Father's Day chef

Good morning!  It's been a little quiet on the blog front here, but I finally got a little time to make a couple of masculine cards.  I used a Flourishes stamp from the Mix n Match set (perfect for the chef Dad) and some papers from the Pyrus collection by Basic Grey.  I stamped the chef tools onto Papertrey Ink's vintage cream cs and coloured with Copic markers and a Zig silver pen, cut out.  The mug was stamped onto a PTI coaster board and coloured with Copics, stamped with the #1 Dad and cut out with my tonic scissors...I love these and use them for all of my "fussy cutting".  I used dimensional foam behind the cup and adhered to a Labels Eighteen cut from the BG paper.  I had some embroidery floss and tied around the front of the card before placing the image on the card front.

For the next masculine birthday card, I used Papertrey Ink's Through the Trees stamp and used the rock and roll technique on the trunk with two inks and also on the leafy top  but adding some dabs of the darker ink.  The ribbon is Stampin' Up's seam binding and the button is from PTI.  The green border die is a new one from MemoryBox.  Thanks for taking a peek, I hope to get some more cards loaded this afternoon ... :)

Chriss

My Flourishes/MFW Tuesday Trigger meets City Crafter

I know, long title, but it's for 3 challenges, something I don't often get to say ;)
For today's card, I stamped this new Flourishes rose heart onto Bazzill Sugar Cookie card stock with black PTI ink and coloured with Copic markers.  I cut out and then cut a larger heart from the Sugar Cookie, used a Tim Holtz distressing tool on the edges and adhered together with dimensional foam.  I used a Spellbinders rectangle and cut out this Core'dinations cs and then a scalloped Nestie on the Sugar Cookie cs.  The scalloping reminds me of the scalloped box pictured above for the Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger is sitting in!  Stitched these together.  
My card front is the same Core'dinations cs and I used a Sixxix from SU embossing folder.  I used a large EK Success border punch on the Sugar Cookie cs and then stitched X's in between the "flowers" for the City Crafter challenge #41 (Linda has challenged us to sew)  Finally, I added some hardware (as per the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday challenge FTTC102 that Cindy is hosting) and a resin vanilla coloured rose that is newly acquired from Michaels.
That's it.  Three challenges, one card ;)
Thanks for peeking in today,
Chriss

The colors of Love (or a birthday)

Flourishes is having a new release of stamps for January and I saw a preview today of some floral hearts...so very pretty, I will be adding this to my collection for sure!
As seems to be customary for Flourishes at release time, they have issued a colour challenge to make a card using pink/white and red and you can win the new release of stamps.  Pretty exciting to me and I am always up for a challenge to make a few cards to add to my birthday stash (it is a small stash right now)
I inked up this new set from last month Flourishes called Mix n Mugs first stamping the mug onto a scrap of pink paper and cut out and then the floral bouquet directly onto some white card stock and cut with a Labels 14 Spellbinders Nestabilities die.  I coloured with Copics (I need more variety in the pinks) and cut slits along the stems and also in the top of the mug.  This let me insert the bouquet into the mug :)  The background ledger-like paper is a Cosmo Cricket from the Girl Friday collection.  The borders were made with Basic Grey papers from the Bittersweet collection and I used a MS border punch and an EK Success punch.  I stamped the birthday sentiment directly onto a MS embossed heart sticker...easy!
Thanks for taking a peek today,
Cheers!
Chriss

A Moxy delicately glittered wreath

Hi there everyone.  I am getting down to the wire for getting some Christmas packages out in the mail, but I did make a little time to create for the MoxieFab glitter challenge using this sketch (#93) from Card Patterns.  
I chose to use this newly purchased twig wreath from MemoryBox and Cosmo Cricket's Mitten Weather paper pad.  I stamped the image on PTI vintage ivory card stock in SU gray classic ink.  I used the blossom Nestability die to cut out the wreath and then another Spellbinders die on the teeny polka dotted CC paper to back the wreath.  I made some purple berries on the wreath with a Copic marker and then dabbed glue(Very little) on top of the berries, ready to accept the pretty Martha glitter.  The PTI ivory panel was whizzed through the CB with a polka dot embossing folder and edged with the sketch end of the Copic marker.  I added a zig zag border that I cut out with an EK success border punch and brushed the edges with the Copic, placed some glue on those edges and then added the glitter.
The other polka dotted border was created with my SU scallop punch and the gorgeous lace on this is from my swap partner Ros.  Such pretty lace, I am really rationing it!  The sentiment is from the Flourishes set "Paperwhites" and I stamped it directly onto the CC paper that was cut with a Mat Stack die from PTI.
Hope you have a great day!  Thanks for taking a peek!
Hugs,
Chriss

