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Please click HERE to join in "Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday" challenge.


Please click HERE to join in "I Spy With My Little Eye" challenge.


May 23, 2016

Ice Cream Truck

I have a cute card to share today using the new clear set Ice Cream Truck from Whimsy's recent release. This set was illustrated by Krista Heij-Barber. Love her style and I find her images so easy to color with Zig Clean Color brush pens. 
 
This cute truck was stamped onto Bristol Velum card stock and colored with the Zig brush pens using an aquamarker. This set also includes some cute ice cream cones, the music notes I used over th sentiment and a sentiment, but I used a sentiment from the set Bottle cap greetings. Unfortunately I just realized that it must have retired, as I cannot find it in the Whimsy shop anymore. But I did find the bottle cap die (not used on my card) in the retiring section. Oh, and if you are looking for some fun stamps on clearance, check out the Whimsy Stamps clearance section for some great deals.
I kept the card CAS, simply embellished with sequins and clear Wink of Stella was added to the ice cream. Yes, it's hard to see, but I like the subtle shimmer.

Also, don't forget about my Let's Color Linky Party. I am now running it monthly, so I have just moved the linky over here to this post. You have another week to play along :-) If you'd like to see the original post for Let's Color Linky Party 9 with the top choice winners simply click here.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

ETA 5/20/18:
To protect the privacy of those who entered this challenge, the linky tool has now been removed.

May 20, 2016

On Your Special Day

Happy Friday! 
First day of Summer break here, and I woke up as usual at 6:30, although I had plans on sleeping in today. But I was wide awake so I decided to finish a card I started working on a couple days ago. 
The cute stamp I used here is from Whimsy Stamps latest release - Josie Bell Bride from the Elisabeth Bell collection. 

I stamped her with versafine onyx ink on Neenah Solar Crest card stock and coloring was done using Faber Castell Polychromos pencils. The card has been kept simple. I did add a flourish die cut which was done using Whimsy's Vines Die set, along with some silk ribbon and a little flower. Framed it onto some soft coral polka dotted paper and then onto the Mellow Moss card stock. The sentiment is from the set "Everyday Moments", one of my go-to sentiment sets

I am playing along here:
Fussy and Fancy - 2W - No.164 - (W1 of 2) - Dies and/or Punches
 Inky Impressions -M, E1, C10  #284 Die-Cuts & Flowers (Week 2 of 4)
PDE Linky Party - W,JFF, E3 - #124 - Anything Goes

Have a great weekend everyone! I hope you'll get to enjoy some sunshine. I finally prepared my garden over the last few days and I will be busy planting my vegetables this weekend.

May 18, 2016

Birds and Blossoms

Hi everyone,  I have a new card to share today! I have been playing some more with my Zig clean color real brush pens and this time I inked up some Penny Black stamps.
 I started out by stamping the birds with versafine onyx ink onto Winsor & Newton Watercolor Marker paper. After coloring the birds I let them completely dry before coloring the background. After the background dried I used a music sheet unmounted stamp randomly on the background to add a little interest. Then I masked off part of the bottom portion using a torn piece of post it note to stamp the grass. I tore the piece because I didn't want a sharp edge of the grass.
The card was finished off by adding some messy sewing and I added some butterflies and sticky pearls.  Sentiment is from the set Heartfelt, birds and grass from the set Enjoy Life, both by Penny Black.


A little closeup below...
   Several colors were used to color the birds (mid-gray, carmine red, orange, bright yellow)- I just kept adding another color until I was happy with the outcome), and I used 3 shades of green for the leaves (light green, olive (?), deep green). The blooms were done with just light pink. Cobalt blue and light green for the backgrounds. 
All these colors are from the set of 36 pens. If you have been thinking about getting these but think you need the large set and don't want to spend that much money, believe me, you will have plenty of pens with just the 36 set. I ended up ordering 2 extra red tone pens, but you can easily mix these colors on an acrylic block to get the color you need. They mix beautifully!

This card was made for the midmonth reminder at Penny Black and More. We have a simple theme this month, anything goes with a stamp as the focal point. Be sure to visit the challenge blog to see what the rest of the team made and take a look at all the wonderful prizes!
Also don't forget about my linky parties - Let's Color and Critters and Creatures! I'd love for you to join in so I can some see what you have been working on!

Thanks so much for visiting!!

May 13, 2016

Sundae Funday/ Whimsy Stamps May Rubber Stamp Release

Happy Friday!! 
It's day 3 of the Whimsy Stamps inspiration posts. For today I am actually using a clear stamp set, which is also from the newest: Sundae Funday from the Krista Heij- Barber collection.

