Thinking of You with Fleur

Hello friends! I hope that you had a lovely weekend! Here we are with the last week of May already and Summer is showing itself in many ways right now. I do love seeing the flowers everyone has been sharing posts of with their yards full of blooms coming up everywhere!

Today I have this card using a cute Whimsy Stamps Digital stamp:

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This cutie was released this month by CC Designs called “Fleur“.

I just love the ring of flowers in her hair! I’ve actually printed her out twice so that I could cut a few extra flowers to add to the accents of my design!

For my card, I’ve taken a panel from the Rustic Woods and Brick digital papers and used that for the background of my design. I took a marker and added some dash marks for a stitch look. I added this piece to a 5″ square top folding suede card base which I sponged around the edges with some white ink. I did the same for the die cut fence panels and the circle layer behind the image.

I’ve taken a piece of decorative paper from my stash and sponged some ink around it and also wrapped some organdy ribbon around it before attaching to the card front base. I then die cut some grass to go over my fence border. My image was cut with a stitched circle die and sponged around the edges with the same ink as the decorative paper. This was layered over top of the suede circle panel, and these were popped up with some craft foam. I’ve added the bow and the cut-out flowers from the extra printed out image and then I’ve added a flower gem in the center of the bow. Each flower including the ones on the image were filled with some Nuvo Honey Gold Glitter Drops. I stamped a sentiment from the Whimsy Stamps Everyday Mini Sentiments clear stamp set with the same suede color ink.

Here’s a closer look at the coloring on this image. I’ve used the following Copic colors to color her in with:

Hair – Y00 (used for base), Y11, YR21, YR24, YR27
Skin – E21, E11, E00, E000, R20
Outfit/Shoes – E89, E87, E84, E81
Flowers – BG000, BG10
White gel pen used for cheeks and around hair flowers.
Ground/shadow – C1, E0000

You can also see the details from the Nuvo Glitter Drops that I’ve used in the center of the flowers including the one in the center of the bow.

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Thanks so much for stopping by! I enjoy reading your thoughts! 🙂 See you soon!

Challenges:

Little Red Wagon – Flower Frenzy #498
The House That Stamps Built – M2219 Anything Goes
Pammies Inky Pinkies – PIP1921 Anything Goes
Crafting From the Heart – Anything Goes

Cute Card Thursday is Square

Hello friends! It’s “Hip to be Square”, right?! That’s what the theme of this week’s new challenge is over at Cute Card Thursday! So please hop on over and check out the inspiration and play along with us! Here’s the card I’ve made for the challenge:

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What better card to make than one for a crafty friend! 🙂 I’ve used a past Simon Says Stamp card kit from February 2018 for this one. I thought that I would carry the “square” theme throughout the design. – It’s great to pull out past kits and have a play with them!

The stamp set is called SSS Crafty Friends and I’ve randomly stamped some of the images on a vanilla-colored cardstock and then cut out each one with a stitched square die cut. I’ve also used the same die to cut out a square piece of decorative paper contained in the kit which also has a colorful square pattern on it.

For the paint pallet image as well as the tube of paint panels, I took some of the watercolor provided in the kit and added it for some color with a water brush. I took some twine and wrapped it around the top left panel with the hearts and sentiment and then placed the bow over top. I then added the scissors wood veneer over top which was also included in the kit. The turquoise-colored cardstock base and squared layered panels also came from the kit as well.

Here’s an even closer look at the different squared panels. You can better see the watercolor over the panels as well as the turquoise colored Nuvo Glitter Drops that I’ve added to the paint tube on the bottom panel.

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Hope you’ve enjoyed my “SQUARE” card today!

Thanks so much for dropping in! I’ll see you soon!

Challenges:

Crafty Friends – Anything Goes
Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – PIP1920 Anything Goes
Through the Craft Room Door – Anything Goes
Crafty Creations – Anything Goes

It’s Party Time!

Hello friends! It’s been sort of a crazy few days with our weather! Usually it’s pretty warm and sunny, but we’ve been having some severe rain and cooler temps. Plus more rain coming, so I guess I’ll be in my craft room playing! 🙂

Today I have this happy party fellow from Whimsy Stamps to share with you:

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Isn’t he adorable?! This image is called Penguin Birthday by Crissy Armstrong. This was previously released as a rubber stamp, but this month it has been released in digital format so you can have either option available!

