Bottled Flowers

These two stamps from Inkadinkado are a couple of my absolute favorites. These are a couple of the images I colored up last winter (2013) while we were in Florida.  They are so versatile and so easy to color.  Just stamp and swipe on a little color for the bottles and flowers and hey presto done. I left a blank banner on the left one for future use.  Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

Double Stamping

Double stamping seems to be a popular technique lately.  Several of the card making videos I've watched lately have used this technique (which of course has been around forever) and it is very effective.  This particular stamp from Inkadinkado works well with double stamping. I used a kraft card base, rounding off the edges and then matted a chocalate brown card stock, also rounded.  To add some interest I layered some of my Simply Jane DP from Papertrey Ink on top of that after I rounded the edge and swiped some Chamomile ink arond the edges.  After I stamped my images I stamped the sentiment over it with Memento Rich Cocoa, matted it with a softer brown and assembled the card.  I love making Thinking of You cards, they can be used for any occasion.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by. 

Bach on Black

While going through my boxes of stamps I came across some old favorites and decided to ink them up.  I've used this stamp from Inkadinkado several times years ago, it was one of my first stamp buys, but I always struggled with the layout for the card.  This card just fell together.  I stamped the image on white with Memento Tuxedo Black and then just layered it on black, white and black then onto a white card base.  The sentiment on white then black and the card was done.  I'm not sure just who this pianist is but for my card I call him Bach.  It works for my post title.  Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by. 

One Layer Flowers in Bottles

The other day I posted up a couple of cards I made using this image from Inkadinkado.  While I was looking at the stamp I wondered how it would look just stamped onto the card base and minimally colored.
Well here is what I came up with.  I pulled out some Beckett Expressions card stock in soft blue and pale green, I stamped the image on the front with Memento Rich Cocoa and only colored a few of the flowers with Copics using  RV17.  I traced the edges of the bottles with B000 for the blue card and G20 for the green.
I'm really happy with how they turned out and I hope you like them also.  Thanks for stopping by.

Flowers in Bottles

Bruce and I made a trip over to Grand Rapids yesterday, mostly just to get out of the house.  We, or rather I, was having a bad case of cabin fever.  It's so hot I just don't want to go outside.  So we went , we shopped, we ate lunch and came home.  Nice little break and I scored some craft items and this stamp from Inkadinkado was one of them.  One of the few remaining independent stamping stores left in mid-Michigan, StampTherapy, has just moved into a new store, so of course I had to check it out.  They are still setting up but it's really nice.
So last night I was looking at my goodies and I inked up this image and stamped it onto some Cryogen white in Memento Rich Cocoa.  I decided to keep the coloring very light so I just outlined the bottles with Copics (top card B00, bottom card G20).  Then the flowers were done in shades of pink, R85, R83, R30 and RV14 for the top card and bottom in shades of yellow this touches of violet, V0000, Rv00, YG0000, YR00 and YR31.
I used a kraft card base for one and Neenah Classic white for the other with Papertreys Bitty Dot Basic for the DP.  The orange and the brown mats were from scraps and the ribbon, flat back pearl and rhinestones are from my stash.
Warning, it's never a good idea to craft when you're tired.  When I went to pull out my drawer of embellishments I dropped it on the floor.  Do you know how it hurts to kneel on a rhinestoen when crawling around to pick up those little buggers.  And of course trying to pick them up and getting them stuck all over me wasn't a picnic either.  Oh well lesson learned.
I really like how the cards turned out in spite of the aggravation.  Hope you do also.
Thansk for stopping by.  

Easter Cards

When I set out to make Easter cards for the Easter food baskets I knew I that an assembly line process was going to be a must. I also knew that to make 20 some cards exactly alike would bore me to tears. So I went looking through my goodies for ideas and these are what I came up with. I stamped the three different crosses from Papertrey's Everyday Blessings in Memento Rich Cocoa and then stamped Rejoice from Inkadinkado and He Is Risen from Great Impressions all on Beckett Expressions White. Whew...

