The Paper Players #479: A Sketch from LeAnne

What a great sketch from LeAnne over at The Paper Players this week!  I love sketches like this that give me a chance to use some gorgeous DSP:

And speaking of gorgeous DSP, the Peaceful Poppies set from Stampin' Up may be the first time I met the UPS driver at the truck when he pulled up in front of my house!  I thought that set would be perfect for this sketch and I really let the paper do the work on this one:

I used SU's Poppy Parade for the card base, added May Art's red twine, and some Nuvo drops in purple and red.  The heat embossed sentiment is from SU's Peaceful Moments.  

Thanks for stopping by ~ have a great week!

Hugs,

Annie

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #052

Hi again! This time I'm playing along over at the Tic Tac Toe Challenge which is always so much fun! If you haven't heard...they took a little break but are back and have a wonderful Design Team with some new familiar faces to boot!

My card started with the third row down - PURPLE, SENTIMENT, KRAFT, but could also follow the first row across - DIE CUT, CAS, PURPLE.  

The Kraft cardstock is woodgrain embossed (Ellen Hutson).  I added the Copic-colored floral cluster (Concord & 9th's Meadow Blossoms) and the circle die cut (PTI) to the card base. The sentiment (SU) was stamped in Catherine Pooler's Royal Treatment ink.  I finished it off with a few Nuvo Crushed Grape Crystal Drops. 

Thanks for stopping by! Have a good week!

Hugs,

Annie  

Seize The Birthday #183: Show Me Your White Space

Hi Friends!  I made a couple of cards today while I waited out the storm.  The first card I'm posting was for Seize the Birthday #183:

The topping this time around is White Space ~ a clean and simple birthday card. Although white space doesn't have to be 'white,' I used a white card base to showcase the little bees and their foiled DSP hive.

I love the Honey Bee set from Stampin' Up and used the stamps and dies and the Golden Honey DSP for the hive. I used the honeycomb die included in the set to dry emboss a portion of the background although the photo doesn't pick it up well :( .  The sentiment is from MFT's 'Meant to Bee' stamp set, white heat embossed on a flag banner.  I colored the bees with Prismacolor pencils and added a few gold sequins and dashed lines for movement.

Thanks for stopping by ~ I hope you had a great weekend!

Hugs,

Annie  

The Paper Players #478: CAS Challenge from Jaydee

Hi Friends! Over at The Paper Players, Jaydee is hosting a Clean and Simple Challenge this week with a fun theme of "Woodland Critters:"

We have a lot of woodland critters down at the beach but one of my faves (besides the deer) are the little wild brown bunnies.  And since my next big card making holiday is Easter, why not a CAS Easter card for the challenge - with a little brown bunny, of course.

I used Concord & 9th's Stitched Blooms die to add the stitched flowers to the white background layer for some texture.  The bunny was die cut with Impression Obsession's Bunny die using scrap cardstock. The heat embossed sentiment is from Lawn Fawn. I added a few white gel dots and some Wink of Stella on his carrot snack.

Thanks for stopping by ~ I hope you're having a great week!

Hugs,
Annie

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #51

I was soooo excited to see that the Tic Tac Toe Challenge was back!  I missed playing along and love the format!

I played along with the first row across - Hearts, Pink, Bow - but this card also works for the 2nd row down - Pink, Die Cuts, Sequins.  I guess it's a two-fer!

The pink and red hearts were stenciled in two steps using Candied Apple and Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide inks and a stencil set from Simon Says Stamp.  The heat embossed sentiment is from Taylored Expressions and die cut.   The red bow and sequins are from my stash.

Thanks for stopping by and Welcome Back TTTC!

Happy Valentines Day!
Annie

Casology #361: Sweetheart

Lots of love and Valentines in the air!  I made a CAS card to play along over at Casology where the cue is "Sweetheart."

A stenciled heart with Distress Ink, a cupid die cut from Savvy Stamps, and an oldie but goodie sentiment from my stash was all that was used for this sweetheart of a card 💗:

Thanks for stopping by ~ Happy Valentine's Day!

