Play and Pawty!

It was Word Week at Just Us Girls, and the word was "Play". 

As an empty nester with only dogs in my house, the most play that happens in my house is me in my crafty space creating card, and my dogs who bring on their own brand of crafty! I have two Miniature Schnauzers, Sweet Caroline and Jojo, and a Chihuahua mix, Carly, who thinks she's a Schnauzer, and she rules the place. Her toy of choice is Sweet Caroline. She plays crafty games to scheme against her and boss her around all day. 

Sweet Caroline's playtime involves the real deal . . . soft balls. She's not big on catching them, but she's big on nosing them around the place. She particular likes soft stuffed balls. 

My card combined my play with dog play! And let me tell you, every single day at our house is a paw-ty! 

I hope you find some time to play today!

Cheers!

Debbie

Supplies Used - Time to Pawty

Stamps and Dies:  Watch This Stamp Set and Dies (Colorado Craft Company)

Ink & Embossing:  Tuxedo Black Ink (Memento); Various Copic Markers; Icing on the Cake (Catherine Pooler Inks);

Paper: White Daisy Cardstock (Close To My Heart); Rocky Road Cardstock (American Crafts); Scrap of Pattern Paper from Stash;

Other: Crater Lake Sequin Mix (Catherine Pooler Designs);

Hoppin' on the Holiday Train

My card today was inspired by the Stars and Stripes prompt at Jingle Belles challenge. I created my background using the Peppermint Stripes stencil from Lawn Fawn. 

I used a mix of products for this card and had so much fun creating my striped background for this scene. I bought this stamp a few years ago and never got around to using it. Avery Elle . . . love their stuff and so sad they are no longer bringing all the craft goodness to us. I celebrate their amazing products with this adorable train image. 

Get on the holiday train, and keep crafting along!

Go be creative!

Debbie

Supplies Used - Merry Christmas

Stamps and Dies:  Peek-a-boo Christmas Train Stamp and Die (Avery Elle); Outside In Stitched Rectangle Die (Lawn Fawn); Sentiment Strips - Christmas (Pretty Pink Posh);

Ink & Embossing:  Rockin' Red and Grass Skirt (Catherine Pooler Ink); Jet Black (Lawn Fawn); Copic Markers; Versafine Black Onyx Ink; Clear Glaze Pen (Sakura);

Paper: White and Black Cardstock (Scrapbook and Cards Today);

Other: Peppermint Stripes Stencil (Lawn Fawn); Stardust Stickles (Ranger); Salem Sequin Mix (Catherine Pooler Designs);

Turn Up the Beat, Piano Man!

A bright card inspired by Little Red Wagon's Piano Man prompt. 

Colorful keys for this creation . . . I kept the black and white off the keys and in the sentiment and background/base. 

I stamped on pattern paper to create my little keyboards. They are quite colorful. 

Create something colorful!

Debbie

Supplies Used - Turn Up the Beat

Stamps and Dies:  Turn Up the Beat Stamp Set (Catherine Pooler Designs); Circle Die (Sizzix);

Ink & Embossing:  Midnight (Catherine Pooler Ink);

Paper: Premium White Cardstock and Totally Rad Pattern Paper (Catherine Pooler Designs); Licorice Cardstock (The Stamps of Life);

Other: Crater Lake Sequin Mix (Catherine Pooler Designs); 

Spread Sunshine

I was inspired to create a card with the bright color combination at Girlz Creative. This is such a great color combination. 

I chose two of my favorite Catherine Pooler colors and put them to work in varying degrees on this card. I started with a piece of watercolor cardstock and a citrus stencil. I inked up some areas on the stencil, spritzed it with water and then laid it on my water color paper, allowing the drips to do their work. 

You can see it created a subtle background. I then came in with a stamp set and stamped my images in those same ink colors, giving a bold look. I used a water pen to fill in the rind and the segments, pulling in the ink from those stamped images. 

I had a lot of fun creating this card, and I love the sentiment. I hope you find some creative fun today.

Cheers.

