Handmade Background Card #1

Hi and welcome to my blog. I hope you had a Happy New Year! Each year I have a series on my blog so that I can try to use up my many craft items! I know I never will, but I try to make a dent anyway. LOL! I will show my background cards every 2nd and 4th Tuesday. I hope that you will drop by often to take a peek.

This year's series will be all about backgrounds. I love trying techniques and I have made hundreds of card backgrounds. I am starting off with a fun background that I made using acrylic paints.

For this background I swiped purple, blue and white paints over the card in a horizontal and vertical direction using a credit card. After it dried I brayered some white paint on bubble wrap and patted it on the swiped background.

I used an image a stamping friend sent me. I colored the scarf and carrot nose with alcohol markers. I added Sparkle embossing powder to the snowman's body. He was cut out using the Gina Marie stitched circle die. The snowflake is a Cuttlebug die and clear Stickles glitter was added to it for sparkle.

Thanks for stopping by today. Have a great day!

Challenge entered:

The Artistic Stamper:  Anything Goes

Altenew Inspiration Challenge

Hi and welcome to my blog. My card today was inspired by this wonderful picture over at Altenew.

I used the Vintage Flower Altenew stamp set and did a lot of

masking and fussy cutting to make my card. The saying is from the Altenew Build A Rose stamp set.

I used some watercolors to swipe greens and blues across the card. To make the pot I used the Spellbinders Birdcage 1 die! I altered it to make it look like a pot. A dotted swiss cuttlebug embossing folder was used in the upper corner to add interest.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a wonderful day!

Challenges entered:

Altenew June Challenge:  Picture Inspiration
Modsquad Challenge:  Use A Flower
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge:  Anything Goes

Patterned Paper #6

Hi and welcome to my blog. As some of you know I have been digging in my stash of patterned paper scraps to find different ways to use patterned paper on my cards. Here is another fun way to use up those scraps!

I used the scraps to make birthday gifts. For the bows I cut off the ends of a Spellbinders label die.

The cute little hedgehog is a Penny Black stamp colored with alcohol markers. The saying is from Sparkle N Sprinkle.

Thanks for dropping by today. I hope your day is wonderful and blessed!

Challenges entered:

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge:  March 2019
Love To Scrap:  #119 Anything Goes
ModSquad:  One Or More Metal Die - No Digital
Penny Black:  Anything Goes
Simon Says Wednesday:  Cute
Time Out:  Hugs And Kisses And Lots Of Birthday Wishes

Patterned Paper #4

Hi! It is time again to show another way to use patterned paper! I saw this idea on pinterest and thought is was so cute and a great way to use up some of those paper scraps. I made candles by rolling up some scrap patterned paper and then adding baker's twine for the candle wicks!

The stamped image is from Stampaliciuos. I colored this clear stamp with alcohol markers, fussy cut it and adhered it by the candles. The lable is a Spellbinders die. The saying is unknown.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you have a wonderful day!

Challenges entered:

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge:  February 2019

ModSquad:  Clear or Rubber Stamps

You're So Sweet

Hi! I want to show you another Valentine card I made. This little jar stamp from Just For Fun is great for making a shaker card!

I used punched hearts and little red beads inside the shaker. The saying was stamped on a Spellbinders die and pop dotted to the card.

Be sure to hop on over to Just For Fun Stamps to see all their fun Valentine stamps.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you have a very Happy Valentine's Day!

Challenges entered:

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge:  February 2019
Simon Says Monday Challenge:  Love Is In The Air
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge:  Anything Goes
Time Out:  Inspiration Board
Tuesday Throwdown:  Anything Goes

Love Is In The Air!

Hello and welcome to my blog! I want to show you a Valentine card I made. I can't believe that Valentine's Day will be here soon!  At Just For Fun they have so many wonderful stamps to use for this special day. You can see them here.

I used one of the Postal Hearts on this card. I embossed it using black embossing powder, colored it using alcohol markers and fussy cut it to fit over the heart embossed Spellbinder die. I added a punched border, ribbon, cord and silver enamel dots for embellishment. 

You still have time to join in the challenge this month. The theme is to use blue and silver. We hope to see you there!

Have a great day!

Challenges entered:

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge:  January 2019

Love To Scrap:  Anything Goes

Tuesday Throwdown:  #423 Embossing Wet/Dry

Shabby Chic #24

Hi Everyone! This is my last shabby chic card for this series! Boy has this year flown by! I hope you are enjoying the Christmas season. It seems like each year Christmas comes earlier and earlier. Well, here is my card. The stamp is one I bought a long time ago at a stamp convention and I don't know the company since the stamp is just rubber.

I colored the image using alcohol markers and then I cut it out using the Gina Marie stitched oval die. I colored in the "stitches" using a brown marker. The image was layered on an Ellentina die and a Spellbinder die. These were layered on white card stock and then added to the red card base. The greenery was cut from an Impression Obsession die. I then added a paper poinsettia and some cord.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a Blessed Christmas!

Challenges entered:

Love To Scrap: #116 Season's Greetings

ModSquad:  Christmas/Winter - Use Metal Die

Your Next Stamp Challenge: #104 Anything Goes

We Three Kings

 Hello and Merry Christmas! I hope your Christmas is full of love, joy and peace.

