Sending Bear Hugs

This card is onw that I made for my granddaughter Amelia.  She recently sent me a note that said she would be sending me a picture she drew every week. So sweet of her and it really blessed my heart. I already have sent her a thank you card for the first picture and this will be for the second one.

Here are the 2 pictures she has sent me. She must know I love color and love Bluebirds and I'm thrilled to say the bluebirds are back at my mealworm feeder!

Products Used:

SU Craft CS, Neenah Solar White 110#, SU Mossy Meadow

Prismacolor Pencils to color the Bear

Sentiment: Altenew Mini Monthly Subscription-Polar Bear

Bear from MFT Better Together, MFT Rectangle Peek-a-Boo Window Die-namics

May you Safe and Well and be able to enjoy this Holy Season.

Blessings, Bernadette

Merry Christmas

Hello all! I'm here today posting a card that I created using the CAS Colours & Sketches Challenge #398 sketch. I've had this design rolling around in my head since Wednesday and decided to put it together today. I knew I wanted to use the die-cut by Waffle Flower but without the shadow die, but was not sure if it would show up as well. After taking the chance I feel that it did. So now I have one more card added to my Christmas card stash.

PRODUCTS USED:    

Stamp: Waffle Flower Merry Christmas Sentiments

Paper: Neenah Solar White #110lb.

SU Paper, Mossy Meadow, Brightly Gleaming, Copper Foil

SU Gilded Gems

I'm off to straighten my craft area to work on another card before dinner. Today is our 40th. Anniversary and my Hubby will be grilling some beautiful steaks served with his Scallop Potatoes and green beans. He is such a good cook and I enjoy everything he serves this I'm sure, be will no exception.

Enjoy your evening and I hope you were successful with your Black Friday shopping. 

Stay Well and Stay Safe!

Blessings, Bernadette

Happy Holidays

First some news. One of my cards was chosen as a Weekly Winner over on the CAS C& S blog. I find it always a treat to be recognized by my peers.

Today I'm dropping by to add a card to the  Freshly Made Sketches blog. This was a fairly quick card utilizing the sweet little animals from MFT's Better Together stamp and Die-namics set. I thought about adding the little trees but had it together before I remembered to use them. UGH!

PRODUCTS USED:

Retired SU DSP, SU Pool Party

MFT Better Together Stamps and Dies

SU Itty Bitty Christmas for sentiment

MFT Skinny Strips Die-namics

SU Cherry Cobbler ink

SU Red Rhinestones Basic Jewels

That is about it for this afternoon. I need to finish up a Get Well Card and Sympathy Card before dinner.

Have a wonderful evening and upcoming week.

Blessings, Bernadette

Merriest Christmas

 Hello all! Just posting this card today that I will be putting over on the CAS Colour & Sketches challenge and the CAS Christmas challenge Non-Traditional Colours.

The photo of the card appears to have been Ink Blended but it is not. The lighting in the room I was using had cast a slight show.

I love the colours for the challenge but had to really think it through on how to incorporate them into a Christmas Card.  My final decision was to use the Purple Posy as the backdrop, the Basic Gray as an accent colour, and the Blackberry Bliss as the focal point. Since I didn't have a ribbon that would match to hang the ornament, I chose to use the rope die from Smooth Sailing cut out on Silver Glitter paper. I feel it was a good substitute for an actual ribbon.  

PRODUCTS USED

Stamps and Die: SU Ornament Keepsakes, Smooth Sailing Dies

MFT Mini Merry Messages

MFT A2 Rectangle Stax 1 Die

SU Blackberry Bliss ink

That is it for today. Stay Safe and Stay Well.

Blessings

Bernadette

For The Birthday Girl

 

Hello all! Just stopping by today to post a Birthday card and link it over at Seize the Birthday and AAA Birthday challenges.

I have kept this card pretty simple and clean. I choose the colors for the Elephant image from the Paper Pad by MFT. I used my Prismacolor Pencils that I felt were close to the paper colors for the image.  Gamasol was used to smooth out the pencil strokes then I  added some White Gel Pen to accent the shadows and Wink of Stella to the bowtie and the gifts. That was about it. After I had completed the card, I was unhappy with the sentiment placement, but it will stay as it is. 

PRODUCTS USED:

MFT Picture Perfect Party Animals, Bitty Birthday Wishes

MFT Road Trippin' paper pack

MFT Selfie Square, MFT Stitched Sentiment Strips

I hope to get a few more cards prepped today and make a final decision on my Christmas Card design. I hope you have some crafty goodness going on also.