Debbie

Supplies Used - Today I Will Spread Sunshine

Stamps and Dies:  Your Zest Live Stamp Set (Catherine Pooler Designs);

Ink & Embossing:  Tiara, Lime Rickey and Midnight (Catherine Pooler Inks);

Paper: Watercolor Paper (Canson); Premium White Cardstock (Catherine Pooler);

Other: Just a Squeeze Stencil and Williamsburg Sequin Mix (Catherine Pooler Designs

Hap-Bee Anniversary

 Who does not love playing with paper, and who doesn't love summer or love? The Paper Players challenge installed a tune from Grease in my head for a bit. It also inspired me to create an anniversary card. 

Yellow is one of those colors that screams summer to me. It's sunshine and brightness. It has a sense of warm summer heat. As for the bees, they are adorable on paper. I actually admire their color as they buzz around my patio . . . but my dog tries to hunt them down. She's not been stung yet . . . it my be my resounding "No!" (the neighbors must love me). 

I love how this card came out. I hope you find some time to create today.

Debbie

Supplies Used - Hap-Bee Anniversary

Stamps and Dies:  Henry's Jr.'s ABC's, Henry's Build-a-Sentiment Stamp Set, Scalloped Fringe Border Die (Lawn Fawn); Large Sentiment Strip Dies and Sweeter Than Honey Stamp Set and Dies (Pink & Main);

Ink & Embossing:  Jet Black (Lawn Fawn) Copic Markers; Versafine Black Onyx Ink;

Paper:  White Cardstock (Scrapbook & Cards Today); Pint-Sized Patters Summertime (Lawn Fawn);

Other: Star Dust Stickles (Ranger);

Thinking of You for Cupcake Inspiration Anything Goes Challenge

I had some great supplies on my desk and decided they were perfect for an "Anything Goes" challenge at Cupcake Inspirations. 

This pattern paper from My Mind's Eye was not only the perfect backdrop for my card, but I used the leftover piece of 6 x 6 paper to create my die cut sentiment. 

Mostly Catherine Pooler products used in this design, including one of my favorite dues (Snug Hugs).

I'm all about the anything goes . . . but no frosting on the cupcakes makes me a little sad. 

Cheers!

Debbie

Supplies Used - Thinking of You - Hugs

Stamps and Dies: Inside Out Sympathy Stamp Set and Snug Hug Word Die (Catherine Pooler Designs);

Ink & Embossing: Juniper Mist (Catherine Pooler Ink);

Paper: Ivory, and Burnished Rose Mirrored Cardstock (Simon Says Stamp); Decorate Double-sided Pattern Paper (My Mind's Eye Blush);

Other: Mazatlan Sequin Mix (Catherine Pooler Designs); 

Mixed it Up for Alphabet Challenge

I wish I could say I could decide between wet or dry embossing for the The Alphabet Challenge, but clearly I couldn't. I mixed up a lot of products and techniques for this creation. 

There are a few techniques displayed on this card. I used the floral embossing folder with an ink brayer for my focal image. I love the technique is rarely perfect and gives a distress feel. 

And then on the sentiment, I used white embossing powder for my "happy" throughts. 

The strip at the bottom was created using some re-inkers and shaving cream. 

A mix of products from many companies. I love a good mix. Mix it up where you are!

Cheers. 

Debbie

Stamps and Dies:  Henry's Build a Sentiment Stamp Set and Scripty Sentiments Stamp Set and Dies (Lawn Fawn); Infinity Circle Dies (Hero Arts);

Ink & Embossing:  Machiatto, Coral Cabana, Martini (Catherine Pooler Inks); Embossing Paste and Opaque Bright White Embossing Powder (Wow);

Paper: White Cardstock (Scrapbook and Cards Today); Solar White (Neenah); Chocolate Cardstock (The Stamps of Life);

Other: Basket Weave Stencil (Newton's Nook); Barbasol Shaving Cream; Oak City Sequin Mix (Catherine Pooler Designs); Baroque Bouquet Embossing Folder (Taylored Expressions);

Snug Hugs Die . . . an Old Fave

Trying to keep my creative streak going, so I got a bit crafty over the weekend. Today's card was inspired by the Just Us Girls Challenge to create with a forgotten die. 