The stamp I used on this card is the 3 Wise Men on Camels by Just For Fun Stamps. I stamped it using green ink and cut it out using a Spellbinders oval die. This was adhered to the fancy Ellentina die. The white background was embossed using a distressed stripe embossing folder. The edges were sponged using brown ink and then layered on a green card base. A Tim Holtz punch was used for the greenery and a paper poinsettia was added at the top.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a blessed Christmas!

Challenges entered:

Love To Scrap:  Season's Greetings

Time Out #125:  Celebrate

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, so I want to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving! I used a brand new turkey stamp from Just For Fun Stamps called Wild Turkey. We have had a flock of turkeys around our neighborhood for the past few months. It has been fun seeing them!

I colored the turkey using colored pencils, fussy cut it and pop dotted it to the background. The background was made by using a weave embossing folder and then swiping the raised areas with brown ink. I cut the leaves using the Memory Box Fresh Foliage die, cut from an inked background. I stamped the saying on the Spellbinders Fancy Tag die and sponged brown ink on the edges. The background was layered on red and brown card stock.

I hope that you will join in this month's challenge -- the theme is to use red, orange and brown on your project. You might even win a gift certificate to the store!

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a great day!

Challenges entered: 

2 Crafty Critter Crazies:  Challenge 20, Critter

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge:  Thanks/Thanksgiving

Just For Fun November Challenge

Hi and welcome to my blog. At Just For Fun Stamps the challenge this month is a color challenge -- use brown, orange and red on your project. Here is the happy birthday card I made.

It seems that I have a lot of Fall birthday cards to send and I love using the Fall colors. On this card I used brown Coordinations cardstock that has the kraft color underneath. I used a leaf embossing folder and sanded the card stock so that the kraft color showed through. I cut the Spellbinders Wreath die from kraft card stock and added the Just For Fun leaves to it. I stamped and embossed them, colored with orange and red Zig markers and then fussy cut them. I also added a bow and rust colored rhinestones for interest. The Happy Birthday cut from orange card stock is an unbranded die.

I hope that you will join in the new challenge this month. We would love to see what you make using these Fall colors. You might even win a gift certificate to the store!

Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful day!

Daisy Love

Hi and welcome to my blog. I want to show you a card I made using the Penny Black Daisy Love stamp. Isn't it cute? I have three cats, so I love this stamp.

I colored the image using alcohol markers. The image was cut out using the Gina Marie Stitched Circle die. This was framed with the Spellbinders Beaded Circle die. I added white enamel dots to it. I have been playing with all the pretty foils lately and added magenta foil to strips of double sided tape. The saying came from the Penny Black Critter Party stamp set.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a wonderful day!

Challenges entered:

Penny Black Saturday Challenge: Anything Goes, option sketch

Alcohol Ink Lift

Hi and welcome to my blog! I have been experimenting with the alcohol ink lift technique and I love the look! On this card I used Yupo paper and did the polished stone technique first using alcohol inks. I made my own "lift" ink to lift off the alcohol inks already applied. I found an old Versa Mark ink pad and spritzed it with 91% alcohol and it worked great! I took the butterfly stamp (stamp unknown) and tapped it a few times onto the ink pad and then stamped it on my alcohol background. The ink lifted off the alcohol ink colors and left the butterfly impression. I also used a stencil at the bottom of the piece and sponged the ink over it. This also lifted off the colors to leave the stencil impression.

I added a blue velvet ribbon across the card. I used the Fancy Frame Tag die from Spellbinders, cut it in half and adhered the pieces on either side of the card. Silk flowers and punched leaves were also added. I used a Stampin' Up splatter stamp on the card base.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a wonderful day!

Challenges entered:

August Essentials Challenge: Alcohol Inks

ModSquad: Anything Goes

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes

Shabby Chic #16

Hi Everyone! Welcome to my blog. I am sharing another shabby chic card I made today. I found this saying in my stash from Rubber Necker that had been cut out using the Spellbinders labels 20 die. I just love what it says.

I used some brown Distress ink to ink up the edges of the saying. I placed a page from an old book behind the saying, roughed up the edges and curled some edges and adhered all of this to the bround patterned paper background. I used the Memory Box Blooming Branch die cut from gold card stock and added little paper flowers to it and the butterfly. The butterfly was also in my stash cut from the Tim Holtz Butterfly Duo die that also has an embossing folder to use with it. Cord, pink silk ribbon and a yellow paper flower were added for embellishment.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a blessed day!

Challenges entered:

Frilly and Funkie:  Back to Nature

The House That Stamps Built: Anything Goes A2218

                     Word Art Wednesday: Anything Goes #348-#349

Shabby Chic #15

Hi! I am back again with another shabby chic card. I found the background in my stash and had an idea to use beach cabanas with it, but I did not have a stamp of beach cabanas. I was in a wonderful stamp store in Georgia called Impressive Ideas along with three of my good stamping friends. I asked them to be on the lookout for any beach cabanas and low and behold they saw one! This stamp by Pink Ink was perfect for my card!

