Color Hues #59 - BLUE & TURQUOISE

Hello friends.  I'm thrilled to be hosting the new Color Hues Challenge for the next two weeks, and I would like to see BLUE & TURQUOISE on your cards.

Why these colors??  Think warm breezes, sunshine, the tropics...that's what I'm thinking this time of year when Winter is still hanging on here in Michigan!  Seriously though, go wherever the colors take you, and we'll be thrilled to see you in the gallery!  Here's what the colors led me to...

That little crab is me in my pale white skin, but he's hoping a few days poolside will fix that!  I started by stenciling my background using PTI's POOL WATER stencils and Blue Raspberry and Turquoise Sea inks from Gina K.  I stamped my umbrella on white card and then again on Turquoise Sea and Pacific Point cardstocks (Gina K & SU!), and then fussy cut and paper pieced to the white stamped umbrella.  The umbrella and the crab are both from MFT's Just Beclaws stamp and die set.

   The Adirondack chair (Gina Marie Designs) was also die cut from Turquoise Sea card and then attached to my Crimped Circle die cut (The Greetery) along with the pasty white crab, the umbrella, and my sentiment that I think is just perfect for this card!  (Catherine Pooler - Vitamin Sea Stamps)  I finished with a few matching enamel dots and google eyes that have blue centers (leftover from a Paper Pumpkin (SU!) kit).  

We can't wait to see YOU in the gallery using these two colors!!    Make sure you check out all the FABULOUS inspiration from the rest of our DT...you can check it all out right HERE.  This challenge is open till the 28th @ 9:00AM.

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

Peace On Earth Challenge #35

Hello friends.  Trying to keep up with making a Christmas card every week or two, and the Peace On Earth Challenge is helping me stay on track!

I was inspired by the photo on the top left with all the trees and decided this was the perfect time to bring out my Concord & 9th Tiny Trees Turnabout stamp and dies.  I have quite a few of the turnabout stamps, but hadn't used any in quite some time and had to dig out the instructions on how to set up my MISTI with the jig and template, but it all came back rather quickly once I started!  Once I finished the card it sat on my desk for a few days as I wasn't sure I liked it.  I am mostly a CAS stamper, and this card is WAAAAAYYYY busy, but it's grown on me and I kinda like all the small details.  Take a look and let me know what you think...

I stamped the background with the turnabout stamp using Pinkfresh Studio green inks in 4 different shades, and then die cut it using The Greetery's Crimped Rectangle Dies.  I matted it to a piece of green cs (Gina K) and then adhered both panels to a top folding white card base.  Next I added an offset Crimped Circle Die cut (The Greetery) in white to the background and added 5 of the die cut trees that come with the stamp set and added gold embossed ornaments to the top right and bottom left trees.  

 I also embossed in gold my sentiment strip and wish it showed up as gold in my photos instead of black...grrrrrrrrr!  I added some gold thread underneath my sentiment for a bit more shine and that shows up pretty well in my photos, so just imagine that the sentiment matches the shine of the thread!!  It definitely is a busy card, but it really does grow on you and I had fun making it, so I guess that's all that matters!  :0)

There's lots of wonderful inspiration from the DT that you can check out right HERE if you'd like to play along.  This challenge is open till Thursday, March 16th @ 8PM.

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

The Flower Challenge #78

Hello friends.  Playing along with The Flower Challenge today and this month they are looking for Die Cuts and/or Stencils.

In my head it's SPRING, so I pulled out my beloved BotaniCuts: Crocus dies from The Greetery and came up with this card...

I die cut all the pieces from white and then used my sponge daubers and Oxide Inks to color them up.  I know Crocus's don't come in pink, but I just wanted a touch of a 3rd color to add into my little cluster.  

I wanted to make a background for my cluster, but very soft so as not to take away from my pretty crocus's.  I used vellum and stenciled on it using Gina K's Lush Leaves Stencil with some green ink that was left on my blending brush.  I attached the vellum to my card base and then added another layer that I die cut the circle opening from using Penny Black's Stitched Circle Dies.  I did add foam tape behind this layer to add some depth and dimension for my flowers.