I don't remember how old this die is, but I went digging for it. I love this die because it lives up to it's name - snug hug. Because it's snug, it has such a unique outline. 

I had an old kit with these gorgeous papers from a Simon Says Stamp kit. I used the lined paper with some rose mirror cardstock. I saved the letters for another project, and I used the shadow portion of the die that was left behind. 

No stamping . . . just die cutting and designing for this one. 

Create something magical! Cheers. 

Debbie

Supplies Used - Hugs - Thinking of You

Stamps and Dies: Snug Hug Word Die (Catherine Pooler Designs);

Paper: Ivory, Soft Navy Cardstock and Burnished Rose Mirrored Cardstock (Simon Says Stamp); Decorate Double-sided Pattern Paper (My Mind's Eye Blush);

Sunny Retirement Card Inspired by "Summer Splash"

I had some time last night to get inky and creative and was inspired by the Lawn Fawnatics challenge.

I am a beach person, but not so much about the water. For me it's about the sunshine, relaxation and the sounds of the waves. 

I have some friends who are coming up on retirement, and one in particular loves to spend time at the beach, so I created this card with her in mind. I wanted it to depict all that warm sunshine.

I created my watercolor background first and then used the Sunburst Backdrop die for my sun. I ink blended over the watercolor on the sun, and then popped it back into it's spot. 

My sentiment serves as the sand.

I really love how this background came out. I hope you get creative with some of the products you love soon.

Cheers!

Debbie

Supplies Used  - Have a Relaxing Retirement

Stamps and Dies:  Modern Damask Background Stamp (Catherine Pooler Designs); On the Beach Stamp Set and Dies, Fancy Banner Die, and Sunburst Backdrop Die  (Lawn Fawn);

Ink & Embossing:  Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade Distress Oxide Ink and Squeezed Lemonade Distress Ink (Ranger); Versafine Black Onyx Ink; Jet Black (Lawn Fawn); Copic Markers;

Paper: Watercolor Cardstock (Ranger);

Other: Yellow Sequins (Simon Says Stamp);

Thinking of You Card for Sweet Stampin' Challenge

 I had a lot of fun stamping this card. The embossed panel had been on my desk for quite some time, so I used that to choose colors for my color palette. I was also inspired to create a card that is "anything but a birthday card", inspired by Sweet Stampin' Challenge. 

I got a great match for that embossed panel. I really love the tones of these Spa inks from Catherine Pooler. 

Love some ink, some stamps, and some dies. They always make for a great time.

Cheers!

Debbie

Stamps and Dies:  Towering Blooms Stamp Set and Dies and Through the Prism Stamp Set (Catherine Pooler Designs);

Ink & Embossing:  Crushed Violet, Lilac, Matcha, Sage and Spruce (Catherine Pooler Inks);   Embossing Pad and Sugared Almond Embossing Glitter (Wow);

Paper:  Premium White Cardstock (Catherine Pooler Designs); Black Cardstock (American Crafts);

Other: Crater Lake Sequin Mix (Catherine Pooler Designs);

Just Bee-cause Card

I've had such a creative week and weekend playing along with challenges. My card today was inspired by TGIF Challenges. 

I dug into the archive for this one. The inspiration at TGIF was to pop-up some items, and I went with the honeycomb. I used some Nuvo drops on the popped honeycomb and the sentiment. 

I love how the glasses turned out on this little guy. He looks so very smart!

I'm hoping I can keep my creative streak going.

Cheers!

Debbie

Supplies Used - Just Bee-cause Honeycomb

Stamps and Dies:  Bee Yourself Stamp Set (Simon Says Stamp)

Ink & Embossing:  Icing on the Cake, Midnight and Tiara Ink (Catherine Pooler); Black Shimmer Pen (Close To My Heart); Wink of Stella; Blender Pen (Marvy);

Paper:  Sunshine Cardstock (Simon Says Stamp), White Daisy (Close To My Heart); The Bees Knees Pattern Paper (Honey Bee Stamp); Black Cardstock (American Crafts);

Other: Black Sequins (Simon Says Stamp); Morning Dew Clear Drops and Gold Luxe Dream Drops (Nuvo);

Taking the Positive with the Negative - Take 8

Another Positive/Negative card . . . this one using the negative image of a stencil.