Shabby Winter Whites with Flourishes

Good Day all!
It seems that the season is really upon us and I am wrapping and mailing some gifts that have to reach Canada...just a few more days left in this window I think...better get a move on!
I did make this card yesterday for a couple of challenges, the Flourishes FLLCDEC10 "Winter Whites" and I used the Card Positioning Systems sketch 196.
I started by stamping the Flourishes Cyclamen flower(from this set) in Memento Tuxedo black ink and coloured with Copic markers and added just a touch of clear Spica sparkle to the flower bases.  I then cut out using Tim Holtz Tonic scissors and a Fiskars finger craft knife.  I placed foam dimensionals behind the cut out image and adhered to a MS doily that I sponged with vanilla craft ink.


The card base was created with a Quickutz embossing folder.  I placed 2 quarter panels in the folder and ran through the CB.  I used a Spellbinder Label 1 die to cut the opening in the 2 panels.  It was a little tricky lining up the card base front with the 2 already cut panels and I should have cut all 3 at the same time...I'll remember that the next time :)


Once the panels were cut and lined up, I took a length of this ribbon that I purchased from my local yarn shop and I adhered it sandwich style with tape runner.
The rest is quite simple, just adding the MS dove with pearls at the flower center and the dove's eye, some spongeing on the dove, the MS fern punched foliage atop another length of the same pretty ivory trim and these paper flowers and tiny crocheted ivory flower that I had the pleasure of receiving in a swap earlier this year.
This is the inside of the card.  The beautiful Merry Christmas is also a Flourishes stamp from this set "Christmas Wreath"
The tag was made using a MS punch and the JOY! sentiment is a Flourishes from the new Paperwhites set, such a beautiful and versatile set!


The last photo is a close-up of the foliage.




                  Thanks for visiting and I hope you are having a great season so far!
Cheers!....Chriss

Vintage-y Happy New Year

Good Monday morning!
Hope that everyone had a great weekend and that you have eaten up all of the Thanksgiving left-overs :)
Here is a card that I made using the Basic Grey "Curio" 6 X 6 paper pad.  Vintage-y and warm.  Flourishes has a sketch challenge going on and this is what I came up with.  You know that there are yellow paperwhites and peachy coloured ones too...well, here are my yellow ones with a blush center.  Flourishes released this stamp set earlier this month and being the flower fanatic that I am and always will be, I had to purchase it.  When I saw the sketch, I thought this would work well with the largest image in the set.  I stamped with Memento Tuxedo black ink and then coloured with Copics.  Then came the cutting.  I placed some dimensional spots behind the cut out image and placed over all of the card layers.  The little orange spots are punched out from the Curio paper.  Below is a close-up of the flowers at a different angle.
I would love to make a bunch of these to send out, but have to simplify the design a little :)
Thanks for taking a peek today!
Cheers, Chriss


Seeds in my cup
stamps ~Flourishes Paperwhites
paper ~ Basic Grey "Curio"
Spellbinders Label 14, Copic markers, EK Success border punch

Sshh...snowdrops for cyclamen!

Hi there everyone!  Hope you are having a great Friday so far...
I had some time to play a little today and made a card for a couple of challenges.  The challenges are for the Shabby Tea Room and the Flourishes July Christmas challenge. 
I started off with this beautiful paper from GCD Studios called Yorkshire Pudding (love the traditional colours in this) and I thought it would lend itself to the Shabby Tea Room theme nicely because of the tea stained sandy/brown background.
I am using a Flourishes sentiment from the Christmas Wreath set #68 and the flowers (these are probably snowdrops, judging from the slender leaves, but let's pretend that they are Christmas cyclamen!)from another set "Mixed Greetings" which can be seen here.
I stamped the "cyclamen" image onto some PTI vintage cream cs in SU Always Artichoke and colored with Copic markers.  The basket is stamped in Close to Cocoa and also filled in with Copic markers.
I used a classic Spellbinder Nestability circle to cut and emboss and layered it onto another Nestability Blossom shape with foam.  The sentiment is stamped and cut out with a smaller blossom die.
I made a couple of paper borders with a MS border punch and added a top layer of lace to this.  I punched out a couple of fern branches and placed this little felt and fabric birdie that I just bought this morning from a fun store ;)
Thanks for taking a peek and hope your weekend gets off to a great start!
Chriss

Sunshine and blue skies challenge

Hi there everyone! It has been a busy week for me as I am getting ready to travel to Montreal to help my sis find an assisted living place for our mom. She had a stroke in March and is not able to live alone at this moment...

