12 Kits Of Occasions March 2019 - A Whimsical Garden

Hello friends.  It's the last day of March and I am truly hoping it's the last of Winter too...I am SOOOO ready for Spring!  Our lovely hostess Lisa has a FABULOUS kit she put together for all of us called A Whimsical Garden at the 12 Kits Of Occasions this month, and it definitely makes me think SPRING!  Lisa says she was inspired by a little rabbit that comes to nibble grass in her yard each Spring and gave us wonderful images from Art Gone Wild stamp company and lovely, lovely papers from Cartabella.  Take a look at what we had to work with this month:

Lisa packed this kit with so much Spring time goodness and I loved every bit of it!  Lisa also has a couple of mini kits available to give away, so check out her blog here to find out how to win one!

So sit back and enjoy and see what Spring looks like from the Whimsical Garden perspective...

This DSP matched perfectly with the sentiment from Stampendous and the little frog from Art Gone Wild dancing in the puddles...I colored the frog up with some Copics and WOS and then layered with some Berry Sorbet cs and finished with a few of the PPP Metallic Rose Gold sequins that were included in our kit.

This card was made mostly from one of the DSP included in the kit, and I wanted to make it resemble a store front, so I die cut a frame (PTI's Pierced Feature Frames) from some kraft cs that I had stamped using SU!'s Hardwood background stamp, and then inlaid the DSP to make it look like the shops front window.  The top of the DSP had the striped awning design, so I fussy cut it out and added it to the top with some dimensionals behind it to give the illusion of depth.  I thought this sentiment from the kit was fitting to use on the window and simply finished off by adding the wooden button Lisa included in the kit.

This card was so incredibly simple to put together and actually reminds me of a Marybeth card...she always has the most beautiful CAS cards!!  For this card I simply used a strip of one of the DSP and also a strip of the Darice Pearlescent paper that matched the tiny die cut bow (Mama Elephant).  Lastly I added the 3 bunnies from Impression Obsession and had a sweet CAS card!

This is another Art Gone Wild image (Being There) that was so much FUN to color (Copics) and then simply layered with some of the DSP and green cardstock.  The "hello" die cut is from PPP and the "friend" part of the die cut I added to the inside along with a few strips of DSP and cs.  I also added a few more of the PPP Metallic Rose Gold Sequins...love, love, LOVE them!!  :0)

And last but not least is my favorite I think!  The papers in this kit were just so BEAUTIFUL and I especially liked the 2 I used on this card along with the Pale Peony cs and die cuts Lisa included in the kit.  The little floral (Let Love Bloom) was colored in with a few Copics and I finished with a piece of seam binding ribbon and a few more of the PPP Metallic Rose Gold Sequins.

Here they are ALL together and I just couldn't be happier with the way they all turned out!  Thank you SO much Lisa for such a WONDERFUL kit...it truly was a joy to work with!

As always, make sure you check out what the rest of the DT did with the same kit HERE … you will be blown away with the creativity!!  :0)

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

Tag You're It Challenge #84

Hello friends.  So excited to be the Guest Designer for the current challenge at Tag You're It!  If you've followed me for any length of time, you know I LOVE making tags, and this challenge gives me the opportunity to make tags all year long instead of just at Christmas!

This challenge is definitely for all you COFFEE LOVER'S out there!  Unfortunately, I am NOT a coffee lover (as Laura Bassen says, "tastes like hot dirt"!), but 2 of our 3 daughter's LOVE coffee, so my tag will be going to one of them...maybe along with a Starbucks gift card??

I started with a Reverse Confetti tag die and cut it from Kraft cs and then sponged the edges with Early Espresso (SU!) ink...fitting, don't you think?!  My sentiment and coffee cup come from a little set by Gina K called Perfect Blend.  I stamped the cup in Early Espresso ink and then paper pieced the saucer with Hawaiian Shores Bitty Big DSP and colored the cup with my Copics (BG11 & BG13).  The spoon was colored with a Gelly Roll Clear Star pen which looks like a sparkly cross between gold and silver and really shimmers and shines IRL!  I used a little WOS on the coffee and steam, so that adds to the sparkle and shine of this tag too!

