Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge 80 and Bring Back Beautiful Challenge

Hi everyone! I hope that you had a great weekend and  that your week is off to a good start. Another quiet weekend here at the little house in the woods. Friday night I went to a party where the hostess's good friend who is from India was there with her beautiful jewelry that she makes; I resisted any purchases since I lost one of the tiny gold hoop earrings that I wear 98% of the time. As I was brushing my teeth the other night, I noticed I was only wearing one earring. I was home all day, so I believe it must be in the house, but careful searching through furniture cushions and dusting of the floors hasn't turned up the missing earring.  Well, I guess hubby has got a great idea for a present for our anniversary in a couple of months (if I go with him and pick them out-hee, hee).
Last week's Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge hosted by Silke Ledlow was a color challenge--kraft, hot pink, soft yellow, and black. This color combination was a toughie for me. I  knew I wanted to use one Flourishes beautiful floral stamps, so I went through my stamps, thinking pink. I chose the stamp set Poppy Patch. While we normally think of poppies as red, there are some beautiful pink poppies.

 I stamped the image and sentiment in Memento Black Tuxedo and colored with these copics:

Now to work in more black, yellow, and kraft. This took a long time. I pulled out patterned papers, cardstock, and background stamps. After many choices and discards, I finally settled on my trusty PTI background stamps.

As always thanks for stopping by and for your comments,

Supplies:
Stamps: Poppy Patch(Flourishes); Background Basics: Distressed Stripes,  Background Basics: Tin Types(PTI)
Ink: Memento Black Tuxedo (Tsukineko), Raspberry Fizz(PTI)
Paper: Stamper's Select White, Raspberry Fizz, Kraft, Lemon Tart (PTI)
Other: Copics; Notebook paper die, Raspberry Fizz Grosgrain ribbon (PTI)

Waltzingmouse Stamps Blog Waltz

I am so happy to be able to participate in this month's Friends of Waltzingmouse Stamps Blog Waltz.  You can check the list of participants by visiting the Waltzingmouse Forum .The theme this month is vintage/shabby chic. This is a style I love, but honestly, it is not a style that is easy for me.
 I actually have two cards to share. The first uses an image that reminds me of one of my favorite purchases during my trip to Ireland a few years ago--a small print of a thatched roof cottage.

I colored the image from  Irish Blessings with Prismacolor pencils and blended with baby oil. I thought this might fit the vintage theme  since my coloring is pretty primitive.  :)  I aged the image with Antique Linen Distress Ink.  A little crocheted trim  and some zig zag stitching add to the vintage feel.

This second card is a little more shabby with its mix of prints, layers, colors, distressing, and stitching.

I used Victorian Frippery circle border and sentiment for the focal point which is mounted on a Label 3 die. I also stamped the border on Sweet Blush and cut along the bottom of the design.

 Enjoy your waltz; I know I will.


Supplies:
Cottage
Stamps: Irish Blessings(Waltzingmouse Stamps)
Ink: Memento Black Tuxedo (Tsukineko), Antique Linen Distress Ink
Paper: Stamper's Select White, Rustic White(PTI); We Are Memories Keepers; My Mind's Eye
Other: Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders), border punch (Martha Stewart), buttons (Paper Studio); trim
Merci
Stamps: Victorian Frippery (Waltzingmouse Stamps)
Ink: Sweet Blush Pigment Ink (PTI)
Paper: Vintage Cream, Sweet Blush (PTI); Paper Studio; K and Co
Other: Circle Nestabilities, Labels 3 Nestabilities (Spellbinders); Sweet Blush Vintage Button (PTI); flower (AC Moore wedding department); ribbon (Simple Treasures etsy store)

Pure Summer

When I saw the latest challenge on the Cards blog, I knew I wanted to create a card using an image I found at Scrapologie of a family vacation at the beach.

 I cut the starfish embellishments with my Cricut, embossed with Swiss dots embossing folder, and then decided they needed a little sparkle, so I added some Stickles. The starfish charm was in my stash and was the final touch.
Stay cool on this summer day!

