Saturday secrets :)

 Hi friends!

Happy Saturday!

Can you keep a secret?

Like "shhhhhh - don't tell!"

... that kind of secret!?

I am the hostess this week for the Inspiration Challenge 

at Splitcoaststampers .. which is always an honor :)

Due to this week's events and a too busy life for me right now,

I had to make a card in like 10 minutes!

What's a crafter to do!?!

WE IMPROVISE!

So ........ I made a card :)

Here it is!

And as much as I'd like to take credit for this STUNNING lilac

and the absolutely gorgeous watercoloring,

all I did was stick it on :)

That's right ...... it's a sticker set!

I was inspired by this top and used the same color palette

and added a sentiment from CZ Designs and enamel dots!

Easiest. Card.  Ever!

Yes, that's the chaos of my life right now 

but one day it will be calmer.

Paper, ink, markers, and glue?

For now - this will have to do!

LOOK AT ME, making a rhyme!

But remember ...

Shhhhhh, don't tell! 

Hee hee! :)

I actually love how this turned out and it's already in the mail

to a wonderful YouTube friend!

Love ya'll!

Thanks for stopping by!

My first ATC!

 

Hi friends!

I hope you are having a great start to your week!

It's pouring here today and today is a doctor's appointment 

(my daughter, not me!  Whew!)

and then lunch - with me! Yay!)

Today I'm sharing my first ATC from YouTube!

If you follow my channel, you may see this :)

I've been blessed to see my teeny tiny channel grow 

and I'm made some really sweet friends!

Kimblery requested ATC cards for her birthday

and I think that's such a splendid idea.

Becuase her request for ATC's actually becomes an address book!

I love that!

It also included adding our information on the back to have handy

and stored all in one place (the ATCs are stored like baseball cards)

along with details that tell her a little about us.

For me, it was easy - Snoopy!

Er'body knows that I'm a HUGE Snoopy and Peanuts fan

so it was a no brainer for me to make this one!

I used my Stampabilities Snoopy Happy Mail stamp

and fussy cut out Snoopy.

I added to a background of patterned paper

and Lawn Fawn stamps, colored with copics.

A HUGE thank you to my son for the playing cards!

He came back from camp with a few missing from this deck

so he kindly donated them for the mission :)

And that's my crafty project for today!

Thanks so much for stopping by :)

Papercrafters Unite Against Racism - IG Hop!

 

Hi friends!

I have the privilege of being one of the 50 participants

for an Instagram hop.

This is my 4th hop and it's an honor to be asked to create a card <3

The hop is designed to raise awareness and bring others 

into the anti-racism conversation ~

 I’m proud to be one of the participants standing in solidarity.

I've used Lawn Fawn's Color My World to create this 

box of crayons, showcasing the black crayon in the box.

The sentiment is from Life is Good but it was such a wonderful match!

My card is for a special boy, Omari, the son of my best friend

and his story touched my heart deeply.

To read Omari's story, head over to my Instagram

as well as lend support to the blog hop that helps us #showup

and be part of the conversations to heal and uplift and inspire!

Thanks for stopping by and let's continued to stand united!

RSG: Cut it out!

Hi friends!

Happy Friday!

Today's card is for the Ready, Set, Go Challenge for July

and I'm the hostess this month :)

Growing up, mum would always tell my brother and I

 (irish twins we were)

to "Knock it off!" or "Cut it out!"

And, of course, we usually wouldn't, LOL!

So using a play on those words, my challenge is:

Create a card or project with 'cutting it out' as the main focus.  You can be as creative as you like!  You can use a simple die like an oval or get fancy schmancy and REALLY cut up your card - it's up to you!  BUT! Because there are 3 of us, you must use at least 3 cuts on your card.  I will leave it up to you how you interpret where those cuts will be :)  Everything else is as you wish - colors, theme, etc!

 So for my card, I just got the new Prize Ribbon distress ink

so I decided to give it a try.