I was definitely inspired by the rich warm brown tones of the coffee and the color of the saucer in the inspiration photo.  What inspires YOU with this photo??  Check out how the rest of the DT was inspired and then play along right HERE.

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

Laurie's Fabulous Favorites - Favorite Color Combination

Hello friends.  Playing along with PTI's Win It Wednesday Challenge where Laurie Schmidlin is showing us one of her favorite color combinations, and asking us to make a card that uses 2+ favorite colors together.

Pink & Red has long been a favorite color combination for me and using Hibiscus Burst and Pure Poppy inks I came up with this:

Still playing with the Mixed Bouquet stamp set (can't seem to get enough of this set lately!!) and stamped up a bunch of the flowers using Hibiscus Burst and Pure Poppy inks, and then fussy cut them out.  Here's a close up so you can see them a little better:

I used a Hibiscus Burst card base and added the Bold Borders: Arabesque die cut over the top, also in Hibiscus Burst.  I love the tone on tone look this gives...Michelle Leone used this technique on a couple cards this week HERE for the Transformation Tuesday feature.  My sentiment comes from the Phrases & Praises stamp set and I made it two toned using Smokey Shadow and Weathervane inks.  I also added just a bit of light blending around the edges of the white sentiment panel with the Hibiscus Burst ink.  After adding the flowers, I finished with a few jewels from Lucy's Rainbow Sparkle Mix.

I really like how the red & pink color combination came out on this card!  Check out Laurie's favorite color combination and then play along right HERE.

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

Double D Challenge - Gingham

Hello friends.  Haven't played with the Double D Challenge in awhile, and they're having a fun one with GINGHAM right now, which is right up there with polka dots IMHO!!

Doesn't that photo just make you happy?!  It definitely brings a smile to my face!

I had FUN using Lawn Fawn's Scalloped Pop Up Card Box Dies and Spellbinder's Small Die of the Month Hop Into Spring dies to come up with this:

I die cut the box and coordinating panels from Lemon Lime Twist cardstock and gingham DSP (SU!).  The bunnies, carrots, grass, flowers, and leaves were all die cut from scraps of cs and then lightly sponged with Smoky Slate ink.

The grass die cuts were done with a Gina Marie Designs die and the cloud background was done with a MFT stencil and Salty Ocean Distress Ink.

The sentiment and the bunny paw print were all stamped from PTI's Huggables: Bunny & Chick Set and the little enamel hearts were from my stash.  The white dots on the yellow flower centers are white Nuvo Drops.

And a shot of the back so you can see the sweet sentiment also from the Huggables: Bunny & Chick Set.

If you LOVE gingham like I do, then check out all the FABULOUS inspiration from the DT and in the gallery right HERE and then play along!

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

Christmas Kickstart #6 - Moves on Hooves

Hello friends.  The challenge for the current Christmas Kickstart Challenge is to use a "hooved" animal on your card.

I couldn't resist using one of the reindeer from Stampingbella's ODDBALL REINDEER SET and came up with this fun and whimsical card:

How can you not LOVE that face?!!  His expression just cracks me up!!  And you gotta love the mittens on his antlers, right?!  I colored him with my Copics, and then fussy cut him out and added him to a background of snowy pine trees (Deep Red Winter Pines) that I stamped (and stamped off) in Garden Green ink.  I matted with a layer of Real Red cs and then adhered to a white card base.  I finished with the sentiment in Real Red ink and a piece of black & white bakers twine that I also wrapped around one of the deer's antlers...seemed appropriate...bahahaha!!

Check out all the great cards from the DT and then play along HERE to get a head start on this years Christmas cards!

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

Tag You're It Challenge #83

Hello friends.  Playing along with the Tag You're It Challenge where POLKA DOTS is the theme this time!

I do LOVE polka dots, so this was definitely a FUN challenge for me!!  I was also inspired by the bright yellow color and the dress definitely says "Spring" to me, and since today is the first day of Spring, here is my yellow, Spring, polka dotted tag!

I used PTI's Made With Love Tags 2 dies to cut out my 2 layer tag from...the bottom layer in Harvest Gold Bitty Big DSP and the top layer in white.  I stamped Technique Junkies Little Bunny in Sahara Sand ink and fussy cut him out and added him to the tag with a flower from PTI's Mixed Bouquet stamp set.  I had to add a flower to the bunny because the bunnies around our house tend to eat the flowers off the stems, and then leave them laying next to the stem...I mean if you're not going to eat the flower, then can't you just let them stay on the stems?!!  Grrrrrr!!

