Double D - Christmas in July Challenge

Hello friends.  Playing along with the Double D - Christmas in July challenge, and here's the wonderful mood board they gave to inspire us...

I was inspired mostly by the traditional colors in each photo of red, white, & green.  I started my card with a piece of Old Olive cardstock and came up with this...

I stamped my piece of Old Olive cardstock with a Penny Black background stamp called christmas story and used Old Olive ink.  Then I ran the piece through my die cutting machine with a new Spellbinders embossing folder called Holly & Foliage.  To make the embossed design even more visable, I used my brayer and white pigment ink to lightly add the soft white ink over the raised parts of my panel.  I love this look...so soft and subtle, but also adds such a beautiful touch!!

I matted this layer to a piece of gold mirror cardstock and then attached both to a white card base.  Next I die cut a gold and Old Olive Etched Berry Branch (SSS) and did a little ink blending on the Old Olive one before gluing it off centered to the gold mirror cardstock one.  After gluing it to my background panel, I added a little gold bow from The Greetery's Fit To Be Tied die set, and then used some red stickles on the berries.  A foiled sentiment from Spellbinder's  Yana's Christmas Sentiments finished off my card.

Have you started your Christmas cards yet?  I have a few but not nearly enough, so I'm loving this Christmas in July challenge to keep me going!  Lots and lots of beautiful inspiration from the DT and you can find it all right HERE.  This challenge is open till Sunday, July 30th @ 8:00PM.

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

Peace On Earth Christmas Challenge #44

Hello friends.  Thought I was doing ok keeping up with my Christmas card stash, but ended up selling quite a few of them this past weekend at a family gathering, so now I really need to kick it in gear and start making more!  Thankfully there's challenges like the Peace On Earth Christmas Challenge that help inspire me to get making!

I was inspired by the snowy scenes in the top right and bottom left photos and used a Spellbinders foil plate that I had bought last year and then never used.  This is one of those cards that photographs just don't do it justice, but in real life it totally SHINES!!

I used a piece of very old and hoarded navy blue with white speckles cardstock that has a pretty rough feel to it, so it didn't foil as nicely as I would have liked, but you can still see the color of the Aura Foil (Spellbinders) on the frame, scene & sentiment, and then the Speckled Prism (also Spellbinders) for the snowy dots at the top.  I have found during this past year that the smoother the cardstock you use, the better your foiling results will turn out!  The framing set I used was Essential Duo Lines Glimmer Rectangles, the snowflakes and village scene are from the Glimmer Winter Village set, and the sentiment is from Yana's Christmas Sentiments.  This card was really pretty easy to do, and I did make 2 of them to help replace some of what I sold this past weekend.  

If you're like me and need to get going on your Christmas cards, then check out all the fabulous inspiration from the DT and play along right HERE.  This challenge is open till Thursday August 3rd @ 8:00PM.

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

The Flower Challenge #82 - Clean & Simple

Hello friends.  Today I'm playing along with the gals over at The Flower Challenge where they are looking for CAS cards.

I pulled an oldie from The Greetery out called Sketchbook Roses and came up with this...

I stamped the outline stamp in black and then did the 2 step stamping for the leaves and roses.  (Jelly Bean Green & Fresh Asparagus for the leaves and Sparkling Rose & Bubble Gum for the roses.  Gina K and PFS inks.)  I die cut the image with the coordinating die and then layed it out on my white card base, but it looked TOO plain!  I know CAS involves a lot of white space with minimal layers and no embellishments, but this card definitely NEEDED something!  So anyway, I added a layer of white that I embossed with SU!'s Cane Weave 3D embossing folder to my card base before adding my flowers, and I liked that much better!!  

 My sentiment was embossed with white on black cs and then die cut with the coordinating die (Gina K's Radiant Roses).  I went rogue once again and added embellishments that I wasn't supposed to, but I just couldn't resist...it's CAS to me and I really like how it turned out!  True CAS is definitely an art form, but for me, this is it!  :0)

There's still time to play, so check out all the beauties from the DT and then play along right HERE.  This challenge is open till Tuesday July 25th @ 5:00PM. 