Stay Well and Stay Safe

Blessings

Bernadette

Happy Birthday

Hello all! I'm posting a card tonight that I will be linking over at  CAS Colours & Sketches Challenge #396 and Seize the Birthday(no topping) 

Last week I received my new stamp set from MFT, Brilliant Butterflies with matching dies. I have waited quite a while to purchase this set. It had been out of stock, but the wait was worth it. I just love it! I still need some practise stamping and die cutting the images, but I am happy with the way this first try turned out.

PRODUCTS USED:

MFT Brilliant Butterfly

Gina K Stippled Flowers for the sentiment, Sweet Corn Ink Spot. (I decided to use the Sweet Corn because the Bumblebee ink was too dark)

SU Papers: Just Jade, Bumblebee, Misty Moonlight, Neenah Solar White #110, Neenah Solar White 80lb.

That is it from me this evening

Stay Well and Stay Safe! 

Blessings,

Bernadette

YAY! It's Your Birthday

 Happy Sunday. I just finished up a card for one of my grandson's birthdays. I have so much fun working with this stamp set with matching dies from MFT, Better Together. The animals are so adorable. I will head over to AAA Birthday Game #19 the challenge being, FOR A CHILD, with this card today.

PRODUCTS USED:

MFT Better Together

MFT Bitty Birthday Wishes

MFT Papers, Neenah Solar Crest White #110

Prismacolor Pencils

That is it for today as far as this post. 

I'm working on another birthday card for my sweet Great Grand Daughters 4th. Birthday.

Stay Safe and Stay Well

Bernadette

Merry Christmas

 

Good evening. I'm just popping on here with a card that I will be posting over for the  CAS Christmas Challenge for the month of November.

I had just received a stamp set and die from Waffle Flower, Merry Christmas Sentiments, and was anxious to use it. This is the first time buying from this company and I am impressed with the quality, not only of the stamps but the dies. The challenge was to use Non-Traditional Colours. That was a little bit of I stretch for me, but I finally decided on SU's Flirty Flamingo and Bermuda Bay. They have a very Tropical feel to me. I have friends in Florida and Arizona so one of them will be getting this card.

The sentiment is from the same set that I stamped on a strip of Flirty Flamingo using black ink. I also used MFTS Stitched Scallop Basic Edge and SU Falling Snow EF. 

That is it for this evening hope you enjoy your Friday and have a great weekend!

Stay Well and Stay Safe

Bernadette

A Thousand Thanks

Hi all. Just on here for a short post on a card I created today and couldn't believe I had none in my Card Box. I wanted to use the colours over at CAS Colours & Sketches definitely spoke Fall to me. I knew I wanted to use leaves, but I was not sure how I was going to incorporate the colours.  I played with paper, stamps, and layers for a while and decided on the one below. 

Products Used:

SU Cajun Craze, Bumble Bee, and Pear Pizzazz, Neenah Solar Crest White #110

SU Stamps: Gather Together, Many Thanks

MFT A2 Stitched Rectangle Stax 1 die

That is it for this afternoon. Stay Safe and Stay Well!

Bernadette

Hello There - Just Us Girls Challenge

 

After I posted my card incorporating a Large Sentiment over CTS #396, I realized this would fit the challenge over at Just Us Girls Wildcard Challenge.

This was a fairly straightforward card to put together. The hardest part was picking colors and the sentiment to us.

I used the following products: Rich Razzeleberry (SU), MFT Black and White Stripes 6x6 Paper Pack, Diagonal Strip EF ( I believe it's SU) MFT Hello There Die-namics, MFT A2 Stitched Rectangle Die-namics STAX 1.

That is it for this evening. I hope you have a SAFE and Well Monday!

Bernadette

Hello There

I worked on a card today that will be posted over at the CAS this Sketch Challenge # 396. We were to use a Large Sentiment. I have a collection of die-cut sentiments which I do not use often enough. This challenge was a perfect one to break one out.

PRODUCTS USED:

SU's Rich Razzleberry for the base

MFT's Black and White Stripes 6x6 Paper Pack

Neenah Solar White 80#

MFT Hello There Die-namics

MFT  A2 Stitched Rectangle Die-namics Stax 1

I hope you have a great Monday Evening!

Stay Well and Stay Safe

Bernadette

Bring on the Balloons

Hi All! Just a quick post on this rainy day here in NC. I was in need of some stamp and paper therapy yesterday, although we did have some sun peeking out behind the clouds. 

