Color Hues Challenge #125

Hello friends.  Welcome back to another Color Hues Challenge where our sweet hostess Carol has chosen the color pairing of BLUE & WHITE...perfect colors for Winter cards, don't you agree?!!

These colors definitely make me think Winter, so that's the direction I took, but you do YOU and go in any direction you desire! As long as you only use the blue & white color combination that is (although neutrals are welcome).  I have 2 cards to share with you today because it was such a fun color combo to play with and I happen to LOVE paper snowflakes! (The real ones not so much anymore!!)  Here's my first card...

See how pretty paper snowflakes are?!!  I started with a background piece and ink blended a few blue inks (SU!) onto a piece of white cs and then decided to turn the background into a Bokeh background using a very old stencil with lots of different size circles on it and white pigment ink.  Next I used my SSS Snowflake Visions ef, cut it in half and saved the other half for another card sometime.  I glued it down to my white card base and added 2 thin strips of Misty Moonlight and silver sparkle cs to separate the 2 sides of the card.

For my main snowflake image I used PFS's Radiating Snowflake stencil on a piece of Misty Moonlight cs along with Gina K's Sparkle Gel, and when dry used the coordinating die to cut the snowflake out.  This is such an easy gel to use and the sparkle is incredible...even my photography skills can capture the sparkle!!  I added it to the card with foam tape behind it for dimension and then finished with a sentiment from PTI's Winter Hills stamp set.  And an iridescent gem for the center of the snowflake.  

And card #2...

 I had gotten this PTI LARGER THAN LIFE: SNOW die early last Fall and die cut a few in white and silver right away, and then it got set aside and never used...until now.  I decided to make this a 3 3/4" x 5 1/2" card so that it would fit the snow die perfectly without any extra space on the sides.  I used the same SSS Snowflake Visions ef for the top half of the card and then a piece of gray dsp (SU!) for the bottom half.  Yep, the dsp was gray...

 I used Boho Blue ink and a blender brush over the gray dsp and changed it into a blue dsp, and I love how it turned out.  The tiny white stars are actually silver and it just looks so pretty with the Boho Blue snowflakes.  

 I added my silver sparkle SNOW die cut against the white embossed section, and then added a piece of Misty Moonlight ribbon to separate the embossed piece and the dsp.  The "LET IT" part of the sentiment was embossed in white on a tiny strip of Misty Moonlight cs and then added with a piece of foam behind it to give it some dimension.  I finished with a few PFS Iridescent Gems and called it good!

The DT and our Special GD (and friend) Bobby have some beautiful cards using the BLUE & WHITE color pairing to inspire you, and you can check them all out right HERE.  This challenge is open till Thursday, Jan. 29th @ 9:00AM and we'd love to see ALL of YOU in the gallery!!

WHITE

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Valentine Houses - A CASE of Kelly Lunceford

Hello friends.  I don't know how many of you follow Kelly Lunceford, but she is one of the most creative gals I know, and yesterday she blew me away with these Valentine houses made from The Greetery's Market Place dies!  I HAD to CASE!  Here's the 1st one...

I started with kraft cs and used Gina K's Brick Wall stencil after die cutting the house using the Market Place No. 1 die...I love the brick look to these old time Market Place buildings! 

 

I decorated the house with Pale Peony cs (PTI) and Real Red cs (SU!) using the dies that come with the Market Place No. 1 die set and also The Market Place Holiday Festoons die set.  My sentiment came from The Greetery's Four Square Valentine Tags.  Had so much fun making this one, that I made a 2nd one...same design, just switched the colors around.  

This one started with the Pale Peony cs and then was trimmed out with the red & kraft, and a bit of gold on the sentiment (embossed) and the swag at the top.

I did use WOS on the hearts and red gems (PFS) on the sentiment banners and the bows on the swag. 

I do not have the die that creates the box that you can add to the house front to hold treats, but designed a simple box on my own that I could add to the house.  I cut a piece of cs to 9 1/2" x 5" and scored at 1" on the long side, and then scored on short side at 1/4", 3 1/4" past the 1/4", 1 1/2" past the 3 1/4", and then again at 1 1/2" past the last 3 1/4".  (I hope that made sense?!!)  You do need to snip the bottom 1" pieces to create tabs to fold for the bottom of the box...the top is obviously open.  I used tear n tape on the bottom and the side 1/4" tab.  Before assembling the box, I did use the die that cuts the windows and door so you could see into the box.  Before (or IF) I give these away, I will add some red crinkle cut paper filler before adding the chocolate.

  Sorry for such a loooong post, but here they are together!  These houses were addicting at Christmas and these Valentine ones are just as addicting!  I think next are Easter houses with Spring flowers and bright (or pastel) colors!  

Kelly added so much more to her houses and you can check them all out right HERE.  Make sure you leave yourself some time if you've never visited her blog before...she will definitely inspire you with all the beauty she creates!  Thanks so much Kelly!! 

 

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Eat Cake & Celebrate

Hello friends.  Playing along with the current Freshly Made Sketches Challenge and the DD Ten Year Birthday Challenge with this fun card...

