Color Hues Challenge #41 - RED & AQUA

Hello friends.  I am honored to be Guest Designing with the team over at the Color Hues Challenge and this week we are looking for cards with RED and AQUA.

I have always loved using this color combo for Christmas cards, but since the weather here in my "neck of the woods" has turned a bit warmer finally, I decided to work on my dwindling birthday card stash using a fun die set from Spellbinder's that my sweet friend Birgit shared with me called Serve-A-Slice.  Take a look...

Now doesn't a slice of warm cherry pie make you think of warm Summer days?!!  Birgit sent all the pieces for the pie slice and plate in white cardstock, and I ink blended with kraft and red inks to create this yummy piece of pie.  My background was done with PFS's Diamond Plaid Stencil, and Ocean Mist ink from Gina K.  

My sentiment comes from The Greetery's Sweet Tooth stamp & die set, and my frame is from PFS's Stitched Scallop Rectangle Dies.  I finished off this sweet card with a bit of glitter and a few Disco Ball sequins (Gina K).

I have a twofer for you today, because I LOVE this color combination and I really am trying to ramp up my sadly depleted birthday stash.  I have made similar cards to this one and posted on my Instagram account (#marciahill9304) using different colors, but it turned out pretty cool with the red & aqua color combo too!

 This card uses MFT's Happy Cake Day and Recipe For Happiness stamps and dies, and the background is from The Stamp Market - Pierced Plaid (Thanks Michele!!).  

All my cake layers and "HAPPY" letters and sprinkles were ink blended with Fired Brick and Peacock Feather Distress inks, and I finished off the "HAPPY with some Glossy Accents, and a bit of WOS on the sprinkles.  

So there you have two cards using the RED and AQUA color combo, and we can't wait to see what YOU come up with using these two colors!  Check out all the inspiration from the talented DT and then play along right HERE.  

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

The Flower Challenge #68 - USE A NUMBER

Hello friends.  Playing along with The Flower Challenge where this month they are looking for a NUMBER on our flower cards.

It's Tulip season and I've been seeing a lot of beautiful cards using The Greetery's BotaniCuts: Tulips Dies out there in blogland, and I kept thinking "why, oh why, did I never order that set?!"  So I went to The Greetery's website and put the dies in my shopping cart, and then hesitated...maybe I better look through my stash??  Yep, sure enough, I already had the dies!!  (Quit laughing Bobby!)  I can't be the only one out there with so many stamps and dies that I don't know what I even have anymore!!  Oh well, at least I checked this time before ordering, and the Tulips worked out perfectly for my numbered flower card.  Take a look...

Can you see my numbers in the background??  I used The Greetery's Delightful Digits Cover Plate Die for my background with a white on white look so my flowers would pop.  I die cut the Tulips out of white cardstock, and then ink blended using DOX inks in Peeled Paint, Rustic Wilderness, Worn Lipstick, Picked Raspberry, & Aged Mahogany.  

My sentiment was heat embossed in white on black cardstock and then die cut using the smallest Crimped Circle Dies (The Greetery), and the sentiment is from Gina K's It's All You.  I finished this card with a bit of WOS, a gold cord bow, and a few gold gems from PFS.

Lots and lots of beautiful inspiration from the DT for you to check out if you want to see how to use a number on your flower card...check it all out right HERE.  This challenge is open till the 25th at 5:00PM.

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

Double D Birds & Peace On Earth #15

Hello friends.  I'm combining one card for two challenges today...the Double D and the Peace On Earth.  The Double D challenge is looking for BIRDS and the Peace On Earth challenge is "Anything goes Christmas", so it was pretty easy to combine these 2.

Here's what I came up with combining the two challenges...

I used some Masking Magic (Gina K) to die cut the Cathedral Window (The Greetery), and then ink blended some light yellow to give a warm glow to the inside of church, followed by masking the light yellow so I could ink blend the blue for my outside.  Next I used my MISTI to stamp the pine branch from SU!'s Ornamental Pine onto my ink blended layer, followed by leaving the stamp in place in my MISTI, and stamping again on a white die cut Cathedral Window.  I was a little off on lining them up, but not too bad!

I stacked 3 of the die cut windows for some dimension and also added a piece of acetate to the back of the top die cut window.  (My plan at first was to make a shaker, but then I changed my mind.)  I did use some glue in the corners of each of the window panes, and then added glitter to make it look like snow piling up on the window.  I used an oldie but a goodie stamp set from PTI (Brushed Birds) for my two birdies and stamped them both in shades of red to give my card more of a Christmas feel as opposed to just a Winter card.  I thought about adding a sentiment to the outside, but decided to just stamp the inside and not clutter up the front.

The Peace On Earth Challenge is open till the 12th at 8:00PM, and the  Double D Challenge is open till the 15th at 8:00PM.  Lots of great inspiration at both sites, so check it out and play along.