I was playing around with this MFT's Die-Namics Birthday Balloons deciding on some images or dies to be used on birthday cards that I needed to add to my birthday stash. I haven't used this die very much and thought I would put it in my birthday stash bin and link it over at CAS Colour and Sketches.

This card was pretty straightforward. The die did not come with a stamp, so I just chose some SU solid color paper to cut out the balloons and the strings, added some white gel pen to the left side for shadow, and glued them to my white panel which I embossed with the SU Subtle 3D EF.  The sentiment is from MFT's Safari Party stamped with black ink on Just Jade and cut with MFT's Stitched Sentiment Strips. I cut the white background using MFT A2 Stitched Rectangle Die-namics STAX 1 and embossed it with SU's Subtle 3D EF. 

PAPER USED:

SU Calypso Coral for the card base

Neenah Solar White #110

SU Bumblebee, Just Jade, and Calypso Coral for the balloons

I hope you have a great Sunday and coming week.

Stay Safe and Stay Well!

Bernadette

Celebrate

 

I'm here today posting a card to put over on the CAS Colours & Sketches challenge.  I took a look through my stamp sets and came across this oldie but goodie from SU (2013) which also had a matching punch. I stamped and punch the images and glued them to the white panel. I hadn't used this set for a long time, but I decided it would work. I used the new IN COLORS by SU, Just Jade, and Misty Moonlight ink.

I stamped and punched the images and adhered them to the white panel. The word sentiment was layered to give it a little more stability using SU Gold Foil. I feel this card can be used for several different occasions. So it goes into my card bin waiting to see what it will be used for.

PRODUCTS USED:

SU Mosaic Madness

SU Paper, Just Jade, and Misty Moonlight

Neenah Solar Crest #110

MFT A2 Rectangle Stax 1

I'm headed off to help my hubby with dinner prep. I hope you had a great Wednesday!

Stay Well and Stay Safe

Bernadette

Peace and Happiness

 Well, I'm here today to post a card over a Freshly Made Sketches and being just under the wire for joining that challenge. I worked on it for several hours, but was, I feel successful in putting the final card together. 

Although I still was second-guessing myself about the different colored Green Trees. All the greens, by the way, are Stampin Up greens; Granny Apple Green, Shaded Spruce, Old Olive, Pear Pizzazz, and Mossy Meadow. I just decided to go with it. I believe that's called Artistic License. 

PRODUCTS USED:

* I did make this a small slimline card, 7x6, folded at 3 1/2".  This is the first slimline card I have made. I'm not really a fan of the bigger ones which I know have been very popular but this one was more pleasing to me. I will be creating more in this size in the future.

SU Papers

SU Sentiment- Itty Bitty Christmas

Trees - MFT Tiny House Die-namics, MFT Snowdrifts Die-namics

SU Fallen Snow EF

Spellbinders Long Classic Rectangles

Embellishments - SU Snowflake Sequins

White Paint for splatters, uni-ball Signo UM-153 white pen

That's about it for today's post. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Monday!

Stay Safe and Well

Bernadette

Happy Birthday to You

 

Hello everyone. I created this card today after several days of playing with what stamps to use and the color combo. Finally today it will be posted over on the CAS Colours and Sketches Challenge and Seize the Birthday. I also plan to apply for being on the CAS Colours and Sketches Design Team starting with this card's challenge colours and next week's sketch. I'll keep you posted.

The colours for the challenge proved a little thinking through on my part. The two different blues would not necessarily be a color combo I would normally choose, but it is a challenge blog so I forged ahead and went out of my comfort zone to design a card using them.

Products Used

Misty Moonlight, Crumb Cake, and Night of Navy by SU

Sentiment: MFT PI Happy Birthday to You, MFT Birthday Cake Die-namic, MFT Stitched Mini Scallop Die-namic

That's it for today. I'm creating a friendship card using leftover pieces from the card above. We will see how that goes.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Stay well and safe.

Bernadette

My Crafty Hack

Just a quick post. I was recently watching a Jennifer McGuire's YouTube video on stamping. She uses the MISTY  Stamping tool on most stamping projects and so do I. That craft tool totally has changed my attitude and comfort level with stamping images.