Then I mounted them onto card base from Memory Box in what I call the Easter/Spring colors.

This assembly line process is working really well for me. I may have to make some more to mail to friends and family.

Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

Capella Anniversary

When I started making the anniversary cards for my church group I knew that this wedding ring from Inkadinkado would be a good one to use. It is so easy to color since the shading is part of the stamp. All I had to do was pull out my cool grey Copics and color it in for the silver/platinum rings.

The DP is BasicGrey Capella paper pad. The designs in this pad are elegantly beautiful.

I cut the image and the mat out with Nestabilities octagon.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Happy Anniversary Mary and Mike

My cousin and her husband have an anniversary coming up and I wanted to make a special card for them. So I went looking for ideas and the first stop I made was my friend Sandy's site. She designed the sketch for the ABC Toys and Craft challenge this week. Hmmm, can I combine a challenge with a card I need to make anyway? YES!!!

I used this wonderful wedding ring stamp from Inkadinkado for my focal point. I colored with Copics N1 and N3 then I air brushed RV34 around it. Then I had to make choices for paper and embellishments to meet the sketch. I pulled out my Lasting Impressions paper (I've made a vow to use stuff I have before buying new lol) and chose the ones I wanted to use. It turns out to be a somewhat monochromatic card, and I'm not sure Mike will like it with all the pink (sorry Sandy). It's really not pink more a rose color. Oh well. I cut the hearts out with Nestabilities and started layering the elements. I had some grey and black rhinestones so I pulled them out and added grey one for my bling.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

A Spring Anniversary

I made three anniversary cards in the last two days (I started out with four but goofed one up and it was consigned to file thirteen--are we done with numbers yet???). This stamp is from Inkadinkado and I first saw it on my friend Sandy's blog on a card she designed for ABC Toys and Crafts (that's where this stamp is from).

You can see her card here, but please look at mine first because there is no comparison to the beauty of her cards.

I colored with Copics and then cut it out with Nestabilities Labels Four, as I did the mat also.

I wanted something a little different so I ran it through the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder before I cut it out to give it a little dimension. I found this gold sheer ribbon and added it between the layers and mounted onto the DP which is, of course DCWV Cafe Mediterranean.

I like how it turned out, what do you think? I'll be posting up the other two card over the next few days to show you the variety of moods for this single stamp. Thanks for stopping by.

A rustic Easter and A Simple Easter

These two cards use another of the images from the Inkadinkado Spiritual Sketches set that I picked up at Michael's last week.

In the first card I stamped directly onto hand made DP with Memento Rich Cocoa and mounted directly onto the card base.

In the second card I stamped directly onto the card base, using the same ink. The card base has a linen texture that I just love. Each card was so easy to make, probably not more than a minute or two for each. Fast cards, got to love them.

Hope you like them and thanks for stopping by.

Easter Blessings

I was in Michael's the other day trying to find something to use my 50% off coupon on and as usual everything I wanted was already on sale.

But I bought this Spiritual Sketches set by Inkadinkado anyway.

Since Easter is coming I thought I'd whip out some cards to send out. This is one of them. I stamped the Bible image with Memento Rich Cocoa on this rustic looking DP and simply tore around the edges. Just mounting right onto the card base and it was done.

Very plain and simple but gets the message across very well. Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

P.S. I could use the Bible and the other images from this set for First Communion and Confirmation cards also. Very versatile set--- love it!

Football Birthday

This card was made out of desperation. I've had this image (Inkadinkado) laying on my desk forever. I finally needed to use it or throw it away. Being the frugal person that I am (LOL) I used it. The card base had also been sitting around on my desk FOREVER so I had to find away to merge them. The textured paper was mounted slightly off so the top edge of the card base showed, so I found a scrap of a coordinated green paper and tore it, ran some Memento Rich Cocoa along the edge and slapped it on. I smudged some of that Rich Cocoa along the edge of the image thinking it would look like the football had kicked up some dirt. Anyway the idea is that a young boy is playing with a birthday gift maybe???