The background was made by folding cream card stock like an accordion, swiping ink pads over the edges, then spritzing with water. When you open up the card stock, crinkle it a bit and you have a fun, distressed background! The image was stamped and colored using Distress inks and a water brush. I stamped grass by the cabanas and watercolored around them. The edges of the image were distressed using Tim Holtz's distress tool. I then sponged the edges with brown ink. I cut the tall grass using a Spellbinders die that was cut from brown suede paper. The saying is from Just For Fun Stamps.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a great day!

Challenges entered:

Pink Fresh:  Summer

Simon Says Wednesday:  Distress It

Here's The Scoop

Hi and welcome to my blog. I hope you are enjoying your day! Who doesn't like ice cream on a very hot summer day? I know I do. I have loved ice cream since I was a little girl. I remember listening for the ice cream truck and running to get a popsicle. I always got the double ice popsicles because you got more for your money. LOL!

I used the Strawberry Cone stamp from Just For Fun on this card. Homemade strawberry ice cream is sooooo good! Yum! I colored the cone with Spectrum Noir alcohol marker and colored with a clear Wink of Stella pen over the ice cream for some sparkle. The saying was stamped and cut out using the Spellbinders Fancy Tags die. I ran the pink card stock through a dotted swiss embossing folder and used strawberry patterned paper at the bottom. 

Don't forget to join in this month's challenge! The theme is stripes. We would love to see what you create! You might even win a gift certificate to the store.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a wonderful day and keep cool!

Challenges entered:

Crafty Hazelnut:  Patterned Paper

Time Out:  Food and Drink

Word Art Wednesday:  Anything Goes/saying #346-347

Butterfly Kisses

Hi! I hope you are having a good day. I was playing with string art recently and on this card the string art came out looking like a Gladiolus flower, so I used the Colorblock Butterfly from Just For Fun and added it to the card. I stamped it using watercolor markers and then fussy cut it. The saying is from the Sentiments 3 unmounted sheet. I stamped it on a Spellbinders Fancy Tag die.

We have a fun challenge going on and this month and the theme is to use red, white and blue colors on your project. I hope you will join in and you might even win a gift certificate to the store!

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a great day!

Challenge entered:

Word Art Wednesday:  Anything Goes

Shabby Chic #12

Hi and welcome to my blog. I am sharing another shabby chic card today. Quite a few years ago I bought some shaped card stock to make some different shaped cards with. It has been a long time since I have brought those card stocks out to play with, so I decided to use one for this card. I cut the card stock in half and folded it in half, now I have two pretty scalloped edges.

I stamped the butterfly ( by Anita ), colored it with watercolor crayons, fussy cut it and adhered it to the card. I added ribbon, handmade flowers ( from the Tim Holtz Tattered Flowers die ) and a leaf die ( Memory Box ) to the side of the saying ( Sparkle N Sprinkle ). I used the Spellbinders Fancy Tags 2 die for my saying.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a wonderful day!

Challenges entered:

Butterfly Challenge: Butterfly + Letter V ( Vintage, Vermillion, Vine leaves )

Double D Challenge: Butterflies

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes

The House That Stamps Built:  Anything Goes J2718

A Very Mice Day

Hi and welcome to my blog. I have been recently playing with a new type of card called the "impossible card." This card is not impossible to make -- it is actually quite easy! You can see how to make it here. I made two while I had all my stuff out and I know I will be making more!

I used this cute little House Mouse image and colored it with Spectrum Noir alcohol markers. I stamped the saying and cut it out using a Spellbinders label die. 

Here is the other card I made using a die to pop up.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a blessed day!

I want to enter the top card in these challenges:

House Mouse and Friends: Anything Goes - Option (die)

Crafty Hazelnut: June Patterned Paper Challenge

Two crafty Critter Crazies: Critter #15

Happy Birthday

Hi and welcome to my blog. I love the Penny Black hedgehogs and I use them a lot! This time I made a birthday card with one. I fussy cut the present that the mouse is holding - to put in his hand. The present image came from the Penny Black Critter Party stamp set. The image was colored using Spectrum Noir alcohol pens, cut out with the Spelldinders Labels 50 die and pop dotted to the card.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day!

Challenges entered:

Penny Black Saturday Challenge: Anything Goes/Option - Favorite Stamp

Sabby Chic #8

Hi and welcome to my blog! The saying goes, "April showers bring May flowers." Today I made my shabby chic card with lots of flowers. I really love the month of May. Here in South Carolina, May is our best "summer" month because it is warm and not so humid as later in the summer.

I found the white frame in my stash cut from a Spellbinders die. I tore several different patterned papers and adhered them behind the frame. I used a Tim Holtz die to cut out the left corner of the card and then I added some of the designs back in a few areas. The Tim Holtz bird was also in my stash and I pop dotted it to the card. I added flowers and Heartfelt Creations stamped leaves. The Happy Birthday stamp is from Stampendous.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you have a great day!

Challenges entered:

Crafty Cardmakers:  Birthdays #210

Crafty Hazelnut:  Patterned Paper

Inspiration Destination: Anything Goes/Real Stamp #148

Simon Says Monday Challenge:  Flower Power