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

Color Hues #40 - BLUE & TAN

Hello friends.  Playing along with the current Color Hues Challenge where they are looking for BLUE and TAN on our cards.

 

My birthday stash needs replenishing again already, and especially in the masculine department, so here's what I came up with using some of my favorite stamps, dies, & stencils...

I started with a kraft card base and then added a layer that I stenciled with PFS's Argyle stencil using kraft and blue inks.  Next I made my sentiment using Gina K's Birthday Trio Dies and ink blended the "HAPPY" using Blue Raspberry and In the Navy inks (Gina K) in an ombre pattern.

  I used CCC's Birthday Wishing stamp & die set for the bunny and balloon, and colored him in with my Copics (E31 & E23) and the balloon with a small blender brush.  I had to cover up a bit of the bunny's lower half to make room for the large sentiment, but I still think it came out pretty cute!  It may be a little juvenile for a masculine card, but I like it, so it's staying!

You can play along with this challenge HERE until the 14th, and don't forget to check out all the great inspiration from the talented DT too!!

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

Christmas Kickstart #62 - Mini Slimline

Hello friends.  Hope you didn't think I'd dropped off the face of the earth?!!  Just a little break as I was out of mojo and busy reading, knitting, & bingeing Netflix.  But I'm back and playing along with the Christmas Kickstart Challenge today, where they are looking for Mini Slimline cards.

Regular slimline cards are not my thing so much, but the mini slimline card size I absolutely LOVE, and have made quite a few!  I even have the measurements memorized for making envelopes to fit on my envelope punch board!  Last Fall I had bought a SSS Mini Slimline Snowflake Window stencil, and had not used it yet, so it was definitely time to pull it out for this challenge!!  Take a look...

I started by blending through the stencil onto white cardstock using Stormy Sky and Peacock Feathers Distress Inks, and then using Gina K's Master Layouts #7 dies to cut the stitched rectangle.  I mounted the stenciled layer onto a piece of 6 1/2" x 6 1/4" white cardstock, scored at 3 1/4" to create my mini slimline card base.

I die cut three times and stacked my sentiment from MB's Let It Snow Posh Script before adding it to the bottom of my card, and then finished with a few of Gina K's Disco Ball Sequins.  Pretty simple card, but I love the way it turned out!

Check out what Dot and her guest elf Arlene came up with for inspiration, and then play along right HERE to get a head start on those Christmas cards.  This challenge is open till the end of the month, so plenty of time to play!  And if you've never made a mini slimline card before, I think you'll get hooked, just like me!! 

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

Color Hues #39 - PURPLE & GREEN

Hello friends.  Playing along with the current Color Hues Challenge where they are looking for PURPLE & GREEN this time around.

Have I mentioned how in LOVE I am with The Greetery's new BotaniCuts: Crocus dies??  I just can't seem to stop inking up these sweet little flowers that welcome in Spring, and are just perfect for this color challenge!  Take a look:

I started by die cutting the flowers in white cardstock and then inked them up using a sponge dauber and Wilted Violet, Peeled Paint, & Rustic Wilderness DOX inks.  I set them aside to dry and die cut a rectangle opening from a white card layer, and then embossed it using SSS's Vine Canopy embossing folder.

Once I adhered the embossed panel over my top folding white card base, I arranged and glued down the flowers into the rectangle opening, leaving a few petals and leaves unglued so that I curl them a tiny bit for some added dimension.  I did a tiny bit of white splattering (white acrylic paint) and when dry, added my strip sentiment (Gina K's pre-printed sentiment strips) and a few white gems from PFS.

There's still a week left to play along with this beautiful color combination, so check out all the inspiration from the DT, and then play along right HERE.

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

The Great Cover Up Challenge

Hello friends.  I'm playing along with Papertrey Ink and The Great Cover Up Challenge today.

Kelly's card was absolutely FABULOUS for this challenge, and I pretty much CASE'd  it with a few small exceptions!  Take a look at what I came up with:

I started by switching up my background with a dotted dsp in Soft Stone as opposed to Kelly's gingham in light gray, and then added the Cover Plate: Decorative Circles die cut in white over the top of the dsp.  For all the little diamond shaped die cut pieces, I colored them with a Copic (Y13) before inserting them back into their openings.  Since the challenge calls for YELLOW flowers, I thought coloring in the little diamond shapes was a good way to coordinate with my Tulips.  I love, LOVE the die cut Tulips Kelly used on her card, but since I don't have those and didn't want to completely copy Kelly's card, I pulled out an oldie but a goody with the Tulip Time stamp and die set.  I'd forgotten how much I love this stamp set and it looks wonderful against the die cut cover plate background!  (IMHO)

I finished this cheerful Springtime card with a sentiment from Just Sentiments: Spring Blessings (LOVE this set!!) and a few clear sequins.

You can check out Kelly's AWESOME card and play along right HERE...this challenge is open till the 20th at 7:00AM.

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