Rainbow #3

Thank you for joining me on day 3 of rainbows!  For today's card I used lots of COLOR! Yes, lots of color indeed!  I started with the candles from the bonanza buddies stamp set and die cut it with the stitched so sweetly dies.

But then I did not know what to mount the panel on. Putting it on colored card stock just didn't seem to do it justice. Then I had the idea of using the same colors and stamping repeatedly on a piece of whisper white card stock.  I then finished it with a quick sponge of the color to soften the background.

Thank you for joining me again and I promise this will be the last rainbow for a while. I really appreciate you stopping by today and I hope you come back soon.  If you need demonstrator or any help or questions let me know. Blessings for a great day!

Rainbow #2

Welcome! So glad you are here. Last week I told you I was really into making rainbow cards. So I thought I would share another card I created.  The rainbow for this card came out a little lighter than I had wanted. What do you think?

I just did a quick water color wash with subtle colors and that is probably why it is light. The card is a simple one layer card. Hint, when stamping sentiments on water color paper it is best to use a stamp positioner so that you can stamp it a few times. With the texture of the paper it is hard to get a crisp image. Thank you so much and stay tuned tomorrow for the other quick and easy rainbow inspired card!  Blessings!

Masculine Birthday card!

Hi and thank you for joining me today! I thought I would show you the card I made for my son for his birthday last week. He and his wife have a beautiful husky dog and so I thought the dog set was perfect. However, this dog doesn't look anything like her, I thought it would make a fun masculine card. I struggle with those, since most of my stamps are geared towards flowers. 

I found the inspiration for this card in my stamp catalog, my go to when my mind is blank. How about you?  I did a quick watercolor on the dog and used the sentiment from the well be walrus stamp set. The background was a little hard to figure out, mostly because God did not give me a math mind. But I do like the way that it turned out.

Which is your go to set with masculine cards? I would love to know.  Thank you again for stopping by! Take care and hope you are all stamping inside!

Ornate flowers!

Welcome to stampin expressions! If you are new to my blog I wanted to let you know a little about myself.  I started stamping about 25 years ago and I became a Stampin' Up demonstrator 22 years ago. I am not sure where the time has gone. I started when my youngest was born as a way to spend time with adults who liked to create. I have enjoyed it so much through all the years. My favorite part has been all the wonderful friends that I have met through the years! I have really seen the craft of stamping change through the years and I have enjoyed all the different phases. If you are new I would love for you to say hi in the comments and let me know a little about yourself. Or if you have any questions let me know. 

Anyway, on to the card, which I am guessing is why you are here!  The new stamp set Ornate Flowers is a new release that will be in the up coming annual catalog. When I saw this beautiful array of flowers I knew I had to water color them.  

I started by heat embossing in white on water color paper and then put a quick wash of clean water all over the image. Then the fun part, I dropped in color using my ink refills. 

I made sure not to stay in the lines for a messy water color look. As it started to slowly dry I would add a little more color to areas with  more concentrated ink.  I really had fun with this and it was so therapeutic! Something I think we all need now a days with all the craziness in the world. 

Also, if you have visited my blog before did you see that I used the other half of my plaid watercolor paper? If you  missed that blog post check it out here! I picked the sentiment from the inspiring iris stamp set because it was nice and small. I didn't want to cover up very much of the water coloring. I have been making a lot of thank you cards for those who are still working and putting not only themselves but their families in danger of contracting the virus.  I love that so many crafters are using their God given talents to give back in so many creative ways. Thank you! 

And thank you for stopping by today! Stay healthy and have a great rest of your week!

TGIF challenge

Hello! Who doesn't love a rainbow and all it's beautiful colors! Even to this day when I see a rainbow I am amazed! So when I saw that the TGIF challenge was rainbows I had to join! Check them out here!

I wanted the rainbow to be the focus of my card and so I kept all the other elements neutral colors. Plus I have seen so many people who are creating rainbows as a sign of hope right now for the end to the virus! Just like in the bible and the hope God gave to Noah and the great flood. Don't we all need a little hope right now? 

