More Inque

Ok, I was playing again last night with my Inque Boutique stamps and made a few more cards. This first one uses the A Boy's World set. I stamped the rocket on some watercolor paper and colored it with my watercolor crayons then cut it out. The layout was inspired by this week's sketch challenge on Splitcoast but I ended up changing it some to work with my images. The papers are from the Marcella K remix papers. Just a simple boy card.

For the next card I pulled out my BasicGrey Perhaps papers and the Always Tat stamps. I did some zig zag stitching on the panels and sponged the edges with Ranger Distress ink (weathered wood). Then I stamped the ALWAYS in Maroon Colorbox chalk ink. For the heart I stamped it once with the weathered wood and then again with the maroon so it has a softer look. I cut the heart out and mounted it with dimensionals and then added a little pastel raspberry liquid pearls to it. To finish the card I added the May Arts ribbon. I think this would make a great anniversary card. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Thanks for stopping!

Hibiscus from Inque Boutique

Today I have some lovely hibiscus cards to share since I'm getting tired of winter and wanted to color some nice cheery flowers for a change. I pulled out my Always Tat set from Inque Boutique and stamped the hibiscus a couple of times on watercolor paper and colored them in using my SU watercolor wonder crayons and an aqua painter. For the first card I matted the flower on SU only orange cardstock and then I ran some scraps of yellow through my cuttlebug with my nestabilities to create a scalloped border. Then I added a scrap of My Mind's Eye paper to the wild wasabi card base. For the finishing touch I added the faux brad. It's really a thumb tack with the back removed.


For the second card I went with a white base and added a layer of Red with an orange mat. Before attaching them to the card I sewed around the edges a couple of times and tied a ribbon around the side. Next I added the happy birthday rub on from Making memories then I matted the flower with more red and orange cardstock. Lastly I added the scalloped frame over the flower using dimensionals. I made the frame by using my scalloped round nestabilities and then running it through the machine again using just the plain circle nestabilities die. I like the way it draws your eye to the flower on the card. I think I'll try working more frames into my cards.

As always, thanks for stopping.

Felt Flower and Sassy Stems

I recently purchased a used set of Sassy Stems. That is one of the sets I really liked from Stampin Up but never got around to buying it so when I found a used set I knew it was time to get it. I stamped the flowers and vase in Timber Brown Stazon on Very Vanilla and then colored it using my Watercolor Wonder Crayons and an aqua brush. I matted it on Paper Source Chocolate cardstock and mounted it using dimensionals. The base of the card is Blue Bayou and the colored strips are from My Mind's Eye Tres Jolie line of papers.

I was playing with my Cuttlebug and some felt scraps the other day and made some flowers using the Cuttlebug Asterisks set. I thought this flower matched up great with the flowers from the SU Sassy Stems set so I added the button to the center and attached it to the card.

As always, thanks for stopping.

Age is all in your mind.

When I saw this saying I had to buy it. It just makes me smile. I also think it pairs up nicely with this lady from TAC. I stamped her and the saying in timber brown stazon on SU very vanilla. I colored her with my copics then used a ticket punch on the corners and mounted it on SU cool caribbean. Finally I added brads to the corners. Next I punched out the saying and matted that on Paper Source chocolate chip and SU cool caribbean. The base of the card is SU very vanilla with a layer of 7 Gypsies Capri Journey paper. The saying stamp is from Firefly Designs.

After several days of bitter cold they are forecasting temps in the 30's for the weekend so it should be a good weekend to be outside. It's always nice to take the dogs for a long walk when it's not freezing out. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend whatever you do. Thanks for stopping!

Monkey Business

Sorry it's been so long. It's a shame when life gets in the way of stamping and blogging. he he

Here are a couple of cards I made using my Hero Arts Playful Animals set again because I thought it would go great with the fun Love, Elsie (Lola collection) papers and cardstock stickers that I won as blog candy from SmilynStef's blog (Ingenious Inkling). For both cards I stamped the monkeys on white with chestnut roan colorbox chalk ink and colored them with prismacolor pencils and gamsol. For the top card I stamped the vines in olive pastel colorbox chalk ink on white and cut them out. Then I stamped the leaves on green paper with the same olive pastel ink and cut those out as well. I mounted the monkey scene on a large Love, Elsie sticker and mounted it on a mat of lavendar. I inked the edges with brown to give it a little pop. I inked the edges of the other layers on the card then added the three small stickers to the right of the main image with brown matting. I thought the stickers worked well for the layout. This card uses almost the same supplies except I used pink (the bright pink from SU) for my card base. I added a row of paper piercing to the bottom and used my ticket punch on the corners then stamped the Yippee! on the patterned paper. This card is bright but I think it would work well as a birthday card for a young person. Thanks so much for the great blog candy Stef! I love it! And thanks to you for stopping by!

