Starting my Christmas cards!

Hi everyone! So last year I had Covid during Christmas and wasn't able to make or send out any Christmas cards. It made me so sad. So this year I'm starting early on my cards. Yes, I know some crafters make Christmas cards all year round, but for me September is EARLY!! Last year I bought a some Christmas die sets from a few companies and I'm excited to finally use them!

 I make my cards in small batches. They must be flat for mailing, similar but not the same cause I get bored quickly - KWIM? Here are my first 4. I used Concord and 9th's Seasonal Sayings Die set for the Christmas sentiment and the Layering Poinsettia dies by Hero Arts.

The Merry sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp, their clever Sentiment Strips Reverse Christmas. I love these for quick and easy parings with other sentiment die cuts or stamps! The thin gold and silver accent strip is some 1/8" washi tape I've had forever. I just love the extra sparkle it gives.

This beauty uses gold mirror cardstock, it's tricky to photograph but sure looks pretty IRL!! Here's a better pic.

On to the next batch! Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Two floral cards colored with Zig markers

Hi everyone! I'm finally getting some of my mojo back and today I'm sharing a couple cards I made using my neglected Zig Markers. Truth be told, I gave these a try awhile back and really struggled. Then I saw a video from Arteza showing a designer coloring with the markers by themselves and not using any water. I thought I'd give it a try and it worked much better for me! I did use a number 2 watercolor brush and used it a little on the lighter parts. So yay, I found a way that works for me!

First up is a lovely wreath from the Gina K Designs set called, Kindness Wreath. GORGEOUS! Right?!? The sentiments are from the Just Because set.

Next up is the gorgeous Rose Bouquet stamp set from Picket Fence Studios. We all know my love for roses and this set is beyond words beautiful. I played around with the colors and did each flower different. That vibrant violet color is my favorite!

Thanks for stopping by and have a blesses weekend.

Gina K Designs guest designer -Stately Flowers and Kindness Wreath

Hi everyone! Today I'm sharing 2 more cards from Gina K's February release. I'll keep it short and sweet since I'm not sure anyone reads blogs anymore! Lol!

First up is another card using the Stately Flowers 13 set illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger. I went for a softer shabby chic type feel card for this. I used copics to color the peach blossoms and there's even a bit of black silk splashes on the background. The sentiment is from the new set Just Because.

Next up is a card using the amazing Kindness Wreath illustrated by Hanna Drainski. I fell in love with this wreath at first sight. So beautiful and versatile. I used a few of my fine liner pens to deepen the flower accents and there are some fun gems and sequins on this one too.

There are a million ways to color this wreath, I chose color combos that I was most comfortable with and I think I want to try water coloring this next!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day! Here are some close up pictures.

Sending a cozy hello

Hi everyone! I have another fun coffee card to share. This one is from Unity's set One Sip at a Time. I just LOVE this cup with the flowers. Be still my heart!

I was able to get more copic coloring practice in with this. I colored them using the red markers, R27, R35 and R22 -this is one of my go to "coral/red" color combos. Turned out so pretty. I may try this again with blues. That would be a challenge as I have yet to make blue flowers!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

Other supplies used:
Kaisercraft Rosabella 6.5 x 6.5 paper pad
FSJ black/white twine
Little Bee 1/8" washi tape
sequins
copic markers

Watercolor butterfly note cards

Hi everyone! I'm still really enjoying playing with my Arteza Real Brush pens. I'm relatively new to water coloring but finding it fun and relaxing. I'm already looking at student grade 1/2 pan palettes on Amazon to expand my water coloring arsenal.

The images are from the Altenew Painted Butterflies stamp and die sets. I heat embossed several of butterfly outline images and water colored the inside with blue and yellow and blended the colors into each other. The set is actually a 3 step stamping set, but there's no rule that you have to stamp all 3 layers, why not stamp the outline and color the inside as you want?

I made enough butterflies to make a larger set of note cards, but I got sick and was down for the count for 8 days! Man I just don't bounce back from colds like I did when I was younger. Both kids got sick and well during those 8 days, so great fun was had at the Woerner house! lol! Long story short, I only made 2 note cards and moved on! Here's a closer look at them both.

