Big Sentiments

 Big sentiments, pretty papers, punched flowers combine to make a lovely card.

These papers are from the Hand-Penned Memories and More card pack from SU.  It is a good way to sample the product before investing a lot of money in the whole collection. I am loving the prints in this pack.  

The card stock is Misty Moonlight.  I used coordinating colors from the scrap box to  punch out flowers, stems, and a butterfly and then brushed on coordinating dies.  The big sentiment is from Hero Arts. I did the 3 layers to have more definition.  

I used the sketch from The Paper Players

And also playing in Pixie's Crafty Workshop Snippets Challenge #406. My flowers, leaves, and butterfly are all from snippets. Definitely playing for the prize which is a pack of pretty backgrounds and also another big sentiment

More Dandelions.

 It has been windy here and the neighbor's dandelion seeds keep blowing into our yard and sprouting. Frustrates my husband as he like to have a weed free lush lawn. 

The patterned paper is a card from the SU Dandy Garden Memories and More Card pack. It you enlarge the picture, you can see it is covered with dandelions. I backed it with white cardstock to make it pop.  The yellow stripe is also from one of the cards. The dandelion stamp is Stampendous. The sentiment is also SU. The little SU butterfly is double stamped and die cut. The coordinating colors here are SU Bumblebee.  Oh, maybe I should have used a bumblebee on the dandelions?

I used the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches

Lawn Care Guy

 These digi stamps from Imagine That Digistamp are just perfect for my husband who is my "lawn care guy" He also volunteers doing landscaping and mowing at our church. His birthday is next month and then 10 days later is our anniversary--this one will be 53. Wow! that is a long time.

Both images and sentiments are on the same digi set. The top image is on a SU Stitched Whimsy die cut. The coloring is all with SU Blends. After I colored in the images, I used a make up brush and some Pool Party ink to fill in a little background.

You need to check out Imagine That Digistamp Blog. You buy the first monthly featured digi, use it and post to their blog, they send you the next month's digi free. As long as you keep posting to their blog, they send you a free digi. That is a great deal.

Here is a picture of all you get in this month's digi.

Dandelions.

 It is summer and dandelions are abundant everywhere so why not on a card?

The card and envelop are preprinted from SU's Dandy Garden Suite which is retiring at the end of the month.  I stamped a dandelion by Stampendous on each of 5 scalloped circles, then glued the to the card. The hello sentiment is popped up with dimensionals.  An added clear sequin to the center of each dandelion adds a bit of bling.

I am using the sketch from Make the Cards Challenge #21

Bluebird of Happiness

 I hope to bring a little happiness to someone's day with this cute little bluebird.

You have to enlarge the picture to see the scrolling embossing which also includes the bird in the corner. It is an embossing folder from Darice.  I watercolored the bird with SU inks and brush. Stamped a sentiment from Hero Arts in the center.  Boo-Boo in the lower left corner is covered by 3 punched flowers and leaves which turns out to be a good thing as it balances the card.

This is for Let's Squash It challenge #9 Nature and Watercolor. 

Sun and Fun

 Summer sun is certainly heating up my area of Indiana. So Darnell's  Twofer Card Challenge of Sunshine is perfect for the season. Except, my entry didn't work out exactly as I had planned. I forgot to take a picture of the 2 cards together and I sent one of them in the mail yesterday. So I had to recreate the water scene card again today.

Number 1 is the traditional sunshine with a beachy scene made with stamps from SU Waterfront and Wetlands sets.

The sentiment is also SU. I stamped it in black, fussy cut around it and then sponged on some of the brown to make it blend into the sand. All the patterned papers are also SU.  I love sitting on the beach watching the sand pipers run to the water and then back.

Number 2 uses the sunshine stamp to make colorful polka-dots. 

Colors used are SU: daffodil yellow, melon mambo, balmy blue and highland heather.  The sentiment is an old unlabeled one. The die cut shapes are from Pink and Main. I popped up the die cuts with foam tape as you can see from the shadow created there. 

Okay, I will confess. I wasn't intending to add sequins but there was an ink smudge that needed covering. Now I am glad that happened because I really like the look with the sequins.

Also sharing this on Darnell's NBUS page as the Pink and Main die cuts are new.

Sailor's Card

 I am sending this one to Hugs for our Soldiers. But it would also work for any guy who likes sailing. CAS & QAE. Some strips from the scrap box and stamps from Stampabilities plus 4 gold star stickers.

I am entering at Make the Cards Challenge with this inspiration color combo

A "Whaley" Good Day

 Just a fun cheery card to share today for the challenge at Shopping Our Stash #455--here fishy fishy

I used an unlabled whale E/F and then cut it in half as I only wanted the whales on the bottom. I sponged on some SU Balmy Blue lightly over that piece. I did the sentiment on the computer and trimmed that down to fit the top half. The whale is a Stampabilities stamp, stamped on a scrap of white and sponged partially wit the Balmy Blue and SU s Basic Gray. I fussy cut the whale and popped it up with foam tape. I then mounted that on a Balmy Blue card stock. I added some clear sequins in the water for a little bling.

No Dirty Dishes Day

Hooray! May 18 is No Dirty Dishes day--more on that later.  Not only no dirty dishes for me, I am seriously considering letting someone else cook also. So I am spending the time saved by doing something fun with this cute dancing chick.

Digital image is From The Heart (now out of business). Sentiment is from a sign I saw in a gift shop. I traced over the word sparkle with a clear gel star pen. The pattern paper is by Recollections. I used a Fiskar border punch for the shiny purple scallops. Bling added with pink and gold sequins. I used some clear glitter glue to add sparkle to the tutu.

Inside I did a computer sentiment, stamped a tiara (unlabled) and colored it with gold gel star pen.

Entering in a couple of challenges

Double Trouble Challenge:  

Thing 1:  Trouble Maker 

says, "Did you know that May 18th is "No Dirty Dishes Day"? This special day encourages people to take a break from doing dishes for the day and spend the time saved doing things for FUN.  So, let's keep your sink happy, use paper products and do your part by saying NO dirty dishes today!
So... for FUN use some patterned paper from your stash and create an any-occasion girly girl project." 

Thing 3:  Twisted Sister 

says, "What! No Dirty dishes for only a Day?  My sink is used to being piled up just like my stash.  So let's choose some embellishments and/or bling (glitter, gems, sequins, ribbons, flowers, etc.) from your stash, and don't be afraid to pile it on your girly-girl project."  

Optional Twist:  If you have included embellishments and/or bling on your project you will earn another chance for our Random Draw. Thing 2:  Double Dare 

says, "If you have met Trouble Maker's girly girl requirement, with or without bling, you are eligible to enter your project HERE  for the Stinkin' Inkers Challenge "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun".  This is a monthly challenge and DTC will be participating starting Monday, May 17th through Sunday, May 30th.   

I used the sketch from Tuesday Mornings Sketches

         

Squash It Challenge

I guess they are called challenges because they are meant to challenge us. Let's Squash It challenge Let's Make Space and Bring on the Bling did just that for me. I searched my E/Fs and found only one that leaves blank space. 

The tree and leaves are a Darice E/F

I used colored pencils on their side to lightly add color to the tree and leaves. It is hard to tell but I used a light yellow pencil on the background behind the leaves to give a little sunshine glow. The bottom has some sponged on green and old stamps of stems and flowers. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up!

The bling comes in as SU sequins--light green in the tree and a few orange ones as flower centers.   Sigh!, after I was done, I noticed a green ink smudge by the flowers so I fixed that with a punched butterfly.

This is all on a SU Pool Party cardstock to give a sky background.