Seize the Birthday #212 - Spring Flowers

 Hello Friends! Cutting it a little close to play along over at Seize the Birthday where the topping this week is Spring Flowers.

Around here, nothing says Spring like pansies.  They are the first blooms to show up at the nursery!

Here's the products I used:

• Stampin' Up Fresh Freesia cardstock and ink (available May 4th)
• Concord & 9th Stripes background stamp
• Stampin' Up Pansy Petals DSP and Pansy Dies (Available May 4th)
• Stampin' Up White Crinkled Seam Binding (colored with Blends available May 4th))
• Mama Elephant Scalloped Rectangle
• Stampin' Up Happiest of Birthdays stamps
• Stampin' Up In Color Gems (available May 4th)

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great week!

Hug,

Annie

Seize the Birthday #208

 Hi Friends! Here's a card to play along with Seize the Birthday's latest challenge.  The topping is to "Create a Scene""

I was totally inspired by the great DT cards, especially Cathy and Glenda's gorgeous ocean scenes.  I decided to pull out one of my favorite fish stamp sets from MFT called "Adorned Ocean Friends" and create an underwater scene with various other foliage stamps and SU DSP.  The sentiment is from an old Simon Says stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Annie

Shopping Our Stash #438: Love is in the air!

 Hi friends!  I'm playing along with a couple of challenges today with my Valentines.  The first one is Shopping Our Stash #438 where the theme is "Love is in the Air!"

For this card, I stenciled heart balloons (Waffle Flower) with Distress Oxide inks and drew strings on a few of them.  I added Nuvo Glitter drops in Sherbert Shimmer and an old rubber stamp sentiment from my stash by Savvy Stamps heat embossed on black cardstock.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Valentine's Day!

Annie  

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #097

 Happy New Year and welcome back for another fun Tic Tac Toe Challenge!  Here's the board for this week:

I started with the first row down:  Flowers, Coloring/Ink Blending, and Stencil. 

 

I have this new stamp set from Concord & 9th called In Bloom.  As part of their bundle, it comes with the stamp, dies, AND these very cool stencils that you use to fill in the colors on your stamped image.  Since I did not feel like coloring with Copics or any markers (sometimes I just don't :), this set was perfect for my mood.  I used Distress Oxide inks with the stencils to ink blend and it was so fun and not nearly as stressful as "going outside the lines!"  In fact, I had so much fun, I did a second card using the first row across: Flowers, Twine/Ribbon, and Pink:

We hope you'll pick a row and play along this week!  Thanks so much for stopping by.

Hugs,

Annie

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #091

 Hi Friends! Time for a new board over at the Tic Tac Toe Challenge:

I needed a winter masculine birthday card so I went with the first row across: Bow, Tree/Leaves, Brown.

On a Kraft card base I layered a piece of Ellen Hutson's woodgrain cardstock.  I die cut the layered pinecones and boughs from Stampin' Up's Peaceful Boughs stamps and dies, then popped them all the pinecones and splattered a little "snow."  The card was finished off with a sentiment stamped on Kraft and die cut 3 times for a chipboard look.  I also added the linen thread with a bow up at the top.  I almost forgot the bow part of the challenge!

We hope you'll play along with us this week.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Hugs,

Annie

The Paper Players #516: Joanne's Colour Challenge

 Hello Friends!  Joanne has a great color challenge going on over at The Paper Players:

I'm knee deep in making my Christmas cards and although these colors do not HAVE to be for Christmas, you have to admit they are perfect and traditional. I grabbed some of my Stampin' Up holiday DSP (Heartwarming Hugs and Classic Christmas) and my Quilted Cutting Plate from Taylored Expressions and started die cutting.  I don't know if this plate is still available but I love it.  It's the closest I'll get to ever making a real quilt!

It's a bit of work to inlay all the bits, but so worth it!  The sentiment is from MFT's Cozy Greetings and was heat embossed with gold EP, layered onto a gold foil banner and over a gold bubble circle die cut from Memory Box.  The inside greeting is "Have a Cozy Christmas."

Thanks for stopping by ~ Have a great week!

Hugs,

Annie  

Shopping Our Stash #432: Hot Drinks for Cold Nights

 Hi Friends! I'm playing along over at Shopping Our Stash where they are looking for Hot Drinks for Cold Nights. 

 I'm not really a Pumpkin Spice Latte gal like so many of my friends but I do love a Spiced Chai Latte, especially in the Fall and Winter.

I found this die cut oval with a Copic-colored coffee cup (Unity) in my extra die cuts stash (totally by accident) and immediately thought of this challenge.  I added some DSP and linen thread to a card base.  I popped up the oval and used Glossy Accents on the heart.  I also did some splatters and added a great sentiment from Technique Tuesday to the inside:

Cheers to all and thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Annie

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #087

 Hi Friends! It's time for another fun board over at the Tic Tac Toe Challenge:

I love making Halloween cards so, of course, I had to pick the bottom Scary, Halloween, and Purple row.  

