Birthday Wishes

 So this is crazy.  I am out of work recovering from a broken thumb and I decided to get back into stamping as a form of therapy to help rehab.  I have only been back making cards for 2 weeks and I have had 4 cards picked for weekly favorites and today I am the Featured Stamper.  I am so blown away by the love!  This all just reaffirms that I am doing what I am suppose to.  

I wanted to play along with this week's challenge but never did I think it would be my own gallery to browse.  I went all the way back to 2008 and picked a card that was commented on 85 times and favorited 82 times.  WOW, how cool to see so much love from a card I made. SO anyway, this is what I came up with.  I hope you like what I did today. I would love to know what you think.  Thank you for stopping by.

~Happy Inking

Birthday Shine

Today's card is for the Inspiration challenge on Splitcoast Stampers. The inspiration piece I chose is: https://usa.yvesdelormeoutlet.com/p/...sse.html#73636 I absolutely loved this bedding set and chose to create my background to mimic it.  I kept this card simple so that the background was more the focal point.  The sentiment is stamped with stamp glue and glittered.  I hope you like what I did here today.  Thanks for stopping by! Let me know what you think. 

~Happy Inking
 

Godspeed Son

 Hello Stampers~

          One of the hardest things for me recently was my son leaving for Boot Camp.  I am SUPER proud of him and also extremely sad at the same time.  My baby boy left home and joined one of the most difficult careers imaginable.  Both my husband and I are Veterans and know how difficult this life is. I am constantly praying for my son. 

          I made this card to send to him.  I had to keep it simple because I know he is going to get flack for even getting this card, so I didn't want it to be over the top.  Simple and to the point.  I used the sentiment "Godspeed" because it is a traditional farewell, similar to "good luck," wishing a person success and prosperity for their new journey or venture. I wish my son all the best but I will miss him dearly.

In the military it's never goodbye, it's until next time! 

~Happy Inking

Espresso By The Pool

 Hello fellow stampers~

          This is my first card in 4 years! Yes you read that correctly, first card in 4 years.  Life has taken over and just caused my hobbies to take a back seat.  I have 2 beautiful grand babies now and all of my 5 children and 2 bonus children have graduated and have either moved out or are in college and boot camp.  I also had an injury back in April that has taken me out of work until the New Year so I have found myself with some extra time on my hands.  I am so happy to finally be back in my craft room and doing what I love!  

         This is my card for the color challenge over at Splitcoast stampers on Tuesday September 11th.  CC1068.  The colors were Crumb Cake, Pool Party and Early Espresso.  Of course I had to make a coffee card with these colors.  I am super happy with how this card turned out.  I hope you enjoy this card as well.  I'd love to know what you think.  Happy Stamping friends!

~Inky Hugs!!!

MIA, but BACK!!!!!

I know I was MIA for a LONNNNNNNNNGGGGGGG time....  I have been so busy with life, kids, the job, buying a house and a traveling husband that I could barely find time to sleep...  But life has calmed down considerably and I am enjoying the fruits of my new (2 years now) craft room...  I have been playing along with some of the challenges over on Splitcoast as well as getting some cards prepared for Mother's Day...  This is what I have been doing lately....  Grab a cup of coffee and browse through....  By the way, it's great to be back!!!!

 Brand new Rose Wonder Die/Stamp set.  This die is absolutely amazing and the cards I have seen made with them are just superb...  I can't wait to try a few more...

 

 I just picked this stamp up from Pleasanton, California a few weeks ago.  The stamp set came with the matching die to fussy cut.  I don't think you can tell from the photo but a few of the petals are actually cut out and popped up.  This is a really cool stamp/die combo...    And the details on the stamp are just awesome!!!!

This was a fun card to put together...  I love the look of inlaid dies cuts but this time I just cut out the hearts and placed DSP below the main panel.  I added a few smaller heart cut outs and tied the twine to the bottoms...  I am not big on hand drawn stitching but it looks super cute on this card...

 This is a card that I CASED for the Featured Stamper challenge over at Splitcoast a few weeks ago...  I absolutely love this new heart embossing folder.  The embossing is super crisp and deep...  I also miss the simply pressed clay from Stampin' Up!.  I am so glad that I got my few bags before it retired.  Little did I know that Michaels sells Martha Stewart clay as well...    I also made my "glitter twine" using Sparkle N Sprinkle Tear ific tape...  So much fun and so cute....

