Garden Bird

Hello Blogger friends! Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with The Charmed Life Blog today. 

Hope your week is going well. It's almost time for another weekend and this one is a holiday weekend. Memorial Day will be celebrated, and it marks the "official" start of summer even though the calendar says its 3 weeks away. 

We have a parade here in our community and my friend will be driving an antique car and has invited me to join her on the drive. It's something I have never done before so of course I said yes. I think it will be fun. Other than that, we have no real plans. 

Now onto my card for today. This one I created for the Splitcoaststampers color challenge #1000. It was a milestone challenge and to celebrate, each DT member has chosen her favorite challenge that she hosted between CC901 & CC999.

I chose CC908 and my color trio is basic gray, fresh freesia and bermuda bay. Optional was to use die-cuts.

basic gray, bermuda bay, fresh freesia

For my card, I used the Garden Bird and Spring Blooms dies from CottageCutz to create a birthday card.

The background paper on the image panel is from the Stampin' Up "oh so ombre" collection.

The hummingbird is cut from the Stampin'Up "lily impressions" designer paper. I like the shaded look it gave his body. For the wings and throat, I used fresh freesia and shaded with the same color ink.

My flowers are cut from fresh freesia cardstock and the centers with a blackberry bliss (neutral) designer paper. This is one of the colors that Stampin' Up has classified as a neutral so it's allowed in this color challenge.  The leaves are mossy meadow another allowed neutral.

Stamped my birthday sentiment and added a few enamel dots to complete the card.

Well, that's it for me for this post. So, until next time.......God bless. 

Card Details:

Stamps: bitty birthday wishes (MFT)

Paper: basic gray, bermuda bay, fresh freesia, mossy meadow, lilly impressions dsp, oh so ombre dsp, (Stampin' Up)

Paper Size: A2

Ink: fresh freesia (Stampin' Up), tuxedo black (Memento)

Accessories: Garden Birds die, Spring Blooms die, Pierced Wide Rectangle die (CottageCutz), enamel dots (Altenew)

I am also entering:

1.  Allsorts has a 15th birthday celebration with an anything goes challenge. 

2.  Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge is fur or feathers. 

3. Paper Funday is anything goes w/optional of flower shoppe. 

4.  Addicted to Stamps and More has a birthday challenge. 

5. Critter Crazy challenge is anything goes with a featured critter. 

Heartful Sympathy

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with The Charmed Life Blog today. 

Hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was a quiet one. My hubby got a new iPhone and iPad so I had to set those up for him. Verizon and Apple make it so easy to transfer data from the old device to the new. I just had to move his widgets back to the home screen instead of the folder our grandson put them in a while ago. He never knew where any of the apps were. It was a crazy setup that I undid for him.  

I also did some house cleaning and cooking. Friday night we had some delicious salmon with an herb butter. Saturday night I made homemade pizza. We like ours with a pesto instead of a red sauce. And the crust was a cauliflower crust. The crust was ok, but I prefer the usual flour crust. 

Now onto to my card for today. I unfortunately needed a sympathy card for a friend who just lost her husband. I used a stamp set from Gina K for the frame, palm trees and sun. I thought the setting sun would work for a sympathy card.

I used a variety of distress inks to create my background. The clouds are done in kitsch flamingo, squeezed lemonade and wild honey.

For the water I blended shaded lilac, wilted violet, stormy sky and faded jeans.

Well, that's it for me for this post so until next time.....God bless. 

Card Details:

Stamps: framescape tropical skies (Gina K designs), with heartfelt (Rubber Cottage)

Paper: polished pink, basic black (Stampin' Up), bristol smooth (Canson)

Paper Size: A2

Ink: tuxedo black (Memento), daffodil delight (Stampin' Up), kitsch flamingo, squeezed lemonade, wild honey, shaded lilac, wilted violet, stormy sky, faded jeans distress inks (Ranger)

Accessories: mini cloud stencil (MFT)

Techniques: ink blending

I am also entering:

1.  A Perfect Time to Craft has an anything goes challenge. 

2.  Crafts Galore Encore has an anything goes challenge. 

3.  Lil Patch of Crafty Friends is anything goes. 

4.  Crafty Calendar is anything goes. 

5.  Crafting Happiness has a sunny days challenge. 

Stenciled Mother's Day Flowers

Hello Blogger friends! Thanks for dropping by to visit with The Charmed Life Blog today. 

