Be Your Own Kind .....

I have a quick post to share today. I made a birthday card for my fitness trainer using the You Got This stamp set from The Cat's Pajamas. I made the bunny into a girl bunny using pink and black paper pieced clothing.
I 
 I would have put a sweat band on bunny, but my trainer doesn't wear one.
 I used a piece of foil from a can of my husbands potato sticks for the mirror like background. LOL, yep, I love to recycle. But, it has the best thickness and texture. I fussy cut my embossed sentiment and popped it up. Pretty simple but I needed something special and personalized. By the way, she loved the card. 

I am entering this in The Cat's Pajamas challenge at

Thanks for stopping by my little blog. 

Joanie

Two more Graphic 45 cards

Wow, so I just couldn't stop, once I got started making cards from the August Cut Aparts paper. So to keep things short, here are two more cards I created.

Quite simple, but lovely enough to send to my friends.

My first CAS- Graphic 45 card

Ok, so the Graphic 45 bug hit me today. As I was browsing my local stamp/paper store ,The Checkered Cottage today, I came across the pattern directions to make this darling card. Sure, I could have gone home and cut the paper apart and then sat there and wondered " now what do I want to do with all these pieces?" Well, I came home with my Graphic 45 August paper and the pattern and got to work.

Here is just a sneak peek at the pattern. 

Here is my copy of the card. I used PTI Simple Sunflower for my flower embellishment. 

And the inside is my creation.

This was so easy and fun. Now I have extra bits and pieces to make a few more cards. These next ones, I will just wing it. 
Thanks for stopping by.

Joanie

Home....yep, there's no place like home...

I made a card for The Cat's Pajamas TCPTUES293 challenge. I don't have very many TCP sets, so I came up with a darling card from my newest collection. I used Take Flight stamp set and Birdhouses die set. I pulled a piece of paper from American Crafts- Amy Tangerine- Yes Please. I love using paper that has images in the corner. I do apologize for the picture. I got a new phone and didn't set up dropbox yet and now I am scrambling to get this posted.

Thanks for stopping by little blog.

Joanie

Fly

I have a new card to share today. I just got a new set of stamps from The Cat's Pajamas called Take Flight and the dies to match. I thought I would try the partial die cutting technique and then just stamp my birds.

Here is the a side view.

 I am entering this in the Cat's Pajamas May challenge TPCTUES291.

Thanks for stopping by my little blog. Have a great day.

Joanie

Sail into summer

Good morning everyone. Thought I would post a card that I made for The Cat's Pajamas TCPTUES291 challenge . Summer is right around the corner and I found some fun paper to use with my stamped image. My paper is from the 6x6 paper pad from Pebbles called Lakeside. Ooh, I just love this chalkboard style paper. Then I used The Cat's Pajamas set called Ship Happens. I stamped it onto watercolor paper and on the red checked for my paper piecing.  I used watercolor pencils for the shading and the inside of the cup. With all the words on the paper, I didn't think a sentiment was needed. I just love these little penguins and I have them all ready for a summer fun.

  I'm sending this card to my daughter, who is a teacher, and is off for the summer. She is planning a trip across the U.S. and plans to camp, relax and enjoy the National Parks that the U.S. has to offer. Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day.

Joan V.

Sunshine and flowers

Edited June 2015  Thanks to Great Impressions for choosing my card as featured below.
___________________________________________________________________________

Spring is in the air. Well, chilly air, at the present time. But, flowers are blooming, sun is shining, birds are chirping and I am stamping. LOL. I made this card for the Great Impressions Monthly Challenge theme Spring. The two stamps I used are Said the Butterfly E149 and Potted Kitty E617. The paper is from We Are Memory Keeper spring from a few years back. I just love the soft colors in this set.

Thanks for stopping by.

Joanie

Fussy Cutting with PTI Make it Monday #212

Over at Papertrey Ink, there is a little video ,with Ashley on fussy cutting, for the Make It Monday challenge. Wow, did this ever get me inspired to make a few cards. I use the flowers and pitcher from the  PTI Iconic Images set and the Feel Better Soon from the PTI Think Big Favorites #22. I wanted to make something simple that could be sent to a woman or man, so I did some flowers in blue and some in coral.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will go watch the video and try the fussy cutting for sentiments. I know this is one tip that I will be using a lot. Have a great day.

