Brusho Merry Christmas

One of my wonderful Christmas presents this year was a set of Brusho crystals.  These little crystals are so cool -- with a drop or spray of water, lovely colors appear!  I think I will need to watch a few videos to sharpen my skills.  Here is my first attempt on a festive Christmas card.  I know, Christmas is over.  But... I plan to make a few cards every now and then so I'm not overwhelmed in November and December.  I'll try....

The card is a 'squash' card.  Loved making this card watercolor (rainbow), ribbon and die cuts for Festive Friday Challenge.

Festive Friday Challenge #FF0050




Have a great week!
Kathy
 

Merry Christmas

The weather outside is rainy and icy or so I have been told.  I haven't gone out and won't till the temperature rises a bit.   So, since I cannot run my errands, I'll make cards!  Love it!

Here is my 'merry' card for the Time Out Challenge  #150 - Merry & Cheerful.  I love Christmas plaids and snowflakes (paper snowflakes, that is).  The base card is a pretty green and the plaid paper is framed in white.  

The snowflake is the Tim Holtz die which I straight cut the edges to fit the sides of the card.  I've had the Merry Christmas die for sometime and don't remember the supplier.  I cut a white and a red sentiment and placed the red atop the white for a white, snowy shadow effect.  The card looks a little busy, but I like it!

 
 


 

 
Have a great weekend!
Kathy

Fall Leaves

Fall leaves are so colorful and pretty and the outside temperatures are so nice and crisp.  Sadly, for me, winter cold and snow follows.

So, I am enjoying this time now and looking forward to Thanksgiving.  With that in mind, here is a fall card for the Festive Friday Challenge #FF0047

I chose leaves, gold and twine from the inspiration list.   Autumn colored and gold leaves form a wreath on an embossed white piece (wood grain) and then placed on an orange frame and basic green card.  Green and brown twine form the bow wrap.

Have a great weekend!
Kathy

Friends

It takes a long time to grow old friends.  Ain't that the truth.  I love this stamp.

And I love the new format for the Festive Friday Challenge.  We get to chose three inspirational items from a list of ten to use on our cards.  Challenging, yet quite helpful, too!  So I made a lovely, simple card.

Here's my card:  I used this great stamp, orange and blue Copic pens to color the flowers and pot, orange and blue flowered paper for the background and a solid blue frame and basic card.  I really like orange and blue together.

 

 

Have a great weekend!
Kathy

Best Wishes

Best Wishes in black, gold and white.  The other night I could not sleep and my mind wandered all over.  At some point, I thought about a card I had seen on Pinterest and eventually came up with the idea for this card and the Festive Friday Challenge #0042 and CAS on Friday #163.

The Festive Friday Challenge required the use of three elements from their list of ten.   I chose black, gold and a pearl.

The CAS Friday Challenge required a die cut word -- best wishes.

I like this card cause it could be used for a birthday, new job, retirement or even a wedding or anniversary and would be great for a man!

Have a great week!!
Kathy


 

All Booked Up

The past couple weeks I have been 'decluttering' my house.  We have lived in this house for seventeen years and have accumulated so much good but unnecessary stuff.  My library, in particular, has suffered the most.  I just keep adding books, card making materials and crochet patterns and I've run out of space.

So, with Marie Kondo in mind, I started looking at each book:  do you bring me joy?  Surprisingly, some did not.  Those books were put in boxes immediately to go to the Woman's Club Out of the Attic Sale later this month.

Then the new Library Challenge was posted - Reader's Choice -- good timing!  I almost chose Marie Kondo's, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.  Instead I selected a book I read many years ago, All Booked Up by Terrie Curran.  The title is perfect for how I am feeling now.  And this book is still on my shelf bringing me joy!

 

Here's my card:

  I'm sure I'll be able to send this card to someone in the future!!

I'll also add this card to the Simon Says Monday Challenge Stamp It

 

Have a great week,

Kathy

Patriotic Celebration

Here's a pretty, patriotic card to celebrate any occasion.  The pinwheel design looks complicated, but it is really easy to complete.  I followed this tutorial which made it even easier.

I used pretty red, white and blue papers on a red base card.  Inside the card is a white insert with the 'celebrate' die cuts in red and blue on the bottom.  I shadowed the sentiment -- one just looked so plain!   Also, at the top of the white insert I added a 4" x 1/2" strip of patterned paper that you can't see.  Well, you can see a tiny, tiny corner of the strip.

 

 

 

I'll be posting this card to    Festive Friday Challenge #FF0041

 

Have a great weekend!

Kathy

Seahorse Easel Card

This is my first easel card in over two or three years.  I went through a phase of making lots and lots of them and then stopped.  huh?  wonder why?

Anyway, here is my seahorse easel card.  The seahorses are actually one thin layer of a 3-ply dinner  paper napkin.  I have a habit of picking up napkins from my friends' homes.  I must have fifty or more.  The styles, colors and shapes are quite varied.  So when I saw the new Library Challenge, I thought of the seahorse dinner napkin right away.

The color in the second picture is very close to the actual color.  If you are interested in how I used the napkin technique, click here.

 

Challenge 38 - Gift from the Sea 

 

Oh, my.  I read this book soooooooo long ago.   

Have a great weekend!