It's gorgeous!

I started by embossing the floral image from Altenew with white 

embossing powder from Taylored Expressions,

then blended prize ribbon and salvaged patina haphazardly onto it.

I used my mini mister to spray water on the panel and let it dry.

Once it was dry, I cut it with a 1. stitched die

and then 2. a straight die down the middle but wonky.

I realize now that I completely failed the 'use 3 dies' but 

I honestly thought I did!

We'll just pretend we don't see that :)

Be sure to see what Barb has created and Jeanette has created

with this theme.

We post once a month with a mostly crazy or extreme theme 

and we 'card online together' because we can't be in person :(

If you are inspired to create as well, join in!

It's a beautiful thing to inspire others to create, too!

Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!

Card entered to: Word Art Wednesday

CCEE2129 ~ Hot diggity DOG!

 

Hi friends!

By now, I'm sure you've heard it was National Hot Dog Day!

That's one food I don't think I have EVER been able to eat!

Not as a kid and not now :)

So, instead of an actual hot dog (of which I have ZERO stamps),

I thought I'd create a pun-ny card and use a hot DOG :)

And just in case you may be confused as to why I'd need one ....

that's the new CCEE Stampers challenge of the week from Lois!

Her challenge is:

Yesterday (7/21) was National Hot Dog Day, so include this national treasure on your card.  If you don't have a hot dog image, you can use any kind of fast food item.

I've used a fun stamp from Raisin Boat Stamps

with these cute puppies in costumes :)

None of the sentiments really made sense with my card

so I turned it into a Halloween card, LOL!

The sweet hot dog is masked off and I blended around the pup

and then added the fun sentiment to the top in a speech bubble.

Remember to add your cards this week using the Linky

here on the blog and see all the DT cards, too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Double Duty - Hero Arts!

 Hi friends!

Today's cards are for the Double Duty card group

and the idea is take one stamp company - create 2 cards!

I just got in from a 12.75 mile bike ride

and my eyeballs are crossed

so I'll try to make sense of this post, LOL!

We are to make 2 cards, either with the same or different stamp set,

but with the same stamp company = Hero Arts.

I have so many of the Hero Arts kits and just love them!

I really should get them out and make some cards with the kits :)

For today, I chose 2 different stamp sets and each one is super fun.

First up, Winter Time Fun which is a beautiful stamp/die set

with winter forest critters.

My background is a blended distress inks sky

and I colored the images with copics and splattered the tree with snow.

I wasn't sure where to put the sentiment so I set it to the left :)

Next up, I used another fun one called Naughty Elves - SO FUNNY!

I actually have done the stick the tongue to a frozen pole

as a young child and I was frightened out of my wits!

My brother told me to do it, so I did it,

and truly one of the dumbest things I ever listened to him about, LOL!

This is also colored with my copics

and they are all having a fun little winter's snow day - 

being good (this week!)

You can see Barb, Carol and Jeanette's cards on their blogs

as we are members of the Double Duty card group!

I just realized this photo isn't super clear so I'll have to retake it

and post again when I can actually SEE!

Here's another look at both card:

Two more Christmas (in July) cards done!

Thanks for stopping by!

Card #1 entered to:  Winter Wonderland - Christmas Songs (Oh Christmas Tree)

Card #2:  Cardz4galz - entered to Christmas in July

Shark Week swims away ..............

 

Hi friends!

I love Shark Week!

It's truly one of my favorite parts of summer :)

Even with the movie JAWS, which changed my life!

I was 6 years old ......... and wow!

Still a classic :)

We're swimming away from Shark Week, 

 a week long burst of new shark videos,

documentaries and learning tools to make the world a better planet :)

But each year, in addition to watching the Discovery channel, 

I try to use my shark stamps in creative ways

to showcase these mighty creatures ... like today's card.

This was truly SO MUCH FUN to make!

Lawn Fawn has a challenge to create a summer theme card

and for me, it's always beach time and we do a lot of snorkeling.

