Twofer Challenge #5 - BUTTERFLIES

Hello friends.  Playing along with Darnell's 5th Twofer Challenge, and this month it's all about BUTTERFLIES!

I guess I didn't realize how many butterfly stamps and dies I have, so I had to think a bit on this one!  I finally ended up using PTI's Bitty Butterflies Cover Plate die and came up with these 2 cards:

Just something about these tiny little butterflies that I LOVE!!

For this card I started with SSS's Tap Dance stencil and lots of colors of ink, and then used the cover plate die to cut out all the mini butterflies.  I cut a few in Raspberry Fizz cs to match the sentiment strip I used...the sentiment is from PTI's Bitty Butterflies stamp set and I think it will be perfect for a graduation card I need for next month!

For this card I used the same butterfly cover plate die for the two butterflies that I die cut in Hawaiian Shores and Berry Sorbet cs and placed on the outside of my die cut tree (AliExpress).  I made the card into a shaker and used an old Fiskars punch to cut out the teeny, tiny flower shapes that I used in place of the normal sequins I use in shaker cards.  I blended Salty Ocean Distress ink onto the background before building the shaker portion of the card and the sentiment is from PTI's Delightful Dahlia Additions stamp set.  I think a shaker card is definitely a great way to send a little happy hello to someone!!

The DT outdid themselves this month with inspiration using BUTTERFLIES, and there are lots of beautiful cards in the gallery too!  Check them all out and play along right HERE.

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

CAS Christmas May 2018 - SNOWMAN

Hello friends.  This month's challenge over at CAS Christmas is to add a SNOWMAN to your Christmas card.

This was a hard challenge for me...because I am such a snowman lover and have way too many images to choose from!  Took me almost 2 weeks just to decide which one to use...geesh!  I finally ended up choosing a really old wooden red rubber stamp from Stamp City that I bought when I very first started stamping.  It really is a cute, cute image, but I chose it mainly because of it's small size so that I could make a shaker card.

I stamped the image in black and then embossed it in clear embossing powder.  After coloring the image with a few Copics, I lightly blended around it using Salty Ocean Distress Ink.

I used MFT's Peek-A-Boo Rectangle Die to cut a window on the top layer of my card and then attached acetate to the back that I had dry embossed with a Darice snowflake embossing folder.

The embossed acetate looks so cool, but I had a dickens of a time trying to photograph it, so here's a photograph of just the acetate:

The acetate I use (Judi-Kins Embossable Window Plastic) comes with a thin piece of tissue paper behind each sheet, so I left it on when I embossed the snowflakes and now I have a really cool piece of embossed tissue paper to use on another project!  But anyway, hopefully you can get a better idea from this photo what the acetate really looks like over my snowman.  I finished off the shaker part of my card with some clear sequins and my tiny sentiment is from Pretty Pink Posh's Happy Snowman stamp set.

You have until the 24th to play along with this challenge and there are so many cute, CUTE snowmen cards from the DT and in the gallery to inspire you...check it all out right HERE.

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

Papertrey Ink's Create Along With Us - May 2018

Hello friends.  It's release week at Papertrey Ink and that means it's time for the Create Along With Us challenge!

There's always so much to be inspired by, but I just can't resist when Dawn McVeigh uses her signature Aqua Mist and New Leaf color combo with flowers!  Check out Dawn's card HERE.

I changed up a few of the flowers and colors, but stuck with Dawn's basic layout and the Aqua Mist card base stamped with the Cover Up: Quatrefoil stamp in New Leaf ink.

I used flowers and leaves from Farmer's Market Florals, Gran's Garden, and Stitching Garden with a variety of ink colors and then fussy cut them all out.

After arranging them all on my card base, I die cut and stamped my sentiment from the Wet Paint set.  I added a little WOS in the centers of a few of the flowers and leaves, but too subtle to see in my photos.

A little bit of work with all the fussy cutting, but I love the end result and it totally reminds me of a Dawn card!

There's still time to play along with this challenge, so head over to the gallery and see what inspired everyone else, and then play along right HERE. 

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

CAS Watercolour May 2018 Reminder - RAINBOW

Hello friends.  Just a friendly reminder that this month's RAINBOW challenge at CAS Watercolour is still open until the 24th.

