Grateful

A dear stamping friend recently gifted me with the Gansai Tambi Starry Colors palette by Kuretake and I finally took time today to experiment with these GORGEOUS metallic watercolor paints!

One of my goals in 2017 is to master the art of brush lettering.  I did practice a bit today, but my samples were too embarrassing to show you - lol!  I watched some YouTube videos and pinned some resources to a Pinterest board and I must say...it's harder than it looks!  I've dabbled in traditional calligraphy and the strokes and steps in the way you "break up the steps" of a letter are very different.  Where the angle of your flat edged pen is the key in traditional calligraphy, the pressure of the brush application seems to be the key in the more contemporary brushed lettering.  If any of you reading this post have suggestions on products, etc. that work well, I'd love to hear from you!

I decided to see how these paints could be applied to stamping and tried it with Concord and 9th's gorgeous Lace Leaf stamp set.  I heat embossed the leaf using JudiKins Malachite embossing powder.  I then applied some yellow gold paint to the shadow "splatter" image and stamped it onto the watercolor CS.  I then dabbed some of the paint using a paint brush onto the leaf to give more concentrated splotches.  I also tapped my brush against another brush to add some fine splatters.  My photo doesn't capture the beautiful shine that is there IRL.  I still have some Forest Foliage CS in my stash (a very OLD retired color from SU) which matches the malachite embossing perfectly.  The sentiment die was cut 3 times - twice in gold and once in Forest Foliage so I could offset it slightly to make it pop!

So, why am I making a card of thanks?  One year ago we were still in the middle of our kitchen renovation and I had no running water and no counter tops in yet.  Christmas dinner with out of town friends was not going to be put on hold because of those minor details!  My husband came to the rescue by placing a large piece of plywood over my island and some tablecloths soon covered the evidence.  My nearby laundry tub was where we washed dishes and it was the year of cardboard "china" - lol!  So, this year I am VERY grateful for my completed kitchen! 

Tag, You're It Challenge

Many challenges are on a holiday break, but I found that I can just beat the deadline today with the current Tag, You're It Challenge #62!  Laurie Willison is the hostess and she has a fabulous talent for CAS designs!  I was inspired by her scallops, tree theme and traditional color scheme in my take on the challenge.  

I used Reverse Confetti products...with Jen Del Muro in my thoughts and prayers while I was creating.  Jen just recently received a cancer diagnosis, so many of her fans are saddened yet inspired by her #beastmode attitude as she starts her treatment this week.  If you get a chance...add her to your prayer list! 

Here is my enabler's list which uses some favorite RC goodies:
STAMPS: Winter Word Coordinates.
PAPER: Very Merry 6x6 pad; Avocado, Lime Green (RC); Silver glitter CS; Smoky Slate, Real Red (SU); White (PTI).
INK: Versamark.
DIES: Branch Out, Wreaths, Holly, Winter Words, Tag Me Too, Edge Essentials.

Thanks so much for stopping by...

Inspired By...All The Little Things #37

Happy Saturday and welcome to another Inspired By...All The Little Things challenge! Isn't this inspirational photo the sweetest?! Hopefully it will have gingerbread peeps dancing in your head - lol! 

I was inspired to use kraft, red and white as my color combo and went with SU's Sleigh Ride Edgelits to create this fun winter scene.  The wooden snowflakes were the perfect embellishments and I topped them off with some enamel dots!

Here's what else I used:
STAMPS: Peaceful Pinecones (PTI) - sentiment.
PAPER: Warm and Cozy 6x6 pad by Bella Carta; Kraft (PTI), White (PTI) and Real Red (SU).
DIES: Stitched circles (Lil' Inker Designs); Stitched Fishtail Flags Die-Namics (MFT); All Framed Up (Reverse Confetti); Sleigh Ride Edgelits (SU).

We're happy to have Natalie Murdock as our guest designer this week!  Be sure to stop by her Simply Sweet Stamping blog and say hello.

So...we'd LOVE to have you play along and let us see how you were inspired! Just link your card up on the Inspired By challenge blog HERE.  The rest of the design team has some really awesome samples to inspire you!  Stay warm everyone and hope to see you in the gallery...

Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

 

I managed to squeak in just under the wire for the deadline today with the Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop! 

I used a couple of Verve digi images and resurrected an oldie but goodie holly border punch by Martha Stewart that paired up well with the image.  Papers are from Recollections' Christmas/Noel packet.  

It was another bone chilling day here in VA with temps only getting up to 25 degrees.  A cup of coffee was definitely how I started my day!  

Thanks for stopping by...

Let It Snow!

Oh the weather outside is frightful...but the fire is so delightful! Well...it's actually too cold to snow and the wind has blown fiercely all day long with a high of 22 and wind chill much lower!  I had to venture outside for a doctor's appointment this morning then another run in the afternoon to the high school to pick up fresh oysters sold by the band students!  We don't have a working fireplace, so the closest thing I had to a fire was the warmth of my oven while making mock turtles!  I'll share this really easy Christmas treat at the end of my post.

I created this quick card for two challenges.  SCS Ways to Use It Challenge was to let a song inspire our card, so the old classic "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow" was my inspiration.  I used the current layout for the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge...adding some leftover snowflakes that were die cut for previous projects.  They matched designer papers from Recollections' Blue Christmas 6x6 pad and I chose this gorgeous font in a sentiment stamp from Reverse Confetti's Christmas Blessings stamp set.  

 

Here are the ultra quick and easy pretzel bites I said I would share.  I have a hard time even calling it a “recipe”, when it only has three ingredients…Rolo (store bought chocolate/caramel candies), pretzels and pecan halves. 

Lay your pretzels on a baking sheet (I use parchment paper to line the pans to make clean up a breeze!) and top each one with an unwrapped Rolo.

Bake in the oven at 250*F for 4-5 minutes (no longer).

When you remove them from the oven, the Rolo will still be in the same shape as when it went in the oven. Place a pecan half on top of the Rolo and press down a bit.

Place the entire baking sheet in the freezer for about 5-7 minutes to allow the Rolo to cool.  Since it's so cold, my sun room is kept closed off during the winter and it's like having a second refrigerator.  I placed the cookie sheets on the table in the sun room until cooled. These are so delicious!  A great sweet-salty combo.

Color Throwdown #423

Hello Wednesday and hello to a fun new color palette - thanks to our hostess, Broni - for the last Color Throwdown Challenge of 2016! Have no fear...we'll be back in 2017 after a small break for the holidays.  The inspiration photo has hot pink, red and lime green to inspire us!  Here is my take on these happy colors...

MFT's Plaid Patterns Merry and Bright 6x6 pad came to the rescue and was the perfect background for this Pure Innocence Season's Tweetings stamp set and Birch Trees Die-Namics!  I colored with Copics after die cutting then stamping with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on X-Press It Blending Card paper.  

I used last week's MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge layout...a fun one!  Too bad I'm past the deadline for submitting my card.  :-(  

For more details on how to play along, head on over to the Color Throwdown Blog and you'll find the information on the right sidebar!  You can also visit the rest of the design team's creations for more inspiration (click on the links below):
Amy Rohl 
Amy Rysavy
Barbara Anders  
Broni Holcombe   
Jodi Collins 
Lisa Henke
Lori Tecler
Lynn Put  
Vickie Zimmer 
Wanda Cullen (you are here)  
Leigh Penner - December Guest Designer 
Kim Singdahlsen - December Guest Designer (yes, we have two this month!)

Hope to see you in the gallery...and have a very merry Christmas!

Sketch For You To Try

 A quick card that should pretty much finish up my Christmas card stash and it uses the fun layout for the December SFYTT Challenge on the Reverse Confetti blog. Every element is a product of Reverse Confetti, so I'll get right to my enabler's list:

STAMPS: Christmas Blessings.

PAPER: Very Merry 6x6 patterned paper; Lime Green, Avocado, Brick CS.

INK: Versafine Onyx Black.

CONFETTI CUTS: Scalloped circle; Wreaths; Holly.