Make It Monday #341 - Painted Brushstroke Backgrounds

Hello friends.  Dawn has a FUN technique called Painted Brushstroke Backgrounds for this week's Make It Monday challenge...you can check it all out right HERE!

I have a couple cards to share today as after I painted my 1st background, I didn't think it was too pretty, so I tried again.  My 2nd one didn't look that much better, but after I decided to just go with it and make them into cards, I loved the look!!

I used Craft Smart's Pink Bliss, Apple Tart, Ocean Breeze, & Red acrylic paints to paint my backgrounds.

For my 1st card I used the Bold Borders: Flurries die on one of my backgrounds and then adhered to a white card base.  Before I die cut either background, I sprayed them with Sheer Shimmer and Sparkle Spritz and I so wish I could capture that in the photo's as both of these cards really SPARKLE!!  I almost didn't buy this die because I thought I had enough snowflake dies, but I really, really liked the font for the JOY die, and I'm so glad now that I purchased it!  I layered 4 more JOY die cuts behind the colored one and adhered it to the center, and at this point I decided it didn't need anything else...between the colors, the sparkle, all the snowflakes, and the dimensional JOY die cut, this card just didn't need anything else!  So really a very quick and easy card that really packs a punch!!

For my 2nd card I used Dawn's idea and just used the negative of the Say It Simply: Merry & Bright die and adhered to a white card base.  I added a few of the smallest Fancy Flakes cut in half and finished with some white baker's twine.  Once again, very simple but all the SPARKLE really takes this card up another notch!  I still have the positive die cut from this card to make a 3rd card with, but didn't want to totally overwhelm ya!!  :0)

The little rectangle center piece that was left over from the Bold Borders: Flurries die was just to pretty to throw away, so I rounded the corners on one end and attached it to a tag die from the Holiday Tag Along Mini Kit.  Easy peasy and again, lots of SPARKLE!!

Check out Dawn's BEAUTIFUL cards and video and then play along right HERE  … it really is a FUN challenge!!

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

Make It Monday #340 - Banner-ific!

Hello friends.  Michelle has a FUN and BEAUTIFUL project for this week's Make It Monday challenge...you can check out her lovely, lovely banner and video right HERE.

I would have loved to copy Michelle's banner completely as it is SO pretty...loved every little detail and especially the color combo she used!  I didn't want to be a copy-cat though, so I got out my new Warmer Together set and came up with this:

I wish I had a wide angle lens so you could see what it looks like all stretched out, but...  I started with the Made With Love Tags 2 and cut the bottom piece from the Aqua Mist Bitty Big DSP and the top layer from gray cs.  Next I die cut three of the medium Fancy Flakes snowflakes in Aqua Mist cs and quite liberally doused them diamond glitter! Next came the fun part of adding the penguins from the Warmer Together set.

Aren't they just the sweetest?!  I have to tell you though that I had a heck of a time lining these little guys up until I decided to stamp them in backwards order.  I stamped the black faces first, then the Weathervane gray for the feathers, and lastly the solid body stamps with Soft Stone ink.  I used
Summer Sunrise for the feet and beaks.

I decided to make this banner for my oldest daughter who has 2 children, so I stamped all 4 penguins that come in the set...one is supposed to represent our son in law, one our daughter, and the 2 smallest penguins represent Addy and Landon!  I think they'll get a kick out of this!  I finished the banner with the smallest snowflake die from the Fancy Flakes set in white for between the tags and also glittered them up in a major way...this banner really SPARKLES!!

 This was definitely a FUN challenge this week, so check out Michelle's video and lovely, lovely banner right HERE and then play along!

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

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop Oct. 2018

Hello friends.  It's the 25th and that means it's time for Papertrey Ink's monthly BLOG HOP, and Autumn is definitely the season shown by this month's inspiration photo!!