I have cut him out with the Whimsy Stamps Notched Squares die set and cut an additional piece in black cardstock for a layer behind him. For the base of my card, I’ve used a green colored 5″ square top folding card base and attached a piece of striped paper across the lower section and sponged some white ink along the edges of the green card base panel. I then used a piece of 1/2″ score tape across the top of the striped strip panel and then used some fun glitter over top of it and burnished into the tape.

I’ve also used this same glitter to go over the Whimsy Stamps Happy Large Word die cut out from some double-sided sticker paper. I white heat embossed the “birthday” over a strip of black cardstock that I’ve cut into a banner and placed it directly underneath the glittered word die. This came from the Happy Everything Clear Stamp set.

Here’s a closer look at the coloring I’ve done on this cutie. You can also see the fun details of the glitter that I’ve used on the word die. I love the sort of “confetti flex” contained in this glitter. It’s something I got in a sample size from a card kit a couple of months ago and it’s great for birthdays! 🙂 Hard to see in the photo, but I’ve also used a clear glitter pen to go over the balloon and present. I sponged around the image panel with some of the same green ink that I’ve used for the card base cardstock color. I’ve used the following Copic markers to color him with:

Penguin – C8, C5, C3, C1, R00, R000, YR27, YR24, Y32
Balloon, party hat, present – YG01, YG11, YG13, V17, V15, V12
Shading, shadows, ground – C3, C1, E0000

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It’s always nice to have a good selection of birthday cards on hand when you need to hurry up and send one out and I think this one is great for any gender or age.

Challenges:

Little Red Wagon – Happy “BIRD”day!
Creative Fingers – Anything Goes
QKR Stampede – #348 Anything Goes
Allsorts – Happy Birthday!!!
Seize the Birthday – Anything Goes + toppings=Balloons!!

P.S. I know that many of you have been asking for updates on the bird nest situation and so here’s another photo of what we were able to capture:

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After the flowers were done blooming, we were able to get more of a clear shot and CAREFULLY get close enough to get the mother Robin sitting on her nest! Like I had mentioned, she doesn’t like it when we go out there. She chirps at us and waits for us to leave.

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Here is one of her standing in the nest. We think that she may have hatched those eggs as it looks like she might be feeding the babies! So next time we’ll check back in and see if we can get a look at those babies in there! 🙂

Hope you’ve enjoyed my post today! Thanks for stopping by and I’ll see you soon!!

Tie a Bow for Cute Card Thursday

Hello friends! Here we are at another Thursday already! Where does this time thing go?! I’m trying to embrace Spring for as long as possible.

Today starts a new challenge over at Cute Card Thursday and this week we’d like to see your “Tie a Bow” creations! I am a huge fan of ribbon and have WAY too much that I could never possibly use it all in my life time! LOL! How about you? Do you have a big ribbon stash too?

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So does it feel like we are at the salon? She’s fashioning her “new do” which I think would be so fun to go have a spa day with mom or your favorite female person, right?!

The sponsor for this week’s challenge over at Cute Card Thursday is All Dressed Up Stamps and I have used this cute image from the store called “New Hair Do” for my card today. Now although she does already have a bow tied to her hair, I thought this was a good opportunity for me to pull out some of my ribbon and actually tie a bow! I thought this image would make for a wonderful feminine/Mother’s Day card too.

I started out by white heat embossing a piece of purple cardstock with a Simon Says Stamp Background stamp called Flower Explosion. The sentiment on the black banner was also white heat embossed and placed over the design right above the “mom” sentiment that was die cut with silver mirror cardstock. I layered the purple embossed panel over a piece of black cardstock.

I ran a piece of white organdy ribbon around the two layers and then added the oval cut image panels onto the card front. I added the tied bow with the organdy ribbon off to the right side and then layered another bow I tied with some silver cord and then topped that with a pearl accent. All of these layered were attached to a 5″ square white top folding card base.

Here’s a closer look at the coloring of the image. I’ve used Copic markers to color her in with and brushed some Wink of Stella over her bow. (Which is hard to see of course!) I’ve also taken some tiny pearls and randomly added them to her hair.

The ovals were cut out with the Tonic Studios Basic Oval dies and then I also sponged some Tumbled Glass distress ink around the edges of the scallop image panel before attaching it to the black oval panel.

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By the way, I have chosen the color theme purple for my card today as it’s my favorite color. I have actually used many of my favorite items for this card, so I hope you’ve enjoyed it too! (Purple, ribbon, metallic, heat embossing, die cut sentiment, Copic coloring, pearls, florals, background stamps…I have too many favorites! LOL!) Do you have lots of favorites too?

