Double D - Reach for the STARS

Hello friends.  Are you all surviving this heat wave??!  I'm trying not to complain (too much!) because we have a new A/C unit and most of all because it's not snow!!  This kind of hot weather is great for staying inside and making cards though, and the Double D Challenge has a fun one right now called Reach for the STARS.

I was inspired by the top left photo and used PTI's Night Sky Coverplate (that my sweet friend Cat die cut for me!) to come up with this card...

I used one of the stencils from The Greetery's Rolling Hills set to create my red & white striped background (Betsy from The Greetery got me hooked on this idea!!) and then placed the navy blue Night Sky Coverplate die cut over it.  Next I stamped and colored with Copics the little Anita Jeram mouse from CCC eating an ice cream cone...can you see his little pink tongue going after that Blue Moon ice cream?? (That was my little brother's favorite ice cream flavor when we were growing up...I wonder if he still likes it??!!)  

 I placed a small white crimped circle die cut (The Greetery) on top of the red & white stripes so my little mouse would stand out more, and also placed some foam strips behind the mouse for some added dimension.  It still looked a little plain to me, so I added a few stars from The Greetery's Rustic Star Small dies with Real Red and silver mirror cardstock, and then finished with a couple silver gems and a misting of Sheer Shimmer Sparkle Mist.  I left the sentiment off because there just didn't seem to be a good spot for one with this layout, but I'm thinking I'll send it to my 3 grands who live a couple hours north of us along with some $$ for their parents to treat them to some ice cream this Summer.  

The DT has lots of inspiration to inspire you to play along with them, and you can find it all right HERE.  This challenge is open till Sunday, June 30th @ 8:00PM.

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

Color Hues #89 - SAGE & PINK

Hello friends.  It's time for a new challenge here at Color Hues, and I'm the hostess this time and I've picked the colors SAGE and PINK to play with for the next two weeks.

Remember that any hues of these two colors are welcome, but try not to add other colors except for neutrals, and most of all, just have FUN using these two color hues on your cards.

Gina K had released a stamp/die/stencil set awhile back called Modern Floral, and at the time I didn't think I needed it. (You know...trying to behave and all that!!)  And of course, shortly after that I realized I did in fact NEED it and then it was too late...sold out!  Finally, a few more came back in, and I was lucky enough to grab it.  Here's what I came up with using the challenge colors and this fun stamp set...

Aren't those FUN and kinda funky flowers?!  I started with the outlines in black ink, and then used the stencils to add in the shades of pink and sage on the tiny flowers.  

I attached my panel to a top folding white card base and then added a strip of striped black and white dsp from PTI and a thin strip of black cardstock to the left side of the card.  My sentiment comes from Honey Bee's Bitty Buzzwords stamps and dies, and I die cut the word "friend" from black and backed it with the shadow die cut in vellum.  I also stamped the word "hello" multiple times along the edge of the thin black strip for a bit of a different look.  I finished this sweet card with a few black enamel dots (Gina K).

The DT and our Special GD Amy did a fabulous job with this color combination, so check it all out right HERE and then play along with us...we'd love to see YOU in our gallery!  This challenge is open till Saturday, June 29th @ 9:00AM.

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

The Flower Challenge #92 - Reminder

Hello friends.  A friendly reminder that there's still time to play along with us at The Flower Challenge this month and we'd love to have you Use Our Sketch this time around.

This is such an easy sketch to use...just remember to add flowers either in the circles, or the center strip, or even the background.  I used an older Altenew Fantasy Floral Die to make 2 flowers in place of the circles and came up with this...

My background is a strip of Magenta Madness cs (SU!) embossed with the Wrapped in Texture embossing folder (also SU!) and then very thin strips of black card on each side.  The flowers were die cut in white, and then I ink blended them both is shades of pinks and oranges and finished with a bit of water splattering.  The leaves are from PTI's Into the Blooms: Dahlia die set and cut from black with a bit of rose gold embossing on the edges.

My sentiment is from Altenew's Essential Sentiment Strips Die Set.  I finished with a few gold pearls (Gina K).  We sure hope you'll give this sketch a try using your flowers and share it with us HERE at The Flower Challenge.  This challenge is open till June 25th @ 5:00PM.