I added a few enamel dots because well, they're polka dots too!  And to finish off my tag I added some yellow ribbon along with a piece of white tulle polka dotted ribbon (SU!) and tied with a piece of jute twine.

There's still a week to play along with this FUN tag challenge, so check out all the FABULOUS inspiration tags from the DT and play along right HERE.

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

CAS Stencil March 2019 - Ghosting

Hello friends.  Playing along with this month's challenge over at CAS Stencil where they are looking for cards using stenciling and the GHOSTING Technique.  You can find lot's of inspiration and video links on their site right HERE.

Here's what I came up with:

I do my ghosting technique a little differently, but it has always worked for me.  I start by blending a background...for this card I used Peacock Feathers and Salty Ocean DI's.  Next I take my stencil (I used a Gina Marie Designs stencil for this card) and quite liberally spritz it with water and then lay it over my background piece.  I add a piece of paper towel over the stencil and then press a bit with my hands, and then set some heavy books on top of it all for about 15 - 30 minutes.  When I lift it all off I have a GORGEOUS background where the water has lifted the color from the DI's.  Here's a closer up so you can see the design better:

I matted my ghosted piece behind a die cut window (MFT's Peek-A-Boo Rectangle Die) and added to a white card base.  I used an AliExpress die cut and inserted it into the bottom of the window opening and added some small pop dots behind each of the 3 flowers for some dimension.  My sentiment is from MFT's Pretty Poppies.

Ghosting is one of my favorite techniques to use with stencils...it is SO much fun to see the design when you pull the stencil off!  Check out all the GORGEOUS inspiration from the DT and then play along right HERE.  This challenge is open till the 24th.   

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

Laurie's Fabulous Favorites - Favorite Sentiment

Hello friends.  Had time this weekend to play along with Papertrey Ink's Laurie's Fabulous Favorites challenge, where this week she is looking for us to use our favorite SENTIMENT stamp or die.  You can check out Laurie's beautiful card HERE.

I like combining Laurie's challenge with the IG challenge if I can, so I used the same Mixed Bouquet stamp set that Melissa used on her card HERE to make my card.

I love how Melissa tends to use a lot of soft blending on her cards, so I made a stencil out of the Bold Borders: Arabesque die, and blended Aqua Mist ink on a panel of Aqua Mist cardstock for my background, and then attached to a white card base.  Next I die cut from white using the Brushed Off larger rectangle die and softly blended Aqua Mist ink around the edges, and then stamped some of the flowers from the Mixed Bouquet set in Ocean Tides, Lilac Grace, & Amethyst Allure inks.  Some of my favorite sentiments have always been the Think Big Favorites (#20, #22, & #24), but lately I keep seeming to reach for the Penned Elegance sets, and the "Happy Birthday" that I've used on my card is from the 1st Penned Elegance set.  I embossed it in black so it would stand out from my flowers.

Here's a closer up view that shows some of the sparkle from the WOS I used on the flowers and a few of the aqua colored gemstones I added.  I also added a piece of white bakers twine at the top of my card to finish it off.

There's still a little bit of time to play along with  this challenge, so choose your FAVORITE sentiment stamp or die and play along right HERE.

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

CAS Watercolour March 2019 Reminder

Hello friends.  Just a friendly reminder that there's one more week to play along with the CAS Watercolour Challenge where Jenny is our hostess and she's looking for water coloring on vellum.

I have a simple card to share today using another image from SSS's Mandy's Flowers...I'm not sure who Mandy is, but I sure do like her flowers!!  :0)

I learned my lesson from earlier and stuck with the heavy weight cardstock vellum (PTI) and embossed this simple image in white and then water colored using my Zigs.  I just love these blooms in the terracotta pot.  I know my sentiment looks like it was stamped in a dark gray, but I actually embossed it in silver...it's from a little Gina K freebie set.  The butterfly is from a Penny Black set called Flutterby and was also embossed in white on vellum and water colored with my Zigs.

