Thank You

Happy Sunday Peeps!!

The challenge this week at The Card Concept, inspired my card I am showing you today.

 Pink Party!

Are you sick of seeing me use this  flower stamp yet?

It is an oldie but definitely, in my eyes, a goodie!

 

I love the flower, the size of the stamp, the fact that the one flower can be the whole focal image on a card. I love to color this flower as well. I used my favorite method of coloring, watercoloring.

I stamped the flower onto some thick whisper white card stock with black stazon and colored with my water brush. I have had several people ask me about my method of coloring on cardstock so here is a short description of what I do. Yes, coloring on card stock takes some practice, but it is my favorite method. The secret, if there is one, is a light touch and less water. I always start by coloring in the entire flower image lightly with my ink thinned with water substantially. I then go back in adding more color to achieve the shading I want . You do have to be a bit careful to not have to much water flowing from your brush. Practice, practice and more practice.

I fussy cut out my image and added it to the card with dimensionals. The white die cut piece is also added with dimesionals.

There is jus a bi of gold in the inspiration photo, so I added a bit of gold ribbon.

The sentiment is from the Peal Palette set.

You're in My Thoughts

Happy Saturday Peeps!!!

Today I am sharing a card I made using the challenge at The Flower Challenge Blog.

 Pink and Gray is such a pretty combo.

I had actually colored this image, 

from the retired Stampin Up set called Best Thoughts,  

a while back and had set it aside 

to do something with later.

When I saw this challenge I knew it would be perfect 

I stamped the image three times, masking off each time, 

using Black Stazon ink onto thick whisper white card stock.

I colored the flowers with Melon Mambo ink

 and leaves with Old Olive ink using my water brush.

 

I fussy cut out the top of the flowers and added a strip of 

Melon Mambo cardstock across the bottom.

I used Basic Gray cardstock for my base.

I stamped the sentiment with Versamark ink and embossed with white embossing powder.

 

I glued the flower piece directly to my card base, making this card completely flat and great for mailing. 

 Thanks for stopping by today!

Vicki

One Layer....Thankful for You

Happy Sunday Peeps!

Today I am sharing a card I made for the challenge this week at Crazy 4 Challenges.

Here is the Crazies Challenge for this week....

November 15 is Use Less Stuff Day

. In its honor I would like you to make a true one layer CAS

 card The theme is up to you.....Thanksgiving, Christmas, 

 birthday.....any theme

 

 

 

I am not big on one layer cards, I like layers and lots of stuff, but I am always game to try.

I knew I could do a one layer with my fave stamp set, Best Thoughts.

 

 

I stamped the image with black stazon onto some thick whisper white card stock.

I colored with my water brush and ink pads. I used Tangerine Tango and Old Olive ink pads. 

 

The sentiment is pieced together using the Country Home stamp set.  

 

I added a few little rhinestones around for a bit of sparkle.

 

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Vicki

 

Freshly Made Sketches...You're in my Thoughts

Happy Thursday Peeps!! 

I have had a busy week, grandbabies visiting, so fun but they keep me hopping 

and not much time for stamping.

So I am popping in quickly with a card I made for the sketch challenge this week at Freshly Made Sketches

I used another favorite stamp set that I love to color, the retired Best Thoughts.
I used my flower to represent the circle element in the sketch.

I wanted to keep with a fall theme so I used Pumpkin Pie and Tangelo Twist to color the flower.

The card is very clean and simple, but I like it despite the fact that I generally love lots of "stuff and layers"!! 

I stamped with black stazon onto some thick Whisper White and colored using my paint brush.

I used Old Olive for the leaves. The flower was then fussy cut out and mounted to my second white panel with dimesionals. 

The sentiment comes from the same set and stamped with black memento ink.

I added only one embellishment, the white bow, made with bakers twine.

The white panel was added to the card base with dimensionals also.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Vicki

Happiest of Birthdays

Happy Saturday Peeps!!

Today I am sharing a card I made with a couple of challenges in mind.

I used the challenge this week at The Card Concept, which is Spring Flowers:

and I am linking to the Seize the Birthday challenge which is Anything Goes this week:

I was inspired by a card I saw on Connie Collins blog to pull out this fave stamp of mine, Stampin Up Best Thoughts, which is a hostess set.

I stamped with black stazon onto white card stock. I masked and stamped two more images.

I then colored with my Aqua Painter and ink Pads. I used Wisteria Wonder, Old Olive and a bit of Soft Sky to color the images and to shade around the edges a bit.

