A Halloween Hello

Hello Friends! I played a bit in the craft room this morning before the football game. Before I put away Halloween, I just had to give a home to a few images I had already colored.  I used the latest Freshly Made Sketches challenge to kick start the cardmaking:

Supplies I Used:

Memory Box Cardstock

MFT 'Witch Way is the Candy?' stamps & dies

DCWV 'Spooky Time' DSP

Dylusions Black Marble Spray Ink

Copics & Prismacolor Pencils

Glossy Accents

Sharpie White Pen

Gelly Clear Star Pen

I'd also like to enter this card over at Shopping our Stash #407 where the theme is Halloween.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Halloween!

Hugs,

Annie

Bon Voyage

Yippee!  I found some time to play today in a couple of challenges:

CASology Week 294

Shopping Our Stash #348 - Black, White & One other color (yellow)

A card for a friend starting a new adventure in search of SUNNIER days!

Neenah Solar White

MFT Sun Ray Stencil

Catherine Pooler Stamps & Dies (Bon Voyage)

Distress Oxide Squeezed Lemonade

VersaFine Onyx Black

Thanks for stopping by ~ I hope you're having a great week!

Hugs,

Annie

The Peeps Are Coming!

Happy Monday!  I was surprised with a package of Peeps yesterday morning from a friend.  Sadly, they are a weakness I have around Easter (plus Canterbury eggs, of course)!  Not only were they delicious but inspiring!  

I'm not sure if it was the sugar high, but I felt a little mojo and made another Easter card...LOL!

With my Misti and the fun SSS 'My Kind of Peep' stamp set, I put together this one layer card using Catherine Pooler Tiara ink.  I'll be linking this card up to the Live Love Card Community Challenge for March and hopefully can squeak in to the Shopping Our Stash #346 Easter Challenge.  

Thanks for stopping by ~ have a great week!

Beachy Birthday

Wowzer!  Was it a beautiful day at the beach today so I was totally inspired to create a beachy birthday card for Freshly Made Sketches:

I don't have a lot of Stampin' Up stamp sets, but this is absolutely one of my favorites.  I just love the sketchy, happy look and thought she was perfect for today.  I created the background with masking fluid for the white sea foam to separate the water from the sand.  I used Distress Oxide Broken China for the water and then dabbed it with a wet cloth for some variation.  The sand is Distress Oxide Vintage Photo with some beach pebbles stamped in for good measure.  I sprayed the entire card front with MFT Sheer Shimmer Spray and added some clear water droplets (Pretty Pink Posh, I think).  

I'd also like to enter the Shopping Our Stash Challenge # 344 - National Dress Day featuring a dress.  

Thanks so much for stopping by...I hope you have a great week!  

Seriously...Thanks!

Happy Sunday!  A quick card to play along over at Shopping Our Stash where they are getting sentimental and looking for sentiments to be the focal point.

On a Neenah Solar White card base I layered some grid paper that I stamped with an old great BIG wooden background stamp from Impress.  The sentiment from Concord & 9th was heat embossed with Ranger white detail EP.  I added a little binder clip (also Concord & 9th) and tied with black/white baker's twine.  I was going for a masculine thank you card so I hope he doesn't mind the twine bow too much!

Thanks for stopping by and there's still plenty of time to play along with Cards in Envy's Tuxedo Challenge...any theme will work for this black & white card challenge.  Have a great week!

Merry & Bright

Happy Friday!  I had time this morning to make a couple of cards.  I knew tomorrow was not going to work because the Community Center is having their Christmas Bazaar and I can't pass up looking at all the crafty items!

The first card is for the cue over at CASology:

Sorry pic is a little dark - it really is a white card base!  I'd been wanting to use the Scripty Holiday sentiments from Gina K.  I thought it would look good as a "tiny" string of lights, so I stamped the sentiment in green.  I found a tiny little Christmas light on another Gina K. set called Ian Moose.  I stamped the lights in Antique Linen Distress Ink so I would not have any dark lines.  Then I colored the lights with various sparkly Wink of Stella pens and covered them with Glossy Accents.  

