Peace On Earth Challenge #10

Hello friends.  Playing along with the Peace On Earth Christmas Challenge and trying to keep ahead of the mad rush to make all my Christmas cards before December hits.  (It really does come a LOT quicker than you think!!)  The gals have another fabulous mood board to inspire us this time around:

I was inspired by a little bit of all these photos with the greenery and the Christmas Tree farms, and came up with this card using PTI's Farm Fresh Trees stamp and die set.

I have SO many Christmas stamps and dies and end up using most of them only once or twice, but I have a feeling this newer to me set is going to become a staple in my collection, and one that I'll reach for over and over again!!  

I did end up using two other PTI sets for this card: Sprigs & Sprays: Holiday and Feathered Friends #2.  I love how everything worked together to make this such a rustic looking card!

Check out all the FABULOUS inspiration from the talented DT over at the Peace On Earth Christmas card challenge and then play along to stay ahead of the mad rush in December...you'll be so glad you did!  This challenge is open till March 3rd at 8PM.

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

Color Hues #35 - NAVY & PINK

Hello friends.  Playing along with the Color Hues Challenge where they are looking for cards using the beautiful color combination of Navy & Pink!

I am still hooked on PTI's Into The Blooms: Roses dies, so guess what I'm using on my card???

I just can't seem to stop making these roses in every color combination possible, and of course I had made a couple of pink ones, so the rest of the card was easy to come up with using navy!

I started with a navy card base, added a white layer, and then another navy layer that I embossed with a new embossing folder from Altenew called Waffled Diamonds.

Next I die cut all my leaves from navy cs and then inked the edges with Night of Navy ink (SU!) and then splattered with white acrylic paint.

I hot foiled my sentiment in a pink foil that I tried so hard to capture with my camera, but this was the best shot I could get!  In real life it is so shiny and pretty.  (PFS Fancy Script Words)  

Make sure you check out all the beautiful cards using this color combo from the DT over at Color Hues and then play along.  This challenge is open till the 27th.

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

CAS Mix Up Feb. 2022 - Faux Cloisonne

Hello friends.  Playing along with the CAS Mix Up Challenge where this month they are looking for CAS cards using the Faux Cloisonne technique.

Susan is hosting this challenge and she gave the idea of using photos from a glossy magazine as the background before you emboss, and this idea intrigued me, so looking through my magazines I went!!  I found a few photos I thought would work and the one I ended up liking the best was using a photo of knitting needles from a Knitpics catalog.  Here's what I came up with:

I used a shell stamp from Gina K's By The Sea 2 and inked up the stamp with versamark onto the glossy print and then added my gold embossing powder and heated it up.  You'd never know that the background was knitting needles, would you?!!  Because the glossy paper in magazines is rather flimsy, I adhered the shell to a piece of card stock and then fussy cut the image out.  

 The rest of my card was rather simple to put together.  I stenciled a background piece using PTI's Sun & Surf  Stencil Collection using turquoise and green inks (Gina K), and then layered a panel that I die cut with MFT's Peek-a-Boo Rectangle Die over the stenciling.  My sentiment was embossed in the same gold as the shell and also comes from the By The Sea 2 stamp set.  The shell and the sentiment strip were both pop dotted for some dimension.  Easy peasy and I'm really happy with the way it turned out!  And I will definitely be looking at magazines differently now...thanks Susan!!

This challenge is only open till the 24th, but well worth checking out if you're looking for something new and fun to try out!  Susan and the DT have some amazing examples to share with you HERE to get you inspired to play along.

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

CAS Christmas Feb. 2022 Reminder - WINTER SCENE

Hello friends.  Just a friendly reminder that there's still a week left to play along with us at the CAS Christmas Challenge, where Christine is hosting and would like to see a WINTER SCENE on our Christmas cards.

Last month my cousin and I met up to exchange late Christmas gifts and then went to a little shop she knew about that was a crafters dream shop!  This little shop carried a brand of stamps that I had never heard of before called Nellie's Choice, and I found this beautiful Wintery house stamp that worked perfectly for this WINTER SCENE challenge!  Take a look...

Isn't this such a peaceful wintry scene?  I love the line drawn image of this stamp...so simple but conveys so much!  I stamped the scene in Concord & 9th's DOVE ink and then mounted it to a Basic Gray (SU!) matte and then adhered both to a white card base.

  Here's a closer up shot so you can better see the line drawing of this image.  I used WOS over all the snow on the trees, house, and drive, so this card really sparkles in real life.  My sentiment uses MB's Special Merry Christmas die and I die cut it from Real Red (SU!) cardstock to make it pop against the gray.  

We would love to see you in our gallery and help you get a head start on those Christmas cards so you're not scrambling at the last minute in an already busy time of year!  Check out all the inspiration from our amazing DT and our Special GD (Izzy) and then play along with us right HERE.  This challenge is open till the 24th.

Edited to Add:  I'm also adding this card to Darnell's NBUS Challenge as I had never used the Nellie's Choice stamp before.

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

Time Out Challenge #207 - CASE-ing Michele

Hello friends.  Today I am playing along with the TIME OUT Challenge where they are asking us to CASE my sweet friend Michele and her card that's inspired by one of her favorite designers (and mine!!) Laura Bassen.

Isn't Michele's card a beauty?!!  I CASE'd the shades of PINK and the HEART that Michele used on her card, and then added a nod to Laura's famous stripes (or stripping as she calls it!) and the black with white embossed sentiment strips she tends to use on her cards for dimension (because dimension is life, right??!!), and came up with this:

I started by cutting different widths of 3 shades of PTI pink cardstock, and then adhering them diagonally across my card base.  Next I die cut my heart using a Gina Marie Designs heart die, and then die cutting the "HUGS" from the center using PTI's Big Hugs die set.  I also die cut another heart in black to put behind the white heart so the "HUGS" would stand out.  

