Peace On Earth Challenge #62

Hello friends.  Playing along with the gals over at the Peace On Earth Christmas challenge where they once again have a beautiful mood board to inspire us.

I was inspired by all the greenery, the pinecones, and the berries, and came up with this very CAS card...

Spellbinders was having a big warehouse sale a few weeks back and I was able to pick up this Merriest Christmas press plate for $5...my photo doesn't do justice to the depth these press plates leave on cotton cardstock!  I almost didn't want to add anything else to this card as the sentiment was so pretty on its own!  I used the pine sprig from an older SU! set called Ornamental Pine and using my MISTI and Peeled Paint Distress Ink, stamped it several times in the two corners.  At first I didn't care for the inking as it didn't seem to take real well to the cotton cardstock, but the more I looked at it, it reminded me of a water color look and it grew on me!  The pinecone is also from the same stamp set, and after inking it up and using a white gel pen on it, I also added a bit of glitter to give the illusion of snow.  I finished with 3 red gems from PFS and called it good.  I wanted the sentiment to be the star, and I think I accomplished that!

Lots of beautiful inspiration from the DT and you can find it all right HERE if you'd like to play along.  This challenge is open till Thursday, May 2nd @ 8:00PM.

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

Double D - Water Related

Hello friends.  Playing along with the Double D Challenge today where they are looking for Water Related cards (ie: ocean, rain, waterfall, etc.).

Such a beautiful mood board!!  Growing up in Michigan where we are surrounded by water AND lighthouses, it was a pretty easy choice for me!  I did some ink blending and silhouette stamping and came up with this...

I started by stamping my lighthouse (Gina K's By The Sea 1) in black and then starting at the bottom of my panel, I ink blended with Sandy Beach, Ocean Mist, Bubblegum Pink, Blue Jean, & In the Navy inks (Gina K).  Masking off the Sandy Beach and Bubblegum Pink, I splattered a few water droplets and then sprayed with Sheer Shimmer Mist to give the look of sparkling diamonds on the water.  

Hopefully you can see the water droplets and a tiny bit of the shimmer in this close-up photo.  Next I used an old red rubber stamp with splattered dots and Sandy beach ink to give that bottom ink blended layer the illusion of sand.  I finished with a few more silhouettes from the By The Sea 1 and By The Sea 2 stamp sets  and mounted my finished panel to a white top folding card base.  I left a sentiment off as I'm not sure if I'll use this for a masculine birthday card this Summer or a "Thinking of You" or "With Sympathy" if I need it.  Always good to have a few cards that you can add a greeting to in a hurry when you need it!

The DT has lots of beautiful inspiration to inspire you to play along and you can check it all out right HERE.  This challenge is open till Sunday, April 28th @ 8:00PM.

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

Triple B Challenge April 2024

Hello friends.  Haven't played with the Triple B Challenge in quite some time, but just made a card that I thought fit beautifully with the blooms and birds theme (no butterfly).

Pinkfresh Studio had released a set called Pure Joy a few months ago and I finally got around to playing with it!  Here's what I came up with...

 That Hummer caught my eye and I had to have it!  Hummers have always been a favorite of mine and I just put my feeder out this past week.  I think it's still a bit cold at night for them, but those in the know said that April 15th was a safe date to start hanging them, so that's exactly what I did!!  I embossed my images in Altenew's Rose Gold embossing powder and then ink blended with the coordinating stencils before die cutting all the pieces.  

Hard to tell in my photo, but I die cut all the images multiple times in plain white cardstock to put behind the ink blended images for added dimension.  I used PFS's Dotted Chevron Coverplate Die for my background and attached that to a top folding card base from Ocean Mist cs (Gina K).  The sentiment is also from the Pure Joy stamp set.  Before I attached the Hummer, I sprayed it quite liberally with Sheer Shimmer Mist spray, so in real life he really shimmers!  I finished with just a few of PFS's new Gems: Clear with Gold Dust...they are SOOOOO pretty!!

I will also be adding this card to Darnell's NBUS Challenge since this is the first time I've used this set.

The Triple B Challenge is open till April 30th @ 8:00PM and the NBUS Challenge is open till April 30th @ 10:00PM.  

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

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #85 - Santa and his Sidekicks

Hello friends.  Playing along with the current Christmas Kickstart Challenge where they are looking for Santa and his Sidekicks.

I had fun coming up with a card with Santa and Blitzen...or is it Comet or Donner or...well all I really know is it's NOT Rudolph!  But anyway, here's what I came up with using MFT's Christmas sELFies...

I colored up my image with Copics and then placed it behind a piece of Real Red cs (SU!) that I die cut a square from to frame the image, and also ran it through with an older Cuttlebug dotted embossing folder.  

I used a Gina K Sentiment Strip and then added a few Impression Obsession snowflakes and finished with some PFS Iridescent Clear Drops in the centers of the snowflakes.  

