Heartfelt Blooms

Hello friends.  After seeing all the beautiful cards made with the Heartfelt Blooms stamp and stencil set from Alex Syberia Designs (ASD), I couldn't seem to help myself and put it in my cart!  Yes, I'm very weak, but when it comes to florals, I just don't seem to have any control!!  I also had some new 3D embossing folders to play with, and had fun making these 2 cards...

I used Gina K's light, medium & dark Orchid inks (the color is much deeper IRL!) to stencil my blooms in the top left and bottom right corners of my panel (I stamped the outline of the blooms with black ink first).  Next I ran the panel through with SSS's Layered Vine 3D embossing folder.

I added my panel to a top folding white card base, and because this panel was a little bit shorter than the card base, I added a thin black strip at the bottom...I like the grounded look it gives!  I finished with a sentiment from The Greetery's Opposites Attract stamp and die set and also a small butterfly die cut with silver sparkle cs using Poppystamps Butterfly Buttons dies.

My 2nd card uses the full stamped and stenciled image from Heartfelt Blooms, and SSS's Feather Spiral 3D embossing folder.  I love the look the embossing gives the flowers and the whole card!

Once again I used The Greetery's Opposites Attract stamp and die set for my sentiment, and the Butterfly Buttons dies for my little butterfly accent (Die cut from a scrap of card that had Lindy's Magicals on it, and then heat embossed with clear several times to give that lacquered look. A piece of copper cording tied the two butterfly layers together.) 

I'd like to add these two cards to the following challenges:

Triple B,  Can You Handle the Pressure, and Stencil Fun Challenge.

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

Peace On Earth #64

Hello friends.  Still playing along with the Peace On Earth Christmas Challenge so I can stay ahead with my Christmas card stash and not be scrambling come December!  They have a beautiful mood board all in blues this time that was perfect for a SU! set I had just gotten.  Take a look...

 Isn't that such a pretty mood board?!  I was totally inspired by all the BLUE and came up with 2 very simple cards using SU!'s Marvelous Nature stamp set, which isn't a Christmas set at all!  Here's my first card...

 I stamped this fern image from the Marvelous Nature set in shades of blue (Boho Blue, Misty Moonlight, & Night of Navy) to give a gradient look and also a frosty look.  I cut out the image using Penny Black's Stitched Square & Circles dies before adhering to a square panel in Boho Blue and a white card base.

 My Peace sentiment is from Gina K and was cut from silver card stock along with a couple cut from white for a little dimension and then glued over the center of the icy fern.  Simple but definitely says Christmas to me!

 Now I have to be honest about this 2nd card...when I bought this set, I thought the birds were Doves and thought it would be perfect for Christmas.  Once the stamp set arrived and I looked more closely, I began to doubt they were Doves.  I thought maybe Owls then, but now I'm not even sure about that!  All I do know is that I wanted it to look like a Christmas card!  So I inked it up the same way I did the first card with the gradient shades of blue, and then used The Greetery's Nordic Frame Dies to cut out the white stamped and blue layers and then attaching to a white card base.

I did spray the white stamped layer with some Sheer Shimmer Mist spray, so it gives a cool, misty shimmer to the card.  My sentiment and circle die cut are both from SU!'s Brightest Glow stamp and die set.  

So what do you think??  Did I manage to make a nature set look like Christmas??  I think I did, but maybe I'm a little biased!  Haha!!  Anyway, check out all the FABULOUS BLUE cards from the DT right HERE and then play along.  This challenge is open till Thursday, May 30th @ 8:00PM. 

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

Double D - Polka Dots

Hello friends.  Playing along with the gals at the Double D Challenge where they are looking for POLKA DOTS!

How fun is this?!!  If there's polka dots involved, I'm there!!  I have stacks of PTI's dsp packs by color and the large and mini polka dot papers are my faves and used in SO many of my cards. Like this baby card...

Our youngest daughter was in need of a baby card for a shower for one of her girlfriends who is expecting her 1st baby in August and this Baby Face Sweet Pea Die from The Greetery (that I've had for over a year now and never used!) came in really handy!!  I started with my background using the polka dotted dsp from PTI in the color Green Parakeet and an old Cuttlebug embossing folder with dots.  For the pea pod I die cut everything in white card and then used Peeled Paint & Rustic Wilderness DOX inks to color everything but the two flower buds.  

The coordinating stamp set (Baby Face Stamp Set) has lots of different face stamps, so I stamped 3 of the peas with sleeping faces and one of the peas with a wide awake face...we'll see if the mama to be catches on!  Haha!!  I used foam tape behind the pea pod for some dimension, and then finished with a sentiment from the stamp set and a few iridescent gems from PFS.