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

Color Hues Challenge #68

Hello friends.  Can you believe it's the middle of July already?!  Hope you're all having a wonderful Summer wherever you live!  Been pretty toasty here in the midwest, but I'm NOT complaining!!  So much better than snow!  Shhhhhh...just pretend I didn't even mention that 4 letter word!!  Anyway, we're back with another Color Hues Challenge for you and sweet Nancy is our hostess this time around and would like to see BERRY & OLIVE (or hues of those colors!)

I had fun playing with some new Greetery items and came up with this...

Don't you just LOVE that Garden Tub die??!!  I cut it from Smokey Slate cs and then ink blended around the edges with a bit of Basic Gray ink. 

I cut the Garden Tub Filler Die 3 times...twice from Old Olive cs and once from Berry Burst cs (both SU!) and then did a bit of ink blending on one of the Old Olive pieces to darken it up a bit.  My background consists of a layer of Berry Burst cs on a white card base, another layer of white cs that was embossed using the Timeworn Type embossing folder (SU!) and a smaller piece of Berry Burst Country Gingham DSP (SU!).  I think this little tub filled with the leaves looks wonderful against the country charm of the gingham!

 My sentiment was stamped and die cut using The Greetery's Little Labels stamp and die set.  A few Magenta Glitter Drops (PFS) finished off my little country charmer card.

The DT and our Special GD Bonnie have outdone themselves using these 2 colors to inspire you, so check it all out right HERE, and then play along with us...we'd love to see YOU in the gallery!  This challenge is open till the 28th @ 9:00AM.

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

Double D Challenge - The Great Outdoors

Hello friends.  It's a warm and muggy day here in West Michigan, so a perfect day to debut Beaks from Stacey Yakula and PURPLE ONION DESIGNS, and play along with Double D's The Great Outdoor Challenge.

Yep, it's a perfect day to spend at the beach, and the adorable little pelican named Beaks thinks so too!  Take a look...

I don't think any of our great lakes have pelicans, but for today we'll just use our imaginations!  My background was stamped and ink blended using the Ocean Shoreline Background and Wood Post Set (both Stacey Yacula and Purple Onion Designs) and then die cut using PFS's Scalloped Circle Die Set.

Little Beaks was stamped in black ink and heat set with clear embossing powder before being colored with my Copics and then fussy cut out and pop dotted to add a bit of dimension from the background.  I finished with a sentiment (a freebie from Purple Onion Designs) that goes perfectly with the challenge of the outdoors!  Oh and added a couple clear gems (PFS) to look like water droplets!

Lots of wonderful inspiration from the talented DT and already in the gallery, so if you're looking for ideas (especially for masculine cards!), make sure you check them all out right HERE.  This challenge is open till Sunday, July 16th @ 8:00PM.

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

Peace On Earth Christmas Challenge #43

Hello friends.  Still trying to stay caught up on my Christmas cards and playing along with the gals over at the Peace On Earth Christmas Challenge.  Check out their beautiful mood board to inspire us...

Now check out my card and see if you can tell what photo inspired me...

Yep, the top right photo inspired me to get out my new (to me) die set from Spellbinders called Woodland Wreath and Feathered Friends.  I used a Night of Navy card base and then added an embossed white layer using Spellbinders Holiday Floral Swag embossing folder.  Next I die cut the wreath twice, once in Misty Moonlight cs and once in Night of Navy cs.  I added a bit of silver embossing to the edges of both die cuts and then glued the Night of Navy one down directly onto the white embossed layer, and then added very thin strips of foam tape behind the Misty Moonlight one for a bit of dimension.

I got the idea for die cutting the little bird from DSP from Darnell on a card she did I think last year, and the idea has stuck with me since!  I went through ALL my DSP that had blue in it and finally after cutting out quite a few (don't ask how many!!) found one using a piece of SU!'s Feels Like Frost that I thought matched quite well.  The JOY die cut in the center comes from PTI's Bold Borders: Flurries and remains one of my all time favorite JOY dies (I have quite a few...LOVE that word!!). I also added a bit of silver embossing to the JOY die cut too.  A few silver metallic pearls were added for berries and that finished off my card.

Lots and lots of beautiful inspiration from the DT if you need Christmas card ideas...find it all right HERE.

I am also sending this card to Darnell's NBUS Challenge since this is the first time using the Woodland Wreath and Feathered Friends die set.

