Just Us Girls #781 - STENCIL WEEK

Hello friends.  Had a brand-new stencil to play with and it's STENCIL week at Just Us Girls, where my friend Bobby is hosting.

I have been a BIG fan of the stencils from The Ton company, but only get one every now and then because of their prices.  I've also been a BIG fan of the postage collage stencils and dies, so when the Postage: Wildflowers stencil came out, cost didn't matter...HAD to have it!!  I know, I know...I have a problem but truly have no desire to be cured!  

I have 2 cards to share with you using the same stencil set, the first one being done in the colors they suggested.  Take a look...

Isn't that such a pretty grouping of flowers?!  They look a little on the lavender side to me, but they really are a light and medium pink and then some yellow & green!  There's 4 stencils in the set and they all are very small and very detailed!  I still need to work on lining them up better, but with them being so small, it's hard to see to match some of the layers up!  

I used some of the price stamps from WF's postage collage sets, and then finished with some jute twine and a few Disco Ball sequins (Gina K).

My 2nd card is basically the same, but I used different colors and a bit of background shading to come up with this...

 A bit more colorful than my first card, but still happy with both of them.  I did add a sentiment from WF's Paper Hug Sentiments and some postage stamps to add a bit more interest.

I did add foam tape behind my sentiment and also the "HUGS INSIDE" circle stamp/die cut.  A bit of black & white bakers' twine and a single iridescent gem (PFS) finished off this 2nd card.

I am also going to add this card to the Stencil Fun Challenge where the challenge is summer themed and I'm thinking colorful flowers are always something I look forward to after a long and cold winter.

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

DD Beach Challenge

Hello friends.  Playing along with the DD Challenge today and they are looking for "Going to the beach" cards.  While I think my going to the beach days are long over, the weather here in my neck of the woods has been in the mid 90's with heat indexes over 100, so the beach is definitely the place to be!!

The timing of this challenge was perfect as I had just received some new goodies from Waffleflower that I think fit this challenge perfectly!  I actually have 2 cards to share with you, and the first one uses a stencil that I've had for over 2 years (I think) and never used, and also a small crab from WF's Happy Crabs Dies.  Take a look...

I stenciled the lined circle first (Newton's Nook Retro Sun & Palms stencil) with residual ink left on my pink, orange, & turquoise blending brushes, and then used the 2nd stencil to ink up the palm trees.  

 Isn't that little crab adorable?!  Well, I mean as adorable as a crab can be, right??!  I die cut the pieces from white cs and then ink blended with the same brushes I used for the lined circle.  You can just see the hint of blue underneath the top layer...I was going for a bit of a blue crab vibe here.  He was pop dotted for some dimension and to make him stand out a bit.  The sentiment is one of my all time favorites from Catherine Pooler called Vitamin Sea.  I finished with a few gems from PFS.

My 2nd card uses a few more new WF goodies, including the Coastline Die n Stencil, and the Inquisitive Crab Die.  I stenciled my background first with A Colorful Life Cloud Edger and then added the stenciled and die cut waves.  The ginormous crab was die cut from white cs and once again blended with coral inks from PFS.  I love, LOVE the size of this guy!!

I also added a strip of kraft cs at the bottom for my sandy beach and then finished with another Catherine Pooler sentiment from her Hook, Line and Sinker stamp set.  I also added a few gems from PFS.  

The DT has so many wonderful beach scene cards to inspire you to play along and you can find them all right HERE.  This challenge is open till Sunday, June 29th @ 8:00PM.

I'm also adding this card to Darnell's NBUS Challenge #75 since the Retro Sun & Palm stencil is a little older and never been used...cough, cough!!

   

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

Freshly Made Sketches #691

Hello friends.  I'm playing along with the gals over at the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge...I mean I couldn't not play when my dear friend Michele is the hostess this week and chose the sketch!  And confession time...I liked Michele's card so much that I basically CASE'd it!!

You can find Michele's beautiful card HERE and here's my almost identical card...

I used HB's Lovely Layers Wildflowers dies to create my Poppy, and then placed it on a background using MB's Pinpoint Leaf Plate.  I love, LOVED Michele's simple white on vellum sentiment and used MB's Just a Note Posh Script dies for mine. 

