Beach Floatie

Hello there! 

It's another rainy/stormy day here in central NC. We needed rain but now it's just getting ridiculous. I keep looking out the window at my veggie garden and hoping it's not getting over soggy.  From the window, it looks like it's flourishing very well, but up close and personal could mean something different. Not to mention I believe the birds or squirrels are snatching my tomatoes before they have a chance.  

Anyway, let me talk cards, which is why you're here.  A couple posts ago, I shared a card I made using an dried inked baby wipe.  This card is the negative of it and card #2 out of four I've created from two dried inked up baby wipes.  It was perfect to go with my Flamingo Floatie die in Cotton Candy ink.

For Following Challenges:

Four Seasons July Challenge 

I used products from Lawn Fawn, Waffle Flower, 

Catherine Pooler Designs and Hero Arts.

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Cocktail (Hero Arts).

Paper: Neenah 110# Solar White; Baby Wipe; Watercolor paper(Strathmore); Sticky Adhesive sheets (Sizzix).

Ink: Something Blue, Fiesta Blue, Cotton Candy, Be Mine (Catherine Pooler Ink). 

Extras: Beach sentiment die (Waffle Flower); Float - Flamingo Floatie (Lawn Fawn); Flower die (Catherine Pooler Designs); Wave panel die - Happy Waves (Waffle Flower). 

 Thank you for visiting. Have a great day! 

 Come back soon! 💖

Nance

Sandy Forecast

Hello there!

Happy Wednesday!

Hope your week has been a good one.  It's at least a tad bit cooler, maybe and quite stormy. It's nice not to have to water the garden.  

I have one card for now to play in Just Us Girls challenge.  

I've tried to resort some of my homemade background stash so I can find what I want quicker.  In doing so, I found some old ones made using the shaving cream technique.  It was perfect for this card I wanted to create for the JUGS challenge. I think it looks like swirly Caribbean ocean water.  So I used the wavy dies from MFT Stamps and created a beach scene along with the sandcastle die.  The sand and sandcastle are from some of my watercolor/smooshed ink stash I have from leftover ink blending.

For Following Challenges:

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Sentiment - Summer Sentiments(Ellen Hutson)

Paper: Neenah 110# Solar White; Watercolor (Strathmore); Neenah Solar White 80#.

Ink: Sand Castle; Cotton Candy; Minted; Buttercream (Catherine Pooler Inks).

Extras: Sandcastle, bucket, shovel, shells dies (My Favorite Things); Wavy dies - Sand/Surf (My Favorite Things); Label die (Taylored Expressions).

 I'm glad you stopped by my blog. Have a great day! Come back soon! 💖

Nance

Critter Soak

Hello again!

Another quick post.

I used the beach ball stencil from Spellbinders to create the background.  Decided to have the critters peek out from under. Then framed them with double stitched circles.  Kind of think they emulate floaties or portholes.  

For Following Challenges:

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Critters & Sentiment - Sunshine & Friends (MFT Stamps); 

Paper: Neenah 110 lb Solar White

Ink: It's A Girl, Garden Party, Something Blue (CP Inks). Copics.

Extras: Beachball stencil (Spellbinders); Circle die (CP Designs); Double Stitched Circle Die (Sizzix?)

 I'm glad you stopped by my blog. Have a great day! 

 Come back soon! 💖

Nance

Wavy Seashells

Happy Wednesday!

It's a very steamy and humid one here in NC.  Of course, it's July so that's pretty normal.  I have a quick post to share.  Seems like this week they're all quick posts.  Can't seem to work fast enough for some of these challenges and they begin to wind down quickly!

A few specifics about my card.  It began with a baby wipe.  I saw Michele's post a few weeks ago she had shared about her using an inky dried baby wipe on her card.  So I decided to try it.  This is one of the cards as a result.  I have three more panels from two baby wipes left to make a few more cards soon.  I used sticky backed paper to glue my baby wipe onto cardstock. Then I die cut it from the Wavy background die by Waffle Flowers.  I then adhered it to a background created from photo paper with ink of the same colors smooshed onto it that I had in my stash.  I like to create my own colored cardstock with my CP Inks so that's what I cut my seashells and coral from.  It does require re-inking your ink pads more often but It's cheaper than buying colored cardstock.  