Hero Hippo

I love the Hero Arts Playful Animals set. Have you seen it? When I was in Minneapolis in December I found it at Archivers and had to have it. For this card I decided to ink up the hippo and go with a simple layout. I found this layout on Scoopy's blog (Stamping Scoops) and thought it would be great for my little lavendar hippo. The patterned paper is from a Rob & Bob slab that I've had for quite awhile. After putting that on the white card base I ran some dotted ribbon around the card and tied it. I stamped the hippo in Palette hybrid black and colored him with prismacolor pencils and gamsol. Then I mounted him on a lavendar scalloped circle cut with my Nestabilities and mounted it to the card with dimensionals. The sentiment is also stamped with palette hybrid black.

Thanks for stopping.

More Rubbernecker

I made another card using the Petite Word set from Rubbernecker. For this card I stamped the saying - Wind & Sea, Earth & Sky. . . the wonders of nature bring joy to the soul - in Timber Brown Stazon onto SU Very vanilla. I matted it with 7 Gypsies Capri Journey paper and SU Cool Caribbean. I set that aside and made a base out of cool caribbean and added a layer of more capri journey paper. Next I mounted the saying onto the base then I stamped the birds onto very vanilla with timber brown stazon and cut them out. I added a little shading to them with my warm grey copic marker and mounted them with dimensionals. The gull stamp is marked Nordenstrom Typ Och Stil '05. I bought it used so I don't know much about it but I thought it worked well with the saying. This card really makes me ready for beach and cabin weather. . . only 4 months to go!

Rubbernecker Stamps

I fell in love with the Stamp Oasis Petite Word Set (SKU 2000) from Rubbernecker while searching for the Treasure Hunt Tuesday stamp last week. Then I discovered the Brushed Lily stamp was the Treasure Hunt Tuesday prize last week so I had to place an order so I could get it for free! I didn't have much time for stamping this weekend but I did get a chance to ink up the lily and one of the sentiments from the petite word set.

I started with Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge 34 for my layout but altered it a little to make it work with my images. The lily is stamped on a piece of the backside of the patterned paper (My Mind's Eye Tres Jolie). I stamped it with Timber Brown stazon then colored it with my watercolor pencils and an aqua brush. I matted it with Paper Source Chocolate. Then I stamped SU Linen background stamp with Versamark on the green (scrap from my stash). Over that I stamped the phrase in Timber Brown stazon. The phrase reads - Honor the Seasons of Nature & the Rhythms of Your Life. This piece is matted with the same chocolate. I cut a piece of My Mind's Eye Tres Jolie paper 4 x 5.25 and matted it also with the chocolate then glued the green piece to it. I wrapped the ribbon around the layers and tied it. Next I adhered those layers to the SU Very Vanilla base and finally mounted the lily piece with dimensionals. As always, thanks for stopping.

Valentine Treats

Chocolates anyone?


We're having a Valentine Luncheon at work and I thought it would be nice to bring a little something for everyone. I heard yesterday that 30 people had RSVP'd so I got busy making some little favors. I knew I wanted to add labels to the Hershey nuggets but in order to see the labels on the chocolates I decided to use transparencies instead of patterned paper for my holders. I cut white cardstock into 2 x 2.5 inch pieces and then cut out 2.5 inch circles out of transparencies. I scored the circles in half and glued them to the base. Next I punched a hole in the top of each circle for the ribbon. For the labels I used the You're so sweet set from Clear Dollar stamps with Colorbox chalk rouge, warm red and maroon. I used a variety of ribbons to tie them shut.

The directions for these little candy holders can be found on Nichole Heady's blog {capture the moment}.

My daughter (17) , my niece (22) and I are going to go to a movie this evening so I'm looking forward to that. They are forecasting more cold weather for the weekend which I'm not looking forward to but I know that spring will eventually making it here. Just not for another couple of months. . . maybe April. Happy Friday everyone and thank you for stopping.

