Celebrating the Inky Paws 100th Challenge!

Popping in quick today to play along with the 100th Inky Paws Challenge!  I've had this sweet Little Lilies stamp set for a little while now and I loved this chance to ink it up!  Lily of the Valley is one of my top 10 favorite flowers.  They are SO pretty and SO sweet and SO fragrant!  Coming from the Western New York area it wasn't uncommon to come across a stand of Lily of the Valley and before we moved to the Southwest I was working on my own patch near my house.  It was just starting to spread when we decided to move out here to the Southwest and they don't grow well here so I do miss them!!

Speaking of favorites, the challenge for #100 is to play along with your Favorite previous challenge.  Well... I have a really hard time picking favorites but I landed on this sketch challenge which was Challenge #73

I love this sketch because of the clear focal point which was perfect for this sweet flower... and the chance that the banners and middle strip give you to add some contrasting or coordinating colors and patterns... yet you have all of that blank space on the top and bottom for lots of your favorite color or pattern... or blank space if you prefer... but let's face it.. I'm not a big blank space person!  I've got all of this paper!  I might as well use it!

Some other products I've used today are these Nested Rectangles from Rubbernecker; this beautiful Heart Circle Die from Gina K Designs; and these Stitched Fishtail Banners from Elizabeth Crafts.

I'm also playing along over at Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge which is Anything Goes this week!  And you can find the 100th Inky Paws Challenge here, but hurry because you only have a few hours left to play along!

Thanks SO much for stopping by!  Come again soon!

Krafty Chicks Challenge #461 - Anything But A Card

Welcome to my last post as Guest DT over at the Krafty Chick's Challenge!  This week the challenge is Anything But A Card so I decided to create this mixed media canvas for my Craft Room!

I picked up this awesome chipboard saying from White Rose Crafts with my winnings from their monthly challenge.. along with a few other things... you can find that here!

I used Acrylic Paints, some Gold Texture paste (along with an awesome stencil from Stamplorations!), that cool chipboard cup from Southern Ridge Trading Company and some flowers and gems from my stash.

Oh... and did I mention that beautiful gold heart??  That's from Spellbinders/FSJ and I just picked some more up on clearance... LOVE them!

I'm playing along over at Simon Says Stamp's Anything Goes Wednesday Challenge!  And I'm also playing along over at Stamplorations Mixed Media Challenge which is Anything Goes (Must use a stencil)!  Check them both out!

So thank you so much for stopping by... I apologize if you stopped by earlier and my post was incomplete... I think my canvas says it all.. "Adulting IS Hard!!"  but I've had my coffee and here we are!

Huge thanks to the gals over at Krafty Chicks for having me this month!  It's been a blast!  Be sure to continue to check out these fun weekly challenges... I know I will!

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Release Day 4 - Hearts A2 Panel Fri-Die!

Welcome to Day 4 of the CAS-ual Fridays Release!  Today we're sharing inspiration using the new Hearts A2 Panel Fri-Die!  Here's how I was inspired:

There are so many possibilities for this one.. you could add this heart panel to almost any kind of card from Valentines Day to Wedding to anytime you want to send some love to someone!

I started by creating an alcohol inked backround with a couple pinks and a bit of gold.  When it was dry (which doesn't take very long for alcohol inks), I cut the panel from it.  And BONUS I got a bunch of extra hearts from it!

All of those little inside hearts became pieces of my second project!

Then I colored and cut out the adorable raccoon from the Bushy Tailed stamp set along with the banner and one of the sentiments... they were perfect for this one.  And I had a heart exactly the right size for him to be carrying.

With this one I'm playing along over at 2 Crafty Critter Crazies which is Anything Goes, but must feature a critter!  You should check it out!

So what did I do with all of those extra hearts?

Well, I colored up the Pup from the new Little Huggables stamp set and added them to the card as embellishments!

I just love these Little Huggables critters!  And I used the Heart Board Fri-Dies as a backdrop for my pup!  And added that cute little sentiment for a card that could be for any occasion.

Love that the hearts matched this plaid paper perfectly!... so sweet when things work out like that!

And there we are for today!  What a fun release it's been!  And I've appreciated all of your visits SO much!

Be sure to head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays blog for your chances to win one of the three $25 gift codes being given away for the Release!  And then check out what everyone has created using the awesome Hearts Panel Fri-Die!

Should you decide you've seen something here that you must have, I have this for you:

Come back again soon!

Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas-June 2019 Edition!

Welcome to the June edition of Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas!  This is a monthly post where my friend Debra Davison from Meticulosity and I share the Christmas cards we make each month of the year.  We agreed to do this so that by December, all of our cards will be done and all we have to do is drop them in the mail!  And it gives me a chance to use some of the awesome stamps and dies that I purchased around the holidays, instead of making them wait a whole year!

Here's how I was inspired:

I love pink and aqua for Christmas!  So I got out some old papers and some really cute stamps I hadn't used yet and used them!

You may or may not be familiar with the artwork and stamps by Andrea Gomoll and if you're not, you should become acquainted... you can find her here!  Of course I had to have the Wintertime stamp set that had a Coffee flavor... and guess what... lots of sets including this one are on sale right now!  

I decided all she really needed was a beautiful frame and this one from Paper Smooches was perfect!  And the Merry was cut using a die from Pretty Pink Posh... you can find that one here!

And then these sweet owls from My Favorite Things Warm and Feathered Hugs stamp set.  I decided it was the perfect time to play along with the MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge!

I cut the top using a border die from Lil' Inker, the Border Builders Die set is here!

