Hello, I had some time over the weekend to get inky and as soon as I saw the challenge at TGIF Challenges, I knew I wanted to join in the fun. The challenge is Vacation Vibes. Who doesn’t wish, right about now, that they were on vacation lounging in a hammock by the ocean? ME!!! Some of you are probably thinking, Nancy you live 5 miles from a permanent vacation and it’s called the Gulf of Mexico. LOL You don’t need to dream, just do it! I know that is true, but I don’t get out there as much as I should, especially this time of the year as it is just too gosh darn hot. Although, evening beach walks do happen on a more regular basis. Last night at around 8 we did take a bike ride. It was great till we stopped by the inter-coastal to look at the water, it was short lived, as we quickly had to get back on our bikes before we were eaten alive by mosquitos and no-see-ums. The key to bike riding in the summer, is you just have to keep moving.
I am also going to play along over at Happy Little Stampers for their Anything Goes with Dies.
Card Details: I made the polaroid type window myself. The sun is from Lawn Fawn on a piece of DSP, the scene and greeting were sponged with Oxide inks and then the water ripples were made with a stamp by SU. The flip flops are from Impression Obsession and the smile die is from MFT.
Thanks for coming by and I hope you have a great day and find time to be creative too! Nanc’
Hello, I am here today with the next challenge at Just Us Girls. Sue is our hostess and she wants us to use recycled items on our card and or project. Nearly every piece of my card is made from recycled cardboard…EXCEPT the watercolored paper that I inked up with some Oxide Ink to make the water. I do love the crisp whit card-front. I love some of the texture that cardboard adds to the design. The Palm fronds looks wonderful in real life.
Over at Simon Says Stamps Wednesday Challenge they have a challenge going on that is called Hello sunshine which is where my inspiration for my card began.
Card Details: MFT dies and Verve greeting. Some Oxide ink, water, and colored pencil was used as well. Pop dots for dimension.
Come check out all the creative ways the JUGS Design Team tackled this week’s challenge and then join us!
Hello, Over at The Paper Players we have a perfect challenge for this time of year, at least for those of us in the beginnings of Summer that is. I am waving my hand and saying me of course!! Although I must say our mornings and evenings are still rather pleasant. Ann is our fabulous hostess and came up with this perfect theme and pics to inspire us!
As soon as I saw this challenge coming up I jumped right in an cracked open my new stamps and dies from Sunny Studios. How cute are these seals? Sealiously they make me smile every time I look at them.
Card Details: I first started with a background that I feel is becoming rather my go to our signature look, but hey if it works why change it? The stencil is from MFT and sponged with Oxide Inks. The darling seals are new to me and are from Sunny Studios. The sun die is one that I adore and have had for some time from Lawn Fawn. I used a mix of Copics and Colored Pencils as my medium as I haven’t mastered Copics by themselves and at this rate probably never will. Hey, but that is okay!
I am linking up once again with the sweet Darnell over at NBUS and with the fun over at Addicted to Stamps and Morefor Make Your Mark.
For more amazing inspiration, be sure to visit the rest of the fabulous Design Team and see how they showcased SUMMER!
Hello! I hope you are doing well! Lisa is our Hostess at Just Us Girls this week and she has picked the perfect work for us! The word is kindness! Such an important word, don’t you think? I sent this card to a dear friend that recently lost her husband and that I did a few things for her, and in return she sent me flowers. It sure should have been the other way around, it was totally surprisingly sweet of her and so totally unnecessary!
Here is another view!
Card Details: The fun background is that fabulous emboss resist paper from SU that I use sparingly. I inked it up with my Oxide Inks. The green background is just some DSP that I thought worked well. I have had this slimline die cut set from Pink Fresh Studio called Slime Braided Circles for more than a few months now and finally got around to breaking the seal. My dear friend and teammate Carol is the queen of slim-lines and I hope to one day to have more time to make more of these type of cards as she always inspires me with hers. I incorporated my new dies with the flowers, the stitched letters, and leaves from MFT, the U is from Verve, the kind is from SSS. I wish I hadn’t put the Nuvo drops over top the centers of my flowers as they did bleed a bit.
I incorporated my card into two other challenges the Tic Tac Toe challenge where I used the row Blue, Circle and Floral.
I sure appreciate you stopping by! I hope you will consider joining us this week at JUGS! Before I go, I would like to welcome Fran to the team this month. She is our guest designer! Welcome Fran!
I have a very quick card today as I couldn’t pass up the chance to play along at the Make the Cards Challengewhere one of my besties is hosting. For her challenge all you have to do is use a stenciled background and a die-cut sentiment.
Card Details: I made a card just like this one a few weeks ago. You can find ithere!This drooping daisy die-cut that I believe is from Memory Box. I doubled the petal part as I don’t like it singular. The stencil is brand new and from Altenew and the Script Hello is new as well and from Simon Says Stamps. I used a piece of vellum on the shadow of the hello as well. The scalloped edge die is from MFT.
Hello, I am super excited to be guesting this week at The Tic Tac Toe Challenge. Thanks for having me ladies! This week they have another fun Tic Tac Board to inspire you with loads of possibilities. I am a huge fan of this challenge format as it really leaves the creativity so open and loose.
I have selected the top row of Wings, Sky and Square. To explain my choice: My seagull has wings, I have a sky and water background made with Oxide inks, and I have a square window in my design.