I was inspired obviously by the pumpkins, but also the cart and the chalkboard sign.  I was also inspired by Kelly Lunceford's post HERE using the Make It Market Kit: Market Street which sadly I think I have used only once since it came out and I HAD to have it!  So anyway, I came up with a CAS card and little cart that I filled with candy pumpkins...take a look:

I die cut the cart out of Kraft cs and then stamped it using Cocoa Bean ink stamped off once.  The pumpkins were stamped with Melon Berry and Orange Zest and the leaves with Prairie Grass and then die cut and attached to the cart along with the sign in black stamped with white ink.

I attached my cart to a white card base that I embossed with an older Craft Concepts ef called Stately to add the embossed lines around the edges.  Some bakers twine and iridescent sequins finished off my card.

 

And while I was at it, I made a little matching cart using Kraft cs and the dies from the Make It Market Kit: Market Street.  I used an older SU! background stamp called Hardwood to stamp the sides of the cart with Cocoa Bean ink and then sponged the wheels and body of the cart also with Cocoa Bean ink.  This cart came together SO easily and was the perfect size to add a few of those pumpkins from Brach's Harvest Mix.

So there you have it...a sweet little gift that I think I'll give to my mom for Halloween!  Can't wait to see how everyone else interpreted the inspiration photo...always FUN to hop along and check it all out HERE.

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

CAS Mix Up - Oct. 2018

Hello friends.  I'm playing along with this month's CAS Mix Up challenge AGAIN, because several people have been using the "Black Ice" technique (you can find a how to video HERE) and I was blown away by how BEAUTIFUL these cards were!!

Here's what I came up with using the Black Ice technique and Metal:

It almost looks like a black and white photo of a snowflake doesn't it?  You start with silver mirror cs and lightly swipe a black Stazon pad across the cs.  Once it dried I ran my piece through my Big Shot with an older Darice embossing folder with smaller snowflakes, and then lightly ran my Versamark pad across the top and then then embossed with clear embossing powder.  The shine is FABULOUS!!

I die cut an Alexis Snowflake from SSS and embossed it 3 times with silver to give the metal look and glued it to my Black Ice panel.  I matted this with a piece of white to give the black & white photo look and then backed that with some foam for dimension and adhered to a white card base.  My sentiment is from PTI's Peaceful Pinecones set.

Check out the cards from the rest of the DT and from those already in the gallery and then play along right HERE.  This challenge is open till the 24th.

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

Twofer Challenge #10 - Harvest

Hello friends and Happy Saturday!  The sun is shining and the leaves are brilliant in all their yellows, oranges, & reds here in West Michigan...Fall at it's finest!  And the Twofer Challenge is coordinating with the key word HARVEST!

A dear friend shared her Birdie Brown Fall Friends stamp set a few weeks ago (thanks Michele!) and I finally colored them up and made 2 cards for this challenge!

Isn't that little girl sitting on her pumpkin just the cutest image?!!  And did you notice that I not only used the same little girl image on both cards, but that I also used the same Impression Obsession pumpkin image (D19277) on both cards too?  I think that's called a Twofer-twofer!!  :0)

For my first card I stamped the IO pumpkin line image and the sentiment (also IO - C14672), and then popped up my Birdie Brown image that has been colored with Copics.  Hard to see in the photo, but I used WOS on the leaf the little girl is holding, so even though this is a very CAS card, there is some BLING on the leaf!  :0)

My 2nd card uses the same Birdie Brown image (colored a little differently with my Copics again) and the IO pumpkin line, and then I also added a partial frame (PTI's Pierced Feature Frame) water colored with distress inks.  I left a sentiment off the front of the card as there really wasn't a good place to add one with this particular layout, but that's ok as I can add something to the inside when I'm ready to use it.

I had been thinking about what to do for this challenge for 10 days, and let me tell you that I have NO shortage of Fall themed stamps as it definitely is my favorite season, so why I was dragging my feet I have no idea!  But once I colored up these 2 girls last night, the ideas came flooding in early this morning and these 2 CAS cards came together so easily!!  So even though I don't normally post on the weekends, had to share these two cuties!!  Hope you all have a wonderful and productive weekend too!  OK, I'm going back to bed now!  Nah, just kidding!!  Too beautiful out...think it's a leaf raking day!  :0)

This challenge is open till the 24th, and you can find all the info on how to play along and also see all the FABULOUS cards from Darnell and the DT right HERE.