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

Bokeh, Bokeh, Bokeh

Hello friends.  The Group of Seven Cardmakers is using the Bokeh technique this month, and although it's a technique I have done before, it's been awhile and I decided to have a play with it.  The current Peace On Earth Challenge also fit nicely with this technique, where I was inspired by the snowflakes and hues of blue.  I have 2 cards to share with you, since the piece I made was big enough (6x6) to get 2 pieces from.  Here's the first one...

   I started by stamping Hero Arts Hand Drawn Snowflakes Bold Prints background stamp with Versamark ink and white embossing powder, and then blending blue and purple inks over it.  Next I used a Color Box Rounded stencil (it has all different size circles on it) and ink blended again in the blue and purple inks.  Then to achieve the Bokeh look, I used Hero Arts White Unicorn pigment ink with the same stencil...I almost didn't want to cut into this panel as it was so pretty!

There really is more purple on this card than shows in my photos...for some reason it just didn't pick it up very well!  I made a smaller than A2 size card (3 3/4 x 5 1/2) so that I could have enough of the print for my 2nd card.  I cut my piece on an angle, and then added a small strip of silver cardstock, before adding my die cut sentiment (MB - Special Merry Christmas).  I also added a small Impression Obsession snowflake that I die cut in the silver cardstock and placed a small purple gem (PFS) in the center of it for a little bling.  

I made my 2nd card the same size as the 1st card, and embossed the front of the card base with an older Darice snowflake ef.  I used SSS's Holiday Frames and Night of Navy cardstock for the frame and added my small leftover piece of Bokeh to the back of the frame.

I finished once again with a snowflake die cut from the same Impression Obsession set from silver cardstock with another purple gemstone in the center.  Really both very simple cards once the Bokeh background was completed.

And here are both cards together...

If you'd like to play along with the Peace On Earth Challenge, you can check it out right HERE...this challenge is open till Thursday, June 13th @ 8:00PM.  If you've never done the Bokeh technique, check it out HERE...lots of helpful tips and a video from all the gals on the GO7 team.  It's a very easy technique and really makes a WOW impact!  

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

The Flower Challenge #92 - Use Our Sketch

Hello friends.  Welcome back to The Flower Challenge where we'd like you to Use Our Sketch for the month of June.

A pretty simple layout, and just perfect for adding a couple flowers!  Here's what I came up with using a favorite new die set from Spellbinders (Fresh Picked Anemonies)...

For my background piece I used Altenew's Masonry Wall EF (thanks Michele!) and then lightly ink blended gray over it to make the lines show up a bit better.  The flowers were die cut using different scraps of Concord & 9th cardstock, ink blended around the top and bottom edges a bit, and then glued together and added to the bottom of the center panel.

I finished with a strip sentiment and a few black enamel dots from Gina K.  Pretty simple card but I really like the way it turned out!

The DT has lots of wonderful inspiration that you can find right HERE, so check it out and play along with us...we'd love to see YOU in the gallery!  This challenge is open till Tuesday, June 25th @ 5:00PM. 

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

Color Hues #88 - YELLOW & BLUE

Hello friends.  Happy June and welcome to another challenge here at Color Hues.  Our hostess for the next two weeks is the sweet and talented Karen and she would like us to use YELLOW and BLUE on our cards.

What a pretty color pairing for the start of Summer, right?!!  With all the flowers in bloom in my neck of the woods, I just had to make another flower card, and here's what I came up with using the challenge colors...

Now I realize there's no such thing as blue leaves in real life, but I think they look pretty cool with the yellow roses from PFS's Garden Roses stamp, stencil & die set.  

My background on the bottom was hot foiled in Cobalt Blue foil using a new (to me) hot foil plate from Spellbinders called Plaid Tidings Background that I scooped up in their big warehouse sale for $5!  The top half of the background is from SSS's Blossom Field embossing folder.

On this close up you can see the shine from the foil a bit better.  The "Just a Note" sentiment was hot foiled also in the Cobalt Blue foil using Memory Box's Posh Just A Note foil plate and die.  I finished with a few PFS yellow gems, and am pretty tickled with the way this whimsical floral card turned out!

And now we want to see what YOU can create with these two colors!  You can find lots of beautiful inspiration from the rest of the DT and our Special GD right HERE.  This challenge is open till Friday, June 14th @ 9:00AM.

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