I like the way I placed the sentiment into the flourish die cut, so fun! 

I didn't even get around to putting on a sentiment on this one. But sometimes you just want the flexibility of using it for any occasion. Right?

These will end up in my "maybe use someday" box!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Other supplies used:
Blue Sequins
Ranger Super Fine Black embossing powder
Ranger Super Fine White embossing powder
Spellbinders Jewel Flowers and Fourishes
Spellbinders Standard Circles dies

Time for challenges

Hi everyone! I am loving having time to play along in some of my favorite challenges. This is how I started stamping and it feels good to get back into it. If you find yourself with some time and/or need inspiration to get started, here are a few of my favorite challenges:

SCS Sketch challenge

SCS Featured Stamper

SCS Clean and Simple Cards

Mojo Monday Sketches

I've been out of the loop for years now, so if you have any other challenges you love, let me know!!

I played in this week's SCS Featured Stamper challenge and for those of you who are new to this challenge, each week a stamper is profiled and the challenge is to go through their gallery and CASE a card changing a few things to make it your own. This week the featured stamper is Kathy Schweinfurth and I chose to CASE this card.

I changed the papers, stamped images and sentiment. I kept the overall feel and layout of the card. My card uses the cup from the Coffee or Tea die set, the roses from Thinking of You Rose and sentiment from Farmhouse Simple Sentiments. 

I colored the roses with Copics using 2 colors for the roses and 2 for the leaves. After watching hours on YouTube with all the fancy copic coloring, I am finding that I am more of a simple colorer. I think it looks amazing using 5 different shades for a flower, but just as pretty using 2!

Other products used:

Patterned paper: Down on the Farm by Doodlebug for background papers; Fleur by Kaisercraft for the paper piecing on the mug

Embellishments: Black/White baker's twine from May Arts; Pink sequins

Sweet You watercoloring

Hi everyone!  Long time no blog.  Summer is in full effect and like many of you there doesn't seem enough hours in the day to tackle all the summer activities let alone go grocery shopping!  lol!

Today I have a fun card to share.  I am really slow to jump on the watercoloring band wagon.  It's never been my thing, so I will tackle it piece by piece and I went for it today!  I used some of the new FSJ Color Splash Sheets (this is really premium water color paper at 140lb), but I didn't use water coloring paints or pencils.  Instead, I used my regular ole ink pad with some Journey Fusion Blender.  I love the look this technique has on the water color paper vs traditional card stock.  Much prettier and easier to blend.  So, if you don't have the budget to splurge for the new Journey water color pencils, you can still get wonderful effects using what you already have!

I used one of my favorite stamp sets, Sweet You.  I embossed the images in white embossing powder and colored them using the small Journey Blending Brush.  After they dried, I fussy cut them and added a few gold sequins from the Twinkle Trim pack.  I even busted out my sewing machine and sewed on the sentiment banner!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!  Here's a close up picture.

All supplies are Fun Stampers Journey       
Stamps, punches and dies: 

Sweet You Stamp Set 

Journey Rectangles Die Set

Cardstock and Inks:   

Whip Cream Cardstock

Color Splash Sheets 
Citrus Cooler Ink
Summer Days Ink
Cosmic Grape Ink
Beach Ball Ink
Limeade Splash Ink
Clear Pigment Ink
Black Licorice Ink
Accessories: 
Twinkle Trim
Journey White embossing powder

It's Party time!

Hi everyone!  Long time, no blog!  I've been a busy girl, but now that my vacation is over and I'm back from the wonderful retreat to the Fun Stampers Journey journey station, I am able to get back into the swing of things!

So I have a question for you all, I have some pictures of the FSJ retreat including the new designers, am happy to do a blog post about the retreat, but I know many of you follow me on Facebook and have seen most of them by now.  I'm not sure how many of my readers are my FB friends, but I'd LOVE to hear from you if you want me to do a blog post or not.  *edited to add: I am still continuing to blog my crafty stuff!  I am asking about the FSJ retreat since the photos were heavily posted on FB by me and the other designers.

