Color Throwdown #503

Hello friends.  This week's color challenge at Color Throwdown makes me think Christmas...

I know the inspiration picture shows SUMMER, but I went with my first thought of Christmas and used a stamp from The Cat's Pajamas that I've had since last Fall and had never inked up!

Doesn't the face with the BIG ears just crack you up?!!  I love the funny sentiments that come with this set too (S-5850 CL)!  I embossed a piece of Weathervane cardstock with a Richard Garay knitted ef to bring in the gray color and the knitted ef to go along with the rabbit and his knitting.

I paper pieced the sweater he's working on from the Warmth & Cheer SU! DSP and then used a couple of Copics to color the yarn ball (G07) and his nose (R00 & R30).  A few red and green enamel dots and some Christmas baker's twine finished off my card.

This challenge closes tomorrow, but if you have time to play today, there's some beautiful and FUN inspiration from the DT HERE to get you started.  

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

Gran's Garden

Hello friends.  I was so inspired by this week's Papertrey Ink Blog Hop colors, and a card from Maureen  using one of my favorite stamp sets, that I just had to sit down and make another card!!

For those of you who follow Dawn McVey on Instagram, you know that she has a little challenge on Friday's called Raspberry Suite Feature Fridays where she invites everyone to share their cards that use stamps and dies from her Raspberry Suite line of products.  Everything except the Bitty Big DSP and the new Pierced Feature Frames dies that I used on my card today were designed by Dawn.

As you can see I totally went with the shades of blue and red from this week's blog hop, and even used Lizzie's Make It Monday challenge of Repeating The Greeting!  I started by using Dawn's Scallop Stackers: Medium Die with Pure Poppy Bitty Big DSP and layered that over a piece of Enchanted Evening cardstock, and then attached both to a white card base.  Next I die cut the Pierced Feature Frame also in Enchanted Evening cardstock and then embossed in white over the top of the frame with Dawn's Cover Up: Grid stamp.  I did some light water coloring for the little piece of white that I inlaid into the frame with Blueberry Sky ink, and then stamped my sentiment 3 times using a stamp from Dawn's Floral Sketches.  I embossed the 2nd part of the sentiment in white on Pure Poppy cardstock and notched the end to make a banner flag.  And of course the flowers are all from Dawn's Gran's Garden stamp set that is totally one of my all time favorite sets!  I also loved the way Maureen made her card using this same stamp set, and did her flowers in blue...don't think I've ever made a blue flower before, but I absolutely loved them on Maureen's card and just had to CASE her!

After I fussy cut all my flowers, I layered them onto my card, and pop dotted the buds and the tiny flowers to add some dimension.  I also added some Red Berry Nuvo Drops to the centers of those tiny flowers.  Such a FUN little challenge to see how many of Dawn's products I could include in one card, and I love how it turned out!  Thanks Dawn and Maureen for all the inspiration!!  :0)

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

Make It Monday #330 - Repeating The Greeting

Hello friends.  This week's Make It Monday challenge is brought to us by Lizzie and she has us REAPEATING THE GREETING!!

I used Lizzie's Sentiment Staples: Sending You stamp set to repeat my greeting with Aqua Mist ink.

Also used a few new stamps and dies with the Pierced Feature Frames and the new Corner Adorner: July stamp and die set.  I cut out 3 of the frames so I could stack them for some dimension and also add the Corner Adorners between the top Aqua Mist frame and the 2nd layer so that they too had some extra dimension.

And yes, I had to add the Brushed Birds again...I just LOVE them too much to ever neglect them!  And they look so perfect tucked into the bottom corner of my card!!  A few iridescent sequins finished off my birthday card.

Check out Lizzie's BEAUTIFUL card and video right HERE and then play along!

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

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop July 2018

Hello friends.  It's the 25th...my favorite time of the month to play along with Papertrey Ink's monthly blog hop!  And what a FUN inspiration photo we were given this month:

I mean how FUN is this and doesn't it just scream SUMMER?!!  I found inspiration in the colors, and the ocean theme, and came up with this FUN card using some of my new stamps and dies from last month and this month's release.  Here's what I came up with:

I started by making a stencil with the latest Shape Shifter: Oval die and then blended Spring Rain, Blueberry Sky, & Enchanted evening inks to create my ombre ocean background.

Next I started adding elements from the Fence Line: Summer (LOVE, LOVE this set!!) set and Salt Air: Fauna.  I was going to add my sentiment in red to bring in the red from the inspiration photo, but after adding all the elements from the 2 sets, there just really wasn't room to add it, so I added a die cut crab in Pure Poppy from Gina Marie Designs.

I finished by adding a bit of WOS to the fish, some Rainstones, and some white baker's twine to the top.  This was such a FUN card to make and just really, really LOVE all the ocean themed sets that PTI has come out with in the past 2 releases!!

Well I'm off to hop along and see what everyone else came up with for the inspiration photo this month.  You can check it all out and play along right HERE.