Creating this card gave me hope that soon the sun will shine and we will all be able to be together! To create this card I used my stamp positioner with the rays and the lighthouse. I was having so much fun with the rainbow theme I have made a few more cards I will share in the next couple days so make sure to check back and see the other ideas. Thank you so much for stopping by! Have a great day and please stay inside and safe! But most importantly remember to have HOPE! Blessings to all of you!

Do you like to color?

I have so much fun with the stampin blends!  Do you like to color? Sorry this set is no longer available but I wanted to share a few samples that I forgot to post.

The next card I water colored and I guess I forgot to take a picture of the entire card. So sorry! But I think you can kind of get the idea.  I feel like many of the days I have pandemic brain. Is there such a thing or did I just make that up?  Pretty sure I did, plus does rambling also come with it?  

I hope that all of you are doing well and staying healthy and happy!  It really is crazy what we are all going through these days.  Something that our childrens children will read about in books.  We are all going to be made so strong after this and life will have such a richer meaning for all of us.  Take care of yourself this week!  Thank you for stopping by!

Don't forget only a few days left to purchase the new paper pumpkin!

Freshly Made Sketches #429

Hi! This is my second post for today, you can tell that I have a lot of time on my hands. I really should be cleaning my house, however that will still be there tomorrow. I made a card for the Freshly Made Sketches blog and wanted to share it with you.  Check out the creative ideas from the designers. I had made the plaid paper with my aquapainter and my ink refills after watching a post from Lime Doodle Designs. Debby  has beautiful cards and I love her water coloring. Also her videos are so good, her voice is so calming!  Check her out here. When I saw this sketch I wanted to use the plaid paper and so I stamped the to a wild rose outline stamp on water color paper and used the same ink refills to paint the rose.

I used pool party card stock and pool party, pear pizzazz and balmy blue ink refills. After water coloring I used my water color pencils to give a little more color in the shaded areas. The weather has been very cloudy in Southern California lately and so my picture is not as true to color as I would like.  

I finished with a few white dots and lines on the plaid with my chalk pen. Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you are all continuing to stay healthy and getting a lot done around your house. Have a blessed Holy Week and I hope you can stop by again soon. Stay tuned to what I did with the other side of the plaid paper.

Thankful for so much happiness!

Hi everyone!  Thank you for joining me on this beautiful Monday morning!  Today is the 30th birthday of my oldest son! How can I be the mother of a 30 year old? How did the 30 years go so fast? Wow! Like most of you who have someone in your life with their birthday right now, we are not able to celebrate with him. But that will make when we do get the chance to be together even more special!!  As I was getting ready to post this card I realized it is not a birthday card (although I guess it could be) but i thought of all the happiness and my son has given not only me but our family for the past 30 years! Every day is a pure joy and delight with him in our lives!  I also have come to believe that when you have a child you appreciate and love their birth day more than anyone.  Giving birth to him was one of the best moments of my life!  So grateful that God had created him and gave him to us! Happy birthday Steven, we all love you so much!

Now on to the card, I made this for a card challenge yet did not get it posted in time.  But I really liked the way that it came out and so I decided to post it anyway.  It was a really fun sketch and one I will use in the future. I white heat embossed this sentiment and water colored it for a soft look that I thought would go great with the paper. 

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope that you have a great day! Stay strong and love the ones that you are with today! Celebrate the lives that God has put into yours! Have a blessed and joyful day!

The world needs more of you!

Hi and welcome to my blog! Does anyone really keep track of what day it is anymore? They kind of all blend together.  Today I have a quick card that I cased from the current mini catalog on page 59. I had a scrap of the peaceful poppies designer series paper on my desk and when I saw the sample in the mini catalog I knew it would work great. Do you remember to use the catalogs for ideas? They are a life saver for me! The sentiment is from the free as a bird stamp set and when I saw it I knew that it would be perfect for one of the many people who are working to keep everything safe right now.  So many selfless people out there risking their lives for us; doctors,  nurses, all hospital staff, police, postal employee, grocery store workers just to name a few. I would like to make a few cards and send them to people I know as well as neighbors who are working for our common good. Thank you!

