Retro Rubber #275 Challenge Card

It's already such a bold summer in so much of the US this week. I feel blessed that our temps are only in the low 90's! And summer's the theme over at Retro Rubber this round, with a new challenge called Bold Summer. It's a color challenge that's perfect for a summer card.

My card is a fun scene that's (in my mind) set in Hawaii, as there are flowers on the beach. We don't have flowers on the beach here in Florida, but I love taking creative liberties with things like this.

Here's my supply list:

• My Favorite Things Bold Blooms Stamps and Dies (2023 or earlier)
• Inkadinkadoo Dolphin Stamp (2018 or earlier)
• Stampin' Up! Balmy Blue Card Stock & Ink
  
• SU! Azure Afternoon Card Stock
• Memento Lady Bug Ink
• SU! Granny Apple Green Ink
• SU! Pear Pizzazz Card Stock
• Newton's Nook Sky Scene Builder Dies
• Copic YG11 and Y11
• SU! Pineapple Punch Ink
• Sun from Ebay Vendor (precut)
• Darice Embossing Folder
• SU! Embossing Folder
• Lawn Fawn Merry Messages Sentiment (inside)

After starting this I wish I had made it on a 5 x 7 rather than an A2 card so I could have more room to play with the scene. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, but I didn't feel there was room on the front for a sentiment, so I placed one on the inside. I borrowed from a Christmas set because I thought that "Warm Wishes" was perfect for this design.

If you get a chance, hop on over to Retro Rubber and play along. Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day! 

Love Those Pretty Papers Rainbow Challenge

This month over at Love Those Pretty Papers Challenge they have an optional theme of rainbows. I love rainbows because their colors are so much fun to work with. However I only had one specific patterned paper with actual rainbows on it, and I don't know who made it. It's lightweight and one-sided, so it probably came from a big box store. I tried Googling it and didn't see it, but wow, the rainbow patterned papers that I did see made me want to shop!

When I stamped the image I tried to match the rainbows on the paper. I felt like I did okay up until the smallest one. It's a little too dark. I believe Stampin' Up! has a new turquoise of some kind. I'll have to look into that.

One last thing to note, this card is large. I have some clear envelopes that I want to use up, and they hold a card that's 7.5" x 5.25 which is the size this card is. I had to make it that big to get all the rainbows on it. It's still mailable with a non-machineable stamp.

Here's my complete supply list:

• Stampin' Up! Rainbow of Happiness
• Misc. Rainbow Patterned Paper
• SU! Black & White Patterned Paper
• Black Card Stock
• White Card Stock
• SU! Polished Pink Ink
• SU! Pineapple Punch Ink
• SU! Pear Pizzazz Ink
• SU! Island Indigo Ink
• Memento Black Ink
• Sentiment from My Sentiments Exactly!

It was so fun making this card and I really appreciate Darlene and Diane over at for encouraging me to create this cutie. Be sure to check out their wonderful blog and play along!

Happy 11th Birthday to Time Out Challenges!

Over at Time Out Challenges they're celebrating their 11th birthday. Yay! And for this challenge they're having us CASE guest designer Donna Mikasa. Her beautiful card really inspired me. What I copied from it was her use of patterned paper and an embossing folder in equal parts on the card. I don't think I have ever used both of those in a card together. That's why challenges are just so much fun! 

I was also inspired by her use of brightly patterned paper. I tried to copy that using a piece of "stray" paper that I found in my stash. I then tried to pull out the colors from that the best I could and what I got is this bright mix of colors that I normally wouldn't put together. Even though it's a bit colorful, I think the card is cute and I'm pretty sure someone will like receiving it soon!

Here's my complete supply list:

• Lawn Fawn Ballet Slippers Card Stock
• Stampin' Up! Crushed Curry Card Stock
• SU! Coastal Cabana Card Stock
• SU! Rose Red Card Stock
• Misc. Patterned Paper
• My Favorite Things Die Cut
• Doodle Bug Enamel Dots

I'm so grateful to everyone over at  Time Out Challenges for always having such inspiring challenges. And a very happy birthday to them too!

Thanks for stopping by today, and be sure to pop over and see all the other great cards-and to wish them a happy birthday!

Shopping Our Stash #515 - Faces!

Today's card is a perfect combination of just what I needed to make and just what a challenge called for! Over at Shopping Our Stash their challenge is to use a human face on a card. And when my son needed a birthday card for a friend at work I knew just the stamp that I wanted to use. My Favorite Things has a stamp set called Sweet Birthday Wishes. She's my go-to when I want a cute birthday card for a younger girl. Well, this girl is probably 20, but when you're 61, she's younger!

Anyway, instead of using the sentiment in the MFT set, I used a birthday greeting from Stampendous called Spanish Messages. His friend recently arrived from Mexico and I wanted to wish her well in her native language. It's a set that I bought years ago and it always comes in handy at just the right time.

