~ Hello, everyone. It’s time for the April 2019 edition of the Keeping Christmas blog hop! The stash is growing, y’all! ~ ~ As usual, my card is simple and one that can be made assembly-line style. ~ ~ I used the WPlus9 Woodland Wreaths, which is a 4-part stamp, making it super simple to create any wreath. After I made the wreath and die cut it, I also made a red bow to go with it. I added a bow of silver baker’s twine behind that as well. Then I just popped it all up over a couple of... Continue reading

~ Happy Hump Day, everyone! Today our newest Color Throwdown challenge is brought to us by Wanda, and here are the colors she’s chosen for us to play with: Yellow, Orange, Navy, and Green. ~ ~ I needed an anniversary card for my daughter and her husband, and florals are always a good choice for anniversaries, right? I inked up the gorgeous Mondo Sakura from Essentials by Ellen and water colored the flowers. I wasn’t really sure about using the darkest of the challenge colors for the background, but when it was all done, I was glad that I did.... Continue reading

~ Happy Wednesday! We’ve got a great color combo to play with at the Color Throwdown this week, brought to us by our hostess, Vickie. The generic colors are Orange, Yellow, and Blue. ~ ~ I love the look of the painting in the inspiration photo. It looks like giant splashes of alcohol ink, doesn’t it? So that’s what I decided to play with. I used Sailboat Blue, Sunset Orange, Sunshine Yellow, and Cloudy Blue, along with some gold alcohol mixative and alcohol blending solution. ~ ~ I tried to place the colors to resemble a sunset over water. I... Continue reading

~ Happy Wednesday, y’all! It’s time for a brand new Color Throwdown challenge! This week our hostess is Lynn and she’s chosen a great Springtime color combo: Mint, Aqua, Dark Pink, and Green. ~ ~ I used these colors and a Power Poppy coloring sheet called I Can Do All Things for a Baptismal card for a friend of mine and she loved it! ~ ~ I simply printed it and colored it with my Copic markers and a gold gel pen. We would love for you to play along with us! Check out the details at the CTD blog... Continue reading

~ Happy Wednesday! It’s time for another Color Throwdown challenge, and this week our hostess is Lori. She’s chosen a really great color palette for us – Purple, Yellow, Green, and Gray. So versatile! ~ ~ Have I told you lately how much I love this Bird with Feathers from Rubbernecker? I think he’s my favorite, go-to birthday card character. That expression!! ~ ~ I haven’t used a stencil in a while so I pulled out this Mini Numbers Collage one from TCW. I taped it over a piece of Distress watercolor paper and sponged on some Hickory Smoke distress... Continue reading

~ Hello, all! It’s time for a brand new Instant Garden digital stamp release from Power Poppy. ~ ~ Here is what the incredible artist, Marcy, had to say about this fabulous image: The fourth installment of our Café au Lait bowl bouquets is filled with some of my very favorite plants: Hellebores, Ferns, and a luxurious Tree Peony with stems of Spanish Bluebells. Of course I had to call it Bowl of Beauty, because I know that anyone coloring this one will bring forth beautiful results. A polka-dotted vintage bowl can be done in so many sweet ways to... Continue reading

~ Hey, y’all, and happy Wednesday! Lisa has some beautiful colors for us for this week’s Color Throwdown challenge. ~ ~ What a great combo! Perfect for a wedding card, don’t ya think? I do! ~ ~ I water colored the Mondo Hydrangea from the Essentials by Ellen line using Distress inks, and I used a retired PTI sentiment set. It’s a simple card, but I love the fresh spring colors! We would love for you to join us for this challenge! Please check out the details at the CTD blog and all the beautiful inspiration from the design team... Continue reading

~ Well, it’s the 25th of the month so how about another Keeping Christmas card…the 3rd one this year, so far! ~ ~ This year I seem to be leaning toward a CAS style; cards that are easy to make multiples of. ~ ~ I had an assembly line going for this one. I stamped, die cut, and colored all the SSS Christmas Essentials berries with my Copic markers first. Then I stamped the sentiment on all the white card bases, and shaded them with a Copic marker. All that was left to do was to adhere a strip of... Continue reading