I created three cards using the sketch... sometimes it's nice to have a place to start!  I decided to use the leftover top piece from the first card on this one... it was a twofer!  And that double stitched circle is from MFT...it may not be available any more.. which would be silly because it's one of my faves!  And those cool Slanted Sentiment Strips from MFT were perfect for the sentiments with the stamp set!

That pink tree paper was my favorite one from the pack... I've been hoarding it 'til now...lol!

And here is the sketch:

So thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you enjoyed my Christmas cards!  And be sure to head on over to Debra's place and see what she's got for you!

Oh!  And I have a winner from last month's post!

Denise, send me your snail mail address and I'll shoot you some Happy Mail!

We're playing again!  Next month I'll draw a name from all of the comments on this post and send that person a small gift!

CAS-ual Fridays Release Day 3-Stars A2 Panel

Welcome to Day 3 of the CAS-ual Fridays Release!  Today we're sharing inspiration for the new Stars A2 Panel Fri-Die!  Here's how I was inspired:

For this one, I created my background using some distress oxides in a couple different blues.  Then I cut the Star Panel from some white cardstock and splattered some shimmery watercolors over both pieces.

While that was drying, I cut two sizes of the Bubblebox Fri-Dies and used an embossing folder to emboss the smaller one.   I also cut the Happy Hanukkah sentiment from the Happy Hanukkah Fri-Dies once out of glitter paper and two more times from regular white cardstock and stacked them.  Then I popped up both layers of the Bubble Box and added the sentiment over the top.  I had already cut a Stars panel from glitter paper as well so I used some of the pieces to embellish here.

Love those shimmery watercolors!   And love the design of this die and how some of the stars wandered off into the outer edge!

I was inspired by yesterday's Snowflake embossed panel and decided to the the same with the Stars panel:

I cut the panel from some very thick watercolor paper and only ran it through my die cutting machine once so that it wouldn't cut all the way through (normally with thicker paper, I'll run the die through at least twice-once band and forth and sometimes more if it's really thick or has a coating that I think mmay not cut through easily)  The edges fell right away, but the inside pieces didn't fall apart which was exactly what I wanted.

Once again, I sprayed the front of the panel with water that had some Inkon3 Pixie Dust solution in it and then used my Daniel Smith Glitter Watercolors to first color the panel and then I used the same blues and some white and even a bit of purple to splatter on it while it was very wet.

While that dried, I cut a tag using the largest of the Scallop Tag Fri-Dies from some blue vellum.  I heat embossed a sentiment from the Snowy Sayings stamp set directly onto the vellum and then cut the Happy from the Happy Hanukkah Fri-Dies from some glitter paper and cardstock and stacked them.  I cut some Funky Flakes from glitter paper as well and layered three of those together to add to the bottom of the tag.

So that's me for today!  Be sure to hop over to the CAS-ual Fridays blog and find out how you could win one of three $25 gift codes to the shop and see what my teamies have created for you today!

Should you decide to shop, I have this for you:

Be sure to come back tomorrow for some more Release Inspiration!

Rubbernecker Stamps IG Hop!

I'm participating the my first ever Instagram hop!  I'm still posting to my blog today, because ... well, why wouldn't I?...but if you want a chance to win some free stuff, you'll want to head over to IG and hop along with the Rubbernecker DT!  This IG Hop is sponsored by Rubbernecker Stamps and there are four prizes up for grabs!

I've used the Fox stamp set today along with a bunch of fantastic Rubbernecker dies... links to all are at the bottom of this post.

I love the sweet happy faces on these little guys!

Now be sure to hop on over to Instagram!  You can start at the Rubbernecker DT here to learn all about how to win!

Affiliate links provided below at no additional cost to you:

CAS-ual Fridays Release Day 2 - Flakey A2 Panel!

It's Day 2 of the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Summer Release and today we're sharing projects using the awesome new Flakey A2 Panel!  Here's how I was inspired:

 If you love the Funky Flakes Fri-Dies and/or the Bring On The Snowflakes Stamp Set you should love love this new Flakey A2 Panel!  It's a beauty!

I love that the frame on this one is wide enough for the foam tape I love to use and made it so easy to create a shaker!

I created my base using alcohol inks and cut the Flakey Panel from some glitter paper... all that was left to do was fill it with lots of sequins... sparkly!

And then I decided to use the die to create an embossed panel.  I simply used a very thick piece of watercolor paper and ran it through my die cutting machine only once.  The outer edges fell away easily, but the inside left a nice embossed card front.

 

I mixed some Inkon3 Liquid Pixie Dust with water in a spray bottle and sprayed the front of the panel.  Then I watercolored the panel with Daniel Smith Glittery watercolors and continued to splatter the panel with the same colors.

If only you could really see how pretty and shimmery this panel is!  It is the perfect backdrop for a gold ornament made with the Ornament Tag Fri-Die.  More sequins and the Merry from the Merry Christmas Fri-Die in all kinds of glorious glitter!

SO pretty!

I'm linking this one up to the Through The CraftRoom Door which is Anything Goes!

Now be sure you head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Blog to check out what everyone else has created for you today!  And find out about the giveaway going on during the release!  You could win one of three $25 gift codes to the shop!

I'm linking up to the Crafter's Castle June Challenge which is Anything Goes with an optional twist of Mixed Media.

And should you decide you have to have this panel... which ... you do... or anything else from the shop, you can use the code Lisasentme to get a 15% discount on your order!

Thanks so much for stopping and I hope you'll come again tomorrow for some more release inspiration!