Beautiful birds

Hi friends! a quick post today to share a few quick and easy cards that I made with the free as a bird stamp set. This sketch is from Martin Mayhem's 30 day card making challenge. He has created 30 days of really fun card challenges.

For this card I used the sentiment from the inspiring iris stamp set and the pinewood plank embossing folder for the white background.

I colored the bird with stampin blends calypso coral and daffodil delight.

For the second card I used everything from the free as a bird bundle. I colored this bird with balmy blue stampin blends.

I have had a great time creating from the ideas that Martin listed on the 30 day challenge. I was hoping to create more however I ran out of time.  I will keep his list and refer to it often for inspiration.  Thank you so much to Martin for all the fun and creating this challenge.

GDP #237

Hi stamping friends! So glad you are here. Today I created my card from the fun color challenge over at Global Design Project Challenge. These colors are so pretty together and it was fun to use a color combo that really made me think.  Do you always reach for the same color combo? I know that I do.

For this card I used many retiring products, trying to give them some last minute love.  The products included:

Stamps: inspiring iris

Ink and paper: mint macaron, melon mambo, night of navy, whisper white and neutral dsp (retiring)

Dies: stitched labels (retiring), stitched rectangles

Other: basket weave embossing folder (retiring), solid white baker's twine

Thank you so much for stopping by. I would love any comments you might have and join in the fun over at the global design project blog.  

Don't miss out on this fun paper pumpkin! Order by May 10th. Let me know if you have any questions.

TGIF challenge - Belly bands

Hi and welcome! So glad you are here! I hope you are doing well and staying healthy. I made a bunch of cards for one of my customers to thank her for her recent order and decided to put them in the acetate card holders. It is perfect fit for 5 cards and envelopes. I saw that TGIF challenges had for their technique week belly bands. Perfect, just what my little box needed. Since the cards were all from the free bird stamp set and dsp I continued with that dsp for the belly band part. I wanted a big greeting and so the so sentimental bundle was just right.

I used the stitched label die (so sad this is retiring!) to add a little more dimension added a little white ribbon and fussy cut a few flowers. Hopefully my customer will enjoy this nice little package. Check out the TGIF website and see all the fun designers belly bands. They are all so talented.  Thank you for stopping by and stay home and healthy!

Fab Friday Challenge!

Hi! Thank you for joining me today! The fab friday blog has a fun sketch for this week. Visit their blog to see the amazing creations from the designers. I needed a masculine birthday card and the country club dsp seemed like a great option! I kept this card quick and simple.

Supplies I used:

Stamps: so sentimental

Ink and paper: night of navy, old olive, country club dsp, whisper white

Dies: stitched nested labels

Other accessories: whisper white solid bakers twine, burlap ribbon

Thank you again for visiting my blog! I would love if you would leave any comments you might have.  Have a safe and blessed day!

Freshly made sketches #431

Hello! Sometimes that is all we need to say just to make someone know that we care. So the sentiment for this card I kept pretty simple and used the sketch from the freshly made sketches blog. Do you ever struggle with how to use the small elements from a stamp set? This is the one way I reach for when I don't know what else to do, make background paper.

This card was pretty simple, just stamped the one element repeatedly rotating the view so that it looks like different stamps. Water colored the entire panel, used a die to cut out a scrap strip of paper to emboss the sentiment and the card was pretty much done.

Supplies used:

Stamps:ornate style, free as a bird

Dies: stitched shapes, stitched rectangles

Ink and card stock: pretty peacock, lovely lipstick, balmy blue, blushing bride, vellum, water color paper, staz on ink, versamark

Other accessories: white chalk pen, aquapainter, white embossing powder

Thank you for stopping by today! Let me know if you like the change I made to my blog (writing less and listing the supplies used for quick and easy reference) 

Stay healthy and check out the freshly made sketches blog, the designers have amazing cards.

Global Design Project Challenge 236

Hello! How is everyone doing? I hope you are all staying healthy and getting use to the new normal, at least for right now.  I made a card for the global design project challenge. I stayed pretty true to the designers original card.

The product I used were:

Stamps: floral essence

Ink and card stock: shimmery white, calypso coral, balmy blue, old olive, daffodil delight

Dies: stitched nested labels

Other accessories: scripty 3D embossing folder, watercolor pencils, rhinestone jewels, aquapainter, stampin blends

I stamped the flowers and then added a little more dimension with blends and water color pencils. Thank you so much for stopping by. Go to the GDP website and check out the fun cards that the designers created and join in on the fun! Have a wonderful and safe weekend!

TGIF # 259

Hi Everyone! So glad you are here!  For today's card I was inspired by the great team over at TGIF card challenge.  They have a really fun sketch for this week.

Check out them out here.

This was a challenge for me and really made me think outside of the box, which is what my brain needs these days.  I had these flowers sitting on my desk from another project that I didn't end up using them. So I forced myself to make it work. 

The flowers and the sentiment are from the free as a bird stamp set. I think these are such sweet little flowers and so quick and easy to color. I did not want the flowers floating and so I stamped the branch from the set with black on the poppy dsp that I had cut with my largest rectangle die.  

Before I adhered the flowers I gently rolled the petals to give them a little more dimension and added a little wink of stella. (Hard to get a picture of the soft shimmer) Finished it off with a few sequins. Make sure to go over and see all the wonderful inspiration over at the TGIF blog. They have such fun challenges. Thank you for stopping by and I hope that you will be back soon.  Stay healthy and keep praying for this virus to end! Take care! Blessings!

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!