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

Make It Monday #329 - Creating Stencils From Die Cuts

Hello friends.  This week's Make It Monday challenge has Melissa showing us how to create stencils from our die cuts and make stunning backgrounds for our cards!  You can check out Melissa's GORGEOUS card and video right HERE.

I used the Shape Shifter's: Square and the Mix & Mat: Scallops dies to create my stencils to come up with this sympathy card:

I die cut the Shape Shifter's: Square twice to elongate it on my stencil, and then ink blended it with Green Parakeet.  I used the Mix & Mat: Scallops stencil just in the lower right hand corner with Amethyst Allure ink.  I stamped my sentiment from Penned Elegance lower on my stenciled rectangle and then added a frame using Bitty Big Green Parakeet DSP.

I attached both the stenciled rectangle and the frame to my Noted: Pinked A2 Vertical card base and then added my berries from Beautiful Berries: Spring.

I finished off my card with some white baker's twine and a few iridescent sequins.  This was a FUN technique and I really liked the blending of one stencil over another like Melissa did...that girl is so full of awesome ideas!!  :0)

Check out Melissa's lovely, lovely card and then play along...you can find it all right HERE.

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

Twofer Challenge #7 - BEVERAGE

Hello friends.  This month's Twofer Challenge is all about BEVERAGES!

There's a lot of coffee lovers out there, but I am NOT one of them!  (tastes like HOT DIRT as Laura Bassen would say!!)  However, I am a hot tea lover and hot chocolate too, so it makes sense that one of my favorite dies is PTI's Fancy Tea Cup die!  Here's what I came up with using the same die for different cards:

I'd say a Thinking of You and Christmas are definitely 2 different types of cards!

For my 1st card I used some Hibiscus Burst DSP and gold mirror cardstock for the Fancy Tea Cup die, and then filled it with flowers that I stamped and fussy cut using PTI's Farmer's Market Florals.  I attached them to a Scalloped Tags Die (PTI) that I stamped repeatedly on a diagonal with the sentiment from Tea For Two Additions (also PTI).  I used the same set to stamp a bunch of tea cups with versamark ink on the Hibiscus Burst panel.

For my 2nd card I chose to make a Christmas card with the Fancy Tea Cup die and the adorable little mice from PTI's Christmas Critters.

I kept this card pretty simple as I wanted the focus to be on the antics of the 2 sweet mice decked out in their Christmas finery and the tea cups!  I used PTI's Bitty Big DSP in Pure Poppy and Green Parakeet for the tea cups and the little strip on the side of the card base, and then inked up the scarf and sweater in the same colors.

A little hard to see in my pictures, but I double pop dotted the tea cups in the centers so I could curve the tea cups to add some dimension and make them look a little more realistic with the mice under and in them.  I finished with a simple sentiment from PTI's Christmas Critters Sentiments.

Darnell and the DT have some FABULOUS cards to inspire you and the challenge is open till the 24th, so get out those coffee cups and mugs, or glasses, or tea cups, and have some FUN playing along!  You can check it all out right HERE.

I would also like to add my cards to the Double D challenge, where they are asking for Coffee and/or Tea, and I  think my little tea cups fit perfectly for this challenge too!

You can check out all the BEAUTIFUL cards from the DT and play along right HERE.  

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

CAS Mix Up July 2018 - Coloring Your Die Cuts

Hello friends.  CAS Mix Up has a fun challenge this month that is all about coloring your die cuts!

I have a few cards to share with you today.  I pulled out a few pieces of colored backgrounds that I had already done and stashed for 2 of my cards today, but the first one I just die cut and then colored with my Zigs...

I used a fun little die from AliExpress and before I punched out all the little surrounding pieces, I did my coloring with my Zigs and a Aqua Painter.  Once it was dry, I punched out all the little pieces and centered it on a A2 white card base.  The stamens on the flowers looked funny, so I die cut the image again in black and inlaid those back in.  My sentiment fit perfectly inside and is from PTI's Choose Joy stamp set.

For my next card I used the same die and cut it from a piece of cardstock that I had colored with yellow, red, & orange Brusho's…

I like this one but it's a little harder to see the definition of the flowers unless you look very closely.  I used the center piece that I had die cut in black and embossed part of my sentiment from PTI's Words To Live By: Laugh in white and then inlaid it back into the center.  The rest of the sentiment was simply stamped below the image directly to the card base.

My last card uses a die from Gina Marie Designs and a piece of cardstock that I had used the Lindy's Magicals on...

 
I die cut the image twice, and then inlaid all the little colored pieces back into the black die cut image.  I mounted the butterfly to a white layer that I die cut with PTI's Shape Shifter: Circle 2 and then mounted that to a black layer and a white card base.  This sentiment is also from PTI's Choose Joy stamp set.  This card is really so simple with just the black & white, and then the pop of color from the Tibetan Poppy Teal (Lindy's Magicals), but I absolutely LOVE how it turned out!!  And of course the shine IRL is just MAGICAL!!