I have not made any cards this week, except for this one last night for the Flourishes "Sunshine and Blue Skies" challenge. It truly was a challenge for me, as I do not use these colours too often and never really reach for them.

Here it is, using K and Co. dp for the background and punched yellow MS Quilted Edge border panel. The two circular lacey "flowery clouds" were cut from another K and Co. dp and I added some lemon PTI buttons threaded with blue embroidery floss. The Chrysanthemum Flourishes image is from my beloved Flowers for a Year set from Flourishes. I coloured with Copic markers and cut out, using the petite ovals dies. I added the yellow flourish that I cut with a Sissix die and used a blue pearl to join the two flourishes together.

That's it....

I'm looking forward to seeing my family over the next 10 days and I will be back home in Austin, trying to catch up on all of the stamping world news ;)

Thanks for visiting!

Chriss

Sympathy Morning Glories FTTC68

Good afternoon everyone,

One of my aunts passed over the weekend, so I made this card to send to my uncle and the children (my cousins)

I spent a few summers with them growing up as a young girl. They live in a different part of Quebec, a couple of hours away from Montreal and I have very fond memories of those days.

I used the beautiful morning glories from Flourishes "A Year in Flowers" series and K and Co. dp. The Flourishes Timeless Tuesday challenge for this week is to make a flower, so I cut out two small circles of the dp and cut each one into 4 pie shaped wedges, folded the wedges smaller and more narrow and stuck them onto dimensional foam and thin clear adhesive dots. I placed the pieced together flower onto a folded/looped ribbon and added this pearl and fabric embellishment from a strand of fancy trim that I recently bought.

Here is a close up of the flower part.

I seem to remember my aunt wearing purple quite a bit, so I think she would have liked this colour for a card.

Thanks for visiting,

Chriss

2 Sketches4You Old Fashioned Christmas and a flower card!

Good morning everyone! It seems a while since I have posted, but it is really just a few days! I have missed having something new to post, but I got busy yesterday after some household chores and gardening were taken care of.

I saw this sketch here on the 2SketchesforYou blog and thought this would be a great foundation for this JustRite stamp from the Old Fashioned Christmas set as the focal point. The sleigh was stamped, coloured and cut/embossed with a classic circle Nestability and I used foam to pop up over the textured Bazzill beautiful cranberry colour card stock in the blossom shape. The larger circle was stamped separately and coloured/ cut/ embossed in the same manner and popped up on a larger blossom shape in a pretty black K and Co. print. This black and white dp is probably my favourite B/W ever! I picked up the cranberry coloured classic dp last week at Archiver's, but in my haste to get the card together, I used the portion where the company name is on the back on one of the panels on the card, so I really don't know what company it is. The panels are on a Bazzill panel. The card base is Stampin' Up Mellow Moss. The corner treatment is a very old punch that I have and it makes scalloped photo corners that come out embossed to fold over the back of the corner perfectly! On these two corners, I added a portion of another stamped and colored holly and berry border and carefully cut out those tiny pieces.

My next card was created just for fun with this beautiful Cosmo Cricket Everafter

patterned paper and the detailed Flourishes daisy/echinacaea flower from a year in Flowers. I coloured with my Copic markers and cut/embossed the layered ovals. I used a length of satin ribbon under the lace border and also created a border from the Vintage Cream PTI cs with a MS arches border punch. I have some charms in my stash of stuff and really need to start using them, so I added this bronze medallion and placed an orange rhinestone in the center, to match the ones on the sentiment and the MS punched butterfly.

That is it for now. Have a great day and thanks for stopping in!

Chriss

Christmas Amaryllis FLLCNOEL1

Good morning everyone! It's a beautiful day here in Austin and not too hot yet this morning to get out into the garden, still lots to clean up and trim! I decided to get a challenge card done first thing this morning for the Flourishes Christmas challenge that you can find here. I don't have any Flourishes Christmas stamps (but I will be ordering one this week)but I do have the Year In Flowers, so here is my Christmas Amaryllis.