Thanks for dropping in!

Challenges:

All Dressed Up Challenge – (April) Anything Goes + ADU image
All Dressed Up Facebook Challenge – ADU image + use favorite color(s) (purple)
Always Fun – #109 Female/Mom
Crafting By Designs – Girls
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday – For a Special Lady
The House That Stamps Built – Tic Tac Toe M819

Bubble Bath Beauty

Hello friends! Yes, I’m still here! LOTS of fun stuff to share!

Today, I have a silly kitty card to share with you today:

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Oh my, that face just really cracks me up!! It’s been several years since I have ever had to give a cat a bath, but I believe that’s pretty much how they feel about water in general. I have used this Whimsy Stamps digital image called Bath Cat by Crissy Armstong. (It was previously released as a rubber cling stamp, but now you can also get it in digital format if you prefer that!)

I started out my card with a piece of white cardstock and clear heat embossed several of the solid circle images from the Whimsy Stamps Circles Circles Circles clear stamp set. I then took a few of the distress ink colors and blended them over the heat embossed circles. The ink resisted those and then I spritzed it with some water and dapped it with a paper towel for water droplets. I heat embossed the sentiment with white EP and cut it out in a banner to attach over my background.

The circle inked background was corner chomped on two of the corners and then I placed it over a blue A2 sized top folding card base which I also corner chomped the same two corners on that as well. I then added the image panel and popped it up over some craft foam to attach to the front of the card. I then cut off the edge of the circle with my scissors and lastly added some clear sequins to the design.

Here’s a closer look at the coloring I’ve done on the kitty. I’ve used the following Copics to color him in with:

Kitty – W7, W5, W3, W1, R11, R00
Bathtub – B24, B21
Bubbles – BG000
Duckie – Y17, Y15, Y13

After I cut the image out with a circle die, I sponged around the edges of it with some of the distress ink I used on the background. I used a Wink of Stella glitter pen on some of the bubbles and then used some Nuvo White Blizzard Glitter Drops on the water drops.

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This one gave me a chuckle and sometimes even when you are feeling yucky, you just want someone to tell you that you are beautiful!

Thanks for dropping in today! I’ll see you again soon!

Challenges:

Simply Create Too – Anything Goes (no twist)
Daisy Chain – Anything Goes
Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – PIP1918 Anything Goes
Get Creative – Anything Goes (no twist)
Crafty Animals – Anything Goes + animal

Whimsy Stamps May Release + Anything Goes for Cute Card Thursday!

Hello friends! Hope you are having a great week so far!

Today starts a brand new challenge over at Cute Card Thursday! The theme for our challenge this week is an easy peasy “Anything Goes” theme! Whimsy Stamps is also our sponsor this week and I have used one of the brand-new May digital releases for my card here:

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This really SWEET penguin by Crissy Armstrong was previously released as a rubber stamp and now it’s available in digital format too! I’ve used the Penguin Prezzie digital stamp on my card here along with some other Whimsy Stamps products!

The image panel was cut out with the Whimsy Stamps Notched Squares Dies Set and mounted over a piece of black cardstock. I added some pearls in each corner. For the tiny hearts and the “mom” sentiment at the bottom, I have used the Whimsy Stamps Mom’s Layered Flowers clear stamp set. I stamped the tiny hearts around the penguin with some pink ink and the “mom” sentiment at the bottom over the pink gingham paper with black ink. I also stamped the sentiment ‘for you’ with black ink on the image panel from the Whimsy Stamps Everyday Mini Sentiments clear stamp set.

I found some soft pink gingham paper to use and mounted it over another piece of black cardstock and another piece of gold cardstock too. After adding the ‘mom’ sentiment, I took three strips of gold cardstock to add for accent pieces and then added some lace in the center strip that I wrapped around the card front panel. I attached these layers onto a white 5×5 top folding card base. The penguin image panel was popped up in the center with some foam tape.

Here’s a closer view of the coloring I’ve done on this image. These penguins are so fun to color! I have used the following Copic markers on my image:

penguin – C8, C5, C3, C1, blender, YR24, Y15, Y11
present – BG45, BG13, BG10
bow – R85, R83, R81, R00
ground shading – C1, E0000

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Although I think you could use this cute penguin image for a birthday or even Christmas, I thought since we are in the month of May, it would be a great card to send to mom! All you need is to make it with a few feminine colors along with lace and pearls for accents!