Thanks for sticking with me this long and make sure you check out all the other FABULOUS cards from the DT and in the gallery too!  This challenge is open till the 24th and you can find all the info you need to play along right HERE.

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

CAS Watercolour July 2018 Reminder - SPLASH Technique

Hello friends.  Just a friendly reminder that the CAS Watercolour challenge is open till the 24th and we'd love to see YOU in the gallery!

This months challenge is all about using the SPLASH watercolour technique for your backgrounds and Loll has a FABULOUS video (HERE) to show you just how easy it is!

I used a couple new SU! colors of ink (Soft Seafoam & Highland Heather) to create my background, and I wasn't too sure I liked it at first, but after I finished my card it really grew on me!  Take a look:

Once my background was dry, I used my MISTI to stamp (multiple times!!!) my Impression Obsession image of the birds on the tree branch (F16147).

I matted this layer to a black layer to frame it, and then added to a white card base that I had also added a white diecut from Tim Holtz's Mixed Media set.  My sentiment from PTI finished off my card.

The DT has some more great cards to inspire you with the SPLASH technique that you can find HERE, along with another lovely card from our Special Guest Marcia K too.  So check it all out and then play along with us...we LOVE it when you do!!  :0)

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

CAS Christmas July 2018 - POINSETTIA (#2)

Hello friends.  Just a quick post today playing along with CAS Christmas AGAIN with their Poinsettia challenge!  I have a lot of fun and pretty Poinsettia stamps and dies, and just really wanted to make another Christmas card!

One of my favorite Christmas stamp sets is Avery Elle's Holiday Bouquet which has a beautiful Poinsettia bouquet.

I embossed the bouquet in black and then used my Zigs to water color the flowers, leaves, and berries.  I used red & orange and blended them together for the flowers and really like the peachy pink color I got...maybe not too realistic, but I remember last Christmas being blown away by all the different colored Poinsettia's out there!!  My sentiment is a favorite from Penny Black's Rejoice With Joy set.

This challenge is open till the 24th, so check out all the GORGEOUS cards from the DT (and in the gallery) and play along right HERE.

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

Make It Monday #328 - Creating Shadow Backgrounds

Hello friends.  This week Laurie is hosting the Make It Monday challenge and shows us how to create shadow backgrounds.  You can check out her beautiful cards and video HERE.

I have 2 cards to share today, but not because the process went so smoothly that I decided to create another card.  I loved Laurie's card with the Weathervane gray cardstock and so that's where I started, but after multiple attempts I only came up with a card that was ok...not terrible, but just ok.

I like the background because I really like the color Weathervane and I really like that butterfly from Butterfly Blooms.  That was my sticking point though where I just couldn't seem to come up with anything that looked good over the background.  I stamped so many of the smaller butterflies from the A Bit More: Butterfly Blooms set in different colors and even embossed with silver on vellum, but nothing looked right to me...grrrr!  I know I'm my own worst critic, and it isn't a terrible card, but...

So I played again, this time with The Sweet Life and am much happier with the end result!

This time I made my background using Fine Linen ink and the roses and leaves from The Sweet Life stamp set along the bottom and up the left hand side of my white panel.

I stamped my sentiment at this point so I would know exactly where to put my colored flower and leaves.

I used Berry Sorbet and Pale Peony inks for my rose and then fussy cut it out and pop dotted it to the panel and tucked my leaves in underneath.  After adhering to a Berry Sorbet card base, I added a piece of jute and then finished up with a few clear sequins.  I was much happier with the way this card came out!!

Make sure you check out Laurie's beautiful cards and video and all the lovely cards already in the gallery, and then play along right HERE.

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

CAS Christmas July 2018 - Poinsettia

Hello friends.  The challenge this month at CAS Christmas is to use a Poinsettia on your Christmas card.

I used a Gina Marie Designs die for my Poinsettia and came up with this:

I water colored my cardstock first using two shades of red from my Kuretake Gansai Tambi paints, and then die cut the Poinsettia twice...once from the water colored cardstock and once from gold mirror cardstock.  I also used 3 shades of green (Mossy Meadow, Tranquil Tide, & Old Olive) with Loll's Splash Watercolour Technique and die cut my leaves from that.  (Gina Marie Designs & TH Holiday Greens)

Loll had also made a set of BEAUTIFUL cards (HERE) where she wanted to use up some DSP, so I figured if she could make CAS look that pretty with DSP and still keep it CAS, then I was going to try it too...so I added a strip of PTI's Pure Poppy Bitty Big DSP to the side of my card and I really like the extra pop of red it gives my card!  My sentiment is from an older PTI set called Christmas Blessings and I just love the font on this!

I have quite a few Poinsettia stamps and dies, so I might just have to play in this challenge again!  It's open till the 24th, so check out all the GORGEOUS cards from the DT and then play along right HERE.

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