This card was featured on the FSJ Instagram page (FSJourney) during the September Color Crush month.  I didn't have time to share it then, so I'm playing a bit of catch up.  My color combo was PINK OMBRE!  I love ombre projects and the FSJ color palette has MANY ombre color opportunities.  AND this card has a few more of my favorites - circles and flowers!  Good times :)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great Monday.  Here's a close up picture.

All supplies are Fun Stampers Journey 

Stamps, punches and dies:

Birthday Wishes Stamp Set, SS-0012

Journey Circles Die Set, DI-0039

Daisy Blooms Die Set, DI-0010

Circle Punch, TO-0012

Cardstock and Inks: 

Whip Cream Cardstock, CS-0040

Bubble Gum Cardstock, CS-0099

Watermelon Fusion Cardstock, CS-0039

Sweet Berry Cardstock, CS-0034

Sweet Berry Ink, IP-0029

Accessories:

Journey Sequins Pink World AC-0112

Celebrate You birthday tags

Hi everyone!  Well, the boys are back to school and we are adjusting to the new fall schedule.  This mom doesn't much like the alarm going off so early in the morning, but then I'm up and can get stuff done -kwim?  I have a set of birthday tags to share. 

So here's my crafty confession - my boys will NOT let me make "fancy" birthday tags for their friends' presents.  Sigh... I'm allowed to stamp "happy birthday" in blue ink on a white tag ONLY.  I'm sure you moms out there with boys can appreciate my profound sadness at this!  lol!

The cupcake image and patterned paper I use are part of the Yummy & Delicious collection and I added a cute border stamp from the Elegant Borders stamp set along the bottom.  (edited to add: there is a problem with the Y&D direct link, so click and then scroll down on the right until you see Yummy & Delicious category.)  The sentiment is from the Little BIG Greetings stamp set which is a fun set of 30 sentiments!

Just a reminder that FSJ products are only available through a Journey Coach (I am not a coach), please visit Fun Stampers Journey and click on the button "find a coach" at the very top right.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Reach for the Stars

Hi everyone!  Happy Friday!  Well, summer is coming to a close and my little dudes go back to school next Tuesday (yes, we are on a late schedule).  I'm actually looking forward to having a quiet house for a few hours each day and getting back to a regular work schedule!

Today I have a fun card to share that uses one of my favorite shapes -stars!The background stripes is from vellum designer prints, the silver striped piece.  I love the soft subtle look of the vellum.  I, of course, used the Star-dom die set and the label shape is from Thxgiving die set which is a cool set with 5 labels and 3 leaves!  I just love this sentiment with it's cool fonts and it's part of the Greeting Trends stamp set.

That's it for today, I am off to buy some back to school supplies -nothing like waiting until the last minute.  Wish me luck.  Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!All supplies are Fun Stampers Journey

Stamps and dies:
Greeting Trends Stamp Set SS-0166

Star-Dom Die Set DI-0052

Thxgiving Die Set DI-0024

Cardstock and ink:

Designer Vellum Prints PP-0008

Black Licorice Cardstock CS-0003

Whip Cream Cardstock CS-0040

Beach Ball Cardstock CS-0088

Beach Breeze Cardstock CS-0001

Pool Play Cardstock CS-0092

Beach Ball Ink IP-0047

Accessories:

Journey Sequins Celebrations AC-0115

Beach Breeze Thread AC-0131

Black Licorice Thread AC-0129

Discovering vellum prints

Hi everyone!  I have another card to share for the Discovery Month over on the FSJ Blog!  This card "discovers" the new Vellum prints.  Fun Stamper’s Journey vellum includes plain and printed sheets.  The printed sheets have super cute metallic prints in stars, strips, and polka-dot designs and come in gold, silver and black.My card uses the vellum prints in gold in a couple of ways.  I used them as a background behind my square openings, I punched a vellum gold dot into a butterfly shape and I hand cut out a little star.For the butterfly at the lower left, I stamped the vellum in Beach Breeze with Butterfly Prints and used its coordinating die  then layered it with some gold cardstock die cut with one of the larger butterflies from the same die set.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!  Here's a close up picture.All supplies Fun Stampers Journey:

Dies and punches:

Butterfly Prints Stamp Set SS-0017

Rock Notes Stamp Set SS-0211

Butterfly Prints Die Set DI-0015

Journey Squares Die Set DI-0038

Flutter By Punch TO-0008

Cardstock and ink:

Specialty Paper Pearled Celebrations Cardstock CS-0120

Designer Vellum Prints PP-0008

Whisper White Cardstock CS-0040

Black Licorice Ink IP-0041

Beach Breeze Ink IP-0044

Accessories:

Journey Sequins Blue Skies AC-0113

Yummy and Delicious card set

Hi everyone!  I thought I would share a set of cards featuring FSJ's Yummy & Delicious collection.  I sent these in to the Journey Station and they staged them with a fabulous banner made by the lovely Tania Willis.  And check out those cupcakes and candy sticks - yes please!!

You may recognize the Ice cream card second from right, I already blogged that cutie in the post below. 

You can see the entire Yummy and Delicious collection here (edited to add: there is a problem with the direct link, so click and then scroll down on the right until you see Yummy & Delicious category.)

Just a reminder that FSJ products are only available through a Journey Coach (I am not a coach), please visit Fun Stampers Journey and click on the button "find a coach" at the very top right.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

We all scream for ice cream!

Hi everyone!  Happy Monday!  I have a fun and simple ice cream card for you.  It's back to being freaky deeky hot here in Portland and my discovery that Costco now sells It's It ice creams (jumbo box y'all!) couldn't have come at a better time.  Dr. Michelle prescribes one each day to help keep cool!

Aren't these ice cream cones the CUTEST?!?  I paper pieced them, added a single sequin and some thread.  Boom, easy peasy!  Stay cool out there for all you suffering in the heat!

Just a reminder that FSJ products are only available through a Journey Coach (I am not a coach), please visit Fun Stampers Journey and click on the button "find a coach" at the very top right.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!  Here's a close up picture.

Card deets all supplies Fun Stampers Journey:

Stamps -  Hello Scoop

Dies/punches - Journey Rectangles

Inks - Black Licorice

Cardstock - Whip Cream, Oatmeal Cookie, Cotton Candy, Sweet Pear, Pool Play and Limeade Splash

Accessories -Sequins, Journey Thread in Beach Breeze

Ice Cream card cause it's hot hot hot!

Hi everyone!  I have a fun ice cream card to share.  OK, so it's been hot here in Portland and I mean REALLY freaky deaky hot here.  We've had a 3 week heat wave like none I can remember.  Some days all I can think about is ice cream!

So in honor of all things cool, here is a card that uses the super fun Yummy & Delicious collection from Fun Stampers Journey.  I used the Hello Scoop stamp set and paper pieced the ice cream part and colored the cones/sticks with reinkers and blending solution.  A little bit of twine, rhinestones and sequins add the finishing touches.

  Some of the elements on this card are from the new punch system FSJ released in June.  PUNCHES you say??  Why yes!  I know it's been dies, dies, dies for years, but hey this new punch system is fun and I may have rediscovered my love for punches!  The new system consists of one punch handle and then you slide in any one of the several punch heads.  Super cool!  Here is a picture of what I used on my card.

Just a reminder that FSJ products are only available through a Journey Coach (I am not a coach), please visit Fun Stampers Journey and click on the button "find a coach" at the very top right.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!  Stay cool all you fellow PNWers!!

Card deets:

Stamps - Hello Scoop

Dies/punches - Journey Circles, Chevron Trends punch, This Way punch

Inks - Oatmeal cookie reinker, Black Licorice

Cardstock - Oatmeal Cookie, Cotton Candy, Orange Creamsicle, Cool Pool, Cocoa Powder and Yummy Prints 12x12 patterned paper

Other -Sequins, Whip Cream thread, cut rhinestones