~ Happy Wednesday, y’all! It’s time for a brand new Color Throwdown challenge! Jodi is our hostess and here is the great color palette she’s chosen: Red, Yellow, Green, and White ~ ~ Sadly, I need a sympathy card so I chose to use some lovely flowers with these colors. ~ ~ Florals are always a good choice for condolences. The stamp set I used is a 4 part one from Rubbernecker called Wildflowers in the Wind. So there is no coloring at all. Each of the colors you see is a different stamp, and it’s easy to line up... Continue reading

~ Good Wednesday morning, everyone! Today’s Color Throwdown challenge is brought to us by the oh-so-talented Amy Rohl. Here are the generic colors: Light Blue, Brown, and Orange. ~ ~ I needed a masculine birthday card and the darling bear from the All Inside stamp set from the Essentials by Ellen stamp line is always a perfect choice for that. ~ ~ I airbrushed a background and colored my bear with my Copic markers, then used a paper towel and some Colorless Blending Solution to make the bear “fluffy”! This qualifies my card for the Addicted to CAS Challenge #154... Continue reading

~ Happy Wednesday, people! I hope wherever you are it’s warm and sunny. There’s a little bit of a chill here in the South and I am NOT a fan! Moving right along, it’s time for a new Color Throwdown challenge and I’m hosting this week! The generic colors I chose are Purple, Lavender, Gray, and Kraft. ~ ~ Power Poppy recently released a couple of sets of new digital images. They are based on the clear set Natural Beauties, and they are SO pretty. I chose to use the tulip image from the Spring Border One set. It was... Continue reading

~ Hello and happy Wednesday! Today our Color Throwdown challenge is hosted by Barbara and her inspiration photo and color combo are really beautiful! The colors are Coral, Blue, Green, and Kraft. ~ ~ I just had to use my favorite little surfer guy Zeke from Rubbernecker and create a beach scene with these great colors. ~ ~ I used the “smooshing” method to create the water colored background to mimic the sky in the inspiration photo, with a sandy beach below. Zeke was colored with my Copic markers. Now it’s your turn to create something and share it with... Continue reading

~ Hi, everyone! It’s the 25th of the month so I have a new Keeping Christmas post for you today! ~ ~ Today I’m showing a card that would work perfectly for multiples. The crystals, which are from a discontinued Hero Arts stamp set, were stamped on watercolor paper and very loosely water colored with a water brush and Distress inks. ~ ~ I drew on the hanging lines with a metallic silver pen, stamped the sentiment, and added a sequin. And that was it. So simple, but I love how it turned out. Please be sure to visit with... Continue reading

~ It’s time for this month’s brand new Power Poppy digital image release – Clover & Pansies. And it’s beautiful! ~ ~ This is what Marcy says about this new image: The third installment of our Café au Last bowl bouquets overflows with spring favorites. Four-leaf Clovers and their pom-pom-like flowers, Pansies in a variety of sizes and patterns, and sprigs of Forget-Me-Nots make for a rich look. Color your clovers in shades of green for St. Patrick's Day, or go for the more unique dark purples and pinks with contrasting stripes. The symbolism of the botanicals in this bouquet... Continue reading

~ Hello and happy Wednesday! It’s time for a brand new Color Throwdown challenge, folks! Amy Rysavy is our hostess and here is the great color palette she’s chosen: Rust, Purple, Gray, and White. ~ ~ And here is my card using the Rubbernecker Dog with Big Eyes for a friend’s birthday. ~ ~ The pup was water colored and die cut using the matching die. A really simple but fun card! We’d love for you to play along! Check out all the details at the CTD blog. Here is a link to each of the DT members’ blogs: Amy... Continue reading

~ Hello, all, and happy Wednesday! Are you ready for another punny, snarky card? It’s time for the latest Color Throwdown challenge. Today’s hostess is Wanda and she has a fun color combo for us: Fuchsia, Light Gray, and Black. ~ ~ And here is my punny card: ~ ~ I used Clover and her matching die from Rubbernecker Stamps and the sentiment is called Here in the South. Perfect match, huh?! I colored Clover with my Copic markers. Please find all the challenge details at the CTD blog, and play along with us this week. And check out all... Continue reading