   I did a little bit of ink blending on the Poppy and leaves and then finished with a few gold dots (PFS).  Very simple card but I love the way it turned out!  Thanks so much for such wonderful inspiration Michele!!

Edited to Add:  My Poppy will also fit the Just Us Girls Challenge...

 Lots more wonderful inspiration from the DT and you can find it all right HERE.  This challenge is open till Monday, June 23rd @ 3:00PM. 

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

Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge #90

Hello friends.  Still trying to get caught up with Christmas cards, so playing along with the gals over at the Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge where they have a very colorful and sweet mood board to inspire us!

I was inspired by ALL the colors and the sweet treats on the top left photo, and came up with this card using PFS's Holiday Cookie Jar set that was gifted to Michele and I by our sweet friend TK!

 I made this a shaped card by cutting the back piece on a folded piece of white cs and moved the die up just a bit so it didn't cut through the fold when I die cut it.  The outline of the jar was die cut with Cherry Cobbler cs.  For the cookies I hot foiled all the images with Speckled Prism foil, and then colored them with the coordinating stencils.

Here's a bit of a side view so you can see how the card opens for the inside sentiment.  The little tag at the top with the "very merry" is an oldie from PTI called Tiny Tags.

Here's a closer up of the cookies and hopefully you can see some of the sparkle from the foiling better.  I finished with some red glitter Stickles on the holly berries and also a few red glitter gems (PFS).  This was so much fun to make that I made another one in a different color frame...

Basically the same except for the different colored frame on the cookie jar and clear gems (PFS).  I left a sentiment off the front of this one and just put it on the inside.  I made another one that I turned into a shaker, but it didn't turn out quite like I was thinking it would, and I have another one die cut in kraft with white embossing that I just haven't had time to finish yet.  Truly a fun little set to play with, so thank you SO much TK for sharing with Michele and I!

There's lots more inspiration from the DT that you can find right HERE, so check it out and play along to get started on those Christmas cards.  This challenge is open till Thursday, July 3rd @ 8:00PM. 

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

Color Hues #112 - Peach & Cobalt

Hello friends.  Time for a new challenge here at Color Hues, and our sweet hostess Stef would like to see Cobalt & Peach on our cards.

Isn't that such a pretty pairing?!  I loved working with it and used an older PB set (country charisma) to come up with this card...

 I colored the pitcher and florals with my Copics and then die cut with the coordinating dies.  I used PB's posted stamp and die to make a space for my pitcher and florals to rest on and also added a bit of blue blending to the background of the posted layer.  I adhered everything to a white card base that I embossed using SU!'s Subtle embossing folder.

 The post sentiment stamp was a part of the posted stamp set and I added foam tape behind it for a bit of dimension.  To finish this card I added WOS to the peach colored blooms and a few peach colored gems (SU!).

We have lots of beautiful inspiration for you from the DT and our Special GD Teresa S. to get you started and you can find them all right HERE.  This challenge is open till Sunday, June 29th @ 9:00AM.  We look forward to seeing YOU in the gallery!

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

The Flower Challenge #103 Reminder

Hello friends.  Just a friendly reminder that there's still time to play with us at The Flower Challenge where we are looking for EMBOSSING (heat or dry) on your floral cards.

I actually have 2 very simple cards to share with you today because I bought a set of embossing folders from Michael's that came as a 2 pack and I wanted to use both of them, so 2 cards!

I used a Jill Foster layout for both of my cards, and this 1st one uses about 2/3rds of the A2 panel that I dry embossed with the 2D embossing folder by Recollections.  I added a thin strip of black to split the two spaces and added my sentiment using an older PTI Think Big #22 set.  The flower comes from a set I had laying out for another card and decided to use it again.  It's a collaboration set from Altenew & PFS called Celebrate Us from 2020, and I had never used it until I made another card for a different challenge.  Nothing like waiting 5 years to use a stamp set, huh?!  

You can see the embossing better on this close up and I love that these 2 embossing folders were such a bargain...2 for $5.99!  

And here's the 2nd card...

Same flower in a different color, the 2nd embossing folder, a different orientation layout, and another sentiment from the same Think Big #22 set.

   

And here they are both together...

