Rose thank you

Today I have a card for Hand Stamped Sentiments Challenge #188. I really like this sketch, and I am sure I will be using it a lot as I work on another box of cards for Operation Write Home.

                 

I don't have a whole lot of information for this card:) I found the image piece in my 'reject' box-it didn't work out for something else-but it did for this rose sticker. The background for the rose is stamped, I just don't know which stamp or what ink. I do know it is cut with Spellbinders Labels One. The background DP is SU Blushing Bride from a 6x6 pad, mounted on Blushing Bride cardstock. I believe the green mat is DCWV. I stamped the butterflies (SU Papillon Potpouri) with Momento Northern Pine ink, and colored them in with Copics R0000, R000, and R01. I didn't like how the butterfly punch took too much of the green border off the butterflies, so I fussy cut them out. The sentiment is from Sweet N' Sassy Christmas Tags stamp set stamped in Northern Pine, cut out with My Favorite Things Fishtail Flags. I popped the image panel with SU dimensional foamies. Added the silver border stickers and 3 Recollections rhinestones.

A Micey Nice Day OLS

I have wanted to play along with the One Layer Simplicity challenge all month. The challenge is to "Frame It". As I thought about it I was planning to emboss a die as the frame. That is until I was going through my stamps looking for something to stamp and color inside the frame. I came across these adorable Penny Black mice, and out the window flew the original idea :) So here is what I came up with..........after about 4 aborted starts (smudges, crooked stamping, dropped the stamp in middle of paper...you know how it goes)..........and 2 days later....right under the wire....

I am not happy with this photo of my card. I do not have access to my HP Photosmart printer and software, and the photo edit program on the PrintMaster program is sadly inferior to the HP program from which I can lighten up the picture considerably. I have to take my whole system into the 'puter doc'....

The stamp is from the Micey Nice Day PB stamp set. I stamped in Momento Rich Cocoa on Gina K. Pure Luxury White cardstock. I colored the mice and flowers with Copic Markers.  I used Prisma Colored Pencils to add the grass under the mice. 

Now, the butterfly was not in my plans. But I was replacing the ink cartridge in my adding machine, and somehow I got a smudge of ink on the card front. Go figure! So, I wanted to add a bumble bee over the smudge. I know I have a tiny bumble bee stamp. But could I find it? Of course not. Tons of tiny butterflies, but no tiny bee (I'll find it tomorrow, of course). So I settle for the little butterfly from JustRite Botanical Butterfly set. I stamped him in Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate ink. I stamped the tiny mice feet for the border/frame and the sentiment with the Moment RC ink.  And I had to add bling, didn't I? So some Recollections brown rhinestones for the flower centers. Such darling little mice, don't you think?

Don't you just love Penny Black critter stamps? I sure do. Hope you like my happy little card. 

Open Sea

Big gap in my posts again. Busy, busy time of year. Garden all in, most of flowers planted, still a couple flower beds to spruce up. On top of all that we are getting ready to install a new furnace and central air. Really, really need to clean and organize the basement. And then there are the grandson's little league games. Doesn't leave a whole lot of time to craft :( But we press on......

This simple card today fits into several challenges: The Paper Players-color challenge; Clean and Simple sketch #294; Creative Knockouts-Die cuts/ Punch Frenzy- use die cuts or puches; CAS-ual Friday, Create a Guy card with the following catch...you can't use kraft as a color at all, AND you have to include some sort of ribbon; and Crazy for Challenges #239 a masculine card.

   









I have had fun with this simple layout. It lends itself well to using up a lot of those 12 x 12 papers I have (so I can get more?!:).  I've made 6 of these cards for Operation WRite Home, which is unusual for me-I don't normally make more than one of a card. But I really want to get another box out to OWH, so I'mass producing a few styles. I stamped the ship image from  SU's Open Sea set on CTMH Colonial White cardstock with SU Night of Navy ink, cut it out with Spellbinders Classic Ovals. I sponged Night of  Navy ink around it in the die, and went around the edge with N.O.N. marker. I cut SU Real Red cardstock with SB Big Scallop Ovals die for the mat. Same treatment for the sentiment.

Items used:
Cardstock: Stampin Up Real Red, Close to My Heart Colonial White
Background paper: Boxer by Basic Grey
Sentiment stamp: Close to My Heart 'Say it in Style
Ink: Stampin' Up Night of Navy
Dies: Spellbinders Big Scalloped Ovals, Classic Ovals and Basic Labels
Navy  Blue ribbon (a sample I received with an order from Ellen Hudson)