I matted the image with some Wisteria Wonder card stock and the mounted to the base with foam tape.

I added a couple of sequins and a few silver pearls.

The sentiment is from the Birthday Blooms stamp set.

I am gonna leave you with another cute baby pic:

This little girl has stolen my heart!!

Thanks for coming by today!

Vicki

Heartfelt Sympathy

Hello my sweet peeps!!!

Today I am sharing another card I colored st the same time I colored the one I posted yesterday.

This is the Best Thoughts from Stampin Up. 

This one I colored using Crushed Curry ink along with a bit of Calypso Coral.

I stamped the image with black stazon ink onto some rustic cream card stock.

I used Wild Wasabi for the leaves.

I used my white gel pen to color the stamens.

I decided to add a Sympathy sentiment because it is nice to have this kind of card ready when it is needed. This sentiment is from a retired SU set.

The main image is matted with a die cut piece of Crushed Curry. this particular die cut is from My Favorite Things. I had to make it a bit smaller to fit my piece, so I just cut it and then ran it through again cutting it off shorter on two sides to fit my image.

The DSP on here is from the English Garden pack.

I added a few tiny pearls here and there and added the main image two the base with dimesionals.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Vicki

Happy Birthday

Happy Saturday Peeps!

Today I am sharing a card made with one of my favorite Stampin Up sets called Best Thoughts.

I just love this flower and I love to color it, this one is colored with Cherry Cobbler ink and highlighted with some white craft ink. The leaves are colored with Pear Pizzazz and Wild Wasabi ink.

The main image is matted with Cherry Cobbler card stock.

The card base is some Rustic Cream card stock from PTI. I dug into my enormous amount of retired DSP for some Cherry Cobbler paper. I am not sure the name of the pack this came from because the cardboard piece with the name was not with the pack anymore, but I am fairly sure it was a Christmas pack. I added some gold accents, some little gold enamel dots and a bit of gold foil paper.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Vicki

The Card Concept....Sympathy

Happy Wednesday Peeps!

Time for a new challenge at The Card Concept.

Here is our wonderful inspiration photo for this challenge:

I took my inspiration from the beautiful palette and of course the flowers.

I found myself in need of a Sympathy card this past week so I decided to use 

this challenge for my card.

I pulled out my most loved stamp from Stampin Up called Best Thoughts.

I used a couple of retired colors on my card, I used some Regal rose and just a bit of Bravo Burgundy. I did not have my Burgundy ink pad any longer but still had the marker so I scribbled a bit onto a clear block to use.

I stamped the flower image onto some Naturals cardstock with Black Stazon and colored using my aqua painter and inks.

The leaves are Old Olive and I used my white gel pen to color the stamens.

The base of the card is Early espresso and then I dug into my stash of retired DSP to find some

Bravo Burgundy paper.

I matted this with some of the Naturals cardstock.

The main panel is matted with Early Espresso card stock.

The sentiment is from the retired Heartfelt Sympathy stamp set.

I used some mini silver brads here and there.

I cut off the prongs on the brads and then used a bit of glue to add the tops.

Be sure and head over to  The Card Concept Blog to see what the rest of the team did with this challenge, you are sure to be inspired to play along with us!

Thanks for stopping by today.

\

Vicki

Crazy 4 Challenges.....Blue Birthday

Happy Saturday Peeps!!!

Time for a new challenge at Crazy 4 Challenges.

Our challenge this week is: 

Show Me The Blue!

September's birthstone is sapphire so make blue the most prominent color on your card.

 I decided to pull out one of my fave sets and make some "blue sapphire flowers".

I stamped the flower image twice on my panel, not getting the whole image on either side,

I stamped with Black Stazon ink onto some heavy weight card stock. I used my aqua painter and Pacific Point ink.

The leaves are colored using Old Olive ink/

The sentiment is from the Cottage Greetings stamp set.

The base of the card is Pacific Point and then a layer of Black and the DSP is from the Pretty Petals pack.

I added two more strips of Black and layered some Silver Foil paper over them.

I used three of our mini silver brads at the bottom under the main panel. I decided I would like to add a few more onto the main image piece but I had already added it to the base with my dimensionals, so I snipped off the shank and then just glued down the top rounded pieces. I love them so I am sure I will be doing that again!

Thanks for stopping by today!!!

Vicki

Friend

Happy Thursday peeps!!!

Today I am sharing a card I made with a few challenges in mind.

First I used the sketch this week at the Freshly Made Sketches Blog

I did move the strip across the top to the bottom of my square element on the sketch.