Thanks so much for stopping in today and I appreciate your kind comments so much!

Whimsy Critters Everywhere!

Hello friends! Hope you are having a wonderful week so far! I have been busy in my craft room trying to prepare for a class next week along with trying to help my son pack and move out of state…so my plate has been a bit full lately. I do have a couple of really fun critter creations that I’ve made using some Whimsy Stamps products today:

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If you don’t remember, Whimsy Stamps has come out with a couple of really adorable clear stamp sets to help promote their “Adopt Don’t Shop” campaign with $1 of the sale from each stamp sold going to the Gulf Coast Humane Society.

Now, normally I am a “dog fan”, but I know many of my blog friends and several others are huge cat fans as well! I have also been requested to make up some cat friendly cards too! So, I thought this would be such a great opportunity to make one! I’ve used the adorable Adopt Don’t Shop CATS clear stamp set for this one.

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I have used a kraft colored A2 sized top folding card base and stamped the little paw print from the stamp set with the same color around the edges. I also took the humorous sentiment from the set and white heat embossed it over a piece of espresso cardstock and cut a banner strip from it. This same color of cardstock was used as a layer behind the kitty image panel that I’ve cut out with the WS Hand Stitched Nested Rectangles die. I covered up the bottom portion of this panel with some plaid papers. I then wrapped some twine around the middle of it and tied a bow which I have attached a wood veneer heart in the middle.

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Here’s another card I had made to help cheer someone.

Vicki-WS-I'veGotYourBack-flat Here’s a pop quizz…. if you’ve known Whimsy Stamps for a while, does this particular image look familiar to you? It’s a VERY old one and also one of the very first rubber stamp sets that Whimsy Stamps sold! I believe mine is dated 2009! I wanted to keep it as I’ve been a part of this company off and on since it started! 🙂 Really cool to still have it. Obviously, it’s not available for purchase, but they did offer it as a freebie during their “Adopt Don’t Shop” party event last month. The paw prints along the edges were also used from an older stamp set from Whimsy Stamps as well. (You can see a portion of it on the right side of the photo above.) Vicki-WS-I'veGotYourBack1

Both of these images were colored with Copics.

The sentiment came from the same stamp set and was white heat embossed and cut out with the WS Quick Strips Die set. I cut around the pup’s tail and then used a rectangle die to cut the rest of the image out and then layered onto a black piece of cardstock cut from a scallop rectangle die. I layered the paw print piece, another piece of black cardstock and the image panel onto a white top folding A2 sized card base. Lastly, I’ve added a few black enamel dots and even gave their eyes some shine with glossy accents.

Thanks so much for dropping in today! Hope you’ve enjoyed my critter cards! I’ll be back again tomorrow with a different kind of critter! 🙂

Challenges: –

Crafty Catz – Anything Goes
Creative Fingers – Anything Goes
QKR Stampede – #344 Anything Goes
Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – PIP1916 Anything Goes
Creative Moments – Anything Goes

Happy Spring With Beautiful Blooms

Hello friends! Just popping by to wish you all a wonderful weekend and to share a “Happy Spring” card to make you smile:

Vicki-BM-Beautiful Blooms

So, for my card, I started with the glitter embossed panel from the kit and took the Sea Glass ink pad that came with the kit and ink blended over this panel. I cut it down and then die cut a scallop piece of the purple cardstock from the kit and then attached it to an A2 sized top folding white piece of cardstock.

Although I really liked the sentiments from this stamp set, I wanted it to be Spring-like, so I took a sentiment from a different stamp set and stamped it with black ink over a piece of vellum and then clear heat embossed it. I cut the strip into a banner and then ran it through my Xyron machine to get it sticky and attached to the bottom of the card front.

Lastly, I’ve attached the image with foam tape over the card front panel and then glued a bow made with some of the ribbon from the kit. I then attached some purple-colored gems, also from the kit, randomly over the front.

Here’s a closer view of the watercolor I’ve done over this image. First, I’ve heat embossed the image and used the Aqua Pigments to color it in. I’ve slightly tilted it so you can see the pretty shimmer that these Aqua Pigments give to the look of it! The regular colors don’t shimmer, but the metallic do shimmer beautifully! I then glued the bow of the wreath image and popped up the wreath to place on the front of the card.

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Hope you’ve enjoyed my card today and I wish you all a very happy Easter! Thanks so much for stopping in! See you soon!