Don't know if any of you have been able to view the Northern Lights display in your area. They were visible in the Pittsburgh area on Friday night. When I looked out it was cloudy, so I thought it was a no go. However, my friends persevered and took lots of photos of the spectacular display. God's handiwork is always amazing to me. 

Here is a photo from the PA State police. It was taken not too far from my home.

Now onto my card for today. This one I created for my niece. It's the last of my 2024 Mother's Day cards. It was hand delivered to her office along with a bunch of tulips. She has problems with the scent that comes from flowers, so tulips were a great choice for her. They are scent free. 

I used a Poppy stencil from The Ton Stamps to create my card. It's a multi-layered stencil. I used 3 different shades of pink ink. The first layer is spun sugar distress ink, 2nd layer is pretty in pink from Stampin' Up and the 3rd layer is kitsch flamingo distress ink. The leaves are peeled paint distress ink.

I stamped the Mother's Day sentiment in Stampin' Up polished pink ink. The wishes phrase is die cut in polished pink and pretty in pink cardstock using the CottageCutz "wishes w/shadow" die. I scattered a few polished pink sequins to complete my card.

Well, that's it for me for this post. So, until next time.....God bless. 

I am also entering:

1.  Crazy is our fame-Stencils are our game has a girly challenge. 

2.  Aud Sentiments Challenge is foiling or flowers + a sentiment. 

3.  Get Creative has a Ladies only challenge. 

4.  Make My Monday has a florals challenge. 

5.  Inspiration Station #61. The pink flowers are my inspiration. 

  

Mother's Day Tulips

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with The Charmed Life Blog today. 

Hope all of you out there who are Mothers had a great celebration day yesterday. I spent the day with my son and daughter-in-law. We started off with a brunch at a restaurant in the city that we like. Then I went back to their house for several hours. 

I had a call from my CA son, and we talked for quite a while. Then both my grandsons and granddaughter checked in as well. So, I felt very special and loved yesterday. Not that they don't make me feel that way on other days, but I love a day set aside that we get special honor as Mothers. 

Now onto my card for today. This one I created for my sister-in-law. It was a last-minute card that I hand delivered with a bunch of tulips. She loved the card by the way. 

The background designer paper is from the Spring Flowers Pad 2 by Divinity Designs. This pad is filled with such beautiful papers that make for a quick card if you chose to go that way. 

I stamped my sentiment on a stitched cloud and attached the paper to a yellow card base. This was also entered in the Splitcoaststampers Inspiration Challenge #962. The site for inspiration was Liz Marie. I chose this Spring Collection as my inspiration and picked up on the tulips.  

Well, that's it for me for this post so until next time......God bless.

Card Details:

Stamps: may good things grow (PaperPumpkin 2018)

Paper: daffodil delight, white (Stampin' Up), flowers 2 paper pad dsp (Divinity Designs)

Paper Size: 4 1/2" x 6"

Ink: broken china distress (Ranger)

Accessories: stitched cloud die (CottageCutz)

I am also entering:

1.  Gem of a Challenge is anything goes. 

2.  Addicted to CAS - code word flower. 

3.  Crafty Calendar challenge is anything goes.

4.  Crafting Happiness has a Blooms or Birds challenge.  

5.  Polkadoodles has an anything goes challenge. 

Mother's Day Wishes

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with The Charmed Life Blog today. 

Here we are at the start of another weekend. This weekend is Mother's Day. I will be going out to brunch with my son and daughter-in-law. My hubby will be with his Mom. That's just the way it has worked out the past several years. 