It seems like I had at least 20 different Copics out on the table as I colored her in. It's often difficult to find just the right combination. In fact, when I was done with her dress, it seemed to match her skin a little too much, but by choosing the right paper from Stampin' Up! for the background, it all fell into place. I framed it in Stampin' Up!'s Chocolate Chips card stock and tied it up with a ribbon from my stash.

This was a fun challenge and I'm grateful to share it over at Shopping Our Stash and to have a cute card to pass on!

Thanks so much for stopping by today and have a dia maravilloso (wonderful day)!

My First Minc Card!

For months I've been thinking about getting some type of foiling machine. Truthfully, I've been really intimidated by not only the process, but the expense, and the extra space it would take up. Then this weekend I watched a video on Pink & Main's Minc Mini and I went over there and picked one up right away. Yes, I'm blessed to live just a 35 minute drive to their store in Palmetto, Florida. It's such and amazing place and I could literally spend thousands of dollars in there. The Minc Mini was in stock, and I got that and several other supplies that go along with it.

Today's card is my first Minc Mini that I ever made, and I'm entering it into the NBUS Challenge #50. I think I entered there once this month, but I'm so excited to have this new machine I just had to show off my results.

If you're not familiar with the Minc Machine, it's basically a laminator that foils over anything that's toner based. There are some really great YouTube videos out there, but basically it's different than the hot plate varieties that you need special metal plates for. 

What I love about this is:

• 

  The Minc fits perfectly under this riser and is easy to pull out
  when I need it. I keep it plugged in because it has an easy
  on/off switch.

  It's small and stores easily under the riser that I put on my desk. 
• You use one-time papers with it so there's not a big expense buying foiling dies.
• The heat is inside so there's no danger in burning yourself, children or pets.
• The foils are fairly inexpensive. ($14.99 a roll, but it's huge.)
• The foil is reusable as a reverse of the image if you have toner paper to apply it to. (See picture below.)

This card was made using a one-time use, pre-printed piece of white card stock with the flower printed using black toner. I could have chosen any color for the outline of the flower, but I used the silver foil.

In the image on the left, the left card front is the foilable front from Pink and Main. The card front on the right is pink toner paper from Pink and Main using the leftover (reverse) of card front #1.

I noticed that in the card base on the right, the foil is a little spotted and not as clean looking. I think that's from being run through the machine twice. Still, it's salvageable as a card.

Next I used Copic Markers to color it in. The biggest difference between regular white card stock and the toner card stock is that it's a lot like using glossy paper. I thought that was really good for blending the Copics, because they stayed wet longer. I did notice that you can see the streaks of the markers on the surface, but I like that look.

You can see in here that the Copic
Markers blend a little differently
than on regular card stock.

Also, the markers did color over the foil a bit, but it's not real noticeable on this project. I think if the
markers were dark blue for example it would have showed more. 

Then I just mounted it to a piece of card stock made from a Michaels paper pack. To finish it off, I cut the word HELLO out of silver card stock.

And, the HELLO die is also a NBUS product that I've had in my stash for probably a couple of years. 

My complete supply list is:

• Michaels Orangeish Card Stock
• Pink and Main Foilable Card Front
• Copics R43, RV14, YR07, Y38, YG13
• Pink & Main Silver Cheer Foil
• Silver Card Stock from Michaels
• HELLO Die from My Favorite Things

The supplies that I bought to go with the machine.

I'm excited to see all the other things that I can do with this machine, and to pick up some foilable sentiments and flowers from Simon Says Stamp. It's really great to get something so new and different to bring some interest to my stamping. I may end up getting the other type of hot plate foil machine in the future, but for now, I think this is a great way to start!

But thanks to Darnell and everyone over at NBUS for helping me get starting using this machine and get an entry in this month's NBUS Challenge!

Spring Swing for Retro Rubber

This week over at Retro Rubber their celebrating their 204th challenge with a Spring Scene theme, rrcb204. I took the title of this challenge very literally, and I really wanted to find a stamp that was a scene of some kind rather than just flowers. This little girl from My Favorite Things was my go-to for this project. I'm not sure of the date, but I looked her up online and she's no longer on their website. I know I've had the set for at least 5 years, so she definitely qualifies as "retro rubber," which I love. It's so easy to always want new stuff (I'm guilty, my Stampin' Up! order is en route as I write this) but there's something special about pulling out an old set that you once loved and making a new card from it. I'm always so grateful to them and their challenges for encouraging me to do that. There were no dies that went along with this set, but fussy-cutting is something I really enjoy, so I didn't mind.

Anyway,  here's my finished card. My complete supply list is:

• My Favorite Things Sweet Friends Stamp Set
• Lawn Fawn Spiffy Speckles Paper
• Misc. Dot Paper (from my stash)
• Copic Markers E34, Y23, Y11, E01, Y15, YR07, R35, R43, RV52
• Memento Black Ink
• White Card Stock
• Misc. Yellow Ribbon (gifted from a friend)

I'm hoping someone at my church will love sending this to a friend and cheer them a little this spring. Thanks again to Jane and everyone over at Retro Rubber for another great challenge! Be sure to check it out!