The second card is a fun Thanksgiving card for my DGS.  I'd like to enter this one in the following challenges:

Freshly Made Sketches #312

Shopping Our Stash # 328 - Autumn Color Palette

I thought the gorgeous plaid DSP from Lawn Fawn had all the colors I needed.  I trimmed it with dark brown cardstock to match the heat embossed sentiment.  The stitched turkey (Impression Obsession) is on an action "wobble" to go with the "gobble."  I hope my grandson doesn't notice that I forgot the drumsticks legs. LOL!

Anyway, thanks for visiting.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Turkeys and Reindeer

Hi there!  No, it's not a wildlife post...just a couple of holiday cards I played with today.  I SHOULD have been cleaning up the leaves in the backyard so I thought I could at least make a card with some!

The first card is a Thanksgiving card for the challenge over at my ol' alma mater - Words 2 Craft By - where they're looking for Autumn cards inspired by the following quote:

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. 

I used Ranger Texture Paste and a great leaf motif stencil from Catherine Pooler for the background.  I wanted to add some random color to the leaves, so after it dried I dabbed on some different Memento ink colors.  The sentiment is from The Stamps of Life layered on a vellum shadow.  I have to say this was really fun and really messy at the same time!

My second card is Christmas-themed for the current challenge over at Shopping Our Stash where the theme is "That's Sketchy."  You can use any sketch you'd like so I based my project on The Paper Players sketch challenge from last week:

On a Gina K. Ivory card base, I layered a scrap of woodgrain DSP from Authentique's "Smitten" paper pack.  The die cut banner (MFT) was also a scrap from that same pad (which is for Valentines Day...shhhh).  The Tim Holtz reindeer was layered over the Gina K. sentiment.  A little snippet of red/black ribbon tied with May Arts black twine and some MME black enamel stars finished it off.  I really liked Claire's sketch and know I will use it over and over!

Thanks for stopping by ~ I hope you have a terrific week ahead!

More Halloween!

Happy wet, wet Saturday...at least in my neck of the woods!  They are calling it "the river in the sky" and it is definitely flowing down.  This means plenty of crafty time for me...yay!

The first card is for Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) and I'm hoping it will work for the Shopping our Stash #325 - The Walking Dead.  I don't have any zombie type stamps and it can't walk but it does celebrate the dead.  A stretch I know, but I needed a card for an avid fan of the holiday anyway!

I used a Hero Arts black notecard and stamped the MFT Primitive Chevron background stamp in VersaMark for the tone-on-tone card base.  The sugar skull was a free mask digi from Pinterest that I enhanced with Prismacolor pencils, Wink of Stella, and white gel pen.  

The second card is also for Halloween and I think it's the last one I have to make.  I started with the latest Freshly Made Sketch:

On a Neenah Solar White card base, I added a stitched circle (MFT) inked up with Distress Oxide Fossilized Amber and spritzed with Sheer Shimmer.  The branch die cut is from Savvy Stamps.  The sentiment and spooky owl are from Taylored Expressions Peek-a-Boo Halloween stamp set.  I used a combination of Copics and Prismacolor pencils to color the owl then glued on some Doodlebug Designs eyeballs.  That wasn't the plan but when I stuck my fingers in the eyeballs to test the Glossy Accents and they weren't quite dry...you know the rest!

Anyhoo, I hope you're having a fantastic weekend and thanks for visiting!

Oops! Forgot Thanksgiving!

Happy Sunday!  I finally had some badly needed crafting time this morning so I thought I would play along with a few challenges and add to my holiday card stash.  

The first card is for Halloween and I'd like to play along over at:

CASology:  Odd (odd number of shoes)
Shopping our Stash #324:  If The Shoe Fits... (witches shoes)

I used minimal products on this one.  The card base is Neenah Solar White.  I added a strip of silver glittery washi for the "ground" and stamped the shoes and sentiment from Hero Arts' Witch Feet.  I decided the middle pair should be dancing, so I added a mini action wobbler to the die cut and colored the stockings with orange Wink of Stella.  

The second card was for my Christmas stash, using Freshly Made Sketches' latest sketch as a starting point.

This one was inspired by a couple of dear neighbor girls that received phones for Christmas last year and love taking selfies!  I used Bazzill Candy Necklace cardstock for the base, layering Lawn Fawn's Perfectly Plaid DSP die cut with a MFT stitched rectangle.  The photo frame from Savvy Stamps was die cut from Neenah Solar White and I added a background of white heat embossed snowflakes.  The adorable little elf is from Hero Arts' Santa Elves stamp & cut set and colored with Copics.  I finished it off with a white heat embossed Hero Arts sentiment (Irreverant Elf Messages), some sparkly snowflakes, and Wink of Stella.