This fun image has been stamped onto Canson Mixed Media card stock using black stazon ink, and then watercolored using Zig clean color brush pens. 
Sentiment is part of this clear set. Designer paper is from a DCWV adhesive stack. The dotted paper under the sentiment is actually a strip of washi tape. A wink of stella brush pen was used on the whipped cream, you can see the sparkle in the photo below.
I don't know where Wink of Stella has been all my life!!! I just got my first pen when I ordered the Zig Brush pens a few weeks ago. I just love how it goes on so smoothly and isn't chunky at all, and give this light shimmer. I like this so much better than stickles glitter!!

Here is the inside, using stamps from the same set.

Don't forget to go link up on the Whimsy blog for a chance to win one of the gift certificates!

Have a great day!!


May 11, 2016

Whimsy Stamps - May Rubber Stamp Release

Hi everyone! 
Hope you're all doing great! It's time already for the Whimsy Stamps May Rubber stamp release!!! Be sure to visit the Whimsy Inspirations Blog to see all the new stamps and also to enter into the prize drawing. Several chances to enter and I think there are 3 prizes in total.  

 For my card today I used the cute stamp set Kitten Kindness from the Lee Holland collection.

The kitty has been colored with copic markers and then fussy cut. The sentiment is part of this cute set. I used another one of the sentiments on the inside. Designer papers are from my stash (DCWV - red, and SU - gray). Cardstock all by SU and I used some twine to finish off the card. Clear wink of stella was applied to the frosting and cherry to give it some sparkle. 

You can see the sparkle below. 


And finally here is a little info about Whimsy Stamps First Annual Craft Retreat! Wish I was able to attend, sounds like sooooo much fun!!!


Thanks for stopping by!





May 9, 2016

Watercolor Brushstroke Flowers

Happy Monday!
Hope your week is off to a good start! A little chilly here this morning and it doesn't look like we're going to see the sun anytime soon, but I have plenty to do inside anyway, including cleaning my crafty mess I made over the last few days.

Today I am sharing a card I decided to make for Mother's Day. I mentioned in my last post that I have lost my crafting mojo, almost told my husband to get a store bought card for his mom. But then I remembered I still had some of the brushstroke stamps I hadn't used yet, and so I created this card.

I love how easy these stamps are to use.
I simply colored directly onto the stamp using distress markers (I used 2 shades of green and a brown for the leaves/stems and blue and purple for the flower petals), lightly misted the stamp with water and then stamped onto Canson Mixed Media card stock. After it dried I used a zig clean color brush pen to add some yellow shading around the stamped image. Again, I let it dry completely then used distress ink to stamp the script background onto the paper.
Sentiment is by Whimsy Stamps (Life's Moments). I used vellum again for my sentiment and this time I tore it instead of cutting it in a straight line for a different look. Machine sewing was done around the edges and I used some gold twine to finish it off. I felt like the card needed something else so I added some tiny punched out butterflies and some sticky pearls.


 The background stamp is the old French Script stamp from Stampin up and the brushstroke flower stamp is by Penny Black.

Challenges:
Crafting from the Heart - Always Anything Goes
Amusing - Anything Goes
Come and Get It  Card for a Woman
Crafting When We Can - Add Flowers (W2 of 2)
Quirky Crafts - April Showers Bring May Flowers


And that should be all for today.
Thank you so much for visiting!! I will be back again Wednesday with a new card.


May 7, 2016

Let's Color Linky Party 9

Hello and welcome to another Let's Color Linky party where
Anything Goes with something colored!

I have made a tiny little change, starting today, this linky party will be monthly, as I am having some serious issues with lost crafting mojo and generally feeling a little down too on top of that. Not a good combination...
Maybe I'll do some more garden work this weekend, that might help cheer me up. I bought a few raspberry plants the other day, that are still waiting to get planted, and still more work to do to prepare my garden for the vegetable plants....


Thank you all that played along in the last linky party. It was fun seeing all your wonderful entries. Be sure to scroll down to see if you were one of the top choices.

For today I made a CAS get well card.


The image is actually from a baking set from Whimsy Stamps (Baked with Love), but I thought these cute bowls would make a cute get well card. 
Bowls were stamped onto watercolor marker card stock (Winsor & Newton) and water colored with Zig clean color brush pens. The border around the image was done freehand using a thin micron pen. Ivory jute twine and some sequins were used as embellishments, and I also added a layered butterfly. Finished off the card by adding some washi tape. The sentiment is from the set Everyday Moments, also from Whimsy Stamps. I think the designer paper is from a newer pattern pack I picked up from Joann's.

A little close up below.
I have listed this card in my Etsy shop.

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Now onto my top choices, as always it wasn't easy to choose, but I did manage and here are my favorite 3 in no particular order:

Donna Ellis
I just love how she colored the leaves and flowers, a beautiful overall design.