Jo and her elf Helen have some awesome inspiration for you that you can check out right HERE and then play along to get a head start on those Christmas cards.  This challenge is open till the end of the month, so plenty of time to play along!!

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

Color Hues #85 - Pink & Yellow

Hello friends.  Time for a new challenge at Color Hues and our hostess Hannelie would like to see Pink & Yellow on our cards.

I had fun with this challenge as yellow is my favorite color and I do love a good pink too!  I also had a new Penny Black stamp to play with called winged wreath that looked great all colored up in these two colors!  Take a look...

This card is actually a bit brighter in real life, but the sun hasn't been cooperating with me lately!  But anyway, I used my Copics to color in each of the butterflies, rotating between pink and yellow.  I also lightly ink blended the background with residual ink from my pink blender brush.

My sentiment is a Memory Box die (Hello Friend Posh Script) cut from gold mirror cardstock and I also added a few gold metallic pearls (PFS) to finish off this card.

The DT has a lot of great inspiration for you right HERE, so check it out and play along with us...we'd love to see YOU in our gallery!  This challenge is open till Monday, April 29th @ 9:00AM.

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

Flower Challenge Reminder #90 - Add Layers

Hello friends.  Just a friendly reminder that there's still time to play in The Flower Challenge, where this month we are looking for LAYERS and of course flowers on your cards.

I had fun using lots of different sets to add layers to my card today.  Take a look...

I started by using The Greetery's Seagrass Basket dies from kraft cs and then had fun filling it with The Greetery's BotaniCuts: Crocus flowers which have lots of layers to them.  I die cut them from white cs and then used DOX inks to color them up.  I also added a couple sprigs of Baby's Breath (also The Greetery) to fill in the basket a bit more.  I did add some glitter to the baby's breath but it's a little hard to see in my photos.

I used some more kraft cs to add a die cut circle and square (Penny Black - Stitched Square & Circles) for my background and then adhered to a 5 x 5 white card base.  I finished with a sentiment on the basket that's from Gina K's Beautiful Basket Additions.

We look forward to seeing what YOU come up with by adding LAYERS to your cards, and there's lots of inspiration from the DT that you can see HERE to get you started.  This challenge is open till Thursday, April 25th @ 5:00PM. 

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

Peace On Earth Christmas Challenge #61

Hello friends.  Still trying to keep up with making a Christmas card (or two) every two weeks by playing along with the Peace On Earth Christmas Challenge.  Take a look at their lovely mood board for this challenge...

I was inspired by the greenery and the deer from the mood board, and also my sweet friend Loll, who has been showing lots of different ways to use her large JOY die.  Check out her last one right HERE.  I have a large JOY die from TSM called Festive Foliage that I used for my card and came up with this CAS card...

 I started with an embossed background using FSJ's Evergreen ef and then used my JOY die to cut out the letters in red glitter cardstock (PFS).  I used a separate scrap of white cs to stamp a couple snow hills and the tree line (Gina K's Holiday Silhouettes) with Evening Evergreen ink (SU!), and then used the "O" die again to cut out the center and place it inside the red glitter "O".

The deer was cut using a Gina Marie Designs die from kraft cs and then sponged with a bit of Soft Suede ink (SU!) around the edges, before attaching to the red glitter "O".  I finished with a few red glitter gems from PFS.

Lots of beautiful inspiration from the DT to inspire you to play along and you can find it all right HERE.  This challenge is open till Thursday, April 18th @ 8:00PM.

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

Double D Challenge - Cute Little Animals

Hello friends.  Playing along with Double D's latest challenge that is all about Cute Little Animals.

 Aren't they SO CUTE?!!  My first thought was to go with some of my favorite critters from Anita Jeram, but then I remembered this sweet stamp set from Penny Black (critter celebration) that I hadn't used a quite awhile!  I have a trio of cards for you today using 3 of the 5 images that come in this set, and here is the first one...

I think you all know by now I'm not real fond of real mice, but now "paper mice" I think are really CUTE, including this little guy perched in the flower.  I colored all my images with Copics and for this one, I used SU!'s Everyday Details Dies to cut out the image.  

I was hoping this close up would show some of the sparkle from using Sheer Shimmer Mist on the image, but no such luck!  The dsp is all from PTI, the ribbon from SU!, the gold dots from PFS, and the sentiment from Penny Black's Special Sentiments stamp set.

This little guy looks so sweet all nestled into the peachy pink (PTI's Sweet Blush) flower and was die cut with Penny Blacks stitched square & circles set of dies.  The dsp is PTI's Sweet Blush, the Stitched Scallop Rectangle is from PFS, and the sentiment is from Memory Box's Just A Note Posh Script die.  Clear gems are from PFS.