For Following Challenges:

Four Seasons Summer July

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Sentiment: Seashells (Honey Bee Stamps).

Paper: Neenah 110 lb Solar White for card base; Photo paper; 

Ink: It's a Girl; Oh Boy (Catherine Pooler Ink). 

Extras: Seashell dies -Lovely Layers Seashells (Honey Bee Stamps); Small coral (CPDesigns); Wavy cover die (Waffle Flowers); Ink dried baby wipe. 

I'm glad you stopped by my blog. Have a great day! 

 Come back soon! 💖

Nance

Good Vibes

Happy Monday!

Hope your week has started out happy and well.  I have a fun post to share...

I created this using the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.  I did flip the sketch as my car faced the other way and I had to cut off the back a tad. I'm squeezing in at the last moment.  Had the card made and then got busy and distracted and forgot to post.  The Hubs is off work for a few days and we've been mixing in a little local fun with some domestic chores too. It's not often the Hubs has more than 2 days off in a row so when he does, my crafty time is interrupted.

For Following Challenges:

ATG Using Patterned Paper

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Boardwalk Cruisers Stamp set (Catherine Pooler Designs - CPD). Sentiment - Itty Bitty Summer (My Favorite Things-MFT).

Paper: Santa Monica Pier (CPD).

Ink: Uptown, Sand Castle, Gingerbread, It's a Girl (CP Inks); Copics.

Extras: Wood grain EF(StampinUp); Woody Car die (CPD); Sequins (CPD)

I'm glad you stopped by my blog. Have a great day! 

 Come back soon! 💖

Nance

Special Day

Happy Friday!

It's quite soggy here in central NC but a welcome soggy as we have been so dry. Just hoping the power doesn't go out.  I have another card I made this week to share. 

There's quite a few elements to this card as it evolved.  It morphed several times until it came to be what you see.  The floral die is from Pinkfresh and I had cut it out of three colors about three months ago and then got distracted and it sat in a bowl on my table.  So this week I pulled them out and pieced it together. I'll start with the middle layer, I used a scrap from an alcohol inked panel on coated cardstock that I had in my stash. Added the white border die. The bottom is a scrap of one of my custom ink to paper background panels I make here and there for layers or die cutting. The top layer is an embossing folder from Taylored Expressions. I have hardly played in The Flower Challenge and so this one is going in there today.

For Following Challenges:

I'm entering this card in two birthday challenges...

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Sentiment - Inside Birthday Quotes (Picket Fence Studios).

Paper: Neenah 80# and 110# Solar white cardstocks; Coated cardstock.

Ink: Sage, Minted, Cotton Candy, Lemon Sorbet (Catherine Pooler Inks); Various pink alcohol inks and gold alcohol ink (Tim Holtz).

Extras: Floral Vines EF (Taylored Expressions); Scallop oval die (Sizzix); Border die (Catherine Pooler Designs);  

 I'm glad you stopped by my blog. Happy Weekend! 

 Come back soon! 💖

Nance

S'More Love

Who loves Smores?

I admit it's one of my favorite treats.  I recently saw online someone put together a Smore tray with lots of different flavors of graham crackers and different chocolates. So guess what's on my treat list this weekend? Going to make a Smores Smorgasbord! Or Smores bar! 

Why am I talking about Smores? It's the focus of my card for this post.  I created it for the current Lawn Fawn challenge.  I have quite a few Lawn Fawn stamps/dies/stencils, but when I saw this challenge, I realized I have very little regarding food.  Luckily, I had their adorable Smores die. Everything on this card but the ink is Lawn Fawn.

I started by blending my background, adding some water spots and then die cut it with the Sunburst die plate. Next I embossed the sentiment. The mountains I cut from already watercolored paper or rather a smooshed background of green ink.  Anytime I ink blend or do ink to paper for custom colored cardstock, I will spritz the ink left on my glass mat and smoosh it onto watercolor or coated cardstock. Sometimes I use photo paper. I just can't sop up that ink and throw it away.  Seems criminal somehow. hahaha Then, I have a ready supply of colored backgrounds.  So this was in my stash.  The graham cracker pieces of my smore also were from already smooshed watercolored paper. I did take some Gingerbread ink and blend on the edges of those pieces for a little toasted look, as on the big and small marshmallows. 