Supplies::
Stamps: sentiment-Poppy Patch(Flourishes), Background Basics:Text Time 1(PTI)
Ink: Tea Dye Distressed Ink, Antique Linen Distress Ink(Ranger)
Paper: Rustic White, Melon Berry, Bitty Dot Basics(PTI); Gingham (Paper Studio)
Other: Border punch (Fiskars); Melon Berry Pure Vintage Buttons, Melon Berry Twill ribbon(PTI); Deckled Rectangle Nestabilities, Ribbon Labels(Spellbinders);A Child's Year cartridge (Provocraft); Fruit Punch Stickles

Bonkers for Banners

I've been lovin' all the banners on papers and projects in the last few months. I had been looking at a banner stamp set at Pink Persimmon for quite awhile. When I revisited the site a last month, they were releasing two tiny banner sets. So I decided it was time to load my cart and make a purchase.
For my inaugural use of these stamps, I made a card for my friends and former co-workers in the English department who head back to school today while I'll be headed to my Pilates and Zumba classes.  Can you see the huge grin on my face!

I started with the image from Little Red Wagon. which I colored with Copics and Prismacolor pencils. I was Dick and Jane primer kid, so I have an affinity for this stamp set. In addition, teaching different English classes with the various text books and novels, one often feels like a wagon is necessary to cart books home at night.  Our department does use a shopping cart abandoned in the school parking lot to transport textbooks from the storage area to the classroom. Those in public education must be creative and resourceful! :) I stamped the mini alpha banner stamps, cut, and glued them to baker's twine. Then I realized the upper left corner was bare. So I added a sun, actually the flower image from PTI's 2010 anniversary set. I had intended to swag the banners, but by the time I got to the point of attaching the them, I was ready to finish this card and went the easy and quick way with straight lines.
More pennants inside!

After stamping and cutting the pennants, I stamped the letters. After attaching them, I drew the lines to create the banner, leaving just enough space to squeeze in a signature.

By the way, can you guess what the school's colors are? :)
Have a good one.
.
Supplies:
Stamps: Little Red Wagon, Banner (small),Carnival Alphabet(small), Mini Banner Alpha (Pink Persimmon); Round and Round (PTI)
Ink: Pure Poppy (PTI), Memento Black Tuxedo(Tsukineko)
Paper: Pure Poppy, Stamper's Select White (PTI)
Other: Baker's twine(Martha Stewart), Copics

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge

Hey everyone! I hope your week is off to a great start. I've a quick post this morning. The latest Timeless Tuesday Challenge hosted by Dee Jackson on the Flourishes blog is  a limited supply challenge. " The limit? NO Embellishments. What does this mean? It means that we let the image we use speak for itself. We CAN use ink, stamps, paper, punches, die cuts, and coloring tools. We cannot add rhinestones, prima flowers, buttons, pearls, ribbons, brads, etc."

I stamped the lilac in Rich Cocoa, cut with a Nestabilities die,and colored with Prismacolor pencils. I inked the edges with Versamark ink to bring out the deckled edging. I mounted the image on an embossed panel, again highlighting the embossing with Versamark.
Be sure to check out Flourishes blog later this week for the August release.
Thanks for stopping by,

Supplies:
Stamps: Lilac, Falling Leaves-sentiment (Flourishes)
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa (Tsukineko)
Paper: Kraft(PTI)

Papertrey Peeps Challenge #13

Have I mentioned before how lucky I am to be part of the Papertrey Peeps. These girls are so amazingly creative! Every visit to their blogs makes my eyes pop and jaw drop. Thanks girlies, for all the beauty, fun, inspriration, and kindness!
 Carol  has issued a fun challenge on the Papertrey Peeps Blog to use Mary Englebreit as our inspiration. I always check out the Mary Englebreit dollar bins at Michaels and have some really cute notepads to use as shopping lists  However,I am not sure how Ed feels as he is walking through the grocery store with his bright, happy and CUTE grocery list. Hee-hee.

I made a couple of tags trying to capture Mary's style. I went through my PTI stamps first looking for images that reminded me of M. E. The most obvious stamp to me was a stamp from Everyday Buttons Bits. Mary and cherries--yep!  So this was the beginning of the first tag.

