just in time for the end of the current Color Hues Challenge.  Had ambitions for other challenges, but life is not slowing down right now.

I love this color combo and I had so many ideas for it.  In the end I chose this beautiful Chinese lantern die by Catherine Pooler.  I paired it with the background stamp also by Catherine.  And of course the ink is Catherine Pooler also.  I love how it came together and very quickly also, which is sometimes I feat for me!

For Following Challenges:

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Background - Fan Dance and Sentiment - Lantern Festival (CP Designs)

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock

Ink:Midnight, Cummerbund, Sweet Sixteen(CP Inks)

Extras: Paper Lantern Die and Sequins (CP Designs) 

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back soon!

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” 

– Pablo Picasso

Nance

Holiday Greetings

 Hello, it's FRIYAY!

It may be April, but I have a Christmas card to share.  It's been five months, almost to the day, since I made and shared a Christmas card - Nov. 26, 2024.  Hopefully I can maybe let this be the beginning of me making at least a couple Christmas cards each month the rest of this year.

I used the Holiday Street Betterpress Plate and coordinating stencil set by Pinkfresh Studio to create my card.  I also used the Holiday Greetings Sentiments Betterpress plate as well.  Before I stenciled, I pressed another copy of the stamp and then fussy cut it so I could create my "northern lights" effect around the top. I wanted a very soft, festive looking neighborhood so I used pinks and soft greens and blues.  I'm very happy with how this turned out.  

For Following Challenges:

Peace On Earth Christmas Challenge 

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Holiday Street Betterpress; Sentiment - Holiday Greeting Betterpress  (Pinkfresh)

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock

Ink:Midnight, Minted, Cotton Candy, It's a Girl, Be Mine, Pucker Up, Oh Boy, All That Jazz, Limoncello(CP Inks)

Extras: Holiday Greetings die (Pinkfresh); Gold gems.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back soon!

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” 

– Pablo Picasso

Nance

Colorful Canoes

One more quick post today....

This one is for the Inspired By Challenge.  This one is a one layer full of color and punny.  LOL

For Following Challenges:

Inspired By Challenge #332

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Canoe stamp and sentiment - Oarsome Dad (CP Designs)

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock

Ink:Midnight, Something Borrowed, Oh Boy, Blue Raspberry, Limoncello, Tiara, Orange Twist, Bellini(CP Inks)

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back soon!

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” 

– Pablo Picasso

Nance

Ears To You

Hello there, Wednesday!

I cannot believe I had another small sabbatical from crafting last week.  It most certainly wasn't planned, but you know ---- life. I finally got in my craft room this afternoon and miraculously made two cards!

The first one is for the challenge at JUGS. 

The inspiration photo was too good to pass up and I took my inspiration from the cake slice.  It is similar to a jello pie I made this weekend for our Easter dinner. So I went with that.  Had to add the little sprinkles on the top layer for added interest and texture. The pie, btw, really really good.  Tasted like summer - light and refreshing!

For Following Challenges:

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Bunny - Hops & Peeps(CP Designs); Sentiment (EH)

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock

Ink: Chiffon, It's a Girl, In The Park, Midnight (CP Inks)

Extras: Chevron EF (The Paper Place); Banner die (Reverse Confetti); Scallop die - Dashes & Ruffles (CP Designs), Clay dots (Pretty Pink Posh I think).

The last few weeks have been crazy chaotic and hectic with the Hubs' surgery/recovery (he also got a stomach bug last week) but we had something exciting and happy happen as well....

Our youngest, Ben, proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Molly, at the beginning of their two week vacation to New Zealand!  YAY!  WOOHOO!  She had no idea it was happening. However, both families and their close friends knew, as Ben had arranged a few days before they left for all of us to make congratulatory videos he could show her afterwards.  And what a place to get engaged!  He arranged a private helicopter ride over Auckland to a cliffside overlooking the ocean before a celebratory dinner at a nearby vineyard on Waiheke Island.  Thanks to the helicopter pilot for the pics!

               

And of course, since we were dogsitting, we had to make sure their dog, Jack, got in on the celebratory videos and pics for them as well...

So, I just had to share our happy news here!

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back soon!

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” 

– Pablo Picasso

Nance

 

AAA Colorful #15 Guest Designer

Hello to you and happy Tuesday!

I'm happy to share that I am the Guest Designer at AAA Colorful this month! 

WOOHOO! 

I'm thrilled as I have guested with them before.  

They are a really inspiring and creative color challenge!

