Penny Black "Chick to Chick"

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A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to win a transparent stamp set from Penny Black titled "Chick to Chick". It arrived in my mailbox yesterday and i stopped everything to quickly put a card together so that I could say "thank you" to the folks at Penny Black stamps.

I colored the image, using a rainbow theme, with Copics and added Glossy Accents and Stickles for texture and dimension. I mounted the image (not very well!) on patterned paper with some stitching..

Penny Black stamps come in such a wide range of styles! You can create elegant to cute with other styles in between. And how fun is it to win a stamp set?? Thank you, Penny Black! I love this "chick to chick" set!

We are celebrating Easter with a festive dinner on Thursday when my brother and his wife are stopping by for a visit on their way home to snowy Wisconsin from sunny Florida. Unfortunately, Spring hasn't arrived here yet and they will be disappointed in our weather. I hope the turkey dinner makes up for the weather!!

I wish for all of you who celebrate Easter a day filled with love, good food, and a time out to focus on the real meaning of Easter!

Thank you, as always, for your visit!! Happy Easter!!

For Andrew and Lauren

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My grandson Andrew is very involved in sports and this season it is baseball! I checked with Dad to find out the color of his uniform and colored this Mo Manning image in his team colors of black and orange!

My granddaughter Lauren, big sister to Andrew, is involved in CheerSport. It's not the pompom waving type of cheerleading I'm used to; it's more gymnastics and acrobatics! Their team is very competitive and has done extremely well this year! Grandma's heart almost stops beating when Lauren gets hoisted into the air as the top of the pyramid.

The image is a Bugaboo digi and I colored the outfit in Lauren's team colors. The bow in the hair is a key element to their outfit!!

These will be in the mail today; to tell the kids we love them and are very proud of their hard work and accomplishments!

Rainy here today; but not too rainy for golf! While Larry was golfing, I've cleand and purged closets ... what a great feeling!!

Hope your day includes something more fun than closet cleaning!! My next project is figuring out what to do with all those empty hangers!!!!

Mo Manning Easter Kiko

This adorable image is one of Mo Manning's digi images available in her shop. I wish I could afford to buy them all!  Her images are so delightful and charming!! 

I colored Kiko with Copics and mounted the image on patterned papers. The adhesive doesn't want to stick tight since I sprayed the card with pearl Glimmer Mist. Next time, I will spray first, then tape!

I could just squeeze this cutie's cheeks!!

Spring is working hard to arrive ... the Bartlett Pear trees are in early bloom. I hope Spring is finding its way wherever you are!!

Thanks for stopping by!! I love your visits.

Rise and Shine

This is an Art Impressions stamp from the year 1996! When I first saw this stamp and others featuring "senior citizens" and sarcastic or punny sentiments, I went overboard and bought a shoe box full!!

The current challenge at Simon Says Stamp is to follow one of the sketches posted and to use an Art Impressions stamp if you have one. So, I brought this Sweetie out of the box and inked her up!!

I paper pieced her housecoat. I've only used the top half of the image so you don't get to see her cutie bunny slippers.  Unfortunately, she looks a lot like me when I get up in the morning!

I'm entering this in the Simon Says Stamp challenge.  If you want to participate in the current sketch challenge, here's the link.
Hope she gave you a little chuckle!! I appreciate your stopping by!

Penny Black Tiny Wishes

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Here is Ms. Hedgie all dressed up; wonder where she is off to?? I paper pieced her outfit, including those ridiculous sandals!! Used my Nesties reverse wonkie dies. Added a fussy cut flower from Penny Black's Touch of Whimsey. The patterned papers are from My Mind's Eye 6x6 pad "Blush". Ms. Hedgie was stamped on a delicate dotted paper and I love the freckle-faced look!!

Cold and windy today!! Not even a hint of Spring!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Penny Black Blooming Garden

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This is the card I sent to Dawn in New Zealand as part of Deborah's Card Chain Challenge. I love exchanging cards with stamping friends from all around the world!

The poppies are from a Penny Black transparent set called "Blooming Garden". I used my Inktense water color pencils to color the image. I am enjoying watercoloring in general and using the Inktense pencils in particular!

Now is the time to sign up for the March Card Chain Challenge on Deborah's blog.  You can sign up until Wednesday, March 17, at 11:59 p.m.  Deborah loves to add new participants and especially new states and countries to the already impressive list!

Another dreary day here; cold and rainy. I think I will create some spring-themed cards for the Hero Arts challenge this month.

Thanks for checking in!

Taylored Expressions

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Another card using images from the Taylored Expressions stamp set Whimsical Wishes and the related metal dies I just purchased. The background on the kraft paper is Hero Arts' Graph Background stamp, also newly purchased!

I CASE'd the design from a card Shari Caroll posted on SSS's blog hop last week. I borrowed the color scheme, too!! I am loving the summer colors.

I went through a drawerful of older Stampin' Up inkpads and to my delight discovered that most of them are still inky!! No need to purchase any more ink pads! I must own waaaay more than a hundred!! And so many of the colors are trendy today!

The stitching on this card almost didn't happen! My trusty $79 WalMart seewing machine decided to freeze up when i began sewing on this card. An internal exam revealed a clogged mechanism; fuzzy lint from months of stitching on paper with no maintenance!! After taking the bobbin carrier apart for cleaning, I struggled for almost an hour to put it together correctly, and of course by then the needle had become unthreaded and presented another challenge!! Thank goodness for needle threaders and magnifying glasses! Happy to report, the little machine that could is back in the sewing business!!

It's been a quiet weekend here; it snowed yesterday and today it is sunny and cold. Spring must be around a distant corner!!

So glad you stopped by!!

Whimsical Wishes

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I fell in love with this set by Taylored Expressions! It includes many flowers and sentiments; perfect for Spring cards!  This sentiment, however, is from a Hero Arts set that I've had for a long time!  Perfect for someone like me who likes to keep their options open!

I used the die that's also available to make the flowers and added buttons for the centers. The Taylored Expression metal dies have a feature that I've not seen on other dies, a system to guarantee accurate placement of the die over the stamped image before running it through your machine. When I followed the directions, I got a perfect die cut every time! Not so much when I
ad libbed!

I'm entering this card in the CASology challenge "Circles" and also in Die Cut Divas challenge to use green and a die cut.

I am yearning for anything Spring .. and this seems to include M&M's and ice cream! What is that about??

So glad you stopped by on this overcast day! I enjoy your company.