I have this scary ghosts die from Tim Holtz in my stash.  It's an old Sizzix Bigz die that I don't think is available any longer but I use it every year.  I die cut the ghosts three times out of white cardstock and layered them together.  I then coated them with Wow's 'Glow in the Dark' embossing powder and heat set a couple of times.  They really do glow in the dark!  The background is a piece of DCWV DSP that I inked up with Distress Oxide Wilted Violet and added tiny star sequins to the sky.  I layered the spookiness on a violet card base and popped up the SSS sentiment.  Boo!

We hope you'll play along this week and maybe get spooky?  Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Annie

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #085

 Hi Friends! Here's the new board for this week's challenge over at Tic Tac Toe:

And here's my DT card following the first row down: Pumpkins, Orange, and Fall.

I've had this great fall DSP from DCWV for a very long time and decided to let it do the work for my Thanksgiving card.  It has flecks of gold in it which were hard to photograph but I die cut gold vines for the pumpkins to coordinate.  The Pretty Pumpkins from Sunny Studio are layering stamps that give the pumpkins some fun dimension with three different shades of orange ink. The doily was die cut out of kraft cardstock and the card base is Cajun Craze from Stampin' Up.  

We hope you'll play along this week! See you in the gallery!

Hugs,

Annie

Shopping Our Stash #430: Slimline Cards

 Hi Friends! I'm playing along over at Shopping Our Stash where they are getting trendy this week and looking for slimline cards. 

 This is only the third slimline card I've made.  I did buy a slimline die set from Catherine Pooler so I didn't have to think about the measurements too much!

I used Distress Inks with a SSS Leaves stencil on watercolor card, did some splattering, and die cut into squares.  I added some SU linen thread and a SU sentiment and then finished off the card with gold confetti sequins.  Now I just need to practice how to photograph these tall cards! LOL!

Thanks for stopping by ~ hope you're having a good week.

Hugs,

Annie

The Paper Players #510: Joanne's Sketch Challenge

 Hi Friends! Joanne has created a fun sketch to play along with this week over at The Paper Players:

Look at those layers! Love the chance to use DSP in so many different ways!

And yep, I'm still playing with Halloween cards - one of my faves to make.  I substituted my die cut witchy legs (DieVersions) and witch hat (Darice) for the banner in the sketch. The DSP is from MFT's Creepy Confections and the sentiment is from MFT's Spooky Sentiments. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Annie 

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #083: Fangtastic Halloween

 Hello Friends!  Time for another Tic Tac Toe Challenge and a brand new board:

I went with the first row on the diagonal: Slimline Card, Splatter, and Green:

I LOVE making Halloween cards, even more so than Christmas.  This is my 2nd Slimline card ever and I have to admit, having the extra "real estate" is fun to play with! I stenciled the clouds with Distress Oxide Twisted Citron because it is my all time favorite green.  The little bats are from a Taylored Expressions set called "Gone Batty." It's an old set but I just love it...more than the bat that decided to sleep inside my patio umbrella...EEEK!  Anyway, I used simple Copic coloring on the bats and after generously splattering with my ink refill, I popped them up.  I added Stampin' Up black star sequins and Glossy Accents on the eyeballs.  Fangtastic!

Please head over to TTTC, check out the other DT member cards, and play along!  We'd love to see you in the gallery.

Hugs,

Annie

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #082

Hi Friends! There's a new board from the Tic Tac Toe Challenge and it's time to pick three and play!

I played along with the third row across:  Die Cuts, Sentiment, & Kraft.

I die cut the Lots of Leaves Cover Up (MFT) out of watercolor cardstock.  I know I'll be using this a lot this fall - love it!  I "smooshed" the leaf frame die cut into various Distress Inks on a piece of acetate (Crackling Campfire, Mustard, Wild Honey, and Rusty Hinge).  After it dried, I added it to a Kraft card base and splattered with gold metallic paints.  The Thanks die from Altenew was die cut 3 times from Gold cardstock and layered together for a nice thick sentiment.  The gold confetti sequins from Pretty Pink Posh finished off the card.

I also want to link this card up to Shopping Our Stash #429: Make a Mess!

My fingers were completely covered with ink after "smooshing" the die cut into all that Distress Ink and water...not once but again after it dried.  So fun but oh so messy!  

Thanks for stopping by and we hope to see you in the gallery!

Hugs,

Annie 

Seize the Birthday #199: Die Cuts

 Hello Friends!  Over the past few days, the air is very heavy with smoke from all of the wildfires in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.  Everyone has been told to stay indoors as it's so unhealthy.  But...crafting IS healthy, so I played along with Seize the Birthday's latest challenge today:

The Topping is to use die cuts only and you can add an optional stamped sentiment. I needed a masculine birthday card for next week, so I kept the card very clean and layered (just like my friend that its going to :)

I grabbed a great piece of plaid from Stampin' Up's Plaid Tidings DSP and die cut a layer of black cardstock to place on a Gina K. Red Velvet card base.  The candle is a layering die cut from Stamps of Life that I've had forever.  The sentiment is from an old rubber stamp by JudiKins that I heat embossed.  Very simple card ~ I wanted to jazz it up with sequins and ribbon but...it is a guy card! LOL!

Thanks for stopping by ~ Have a great week!