Here is next month's colorboard for April 15 - May 14:

And here is my card I was inspired to make:

I used Catherine Pooler Inks in the following colors: Drive-In(background and flower centers); Cotton Candy, Cummerbund(lightest color on flower), All That Jazz(darkest color on flower), and Aquatini(stems).

I won't lie, this color combo really did challenge me quite a bit trying to choose the right combo amounts.  I knew I wanted the darkest color as my background.  Trying to get out of my comfort zone a little by using bold background colors.  I'm very happy with the final result. 

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Flowers - Japanese Anemone (Altenew); Sentiment - Delicate Garden (Altenew)

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock

Ink: Midnight, Cotton Candy, Cummerbund, All That Jazz, Aquatini, Drive-In(CP Inks)

Extras: Hi sentiment die- part of Sunshine Mini Cover Plate set(CP Designs); EF - Tiny Tufts (Simon Says Stamp); Stencil and Dies for Japanes Anemone (Altenew).

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back soon!

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” 

– Pablo Picasso

Nance

 

Seize The Birthday #303 Surprise Guest

 Hello Thursday Afternoon!

I am thrilled to be the Surprise Party Guest today at Seize the Birthday! 

🥳 WooHoo! 🥳

This has come at an optimal time as April is a busy birthday month in our family. If you have visited my blog in the last few days you have seen several birthday card posts already.  So it has worked out well for me to be Guesting and sharing a special card for my niece. 

The toppings for this fortnight is Layer It!

As you see, I did layer it!  I've been wanting to play with this butterfly/flower die from Waffle Flower for a few weeks now.  I'm a member of the Sneak Peek Club so I got it early before the February release. Yet, you know how it goes sometimes when acquiring new stamps/dies, they sometimes sit patiently for a while before they're given some love.  So I pulled it out for this challenge.  It also has a coordinating stencil set, which I got also.  And there is a separate die set of some butterflies and flowers so you can bump some of them up off the main die if you want.  And I wanted! LOL  I paired the image dies with an overlapping sentiment die/stencil combo also from Waffle Flower.  

I layered it all on top of a very light cream background with a stitched frame that I found in my background ufo box. I love how it gave a little soft tone to the card. I added some sparkle to the middle of the flowers to finish it off.

So please stop over at the Seize the Birthday Challenge blog and check out all the beautiful creations by the fabulously talented Design Team and play along!  Use the topping or just make a birthday card and for the always "Anything Goes".

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Sentiment - Overlapping Happy Birthday(Waffle Flower).

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock;  Cream cardstock - stash. 

Ink: It's a Girl, Chiffon, Limoncello, Cummerbund, Fiesta Blue, Garden Party(CP Inks)

Extras: Butterfly die - Butterfly Blossom Texture Die/Stencil Combo(Waffle Flower); Butterflies, flower centers - Butterfly Blossom die (Waffle Flower); Sentiment die - Overlapping Birthday die/stencil(Waffle Flower).

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back soon!

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” 

– Pablo Picasso

Nance

Hello Spring Pup

Good Evening, Wednesday!

One quick post today for the Inspired By Challenge.

Each week Inspired By gives a photo inspiration and a sketch.  You can use one of them or both of them.  I chose both of them.  I thought this Frenchie would look cute peeking out from his umbrella while he's staying dry from the rain.

For Following Challenges:

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Umbrella & Sentiment - Blue Skies (CP Designs); Puppy - Peeking Pets (CP Designs).

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock

Ink: Limoncello, All That Jazz, SMores (CP Inks)

Extras: Mini Cover Plate - Puddle Jumper (CP Designs)

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back soon!

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” 

– Pablo Picasso

Nance

 

Licensed To Grill

Good Evening!

I have one more birthday card for today.  This is another card for our Ben. He loves to grill and cook. Last summer he bought himself a nice grill, so this apron giftcard holder card is perfect.

For Following Challenges:

The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers - #261 M is for Manly

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Sentiment - Dressed To Grill (Franctic Stamper); Inside Sentiment - Big Dill (Darcie's Stamps).

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock;  Silver cardstock - Stash; Patterned paper - Moose Crossings (CP Designs). 

Ink: Rockin Red, Glitz, Something Borrowed, Midnight (CP Inks)

Extras: Apron card die and Apron BBQ Add on dies (Honey Bee Stamps); Embossing Folder (on mitt) - Cuttlebug.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back soon!

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” 

– Pablo Picasso

Nance

 

Recycled Teenagers

Hello again!

Another birthday card this morning. 

This is for my sister inlaw who turned 65 yesterday.  She does not look 65 by any stretch.  I wanted to create something funny and uplifting at any rate and I've been wanting to use this stamp by Unity Co that I got a few months ago and I specifically paired it with the sentiment from Riley and Co.  Of course I had to color these wild ladies in bright colors.