Joan

April Showers- Spring Flowers

Over at Simon Says Stamps, they have a Wednesday Challenge. This week it is April Shower - Spring Flowers challenge. The designers are featuring Memory Box dies, so I thought I would play along. This is the first time that I have joined in on a Simon Says challenge. My card is very simple but, I think I will make a whole box of these for gift giving. It has been trendy to do only partial cutting with the dies, so I chose Memory Box Caserta Bloom die. I did a partial cutting of the flower sprig, scored some lines underneath my flowers and at the bottom of my card. I used "thanks" from Flirty Flowers by Unity. I also have an embossed piece of blue paper with sporadic diamond shapes.I cut another sprig of flowers and used one for the lower embellishment. Inside, I used the rest of the blue sprig. Then I just added a few blings to the flower centers.

Thanks for stopping by.

Joanie

Delight in the Beauty of the Day

 Edited June 2015

Thanks to Great Impressions for choosing my card.
________________________________________________________________________________

 
Wow, I am here for the second time today. I have been playing all day, in my craft room. I found that if I enter challenges, I get some "one of a kind" cards made. I figured that I may use this challenge to get my Mothers Day card made. I have a few Great Impressions stamps, so I decided to dive right in and take the April challenge.You can find the Great Impressions challenge HERE.

My main paper was watercolor paper. To make the background, I spritzed my watercolor paper and let the water soak in for a few minutes. Meanwhile, I inked my embossing folder with some yellow , pink and green, then I embossed with the wet paper. This watercolor paper has a blue-grey tint. Then I watercolored Lizzy and fussy cut her out. I used black embossing on the vellum. So, that's my card. Thanks for stopping by...

Joanie

Relax with The Cat's Pajamas challenge

 

Hi Everyone.. Well, I spied a fun challenge at TCP's and thought it would be fun to ink up a few stamps. I have had this one set for a while and just love all the elements in the set. So, here is my card for the challenge.

This set is called What a Blast. See, isn't it darling. The paper I used was from Ki called Growing Garden. I used My Favorite Things Die-namics Blueprints 5 and a piece from BP12 for my layout. I used Spectrum Noir alcohol markers for my coloring. Oh, and I almost forgot my tiny grass and flowers. I pulled those from a Valentine Heart set that has little bitty pieces to add to hearts, etc.
Thanks for stopping by. Have a happy and relaxing day.

Joanie

NEVER GIVE UP- 1st 5K

I did my FIRST EVER 5k run today.  
This is a big accomplishment for me.

Wow, it was a chilly 29 degrees. The cold air just hurt my lungs... I never ran a 5k, nor did I train for one, so I was just winging it today. My hands and feet were cold, but I pushed through. I didn't know how to pace myself, so I watched a lady in front of me. I kept her in sight for the first 2 miles. Once we got into a few turns and onto a different street, I lost sight. But, I couldn't or wouldn't let myself slip to a slower pace.  I averaged 11 1/2 min miles. The total mileage, because they had us do a final lap around the track, was 3.31 miles. I did it in 38.12 mins. I finished 1st in the women50 and up group. I feel awesome about something I thought I couldn't do. This was on my wish list back when I was 50. Now I want to train to lower my time and run with my son, Tim.

Day 25 of the 30 Day Coloring Challenge.

Well, here it is day 25 of the 30 Day Coloring Challenge with Kathy Racoosin at The Daily Marker.
I have been busy coloring, but not posting. So, I have a few projects to share that I have colored.

These two are from a Stampin Up set, Faith in Nature.

Next, I did some Easter images that I pulled from a box ready to color. I finally got a Wink of Stella clear pen.  What a great touch to add to add that special bling...I know you can't see it on my images, but I put it on the Easter eggs and ribbon... Things always look better in person than on the blog posts.

Well, that is all for today.... Thanks for stopping by....

Joanie

Day 15 of the 30 Day Coloring Challenge.

Hello. Today is day 15 of the 30 Day Coloring Challenge at The Daily Marker blog site.

I have had ZERO energy and no desire to color for the past few days. Down with a horrible sore throat and now laryngitis. I haven't even been to exercise since Saturday.

But, today, I did sit on the sofa a color a few spring things. This is from a Penny Black spring set.

 

I stamped these on watercolor paper and used my watercolor pencils. I am going to cut out all the umbrellas and choose one for my card. 

Short post today.  See you tomorrow. 

Joanie

Day 10 of the 30 Day Coloring Challenge.