His Mom is homebound now. She doesn't want to go out anymore and she is not very mobile. She lives with my hubby's sister. So, they will go there and bring a restaurant meal to enjoy together. 

Now onto my card for today. This is the card I made for my daughter-in-law for Mother's Day. I will hand deliver this on Sunday. I used the colors from this week's color challenge #CC999 on Splitcoaststampers.  

Our colors were sweet sorbet, coastal cabana and flirty flamingo. Optional was to use a die cut. 

sweet sorbet, coastal cabana, flirty flamingo

To create my card, I used a Poppy stencil from The Ton Stamps. It's a multi-layered stencil.

To achieve the look of 3 colors on the poppy, I used a blender brush and a light layer of flirty flamingo for the first layer.
The 2nd layer is also flirty flamingo, but I applied it a bit heavier.
The 3rd layer I used festive berries distress ink. It's a close match for sweet sorbet.

For the leaves I used salvaged patina distress ink. It's a close match to coastal cabana.

I stamped the Mother's Day sentiment in flirty flamingo ink several times to get a darker shade. The Wishes die cut is from CottageCutz.

To finish off my card I scattered a few flirty flamingo enamel dots. They are from the Stampin' Up "rainbow collection".

Well, that's it for me for this post. So, until next time......God bless. 

Card Details:

Stamps: may good things grow (March 2018 PP)

Paper: flirty flamingo, white (Stampin' Up), Bristol smooth (Canson)

Paper Size: 4 1/2" x 6"

Ink: flirty flamingo(Stampin' Up), salvaged patina, festive berries, black soot distress (Ranger)

Accessories: Precious Poppies Stencil (The Ton Stamps), Wishes w/Shadow die (CottageCutz), rainbow enamel dots (Stampin' Up)

Techniques: stenciling

I am also entering:

1.  Aloha Friday has a flowers challenge. 

2.  Cut It Up has a sentiment challenge + using die-cuts. 

3.  Just Add Ink has an inspiration challenge. My shade of pink flowers fit perfectly. 

4.  Cardz 4 Galz has a Mother's Day challenge. 

5.  Craft Rocket Challenges #114 is flowers. 

Mother's Day Fun Fold

Hello Blogger Friends. Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with The Charmed Life Blog today. 

Hope your weekend was a great one. We had 6 couples over for dinner yesterday. So, I spent Saturday prepping and Sunday cooking. It was a Mexican food fest and everyone loved what I served. 

My first time making Carnitas. I found a great recipe on Pinterest, and the pork roast cooked up perfectly in my crockpot. It shredded so easily.  I also made a Mexican slaw to go with the pork for tacos. That was another delicious Pinterest recipe. 

I wanted to serve quesadillas as well and again with the help of Pinterest I found a delicious recipe to make them in the oven. I was able to make 7 at a time and then cut them in half. I also had black bean & cheese taquitos but those I bought from Trader Joes. One of the helpful employees recommended them and they were so good. Something I would buy again for sure. 

I had homemade guacamole, a black bean & corn salsa, and a couple of other store-bought salsas. A couple of my friends supplied dessert. We had Tres Leche cake and a cheesecake assortment. It was a great night of conversation and delicious food. We had lots of leftovers so today was no-cook Monday!

Now onto my card for today. This one I made for the color challenge #998 on Splitcoaststampers. I was the hostess, and I chose boho blue, calypso coral and pecan pie for the color trio. Optional was to use designer paper. 

I used the Stampin' Up "flight & airy" designer paper for my card. It has all the challenge colors. I saw this card on Pinterest and decided to re-create it. I chose a different pattern from the dsp, added enamel dots and stenciled the circle background with clouds.

This above photo shows the card closed. I die cut the "Sending" phrase 3x in boho blue cardstock to give it a bit more depth. The bird images are fussy cut from the designer paper.

This is a view of the card opened. The bird images are fussy cut from the designer paper. I also added 3 calypso coral enamel dots to the z-fold panel.

I stamped my Mother's Day greeting and a leaf branch to complete this card. 