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

May 2023 Pinkfresh Studio Grand Prize WIN

Hello friends.  A couple of months ago in May, I was a lucky girl to win the GRAND PRIZE at Pinkfresh Studios.  That means they send you one of EVERYTHING they released that month...stamp sets, coordinating dies, stencils, and hot foil plates!  We're talking anywhere between $300 - $400 worth of product...FREE!! And Pinkfresh Studios does this every month for 2 lucky winners!  I think it is amazing that they are SO generous every month, and I was just grateful to be one of the lucky winners!!  Thank you, THANK YOU Pinkfresh Studios!!  

Last week Monday my sweet friend Michele and I played with the Pretty Blossoms stencil set that you can see HERE, but I still had a LOT of stamps, stencils, dies, & hot foil plates to play with, so I spent most of this past week making cards using all the new goodies.  I managed to use everything but The Magic is in You set, but I will get to that at some point down the road.  I had to play with the Pretty Blossoms set again, but I also used the Delicate Foliage set, the Handpicked Flowers set, and the Butterfly Garden set.  So anyway, this is a loooooong post and very picture heavy!  Hope you can hang in there!!

The Delicate Foliage set has a hot foil plate, so I foiled the leaf image in silver prism foil and it's so pretty when the light hits it!

It also has a coordinating stencil set, although I have to admit I struggled a bit because this stencil set doesn't line up completely with the foiled (or stamped) images of the leaves.  After going to their website to check it out and finding it was intended to be that way (kinda artsy!), I relaxed and just kind of did my own thing.  Did a bit of ink blending on my background and then used foam tape on the back of the leaves  before placing it on the ink blended card base.  A few gems and the included sentiment finished off this card.

This card and my next card both use the Handpicked Flowers stamp, die & stencil set, and the background on this card uses the Diagonal Stitched Plaid coverplate die.  I love the soft yellow and blue color combo on this one!

My die cut Hello comes from the Perfect Sentiments stamp and die set, and a few silver metallic pearls added a little bling to finish off this card.

This card isn't too much different than the previous card, just a color change with reds & pinks this time, and then the background is the Stitched Diamonds coverplate die.

I did add a piece of red cs behind the die cut flowers, and popped the flowers up on foam tape, so it's fun to see a bit of that solid red peeking through.  I also added a thin red strip of cs on the side and then finished with a few red gems and some black & white twine.  The die cut sentiment is part of the Handpicked Flowers set.

 This card is one of those that looks so much prettier in real life!  The embossed background piece is really a tea rose color (Gina K) and not the peach color that my camera was picking up.  I used a rubber mat and the hot foil plate to the Pretty Blossoms set to emboss the cs and it makes such a lovely background!  I used the Butterfly Gardens stamp set for my top layer and embossed it in silver before using the coordinating stencils to color in all the leaves, flowers & butterflies.

I used the Slim Ornate Banner Dies to cut this top layer and then added foam tape to the back before layering it over the embossed background.  A piece of ribbon (SU!), a few pink gem stones, and the sentiment (also from the Butterfly Gardens set) finished off this sweet card.

I think this 5th card turned out to be my favorite because of the colors...YELLOW is my favorite color after all!!  I went back to the Pretty Blossoms set and used the hot foil plate and Aura foil to make my top layer and the stencils to color it all in.  I then die cut it and added it over top of a yellow layer that I used my rubber mat and the hot foil plate to emboss with.

I used foam tape once again so you could see the back layer better...isn't that embossing so pretty peeking through the die cut areas?!  I used the Fancy Script Words hot foil plate with more of the Aura foil for my birthday sentiment and that finished off this card.

My last card came about after I had foiled the yellow card and had the leftover piece of foil that had all the outlines for the flowers and the rest being solid gold and it was just too pretty to throw away!  So I used a solid circle hot foil plate with the leftover piece of foil and ended up with this beautiful foiled circle!

I used the Butterfly Garden set again and embossed it in gold before stenciling it and then used the coordinating die that cuts out all the pieces individually.  I used only the leaf pieces and framed them around the circle to make a wreath and then added one of the butterflies and my sentiment from the the set.  I added a few gold metallic pearls to finish of this CAS card that isn't really so CAS...but I LOVE how it turned out!!

Are you still with me??!!  You all deserve a prize for sticking with me through this long, loooooooong post, but hey, I did warn you!!  This seriously was such a fun release to play with, and once again, many, many thanks to Pinkfresh Studio for this generous gift...I know I will be playing with these stamps over and over again!