Because the smore die has lots of different pieces so you have to cut it several times to get the different colors, I now have several more smores already made.  Wish I could do that with the real ones.  hahaha

For Following Challenges:

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Love You S'more (LawnFawn).

Paper: Neenah 80# Solar White and Neenah 110# Solar White(card base); Watercolor paper (Strathmore).

Ink: Samba, Catching Rays, Flirty Fuschia, Grape Crush, Juniper Mist, Mardi Gras, Gingerbread (Catherine Pooler Ink); Versamark.

Extras: Sunburst backdrop (LawnFawn); Stitched Mountains (LawnFawn); Smiley Smore Lawn Cut(LawnFawn).

 I'm glad you stopped by my blog. 

Have a great day! 

 Come back soon! 💖

Nance

Summer Time

Good Evening!

It's been a bit since I posted.  I've been in my craft room avoiding the heat as much as possible.  Thankfully we've had some good rain this week to improve our drought conditions.  Expecting more this weekend so you know where I will be - crafting away hopefully!

I have had this center panel in my UFO basket since 2020.  I had done some watercoloring (small panel) and ink blending (larger panel) and cut out the sentiment die from them.  I got two different panels from it and used the other one back in 2020 to create the first card. So I pulled it out this week and finally made a card from the second panel. The birds and chair were already all attached to the panel. And, I had the red frame in the basket also.  I decided to create a little more interest by turning it behind the panel. I embossed the card base with the 3D Wave folder to finish it off. I don't know if you can see, but the smallest panel is also embossed with the same folder for added texture.

For Following Challenges:

Card Supplies

Stamps: None

Paper: Yupo; Watercolor (Strathmore); Neenah Solar White 110#; 

Ink: Coral Cabana, Fiesta Blue, Sandcastle (Catherine Pooler Ink).

Extras: Wave EF (StampinUp); Bird dies (Impression Obession); Beach chair die (Impression Obsession); Sentiment Die (Simon Says Stamp).

I'm so glad you stopped by my blog. 

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Come back soon! 💖 

Nance

On My Mind - Color Hues Guest

Good Morning! 

I have exciting news ---

I'm the Guest Designer for the Color Hues Challenge!

Color challenges are my favorite and I really love today's colors:

Aqua and White have been a favorite color combo of mine for a very long time.  They were my wedding colors 34 years ago. 

I really enjoyed playing around to make this card. I did some gelli plate techniques with a stencil, a brayer and my Catherine Pooler Dye inks to make my background full of aquaness.  I've had the Birch Press Lotus Flower layered die for a while now and have not played with it until now. I love it dressed all in white! I had some aqua foiled sentiments in an envelope on my table and thought this one was perfect. I finished the card off with a few pearls within the flower.

I can't wait to see how you are inspired with these colors and all the inspiration from the Color Hues Team!  

For Other Following Challenges:

Inkspirational #319- Use Stencils (optional paste)

Krafty Chicks Challenge #722 - All Occasions

Group of Seven Cardmakers - Monochromatic Design Element

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Fancy Script background stamp (Hero Arts).

Paper: Neenah 110# Solar White

Ink: Fiesta Blue dye ink (Catherine Pooler Designs).

Extras: Mandala Stencil (TCW-Rebekah Meier); Lotus Flower die (Birch Press Designs);  Sentiment foil die and label die (Spellbinders); Pearl gems from stash. 

 I'm glad you stopped by my blog. 

 Have a great day! 

 Come back soon! 💖

Nance

Oh Yeah!

TGIF!

Happy Friday!

Hope you have had a nice week.

Mine has been busy with some traveling, gardening and life stuff.  I did manage to make a few cards.  This is the last one for the week.  I'm off to travel for the weekend so the craft room has been cleaned and prepped for when I return on Monday! 

I wanted to play along with Color Hues again and my first plan didn't really work how I had envisioned. So this is my complete left turn to something totally different than original plan.  I quite like it I have to say.  