The DT has lots of fun inspiration for you that you can find right HERE, and this challenge is open till Sunday, June 2nd @ 8:00PM.

 I am also sending this card to the NBUS Challenge since this die set has been unused for over a year now.  Good grief...I am so good at shopping but sooooo slow to use what I buy and THINK that I need!  Oh well, it did come in handy to make this baby card, so I'll justify that it was a good purchase!!  (Quit laughing Darnell!!!)

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

Another Playdate with Michele

Hello friends.  My sweet friend Michele and I had another playdate last Wednesday, and as usual, we hugged, laughed, talked (LOTS of talking!!), played and ate!  We both sure love these playdates and always end inspired and rejuvenated!!  

I started with an Altenew stencil (Charming Delight) that I had asked Michele to bring, and came up with this...

  I think the stenciled layers on this one are so pretty and used Gina K's Light, Medium & Dark Orchid inks on the flowers.  Once my stenciling and splattering was done I used Michele's Organic Linen embossing folder over the panel before attaching a black layer and white card base.  My sentiment strip was hot foiled using Spellbinders Everyday Sentiments II and gold foil.  I finished with a few Disco Ball sequins (Gina K).

These Poppies look blue, don't they?  They're actually purple (Gina K's Light, Medium & Dark Lilac), but no editing on my part could get them to look purple...grrrrr!!  But anyway, we both played with this stencil set from The Ton called Precious Poppies.  After stenciling, I used a green prisma color pencil to add some detail to the leaves, and then added some black splattering too.  I used MB's Pinpoint Leaf Plate to add a bit of interest to my background.

You can see the background detail a bit better in this close up.  I added a black strip to the left side of my stenciled panel and then attached to a white card base.  The sentiment was hot foiled in silver using MB's Posh Hello foil plate and die, and then finished the card with a few silver gems from PFS.

Michele had wanted to play with my Greetery BotaniCuts: Lilac dies, and since I had one cluster already finished from the last time I had played with it, and needed a card for a cousin on my hubby's side who just received a cancer diagnosis, it made this card come together quickly.

I made a frame using a rectangle die on the center of an A2 panel and then embossed it using SSS's Blossom Field embossing folder.  The sentiment is from Penny Black's inspirational sentiments.

We had briefly talked about pulling out a MFT Pure Innocence (Sunny Days Ahead) stamp, and since it feels more like Summer than Spring this past week, I had fun coloring up this cutie with my Copics.  The background is PTI's Pool Water stencil, and I framed her with PFS's Notched Corner Frame Dies.  The sentiment is also from the Sunny Days Ahead set and the little girl and her unicorn floaty have an action wobbler attached behind her.  My pool water background was also sprayed with Sheer Shimmer Sparkle Spray and also added a few iridescent gems from PFS to mimic water droplets.

Well, that's it from me today, but I'm sure Michele has oodles and oodles to share with you as she was quite the busy beaver while here!  You can find all her cards right  HERE.  Thanks so much for sharing your toys Michele and also for the yummy broccoli salad and DELISCIOUS butterscotch cheesecake...they were both soooooo good!  And of course your friendship...I sure do treasure our playdates together!! 

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

Color Hues #87 - Coral & Teal

Hello friends.  Time for another challenge here at Color Hues and our sweet hostess Jules is looking for Coral and Teal this time around.

I loved playing with this color combo and used Concord & 9th's Folkart Flower Turnabout stamp set to come up with this card...

(My coral color photographed pretty well, but my teal looks more blue and in real life it's more of a greenish blue, so just pretend that there's a little more green than blue in my teal color.)  I started by stamping my turnabout with Tropical Teal and Coral Reef inks (Gina K) and then die cutting the image with PFS's Diagonal Stitched Circles.  I added my circle to a panel of Tropical Teal cs than I ran through with SU!'s Subtle embossing folder, and then attached both to a top folding white card base.  

  I die cut my hello sentiment from black cs 3 times for some dimension and then stamped a sentiment strip using Gina K's A Little Hello stamp and die set.  I finished with some silver glitter dots that my sweet friend TK shared with me from Trinity Stamps.

We have lots of beautiful inspiration for you from the DT and our Special GD using this color combination, so check it all out right HERE and then play along with us.  This challenge is open till Wednesday, May 29th @ 9:00AM. 

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

The Flower Challenge Reminder #91 - Color Your Flower

Hello friends.  Just a friendly reminder that there's still time to play along with us this month at The Flower Challenge where we'd like to see you COLOR YOUR FLOWER(S).

I've been on a better press kick lately and had a new plate to try out from LDRS called Whispering Meadow.  Here's what I came up with...