This new butterfly set from Stampin' Up! is nothing short of stunning...   As soon as I saw this set I placed my order immediately...  Would have been so much cheaper if I had only ordered this butterfly...  *cough cough*  I plan to use this set A LOT!!!!  The color combinations are truly endless...

 Thank you Beth for letting me borrow this beauty...  Lotus Blossoms was a Sale-A-Bration set last year and I missed out getting it...  So when I found out she had it, I knew I had to borrow it....  Luckily I found  set and should have it soon...  I am not sure why I chose the blues here but they pop and look amazing...  The small little pop of sequins just gives it that over the top wow...  Another set I plan to wear out using....

I saw this card on Pinterest a couple days ago and was wow'd.  I decided to play around today and see if I could make it...  The flowers are just amazing and they pop off the card.  This effect is created using clear embossing powder only.  Yup, that's it... Clear...  Stunning isn't it?

This is another variation of the previous card.  I changed the colors and made my main panel a lighter color.  I used white embossing powder instead of clear and I chose to sponge the centers for another "pop" factor.  I am really liking the way this one turned out...  

 Very simple Mother's Day card.  I used a couple different embossing folders, a gorgeous matching DSP, and one of my favorite blooms.  I love the simple, clean look of 1 color cards...  May have to rethink which card  I am sending my mom this year...  It's gonna be a hard decision...

Another simple card using the Lotus Blossom...  I feel like this card is missing something but not sure what..  I added some Mon Ami Gaby bling for some bling and used a gorgeous embossing folder behind my main image...

Simple, Elegant, Neutral....  I love this card!!!

 I happen to fall upon this new die set from Sizzix today.  I am sure it's not new, but new to me and I am in LOVE...  There are 4 "mixed media" dies in this set, one of which is going to be great for my Father's Day card, and the other 2 are just going to be so much fun to play with...  I can't wait...

 Same die cut as in the previous card, but also uses the Sizzix Ornate Labels die cuts here... Also new to me...  When you take so much time off from stamping your next move it to buy all the stuff that came out while you were "retired" and it ends up costing you big time...  *gulp*

 Any time a stamp has a matching punch or die, I am going to make that a go-to set.  I have always been one to "fussy" cut, but I have to tell you that matching dies have made my life so much easier.  Where were these 10 years ago?  I know, in time all good things come... I can't wait to see what we are crafting with in 10 more years...

This is all for today...  I am so glad I was able to catch up and get my cards uploaded...  Thank you so much for taking the time to sit back, relax, enjoy a cup of coffee and browse my blog...  If I have made 1 person smile today, then I have done my job here!!!

More HYCCT Challenge Cards

This is going to be short and sweet... I just wanted to update my blog with what I have been doing lately... I have been playing along with the Hope You Can Cling To challenges at splitcoast.  We are halfway through the month and the challenges are great...  Here are the rest of the cards I have done so far.  Can you believe I am actually caught up and done all of the challenges?  Me either but I plan to do them all this year...  :-)  So here they are:

This is the step card that I was teaching at the Santa Clara scrapbook expo.  I thought it was perfect to put together for this "step" challenge..

This is for the Bind It All challenge.  To make our card look bound like a book or binder or such.  I used the top note die and some ribbon for my binding...

This card had to be friend associated.  An image, sentiment, etc.  I chose one of my favorite friend sentiments from Stampin Up's All Holiday set...

Something's Missing... Yup, my heart in the card front.  I punched my main heart and tied the twine through it.  All the other hearts were punched out and placed.  I also place DSP inside my card as well

Use music on your card... Sure no problem when you have this gorgeous music sheet background stamp.  I chose to emboss the background for a more dimensional look...

Quilts are nice and warm and cozy right?  Because that is what I was thinking when I was doing this card...  And these are some of my favorite colors...  :-)

Warm fuzzies.. What isn't warm about sharing a cup of coffee with a friend?  And a coffee that has a coffee cozy on it?  

No stamps? No problem..  I am in love with the inlaid die cute technique... So much fun and such an amazing look when its used...  This card makes me want to make a dozen more....

So that's it for today... Hope you enjoyed my cards.  Stay tuned for more the rest of the month...

Inky Hugs!!!