Another Card!

I'm spending a cozy day indoors.  Love it!  

For the card below I used the Paper Smooches Squared Die to cut out a background from watercolor paper.

  I then laid the die cut over another piece of watercolor paper and squooshed Versamark ink over the entire surface. 

 I heat embossed with white, then used Distress Inks for a cool resist effect.

I'm playing along with Curtain Call's "Soft Scarf" challenge using their photo as inspiration for the color scheme.

 

Since the die and sentiment are from Paper Smooches I'm making a last minute entry to their  SPARKS Anything Goes Challenge, too!

I have been introduced to so many talented card makers as a result of joining challenges or even just checking out the entrant's blogs!!  There are so many creative ladies out there!

Have a great day!
Mary

Little Pink Houses

 We woke up to a wintery wonderland.  About five inches of snowfall overnight.  It looks so pretty, but it's turning warmer and grayer and they are calling for rain.  A very typical south-eastern Pennsylvania winter day.  "A slush-fest," my husband calls it.

I'm playing along with the Merry Monday Challenge #142 again this week.  It is calling for cards with houses.  I was inspired by those vintage, pasteboard houses that people decorate with at Christmastime.  I love the sugary colors; blues, pinks, light greens...

 
 I used Paper Smooches Bitty Bungalows for the images and sentiment.  The houses were heat embossed with white embossing powder, water-colored with Distress inks, then die cut.  The back panel is raised and I added little heart sequins from Martha Stewart.
It's a bit hard to tell in the photo, but the sentiment is embossed in silver.  It adds to the frosty feel of the card.  

I think this card is just right for the entire winter season!
Check out the amazing entries.

I'm also linking up to the Paper Smooches Anything Goes Challenge this week.  Love these challenges!  Tons of inspiration!!

Stay warm! 
Mary 

 

Merry Monday Challenge #141 Christmas Critters

This post should be subtitled "Where There's a Will, There's a Way" because I made SO many mistakes that I had to fix!!

I was very happy with my plan and it was coming together great.  Then I tried masking off a double sentiment and got black ink all over the place.  Next, I bent the stamped image while fussy cutting, and I had issues with the partial die cutting as well. 

But mistakes are just opportunities for creative solutions, right?  And I'm happy with how both cards finally came together.

Card #1

           This card is most like my original concept.

I used my new Penny Black stamp and colored with alcohol markers.  The patterned paper is from Doodlebug and the sentiment is from an older SU set.  You would never know there's black ink smudges underneath that ribbon, would you?  Don't tell!!

Card #2

 Tried to mask off the sentiment a second time and there was still a ghost image. So this time I die cut on either side of the goose with the Lawn Fawn stitched border die.  Only I had the die placed incorrectly and the stitched part was on the paper I would be cutting off.  Deep breath......   Oh well.  Decided all was not lost and fussy cut that little goosey anyway.  

All's well that ends well, right?!

 I'm playing along with the Merry Monday Challenge this week.  Hoping to do so often over the next year so I can stockpile lots of holiday cards!

Have a great day!

Bookworm Birthday

Just a quick post to show a card I made for our  school library processor.  She's another unsung hero at our school who does so much to make the children's and the teachers' lives easier!

Happy birthday, Dale!

The happy, little bookworm and stack of books is from Paper Smooches' Smarty Pants set.  The tiny birthday hat is also Paper Smooches (Zoo Crew), as is the sentiment (Sentiment Sampler).  The little cupcake, candle, and the patterned paper are from the Lawn Fawn sets (Birthday Tags, Dewey Decimal).  I stamped on watercolor paper and colored with Distress Markers.  I love the mix of stamps and the little scene I created.  If I would do it again, I'd think of a different placement for the sentiment. Overall, a fun card to stamp and color!

Celebrate Today!

Happy Saturday!  
Life is returning to normal and that's good.  I guess.  Always sad, though, when you have to de-Christmas the house.  Luckily, my husband is in charge of that job this year!

I had an idea for a card and, as usual, looked forward all week to sitting down this morning to create.

I used more of my new holiday goodies on this card.

I used my new die and stamps from Paper Smooches.  Love, love, love this Squared die. I have a feeling I will be using it over and over again!  Anyway, first I cut a piece of gray cardstock with the die.  I trimmed the cardstock here and there to allow room for the sentiment (Pretty Phrases) and to give the eye a bit of a rest from all that sparkle.  

Then, I cut it out several times from some American Crafts glitter paper and inlaid the squares and crosses.  It wasn't difficult at all and I love the results.  Best of all, I've got a sparkly little pile of leftover pieces that I can use on some other cards!

I'm entering this in the Paper Smooches SPARKS Anything Goes challenge.  The entries there never fail to inspire me!



I am also linking this to a new challenge (for me), Darnell's NBUS Challenge #3 .

 


Have a great day!

Purple Onions and Avery Elle: A Cute Little Thank you!

I'm using some more of my new Christmas stamp sets and combining them with older sets.

I need lots of thank you cards right now.  I was very well taken care of this holiday!

 

I combined Avery Elle's Fill in the Blank with Stacy Yacula's "Shadow" from Purple Onion Designs.   

I used stamps from Avery Elle and Lawn Fawn for the woodsy floral background along with SU inks.  Dies are from SSS.

Looking at the image now I think I will go back and shade a bit more around that little owl.  What do you think??

Loving Time Off

I'm really enjoying my time off! 

Feeling very blessed!

Does your workspace look like this when you scrap?  

I don't do much scrapbooking, but I'm trying to print out pics instead of leaving them on my computer or just posting on Facebook.  I'm using a 6X6 Snap album.  Trying to get caught up on Thanksgiving and having a hard time keeping it simple!  I tend to over think everything and then get frustrated. I need to just let it go and enjoy it, you know??  That is what pocket scrapbooking is supposed to be about, right?


Have a great day!

       

Here's my Sunny cat

wanting some attention. :)