But I digress. She was using a tool that had foam, I believe and looked something like an eraser, but bigger and a little different shape. I didn't check on the links so I'm not sure she had what it was called or where it could be bought. Its purpose was to rub across the MISTY after you stamped on your paper and still had the stamp on to get a better impression. I know probably most of us use our sleeve to do that same thing, but some days I just do not have long sleeves on.

After I saw that video I had an Aha moment. I use a Dry Erase Board to jot down craft challenge dates and Birthday dates so I can get my cards out in a timely fashion. There on my craft desk along with the Erase Board sat the eraser I use for cleaning off the board.  So I said to myself, SELF you probably can use that to get the pressure you need getting a crisp image. I'm happy to say it worked for me! I'm not sure how long the fuzzy bottom stays fuzzy, but I will keep you posted. So that's my Crafty Hack to save some money!

Feel free to pop on here and leave a comment to let me know if you have tried this. I would love to hear from you.

Stay Well and Stay Safe

Bernadette

Christmas Cheer and some News

 

Hello all! I'm here today posting a Christmas Card that I created for CAS Christmas for October. I just came across this site and thought it would be a great idea to start my Christmas cards. I put off this task too long every year. I'm hoping this challenge blog will keep me focused.

I had just received the new die-namic from MFT, Tiny Houses and I knew I wanted to create a card using them. The problem, I needed to incorporate Christmas Birds for the challenge. I checked through my stamp stash and found these cute little Birds in MFT Better Together.  

The Itty Bitty Christmas stamp set by SU had a sentiment that I felt went with the design. I added the assembled houses, the trees, and the birds to a circle which I cut off some of the bottom to accommodate the Snow Drift. Using SU Soft Sky ink and a blender brush to add some "sky" to the project then added some Snowflake Sequins by SU.

This die-namics set by MFT was a breeze to assemble so the card went together fairly quickly. I colored the birds with my Prismacolor Pencils and the inner panel was given some texture by using the Subltes EF.

On a side note, my card over at CASColours&Sketches was chosen as a weekly winner with 2 other crafty ladies. Thank you ladies for choosing my card! It's always nice to be recognized by your peers.

That's it for today. I have my craft desk to tidy up so I can work on another card. 

Stay well and Stay Safe

Bernadette

Sending A Big Birthday Wish

 

Hi all! I'm here today to post a card that I will be linking to 2 Challenges, Seize the Birthday and CAS Colours and Sketches #392. The challenge over at Seize the Birthday was to Use Your Scraps. I struggled with choosing papers from my scrap stash but finally decided on using a patterned paper by SU to ground my design. I had just enough to cut a small inner circle. The white stitched circle was already cut and so was the In Color Terracotta Tile layer from previous projects.

The Sending die was cut from Seaside Spray 3x's and the sentiment is from MFT's  Bitty Birthday Wishes using Versa Fine Black Ink.

That's it for today. I hope you have a great evening and stay well and safe!

Bernadette

Blessed to Have You in My Life

 

I have gotten to play a little today. I had been cleaning and organizing my craft supplies, AGAIN but got some of that finished so sat down to create a card for The Flower Challenge #49.  The challenge was to incorporate Circles on your card.  This is also their 4th. Birthday and have so many wonderful prizes to award the Top 7 people. How exciting is that? This is one of several cards that I am creating to give to some very special people in my life. 

PRODUCTS USED

SU Rich Razzelberry, Black and White Paper from SU Honey Bee Suite, Neenah Solar White80#

MFT Fun Flowers stamp set, Altenew BAF Layering Stamp set, Gardenia sentiment

MFT A2 Circles Stax, MFT A2 Rectangle Stax 1

SU Gilded Gems

Flowers colored with Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol 

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and Stay Well and Safe

Bernadette

Sending You Strength

 

I'm' finally getting some mojo back and decided to make a card that will be entered in 2 challenges. 

Freshly Made Sketches and CAS Colours and Sketches.

I finally used the Tree Trio die-namics by MFT. I've played with it several times but just haven't' used it on a card. The sketch just seemed it would work with them and I really liked the colours for the challenge over at CASC&S. It took me a little time to decide how I would use the colour combination but in the end, Flirty Flamingo won out for the 1st. layer. I just used the Rich Razzelberry for an accent and the trees and sentiment strip were cut from Melon Mambo. The branches and the sentiment added some black to the design.

That's about it for this afternoon. As usual, my crafting area needs to be cleaned up. I honestly would like to have someone else do that, but no one has volunteered!

Stay Well and Safe

Nona Bee

* I've decided that I will not use NONA BEE for my signature after this post*