A very CAS card and image, but I love it!  I used my Copics once again to color the image (C1, Y18, BV17, & G14).  I know it's hard to see in the photos but letter press is so cool looking with the image deeply etched into the cotton cardstock, rather than just sitting on the surface of the card like with stamping.  Definitely worth looking into if you've never tried it!

The sentiment also came with the set and is deeply etched into the cs too.  I finished by rounding the top right and bottom corners, adding black & white bakers twine and a few Disco Ball Sequins from Gina K.

The DT has some FABULOUS inspiration to inspire you to color up your flowers this month, and you can check it all out right HERE.  This challenge is open till Saturday, May 25th @ 5:00PM.

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

Peace On Earth #63

Hello friends.  Playing along with the Peace On Earth Christmas Challenge where they have a fabulous PINK mood board!

I was definitely inspired by all the PINK, but went with a snowman theme instead.  In fact, I have so many snowmen stamps and dies that I ended up with 3 cards because I couldn't decide which one to use!  All 3 cards are basically the same...just the snowman image is different on each card.  Here's the first one I made...

 I started with my backgrounds and used Hero Arts Hand Drawn Snowflakes Bold Prints background stamp and Versamark ink and clear embossing powder, followed by ink blending with residual ink from my pink brush.  I used a Cottage Cutz (Winter Snowman) die and white glitter cardstock (PFS) to create my snowman and used my Copic markers to color her scarf, hat, nose, & buttons.  

The framing is from PFS's Notched Corner Frames dies and the card base was embossed with SSS's Ice Snowflakes embossing folder.  (These 2 elements are the same on all 3 cards.)  The sentiment is from Spellbinders Make it Merry Sentiments dies.

This 2nd card uses CCC's Anita Jeram's Sweet Snowman stamp and die and was once again colored with my Copics.  The sentiment is also from the Spellbinders Make it Merry Sentiments dies that I used on the 1st card (there are 3 different sentiments in this set.).  

My last little snowlady is one of my favorites and is from the SSS Warmest Wishes stamp set.  There are 4 different snowmen in this set, but the little gal is my favorite...I think it's her coat/hood!

This one was also colored with my Copics and the sentiment strip is a pre-printed one from SSS.

And here are all 3...YAY for my Christmas stash!!  There is LOTS of wonderful PINK inspiration for you from the DT that you can find HERE, so check it out and play along!  This challenge is open till Thursday, May 16th @ 8:00PM. 

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

Double D - Pretty Florals for Mom

Hello friends.  Playing along with the ladies at the Double D Challenge where they're looking for Pretty Florals for Mom.  

 How could I pass up a pretty floral mood board like that?!!  I couldn't, although I did take my inspiration right from my front yard.  I have planted tulip bulbs for many years, but have never had any actual tulips bloom because of the rabbits...they bite off the bud before it even blooms and then don't even eat it, but just leave it laying next to the leaves.  Grrrrr!!  So this year I was very surprised to have not one, but 3 tulips bloom, and one of them one that I don't ever remember planting! But anyway, take a look at this gorgeous yellow & red tulip...

   I was blown away by this lovely 2 colored bloom and had to try my hand at duplicating it on a card!  Here's what I came up with using Spellbinders Wonderful Tulips Hot Foil Plate & Die set...

The colors aren't a perfect match, but I was still pretty pleased with the way they came out!  I started by hot foiling the tulips in gold, and then used the coordinating stencils to color them using shades of yellow, red and green.

Here's a closer up shot so you can see the blending a bit better.  After I finished coloring, I used the coordinating die to cut the tulip bunch out, leaving a border of white on the left hand side and then scoring it so I had a tab to attach it to the 4 x 5 1/4 panel that I used PTI's Cover Plate: Cross Stitched Die on.  

This view lets you see that the stenciled portion can open and close like a card.  I did use the die to cut a 2nd tulip panel to give a bit more sturdiness to this layer.  My "Have A Wonderful Day" sentiment is also hot foiled in gold and came with the tulip set and I put tiny pieces of foam tape behind it to give a bit of dimension to it.

This shot gives you a better idea of how this card really looks, and how I had room for 3 actual sentiments.  I embossed in gold on the inside flap of the tulips, and then also on the actual inside of the card.  I had already made a Mother's Day card for my mom, so this card will be used for a special friends birthday that is coming up at the end of the month and she LOVES tulips.

Not to overload you with photos in this post, but here's one last shot of my actual inspiration!  Don't you just love it when inspiration hits and you can hardly wait to get started making your card?!!  I had so much fun making this one!!  Even more beautiful inspiration from the talented DT that you can find right HERE, so check it out and play along!  This challenge is open till Sunday, May 12th @ 8:00PM.

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