My "Spring" sentiment also comes from The Greetery and was die cut 3 times and stacked together for a bit more dimension.  I thought about inking the die cut sentiment, but in the end decided to leave it plain white.  The "BLESSINGS" was heat embossed in white on a strip of black cardstock and adhered below.  I finished with a few silver metallic dots from SU!.

You can check out all the fabulous inspiration HERE and then play along.  This challenge is open till the 25th @ 5:00PM.

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

Just Us Girls #669 - Color Week

Hello friends.  Playing along with the Just Us Girls Challenge where it's Color Week and I'm absolutely loving the colors!!

It's such a FUN color combination, so I made a FUN little card using the same Honey Bee Heart Hugs die set that I used earlier this week, and just changed up the critter to a sweet little fox.  Take a look...

I made a plaid background using PFS's Simple Plaid stencil and Honey Mustard & Turquoise Sea inks (Gina K).  I matted it to a piece of black and then adhered to a white card base.  That sweet little fox was die cut using matching cardstock from Gina K and popped up on dimensionals and adhered to a white stitched circle die cut.

My sentiment is also from Honey Bee (Bitty Buzzwords stamp and coordinating dies).  A pretty simple card that I thought turned out rather cute using the challenge colors!

You can check out all the inspiration from the DT and their Special GD (my sweet friend Michele) right HERE.  This challenge is open till March 9 @ 9:00PM.

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

Double D Everything Is Coming Up Green Challenge

Hello friends.  Lots of GREEN out there in blogland lately and I'm playing along with the Double D Challenge where Everything Is Coming Up GREEN! 

Our youngest and middle daughters both have birthdays in March, and both love the color green, so I have another birthday card to share today using a couple new Honey Bee items.  The stencil set that I used for my background is really a Valentines stencil (Hearts In Bloom), but I stenciled it all in shades of green and I think it worked out beautifully for a March birthday.  Take a look...

Besides the new stencil set, I used a new die set from Honey Bee called Heart Hugs and I just couldn't resist adding this little hedgie to my card!!  He's holding a heart that I edged in Versamark and heat set with gold embossing powder.  I also added a little green sprig from Spellbinders Be Bold Blooms.

My sentiment comes from Gina K's Birthday Trio Die set and I used vellum for the background layer, and then ink blended the "HAPPY" with green ink and added the "Birthday" in black to add a POP against all the green.  A few glitter gems (PFS) finished off this card.

Lots of GREEN inspiration going on over at the Double D challenge, and you can find it right HERE to check it out and play along.  This challenge is open till March 12th @ 8:00PM.
 

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

Color Hues Challenge #59 - GREEN & GOLD

Hello friends.  A brand new month and time for a new Color Hues Challenge!  This time around we are looking for GREEN and GOLD...quite fitting for the upcoming St. Patrick's Day holiday, wouldn't you say?!!  

I don't have a lot of St. Paddy's Day stamps, but do have one from Colorado Craft Co. that I absolutely LOVE, so that made my choice for today's card very easy!  Take a look:

Why is it the little mouse stamps are SO much cuter than the real ones?!!  This little guy from CCC is called 4 Leaf Clover and I think he's just adorable surrounded by all that GREEN!  I heat embossed the image first in gold and then colored the little guy up in some neutral Copics (W1 - W4) and the clover in YG06 and G07.  

After I finished all my coloring I used the smallest stitched rectangle die from Gina K's Master Layouts #2 to die cut the center of stamped image.  I adhered the center piece to my card base and then added the outside frame that I added foam tape behind for some dimension.  I finished with a bit of gold cord and my sentiment from PTI's Tiny Tags stamp and die set, and a few gold metallic pearls from PFS.  Very CAS and this cutie will be going to our youngest daughter for her birthday on the 20th.  Hard to believe my baby will be 28!!

