We are on week two of the current Retro Rubber Challenge #17 – where all you have to do is make something patriotic and/or with sparkles.  So I made a card that is patriotic and has sparkles!  I am playing along with a couple of other challenges – The Friday Mashup – where it’s all about 3 or a sketch and CAS(E) this Sketch.

I started off with a piece of watercolor paper on which I white embossed an exploding firework.  I silver embossed the “boom” three times.  (I am stretching the it’s all about three a bit by using words instead of an element.) 

After that, I used my distress inks to water color a strip of blue and a strip of red.  I added some bling and popped the paper up on kraft cardstock.

Have you made your 4^th of July cards yet?  If you have – be sure to play along with the Retro Rubber challenge.  Link up HERE.

A huge thank you for being selected as a fab fave for the last Fab Friday challenge.  You can see that card HERE.  I was very surprised and thrilled!

Thanks for stopping by today!  Be sure to pop in tomorrow!!

Supplies:  CS:  SU! watercolor paper.  PTI kraft.  Stamps:  PTI red, white and blue.  Other:  White and silver embossing powders.  Distress inks.  Rhinestones.

Happy Monday!  June is just about over!  Can you believe it?  I cannot!  I also cannot believe that I hadn't played along with the June Reverse Confetti Sketch For You To Try yet.  So I am remedying that today!  I haven’t used my bee stamp set from RC very much so that was my choice for this challenge.  I dug out some old dsp that was bee themed to pair up with my image.

I started off with a soft suede base and added the dsp – the honeycomb paper was cut with my trimmer but the bee paper was die cut with the largest RC square from the shakers n frames die.  The sentiment was stamped on cream CS and die cut and layered using the RC give thanks label die.  Then I stamped and die cut the hive and bee – both of which I colored with my color pencils.

I added a bit of linen thread to “tie” everything together! 

Tomorrow starts the second week of the Retro Rubber patriotic challenge so link up your creations HERE.  Plus Wednesday I have an announcement that I am excited to share with you all!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:  CS:  SU! soft suede, PTI cream and dsp from the stash.  Stamps:  Reverse Confetti The Buzz.  Dies:  RC double edge scallop border, shakers n frames, buzz cuts, give thanks label.  Other:  SU! soft suede ink, colored pencils, and linen thread.

This is a short and sweet post since it is Friday!  I was planning to play along with a challenge for today but just ran out of time to make anything up.  So I am showcasing a card I made a while back but never got around to posting it.

I started off with some SU! naturals white for the card front and ran it thru the linen impression plate.  I stamped the sentiment in Bermuda bay ink and then adhered the card front to some Bermuda bay cardstock.  I added the twine and linen thread and some sequins and pearls to finish off the card.

Thanks for stopping by today!  We are expecting a triple digit heat wave this weekend so I think I will stay in the craft cave where it is cool!  Have a great weekend – I will be back Monday with another week of cards!

Supplies:  CS:  SU! naturals white and Bermuda bay.  Stamps:  Reverse Confetti God is Good.  Other:  SU! Bermuda bay ink, Bermuda bay sequins, pearls, linen thread and twine.

I made a fun tag today for the Tag You’re It Challenge.  I am not very good at inspiration challenges so this challenge site is good for me.  Hopefully I will get the hang of them soon!  So this is the image:

I decided to use the colors and the animal idea for my tag.  I dug out my old SU! under the stars stamp set for the bear – I love this bear image – he can be cute or ferocious!   I hope he looks cute on this tag! I stamped him in memento black and then used colored pencils to color him in.  A bit of chalk around and under him gives him a little grounding.

The sentiment comes from my rotary alpha stamp.  I am not sure if that is the real name but it is basically like a date stamp that you can change the dates on except with the alphabet.  So I made this sentiment and let it be a bit wonky – like an old manual typewriter.

The tag was die cut using my Reverse Confetti tag me too dies and then a bit of brown hemp was added.  I only have one picture today.  I was having trouble getting a clear picture – so I gave up and went with the best one I had!

Thanks for stopping by today!  Be sure to play along with the Retro Rubber challenge – it’s patriotic – click HERE to get more info or link up your card!

Supplies:  PTI white.  Stamps:  SU! under the stars.  Rotary alpha.  Dies:  RC tag me too.  PTI linen impression plate.  Other:  Brown twine, memento black ink, colored pencils and chalk.

Today I am playing along with the Fab Friday challenge and sneaking it in before the final bell rings on the challenge.  I originally wasn’t going to play along because I couldn’t come up with anything to do!  But I got my SU! order the other day so I pulled out the new Cottage Greetings stamp set.  The font in this set is fabulous – delightfully thin and elegant!  And looks beautiful when heat embossed!

I started off with tip top taupe as the base and ran it thru my trusty linen impression plate!  I had someone comment that I may wear that out!  LOL!  I thought that was funny!  Because I actually bought two just in case I did!

I stamped the little flowers on a piece of white with my SU! markers – cucumber crush and watermelon wonder.  Then I die cut the watermelon wonder cardstock with my zig zag square dies and heat embossed the sentiment on there.  Again – I am in LOVE with this font!  I punched out the flowers and then popped the white square up on the watermelon.  I used a bit of washi, a few pearls and I was done!

Thanks for stopping by today!  I will be back tomorrow!  Don’t forget the Retro Rubber challenge – it’s patriotic and/or sparkles!  Link up HERE!

Supplies:  CS:  PTI white, SU! watermelon wonder and tip top taupe.  Stamps:  SU! cottage greetings.  Inks:  SU! markers – watermelon wonder and cucumber crush.  Other:  SU! cherry on top washi, WOW opaque white embossing powder, pearls, PTI linen impression plate and MFT zig zag squares.