Whoa, day 10 has arrived on the 30 Day Coloring Challenge from Kathy, The Daily Marker.  Look at this lovely card Kathy colored.

I just did a little coloring for todays post. I embossed on Kraft with white embossing powder. These scrolls are from Autumn Leaves company. I used my watercolor pencils and did a brown on the scrolls.

I then stamped some flowers and embossed them, also. I watercolored them as well, then cut them out and popped them up with pop dots.

I also did some in blue.

 This is a fun technique and makes for a very interesting card. This is the inside of the blue card.

 Thanks for stopping by... until tomorrow, happy coloring...


Joanie

Day 9 of the 30 Day Coloring Challenge

Day 9....of the 30 Day Coloring Challenge by Kathy at The Daily Marker. and I am still coloring......  I find that I am doing just 1 card, were I usually do 6-8. I guess I will use these as my "I want to do more of these" cards. Kathy is working on some lovely flowers.

 

                                    I got this fun card done. I used a Stampingbella image.

This was pretty quick to color and assemble. An embossed background, some washi tape, a little more stamping, die cut my image, a little inking around the edges and glitter on her shoes. This is definitely one to make for my friends birthdays. 

See you tomorrow......until then, happy coloring. 

Joanie

Day 8 of the 30 Day Coloring Challenge

Well, one week down, and three more to finish up Kathy's 30 Day Coloring Challenge. Kathy posted the cutest bunnies on the My Favorite Thing blog, today. I did notice the white accents and white stitching Kathy added to her art work. I love that little detail and hope to start learning where to add the white accents.

So, here is what I colored for today's project. This is from Crafter's Companion, Mulberry Wood, called Gone Fishing. I used my Copic markers on this project. I didn't add any sentiment yet, but I will slide this in my completed card box and add a sentiment when I need a card. I think I will go back and determine where to add a few of the white highlight marks. This is something new for me, so I am taking my time with these white accents. Thanks for stopping by.
Until tomorrow, happy coloring.....

Joanie

Day 7 of the 30 Day Coloring Challenge

Today is day 7 of the 30 Day  Coloring Challenge with Kathy, The Daily Marker.  Kathy posted a card in honor of Lawn Fawn's 5th Birthday. Isn't is just darling and so creative.

So, in honor of Lawn Fawn's birthday, I pulled out my very first Lawn Fawn set called Blissful Botanicals. I made this quick little card (actually I made 6 of these) and added a sentiment from TPC Studio.

Thanks for stopping. Until tomorrow......

Joanie

Day 6 of the 30 Day Coloring Challenge

Good afternoon..... wow, I can't believe I got my day 6 coloring posted on day 6. Yeah for me. Here is what Kathy at The Daily Marker posted today. It's this card just awesome.

Well, I don't have any letter dies, so I had to fussy cut my PI girl from My Favorite Things out. I used many different stamp companies for my card today. The border is from Gina K, the sentiment is from A Muse and my girl is from MFT. I used my water coloring skills again today for my sky and grass and my Copics for my girls skin,shoes and the little birdie. I did a little paper piecing with her dress.

Wow, this 30 coloring challenge is really helping me get a nice stack full of card fronts and cards done. Hope you all are having as much fun... Until tomorrow, happy coloring.

Joanie

Day 5 of the 30 Day Color Challenge

Wow, I think I am finally all caught up with posting, with this being my Day 5 on Day 5. Whew.  I am trying to take lead from what Kathy at The Daily Marker has done for the day. This forces me to get out of my comfort zone and try new things, provided I have the similar kind of tools and images. So, today, Kathy did the most darling image.

I don't have anything that cute, so I went all out with my Art Impressions stamps today. Oh wow, I just realized how smooth water coloring is on watercolor paper. DUH.....

I used a combination of Faber Castell aquapencils and EF Mongol watercolor pencils. I also used a waterbrush. So, here are my fun projects for today...

Can't wait to put these on a card....

Thanks for stopping by...

Joanie 

Day 4 of the 30 Day Color Challenge

I'm back with another post, trying to catch up. I'm getting things colored, but I am slow to post. So, this is Day 4. I didn't get anything done for Day 3. Kathy, at The Daily Marker, did a darling floral image,

so, I decided to do florals, too..  Here is what I colored for Day 4...

I used an old CTMH set called Butterfly and Friends, some watercolor paper and my watercolor pencils. I really enjoyed doing these and now I will have two card fronts ready to finish.

Thanks for stopping by.....
Joanie