Challenges:

Through the Craft Room Door – Anything Goes
Try it On Tuesday – Springtime
Addicted to Stamps & More! – Make Your Mark
Daring Cardmakers – Blooming Wonderful
My Time to Craft – Spring Flowers

Coming Up Flowers at Cute Card Thursday

Hello friends! Welcome to Thursday! We are already near Easter this weekend and it’s a great time to be thinking about flowers! This is the new challenge this week over at Cute Card Thursday, so I hope you can join in the floral fun with us!

I decided to pull out some stamps that I received a few months ago by Repeat Impressions from a challenge win because they are ALL floral themed and I thought it would be perfect to work with for the challenge:

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To help with my design, I’ve used the tic-tac-toe board from the Repeat Impressions challenge. I have used the Flower Power Background stamp and stamped it with white ink over a piece of vellum and then mounted it over a light purple piece of cardstock so that it was a bit more subtle looking, but yet still had the floral pattern.

I’ve also taken one of the stamps from the Beautiful Days Collection called “Daisies & Butterfly” and stamped it with waterproof ink over a piece of Bristol smooth watercolor cardstock. After coloring it, I fussy cut the image and then die cut a scallop square layer to place behind it and then cut another layer of black cardstock to layer behind that. I thought it really brought out the details of the image. The butterfly was popped up with some foam squares.

Lastly, I’ve stamped a sentiment, did some paper piercing with a tool pick around the corners of the vellum layer and around the image layer. All of these layers were mounted over an A2 sized top folding white card base. I then took some clear “dew drops” and attached them over the front of the card.

Here’s a closer view of the watercolor I’ve done on the image. I’ve used my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers and occasional help with a water brush to blend or soften up the colors as needed. Hard to see, of course, but I’ve taken a glitter brush pen and went over the wings on the butterfly. You can also see the details of the paper piercing that I’ve done on the vellum.

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I noticed that after I had stamped the sentiment with black ink, the white ink from the vellum showed through a bit. I was going to layer something over it, but decided that I actually liked it that way, so left it.

I’m always out of sympathy cards when I need one, so this will be a nice one to have on hand for that. Thanks so much for stopping in and I’ll see you again tomorrow!! 🙂

Challenges for this card:

Repeat Impressions – A1019 Tic-Tac-Toe
Just Us Girls – Off the Edge
Allsorts – Blossoms, Butterflies and/or Bugs
The Creative Crafters – Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Monday – Beautiful Blooms

Whimsy Stamps Cuddly Ride

Hello friends! 🙂

It’s been SO gorgeous outside with this wonderfully warm weather we’re having right now, so I find it hard to stay indoors right now! We have rain coming, so I will be able to get some crafting done then!

Swinging by to share this really sweet digital image by Sylvia Zet for Whimsy Stamps called Cuddly Ride! They have sold the rubber stamp version, but now they’re releasing these older images as digital files now! So weather you like the rubber stamp or the digital images, it’s great to know that you can choose either!

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I got her colored up in the following Copics:

Snail shell – E29, E27, E25, E23, E21
Snail body – W5, W3, W1, E21, E000, R20
Snail bow/patches, girl outfit – B37, B34, B32, YG13, YG11, C5, C3, C1
Girl’s Hair/Skin – E49, E47, E44, E43, E40, R20, R00, E21, E11, E00, E000
Pointillism under snail – W3, W1, W0
Used a white gel pen for highlights on snail and covered the ground with a Wink of Stella glitter brush pen

After coloring her up, I also sponged some clouds behind her with a stencil and then cut it out with the Whimsy Stamps Notched Square Dies. I’ve also cut an additional larger blue layer for behind the image. For the blue flowers scattered around as well as for the pieces for grass accents on my card, I’ve used the Whimsy Stamps No-See All Seasons Tree Dies.

I’ve taken a sentiment from my stash (retired Whimsy Stamps) and white heat embossed it over a piece of the blue cardstock and then I’ve used the Whimsy Stamps Quick Strips Die Set to cut it out. Lastly, I’ve added some ribbon, a bow with a resin flower glued over the center of it and then I’ve added some rhinestones to the centers of the blue flowers.

From the same sentiment stamp set that I’ve used, I took a tiny heart image and stamped it with green ink around the colored image. Of course, I tried to capture the wonderful shimmer underneath the snail where I’ve colored the Pointillism technique, but it just won’t show up in photos very well, but I just love the shimmer under him! I also used a silver metallic gel pen to color the “buttons” on the girl’s jumper.

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