Thanks so much for visiting - I hope you have a great week!    

Chocolate Frosting

Good morning!  Did you know yesterday was International Chocolate Day in the US?  Isn't every day Chocolate Day?  I have a friend that believes just that and it just so happens he has a birthday coming up.  What better way to celebrate than with chocolate frosting!

On a Neenah Solar White card base I did some diffused dry embossing with a cupcake EF (The Paper Studio) leaving a spot for the cupcake.  The cupcake (MFT) and sentiment (SSS) were stamped with VersaFine Onyx Black ink and heat embossed with clear EP.  The cupcake was colored with Copics and sprinkles added with a white gel pen.

I'd like to enter this card in a couple of challenges:

CASology Week 266 - Cake

Shopping Our Stash #320 - Emboss like a Boss 

I hope you're having a great week!  Thanks so much for stopping by.

My Little Square of Sand

Happy Labor Day!  Today I have a card for a couple of challenges:

CASology #264 - Square

Shopping Our Stash:  Your Favorite Season (Summer)

Around here, we call our beach properties "Our Little Squares of Sand."  So, I thought I would make a sand square!  I found some textured Krylon paint in the garage called Pebbles that looks just like sand!  So I sprayed a piece of cardstock and hoped for the best.  Success!  It's hard to tell in the photo but it is very grainy and textured, looking just like the beach during my favorite season, summer.

The sand dollar is a Sizzix die cut, distressed with some Pumice Stone ink.  I popped it up on "the beach" and added Nuvo clear Crystal Drops for water droplets.  The sentiment is from Gina K.'s Tiny Textures set.

Thanks for stopping by ~ I hope you're having a wonderful, long weekend!

Aloha!

Hello there!  A pretty quick card today for a couple of challenges:

Shopping our Stash #316 - Chillaxin' and Relaxin'

Words 2 Craft By #44 - Vacation

For me, one of the best places to relax is on a boat and the best vacations ever have been in Hawaii. This card came together using MFT's You Float My Boat stamps and die, Little B's Monogram alphabet dies, and The Stamps of Life wave from flipflops2stamp.  All inks are from Catherine Pooler on a SU Whisper White card base.

Thanks for lookin' and I hope you have a wonderful weekend 😎

I Wish...

Hello friends!  The weather has been gorgeous here (with a capital G) and it's been super busy with family visits.   Everyone has returned home and I was able to play in The Doghouse for a bit this morning to join in a couple of challenges:

• CASology Week 257:  Wish

• Shopping our Stash Challenge #311:  CAS for Simplicity Day

The cue from CASology was perfect!  My sweet grandson spent the week here and our adventures included treasure hunting on the beach for wishing rocks.  He went home with 30 happy wishes!  I don't have a "rock" stamp and can't draw worth a darn, so I went with the fond memory of blowing spent dandelion flowers (aka puff balls) as a child and making wishes :)

The masked off background was inked with Distress Oxide Salty Ocean and Peacock Feathers on an Ultra Smooth White card base from Catherine Pooler.  I debated about the spritzing with water thing and decided not to being afraid the cardstock would warp!  I used an old Memory Box stamp of Meadow Flowers, masked off much of it, and stamped what I hope looks like those fluffy dandelion tops.  The dandelion seeds stamp that float off the puff ball is from Great Impressions.  Finally, the "wishing" sentiment is from Stampin' Up that I picked up at a garage sale many years ago.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you have a wonderful weekend...I'm going to go blow on a dandelion and wish that my grandson comes back for a visit very soon!   

Think Pink

Hi there!  When I saw the current Shopping Our Stash Challenge - #308 - Think Pink, there was no way I wasn't going to play!  The theme is in honor of National Pink Day (who knew!) and also a tongue-in-cheek shout out to my blog friend, Leslie, and SOS founding member who did NOT like pink.  Leslie sadly passed at the end of 2015.  I know she would have hated all the pink action on this card:

Even funnier, I recently had eye surgery and I'm sure there's crooked layers and glue showing somewhere but I just can't see it right now :)  She would have liked that!  Most of the products used on this pink celebration are from MFT (DSP, dies, and sentiment).  The flowers are actually painfully fussy cut with one eye from an old DCWV scrap.