Another new to me die that I have not had the chance to play with - the Abstract Mountain die by Ellen Hutson. The word die is also pretty new and never used until now. I started by ink blending cardstock in Sage and then one in Cotton Candy and cut them both out.  I cut an A2 size of Sizzix Stick It sticky and adhered it to one side of an A2 cardstock piece.  Then, I adhered each layer of my die cut to it to make it easier to align them.  I did ink up the bottom layer a little more for more contrast.  I also bumped up every other layer beginning with the bottom one to add some interesting dimension.  The moon was cut from the top of the pink layer. I glued the whole panel to the lace scalloped frame layer, and added the word die.  I had an inked sentiment for it but decided I liked the word die better.

For Following Challenges:

Darnell's I.D.E.A.S. - Week Four - Anything Goes

Card Supplies: 

Paper: Neenah #110 lb Solar White cardstock

Ink: Sage and Cotton Candy (Catherine Pooler Inks)

Extras:  Abstract Mountain die (Ellen Hutson); Fancy Scallop Frame die (Gina Marie Designs); Oh Yeah word die (Catherine Pooler Designs).

Thank you for stopping by my blog. 

 Have a great weekend! 

 Hope you come back soon! 💖

Nance

I'm So Proud To Love You

Good Evening!

I have another card.  Whatever are you going to do? This is the most consistent in cardmaking and blogging in months! LOL

Recently, our oldest adult child, Arrow(they/them), who is nonbinary, went through the official legal process to change their first name from their birth name to their chosen name, Arrow.  It's been a process and it's not over yet, but the most important part is - receiving court approval to do so. So, last week, as a family, we celebrated this important milestone for them in being truly themself. And, of course, I couldn't let such a moment go by without commemorating it with a card for them.  

I was really thrilled last year when My Favorite Things came out with a set of Pride stamps and die-namics. I've used the stamps more and now that I've tried the dies, I will definitely be using them alot for many things, not just Pride or LGBTQ cards. Sometimes I get a little intimidated by dies.  I don't know why since I love them.  I guess all the various parts and colors needed.  hahaha If you peruse my blog recently, you'd think differently.  I guess I've really embraced all the dies now. 

I did use the Wavy Flag die for this card. It was a bit of a challenge since I made the Progressive Pride flag which includes the colorful triangles on the side.   For the triangle part of the Progressive Pride flag, I cut corners off inked up cardstock in the various colors, adhered to the flag and trimmed it down. 

For Following Challenges:

My Favorite Things - June Card Cue - Summer Lovin'

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Sentiment - Pride is for Everyone (MFT Stamps)

Paper: Neenah 110#; Midnight, retired (CP Designs)

Ink: Cotton Candy, Samba, Orange Twist, Limoncello, In the Park, Oh Boy, Something Borrowed, Grape Crush,  Sand Castle (CP Inks).

Extras: Wavy Rainbow die (MFT Stamps); Woodgrain emboss folder - Sizzix. 

 I'm glad you visited my blog. 

Have a great day! 

Come back soon! 💖

Nance

You Got This

Hello again!

Sharing a post for Color Throwdown. Been having fun cutting a bunch of die cuts and doing some stenciling and embossing.

For Following Challenges:

 Card Supplies:

Stamps: Sentiment: Foiled sentiment (Spellbinders)

Paper: Neenah 110# Solar White;  Patterned Paper _Perfectly Plaid (Lawn Fawn).

Extras: Towering Blooms (Spellbinders); Scallops & Dots Layered frames (CP Designs); Kitchen Weave Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug). 

I'm glad you stopped by my blog. 

Happy Monday! 💖

Nance

Warm Hearted Friendship

 Happy Monday!

I feel like a hermit as I've basically been hiding out in my cool (as in temperature) craft room to avoid the sweltering heat outside.  So I have a card to share.  I tried to get it completed yesterday but it didn't happen.  

I've been wanting to play with these tropical birds for a while and finally cut out a bunch of them in several different tropical colors. The embossing folder I thought was too stark white against them so I took a small blending brush and light brushed some of the raised areas to get just a bit of color.  