I made another card with a bird that also has wings and or flippers…depending on your perception. LOL
I am also linking up my card with the fun over at Addicted to Stamps and More for their Die-cut and or Stencil challenge. The stenciling is optional.
Card Details: I used Oxide inks to make my sky and water background and the rest of the products are all MFT. I used Copics and Prismas too.
Please come over to the The Tic Tac Toe Challenge, as the team has some really amazing cards this week to inspire you.
Hello, Happy Sunday! Today over at The Paper Players, it’s CAS week and the theme is Polka Dots. The sweet Anne Marie is our hostess this week. This is my Second card this week using a fun background that I made a few weeks back that was just waiting to be used on a card. Not sure I like this one as much as I like the Lily card I made for STB, but it will have to do. If you didn’t see that post, just scroll a few posts back and you will find it.
I am also linking up with the gals over at Happy Little Stampers and their Anything Goes with Stencils challenge.
Card Details: Background shape was made with a stencil I made with a Spellbinders Die. Then I used Honey Bee Stamps heart stencil and Oxide Inks to make my background. The Butterfly die is from Saavy that I backed with Polka dotted paper. It was a very quick card to put together.
For more amazing inspiration, be sure to visit the rest of the Design Team!
Hello, These cards will look familiar but I promise they are new, and I have not shared them before! This design is just one I have made before and just really enjoy. The stars above are a new idea.
A stamp friend of mine is hosting a Beach theme challenge over at Make the Cards Challenge and I wanted to support her and play along. Plus, I needed some more beachy cards for the stores, so it’s a win win. If you have not heard of this challenge, you should go check it out! There are tons of fabulous cards over there by Donna and the Design Team.
Here are two more!
Card Details: Stamps and Dies are all from Honey Bee Stamps, The backgrounds are done with Oxide Inks. The coloring is a bit of Prismas and Copics. I have put Crystal Effect on the straps of the flip flops to make them shine. I either used gems, dew drops, or sequins to finish them off. Oh, and lots of dimensionals too.
Thanks for popping in! I hope you have a wonderful Friday and or weekend, Nanc’
Hello, We have a fabulous Topping starting today over at Seize the Birthday. Colleen chose Bouquet, and I think everyone is really going to have fun with this one, I sure did.
I am also joining The Flower Challenge as they asked us to use our Favorite Flower. I have always loved lilies since I was a kid as my mom had them all over the yard. Now, I do too. I love that there are so many variations of colors. I just bought some new Night Lilies this year. They are a deep dark purple and white.
They are still celebrating their 2nd Birthday over at AAA Birthday, congrats to them! So I am linking once again with the fun over there.
Card Details: I had this background waiting on my desk for a few weeks now and wasn’t quite sure what I was going to do with it. It was made with Oxide inks, white pigment ink, and a Heart stencil from Honey Bee Stamps. I first made the outline stencil from a very old Spellbinders die. The beautiful lily die is from MFT and I just love how they look. The greeting is also MFT and comes from the Birthday Buddies Stamp Set.
Now, come on over to Seize the Birthday and check out the rest of the DT’s lovely cards and join us!
Hello, I hope your weekend is off to a good start! I have been wanting the MFT Otterly Love You stamp set for so very long and finally had the perfect excuse to buy it. I had a request for more cards using these cute little critters and I ran out of the ones my dear friend Barb had stamped, die-cut and sent to me. So I consulted the hubster and said, “Go for it!” Woohooo! I want to clarify he would never tell me no, he just helps me decide if he thinks it’s a good purchase and a stamp and or die I would use a lot. It also helps me diminish the guilt, as you know I need more stamps! LOL Who wants chocolate, perfume, or flowers for Mother’s Day anyway? Give this girl some stamping supplies and she is one happy momma! I may have thrown in a couple extra items in the shopping cart too, in order to get free shipping! Shhhhh!
Anyways, As soon as my box full of happy came on Thursday afternoon, I knew exactly what I was going to do with it. I have been wanting to join in the MFT Sketch and MFT Color Challenge this week. The colors were so vibrant and the sketch was going to work perfectly for what I had in mind. Plus, SSS is having an IG challenge to use your favorite technique this month. I think you all have probably figured out by know that I love making stenciled backgrounds. So that is where my card began.
Card Details: I first ripped some old construction paper to make my masking pattern. I like to use something a bit heavier than copy paper, as it doesn’t curl as much when I hit it with a blending brush. I then got out my MFT Perfect Pool Water stencil and my blue tone Oxide Inks and made the background, making sure to use the four stripes in the sketch. If you look closely at the seafloor it has a very light Antique Linen Oxide edging as well. I used an old speckled stamp to make the sand look more realistic. I colored my otters with Copics and Prismas since I am still not very good at Copics alone. Since coloring isn’t my strong suit, I decided to use some die cuts that are also MFT- from the Beach Scene Builder and Under the Sea Die sets to finish off the seafloor. In the end, I am pretty happy with the way it came together.
Here are a couple more shots!
In case you were wondering why bubbles are in my design. Otters Blow Bubbles under water:Sea otters spend a large part of their waking hours grooming and blowing air into their fur to keep it in tip-top condition. The tiny air bubbles they work into their dense fur keep their skin dry, provide insulation and help otters stay buoyant on the water’s surface.
Thanks for stopping in. I love your visits! If you are a mom out there, I hope you have a very Happy Mother’s Day! Mine is going to be rather quiet, I do believe.