After cutting the tag with my Cricut, stamping the image and cutting it with Nestablities, I headed to the jumbled ribbon drawer where I discovered the ribbon I had forgotten. Yes, that is ribbon from the Mary Englebreit dollar bin at Michaels. Woo hoo! Love it when I make a discovery, even if I feel kind of foolish because I my memory has failed me once again.
The beginning of this next tag was an image from this year's PTI anniversary set with a paper base of Raspberry Fizz and Plum Pudding Bitty Dot Basics.

I stamped the flowers in Raspberry Fizz ink. The black and white borders are a stamp from a Crafty Secrets Halloween set that I trimmed after stamping, and the stamped border on the Aqua Mist is from Fanciful Flourishes (Flourishes).

A couple of happy tags to brighten some kraft gift bags!


Supplies:
Stamps: Everyday Button Bits, Round and Round 2010 Anniversary Set(PTI); Fancy Flourishes (Flourishes); Halloween Fun (Crafty Secrets)
Ink: New Leaf, Rapsberry Fizz (PTI); Black Tuxedo (Memento)
Paper: Pure Poppy, Aqua Mist, New Leaf, Raspberry Fizz, Summer Sunrise, Bitty Dot Basics in True Black and Plum Pudding(PTI); gingham (Paper Studio)
Other: Tags, Bags, Boxes (Provocraft); Nestabilities; Aqua Mist, Summer Sunrise grosgrain ribbon(PTI); Mary Englebreit ribbon (Michaels)

Seeds of Friendship

A few weeks ago Silke Ledlow was having a blog giveaway, and  much to my delight and surprise I was the lucky winner. I got to choose a stamp set from Flourishes release. I chose Seeds of  Friendship -- the perfect stamp set to complement my love of flowers and love of vintage. When I saw the first peaks of this set, I thought it was such a clever idea to be able to create vintage seed packets. I was thrilled when my set arrived, but Silke didn't just send the stamp set; she included another precious stamp, some sweet Prima flowers, and some silver and gold bling. THANK YOU, Silke for your generous gift!! Opening the envelope was Christmas in July!
For my first card using Seeds of Friendship, I chose the small image from Sweet Peas, because I didn't want to look for some post-it notes or take the time to mask. I know, lazy Mazy!

The soft colors of sweets peas were great for the vintage look of the card. I kept my coloring of the packet detail to a minimum, coloring only the word "seeds" with Copics V91 and V95. For  the sweet peas I used V000, V91,R81,R83, G21,G24,G28. I cut both sides of strip of green patterned paper with a border punch to create some paper lace. Some brown twine and a button are simple embellishments for this simple design.
 Have a good one!


Supplies:
Stamps: Seeds of Friendship, Sweet Peas (Flourishes)
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa (Tsusinko), Lavender Moon (PTI)
Paper: Vintage Cream Lavender Moon (PTI), green pp (K and Co), lavender pp (My Mind's Eye)
Other: Chocolate Baker's Twine, Vintage Lavender Moon Button (PTI); Fiskars border punch

Berry Sweet, Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge 77

With this post I met one of my goals for July--to participate the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge each week. The last challenge of July, hosted by Emily Keaton, is to use pins on the card. This gave me chance to pull out my beading supplies and make a couple of pins for my card.
First the card.

After cutting kraft cs with the library pocket die, I stamped the image from Strawberries with Black Tuxedo ink and colored it with Copics. Then I stamped the libary card in London Fog ink on. I rounded the corners with the Corner Chomper. Then I stamped the sentiment and strawberry which I also colored with Copics. I cut a tag from patterned paper and stitched onto more patterned paper from the Fly a Kite line. The green gingham rick rack trim was cut with PTI's die. I added some seam binding ribbon and my pins. As I was going through my beads I found two red ones that were shaped similar to strawberries,  so I topped each off with a green bead cap and I carried the strawberry theme through the pins.

Be sure to check out Flourishes Blog for the details on the new monthly challenge Bringing Back Beautiful
Thanks for stopping by and have a great week.

Supplies:
Stamps: Strawberries(Flourishes), Library Card(PTI)
Ink: Black Tuxedo, London Fog(Memento)
Paper: Kraft, Vintage Cream(PTI);Fly a Kite(October Afternoon)
Other: Rickrack die, Library pocket die(PTI), seam binding ribbon(Simple Treasures)