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

Stenciling Back to Back with Michele

Hello friends.  Michele and I had another play date this past week, and although we did more talking (and eating) than we did stamping, we had a wonderful day together and did manage to create 2 cards each to share with you!  I was lucky enough to be one of the Grand Prize Winners in May from Pinkfresh Studios and it had just arrived in the mail a couple days before Michele came, so I saved it so we could open it together as we both LOVE PFS products.  Stenciling seems to be our jam when we get together, and included in all my new goodies was a beautiful set called Pretty Blossoms, that included the stamp (it's a red rubber background one), the die, and the stencils.  So let's get to it and we'll show you what we created!

 

I did my stenciling in shades of coral, pinks & turquoise inks (PFS inks) and then used the die to cut out the white spaces.  I added foam tape behind the flowers and leaves and added to a layer of Ocean Mist cardstock (Gina K) and then mounted to top folding white card base.  It still needed something so I added the Stitched Scalloped Rectangle Die (PFS) in white to the top and it framed it out perfectly.

To finish I added my die cut sentiment from the Circle Florals stamp and die set (PFS) and also added a few Disco Ball Sequins from Gina K for a bit of bling.  The depth on this card with having part of the background cut out really makes this card special and so much prettier than my photos show!!

My 2nd card is very bright compared to my 1st card and I had fun masking off sections of the stencil so I could make the flowers all different colors as opposed to my 1st card.  When I added my white circle for my sentiment (Diagonal Stitched Circles - PFS), it covered up a few of the florals, so I stenciled and fussy cut the pink flower and added it over the portion of the circle.  I added my stacked sentiment (Perfect Sentiments - PFS), but it still looked glaringly white to me (the circle), so I added a few silver metallic pearls and a snippet of the Leafy Branch that I die cut from vellum.  Much better!!

   I also added glitter to all the green leaves for some sparkle because why not?!!  The two cards are very similar in some ways, but still different enough with their colors that I'm very happy with the way they turned out!

Play dates with Michele are ALWAYS fun and this was a much needed time together for both of us!  Like I said earlier, we didn't do as much stamping as we usually do, but there was lots of catching up to do on life and I treasure that part of our friendship!!  And again, we had to take time to eat, and a Summertime taco salad sure hit the spot, along with the payday bars Michele brought...yummmmmm!!  You can check out what Michele did with these Pretty Blossoms stencils right HERE...I'm going to check them out too as I always LOVE her creative takes on everything!  Thanks again for coming over Michele and sharing a much needed friend day!!

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

Color Hues Challenge #67 - Merlot & Navy

Hello friends.  Happy July!  It's time for another challenge here at Color Hues, and I'm the hostess for the next two weeks and I've chosen the colors of Merlot & Navy.  

I was thinking 4th of July and red, white, & blue when I chose these colors, but decided to go a little darker for something different, and I think the deep reddish purple of Merlot and the dark shade of blue for Navy would work beautifully for our cards in this challenge, and I can't wait to see what YOU all come up with!!

I have been having so much fun with SSS's Bold Geometric Stencil lately and thought I'd try it out with the Merlot & Navy for my card background, and I love how it turned out!  Take a look...

I used Merry Merlot and Starry Sky inks (SU!) for my background and just LOVE the way it turned out!  I used Anita Jeram's Ice Cream Day stamp and die for my cute little (paper) mouse who's holding a yummy black cherry ice cream cone!

 I don't know if he can eat all that, but he sure looks ready to try!  The sentiment is also from the Ice Cream Day set, and I bordered my sentiment strip with a partial strip of The Greetery's Ribbon Maker: Pinked Stars Die cut out in Starry Sky cs.  I also cut one from Merry Merlot and used the stars to fill in on the Starry Sky strip, and then used both colors of stars to decorate the white strip and also on the Crimped Circle Die (also The Greetery).  I used Copics to color the little mouse and ice cream cone, and then added some glitter to the ice cream for a little added sparkle.  

Sure hope you'll join us in playing with this color combination, and no need to make it a July 4th card  (unless you want to!).  The sky's the limit with our color challenges as long as you stick to the two chosen colors and neutrals.  So have FUN and join us...we really do want to see YOU in our gallery!  You can check it all out right HERE along with all the fabulous inspiration from the DT and our Special GD Rosemary.  This challenge is open till July 14th @ 9:00AM.

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