Do you have a favorite?  I like them both and was thrilled to get more use from the stamp set that had been neglected for years, and to also get 2 new embossing folders for only $6 bucks!  The DT has lots of beautiful inspiration to share with you right HERE, so check it all out and then play along with us!  Remember you can use DRY EMBOSSING or HEAT EMBOSSING along with your favorite florals to play along!  This challenge is open till Wednesday, June 25th @ 5:00PM.

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

Peace On Earth Christmas Challenge #89

Hello friends.  I think I've mentioned before that my Christmas stash for this year is very small right now, and I really NEED to get on the ball!  So, Peace On Earth Christmas Challenge to the rescue!!

I took my inspiration from the top right picture of the sweet little birdies and snowflakes and used an older Impression Obsession stamp (E19968) and came up with this card...

Such a sweet trio of birdies perched on a leaf & berry branch!  I colored them with my Copics and added WOS to their tummies and Glossy Accents to their beaks.  I used Gina K's ML#2 to cut out the panel and back it with the black layer.  For my background I used SSS's Icy Snowflakes EF and also matted it in black and attached to a white card base.  

 I finished with some black baker's twine, a pre-printed sentiment strip from SSS, and a few iridescent faceted gems from SU!.  

One more for the Christmas stash...now if I can just keep going!!  This challenge is open till Thursday, June 12th @ 8:00PM.  

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

Double D Challenge - FRAMES

Hello friends.  Playing along at the Double D Challenge where they are looking for FRAMES.

My frames are not quite as ornate as the ones in the photo, but I did have fun making a set of 4 cards using The Greetery's Sweetest Frame stamp and die set.  I also used The Greetery's Best Bouquet Details die to add the florals on this set of cards that will be going to a dear friend of mine as part of her birthday gift in August.  All 4 cards are the same except I changed up the colors of the flowers on each card.  Let's get started...

 I stamped the larger and smaller frames using crumb cake ink on cream colored cs and attahed to a kraft card base.  Next I die cut the greenery from Old Olive cs and then ink blended a bit of darker green ink to the bases of the leaves.  I die cut all the flowers from cream colored cs and then ink blended them with pinks and purples.  I added Sparkling Champagne metallic pearls to the pink flower centers and a few in random spots too, and then finished with a sentiment using Spellbinders Everyday Sentiments II that were foiled in gold on kraft cs.

Card number 2 is the same except for the flowers being in pinks and oranges and the sentiment being "Just A Note".  I love, LOVE pinks and oranges together...one of my favorite color combos!!

Card #3 was done using peach and yellows for the flowers and the sentiment is "Thanks A Bunch".  

Card #4 was done with a rainbow of colors on the flowers, and the sentiment is simply "Birthday Wishes".

I wish I had thought to take a picture of all 4 cards together...they really do make a lovely set of cards and I think my friend is going to be tickled!  Although I stamped the frames on these cards (I didn't want to add anymore bulk than there already is with the flowers), there is coordinating dies for the frames, and I think this set is going to be a staple in my supplies!  

There is lots of beautiful inspiration from the DT over at the Double D and you can find it all right HERE.  This challenge is open till Sunday, June 15th @ 8:00PM.

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

The Flower Challenge #103 - Add Embossing (Heat or Dry)

Hello friends.  Time for a new challenge here at The Flower Challenge and we'd like to see EMBOSSING (heat or dry) on your floral cards.

I used a beloved Gina K embossing folder called Tapestry for a part of my background and came up with this...

I started by stamping my floral image from The Greetery's Sketchbook Roses stamp set using Berry Burst, Rich Razzleberry, Pear Pizazz, & Mossy Meadow inks (SU!) and then used the coordinating die to cut it out.  I used a top folding white card base and added a strip of Berry Burst cs that I had used the embossing folder on to the base before adhering my floral image.

I added a simple sentiment strip that I embossed in white on black using All At Once Greetings by Gina K, and also added a few silver gems that don't really show up in my photos.  A pretty simple card, but I love the color and the stamp set along with that embossed strip in the background.

The DT has lots of beautiful inspiration using both dry and heat embossing to get you started, so check it all out right HERE and then play along with us!  This challenge is open till Wednesday, June 25th @ 5:00PM.

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