Hugs,
Annie

The Paper Players #477: A Color Challenge from Ann

H friends! Over at The Paper Players, Ann has come up with a Color Challenge this week:

Looks delicious, right?!  I'm done with my Valentines which are perfect for this color combo, so I decided to go with a birthday card:

I used the line art typewriter stamps and dies called 'Type Talk' from Concord & 9th.  I loosely watercolored the typewriter in red  and used a sentiment from the same set.  I used Distress 'Spun Sugar' for the loose watercolor stripes on the card base, cut a black circle stitched frame from Lawn Fawn, and popped up the typewriter adding a little happy birthday sentiment.  The Nuvo 'Strawberry' drops finished off the card.  The typewriter is very retro and I love it.  It reminds me of my Mom's turquoise one back in the day!

Thanks for stopping by ~ I hope you're having a great week!

Hugs,
Annie  

Shopping Our Stash #413: My Heart is on Fire

Hello! Have I mentioned I love making LOVE cards!?! The latest challenge over at Shopping Our Stash is a love theme for Valentine's Day - My Heart is on Fire.

My card is using another one of my stenciled backgrounds in my stash:

The stencil from SSS has two layers.  I stenciled the first layer with Distress Worn Lipstick.  For the second layer I used Nuvo Silver Glitter paste.  The sentiment from Taylored Expressions (If Hearts Could Talk) was heat embossed with Hero Arts silver embossing powder, layered on a silver glitter die cut.  I wrapped the card with silver metallic thread before popping up the sentiment.  Lots of texture and shine on this card!

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,
Annie

The Paper Players #476: Claire's Theme Challenge

Hi Friends!  Over at The Paper Players this week, Claire is hosting a perfect challenge for those Valentines:

Here's my card to play along:

I'm still playing around with my stencil stash and having a lot of fun!  The falling hearts background was created with a stencil from Memory Box using the two-step technique.  First I stenciled the hearts on SU Crumb Cake cardstock with white Unicorn ink (Hero Arts).  Then I shifted the stencil slightly after the white had dried and stenciled again with Distress Candied Apple. I added the inlaid LOVE die cut (Concord & 9th) before layering on a white card base.  Lastly, I added some Glossy Accents to a few of the stenciled hearts.  

Thanks for stopping by ~ I hope your week is drier than mine!  

Hugs,

Annie

Seize the Birthday #182: Creatures Great and Small

Hi there!  Back with the third and last card I made today.  This one was to play along over at Seize the Birthday with the extra Topping of Creatures Great and Small:

Since I'm a retired Beach Bum, I had to get "crabby" with this one for my creature!

This little guy is a die from Elizabeth Craft called 'Rocky the Crab' that I die cut out of black, red, and white cardstock.   I created a Watercolor Wash background (Stampin' Up) with Catherine Pooler inks on a Neenah Solar White card base. Then I added some VersaMark to the sand and used Hero Arts 'Sand' embossing powder for lots of sandy texture.  The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp that I glued in Rocky's claws and then popped him up in the sand.  I added a little die cut seashell and some Nuvo Morning Dew Crystal Drops.  Finally I stamped some seagulls to finish the card.  Fun challenge!

Thanks for stopping by ~ come back again!

Hugs,

Annie 

Freshly Made Sketches #420: A Sketch by Jen T.

Back again with another challenge card! This one used the latest sketch from Jen T. over at Freshly Made Sketches as the jumping off point:

I am finishing up my Valentines so I can get them in the mail next week.  I love this heart stencil by Alexandra Renke.  With some Nuvo Moonstone Glitter Paste it just sparkles and really only needed a sentiment.  I found a great sentiment from SSS, layered the heart on black cardstock, and added to a white card base. 

Thanks for stopping by ~ Have a great weekend!

Hugs,
Annie

Casology #360: Crystal

Hello Friends!  I made a few cards today for challenges while the wind and rain raged outside.  This card is for the latest Casology challenge where the cue is 'Crystal':

So, before retirement and downsizing, I had beautiful crystal cocktail glasses that my MIL had gifted us from Germany. And, yes, they were well used at many fun parties!  Anyway, that's what I thought of when I saw the cue and the result was a cocktail party on a card 😉.

The glasses were die cut from MFT Let's Toast dies that I blended with Distress Oxides (Tattered Rose, Fossilized Amber, and Tumbled Glass) for the drinks.  Can you guess what the drinks are?  The sentiment came from MFT's A Toast to You stamp set. I added some bubbles and Nuvo Glitter Gloss to finish the party.

Thanks for stopping by ~ I hope you're having a great weekend! Can't believe it's already February...

Hugs,
Annie