 I die cut 3 of PFS's Leafy Branch die and placed them under and over my heart and striped background, and then finished with my sentiment strip that I white embossed on a piece of black cardstock (this is a part of PTI's Big Hugs stamp set), and a few heart gems.  

This challenge is open till the 23rd, so check out Michele's card and all the DT cards (HERE) from the TIME OUT Challenge, and then play along.

I would also like to take a minute to say a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who sent a card to help me celebrate my birthday yesterday...you all sure know how to make a girl feel loved and special, and I smile each time I walk past our entertainment center that is completely covered in absolutely BEAUTIFUL cards!  Thank you, thank you!!

 

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

The Flower Challenge #65 & The Great Cover-Up

Hello friends.  Playing along with a couple challenges today...The Flower Challenge that is looking for Occasions cards, and The Great Cover-Up challenge that is looking for a card with a BLACK background.

I've been having a field day playing with a new Papertrey Ink die set called Into The Blooms: Roses and came up with this birthday card that fits both of the challenges...

I made all my roses first, starting with white cardstock, and then water coloring them.  There are 4 layers to each rose, and I learned a few tips from Kelly Lunceford about how to make them really realistic looking, and now I just can't seem to stop making them!  Once my roses and leaves (the leaf fronds at the top are not from the rose set, but from the Into The Blooms: Dahlia die set) were all dry and glued together, I added them to a black background using PTI's Border Bling: Joy Frame die.  I used a plain black layer on my white card base, and then added the die cut black frame with foam tape for a bit of dimension.

Once my roses and leaves were added to the black frame, I finished by adding my birthday die cut and gold embossed banner (both Gina K) and a few gold pearls (PFS).  This was a bit of a time consuming card compared to my usual CAS style, but I really like the dramatic look of the colors against the black background!  

You can check out both challenges HERE and HERE to play along.

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

Color Hues #34 - RED & BLACK

Hello friends.  I'm playing along with the Color Hues Challenge where the colors are RED & BLACK, and just perfect for Valentine's Day!

This challenge gave me the opportunity to play with a new die set from PTI called Into The Blooms: Roses, and here's what I came up with:

I'm going to apologize right up front for the poor quality photos today, but I had a dickens of a time getting photos that showed the foiled sentiment!!  Hopefully you can look beyond that, and notice the pretty embossed background (SSS - Vine Canopy) and the lovely rose die cut from PTI's Into The Blooms: Roses.

I used an older Gina Marie Designs heart die to cut from the center of my embossed background, and then die cut the heart again from Real Red cardstock and inlaid it into the opening of the embossed panel.  The rose consists of 4 layers, and the 2nd and 4th layers I ink blended with a darker red ink to give the rose some definition between its layers.  Also added a bit of glitter to the rose.  The gray leaves were ink blended also and then splattered with a few drops of water.

The black leaf frond is one of my favorite leaf dies and comes from PTI's Into The Blooms: Dahlia...I love how dramatic the black leaf looks against all the red & white!!  My sentiment strip was foiled in red on black using Spellbinder's Love Enclosed hot foil plate from their Glimmer of the Month kit.

All in all, a pretty simple card, but I'm pretty happy with the way it came out...just wish the photography had been better!!  LOTS of great inspiration for you to play along from the DT over at the Color Hues Challenge, so check it out...this challenge is open till the 14th.

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

CAS Christmas Feb. 2022 - WINTER SCENE

Hello friends.  It's a new month and time for a new challenge at CAS Christmas, where this month our hostess is Christine and she would like us to create a WINTER SCENE on our CAS Christmas cards.

I have a very simple card to share with you for this challenge using a stamp set from PTI (Deer To Me) that was gifted to me this past Christmas by my sweet friend Michele!  Take a look:

I started by ink blending with Blue Raspberry and Blue Denim inks (Gina K) through an oval stencil, and then splattered some snow using white acrylic paint.  Once the splatters were dry, I ran the panel through my die cutting machine with The Greetery's Nordic Frame Die, and then attached to a top folding white card base.  

For my 2 deer, I stamped a piece of kraft cardstock with an older SU! background stamp called Hardwood, and then die cut the 2 deer from the Deer To Me set.  I love that the deer dies already have  a woodgrained surface to them so that you get a bit of dimension with them!  I stamped antlers with a darker brown ink and then used a black glaze pen to add the eyes.  The deer on the right was added with foam dots behind him to add even a bit more dimension, and the sentiment was stamped in black (also from the Deer To Me stamp set).  

There is lots of inspiration for you from our DT and Special GD Izzy, so check it all out right HERE and play along with us to get a head start on those Christmas cards...you KNOW Christmas comes faster and faster every year!!  This challenge is open till the 24th.

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

Double D Challenge - HEARTS

Hello friends.  The current challenge over at the Double D is all about HEARTS and I thought my valentine for our oldest granddaughter fit the mood board perfectly!

All red & white and hearts and here's my card...

Is this not the cutest image ever??!!  My sweet friend Michele stamped me a couple of these a few years ago from Penny Black called Fairy Love and I colored her up with my Copics.  Some simple matting and a background from Pigment Craft Co. called Cozy Stitches finished off this sweet card for our sweet Addy!  Lots of shimmer and shine from my WOS pen on this card too, but of course I couldn't capture it in my photo!

Lots of FABULOUS inspiration from the DT over at the Double D, so check it out and play along!

Edited to Add: I am also adding this card to a NEW (to me!) challenge called Colorful Options, and for the month of February, the color is RED.

 

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