I've had ear surgery that doesn't allow me to go below 6' of water

so I stay really close to the surface and glide snorkel :)

On our honeymoon in Hawaii, we saw a shark swimming below us

and I did some Olympic quality swimming to get back to our boat!

Truthfully, it didn't pay us any mind and was living in it's home

and swam peacefully away but I stayed on the boat the rest of the time!

And I just love, LOVE this card <3

It was a lot of fun to make .... so let me tell you how!

I started with blending a background using Distress Inks.

It dried quickly so I used my wave embossing folder and Simon Hurley's

lunar paste in clear skies to give it extra oooompf :)

I adore the background! 

I'll

 for. sure. 

be creating background again!

Finally, I stamped/die cut/colored all the images for an underwater scene

to show the cute shark 

("He's a nice guy!" - my 2 y/o granddaughter, Alice)

and the beautiful coral reef with colorful sea life!

And that's my card!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Entered to: Stamplorations - summer

Cut it up challenge - Movies!  Jaws!

You are FIN-tastic!

 Hi friends!

Happy Weekend!

I hope yours is going to be FIN-tastic!

We LOVE Shark Week at our house :)

 It's been a super fun couple of years that my son and I 

would watch each show as he's a HUGE shark fan.

He's gotten older and is now a teenager ....

and most of his friends are WAY cooler than me :)

So I mostly watch it myself, lol ....

and make shark cards!

This is one of the ones I've made

and I used an older Heffy Doodle stamp set: Oceans of Love.

I used a watercolor panel and die cut that into waves.

I colored/die cut the sharks and ocean life and popped them up

onto the background frame.

Thanks for stopping by today!

I hope your day is Jaw-some :)

CCL: For the love of CLOUDS!

Hi friends!

I have 2 posts today ....

If you would like to see my CCEE Stampers cards, it's here! 

It's also the day we post our cards for the Classy Card Ladies ~

which is 2 teams of friends 'dueling' with cards kits ~

one theme, two different hostesses that send out card kits.

This month, Jeanette and I were the hostesses for this month's duel

and our theme is:

CLOUDS!

I also gave the Diamonds (my group) homework! It's at the end :)

This theme is SO SWEET!

My kids and I have been cloud watchers for years and it makes such 

sweet memories ~ one I hope to continue with my granddaughter.

My card kit included an assortment of cloud papers,

the cute girl from C C Designs from Unicorn and Rainbow.

I sent the girls on my team this sweet girl and a cloud and sentiments,

as well as all the cloud papers I could find :)

One of the other items that I sent was the die cut cloud frame!

It was optional to use it and I decided that I wanted to :)

I chose the rainbow-y cloud paper and colored her to match the paper

and added the sentiment, also from the stamp set.

The Diamond's HOMEWORK!

I asked ....

Do you ever catch yourself looking up into the clouds?

Do you look for shapes or check the weather :)

What's the best shaped cloud you remember seeing?

For me, I remember seeing one while we were at the park

and it was the perfect shape of an angel!

How I wish we'd had cell phones on the ready like we do now!

Here is how you can see all the cards from the Classy Card Ladies

Diamonds

Barb

Carol

Kelly

LJ

Suzy - in the SCS Gallery

Pearls

Darlene

Deb - in the SCS Gallery

Shelly

Tracie

Thanks for stopping by today!

CCEE2128: Cow's it going?!

 

Hi friends!

I hope your day is MOO-velous!

There's a new challenge at the CCEE Stampers 

and we're celebration Cow Appreciation Day!

For my card, I've used several different MFT Stamps

stamp and die sets.

I went though my stash to find a little of this and a little of that

to build a sweet little farm scene.

I started with the sunrays stencil and did a quick blend for the sky.

The images were colored with my copics and arranged so

the farm girl and cow were chillin' on the farm :)

I also created the 'dirt' by using a die to create the ground

and blended it with crumb cake.