I haven't played with these cute chefs in ages (MFT's Recipe For Happiness) and figured they were due some ink!  My birthday stash got seriously depleted this past Fall, and I was so busy making Christmas cards that I just never got caught up.  I stamped the 3 chefs with Versafine Black Onyx ink and then Copic colored and cut out with the coordinating dies.  My background was done following the sketch that Amy at Freshly Made Sketches showed using Gina K's Brick Wall stencil in a light gray ink and the bottom portion using PTI's Pure Poppy Bitty Big DSP.

I used a thin strip of black cs to mark the different layers and for the chefs to stand on, and then added my sentiment from The Greetery's Sentiment Suite: Birthday.  I so badly wanted to add some glitter or sequins to this birthday card, but since I think it would work for a masculine birthday card too, I left the sparkle & shine off!

The DD is celebrating their 10th Birthday and I thought this card would work perfectly for their challenge too!  CONGRATS on 10 Years DD!!

You can check out the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge HERE and the DD 10 Year Birthday Challenge right HERE.  Lots of fabulous inspiration from both challenges, so check them out and play along.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Peace On Earth Challenge #103

Hello friends.  Hope you're not sick of Christmas/Winter cards yet, as I'm getting started on this year's cards already so I'm not scrambling like I did this past month! The Peace On Earth Christmas Challenge has a wonderful mood board using a monochromatic theme with blues that I absolutely love!

 Hubby got me a new stamp set for Christmas (well actually I bought it and he wrapped it...haha!!) called Delicate Pines (SU!) that uses greenery (pine needles) for snowflakes and I couldn't wait to play with it!  Take a look...

I started by stamping the largest snowflake in Boho Blue ink and then stamped over it with the medium snowflake stamp in Misty Moonlight ink.  The center of the snowflake was stamped with Night of Navy ink using the smallest snowflake, and I just love how all 3 layers came together!  

I used The Greetery's Nordic Circle & Rectangle Dies to cut out the snowflake and the top panel, and then layered them over a piece of Misty Moonlight cs and a white card base.  The snowflake has foam tape behind it to pop it up and add some dimension.  The sentiment (part of the Delicate Pines stamp set) was stamped in Night of Navy and a few clear sequins and a iridescent gem finished off my card.

If you're ready to get started on 2026 Christmas cards, check out all the beautiful inspiration from the talented DT right HERE and then play along.  This challenge is open till Thursday, Jan. 15th @ 8:00PM.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Color Hues #124 - GRAY & RED

Hello friends and welcome to a New Year at the Color Hues Challenge.  Our sweet friend and fellow DT member Bonnie has chosen the color pairing of GRAY & RED for our first challenge of the New Year.

These colors make me think snow & COLD and snowmen...

I received SSS's Warm Thoughts stamp set as a freebie with an order, and I think it worked out perfectly for this color pairing!  I colored in the images with my gray and red Copics (please excuse the tiny bit of orange for the carrot nose...I just couldn't color it in red!!), and also added glitter to the snow drifts.  

I framed the image with one of PTI's Pierced Feature Frames in gray cs and added the sentiment that was part of the stamp set.  Very CAS but I'm pleased with the way it turned out!  

The DT and our Special GD's Lisa and Barb all have some fabulous cards to inspire you with these colors, and you can find them all right HERE.  This challenge is open till Wednesday, Jan. 14th @ 9:00AM.

 

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

JOY

                                                 Joyfully Announcing the Birth of a Son

                                                                 Born in: Bethlehem

                                                                 Born to:  All the World

                                                       From the home of:  Mary & Joseph

                                                       From the heart of:  God the Father

                                                          His name shall be called:  Jesus

Wishing all of you a most blessed Christmas Day.

 

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Sweet Nordic Snowman

Hello friends.  Are you ready for Christmas? We had our big family Christmas with all the girls and the grandkids yesterday, so today I get to relax and just enjoy the rest of the week! We'll bring dinner over to my mom on Christmas day, but it will just be hubby and I and my mom, so real low key but fun none the less!

I have a card to share with you today that is a combination of 2 gifts I received.  My background panel was a piece of really shimmery white cs that my sweet friend Leslie sent to protect the Christmas card she mailed me and I embossed it and used it for my card.  The 2nd gift I received was the darling little Sweet Nordic Snowman die that my friend Jeanne sent me in her Christmas card.  I combined the two and came up with this...

 Isn't he just the cutest little snowman with his coat, scarf & hat?!  The die for this Sweet Nordic Snowman (Poppystamps) is all one piece, so I cut it from white and then used my Copics to color in the hat, coat & scarf (B91, B93, B95). I did add glitter to the pompom on his hat and on the pompoms at the ends of his hat to add a little more sparkle.  The background that I embossed (SSS's Snowflake Visions) is so shimmery too, so lots of sparkle going on with this card!

I used PB's posted stamp and die to place over my embossed background, and then used a small piece of PTI's Bitty Big Blueberry Sky DSP in the center of the postage die cut.  I added the little snowman to the dsp with foam tape for some dimension, and then added the 2 strips of cs for my sentiment (SSS's Tiny Words Christmas).  I finished with a few Iridescent Clear Drops from PFS.

I followed the sketch from the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge and will be adding this to their gallery, along with also the Double D Challenge where they are looking for Santa and/or Snowman on our cards.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!