If you haven't had a chance to play along yet, and still need some more inspiration, the DT is here to help out with some more FABULOUS ideas for you!  Click HERE to check them out!

Here's what I came up with:

I know butterflies aren't really rainbow colored, but how pretty is this little butterfly (AliExpress die) with ALL the colors of the rainbow on him?!  I started with my ink cubes again and smooshing them into an acrylic block, and then using a paint brush and water, added all the colors to my 110lb cardstock one at a time and drying with my heat tool in between each color.  After die cutting the butterfly, I dipped the edges into some Versamark and added some silver embossing powder to add a little more shine to his wings...I know, I know, as if he wasn't colorful enough all ready!  But artistic license and all that, right??! :0)

For my background I used one of the 4 dies that comes in a Tim Holtz set called Mixed Media to get that honeycomb look in the upper left corner, and then finished my card with a silver embossed sentiment from Catherine Pooler's Faithful Flutterings set.  I think butterflies are a beautiful image to use in sympathy cards...a simple reminder that life isn't over, but just a CHANGE of address!

Again, you have until the 24th to play along with this month's RAINBOW challenge, so get ALL those colors and your paintbrushes out and play along with us...we'd LOVE to see your work in the gallery right HERE.

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

Inspired By All The Little Things #85

Hello friends.  The current Inspired By All The Little Things challenge has a beautiful floral inspiration photo:

I would love this chair and pot of flowers on my front porch, wouldn't you??  I was inspired by the woodgrain in the chair and background, and of course the peachy pinks and yellows in the flowers and came up with this:

 

This is one of those cards that started out in my mind quite differently, but after water coloring the image from Altenew's Best Mom stamp set, one of my leaves wasn't quite dry and of course I smudged it where I really didn't want a smudge...so rather than the image staying on the white background I had envisioned, I fussy cut it out to save it.  It was then that I discovered I really didn't want it on a white background anyway, and adhered it to a Berry Sorbet layer that I used a woodgrain embossing folder on...it definitely pops a bit more this way!

I finished by mounting to a white card base, and then added a sentiment strip embossed in white from PTI's Winter Woods and a piece of white baker's twine at the top.

There's still a few days left to play along with this challenge, so check out all the lovely cards from the DT and then play along right HERE.

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

Merry Monday #290 - Bells

Hey Merry Monday fans...JoAnn is our hostess this week and she would like to see BELLS on your Christmas cards.

I chose to use JINGLE BELLS rather than regular bells on my card.  Here's what I came up with:

I started with Merry Music DSP from SU!...I mean how perfect that there was Jingle Bells music in that paper pack to use!!

I stamped the pine branch from SU!'s Ornamental Pine in Smoky Slate ink and then used a shimmer pen over all the pine needles...IRL it really sparkles!  Next I added a couple die cut JINGLE BELLS from Lil Inker in Real Red cs and attached them to the pine branch.

The sentiment is from PTI's Season's Greetings and is embossed in black and then matted in red to match the layer under the DSP.  Some silver cording bows at the top of the bells and some heavy white baker's twine at the top finished off my card

We can't wait to see what you come up with using BELLS on your cards this week!  Take a look at what the DT came up with for some more inspiration, and then play along with us right HERE.

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

Color Throwdown #492

Hello friends.  This week's challenge at Color Throwdown is one I never would have thought of but have to admit I really like the colors together!

Here's what I came up with using red, light yellow, light gray, and white:

I've been having FUN playing around with Concord & 9th's Wreath Turnabout stamp set, and decided to try this week's challenge colors with it.  Because you need to turn your square 4 times to stamp, and because I didn't want to use white as one of my colors since my background was white, I used 2 colors of red...GinaK's Red Relvet and Cherry Red.  Here's a closer up to see the difference between the reds:

I used PTI's Wet Paint dies and stamps for my sentiment...I die cut 3 of the "hello's" in light yellow (So Saffron) to add a little dimension to the card.  I layered my card with more So Saffron and a card base of Smoky Slate, and then added a few sequins and bakers twine to finish off my card.

There's still time to play in this challenge and LOTS of beautiful and fun examples from the DT to inspire you...check it all out right HERE.
 

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