For Following Challenges:

Freshly Made Sketches #641

Four Seasons Challenge - June ATG Summer

Card Supplies:

Stamps: Sentiment: Flock of Friends (CP Designs)

Paper: Neenah 110# Solar White;  

Ink: Cotton Candy, Catching Rays, In The Park, Suede Shoes (CP Inks).

Extras: Tropical Birds, Flowers Dies (Spellbinders);  Tropical leaf dies (Waffle Flower); Embossing Folder (Sizzix).

I'm glad you stopped by my blog. 

Happy Monday! 💖

Nance

Treat YoSelf

Good Morning!

A super quick post this morning before garden work. 

This card took a bit of a left turn than originally planned and it's growing on me.  Just a whimsy looking card to brighten your day!

For Following Challenges:

I used the first column - Layers, Die Cut and Patterned Paper

Card Supplies:

Paper: Neenah 110# Solar White; Stroke of Midnight (CP Designs). 

Ink: Pucker Up (CP Inks).

Extras: Ice Cream Die (Trinity Stamps); Scallop die & rounded rectangle die - Sunshine Mini Cover (CP Designs); Crystal embossing powder (Wow).

I'm glad you stopped by my blog. 

Have a great day! 💖

Nance

 

Monkey Wild

Hello again!

Another post today. I almost forgot this one. 

I've been wanting to play with these monkey dies for a bit now and yesterday was the day.  They are from the Going Bananas die set (flower dies too) by Catherine Pooler Designs and Sizzix.  It was so much fun die cutting these cute little primates! I paired them with the cover plate, Deepest Darkest Peru (also CP Designs), which I cut from Grass Skirt inked cardstock.  

I made this with the Freshly Made Sketch this week in mind.  I hope you can see the sketch as my design went a little more involved than originally planned, but I really like it. 

For Following Challenges:

Freshly Made Sketches #640

Four Seasons June - Anything Goes Summer Challenge

Card Supplies:

Stamps: Sentiment - Jungle Amigos (CP Designs).

Paper: Neenah 110# Solar White 

Ink: Icing on the Cake, Sand Castle, Grass Skirt, Pucker Up, Cotton Candy, Limoncello, Minted (Catherine Pooler Inks).

Extras: Monkey dies - Going Bananas (CP Designs/Sizzix); Deepest Darkest Peru Cover Plate (CP Designs).

I'm glad you stopped by my blog. 

Have a great day! 💖

Nance

Admit Two

Happy Monday!

It's going to be a scorcher week here in central NC.  

Hope wherever you are, you're enjoying some sunshine but also a little coolness. 

I remember when my kids were younger, one of our favorite summer activities was escaping the heat in the movie theater.  Nowadays, I guess with all the movie streaming, one can escape the heat in the coolness of your own living room.  

I must admit, sometimes that seems more inviting.  My dog, Ellie, would agree, as popcorn is one of her favorite snacks and she knows movie time means popcorn! 

That activty has inspired my card today - -

I used the die cuts, Movie Icons from My Favorite Things, which have been sitting in my NBUS tray for a couple months now, untouched. Kind of been my thing for a long while, pile up the NBUS tray until things begin to scream to be used.  LOL. I also used the sunburst stencil from MFT as well.  I inked up the stencil in Fiesta Blue then turned the stencil and inked it again in Suede Shoes. I also inked some cardstock in Fiesta Blue. Samba and Chiffon for a quick way to cut my popcorn box, popcorn and glassesThe background is cut with a postage stamp die by Catherine Pooler Designs.  The Sentiment is from the CP Designs set, Admit Two.  

For Following Challenges:

Freshly Made Sketches #640

Challenge #470 - Die Cuts and Stencils

NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff)- #63 June 

Card Supplies:

Stamps: Sentiment - Admit Two (Catherine Pooler Designs).

Paper: Neenah 110# Solar White 

Ink: Fiesta Blue, Suede Shoes, Samba, Chiffon, Midnight (Catherine Pooler Inks).

Extras: Sun Stencil (My Favorite Things); Glasses, Popcorn, Popcorn box, Movie Reel (My Favorite Things); Postage stamp die (Catherine Pooler Designs).

I'm glad you stopped by my blog. 

Have a great day! 💖

Nance