Need Coffee??

Hello there!!

Long time no post! I'm steadily starting to get my card makin' mojo back.. it got a little kick start today with the start of the latest Coffee Lovers blog hop!



I couldn't resist the cuteness of this new coffee girl from The Greeting Farm- I knew she would be perfect for this hop!



Feels good to make a card again!

 I've gotten so hooked (literally!) on crocheting amigurumi critters that it's taken over! It's a post all on its own- but if you're interested, I post more regularly on Instagram @LysaQR!

Thanks for stopping by & happy hopping!

Thanks for all you do!

As promised I'm back to share the second card I made for my niece's teacher for the end of the year!

My niece is moving up to middle school next year (I can't believe it!)- I made her teacher a simple yet pretty card using this Hero Arts Large Flower background (cling) stamp!


I stamped the flower image in white ink of kraft card stock and colored with Copic markers- I love the muted tones the kraft paper soesntoncopics, even when using the bright colors! I diecut  a banner flag and added the thanks diecut (Mama Elephant) to keep the card simple, I didn't want too much to take away from the stamped image.  I finished the card with faux stitching and a couple of clear sequins!

I've finally gotten the chance to clean off my craft desk so here's hoping for more cards in the near future!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hello! Happy ❤️ Day!!

Quick post today to share this card I made for my kiddos to give their Dada for Valentine's Day!



I thought this ADORABLE image from C.C. designs was a perfect match for my son & daughter! Paired it with a sentiment from Mama Elephant's Origami stamp set since my kids looove to be silly and say love it all different ways!

I created my card, using the CASe This Sketch for challenge 208!



That's all for today- hope you have wonderful Valentine's Day!

Year of the Rooster!

Happy Chinese New Year!  2017 is the Year of the Rooster- my year!

It wouldn't be new years without some handmade lucky envelopes for my kids, niece's & nephew!

I pulled out my favorite animal set to make these, Lunar Animals & Lunar Extras from Mama Elephant!



I originally intended for them to be much simplier, but it just wouldn't come together for me- so I created this sweet scene!

I used a Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Tag die and stamped the flower branch & rooster, colored with copics. I made the mini envelope using my envelope punch board and layered red glitter paper under the tag. It was still missing *something*... I die cut the flag (basic stitched flag) and stamped & gold embossed the, "Gong Hay Fat Choy" sentiment too look like a traditional New Years banner hanging from the tree branch! I finished them off with another rooster on the back mounted with foam tape so the flap of the envelope tucks under it.

Copics:
Rooster: E23, E25, E27, B37, Y35, R37, R46
branches: E53, E55, E57, RV00, RV02, RV06, YG61, YG63, YG67

Wishing you all a Prosperous & Happy New Year!

Pumpkin Patch Molly

It's FINALLY feeling a little more like fall around here, and by that I mean it's under 100*F!

Awesome timing for the newest challenge over at the Tiddly Inks Challenge... Happy Fall Y'all!

I used the a NEW sweet Molly image, Pumpkin Patch Molly (She's available with another sweet Halloween Molly image too!)



Isn't she the cutest?! I kept my card nice and simple with just coloring her and die cutting the image using a Mama Elephant Sew Fancy dies- love that it cuts and pierces the stitching all in one! I added the sentiment from Lawn Fawn's Happy Harvest stamp set, adhered it using craft foam to some coordinating- fall-ish plaid paper, added a bow & some sequins to pull it all together!

Copics:
skin: E000, E00, E11, E21, R20
hair: C3, 100
pumpkin: YR12, YR14, YR16, YR18, YG17, YG15, YG67
ground: E31, E33, E35
sky/shadow: B000, B00, B01, 0

Hope to see you join in on the fall fun! Check out the details on the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog!!

Stay Cool!

It's time for a new Tiddly Ink Tuesday Challenge AND there are some new images available in the shop now!


This week's challenge is a fun one... TINGO! (Think Bingo but with Tiddly Inks...)



I took the diagonal squares from the top left to the bottom right- Dies, Tiddly Inks, & Ribbon.  And as I mentioned before there's a new girl in the Tiddly Inks shop and she's available now!

Introducing Molly! This is Molly Swims...



I loved the stripes on her dress and gave her a patriotic red, white & blue stripes in time to celebrate the upcoming July 4th/Independence Day Holiday!

Colored in copics- what else?! I used this die from Mama Elephant and this sentiment from MFT. I dug into my ribbon stash to find some coordinating blue, and I finished by coloring portions of her dress in sparkle using a Spectrum Noir clear sparkle marker.  It's a little hard to see above, here's a better view...



Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you pop in and join the Tiddly Inks Challenge and grab some adorable Molly images for yourself!

Color Layered Bird-day!

Happy Monday!

I decided to play with some new stamps from Hero Arts that are quickly becoming my favorites! I recently got my hands on the Color Layering Bird & Branch and couldn't wait to play! To be honest, I was trying very hard to avoid these color-layering stamps because I don't really have many inks other than Distress Inks, and don't really have the space to store more-but that might have to change very soon because I had SO much fun with this bird!

