Poinsettia Christmas...

My mother loved poinsettias. She never could afford to buy one for our home.  When I got old enough 2 of my friends went in with me and we bought her a large beautiful red poinsettia.  She was so proud of that poinsettia.   

I found my first card I ever made a few weeks ago in some boxes I was going through, how sweet that my mother had kept it for so many years! I was in first grade, it was my first experience fussy cutting.   I think I did really well considering I was using large clunky safety scissors!   At the time I made it, I remember being miffed at my teacher for giving me an old boring poinsettia card to cut up, when some of the other kids got Santa Claus...but fast forward 59 years and like my mother I think poinsettias are just so beautiful...I'm not sure what I think about my poinsettia on today's card, the way the color scheme worked with my stamping technique, but I'm posting it anyway because it was a learning exercise for me.  Here is the stamp I used.

I unmounted the stamp,  (it came off easy and smooth) because  I wanted to use it with the SU stamparatus I bought awhile back.   I have Multiple Myeloma and with the treatment I'm on (to stay in remission) and because old age is creeping in, I sometimes struggle with a steady hand.  So if you have similar problems getting clear images you might want to buy one.  They aren't cheap, but I think it will help me keep on cardmaking for a long time.   Thanks for stopping in, have a great weekend!      Kathy

The following are challenges I had in mind when making my card, To access each website, just click on the image:

Tuesday Morning Sketches is a weekly challenge and this week is a great sketch!

 First time participating at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge, challenges are monthly and this is July 2018 "anything goes" challenge.

Challenges at the CAS Colours & Stamp; Sketches are as follows!

You can see in the pictures below that I used Coastal Cabana, Lemon Lime Twist and Powder Pink but the overlapping from the technique gave different colors!

Weeks 1 and 3 of the month - Colour challenge

Weeks 2 and 4 of the month - Sketch challenge

First time playing over at CAS Christmas where challenges are monthly and for Christmas cards only.

Pictures below show the steps I followed, in my attempt to master sponging the stamp and repeat stamping using the stamparatus! .  I had read about this technique using the stamparatus on another blog.   I also used a brush and the ink pads to clarify some of the edges.  The sentiment is CTMH (retired)  Everything else is SU, wink of stella and sequins!