We have LOTS of inspiration for you from our talented DT and our Special GD, so make sure you check it all out right HERE and then play along with us!  This challenge is open till March 14 @ 9:00AM, and we look forward to seeing YOU in the gallery!

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

Having FUN with Papertrey Inks' Spring Release

Hello friends.  I had a great weekend playing with 3 new items from PTI's new Spring release that came out last week (it shipped super fast!!) and thought I'd share some of it with you.  I would have bought the whole release it was so good, but money constraints and all that!  I made good use of the 3 things I did buy though and added in some older PTI products too.  This is a pretty picture heavy post, and I'm not going to explain a lot of how I made each card, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comment section and I'll get back to you.

My first card uses the new Wild Blooms Stencil Set and the older Pierced Feature Frames Dies...

Definitely makes you think SPRING, doesn't it?!

The Spring die cut is from The Greetery and the dotted leaf background is from MB's Pinpoint Leaf Plate.

This one was based off a CASE of one of Melissa Phillips cards...I just LOVE her work!!  The die cut layer is from the new Elegant Edges: Spring Flowers.  The flowers are from PTI's Into The Blooms: Dahlias and DSP is Bitty Big Sweet Blush.  

The sentiment is from a Penny Black set and gems are PFS.

As much as I love that new stencil, I think this is my favorite card that I basically CASE'd from Seeka.  (PTI Designer)  Ink blended the background and used the Elegant Edge: Spring Flowers die over top.  The sentiment is another from Penny Black and one of my all time favorite sentiments!

This was a FUN one to make using the new Happy Bunnies stamp set.  I didn't buy the die set and was pretty proud of the way I fussy cut everything...especially inside the handle of the basket!  I also used the large Fence Die (PTI) behind the bunny and basket.

Lots of fun little elements to use in this stamp set, and I also stenciled the background using that Wild Blooms set again...it's pretty addicting!!

If you're still with me, thanks for hanging out that long with me...I appreciate it and hope you enjoyed seeing how I spent the weekend.  Well back to my nursing duties...we made it 3 years without either hubby or I getting Covid and guess who tested positive yesterday??!!  One of his co-workers came down with it last week, so it's still out there friends, and we all need to still be vigilant.  We've both been boosted so hopefully it will be a mild case for him and I won't get it!!  Of course he is a guy, so I don't know if the word "mild" even applies...

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

Peace On Earth Challenge #34

Hello friends.  I'm playing with the Peace On Earth Challenge today and they have a FABULOUS mood board for us to follow...

Don't you just LOVE red and white for Christmas??!  It's one of my favorite color combinations for the holidays!!  I mean I love all the color combinations, but there's just something that's more than "traditional" about red & white at Christmas and I really do LOVE it!!  Having said that, I didn't really follow the striped or candy cane suggestion in the photo, but came up with this so I could finally play with TH's Twig & Stump die set!  Take a look...

I mean come on...how can you NOT fall in LOVE with these two?!!  Twig just totally cracks me up with that kind of "blank" look on his face!  (He's probably wondering why we're all wishing Winter would end!!)   Anyway, after assembling all the die cut pieces (there are a few...Tim's good at that!!), I adhered them both plus a Woodlands tree (TH) to a white panel that I'd embossed with an older retired SU! folder called Winter Snow, and then added that panel to a white card base that I'd added a panel of polka dotted dsp from PTI.

Tim does such a great job with all the little details in his dies and one of my favorite things in this set is the arms for the snowmen...he has them going in multiple directions so you can choose what their arms are doing...so fun!  For my sentiment I kept it simple and added a star stamped with "very merry" from PTI's Tiny Tags set along with some black & white baker's twine.

Lots and lots of wonderful inspiration from the DT, so take a look right HERE if you're like me and want to keep making Christmas cards all year long so you're ready when December comes!  This challenge is open till Thursday March 2nd @ 8:00PM.

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

Double D Challenge - BIRDS

Hello friends.  Playing along with the Double D Challenge today and they are looking for BIRDS this time around.  I may have a few...