And just in time too! I'm joining the fun with Right at Home's National Craft Month celebration!

After playing with a couple of color combinations and figuring out the inks that I had that worked how I wanted it to look, and finally settled on this...



I stamped the bird base layer in (Hero Arts) white ink, and used a fantastix to dab on Memento Luxe pinks and a bit of red for the belly and heat set it since they were pigment inks. I then  used Hero Arts Soft Pool and Tide Pool to Navy Ombre ink pad for the remaining layers. Finally, the leaves were stamped using the Lime to Forever Green ombre ink pad. (Now I definitely *need* more inks!) I added the Chinese character for happiness to give a bit of an 'Asian' touch since this birthday card was for my dad. :) Birthday sentiment is  from Mama Elephant's Lunar Extras.

Be back soon with a few more cards I was able to make this weekend...

Year of the Monkey!

Before I jump on the Valentine train... I had to make something for Chinese New Year first! This year it falls on Feb. 8, according to the lunar calendar- 2016 is the year of the Monkey!

I totally fell in LOVE with the Lunar Animals & Extra sets from Mama Elephant and *HAD TO HAVE THEM!* The past couple of years I've made my own lucky red envelopes to give my kids, nieces, and nephew- and these stamps are just perfect!



I created my scene using the plum branches and lanterns- and thought it was a perfect perch for the sweet little monkey! I also stamped and fussy cute another monkey for the back- I placed a small piece of foam tape on the the bottom half of his body, leaving part behind his head free to keep the envelope flap closed.

And since these are for Chinese *NEW* Year- I'm entering them in the Something New challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge!

Thanks for stopping by... now to get started on those Valentines!

Hello Friend

I recently picked up Mama Elephant's Tandem Ride & Tandem Extras for a 'steal' over from Simon Says Stamps, I couldn't WAIT to ink them up!

Of course I *had* color up that cute fox first! I'm playing along with the Mama Elephant Flickr group challenge for August- Watercolor!



I colored the fox and his little scene using Zig Clean Color Real Brushes, and created the background by 'ink smooshing' and splattering distress inks in coordinating colors. Added some matching sequins and a bit of twine to finish it off! Oh, and the friend sentiment is also from Mama Elephant- Origami.

Now, I can't wait to get to the rest of the cute critters on the Tandem sets, not to mention the bicycle!

Thanks for stopping by- Happy Weekend!

World Elephant Day!

Did you know there was a World Elephant Day? I surely didn't until I saw some posts floating around on facebook & instagram!

I'm totally in love with elephants too- how could you not be? They are such amazing animals! (have you seen this video?)

The stamping community has definitely caught on- there are so many sweet ellie images (I think I have them all!) out right now! Lawn Fawn, WPlus9, Avery Elle... & we can't forget Ella from Mama Elephant!

I used Ella to play along with the CAS(E) this Sketch #135 this week too!



I wanted to give no line coloring another try, and wouldn't you know it I chose the copic color family that I'm out of ink refills for! I was able to at least get Ella colored (just barely!) Here is what I came up with...

You're Awesome... We Love You!

Happy Father's Day!

I'm popping in quick to share a card for my husband, 'from' my kids for Father's Day today!

I colored these sweet critters from Mama Elephant's Three Amigos! & the "you're the best" sentiment is from the Origami set.



I mirror-stamped the fox so they would be facing each other, and added a bow for a little girl ;)

Thanks for stopping by, hope you all enjoy your Sundays celebrating Dad!

Thanks!

A quick card to share a Thank You card my mom asked me to make...

I paired Avery Elle's Petals & Stems with the Thanks diecut from Mama Elephant, finished off with some Pretty Pink Posh sequins and came up with this!



I just love these colorful doilies I found at Michaels too, I wanted to keep the card clean and simple and the doily made it easy to throw in a pop of color!

Hope you are having a fabulous week!

Happy Easter!

Popping in quick to share a CAS Easter card I whipped up this morning!



Happy Easter!

What She Said...

I'm having so much fun playing with some new stamps I got for my birthday earlier this month... (and there's *STILL* so much on my wishlist!)

My recent favorites include the Three Amigos from Mama Elephant! I definitely have a thing for critters and these are super cute and so much fun to color! My sister requested a (belated) birthday card for my nephew and thought this set would be perfect!

I kept the card simple by using scrap pieces of patterned paper and of course my favorite die-cut tag from Pretty Pink Posh!



Thanks for stopping by... until next time!

Origami Birthday

There are 3 birthdays in March in my family (including mine!)... so we celebrate all month long! This past week was my dad's birthday!

He taught me how to fold origami when I was little, and I still love figuring out how to fold new things, so I just knew that I had to use this new (to me) Mama Elephant Origami stamp set on his card!



I paired it with the new Happy Birthday border die cut from Lawn Fawn to keep it as simple & "manly" as possible!

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Weekend!