A Bit of Blarney!

Hello, Bloggin' Buddies and Happy St. Pat's Day!

With my Irish name and blue eyes folks often assume that I'm Irish, but I'm actually not. But, as they say, we're all Irish today, eh?

I don't often use green in my card making, but I broke some out in honor of day. This stamp is an old favorite that (even though I'm purging most of of my wood-mounted stamps) I simply can't stand to part with.  It is an Emerson Quillin design by American Art Stamps.

I kept it simple with Copic coloring, a dry-embossed background and some printed paper.

She's quite an inspiration. I wish the light had been better, but we've seen very little sunshine the past couple of weeks.

Thanks for the visit and have a great day. Don't drink too much green beer - ha!

A Friend Like You

Hi, Bloggin' Buddies!

Another card this week in shades of purple? One of my favorite colors and I've been neglecting it lately.  Today's card is inspired by the current challenge at the Concord & 9th Challenge blog, "Where Creativity Meets C9".

The challenge is a sketch challenge, something I haven't done in some time. These always help me get out of my design rut!

I decided to keep the design simple and use a die that I've had, but never used.

The stripe element is a slice from a background I made using the "Triangle Turnabout Stamp Set". I love this set and continue to frequently reach for it (and, yes I have other 'Turnabout' sets, too!). I went kind of nuts with my Distress Oxide Inks, Perfect Pearls and metallic splatter and I love the results.

The diecut is from the "Friend Like You" die. I kept it simple and white because there is so much going on behind it. I raised it up with some dimensional tape and added some sequins. Not my normal style, but I really like it and that is why these challenges are so great.

Thanks for the visit!

Clean and Simple with Impression Obsession

Hello, Bloggin' Buddies!

Today I have a card I prepared using some of my favorite Impression Obsession products - one "oldie" and one more recent - to make a card for the current challenge, "Clean and Simple" over at their blog.

I have been using IO products for years. My oldie today is their terrific butterfly die set, DIE255-Y. It is so sweet and so versatile. The new one (to me, anyway) is a stamp that I got in most recent haul. It is #C13453 by Dina Kowal. Isn't it perfect? It sure works for me, as I have so many loved ones far away.

I used one of my hand-made alcohol ink backgrounds which provided enough interest for this clean and simple design. It is a little difficult to photograph because there is quite a shine, since I used some metallic mixatives. Are sequins considered clean and simple? I simply had to throw caution to the wind and add some!

Thanks for the visit and have a wonderful week,

Let's Put Out the Fire!

Hello, Bloggin' Buddies!

It has been awhile since I colored up an image from one of my favorite companies, Art Impression. They have so many great characters, especially for us seniors (and I don't mean high school!). I made this card for a friend who, thankfully, has a sense of humor. I used Copic markers and made some die-cut star embellishments. The patterned paper is from Lawn Fawn.


















The inside is simple and to the point.

Sure hope you are having a good week so far. Lots of sunshine here for a change.

Thanks for the visit,

Piggy Party!

Hello, Bloggin' Buddies!

One can't ever have enough birthday cards, especially those featuring cute animals, right?

I recently made this card using the cutest partying piggy ever! He is from Simon Says Stamp's "Birthday Farm Animals" stamp set. I colored him with Copics, gave him some sparkle with Wink of Stella and used some layers of party pink and black paper to send him flying.

I have just recently started reaching for my Copics again - I tend to get involved with one medium, trying to master it - HA! - at the expense of others that I also love to use. There are so many wonderful things - the new colors of Distress Oxide Inks, Alcohol Inks, colored pencils, water color, original Distress Inks, markers....oh, my! The crafting days simply are not long enough for all the fun there is to have.

This fun guy is headed to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog's "Anything Goes". You've got plenty of time to play along, so join me there.

I can almost see the weekend from here....thanks for the visit and have a good one,