 This last little cutie was done in yellows and I used SU!'s Everyday Details Dies to cut the rectangle and then black embroidery floss to stitch through the holes the die cut has.  The plaid dsp and cs are both Harvest Gold from PTI and die cut with PFS's Diagonal Stitched Rectangles, the sentiment from The Greetery, and the sequins from Gina K.

So there you have my trio of CUTE LITTLE ANIMALS and there's even more from the DT right HERE to inspire you to play along!  This challenge is open till Sunday, April 14th @ 8:00PM.

   

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

Word Power #4 Challenge

Hello friends.  Playing along with the Word Power Challenge today where the sentiment is the main focus of the card.  I had just received a couple new goodies from PTI's latest release and they worked beautifully for this challenge!

Here's what I came up with...

I started with a background stencil that came with PTI's Pro Stamper's Box: March in light yellow and then stamped my sentiment which is from PTI's Reflections: March stamp set in black over the light yellow stenciled background.  The Pro Stamper's Box: March set also comes with many dies, and I die cut one of the frames from white cs and glued it over my sentiment and then stamped the sentiment over top of the die cut using my MISTI so that the stamp was in the same place as when I stamped over the stenciled background.  I love the subtle way this frames out one of my favorite verses!

Next I went to work on the flowers that are a part of the Pro Stamper's Box: March and used shades of yellow on them.  Once they were die cut, I added them to the side of the sentiment and also added a twine bow and some glitter.  I finished with a few light yellow gems from PFS.

I also made two other cards while I had everything out on my desk and thought I'd share them here with you...

This one has a different stenciled background (also part of the box) and die cut frame, and the die cut sentiment is also a part of the box.  (I am so in LOVE with this whole Pro Stamper's Box: March set...there is SO much packed into this kit and I just know it's going to get used a LOT!!) 

 This last card uses the same flowers, but for my background I CASE'd someone (sorry, I forgot who!) who had cut out multiple frames in white and added them all to the background, snipping off the overhang ones.  Pretty cool look, huh?!  I used the little string bow die cut from The Greetery's Fit To Be Tied die set to tie my little bouquet together and then finished with a few sparkle gems from SU!.

The Word Power Challenge is open for the whole month (Thursday, April 25th) and is a great way to use those larger sentiments in your stash.  :0)

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

The Flower Challenge #90 - Add Layers

Hello friends.  It's a new month and time for a new challenge here at The Flower Challenge, and this month we'd like to see you Add Layers on your cards...along with flowers too of course!

This was a fun challenge for me and I pulled out a Waffle Flower set (Tulips) that I hadn't used used in a loooong time and came up with this...

I started my layering with PFS's Diagonal Stitched Rectangle Die with PTI's Sweet Blush cs (kinda a peachy pink color) and a 2nd layer of Sweet Blush plaid dsp (also PTI).  Next I added PFS's Ornate Oval Frame die cut in white to stand out against the colored cs and dsp, and used foam strips behind the outer part of the frame to give some dimension.  I colored my tulip image with Copics (R000, R00, R21 & R30) and then die cut with the coordinating die.

If you look closely, you can see that I also added a layer of vellum that I die cut with PFS's Leafy Branch behind the tulip bunch before adhering both to the top of the Ornate Oval Frame die cut.  I finished with a Spellbinder's betterpress sentiment and a few Disco Ball sequins from Gina K.  

We have lots of beautiful inspiration for you with lots and lots of LAYERS, so check it all out right HERE and play along with us...we'd love to see YOU in the gallery!  This challenge is open till April 25th @ 5:00PM.

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

Color Hues Challenge #84 - Peach & Green

Hello friends.  It's a new month and unfortunately because of technical difficulties, no new challenge at Color Hues.  Just kidding!!!  April Fools!!!!  We wouldn't do that to you...we enjoy playing in these challenges as much as you do!  So anyway, the new challenge at Color Hues is being led by our sweet hostess Cindy and she would like to see Peach & Green on our cards.

I had a brand new press/foil plate from Spellbinder's (Cosmos Backdrop) to play with that fit the colors beautifully.  Take a look...

I foiled the backdrop with Prism foil (an iridescent silver) and then proceeded to color in the flowers with a combination of Copics and ink blending with some very small brushes (so I'd have some control and be able to stay in the lines).  The leaves were colored in with Copics only.

The sentiment was die cut using Memory Box's Just A Note Posh Script die on a really sparkly silver cs and the back layer a piece of vellum so as not to cover up a lot of the design.

This card was finished by layering the top panel to a piece of Certainly Celery cs (SU! - retired) and a white card base.  This card is incredibly shiny with the Prism foil and someday I'm going to learn how to truly capture that look, but for now trust me that this card SHINES like crazy!!

We would love to see YOU in our gallery using these two colors, so check out what the DT and our Special GD Donna Mikasa did to inspire you and then play along right HERE.  

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