Hugs,

Annie

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #081

 Hello Friends!  Time for a new board over at the Tic Tac Toe Challenge!  This one had me thinking about Fall:

My card is following the third row down: Orange/Rust, Leaf/Leaves, and Plaid.

It all started with a gorgeous piece of plaid DSP from Stampin' Up's Plaid Tidings.  I loved the orange and purple together!  The purple card base was embossed with Renke's Grid embossing folder.  I added the plaid strip and a strip of orange glitter cardstock.  The leaves were created using Stampin' Up's Love of Leaves stamp set and Stitched Leaves dies.  On the stitched vellum oval, I layered the Memory Box Hello die cut with orange cardstock (2) and offset it a bit with a die cut from the orange glitter cardstock.  A few Pretty Pink Posh gold confetti sequins finished off this card. 

Thanks for visiting! We hope you'll find some time to play along with us this week!

Hugs,

Annie 

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #080

 Hi Friends!  Are you ready to play along with a new Tic Tac Toe Challenge board from Team X?  It's a good one with lots of possibilities!

My card follows the first row across: Stripes, Masculine, and Blue.

I started with a piece of watercolor card and stenciled the wavy lines (stripes) with Distress Inks and a stencil from Simon Says Stamp and then layered it onto a Neenah Solar White card base.  The anchor was die cut 3 times with the 'Anchors Away' die from Spellbinders out of Glimmery Coal cardstock (SSS) and layered on a MFT circle die cut.  The sentiment from MFT's 'You Float My Boat' was heat embossed and tucked under the anchor.  I finished off the card with Waffle Flower Clear Enamel Dots that I colored with a blue Copic.

We hope you'll play along with us over at TTTC this week! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Hugs,

Annie  

Seize the Birthday #198: Add Gold

 Hi Friends!  A quick card today to play along over at Seize the Birthday's latest challenge.  The challenge is always a birthday theme but you can add a topping also if you'd like.  This week's topping is to "Add Gold:"

I did add a topping this week and went with a black/white/gold color scheme:

On a Neenah Solar White card base, I layered a piece of Bazzill's Gold Matte cardstock.  I inked up Hero Arts' Presents background and stamped on a piece of watercolor cardstock.  Using FineTec Metallic watercolors, I loosely and randomly colored portions of the presents before layering on top of the gold mat.  The Happy Birthday was die cut from the same gold cardstock and the shadow die cut from Bazzill Licorice cardstock.  To finish the card, I added some Catherine Pooler "Vegas, Baby" various gold sequins.  I maybe went overboard on the gold "topping" but I like the shine and sparkle!

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

Hugs,

Annie

The Paper Players #506: Tic Tac Toe Challenge

 Hi Friends! I'm linking up to the latest Paper Players Challenge hosted by Ann where it is Tic Tac Toe week:

I played along with the 2nd row down:  Metallic, Embossing, & Thank You.

I usually make up Christmas-themed thank you cards for after the holidays so I thought I would get a jump on them.  I heat embossed the big Christmas Poinsettia Star (Picket Fence) with Ranger gold metallic embossing powder on watercolor cardstock.  The flower was loosely watercolored with Zig Clean Color Markers. The sentiment (Ellen Hutson) was die cut 3 times and layered up before adding to the card.  I finished it off with splatters of FineTec gold metallic watercolor.  

Thanks for visiting!  Hope you're having a good week and looking forward to some fun over Labor Day!

Hugs,

Annie 

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #079

Hi Friends! I'm hosting this week's board over at the Tic Tac Toe Challenge.  I hope you'll pick 3 across, down, or diagonally and play along!

For my DT card, I went with the left first row on the diagonal:  Cake/Cupcake, Big Sentiment, Twine.

On a Neenah Solar White card base, I used MFT's Happy Birthday background stamp and SU's Melon Mambo ink to begin.  I added a strip of MFT DSP to ground my BIG birthday wishes die cut (MFT) that I die cut 3 times and glued together.  After adding a bit of SU Linen Thread, I popped up cake and cupcakes (MFT All the Cupcakes stamps & dies) that I colored with Stampin' Up Blends.  I don't have very many colors but I can do chocolate!  

Thanks for stopping by! I hope we'll see you in the gallery!

Hugs,

Annie

Seize the Birthday #197: Rainbow Colors

 Hello friends!  I'm playing along today over at Seize the Birthday where it's always a birthday theme but you can go with a topping for a little extra!

I wasn't sure I was going to add the topping today when I started but I couldn't resist the party hats!

This card is for a friend that I volunteer with for an old dog rescue organization.  My friends know that if there's a dog stamp set, I have to have it!  This stamp set is called Peeking Pets from Catherine Pooler.  I colored them with my Zig Clean Color brushes and put them behind a scrap of brick wall that I stenciled for another card. The grass is also a scrap die cut with Lawn Fawn's Grass Border.  The sentiment is from a MFT stamp set called Canine Companions.  It's hard to tell in the picture but the white cardstock layer was embossed with a wood paneling embossing folder.  AND, the finishing touch was adding rainbow colored party hats to the pups!

Thanks for stopping by ~ I hope you have a great week!

Hugs,

Annie