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

Create Along With Us - Oct. 2018

Hello friends.  Playing along with Papertrey Ink's Create Along With Us challenge, and the challenge for me this month was only picking ONE thing to try and re-create!  I thought the month before was bad, but everything they're releasing this month is something I really, really want!!  

One of the sets I really LOVED is the new Pleasing Envelopes, but since I don't have that set yet, I used the Bold Borders: Yuletide cover plate die and came up with this:

So many of the designers made cards and matching envelopes with the new set that I couldn't pick just one designer to CASE!  I blended Ocean Tides, Pale Peony, & Autumn Rose inks on a piece of white cs and then used the Bold Borders: Yuletide die to cut my blended piece out.  (Oh and I splattered water on the blended piece before I die cut it.)  I adhered it to a white card base and then used WOS on the holly leaves and the Be Merry die cut.  I die cut another of the borders and used it as a stencil for my envelope with the same ink colors, and then added the "Sending Heartfelt Greetings" from the Don't Forget To Write kit.

 
The lines for the address were stamped from the You Have My Heart stamp set.  I love this color combo and the way this card and envelope came out!!  :0)

I also really loved the new gift card/tag die with the options for a rectangle or oval window and got to thinking that maybe I could use the Gift Card Cozy Die and make a few small changes to it with what I had on hand.

I used a rectangle and oval die that I had to make the windows, but it doesn't have the stitching lines around them that the new die has.  I still think they turned out pretty cute though, and used Peaceful Pines, Fancy Flakes, Snowflake Sparkle, Holiday Greens, Phrase Play #8, On The Farm, & Penned Elegance: Christmas sets to create these fun little gift card tags.

One more picture and then I'm done...had to show off this cute little sleigh from last month's release:

   
I apologize for the lighting, but I really struggle when it comes to photographing 3D items!!  These are SO easy to put together and with a little bit of sponging around the edges, side pieces, and runners, it turns out so CUTE!!  I added a spray from Seasonal Borders: Winter and stitched up a little 4 X 6 fabric bag (thanks Kelly Lunceford for that idea!!).

Check out PTI's release and then play along with the challenge this week...you can find it all right HERE.

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

Card Concept 100th Challenge

Hello friends.  My dear friend Nancy invited me to be her special guest for the Card Concept's 100th Challenge!  I was so honored to be asked to play along and just LOVED the inspiration photo!

Don't those "PINK" pumpkins just blow you away?!!  The white/off-white pumpkins are beautiful too, but the pink pumpkins just really stood out to me, and that was the jumping off point for me with my CAS style card.

I used SU!'s Gourd Goodness stamp set and Gina K's Innocent Pink ink to stamp my pink pumpkins and gourd, and then used gold embossing powder on the stems of the 2 pumpkins to tie in the gold in the photo.

Here's a closer up so you can see the gold embossing on the stems and the sentiment (PTI's Choose Joy stamp set).  For my background I used PTI's Text & Texture: Wood Slices to mimic the wood slices the pumpkins are sitting on and the wooden table.  I inserted the background behind a die cut window using MFT's Rectangle Peek-a-Boo die.

Check out all the BEAUTIFUL inspiration from the talented DT and then celebrate along with the Card Concept's 100th challenge right HERE.

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

CAS Watercolour Reminder - Orange, Green, & Brown

Hello friends.  Just a friendly reminder that there's a little over a week left for this month's challenge at CAS Watercolour, and our host Bonnie is looking for the colors ORANGE, GREEN, & BROWN on your CAS water colored cards.

Don't forget also that we're celebrating our 2nd Birthday, and that there's a prize for the winner, so join in and play along with us!!

I kept my card for this post extremely CAS, but with a little twist...can you see it??

Can you see what I added to my row of watercolored pumpkins??