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving. Today will be a quiet one for us. My sister Ann is coming to dinner and we'll be trying (trying being the operative word) to have a healthier dinner. Turkey is the main course of course LOL. I'll be brining the bird as I've done for the past few years. If you want a moist flavorful turkey this is the way to go. If you go up on Food Network TV every chef/cook has their own brine recipe and you'll find one to suit your taste. I use Alton Brown's (Good Eats) recipe. Simple and tasty.

Well to get back to the reason for this blog. This card was done using the Cuttlebug folder for Fall and the sentiment is from a clear set Thankful For You from Inkadinkado. I lightly sanded the color core paper and colored the sentiment in just a bit.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

P.S. Happy Thanksgiving to family in Virginia, Colorado and Iowa.

Golfing Christmas

I had to come up with a special card for our golfing friends, so this is it.

Embossing came to the rescue again. This Northwoods Rubber Stamps image works really well with embossing powder. I'm sure many a golfer is dreading the change of season and the end of golf for this year. (Bruce played just 2 days ago and doesn't think there will be any more for the year).

The sentiment is Inkadinkado.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Christmas Reindeer

I got the bug to work on Christmas cards. ( I got a call from my sister asking for 15 cards and that got me going).

I really wanted to work some more with embossing powders and this set seemed to cry out for this technique. It is an Inkadinkado clear set that is really beautiful. I'm using very fine detail white embossing powder and it works great.

The sentiment is also Inkadinkado, but a different clear set.

I used a snowflake edge punch from EK Success.

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Sympathy

I sat down last night and made a list of all the people I'm making cards for this year. I mean the ones I give a small assortment of cards to as gifts. As near as I can figure out at this point the number of cards to make is over 120. Need to get hopping.

The interesting part of this is that most of the people want sympathy cards.

Well here's one of them. Penny Black comes through again with an image that works so well for this type of card. I just stamped it in Memento Rich Cocoa on a light beige paper and added this sentiment by Kathy Davis from Inkadinkado. I trimmed the paper down and mounted it on a dark brown DP cut out with Nestabilities Mega Curve rectangle. Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Madonna and Child

This stamp by Kathy Davis for Inkadinkado is to me one of the most elegant and moving images there is for Christmas. This simple line drawing of the Blessed Mother and the Baby Jesus really symbolizes the essence of the Holiday season. All I did was color the faces with Copics and then just ran a pale blue Copic along the lines.

I used and Nestabilities rectangle to frame the image.

The sentiment is part of the stamp so this is one easy card to make. Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Peace

I've had this Inkadinkado Dove stamp for several years now and still find it to be a terrific stamp for this season. Right now with all the troubles in the world it would be nice to have some Peace break out in some of the trouble spots.
Anyway, I stamped this right on to the front of my card base (Beckett) and just used a soft gray Copic to outline it. The sentiment is from Stampendous. The leaves are colored with Copics also and I think it adds just the right punch of color.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

O Holy Night

This image from Inkadinkado makes such a wonderful Christmas card.
The simplicity of it really makes the point of the reason for the season.
I just stamped it on the front of a card base (Beckett Expression Radiance) and colored with Copics.
I felt it needed a little more so I used my Mega Curved rectangles to emboss a frame around it.
Just a simple little card that says a whole lot.
Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Christmas Wreath

I picked up this beautiful stamp from Inkadinkado at Hobby Lobby a week or so ago. I just thought it was so pretty. It makes a simple but elegant card don't you think??? I colored with Copics of course and added a gold rhinestone to dot the I for a little bling. The Rocket Red is from Gina K and it is a great card stock. Really good weight and texture.
I've been missing in action for a couple of days since Bruce and I went to Cadillac to visit friends. We had a nice time in spite of the weather. It's not winter yet but I'm already tired of it. Well there's no snow but the gray clouds and cold, windy and wet days are no fun. I hope you like the card and thanks for stopping by.