 I really wished I'd had a Woodpecker stamp or die like the top left photo, but made do with a puffy little bluebird from PTI (Feathered Friends Mini 4) that I've had for quite awhile and never inked up.  Here's what I came up with...

Isn't he a cutie?!  Had to stamp a few to get one that lined up just right, but I've got the hang of it now!  :0)  I used my new embossing folder from Spellbinders (Hydrangea Blooms) for my background, and then settled my birdie on a branch from The Greetery's Big Branches Ruscus Die that I splattered with a bit of white and black ink.  

  I had a leftover bloom from Spellbinders Be Bold Blooms die set and added it to my branch to make my card a bit more Spring like.  Hard to tell in my photo, but my sentiment is foiled in gold using Spellbinder's Everyday Sentiments II hot foil plate set.  A single gold metallic pearl (PFS) finished off my card.

Think my card needs to also go over to Darnell's NBUS Challenge too, since this is the birdies debut today after sitting in my stamp bin for ages and ages!!

If you LOVE birds like I do, make sure you check out all the BEAUTIFUL cards from the DT right HERE and then play along.  This challenge is open till Feb. 26th @ 8:00PM.

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

Color Hues Challenge #58 - LIME GREEN & CYAN

Hello friends.  Time for a new challenge at Color Hues and this time we're looking for LIME GREEN and CYAN.

I had to google CYAN as it looked a lot like Aqua to me, but there is a touch of green in CYAN that I wasn't seeing in my computer colors.  I ended up finding a couple Catherine Pooler inks that worked well I think...Lime Rickey and Fiesta Blue.  Take a look and see what you think...

I started by taking my 2 ink colors (one at a time) and smooshing them onto a piece of acetate, spritzed with water, and then smooshed my cardstock onto the ink.  Once it was dry I used a stencil (Gina K - Brick Wall) and some light gray ink and lightly went over my smooshed panel.  I also used the same gray ink and a script stamp from The Greetery's Pretty Postmarks stamp set and once again lightly stamped over the smooshed colors, although it's very hard to see in my photos...grrrr!!

Next I stamped my image using Gina K's Pretty Posy stamp set in black, along with the "wishes" from the same stamp set.  I also did a bit of black splattering at this point.  I die cut my panel and attached to The Greetery's Postal Frames Die and then tied a piece of crochet thread around these two layers before attaching to a top folding white card base.  My final step was embossing the "birthday" sentiment on a small strip of black cardstock in white and attaching with foam tape for a little dimension.  I also added a silver gem (PFS) for a bit of bling.  Not my usual style of card, but I really like how it turned out!

It's YOUR turn now, so check out the rest of the inspiration from our talented DT and GD, and then play along right HERE.  This challenge is open till the 28th @ 9:00AM. 

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

Peace On Earth Challenge #33

Hello friends.  Playing along with the Peace On Earth Challenge and they have the most absolutely BEAUTIFUL mood board to inspire us.

To me, the hearts signify what Christmas is all about...LOVE!  And how perfect to include a heart on our Christmas cards...I love this idea!!  I got a new Poinsettia die for Christmas, and paired with the new Heart Arrow Die from The Greetery, I came up with this CAS card...

I started with a white panel that I die cut the Heart Arrow Die with, and then embossed the panel with SSS's Holiday Greenery EF.  I die cut the Heart Arrow Die a 2nd time in Real Red cs and inlaid it into the embossed white panel.  Next I smooshed a piece of white cs with water and Real Red ink, let it dry, and then die cut with Waffle Flowers Layered Poinsettia Dies.  I absolutely LOVE the tiny holes that are cut out with each layer of the leaves on these dies!  Here's a closer up so you can see...

I also used some scrap dsp (I think it's SU!) to cut the leaves from and I love the little bit of contrast they give from all the red & white.  I finished with a strip sentiment from Gina K and some PFS Ruby Glitter Drops.

There are so many GORGEOUS inspiration cards from the DT and already in the gallery, so check it all out right HERE and play along if you're looking to stay ahead with your Christmas cards this year.  This challenge ends on the 16th @ 8:00PM.

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