J. Atterbury Creations
also a beautiful design, and love how she colored each butterfly a different color.


 Cicci vid pennan
This beautiful piece of art has all been hand drawn and hand colored by Cicci.
 Wish I had those kind of copic skills!!!!

Congratulations!!! Wonderful coloring/drawing everyone!
Below is your top choice logo for your side bar.



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Now it's time to get out those pencils/markers/pens/inks again and get coloring!!!
This linky party will stay open until May 31st, a new linky party will start Saturday, June 4th!
Can't wait to see what you all will be coloring up this time!

Just a few reminders:
Must include something colored
Blog post must include link back here
Unlimited entries and feel free to combine with other challenges
Anything goes with something colored

ETA 5/20/18:

To protect the privacy of those who entered this challenge, the linky tool has now been removed.

May 2, 2016

Critters & Creatures Linky Party 4

Good morning blogging friends!! Hope your week is off to a great start! We've had a rainy weekend here in the midwest, no idea what the weather will be like today, but I sure hope we'll get to see a little bit of sunshine today :-) 

 Time already for a new Critters and Creatures Linky Party! 
Thanks to everyone that joined in last month, it's always lots of fun to come see what creature or critter you are featuring! Be sure to scroll down to the end of this post to see if your entry was one of the top choices. 

As usual, the theme here is
Anything Goes
 with a Critter or Creature as the focal point!


I  colored up the cute stamp Prize Cupcake for my card today, using Zig clean color brush pens on Winsor & Newton watercolor marker pad.
The sentiment is from the set Sprinkles and Smiles, also from Penny Black. 

I used a clear wink of stella brush pen to add some sparkles to the cupcake and cherry. 
The sparkles can be seen below.  

As you can see the card has been kept pretty simple. I just matted the image onto designer paper, added a strip of matching paper and a scallop paper between the sentiment and image. Then I added some white twine and did machine sewing along the edges. A really old, but one of my favorite simple SU flowers was stamped right over the sentiment in a light lilac shade, and I have done the same thing on inside of the card.
Please excuse the marks you see on the white card stock on the inside of the card. I have a few smudges on my camera lens that I have no idea how to get rid off...I usually try to crop them off the card, but wasn't able to in this photo, because I didn't pay attention when I took the photo.

I have listed the card in my Etsy shop if you are not a card maker, but interested in handmade creations.
The card has been sold.

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Now onto last month's top choices...as always it's so hard to narrow it down! But I did manage and here they are in no particular order:

Gail Lett
Digi Choosday, Week 15, Embossing, Polkadoodles
Janis in ID
 

Tanya Miller

Congratulations to the three of you!!
 Below is your Top Pick badge for your sidebars.
 
 
And now it's time to get crafting again using a critter or creature as your focal point.
You have until Sunday May 29th, 10am play along. 

A few things to remember:

Main focus must be a Critter or Creature
(animals, bugs, sea life, fantasy creatures..)
(can be stamped, digi, die, etc...)

Blog Post must include a link back here

Use any stamp company
Doesn't have to be a card, anything crafty works

Unlimited entries but they must be new posts (no back linking)

Combine with any other challenges


ETA 5/20/18:
To protect the privacy of those who entered this challenge, the linky tool has now been removed.

May 1, 2016

A Beautiful Day for Penny Black & More

Good morning! 
Can you believe it's May already?? Kids will be out on Summer Break in less than 15 school days. Where does time go!!! (I do think they start summer break too early, because that makes them start school again in Mid-August. I rather they start school in September and stay in school 2 extra weeks at the end of the school year.!! That would make so much more sense!!!)

It's the first Sunday of the month today, that means we have a new challenge at Penny Black and More. Another easy one this month, anything goes with a stamped image as your focal point. You don't have to use a Penny Black stamp, any company is fine, just no digi stamps.

For today I inked up the cute little hedgehog stamp "Delights", which was one of my first PB stamps. 

I stamped a meadow with fern and grass around the little guy using the clear set Enjoy Life also by Penny Black, and distress inks. I also inked the sky and grass portion with distress inks and an ink applicator.
The image has been stamped twice, once onto my card front and once onto watercolor paper. Colored with Zig clean color brush then fussy cut the image to adhere to my card front. 
The sentiment is an old one from SU and the butterflies are from another Penny Black set, but I can't think of the name of the set.
Clouds were done with a die set by Memory Box and the butterfly with a MS punch.


We have some wonderful prizes to give away again, this time from Penny Black, Crafts U Love, Crafty Ribbons and our own DT member Sam. 
Hope to see you there!! 
And don't forget you can enter up to 3 times for more chances to win! 


Also playing along in these challenges:

A Beautiful Mess -  Anything Goes
Crafting-With-Friends  Anything Goes
Jade's Sparkling Butterflies - Anything Goes/ Add A Sentiment
Cute Card Thursday - No Patterned Papers

Thanks so much for visiting!!