Kathy

Celebrating Kitty

This little kitty from The Stamps of Life is soooo cute.  When I saw it on a card on Pinterest, I knew I had to have it.  Then I saw the challenge at the Day of the Month Card Club -- good timing!


When I started this card, I remembered that I had picked up some paper with little paws -- took me forever to find it.  The lessons here are not to buy paper without a project in mind or it's time to organize the stacks of paper laying around!

After stamping the cat in black ink, I fuzzy cut it.  The sentiment is heat embossed with white embossing powder.  

#4 - Hug your Cat Day

 

Have a great week!

Kathy

Celebrate

What a cute little die!  Celebrate.  I've used this die many times for birthday and retirement cards. 

This celebration card is for The Library Challenge to use stripes.  I inked the raised rays from an embossing folder for a stripe effect.  The sun is shining brightly today so this cheerful celebration card came to mind.

Challenge 34 - The Art of Stripes 

 

 

Have a great day!

 Kathy

 

Enjoy!

Since rain has been pouring here lately, I've had a chance to make a few cards.  Here is my card for the Library Challenge - Death on the Nile. 

I like it, but I think I will redo it and make the green patterned paper with passport stamps a tad smaller so the burgundy border shows more.

 

Have a great day!

Kathy

All Creatures Great and Small

Love this little frog!  Happy Birthday card for The Library Challenge.

Happy Day,
Kathy

Celebrate

When I first saw the Mary Poppins challenge at The Library Challenge, I was disappointed as I thought I did not have a stamp or die that I could use.  But... while organizing my dies, I came across this set of stamps and an umbrella die that I have had for a very long time and never used.  yay!

So, I made two cards with the umbrella die that I will send to a couple nieces next month and I'll also post the cards to a couple other challenges.

 

Challenge 30 - Mary Poppins at the Library Challenge

Seize the Birthday  






Cards for Galz   Challenge 94  Pretty Papers



Happy Spring even though the tree pollen is killin' me.
Kathy

Country Mouse

Several months ago I purchased this stamp to make a birthday card for my great nephew who plays the trumpet.  Then I changed my mind so the stamp has been sitting on the shelf.  

And then... The Town Mouse and The Country Mouse challenge came up!  yay!!

 

This is my first entry to a Library Challenge.  As a retired librarian, I am so happy to discover this new challenge blog. 

Happy Sunday!

Kathy

 

Happy Birthday Watercolor

Watercolor backgrounds are always great as one never knows what the result will be and I almost always love the result!


Love these colors and the simplicity of the card.  Great guy card, too.

 

 Simon Says: No Stamps Challenge

 The Male Room:  Anything Goes

Have a great day,

Kathy

Hooray!

Celebrate a birthday of any age!  This card is so happy looking and colorful.

The white frame was embossed with a Happy Birthday folder.  I used the Papertrey Ink balloon die set and designer paper for the balloon.  Not sure this qualifies for the negative die challenge, but I had fun making this card. 

 

I made the second card in yellow and green and have two people in mind for these birthday cards.

Posting to the following challenges:

Make It Monday #349 Challenge

Addicted to Stamps and More!  

Have a great week.  Stay warm.  I'm starting to dream about our trip to Florida next month.  Can't wait!

Kathy

Cozy Reading Chair

Last week I purchased this book paper and thought it would be great for a background.   Then the email from Tuesday Morning Sketches arrived with the sketch for this week and I remembered a stamp set I hadn't used for a while that would go perfectly with the background paper.

With the Arctic cold surrounding us, I find this oversized chair, kitty and a book so comforting!

Tuesday Morning Sketches 

Stay warm!!

Kathy

Guy Card

Guy cards are not difficult to create, yet they are not easy either.  Flowery, sentimental and mushy female cards are so easy and so much fun to make.  Finding the right balance of masculine colors, graphics and sentiments is a challenge.

So, with that said, I made this card.  The pine tree is perfect for a winter, masculine card.  No frills -- just the basics -- Happy Birthday!

 

I'll be posting this card to a new challenge for me:  The Male Room.  My plan (sort of like a new year resolution) is to make more guy cards.

 

 And Seize the Birthday challenge #157






Have a great weekend!
Kathy

Sweet Wishes

I have had this pineapple die for some time now and wonder if I have used it correctly?  The die does not cut the pineapple shape as I had to fussy cut around the edges.  This is a cute pineapple as the leaves and pineapple pop out.   I will have to play with it some more and search for examples on Pinterest.

Speaking of Pinterest -- is anyone having issues with it?   I have created quite a few boards and arranged them mostly in alphabetical order.  Sometime in the last week, my boards were all mixed up with the latest viewed or saved to boards coming up first.  And I'm not able to rearrange the boards.  The top 'line' of the Pinterest page seems to be different, too.  I have messaged Pinterest, but have not heard back yet.

Anyhow, here is my pineapple card:

Posting to
CASology #260 Juicy
Less Is More #340 Tropical Fruits



Have a great weekend,
Kathy

Happy Birthday in Pink

Pink is such a lovely color.  I must like it cause when I look at my t-shirts and sleeveless shirts, I seem to have quite a few....

So here is a happy birthday card in all pinks and white pearls.  Simple, pretty and feminine and I have someone in mind for it.

pink card just for the challenge at  Cards in Envy

and

Tuesday Morning Sketches #414









  

Have a great weekend!
Kathy