I used the Color Challenge at the Color Throwdown Blog

and 

finally I am linking to the SUO Challenge Blog, 

which this week the challenge is Cards for Friends!

No surprise to you all I used the Stampin' Up Best Thoughts stamp set.

I promise I will move on soon! :)

I stamped the flower and colored with my aqua painter and ink pads, 

I used Crushed Curry and some Garden green for the flower 

and then used Night of Navy for the blue shadowing around the flower.

The main image is matted with Daffodil Delight card stock.

The friend sentiment comes from the Endless Thanks stamp set.

I added a small strip of gold glimmer paper behind the sentiment panel and then used a bit of linen thread to tie a bow.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Vicki

Sweet Sunday.....Happy Anniversary

Happy Sunday Peeps!! 

Time for a new Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge

Here is our sweet sketch for this week:

What a great sketch! 

This one is free and easy one that has TONS of possibilities!  

Make the background the focal point, make the center the focal point, it's all up to you!

Well, I kinda made the background and the center the focal points on my card!!

I started out with some watercolor paper and stamped my flower image, which is from the Best Thoughts Hostess Stamp Set.

I colored the image using my aqua painter and ink pads.

After working hard to get this vibrant intense color on my flower and letting it dry thoroughly I moved onto the BG.

I wet the entire BG ( avoiding the flower) with some plain water before adding my ink and letting it flow around. I used Pacific Point for this stage.

I added just a touch of the Melon Mambo in a couple of places, and when mixed with the blue turned a lovely shade of lavender, you can see just a hint of it here and there.

After drying this thoroughly, with my heat tool, I went back in a dropped a few drops of water around again avoiding the flower. After letting the water set for a few I dabbed it up with a paper towel to ge the spotting you see.

The sentiment is from the Timeless Love stamp set and the line under that is from the Tim of Cards stamp set. I then added a few gold sequins to finish it up.

I hope you have some time to play with this weeks sketch!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Vicki

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Best Thoughts Set

Happy Tuesday Peeps!!!

Those of you who follow my bog regularly know a few things about me, I love flower cards and I love to watercolor.

I have been playing around with this set, Stampin Up's Best Thoughts,

 it is a hostess set and is my favorite set for cards lately.

Coloring is relaxing and is something I love to do,

So when I have reached the point where I feel the need to escape a bit I head to my craft table and make something pretty! 

I colored up these two flowers using Watermelon Wonder and Rich Razzleberry.

I decide to make similar cards with different sentiments.

I used a piece of DSP from the Pretty Petals paper stack and the sentiment comes from the Build a Birthday stamp set.

I stamped the image on these with Black stazon onto some Naturals Ivory card stock and colored using my Aqua Painter and ink pads.

I fussy cut them out and mounted the flower to an oval I cut with the Ovals Collection framelits.

I embossed the back piece with the Elegant Circles EF using my Big Shot.

The DSP on this card is from the Bohemian pack.

The sentiment on this one is from the Cottage Greetings stamp set.

Hope you like my little card set, I enjoyed making them very much. If you are interested in any of the products to make these cards, just click on any of the links below and start shopping.

Thanks for stopping by!

Vicki

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Sweet Sunday.....Happy Birthday

Happy Sunday Peeps!!!

Time for another new Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge!

Here is out amazingly "sweet' sketch for this week:

I LOVE a sketch with a tilted panel. do you?

I love the visual interest of the tilted panels,

 some love them and some hate them 

but either way you have to admit this is a great sketch.

 The large panel is open for almost anything!!

When I started my card I had  looked up another challenge which was a color one to use Bermuda Bay, Old Olive and Crumb Cake. So I started off with that not knowing I would end up using my Sweet Sunday Sketch for it. But that is what happened so I didn't get to link it with the color challenge because it ended before this card was to post. :)

But that is where my starting point was, I used my fave new set from Stampin' Up called Best Thoughts which is a hostess set.

I stamped with black stazon onto some naturals very vanilla card stock. I colored with my Aqua Painter and ink pads.

I fussy cut it out to add to my card. 

The base is Crumb Cake and the next layer is Bermuda Bay and then a layer of the Naturals card stock. I stamped the sentiment from the Happy Birthday Everyone stamp set, which is also a hostess set, with Black Memento ink. 

The flower is added using dimensionals.

I added a strip of Old Olive between the tilted panels and then button is an old olive one that i ties with a piece of linen thread.

Thanks for stopping by today!!

