Orange Pumpkins ...

My 4 children are huge supporters and fans of my work ♥

 

Now, by work, I mean the 'mommy's cards' that grace their walls and bookshelves. 

 Birthdays, Christmas, all the major card exchange days, they give me the biggest smiles, kindest words and best hugs when they carefully open up an envelope and see a card tailored for them.

 

It warms my heart and soul :)

 

My son, newly 10 years old, is as naturally funny as he is sweet.

His off-the-cuff one liners have me often wondering where he gets his sense of humor from but we sure love him for it.

 

Like when I was making this card .... 

I'm up to my elbows in acrylic paint, swatch of leftover screen from the patio
(yup, screen!)
 and paper that won't stay still no matter how many strips of painters tape I have on it.

 

"Hey mommy, watcha doing?" he asked,

in between dropping more sandwich crumbs on the floor than on his shirt. 

 

"Oh, making a card, babe. Pumpkins!  Orange pumpkins.

Would you like to see?"  I ask.

 

"Sure", he replies. "But what's the screen for?"

 

Insert his sideway, sly-smile look, deciphered immediately because I have that "mom code" for all sideways, sly smile glances: 

{Oh, does DAD know you have that screen!}

{Can I have one, too!}

{That could be my new ................}

 

"Well, that's for giving the paper some background", I quickly averted interjected.

  See, I lay it down and then paint all through-out the screen

and when it blends through, you get a neat little random design of orange paint.

It makes a great backdrop for the card I'm making."

 

He looks at the card, then at me, then back at the card again.

He doesn't need to speak.

I can see those invisible gears clicking around in his head,

his thoughts formulating before they are even spoken.

I know my son :)

 

"Wow.  Cool.  But .... if you wanted to paint the paper orange,

why didn't you just ......... paint the paper orange."

Touche'.

 

Now the artist in me wants to jump up and down!

Yes!

You're right!

But look! 
See the incredible dimension, the shape, the feel of the card!

The texture it gives, the ridges, all the nooks and crannies!

 

My sweet boy.

 My sweet, sweet boy.

He looks at my painted ridged bumpy shapely touchy feely orange background,

then looks up at me with those blue, blue eyes of wonder and sweetness ....

 

and tells me ...

 

"It kinda looks like Iowa."

O-kay then! 
 Today's my turn to post on the Just For Fun Rubber Stamps Challenge blog.
For my card today,  I used the gorgeous stamptangle (zentangle stamps) Large Pumpkin.

In our house, the pumpkins come out in all shapes starting in the Fall
and end up in everything from pies to coffee to scented candles!
Like that funny cartoon you see every fall -
Beware!  Pumpkin flavored everything is coming!

And I'm sure they have pumpkins in Iowa, too :)

Pretty cool screen AND it's a great crafting tool! :)

 

 

You can find these stamps - both the Large Pumpkin

and the sentiment stamp (lots of holiday words in this set!)

in the Just For Fun Stamps store here.

 

Thanks for stopping by today!
Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

*Fabulous Fun Flowers!*

Happy Friday!

It's my turn to post on the Just for Fun Stamps blog today

so I'm showing you the Trio of cards I made ~

I call them the Fall-Winter triplets! ♥

 

 

Using the fabulously fun Stamptangle Zen Flowers stamp,

I stamped it out (Momento) 3 times:

Using Oranges/yellows for Fall,

Reds/greens for the Holidays,

and Blues/silvery for the New Year/Winter!

 

 

Each card has a color coordinated piece of twine ~

pretty quick and easy

and great for cards being sent out to family, friends

even the teachers now that school is back in session :)

 

 

For Fall/Christmas, the flower is cut out twice and propped up on 3d foam

for added dimension and a little pop.

 

 

If you're on Facebook, we'd love for you to find
Just For Fun stamps and 'like' us ~

for upcoming releases, new stamps, and DT inspirations!

 

You can find this Stamptangle Zen Flower (G3752)

in the shop along with many others ~

you can find them all here :)

 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Big Hugs, Bigger Blessings!

~Kelly

Seahorse Stamptangle ~ Oceans of Love!

Happy Friday! 

 

I'm super excited to post my first Just For Fun stamps card ♥

I can't even begin to tell you how much fun I had making this card!

When I first saw this exquisite stamptangle Large Seahorse stamp,

I literally squealed with delight :)  

Most of you who have known me for awhile now know how much

I adore the beach! 

Any trip to the ocean is a day of bliss for me -

I even named my blog after it! ♥

 

 

So!  For my card today, I had a blast with a technique I haven't done since

under-grad college!  I had to take one of those required art classes

where one of the required projects was to create art from art.

This is my spin-off! 
I took some old designer paper in the colors of the ocean

teal/blue/greens as I knew it would 'peek through' and be a nice

contrast to the stark white.

Here is the finished card -

and if you scroll down, I'll list the card supplies and step by step instructions

on how to make this super fun, beachy seahorse card!

 

For today's card, I immediately thought to create a different background

 to showcase this gorgeous stamptangle (think Zentangle, in a stamp form.)
 

 I did a spin off of my old college art :) 
 I used tiny letters (use thickers or any scrapbook letters will do!),
 craft paint and designer paper.

I knew I'd be covering up the paper with paint, so I used one of my oldest

dsp's that had the ocean colors I was aiming for (teal/blue/green).

I found mine years ago at BigLots for $1 a long time ago and found these in my scrap bin - it doesn't matter that they

are all mish-mashed and colorful, they are going to be painted then tossed.

 

Since I was going for an 'earthy' feel to my card, I didn't get out my stamp-a-ma-jig to line up the letters perfectly - the 'fussy' look worked just fine.
I adhered the letters to the cardstock, then gave a generous coat of
crafters paint (white) and let it dry.  It took less than 10 minutes
and while that dried, I stamped out and colored up the seahorse image.
Yes, that's a Starbucks cup :)
Yes, I have an obsession with Starbucks! ♥
I also like to be thrifty and believe in the waste not/want not mantra
so my empty cup (yum!) became my painters cup - washed out :)
Just a small amount of paint goes a long way!
 Once dry, peel the letters back off to reveal the colorful paper underneath.
I took regular sandpaper (from the hubby's man cave!) and gave it a generous
distressing around the edges and center.

Because I have an obsession with burlap *smile!*,
I saw a small swatch on my desk and painted that as well :)
I hung that up to dry on my small card 'clothesline'.
Because burlap is porous, and painted burlap tends to curl up,
I pressed it under my Cuddlebug after drying for a few minutes
in a plastic bag - instantly flat!
The jute was added and curled and the card was pretty much done!

Wasn't that fun!

 

Here is one last look at the completed card:

I hope you enjoyed this lovely beach card using Just For Fun Stamps!
Be sure to stop by the store to see the brand new summer release
of the stamptangle stamps - they are breathtaking!

We also have a challenge blog for you to be inspired,
see projects and cards and more!
And .... for those on social medias, we are on Facebook, too!

 Thanks for stopping by today!
Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

I'll enter my card into: MAWTT - Color Scheme
Inspiration Emporium - Summer Fun

Just for Fun Rubber stamps used: 
Seahorse: D3791
sentiment: D3675