For Following Challenges:

Kraft Chicks - Challenge # 762 - Birthday

Addicted to Stamps & More - #489 Any Occasion

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Sentiment  (Riley & Co)

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock;  Patterned paper- (Altenew). 

Ink: Limencellos, Black (Memento); Copics

Extras: Oval dies (Ellen Hutson).

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back soon!

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” 

– Pablo Picasso

Nance

 

 

Hoppy Birthday

Hello there!

A couple quick posts this morning in between errands.  This first one, I'm skirting in at the last minute for Seize The Birthday.  Have too many things happening at once and sometimes is challenging to squeeze them all in at the same time.  Anyway, this card is for my youngest, Ben's birthday on Sunday.  Only, he won't see it until he's back from his dream trip to New Zealand with his girlfriend.  He doesn't look at my blog so it's all safe.  Hahaha

The die cut "grungy" parts are a corner die I used in various parts of the background for a grungy bar look.  It's hard to see in the pic, but I did puff emboss the beer foam also. 

For Following Challenges:

Seize The Birthday - #302 - Milestone Toppings

(I did not use the Toppings)

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Sentiments - Here's to You (MFT Stamps)

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock;  Patterned paper from stash. 

Ink: Limenocello, Glitz, Midnight (CP Inks)

Extras: Beer Mug Die (MFT Stamps); Corner die - Distressed Baptista Collage (Memory Box).

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back soon!

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” 

– Pablo Picasso

Nance

 

You're The Vest

TGIF!

Happy FriYAY!  

It's a hot one here in central NC.  It's like we jumped clear to July temp wise while in full blown pollen mode and haven't checked today but maybe also in fire danger mode. Springtime in North Carolina!

I've had a little more time, off and on, in my craft room this week.  The Hubs has been recouping from shoulder surgery and doing very well.  Post-op visit today doc gave him six weeks of physical therapy and light duty at work (he returns Sunday) and home then we will see.  

This is one of my creations this week.  I have surprised myself in that I've made six cards in one week, definitely a record for me lately.

Is this not the coolest die set for anyone - life vest?  It's a newbie from Catherine Pooler Designs - part of the series "At The Lake With Dad".  This life vest die is actually a gift card holder.  I did not take it apart to photograph the inside I'm afraid.  You don't have to make it a gift card holder, you could glue down the straps and just use it on a card.  

I wouldn't say I bought it jsut for the AddictedToCAS challenge, but the timing was nice that it dropped in the shop within the time frame for it.

For Following Challenges:

The Color Hues Challenge #107

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Sentiment - Vest Gift Sentiments(CP Designs)

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock. 

Ink: Orange Peel, All That Jazz (CP Inks)

Extras: Lifejacket die/accessories - Vest Gift Ever (CP Designs); Coverplate (Lil' Inker Designs)

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back soon!

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” 

– Pablo Picasso

Nance

 

Tufted Bird-Day

 Good Evening!

Hope you're weekend is going well.

I was able to get back in my craft room today for a bit.  The Hub's surgery on Wednesday went well, but we had to be there sooo early and he's needed constant care for the last three days. He's still got a fairly long recovery ahead, but today he took his sling off, has minimal pain and can at least use his hand some.  He actually cooked dinner by himself, mostly, and mostly one handed. Doc told him to use his arm once the sling came off so not to get frozen shoulder.  So, Progress.  

I purchased this Birch Press Tufted Bird die a while back and have been wanting to play with it. So when I saw Double D Challenge was Birds, I pulled it out.  It's a layered die, about a dozen pieces.  I had already die cut a couple of them from white cardstock so I pulled out some inks, ink blended each little piece and then pieced it together. I knew I wanted a colored background but I didn't want anything truly solid.  So, combed through my stash of smooshed and watercolored background cardstocks and found this one that I thought contrasted well and made my little bird pop.  I added a leaft die left white and the sentiment, finishing it off with a few sequins. 

For Following Challenges:

Double D Challenges - Birds

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Sentiment - Lovely Birdies (CP Designs)

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock; watercolor paper for background. 

Ink: Chiffon, Cummerbund, Suede Shoes, Frosted, Flirty Fuchsia(CP Inks)

Extras: Bird die (Birch Press Design); Branch Die - Birdie's Branch Die (CP Designs); Postage stamp die (CP Designs); Sequins - misc. stash.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back soon!

“Art is the stored honey of the human soul.” 

– Theodore Dreiser

Nance

Care and Kindness

Good Morning, Tuesday!