~ Happy Wednesday, y’all! It’s time for another new Color Throwdown challenge! This week Vickie is our hostess and she’s chosen a favorite combo of mine: Orange, Red, and Yellow. ~ ~ I needed a male birthday card and this Bird with Feathers is always a favorite image of mine to use for guys. Just look at that expression! ~ ~ The background was watercolor smooshed and splattered, then I added some dashes and dots around the border. The bird was also watercolored and then cut with the matching die. Now it’s time for you to play along with us!... Continue reading

~ Hello and happy Wednesday to you all! Our hostess for this week’s Color Throwdown challenge is the wonderfully talented Lynn, and here is the combo she’s chosen for us to play with: Aqua, Saffron, Brown, and Yellow. What a great palette! ~ ~ Sounds like a perfect combination for birds and a sky, right? Enter the Rubbernecker Be Yourself adorable birds stamp, which I paired with the RN Best Wishes Etc sentiment. ~ ~ Another “punny” play on words! We would love for you to play along with us! All the details are at the CTD blog. Here are... Continue reading

~ Welcome to the first edition of Keeping Christmas – version 2019! ~ ~ This month I want to show you some ornaments I made for some of my special peeps, using pre-cut wood rounds from Hobby Lobby. ~ ~ I screwed 13/16” screw eye hooks into each round to start. Then I painted each front with white gesso. When that was dry, I stamped images and sentiments from several different stamp sets (listed in the supplies section below) using a black ink that was suitable for use with Copic markers. That’s what I used to color in each image.... Continue reading

~ Happy Wednesday, y’all! It’s time for a new Color Throwdown challenge and I really love the combo that Lori came up with for us to use: Navy, Gray, and Green. ~ ~ I had a super fun time creating my card for today. I just love “punny” sentiments and images, like these from Rubbernecker Stamps. ~ ~ This is a shaker card. I water colored the background using Distress inks, added the Not Hear the Music sentiment, then colored and cut out all the fish from the Fish Group. The gray fish were adhered directly to the water colored... Continue reading

~ Hello, all! I’m here today to introduce you to a brand new beautiful digital image from Power Poppy, called My Favorite Pair. ~ ~ This is what the fabulous Ms. Marcy has to say about this image: An perfectly piled jumble of ripe pears, African violets, and meandering ribbon comprise the second in my series of vintage café au lait bowl bouquets. Think of the fun you can have with this one! As we burrow into our winter wonderlands, the freshness of houseplants in windowsills is sometimes the only green to be seen! Bursting forth with blossoms in purples... Continue reading

~ Happy Wednesday to you all! It’s time for a brand new Color Throwdown challenge. This week our hostess is Lisa and she’s chosen a great winter color combo for us to play with: Aqua, Blue, and White. ~ ~ I needed a birthday card for my nephew and he loves narwhals, so….. ~ ~ I used the Arctic Pals stamp set from the Essentials by Ellen line, and the PTI Waves Die Cover plate for my background. I added some Glossy Accents for some shine, but then decided I needed more sparkle so I added some Star Dust Stickles... Continue reading

~ Hello, everyone. I’m sorry my Color Throwdown post is late this week. I’ve been out of town at a funeral. So here are this week’s colors: Black, Brown, and White. ~ ~ I thought this would be a perfect combination for my Group of Cats stamp from Rubbernecker. ~ ~ The sentiment is called Adventures, and it’s also from Rubbernecker. Please come on over to the CTD blog to play along and to check out all the wonderful inspiration from the design team! Amy Rohl Amy Rysavy Barbara Anders Broni Holcombe --> You are here! Jodi Collins Lisa Henke... Continue reading

~ Hi, all! I was invited by my super-talented friend, Wanda Cullen, to be her guest for the 5th anniversary of the Fusion Card Challenge. ~ ~ I used both the sketch and the photo for my inspiration. My butterflies are from the Mini You Give Me Butterflies from Flora & Fauna. ~ ~ Please be sure to head over to the Fusion blog for links to all the wonderful creations of the design team and their guests. And thank you Wanda for inviting me! Flora & Fauna Mini You Give Me Butterflies Shop here: SHOP SSS Stitched Rectangles dies... Continue reading