Thanks for visiting, have a great weekend, and miss your wonderful snarkiness, Leslie!  ~ Annie

Dads Rule!

Hi there!  A quick post for the latest Shopping Our Stash Challenge:  Dude,  I haven't decided if it's going to be a Father's Day card or Birthday card but I'd better decide soon!

Here's the stuff I used:

Cardstock - MFT Kraft

Stamps - Hero Arts Color Layering Lion and Mud Cloth Background Stamp

Ink - Versfine Vintage Sepia and Delicata Golden Glitz

Dies - Hero Arts Rectangle Infinity Dies and Sizzix Starburst & Circles

Other - Scrap Vellum, Gold Dots, Clear Embossing Powder

Thanks for stopping by!  

A Cup at a Time

Hi again!  I almost forgot to post this!  Shopping our Stash is having their 300th Challenge (congratulations :) and the theme is Caffeine Fix.  I had a fasting blood draw this morning and had to wait hours before my first cup.  I definitely rely on caffeine to get goin' in the morning!

For my card, I used the fun sketch from Sandy over at The Paper Players:

The image is a From The Heart digi that I watercolored last year some time.  I matted it on an old piece of burlap that I frayed and added a gold heat embossed sentiment from MFT's Clearly Sentimental about Coffee.  I used a coffee bean EF from Sizzix and distressed with, what else, Ground Espresso Distress Ink :).

Thanks for stopping by ~ Have a great weekend filled with coffee!

My Anchor

Hi there!  Busy week but I was able to make a card this morning (yay!) and wanted to play along with a couple of challenges:

CASology - Cue Card: Strong

Shopping Our Stash (SOS298) - Use Punches and/or Dies

This is my Father's Day card for my Dad.  He's a WWII Navy Veteran, loves the sea, and has always been my "anchor" no matter how difficult things have been.

A single layer card for me that I didn't have to redo a gazillion times :)  Happy Dancin'!  On the Neenah Solar White 110# card base, I masked off the bottom right hand corner about a quarter of an inch from the edge.  I sponged on Distress Oxide inks in Faded Jeans and Broken China, then splashed a little water.  The anchor is a Spellbinders die cut.  The sentiment is from Gina K.

Thanks so much for stopping by ~ Happy Easter!

Easter Bunny Peeps

Heavy rain means crafting time for me!  Here's a card I'd like to link up to the following challenges:

The Paper Players #338 - Easter Bunny

Shopping Our Stash #297 - Tie One On (use ribbon, twine, etc.)

Who doesn't love peeps and hugs?

I randomly stamped the peeps (SSS) in pastel Gina K. inks for the background.  I then stamped their little faces and generously applied Spectrum Noir Shimmer for their sugary bodies.  The sentiment is from the same SSS stamp set (retired).  Finally, I added a piece of ribbon from my stash, then mounted it on a Spearmint card base (MFT).  Another Easter card done!

Thanks for stopping by ~ I hope it's drier where you are!

Serious Bunny

Hi friends!  The second card I made today was for the following challenges:

The Paper Players Color Challenge:

Shopping Our Stash #294 - Luck O' the Irish (use green)

I had this Distress Ink background in my stash, framed it with Mama Elephant die cut, and then tried to figure out the rest.  I thought I'd go with an Easter card and use the Hero Arts layering bunny die.  I added two Easter egg die cuts (Memory Box) and stamped/white heat embossed the sentiment.  The more I looked at this bunny, he looks so serious (or sad?).  Like he's wondering where in the heck did those eggs come from!

Anyhoo...thanks for stopping by and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Oh My Stars!

Hi again! This is the second card I made today before I actually had to get some work done 😉  I used the latest sketch from Freshly Made Sketches as the jumping off point...and because I LOVE it!

I also would like to play along with Shopping Our Stash #287 - All that Glitters is Gold because I hit the scrap bin and found lots of different gold foil and glitter bits leftover from Christmas.  My DGS is doing sooo well in school, I thought he should get some gold stars from Grandma!

Finally, if I may, I'd like to also link up to the latest CASology challenge where the Cue is Glisten. I hope glistening gold stars fit the bill.

  

Thanks so much for stopping by!