Too Many Yeses!

Learning one's personal limitations .... that's the lesson I'm relearning this week.  sighhhhhh ...  Maybe you can relate?

Inspired by the FS645 challenge at Splitcoaststampers, I gave little pieces of time to fitting in just a wee bit of stamping this week. 

The original sample featured diagonal gray/white stripes atop a white card base.  I opted for a the fun vertical stripes in the 'Interrupted Lines' stencil from A Colorful Life Designs.  You're welcome to use discount code BevFan10 for 10% savings on your stencils!

I will admit that the child in me jumped out to play with the Altenew set, 'Garden Treasures', sampling lots of color combos for the 4-step blossom.  In the end, I chose a coordinated set of inks from Altenew and will list them below.  

Sometimes inky play is just what a girl needs!  But for now, I must get back to working a literal 'jungle' of huge tissue paper flowers for a VBS classroom.  Oh ... and animal face templates too.  Yes ... it's a true case of having said 'Yes', and 'Yes', and 'Yes' again .... when I should have learned the other word option somewhere in there.  Nowwwwww I get it!   LOL

Inky (((huggss))),

Never Alone ...

I'm a bit amazed at how easy it felt to create today's card.  This one is a bit rare, in that becoming friendly with the concept of 'clean & simple' design has been tricky for me.  Participating in online CAS challenges has  proven to be a helpful learning tool for me, coupled with the vision loss of the recent 3-4 years.  Now I'm even willing to say that change can be a good thing!  So ... here's one that just seemed to fall into its CAS place with ease:

One of the first things I like to do when opening new stampy toys & tools is to simply mess around with them, i.e. play!  I like to ink up the stamps that insisted on being bought & see them in color on my card stock scraps.  As soon as I inked up this Picket Fence Studios stamp from 'Exhale Worry' ... I knew it needed to be the simple focus of a card.  This simple 'Spokes' stencil called out to me and sure enough .. the card was on its way to being created.  

I smoothed on 'Coastal' Chalkology Paste, then set it aside for a short time to dry.  While it dried, I heat embossed the sentiment and chose the die shape.  Tiny little rhinestones became the final touch.

I'm sure I'll make more of these.  I love the subtle, simplicity of this one.  There are times when one feels so alone ... and this is a beautiful reminder to Christians that we are never truly alone.  It makes my heart smile.

**Just a Note:  I'm beginning reclaim studio storage space and will be selling bunches of stamps & stampy supplies on this blog as well as through my Facebook page/group.  Pages/categories will be found listed beneath my blog header above.  New pages will be added for more categories across Summer 2019.  Check back often, and/or ask to be invited to the 4 Sale group via my Texas Rubber & Ink! facebook page!

Inky (((hugggs))),

Supplies Used:

STAMPS:  Exhale Worry (Picket Fence Studios)

STENCIL:  Spokes (A Colorful Life Designs)

INKS:  VersaMark

PAPERS:  Neenah Classic Solar white, Sahara Sand

ACCESSORIES:  Labels dies (The Stamps of Life), Ranger Multi Medium Matte glue, white embossing powder, tiny rhinestones (Taylored Expressions), foam dimensional tape

Trumpeter Mouse!

Today's card features a sweet little mouse who's busy trumpeting out a message from the flower garden.  There are times when I feel the need to color something cute ... and the House Mouse stamps are one of my go-to's for cute critter images.  If only I were quicker at coloring,  a quicker-colorer?, I could easily send several of these to friends & loved ones back home and some far away places as well.

The look achieved from the 'SpiroArt' stencil (A Colorful Life Designs) reminds me a bit of an opening blossom, with the layered circle image placed right in the middle of the stenciled area.  I used Life Changing Brushes to apply Shabby Shutters ink through the off-centered stencil.  The 'Miss You' sentiment is from Inky Antics.  The little matching dots are from a Viva Decor Pearl Pen.

Note:  Use code BevFan10 for 10% savings at A Colorful Life Designs!  Compensated affiliate links for some products are used when possible.  When you place an order after clicking one of my links, I receive a very small commission at no cost to you.  Thanks so much for using my links and supporting my works!