I used a piece of white cs under my vellum layer and then adhered to a Garden Green layer before mounting to a white card base that I dry embossed using SU!'s Subtle ef.

This challenge is open till the 24th, so check out all the inspiration from the DT and our Special GD's Ros and Birgit, and then play along with us right HERE.

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

Twofer Challenge #14 - Balloons

Hello friends.  Playing along with the Twofer Challenge today and the prompt this month is BALLOONS!

I used a PTI Balloon stencil and came up with these 2 cards:

I didn't get too wild or crazy with either card, but let me tell you that I had a blast using my new Picket Fence Life Changing Brushes!!  These blending brushes are like no other and you truly will be AMAZED!!  I bought a package of 6 from SSS, and while I thought they were kinda pricey, everyone has been raving about them so I thought I better check them out!  So glad I did...they were worth every penny!!  You will never go back to any other blending tool after using these!  Sorry, I've digressed...let's get back to why you came here in the 1st place!

For my 1st card I used the PTI Balloon Stencil and Salty Ocean and Peacock Feathers DI to make my background, and then added the PTI Text Block Birthday Die over the top.  Although you can't see it, I spritzed the white die cut with Sheer Shimmer Sparkle Spritz before adhering it to my balloon background, so IRL, this card really sparkles!!  I finished by matting the background with a piece of blue cs and then adhered to a white card base.  I'm thinking this birthday card would work great for a child's card or even a masculine one!

For my 2nd card I just couldn't resist playing again with a new Penny Black set called Critter Celebration...these little mice sitting inside the flowers are just too CUTE to resist (right Darnell?!)!!  I blended 3 balloons using the same stencil (and ended up having to basically cover the 3rd balloon!) and Sweet Blush ink and then stamped my image in Versafine Black ink and colored with my Copics.  I'm determined to start using up some of my hoard of DSP, so I added a piece of SU!'s Birthday Bouquet and Sweet Blush cs that I die cut a couple ovals out of to frame my image.  I added a "Hang In There" sentiment (SSS...Tiny Words) because I thought it went well with the balloons and would work for anyone needing a cheer up card who's going through a rough time.

Lot's of absolutely ADORABLE Balloon cards from the DT this month, so check them out and play along right HERE.  

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

CAS Mix Up March 2019 - Faux Stained Glass

Hello friends.  CAS Mix Up has a FUN challenge for us this month using a FAUX STAINED GLASS technique.

I used a small Daisy image from a set of 4 AliExpress dies, and came up with this:

On the 1st layer that I die cut, I kept all the positive and negative pieces together and used my Zigs to color the flower, and leaves, and then lightly blended Sea Glass ink into the background.  I die cut the image 4 more times and glued 3 to the bottom layer and then filling with GA.  Once that was dry I added the last die cut to the top (which was really the first one I had die cut and colored...hope that makes sense!) and attached to a stitched die cut rectangle.  I added a piece of foam to the back of the stitched layer, and then added to a white card base that I also die cut with a stitched rectangle (Lil Inker Stitched Rectangle Dies).  My sentiment was added from MFT's Pretty Poppies.

Here you can see the shine a bit better that gives the look of the Faux Stained Glass.  Definitely a FUN challenge this month!

Faux Stained Glass, Die Cutting , and Stamping

Make sure you check out all the BEAUTIFUL inspiration from the DT and then play along right HERE.  This challenge is open till the 24th.

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

 

Altenew's March 2019 Inspiration Challenge & The Flower Challenge #30

Hello friends.  Playing along with two challenges today...Altenew's March Inspiration Challenge and The Flower Challenge.

I used a new (to me) set from Altenew called Handpicked Bouquet (thanks for enabling me Michele), and a few of the colors from the inspiration photo (reds, greens, & a light gray/blue), and came up with this card:

I stamped the image with my reds and greens and then die cut it out.  Next I adhered it to my card base that I had dry embossed with the die and then blended around the debossed image with Caribbean Sky ink.  I also added a bit of black splattering at this point.

To finish, I stamped and die cut my sentiment, edged it with some gold embossing, pop dotted it and also added some gold cording underneath it.  I also added a few clear sequins.

Lot's of BEAUTIFUL inspiration from both the Altenew Monthly Inspiration Challenge and The Flower Challenge, so check them both out and play along!!  

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