Can you see it NOW??  I love this little row of simple pumpkins from Impression Obsession by Lindsay Ostrom (D19277), and used my Peerless Watercolors to color them in.  And no, I didn't forget the BROWN color...it's in the stems!  But anyway, as much as I liked this little row of pumpkins, the card just seemed TOO plain, so since it's a Halloween card for one of my adult daughters, I got to thinking that rather than stamping a sentiment, I'd die cut one, and what better than "31" ??  I die cut the numbers using SU!'s Number Of Years and then added a Pierced Feature Frame from PTI.  Easy peasy and I love the way it turned out!!

Please join us for our 2nd Birthday celebration and play along...we'd love to see you in the gallery!!  Check out all the inspiration from the rest of the DT and also our special Guest Designer this month (Brenda), and then play along right HERE.

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

Make It Monday #339 - Patterned Frames

Hello friends.  This week's Make It Monday challenge has Ashley showing us how fun it is to use stamping or patterned papers on our frames to dress us up our cards!

I needed a masculine card for my brother-in-laws birthday card, so I used the Text & Texture: Wood Slices stamp set and came up with this:

I used the medium sized die from the Pierced Feature Frames and die cut my stamped piece, and also cut 2 extra frames from scrap white cardstock to make my frame a little more dimensional.  I used a piece of kraft cs and one of the Noted: Pinked A2 Vertical dies to put behind my frame, and then added my birthday sentiment in the center using the Pen & Ink stamp set.  My little inlaid leaves are from the Phrase Play #7 die set and I used Honey Nut, Scarlet Jewel, Summer Sunrise, & So Saffron cardstocks.  I also heat embossed the edges of the leaves in copper.

Here's a close up so you can see the copper embossing a bit better.  A little bit of rustic twine finished off my masculine card.

Check out Ashley's beautiful card and video HERE and then play along.

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

CAS Mix Up - October 2018

Hello friends.  The very talented Mac is hosting this month's CAS Mix Up challenge and she would like to see METAL used on our cards.

Here's what I came up with using a couple Penny Black items:

I started by inking up the Snowy Grove image from PB with Versafine Black Onyx ink and then used clear embossing powder over the image and heat set it.  Next I sprinkled mostly Cobalt Blue Brushos and just a little bit of Purple Brushos over the stamped image and then misted with water till I got the colors I wanted.  Once it had dried, I added a torn piece of white cardstock to the bottom of the image to resemble a snowbank and stamped my sentiment from Altenew's Blessing's stamp set.

I popped up my image with foam and then added a die cut dove from PB (Peaceful Wishes) that I had embossed with silver 3 times to give it more of a metal look rather than just embossed.  I really love how this card turned out!

This challenge is open till the 24th, and the DT has some AMAZING cards to inspire you this month.  They also have a bunch of really great videos for you to check out if you're unsure how to do the METAL technique.  You can find it all right HERE to play along.

My card will also work for this month's CAS Christmas challenge which is to use a BIRD on your card.

You can check out the CAS Christmas challenge right HERE.

Also wanted to share a few pictures from my AMAZING weekend in Wisconsin.  I spent the day Saturday traveling to Wisconsin with Sue, Michele, & Bobby and met the wonderful Gina K at her store in Greendale WI...what a gracious and kind woman!!

On Sunday, we traveled to Wind Lake, WI and had an absolutely wonderful morning/afternoon with Darnell, Bev, Anita, Kara, and Kelly (Kelly, I'm so sorry I didn't get you in any of my pictures...grrrr!!)!  Oh, and how could I forget?!  I got to meet the famous "Hammy" too!

The other gals took so many more pictures than I did, so hopefully they will be surfacing around blogland and IG and you'll be able to see all of us!  I don't know why it still amazes me after experiencing KANSAS how a group of women who have never met before can connect so fully and feel like they've known each other FOREVER!!  Every one of these ladies was absolutely delightful and have become even more dear to me!  I feel so blessed to be a part of this amazing community!

Thanks so much for sticking with me through such a looooong post and hope you all have a wonderful week!!

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