I love that Inspirational's word prompt was perfect for my messy desk. I had quite the creative weekend, and one thing that I have an abundance of after is leftovers.

I don't know about anyone else, but I have a hard time giving up the ink that's on my stencils. I'll usually try to create a watercolor background that will be hit or miss and could end up int he garbage. A couple days ago I created the background for this card, then created a watercolor piece using the stencil. So this is the negative image of the stencil in watercolor.  

I love the subtle background; my one wish is that I had stamped off the dots in the stamp set. I did try to keep colors grouped together on this piece. 

And a bold sentiment . . . 

Cheers to creating with leftovers.

Debbie

Supplies Used - Hello Friend

Stamps and Dies:  Hello Daisy Stamp Set and Dies and Paper Confetti Layered Stencil (Catherine Pooler Designs);

Ink & Embossing:  Samba, It's a Girl, Tiki Torch, Limoncello, Grass Skirt and Something Borrowed (Catherine Pooler Inks);

Paper: White Cardstock (Scrapbook & Cards Today); Black Cardstock (Concord & 9th);

Distress Watercolor Cardstock (Ranger);

Other: Mount Pearl Sequin Mix (Catherine Pooler Designs);

Holiday Card in June - Inspired by Just Add Ink's Palette

Created a card today using the inspiration from Just Add Ink. 

The thin design of these nutcrackers had me leaning toward this pop-up card design. 

This particular card fits into an A2 envelope, but it packs some punch with fun fold providing a bit more surface space for the card. 

I went with a Christmas theme today, as I had an idea for a card using this palette. This one has a monochromatic feel to it.  

Nothing like some inky times. 

Debbie

Supplies Used - Wonder & Joy

Stamps and Dies:  Christmas Glory Cover Plate Die, Nutcracker Sweet Stamp Set and Dies (Catherine Pooler Designs); Sentiment Strip Dies (Pretty Pink Posh);

Ink & Embossing:  Dress Blue (Catherine Pooler Ink); Jet Black Ink (Lawn Fawn); Copic Markers;

Paper: White Cardstock (Scrapbook and Cards Today); Winter Lake Cardstock (My Colors);

Other: Silver Smooth Disc (Spellbinders); Clear Star Gelly Roll Pen (Sakura); 

Stenciling for Just Us Girls

There is something magical about the stencil reveal, so I had to play along with the Just Us Girls challenge this week. 

Some basic primary colors and for added interest I created a panel in the panel and popped the inner piece for some added interest.

I used the same inks to color my dies, so we get all the matchy match! 

Hello, in color.

Get colorful, yourself.

Debbie

Supplies Used - HelloStamps and Dies:  Hello Daisy Stamp Set and Dies and Paper Confetti Layered Stencil (Catherine Pooler Designs);

Ink & Embossing:  Samba, It's a Girl, Tiki Torch, Limoncello, Grass Skirt and Something Borrowed (Catherine Pooler Inks);

Paper: White Cardstock (Scrapbook & Cards Today); Black Cardstock (Concord & 9th);

Other: Mount Pearl Sequin Mix (Catherine Pooler Designs); 

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Stenciling a Thank You Card for Make My Monday

 In my efforts to get back in the swing of posting, I created a card today inspired by the "Stencil" prompt at Make My Monday. 

I decided to use this awesome weave stencil from Catherine Pooler Designs and create a pretty simple card with a bold sentiment.

I love this summery palette, and the stencil is a fun one that really covers a background. 

I hope you have a chance to get all inky! 