It's nice and sunny here in Cary, NC and kind of warmish.  

Today I'm sharing another card I made yesterday.  This one took a little more though provoking and playing around to get it to personal satisfaction.  I feel like I've been in a white card trend lately and trying to push myself to use more color in my backgrounds.  I keep thinking about using more bold colors with my embossing folders and cover plates and then in the end I opt for white most of the time.  Trying to push myself out of that some.  I feel like I made a baby step towards that with this card with at least making the cover plate colored.  There's still a lot of white. 

When I saw the color combo of Lemon and Lime at Color Hues I immediately thought cacti and sunshine.  So this is my version of that. I actually did use Lemon Sorbet and Lime Rickey ink colors by Catherine Pooler so that's spot on I feel.  LOL

For Following Challenges:

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Cacti - Got You Covered (Catherine Pooler-CP); Circle background - Desert Diamonds (CP); Sentiment - Best Caregiver Ever (Unity).

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock. 

Ink: Lemon Sorbet, Lime Rickey, Sand Castle (CP Inks)

Extras: Circle die (CP); Coordinating Cacti die (CP); Background die (CP); Label die (Reverse Confetti).

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back soon!

“Art is the stored honey of the human soul.” 

– Theodore Dreiser

Nance

 

 

Whimsy Tulip

Hello, it's me again.  

Here is my first creative thought for The Flower Challenge that I shelved and then came back to after I finished the second one.  It uses the same circle stencils but the flower stamps are all from a very, VERY old stamp set by Fiskars.  I don't have the sleeve anymore that had the name of the set on it and I could only find one other copy of it on Ebay and apparently they lost the sleeve too.  I found this hiding in the back of my floral stamps and as I was hunting for a tulip stamp that was a solid image. I have discovered it is the ONLY solid image tulip stamp and also one of just two tulip stamps I own.  I thought I had at least one other, but no.  Don't ask me how I don't have any tulip stamps because I have no good answer.  However, I have about five tulip dies and of course, this tulip stamp has no die!  Oh the wicked cycle of stamping.  Hahahaha

When I revisited this idea, I decided to scale down my cardstock, cut it with the wonky stitched die and then stenciled the circles.  Then I stamped the big tulip and the pink little circles which are part of the stamp set. I think scaling it down and adding the stitched frame helped a lot.  I wasn't sure I wanted the sentiment in red but I wanted to keep the whimsy feel of the card so I went for it.  Added a matching red layer and another wonky stitched layer and DONE!  

For Following Challenges:

The Flower Challenge #100 - Add Circles

Clean and Layered and Clean and Graphic is what I chose for my card.

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Flower stamps - (Fiskars); Sentiment - Lovely (Ellen Hutson).

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock. 

Ink: Samba, In The Park, Chiffon, Cotton Candy, Midnight -(Catherine Pooler Inks)

Extras: Circle stencils - Fall Leaf Border (Pinkfresh Studio); Wonky stitched frame die (My Favorite Things).

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back soon!

“Art is the stored honey of the human soul.” 

– Theodore Dreiser

Nance

 

Hello Spring

Hello there!

It's a new week.  I've been in my craft room today. I've needed some calm before the storm later this week when the hubs is in a sling and I have to help feed him til the sling is gone.  Thankfully that's only suppose to be 3-4 days. 

I've been aiming to play in this month's Flower Challenge, particularly since it's their 100th challenge.  Actually every month it's on my list, yet there's so many on my lists I can never get to all of them.  Yet, I'm still on time so I have not one card for it, but two.

The first one, here, is actually the second one I made.  My original idea I wasn't feeling it so I switched gears a bit and below is what happened.

The challenge was to add circles.  I remember having these circle stencils in a Pinkfresh stencil set so that is where my idea for both cards (see next post) originated.  I stenciled them in Chiffon then cut the panel with the Charming Flora cover plate by Alex Syberia.  I "picked" my red flowers from a an envelope full of already had cut from different ink-to-paper colors.  And since it's officially spring now, the sentiment "Hello Spring" seemed appropriate. 

For Following Challenges:

The Flower Challenge #100 - Add Circles

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Sentiment - Ears To You (Ellen Hutson).

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock. 

Ink: Samba, In The Park, Chiffon, Midnight -(Catherine Pooler Inks)

Extras: Flower Dies - Early Blossom Contour Layers (BirchPress); Coverplate - Charming Flora (Alex Syberia); Circle stencils - Fall Leaf Border (Pinkfresh Studio).

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back soon!

“Art is the stored honey of the human soul.” 

– Theodore Dreiser

Nance