Well, that's it for me for this post so until next time......God bless. 

Card Details:

Stamps: 10 years of growth (PP Kit March 2023)

Paper: boho blue, white, flight & airy dsp (Stampin' Up)

Paper Size: A2

Ink: boho blue (Stampin' Up)

Accessories: stitched circle dies (CottageCutz), Sending die (SSS)calypso coral enamel dots (Stampin' Up), cloud stencil (MFT)

Techniques: z-fold

I am also entering:

1.  A Place to Start is anything goes w/option for a lady. 

2.  Aud Sentiments has a foiling or flowers challenge + a sentiment. 

3.  Beautiful Blossoms is anything goes with flowers + optional mood board. 

4.  Creatalicious Challenge is anything goes w/option use something new. My designer paper is new.

5.  Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends is anything goes. 

You Are Mermazing

Hello Blogger friends! Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with The Charmed Life Blog today. Hope you week went well and that you have some fun plans for the weekend. 

It's been a busy here in my household. So I am looking forward to the weekend. we are having friends over for dinner on Sunday. We have 6 couples that are part of our Sunday night prayer group and we decided to have a night to fellowship with each other over dinner. 

Since Sunday is Cinco de Mayo, I am having a Mexican food feast. Carnitas, black bean & cheese Taquitos, cheese quesadillas, Taco Salad Cups, Black Bean & salsa dip and homemade guacamole. For the carnitas, I will slow cook the pork for 8-10 hrs. and serve with a Mexican slaw. We will make tacos out of these.

The taco salad cups are made with baked wonton wrappers and you fill them with seasoned ground beef and top them with lettuce, tomato and sour cream.   I will also have a cheese queso & chips. I think I will have enough food for sure and I will be busy in the kitchen all afternoon. 

Now onto my card for today. This card I made for my precious granddaughter. I just wanted to remind her that she is an amazing girl. She lives right at the Pacific Ocean so a water theme is perfect for her plus she loves mermaids. What little girl doesn't?

I used the colors from an older Splitcoaststampers color challenge #798. I thought these colors were good for an ocean scene. Optional was to use waves or scallops. So that fit right with my mermaid image. The colors were pacific point, gorgeous grape and bermuda bay. 

pacific point, gorgeous grape, bermuda bay

On the background I used a cloud stencil and peacock feathers distress ink and a wave stencil and salty ocean distress ink. They are both a close match for bermuda bay and pacific point inks. I used a light touch with the sponge dauber.

I cut her fin and starfish in the gorgeous grape cardstock, her bra is cut from gorgeous grape designer paper, the fish in her hand from bermuda bay cardstock . Her face and body are colored with Copic markers. I used E000, E11 and E13. Her hair is colored with Prismacolor pencils and gamsol odorless mineral spirits. Those pencil colors are PC1082 Chocolate and PC946 Dark Brown.

I stamped the sentiment with a stamp set from MFT- "mermazing" and added a few enamel dots to finish off my card. 

That's it for me for this post. So until next time.....God bless. 

Card Details:

Stamps: Mermazing (MFT)

Paper: pacific point, whisper white, gorgeous grape, bermuda bay, gingham dsp (Stampin'-Up)

Paper Size: 4 1/2" x 5 3/4"

Ink: pacific point (Stampin'-Up), tumbled glass, peacock feathers, salty ocean distress (Ranger)

Accessories: mermaid die (CottageCutz), cloud stencil (MFT), wave stencil (A Colorful Life), pacific point enamel dots (Stampin'-Up), Copic Markers E000, E11, E13, Prismacolor Pencils PC1082 Chocolate, PC946 Dark Brown

Techniques: stenciling

I am also entering: 

1.  Crafty Catz is anything goes w/optional of summer. 

2.  Creative Fingers Challenge is anything goes. 

3.  Cut It Up challenge wants us to add a sentiment. 

4.  Creative Knockouts has a for the kids challenge. 

5.  Creative Inspirations is anything goes.