Vicki

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Crazy 4 Challenges.......Happy

Happy Saturday peeps!!

Time for a new challenge at Crazy 4 Cahllenges.

It is a new month and we have a new challenge Hostess, The fantastic Frances Byrne from StampOwl's Studiois this month's hostess.

Each month we have a new Guest Designer to play along with us and this month our Guest Designer is Anna Wight from Sassy & Sweet Blog.  

This week our challenge is a fun and easy one:

According to the holiday insights web site which list special days for the month, this month is Admit You're Happy Month. To kick start our month of challenges let’s create a card that includes the word 'Happy' on it.

I pulled out my favorite stamp set, the hostess set called Best Thoughts.

I stamped the image with black stazon and colored with my aqua painter, I used Cherry Cobbler ink on the flower and Old Olive on the leaves, I then fussy cut it out flower and added it to my circle die cut with a few dimensionals.

The base of the card is Basic Black card stock and then the next layer is more Basic Black that I embossed with the Elegant Dots EF.

Next up is layer of Silver Foil and then the pretty Black striped paper is from the Naturals pack.

Next is another piece of silver foil. I cut these all to make my flag banners.

I added a bot of silver thread behind my main image and added it all to the base with dimensionals.

The Happy Birthday sentiments comes from the Birthday Blossoms stamp set.

Be sure and head over to the Crazy 4 Challenges Blog to see what the rest of the ladies did with this "happy" challenge!

Thanks for stopping by today!

HAPPY STAMPING!!

Vicki

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

You Will Be Missed

Hello Peeps!!

Today I am sharing a card I made to go along with the gift I showed you yesterday that was for a friend and coworker.

I had to use my favorite stamp set, Stampin Up Good Thoughts, I have said before I love this flower and I am sure you will be seeing it more and more. Hope you don't mind!

I stamped the image onto some Naturals card stock and then again on some scrap naturals, I colored using Melon Mambo and Garden Green inks, I fussy cut out the top of the flower and set it aside.

I used the retired French Foliage stamp set to 'grunge" up my BG around my flower a bit. I used Crumb Cake ink for that and stamped off once before stamping around the flower. I didn't worry to much about getting it on my flower as I knew I would be adding the blossom piece of the flower over the top of the bottom image.

The sentiment on here comes from the Wild about Flowers stamp set. I stamped it twice onto some scrap paper and used my Label Bracket punch. I trimmed off the bottom portion of the punched piece to make it straight across the bottom. I sponged the edges with Crumb cake and added a staple on each side and stacked the two together with some dimensionals. No need to stamp the sentiment twice as I did cos the bottom doesn't show but I was not thinking about that at the time, I just knew I wanted to stack the sentiment to make it stand out a bit more. 

The base of the card is Crumb Cake card stock and then a layer of the Naturals card stock. The DSP is from the Neutrals pack/ The black striped piece comes from the Neutrals pack as well.

We had a little going away party for Lynn at a local restaurant on Sunday and I gave her the framed piece, a small matching Faith pin and this card. She seemed to like them very much and that made me happy. 

Thanks for stopping by today!

HAPPY STAMPING!!!

Vicki

Sweet Sunday....It's Your Day!

Happy Sunday Peeps!!

Time for another new sketch challenge over at Sweet Sunday Sketch Blog,

This week is PICK A FAVORITE, find a sketch from the past that you would like to rework and give new life

You can find all the past sketches HERE

I picked sketch #246

A couple of weeks ago I colored up a couple of these flowers from the Stampin Up Best Thoughts Hostess stamp set, you saw one of them yesterday that I did in purples and this one is done in pinks.

I colored using Strawberry Slush ink and my aqua painter.

I LOVE, LOVE LOVE coloring this flower, I think this set is my favorite of the new catalog, so far anyway, there always seems to be one flower set that I love to color. :)

This one I actually colored twice and cut out and popped up with a few dimensionals.

the flower head anyway, the leaves are just cut and glued to the base leaving the bottom portion of the leaves unglued to allow me to curl them a bit.

The base of the card is Naturals card stock and then a layer of Strawberry Slush

and then the flower panel. I rounded the top corners using the corner rounder on the envelope punch board.

The sentiment is from the Fabulous Four stamp set, I added a pink button, retired I think, and some of the fun new metallic thread looped around and behind the button.

Now be sure and head over to the CHALLENGE BLOG to see what the rest of the girls did with this fun challenge!

Thanks for stopping by!

HAPPY STAMPIN!!!!

Vicki