I used 3 different shades of red Copic markers to colour and shade in the flowers and I modeled the colour after one of amaryllis bulbs that are blooming in my garden right now. The patterned paper is from GCDStudios and the lighter green that I used for the card front is the reverse side of it. I used a PTI "tin Types" impression plate on it. The darker green card stock is a textured Bazzil. The sentiment is SU from the set "Best Yet".

I used a MS border punch at the bottom of the square panel and a corner punch on the top right detail. I also added some red rhinestones that I first coloured with a dark red Copic to make the red a little richer.

I will make a few more of these exact cards later this afternoon and feel good that my Christmas card stash is at least started!
Here is a close-up of the flowers detail.

Have a great day, and thanks for looking!

Chriss

Yellow Rose for Mom

Two challenges for this card

Flourishes FLLCAPR10 to make a card with a "Twinchie"

and the colour challenge below!
Hello everyone! Did you have a pleasant Saturday? It was beautiful here in Austin and I started off the day with a breakfast with a couple of stamping buddies. How fun to be able to do that every few weeks! I divied up the afternoon with making this card, watering the garden beds and pulling lots of Texas sized weeds in the part of the back yard that I refer to as the "pit".

For my card, I came across this very old sheet of 12 X 12 dp that I purchased from Hobby Lobby some years ago. It is slightly texture embossed and the vine-y leaves are quite pretty. I knew I wanted to use this for the colour challenge JFFCC6 because it had 2 of the 3 required colours. I decided to cut two narrow panels and stitch them onto a Bazzil green textured card front. That went just OK, as I am not using my big and old Singer sewing machine, but a new very small Pixie Singer. I am not quite sure if I have an opinion yet, I need to give it some practice! For my image, I stamped the lovely rose from the Flourishes series Flowers for the Year in Memento Tux. black and coloured with a few yellow Copic markers and green for the leaves. I cut the image out and stamped/colored again and cut out the top rose bud and adhered to the whole floral image using a small piece of dimensional foam. I placed the whole image on a 2" X 2" yellow piece of card stock and rounded the corners with the SU small corner rounder. I then cut out a Bazzil green textured piece of card stock using a mega scalloped oval Nestability die and embossed with the tan mat. I adhered this to the top center of the card. I then stamped the Mom

PaperTrey image onto a yellow scrap cut out with the smallest MegaS Nestie and added some leaves from the second stamped image. The elegant border was cut using an EK success border punch and I wrapped the pink SU taffeta ribbon around the card front before adhering to the card base.

Thanks for taking a peek again today!

Cheers,

chriss

Scallops and daffodils!

Good afternoon everyone!

I have another card for you today, this one is a Springy daffodil stamped from the beautiful Flourishes "A Year of Flowers" series. It also is for the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday challenge, to use scallops and for the PlayDateCafe colour challenge to use pale and dark yellows. I wonder how many daffodil cards were made for this!

The background was made using a CB folder entitled Ornamental Iron and the scallops and scroll just across the bottom of the daffodil is a die border also in the same EF set. I have scallops around the sentiment and image too. I love these colours and don't use the yellows often enough. Hope you are having a good start to your week!

Chriss

1 card~2 challenges

Good Thursday morning everyone! The sun is shining and the temps are improving, makes me happy! Hope you are having a good day.

Another purple card! Yes, it's true, two within a 24 hour period. I had my purples out from yesterday's challenge and wanted to use the images that I stamped and coloured before they got lost and tossed! The challenges I was able to complet today are for the CPS sketch challenge AND Sharon's Stamp Simply #126 to use purple and green. I love when I can combine the challenges!

I stamped the Flourishes pansy from set #1 of the flowers sets and coloured with Copics. Cut out and mounted onto a CuttleBug medallion die shape from PTI vintage ivory card stock, two of these. I also made my own flower embellishment from MS punches and a K an CO. fabric/rhinestone brad.

The panels of card stock are, SU Perfect Plum, a Bazzill green and PTI vintage ivory. I used a CB embossing folder on the ivory and purple panels. The pattern paper is very, very old from Laura Ashley. The sentiment is the SU Well Scripted...again ;)

Thanks for peeking in again today, I really appreciate the visits!

chriss