This card will be easy to duplicate and I can use any of my designer series paper. I hope that you are staying healthy and finding time to do all the things around the house that you have always wanted to do.  I am praying for you and all your families. Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed weekend!

Check out the video below for new bundles available right now!

Hand stamped sentiments #335

Good morning!  I hope everyone is settling into the new normal, well at least for a little while hopefully. While all that is going on in the world can be scary, we have to have faith! I think that is the biggest thing that is important. God tells us over and over again to "be not afraid" His love will prevail! I am trying to enjoy this time in my stamp room, organizing, creating and even a big pile for donations.  If you know of anyone or any organization that would like some rubber, wood stamps I would love to get the address and ship them out.  Thank you! 

On to the card. I love this sketch from the Hand stamped sentiments blog however, for some reason I really struggled getting all the elements just right. Not really loving this card but the more I look at it the more it grows on me.Here is the fun sketch below.

Many times I think I get most overwhelmed by which stamp set to use. I am blessed to have a pretty big supply of fun stamps to use and my mind gets to overly stimulated on which set. Does that ever happen to you? So I went with some elements that were on my desk that I had made for another project but didn't end up using. (the boats from the lily pad lake stamp set) As you can tell from the card I was really into texture for this card, I used 3 embossing folders, subtle, high seas and basket weave. I find when my card needs just a little something an embossing folder always helps. What do you reach for?

The sentiment was so perfect for the times we are all going through right now. I am going to be sending a bunch of cards out to friends and family that I am not able to see right now.  Giving them joy, hopefully and letting them know that I am thinking about them. Thank you so much for stopping by! Have a marvelous day and send a little joy someones way. And don't forget to check out the amazing group of designers over at the hand stamped sentiments!

Tuesday is the last day to take part in the saleabration items. So do some social distancing shopping today!  Stay healthy!

Birthday card for a special friend!

I love the happy birthday to you stamp set! This is my favorite from the sale a bration offerings. (only a few days left so order now) I also love that they offered dies that to cut the images out. Wish they would have had one to cut out the "happy birthday" my fussy cutting lacks a little. I watercolored this card for one of longest and dearest stamp friends, Jill Pajaud! It is a big birthday for her this year! I am so grateful for meeting her through Stampin' Up! She and her family are such a blessing in my life. I wanted to make this card special because she is always the first person to always open her home to have stamp club! I have loved watching her family grow (wedding of her oldest son just recently)! She is always so compassionate and has the biggest heart I have ever witnessed! I feel so lucky to call her my friend!

I really took my time trying to watercolor this just right. I am sorry the photos are not the brightest. We have had a lot of cloudy days here in Southern California. I think my photography skills need some work. I had a lot of fun creating this with her in mind. I used ink refills and a paint brush with water to color the images. I couldn't help but add these beautiful little gems! They went perfect with the colors. 

I am so thankful for the friends I have met through Stampin Up! People I would never had met otherwise.  They have all made such an incredible impact on my life! I could never thank them enough for all they have done for me.  Thank you Jill for being my friend and I look forward to many years of friendship with you! Happy Birthday! I hope you can spend it with your family either in person or virtually. 

Friendship is a blessing!

Hello and so glad you are here!  I am posting a bright and sweet little card that I made with a few different stamp sets and supplies. I started to design this card around the sentiment. I really love this sentiment  from the so sentimental stamp set. Other supplies that I used were, stitched so sweetly dies, pinewood planks embossing folder, flowers from the free as a bird stamp set, bird ballad dsp and stampin blends to color the flowers.

I know that is a really long list of different products. It was just one of those cards that just kept evolving.

I fussy cut the flowers and leaves and curled the flowers to give a little added dimension.  You can't go wrong with any of the elements on this card.

All together I think the result is a beautiful card to send to a special friend! I would love to sent that card to YOU!  Thank you for visiting my blog and I hope you come back soon!