Inky (((hugggsss))),

  

Supplies Used:

STAMPS:  House Mouse ‘Floral Trumpet’, sentiment = Inky Antics ‘Poppy Friendship'

INKS:  Memento Tuxedo, VersaFine Onyx, Distress Ink Shabby Shutters, Copic markers

PAPER:  Neenah Solar Classic white, Gina K Little Boy Blue, Granny Apple Green

ACCESSORIES:  'SpiroArt' stencil - A Colorful Life Designs, Life Changing Brushes (Picket Fence Studios), Cheery Lynn foliage dies, Sizzix & Spellbinders circle dies, Viva Decor Pearl Pen Kiwi, dimensional foam tape 

Just Ducky Spring!

Taking a little bit of a leap by moving out of my comfort zone with today's card.  One of my favorite friends of many years is in her natural zone with creating scenes for her cards ... and I normally just admire from afar.  Inspired by the SCS MIX329 Mixability challenge, my card needed to include a scene.   Ready - Set ---

First, I masked the fun pond shape with 'Schmancy Ovals' Marvelous Masks and blended Distress Oxide Faded Jeans + Broken China before lightly misting with water.  Tex's Tip:  Cover the card front with the same mask while misting, to prevent the other areas from getting wet.

Next, I covered the inked area with the solid cut-out portion of the masks set before filling the outer area with the 'Interlocking Leaves' stencil from A Colorful Life Designs.

I brought out darling 'Spring Has Sprung' set from Gina K.  I've had this since its release in 2010!  Isn't it sweet?  For shrubs, I snipped some foliage dies into smaller sizes.  The 'ground' was die cut with a border die, then painted with brown & cream acrylic paints.  Once dry, I scuffed the edge with scissors for some texture.  The grass border easily grounds everything.  

Hmmmm .... I think I'll return to a more comfy-to-me stampy style for the next creation.  However, it really is good to stretch yourself creatively every now & then.  😉

Note:  Use code BevFan10 for 10% savings at A Colorful Life Designs!  Compensated affiliate links for some products are used when possible.  When you place an order after clicking one of my links, I receive a very small commission at no cost to you.  Thanks so much for using my links and supporting my works.  

Inky (((hugs))),

SUPPLIES USED: 
STAMPS:  'Spring Has Sprung'  (Gina K), 'Baby Birds' (sentiment - Paper Smooches)

INKS:  Distress Oxides = Broken China, Faded Jeans, Shabby Shutters;  Memento Tuxedo

PAPERS:  Neenah white, Gina K’s Fresh Asparagus + Green Apple + Green Grass

ACCESSORIES:  A Colorful Life Designs stencils ‘Interlocking Leaves’ & 'Schmancy Ovals' Marvelous Masks, Copic markers, acrylic paints, Tim Holtz dies (foliage), grass and cloud dies (The Stamps of Life), Clarity brush, Purple Tape

Hey, Kitty

Coming up on an uber-busy weekend staying with Grands while their parents are away .... which means >> color while you can!  So I did.  Multiple softball games are scheduled to dominate much of the weekend, so there's fun to come!

I must say ... this kitty is likely to become one of my very favorite stamps.  Plus, the Peeking Kitty stamp set is my talented friend Dina Kowal's design for Impression Obsession!  She is so talented in a variety of ways.

First, I colored the stamped kitty image and the separate paws with Copics and fussy cut the paws.  Then I masked the kitty with Eclipse tape before topping it off with the 'Wavy Fade' stencil from A Colorful Life Designs.  Next, I lightly stenciled with a Clarity brush.

Before adhering the layers, I stamped the sentiment with my Mini Misti positioner.  Finally, a strip of textured white card stock was brushed with Bundled Sage Distress Ink, and adhered directly beneath the kitty image.  The paws were then attached to the textured layer.

Note:  Compensated affiliate links are used when possible.  When you place an order after clicking one of my links, I receive a small commission at no cost to you.  Thanks so much for using my links and supporting this blog.  

That's it for now.  Here's to a fab weekend for all!  

Inky (((hugs))),