Retired!

 Hello!  Happy Friday to you!  It's my turn to host the F4All Challenge at Splitcoaststampers and this week my challenge is to add at least one die-cut to your project.  

One of my favorite things about this card is the texture from the Road Texture stamp.  Isn't it fun? I love the Just Retired stamp as it is just so cute!  I added the cute little Sunny Face because it will be a sunny day on the last day of work, even if it's raining!  Haha.  Lastly, I love the Cloud Borders as there are so many different ways to use them!

Are you retired?  I would love to know if you are retired, how long you have been retired, and if you are loving it!  

   

    
       

You are Lovely for Watercolor Wednesday!

Hello!  It's Wednesday and that means it's time for a new Watercolor Challenge at SCS.  The tutorial we are following shows how to freehand the tulips but this week I just knew I didn't have the energy to wrestle with my drawing skills or lack thereof!  :)   I stamped the beautiful Early Tulips, Bouquet, from Picket Fence Studios in Fade Out Ink using the Original MISTI and then I followed the tutorial for how to color the tulips.  I stamped a sentiment from the tulip stamp set with a Mini MISTI and then added a light splatter to finish off the card.  

Original

Mini

 

Faith, Hope, & Love for IO Die-Cut Day

Hello!  It's Die-Cut Day at Impression Obsession today.  

Don't you just hate it when you run out of time for projects?  The February IO Release included several scripty sentiments and lots of hearts so my plan was to make about 4 cards similar but showing the different sentiments.  Best laid plans and all that, I ended up with only one card but I love the clean lines and bright pop of color.  For a look at all the wonderful items in the Impression Obsession Store click HERE.

 

Today's Featured Items:

Faith Hope Love

Floral Heart

Stitched Tag #4

Crazy Stitched Set

It's Die-Cut Day at Impression Obsession so head on over to the IO Blog to see the list of participants featuring beautiful Impression Obsession dies!

      

     

    

This week the Art Nudge #61 photo prompt is S'mores so I am playing along with this card.  The S'mores die set is such fun to use and I love how the road texture adds a little something extra to the background!  

S'mores

Tree Line

Tag With Reinforcement

S'mores (sentiments)

Road Texture (as a background behind the trees)

 

   

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Sending Smiles with a MISTI

 Hi!  Today I am over at the My Sweet Petunia Blog featuring this card made with the beautiful Misted Watercolor Technique.   

 

It took me a REALLY long time to decide on a sentiment for this card but I finally decided on "sending smiles".  Speaking of smiles, one thing that really makes me smile is creating projects with my MISTI!  I would not want to try to stamp on watercolor paper without a MISTI as this required double stamping to achieve complete ink coverage. I would never have gotten the stamp to match exactly without a MISTI and that would have meant wasted paper and time!

  When using dark cardstock for the card base I like to add a Double Dip Notepaper on the inside.  Not only does it create a nice place to add a sentiment but it lets the recipient know it's ok to pass the card on! Head to the MISTI Shop for MISTIS, fun stamping tools, and more!

I hosted a Watercolor Challenge this week and we used Dina's Misted Watercolor Tutorial, which I also used to create this card.  If you would like to check out the tutorial click HERE.  

Thanks so much for stopping by!

  

       

Impression Obsession Theme Day - Adventures

It's Theme Day at Impression Obsession and this month's theme is Adventures.  

In our family, we have discussions about things like Big Foot and Aliens.  My husband says he believes.  I think he is mostly joking but... This will go to him on Father's day, I think! 

 I used a little something unexpected to create my scene.  I took the super cool Birch Tree Frame and carefully cut the frame apart and used the frame as trees!  Nice way to stretch a die, right? Creating dirt is super easy with the new Dirt Texture stamp!  Big Foot and the fun sentiment are from the Camping with Big Foot stamp set and as a side note, this set is currently on sale.  See the graphic and link below to the Great Outdoors Discount Category! 

Today the Impression Obsession Design Team is featuring Adventure Themed Cards! For a complete list of designers check out the Impression Obsession Blog!

  

Click HERE to head to the Great Outdoors Discount Category!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Misted Watercolor for Watercolor Wednesday

 Hello!  

It's Watercolor Wednesday and I am hosting the challenge this week.  I loved a recent tutorial I saw by Dina Kowal.  I even have two of the floral stamps she used in her samples so that is what we are doing this week!  All the details can be found HERE!

I used the Slim Scenes - Poppy and added I'm Sorry from Impression Obsession.     I used Daniel Smith Watercolor and for a final touch, I added some yellow paint dots with acrylic paint.  

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you feel inspired to paint!

        

   

 

    

Outdoor Adventuring

Today on the Free 4 All Challenge at SCS, Jeanne is asking for outdoor adventure cards! My husband and I love outdoor adventures.  We have two places just 45 minutes away (in different directions) that we just love to camp at. Every camping trip feels like a grand adventure! We took our kids on so many outdoor adventures when they were young.  It's almost a little bit hard now to go back to those same places and "remember when" so we are really glad to have one State Park that they have never been to!  Now it's back to just my husband and me and we are making new adventures!   

For my card, I heat embossed the Stars Background, then inked the sky.  Next, I used the really cool new Cloud Border Dies to make one long cloud.  I stamped and colored the Chairs in bright red and lastly, I added Adventure Awaits to the clouds.  

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  If you haven't checked out the IO May Favorite Post with a chance to win a prize there is still plenty of time. You can click HERE for that post!

     

   

 

   

 

Picket Fence Studios May Release - You Inspire Me

Welcome to the May Picket Fence Studios Release!  This is such a fun spring release and I can't wait to share it with you!

First, I just fell in love with the dreamy, Dream With Me Cover Plate.  I die-cut a layer from a background in my stash featuring ink smooshing with Distress Oxides.  For the silhouette, I simply die-cut the girl on the swing in black and adhered it to the original die-cut.  I created an evening sky with the 52 Layers of Clouds Stencil and then die-cut both the base and the Cover Plate with the Slimline DCS Scallop Frames.  I then sprinkled a few Jewel of the Nile Sequins in the sky.  Lastly, I used a sentiment from the Tropical Hibiscus Bouquet set.

For my next card, I am excited to share the beauty of the new Ombre Sky Blues Paper Glaze trio!  The blues are just lovely together.  I used the Slimline Rainbow Stencil and spread the lightest glaze to the darkest onto the stencil.  After it was dry I die cut the layer with the Slim Line Nested Rectangle Die and the Palm Tree Slim Line DCS Insert.  I cut the insert out a second time from black paper to create a silhouette.  Lastly, I added hello three times using the word die that is included in the Slimline DCS Scallop Frames.

For my last card, I am sharing one of the new butterfly stencils in an A2 format.  There are 5 new butterfly stencils out this month so check the selection in the New Release Category of the store!  For this card, I used the Wander Butterfly Stencil.  With LC Blending brushes I blended ink over the top of the previously made background.  The sentiment is from the Tropical Hibiscus Bouquet set.  Lastly, I added Sands of Time Gems to the body of the butterfly. This will be going to my sister who inspires me!  In her 50's with very little prior education, she went to college and is now a teacher! She will be teaching 1st grade in the fall!  Her favorite color is green and she totally inspires me!  

Thanks so much for stopping by and taking a look today! There is a lot more I didn't get to share with you today so stop by the PFS Store for a look at all the new products HERE!