Welcome to the Retro Rubber Challenge #17!  This challenge is a patriotic challenge – so dig out your red, white and blue and get to work!  Here is all you need to do to enter – use stamps older than a year AND add either sparkles or use fourth of July themed stuff (or both if you would like!)!!

My card is very CAS.  I started with a few stripes of red and blue.  I stamped the sentiment, die cut it using my zigzag dies and popped it up on the card front.  A bit of sparkle and I was done!

Now for my confession – I used a stamp set that is less than a year old!  Yipes!  It is a good thing that I am not entering this challenge!  I used the stripe from the newish SU! butterfly basics set!  What was I thinking?  My apologies to you all!  I made this card a couple of weeks ago and realized my mistake as I was writing up my post!  Too late!

But here is what you can do – dig out your old stamps (do as I say, not as I do!) and play along with us!  Link up your patriotic visions HERE!

Thanks for stopping by today!  Be sure to stop in tomorrow!

Supplies:  CS:  PTI white.  Stamps:  SU! butterfly basics and PTI red, white and blue.  Inks:  SU! real red and night of navy.  Other:  PTI linen impression plate, MFT zigzag stitched circles and rhinestones.

Happy Monday!  Today I am sharing the graduation card I made for a couple of gals who graduated from high school.  I hadn’t used my texture paste in a while so I thought that would make a great background for my card.

I started with translucent embossing paste and my tiles stencil to make the design on the midnight muse cardstock.  While waiting for the paste to dry, I dug out my PTI retro style graduation stamps and dies.  I stamped the images in midnight muse onto the white CS and then die cut the image.  Then I stamped the sentiment in versamark so that I could silver emboss it.  Our colors are blue and white with some silver.  So I added my silver in with the embossing, rhinestones and metallic thread.

After looping my thread around the sign, I popped it onto the card front and added the sentiment.  I scattered rhinestones on there for a bit of bling and put everything on a card base of white.

Thanks for stopping by today!  Be sure to check in tomorrow, the new Retro Rubber challenge starts!

Supplies:  CS:  SU! midnight muse.  PTI white.  Inks:  SU! midnight muse.  Versamark.  Stamps/Dies:  PTI Retro Style Graduation.  SSS sketchy banners.  Other:  Texture embossing paste – translucent.  Metallic silver thread.  Rhinestones.  Tim Holtz tiles stencil.  Silver embossing powder. 

Happy Friday!  Today’s card is very clean and simple!  I recently purchased the new SU! awesomely artistic stamp set and know this is going to be a favorite of mine!

I started off with kraft cardstock and white heat embossed both the sentiment and the flowers.  I added a few pearls and popped the card front up on a base of kraft.  I love the look of kraft and white together.

Today’s card is in memory of my dad.  He passed away 7 years ago today.  I miss you Dad!

Thanks for stopping by today.  I am off for the weekend but will be back on Monday!

Supplies:  CS: PTI kraft.  Stamps:  SU! awesomely artistic.  Other:  White embossing powder, pearls and PTI linen impression plate.

Today I am playing along with the sketch challenge at Pals Paper Arts.  I recently purchased these great word dies from Reverse Confetti and thought they would be perfect for this challenge!

I started off with a base of SU! tip top taupe and added a few banners out of the SU! cherry on top dsp.  I used the MFT stitched fishtail dies to get the different sizes with stitching.  I admit I have an addiction to any die that has stitching, piercing or whatever to add a bit of pizzazz to the die cut.

This card is pretty simple – cut a few banners, cut the words (several times to stack them up) and adhere everything.  Did you notice that not a single stamp was used in the making of this card?  That is a rarity for me!

Thanks for stopping by today!  Pop in tomorrow!

Supplies:  CS:  SU! tip top taupe, Bermuda bay, pool party and cherry on top dsp.  Dies:  MFT stitched fishtail dies, PTI linen impression plate, and RC fancy words confetti cuts.

So I am doing something today that I have never done before.  I am playing along with the same challenge for the second time.  Last week Sunday Stamps introduced their new challenge which was a color challenge.  I had prepared a card to play along with the Pals Paper Arts color challenge and since the challenges were so similar I decided to link to both.

But today I am posting the card that I had planned for the Sunday Stamps challenge (you are allowed to enter as many times as you want).  So here we go with today’s card.

I started off by cutting three pieces of A2 sized cardstock in vanilla, soft sky, and sahara sand.  Using my MISTI tool and the lupine from the PTI flower favorites stamp set, I stamped (in soft sky ink) the lupine on the three different cardstocks.  Then I stamped the sentiment in memento rich cocoa on each of the cardstocks.  Before doing anything else, I ran all the cardstock thru my linen impression plate.

I used my Simon Says Stamp mod circle frame die to die cut these three pieces of cardstock.  The frame is in sahara sand which I adhered to an A2 size piece of sahara sand and then added the pieces of cardstock into the frame in a random fashion.  I added a few pearls and a candy dot.  I love how this card turned out.  In the middle of making it, I wasn’t so sure that my idea was going to work, so when it did – I was happy!  After all the pieces were in, I attached the card front to my card base of sahara sand.

So there you have it, a long winded story of why I am entering this challenge twice! 

Thanks for stopping by today!  Be sure to stop in tomorrow!!

Supplies:  CS:  SU! sahara sand and soft sky.  PTI vanilla.  Stamps:  PTI flower favorites.  Sweet n Sassy Peaceful Swans.  Inks:  SU! soft sky.  Memento rich cocoa.  Dies:  PTI linen impression plate.  SSS mod circle frame.  Other:  SU! candy dots and pearls.