Debbie

Supplies Used - Thanks, What You Did Was Just the Best

Stamps and Dies:  Thanks a Bunch Stamp Set and Dies and Funky Weave Layered Stencil (Catherine Pooler Designs);

Ink & Embossing:  Midnight, Lime Rickey, Tiki Torch and Do-Si-Do (Catherine Pooler Ink);

Paper: Premium White Cardstock (Catherine Pooler Designs);

Other: St. Tropez Sequin Mix (Catherine Pooler Designs);

Summer Feathery Critters for Little Red Wagon

I've been trying to keep the creativity flowing, and today was inspired to use up some scraps from a scrapbook page to create a card using the inspiration from Little Red Wagon . . . feather, fur and fin. 

So I wasn't fully sure if penguins did have feathers, and I thought they may even have fins. But I got to the bottom of it and can confirm they do have feathers, a condensed and thick version of feathers. They do not have fins . . . but they do have wings that are tapered like flippers. 

I added some dimenstion to the page by folding down the double-sided pattern paper and dropping my sun there. 

Regardless of the feathers and flippers, how about some penguins enjoying lemonade and ice cream on a hot summer day. 

 I incorporated some stickers with some stamped and colored penguins enjoying some summer treats. Love these Pink & Main stamps. 

I hope you are enjoying some summer treats!

Debbie

Supplies Used - Savoring the Sweetness of the Season

Stamps and Dies:  Infinity Circle Dies (Hero Arts); Summer Penguins (Pink & Main);

Ink & Embossing: Jet Black (Lawn Fawn); Copic Markers

Paper: White Cardstock (Scrapbook & Cards Today); Sunny Days Ahead Pattern Paper (Echo Park); Gingersnap Cardstock (The Stamps of Life);

Other: Stardust Stickles (Ranger); 

Snowman Themed Card for Christmas Card Throwdown

 Oh my goodness . . . where have I been? It's been almost five months since I posted anything. The facts:

Work has been chaos and my brain has been too fried to organize myself to do challenges and post.

I'm still creating, and sometimes use the challenges for inspiration, but I've not been posting/entering.

I'm certainly still buying all the stuff!

But today I decided to create a card for a challenge, and I chose Christmas Card Throwdown. 

I created my cards using a number of different supplies that were within reach. 

I used stamps and dies from Lawn Fawn, along with some other supplies leftover from a kit I had done. I love the monochromatic background on this card. And come on! Penguins making a snowman in their own likeness? Genius.

I hope you found some time to get creative today! 

Debbie

Supplies Used - Stay Fa La La . . . For the Holidays

Stamps and Dies: Cross-stitched Rectangle Stack Die (My Favorite Things); Snow Cool Stamp Set and Dies and Fa La La La La Scripty Border Die (Lawn Fawn);

Ink & Embossing: Jet Black (Lawn Fawn); Copic Markers; Aquatini and Midnight (Catherine Pooler Inks);

Paper: White Cardstock (Scrapbook & Cards Today); Atlantic Shore Cardstock (My Colors); White Glitter Cardstock (Close To My Heart);

Other: Sparkling Clear Confetti (Pretty Pink Posh); Dyllusions Stickles (Ranger);

Lots of Heart for Lawn Fawnatics

Inspiration for today's card came from the fun and whimsy at the Lawn Fawnatics Challenge. "Lots of Heart" was the theme of the challenge, so I brought in lots of hearts in the form of some washi tape.

I created a background using two different washi tapes and some rectangle dies. I let that background show through my vellum heart where my focal images are displayed.

While it's a busy background, it works. I had so much fun creating this card.

Please have some fun today as you create!

Debbie

Supplies Used - Happy Valentine's Day

Stamps and Dies: Lacy Rectangle Stackables, Outside In Stitched Rectangle, I Heart Pandas Regular and Add-on Stamps and Dies, Stitched Happy Heart Die, Everyday Sentiment Banners (Lawn Fawn);

Ink & Embossing: Jet Black (Lawn Fawn); Copic Markers, Black Onyx Ink (Versafine);

Paper: White Cardstock (Scrapbook & Cards Today); Vellum (Spellbinders); Pint-sized Pattern Paper Summertime (Lawn Fawn);

Other: Pink Gingham and Conversation Hearts Washi Tape, Turquoise Lawn Trimmings (Lawn Fawn); Sparkling Clear Confetti (Pretty Pink Posh);