To link up your cards and to see what the DT created,

head over to the CCEE Stampers blog!

Thanks for stopping by!

24 Hour Blueprints ~ Take 2!

 

Hi friends!

Today's post is for the 24 Hour Blueprints ... Take #2!

You can read here how it all began

and what on earth it means! :)

The telegram version is a hostess comes up with a couple of sketches

and specs for cards ~ emails the other players

and we have 24 hours ONLY to look the sketches and make them!

It's haaaaaaaaaaaarder than it looks!

  Our hostess this month is Barb and here are her 3 sketches:

*sketches qre unkown source - if this is your sketch or you know who to credit, please drop me a comment!

These were provided to me to work with. 

 No ©  intended!

The instructions were use these sketches, a Christmas theme, 

and the colors red, green, purple and silver.

Now I have 3 holiday cards done and ready for Christmas 2021!

Thank you, Barb!

For all 3 of my cards, I decided to use the same stamp set,

as I did last round of the 24 Hour Blueprints.

The stamp set I chose is the Snow Bunnies from Lawn Fawn and

Simon Says Stamp collaboration <3

And I may have snuck in some pinkish-purply stripes -

 pretend you dont see it! :/~

 Card #1

Card #2

Card #3

And all 3 together .........

This is hard!

We are to get the card sketches and instructions at 7 am

the day before and we only get 24 hours to create and post.

You can see Barb's cards here and Jeanette's cards here.

It takes me forever in a month of Sundays to make ONE card,

let alone 3 AND get 'er done in 24 hours!

Yeeeeeeeesh.

But I did it, which is good considering I got these ladies into this!

LOL!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Hot Mess Success ~ Put the coffee on!

 

Hi friends!

It's a new week and a new blog post 

for the Hot Mess Success card group :)

It's also Monday - you know what that means?  

It's a 3 cups of coffee morning!

It's no secret - I LOVE my coffee!

Especially when it's wrapped around a Starbucks :)

And I wish we had smell-a-vision!

These cards smell HEAVENLY!

And can I just say ... these 'messy cards' are getting more crazy

each time I do a card in this series, LOL!

And they give me HUGE anxiety!

But we crafters gonna craft .. amiright?! :)

So, let me tell you about my mess this month!

I decided to create a couple of coffee themed cards

BUT I didn't want to do the traditional 'dip them in coffee water' ...

which is great as I've done that before and it is fun.

This time, I decided to use a distress ink from Ranger

in Vintage Photo and splooshed it down on my glass craft mat.

The water-colory mess off to the right?  That's distress ink - not coffee!

I pounced the #110 hw cardstock into the watery, distressy mess,

heat gun dried it, then splooshed again until I was happy with colors.

Once they were all dry, I stamped the coffee images from Altenew.

I used the same Vintage Photo to stamp the images

but needed something lighter for the coffee stains - that's also a stamp!

For that, I used Crumb Cake from Stampin' Up.

Now here's where the idea - AND the fun - came in!

I wanted to use actual coffee grounds - like the sea salt technique.

I thought if I spritzed the paper again and got it damp

and then added the coffee grounds, it would give the paper some UMPF.

It mostly did!

I didn't give it the pizazz that I thought it would

and more took off the ink from the now damp paper so it still 

gave it that speckled, distressed, splotchy look I was going for.

SO there you go!  

Win/Win!

And here's what I crafted with this YUMMY smelling backgrounds ...

Was this month a success:  YES!

Would I do this technique again?  Yes, only differently :)

This was super fun and I did love the technique,

I'm just not super thrilled with the overall design of my cards.

That's my fault though - not the technique

 and the point was to enjoy it! 

I did - so a success indeed :)

Be sure to stop in and see the rest of the team's messy cards - 

which may be up now or later on their blogs so check back!

Barb, Carol, Darlene, Jeanette!

Here's one final look - and then I'm off to find some water ~

 without coffee in it, LOL!

Thanks for stopping by today!