A Repeat of Yesterday

I had so much fun with both of the sketch challenge cards I posted yesterday that I used the sketches again. I even used the same patterned papers for the bird card using Anna's sketch. They were still out on my desk so I just grabbed them and made a second card. For the base of this card I used SU river rock instead of sahara sand. The bird stamp is from Inkadinkado and I colored directly on the stamp with my markers then stamped him on the white cardstock. The pearl center on the flower is from a package of Hillary Duff iron on pearls. I found them on clearance in the bead section at Michael's and I thought they would be perfect for cards so I bought a package. I really like how they look with the Prima flower.

For the SCS sketch challenge I pulled out my Stampendous Parkscape stamp. I used my markers on this stamp also then sponged some old olive on the bottom for grass and sky blue to the top. The designer papers were scraps and the brown is chocolate paper from Paper Source. The blue layers are SU soft sky. The 3 faux brads are more Hillary Duff clearance stuff from Michael's. They are iron ons that I'm guessing you would use to decorate clothes or bags but I used some popdots and mounted them on my card as brads. As always, thanks for stopping by.

Another great sketch challenge

When I woke up this morning I checked the sketch challenge on Splitcoast and ran to my craft room to make a card before I got ready for work. I love mornings when I can squeeze in time to make a card before work. All of the papers I used were scraps on my table so that part of the card went together pretty quickly. Then I pulled out my Three Cats stamp from Firefly Designs and stamped them in Colorbox chalk prussian blue onto white cardstock. Next I used the SU Linen background stamp with Ranger Distress ink in Antique Linen. I sponged the edges of the piece with the linen ink also. Next I sewed around the panel and mounted it to the card with dimensionals. For the finishing touch I added some large crystals to the darker panel and a small crystal to each kitty's collar. Sketch challenges are my favorite and this was another fun sketch to work with.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Anna's Sketch Challenge

Anna Wight posted a sketch challenge on her blog and I had the chance last night to make a card using her sketch. I decided to go with a nice soft look for my card and use some new designer papers. I started with a 5x5 base of SU sahara sand. Then I cut 2 1/4 inch squares using Martha Stewart Candyshop polka dots and Paper Heart Baby Stripes. I layered them on white and adherred them to the base. For the center image I stamped the solid heart with Ranger Seashell pink ink onto white cardstock and then the words in Colorbox chalk Rouge. Both of these stamps are from the SU Simply Said set. I sponged the edges with SU River rock ink and layered it onto sahara sand and then white. I mounted the center piece on dimensionals then added the prima and gemstone to the bottom corner.


I felt like it still needed something so I pulled out my Quickie glue pen and made dots on the heart then sprinkled it with some ultrafine glitter. This was a fun sketch to work with and I'm sure I'll be using it again.

Bud Basics and Best Blossoms

I love the Papertrey ink sets and when I saw Amy Rysavy's card in the papertrey gallery I had to try and recreate it. I pulled out my SU Bud Basics and Best Blossoms sets and made my version of Amy's card. I had so much fun with the card that I made a second card by changing up the layout a little bit. For both cards I used SU very vanilla and some LSS blue cardstock. I stamped the leaves with Olive Pastel Colorbox chalk and then I stamped the flowers with Prussian Blue Colorbox chalk. The flowers were cut out and set aside. I used my Nestabilities to cut the rectangle panel under the flower. Then I wrapped the ribbon around the card and mounted the flower with pop dots. For a finishing touch I used my Punch Bunch to punch out a flower center and then added a crystal. Just a simple card that I think would work for many different occasions.


For the second card I stamped the leaves again but this time I mounted the flowers right on top of the leaves and then added some paper piercing down the side to fill in the space. I added the ribbon to finish it.


The temperatures have finally warmed up and now they are forecasting 3-5 inches of snow by morning. I'll take the snow over the cold any day! I hope you are all having a wonderful week.

Valentine Crab

I finally pulled out the Crab & Company set that I won from Lynda's blog and used it to make a valentine. I love this set but just haven't found the time to use it. I knew it was time when I was looking at my Have a Heart set and noticed the heart in that set would be perfect for a balloon bouquet for 'crabby'.

I stamped the crab and several hearts with Palette hybrid ink on SU whisper white and then colored them with my copic markers. Then I cut them all out and set them side. I pulled out some assorted paper scraps for the layout and punched a scalloped oval to mount crabby on. He is mounted on pop dots for some dimension. Next I added silver cording to each of the heart balloons and mounted them with pop dots also. I tied the cords together and attached them to crabby's claw with a glue dot. The silver cording is from Pink Hedgehog Paper Crafts. For the finishing touch I added some staples to the pink flowered strip of designer paper for the SCS Ways to use it challenge from yesterday.

As always, thanks for stopping!