Color Hues #143 - ORANGE & BLACK

Hello friends.  It's the middle of October and that means it's time for a new challenge here at Color Hues.  Our hostess for this round is the sweet Tracey and she would like to see ORANGE & BLACK on our cards.  Sounds like Halloween to me and that's the direction I went!!

While Halloween is the way I went, you can go any direction you want with this color pairing...as long as you remember to stick with these two colors (neutrals are acceptable).  Here's what I came up with...

I started by blending my background with DOX inks...Dried Marigold, Spiced Marmalade & Carved Pumpkin.  I did add a small die cut circle with temporary adhesive on the back to my panel before I started ink blending to look like the full moon was out.  Next, I stamped in black using two Lavinia sets called Small Trees & Forest Scene on the left and right sides and then stamped the trick or treaters from SU!'s Scary Cute also in black to create my silhouetted scene.

 To finish I added my sentiment (also from SU!'s Scary Cute set) and a few flying bats and then sprayed the whole panel with Sheer Shimmer Sparkle Spray before adding it to a white card base.   

The DT and our Special GD Annette have all outdone themselves with cards to inspire you to play along and you can check it all out right HERE. This challenge is open till Thursday, Oct. 29th @ 9:00AM. Join in the FUN...we can't wait to see what YOU create using these two colors!! 

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

Mice & Cozy #2

Hello friends.  I've been hooked on the ADORABLE mice from Unity's Mice & Cozy stamp set and have a couple more cards to share with you!

This 1st card was colored with my Copics and then cut with The Greetery's Crimped Circle Dies.  Next I worked on my background using Taylored Expressions Fall Foliage stamp and stencil set and then die cut it using The Greetery's Crimped Rectangle Dies so it would match with the circle die cut.

 

Doesn't he just melt your heart hanging by the branch and surrounded by leaves?!  I matted my stenciled background with a piece of black and then mounted to a white card base. I finished with a little embossed strip sentiment (from the Mice & Cozy set) and a few Sparkling Champagne Pearls (PFS).

I hadn't made a book binding fold card in awhile, and this last image seemed to fit it really well!  I colored the image with my Copics again and then used PFS's Rounded & Braided Rectangle Dies (Didn't use the braided dies...just the plain one as I like the simple rounded corners.) My card base is kraft and I embossed another kraft panel with FSJ Fall Foliage ef and then ran a kraft ink pad over the raised areas. I trimmed the panel down a bit to fit the book binding section and the main section of the card before adding the stamped image with foam tape.

I tied twine around the book binding portion of the card and thought about adding a few gems, but decided on just a real light touch of glitter on the pinecone.  This card's more muted than the first card, but it totally makes me think warm and cozy.

I'll be adding both these cards to the Four Seasons Challenge where anything Fall related goes.  This challenge is open till Sunday, Oct. 25th to play along. Happy Fall y'all!!

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

Freshly Made Sketches #757

Hello friends.  I've been having fun with a new set of mice stamps (Unity's Mice & Cozy) and even made a card for the current Freshly Made Sketches challenge that Jen M. is hosting.

I did change up my rectangle for an arch on the sketch, but otherwise I stayed pretty true to what Jen was looking for.  Here's my take...

Don't ya just love paper mice?!!  This little guy just melts my heart...I "almost" want to pick him up and hug him, but I'm sure the tail would creep me out in the end!  But anyway, I Copic colored him and then die cut him with my set of arch dies and then stamped the sentiment (from the set) in the upper half.

My background was embossed with an older FSJ (Fun Stampers Journey) embossing folder which I thought was appropriate with the Fall feeling of the card. I added my stamped arch with foam tape for a bit of dimension and then finished with a few silver pearls (PFS). CAS and so fun to make.

There's lots of awesome cards from the talented DT to inspire you to play along, and you can check it all out right HERE.  This challenge is open till Monday, Oct. 12th @ 3:00PM.

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

Cosmos Border Frame - Christmas Version

Hello friends.  I've had a couple posts (HERE and HERE) where I used the Cosmos Border Frame stencils from The Ton, and had mentioned I still wanted to use these stencils with a Christmas version, so I made 2 cards to share with you today.  Here's the 1st one...

I started using residual color from my red ink blending brush on stencil #1 and it left more of a pink than red hue, but once I added the rest of the stencils with Cherry Cobbler and Merry Merlot inks (SU!), the 1st layer didn't look as pink to me.  

  I used darker green inks for the foliage and then finished simply with a matte gold die cut sentiment (Special Merry Christmas) from Memory Box, and a few gold pearls from PFS. I also used a gold pen to fill in the flower centers and then sprayed the whole card front with Gold Sheer Shimmer Mist for an all over sparkle.

My 2nd card was ink blended with a bit heavier hand with the same red inks and then turquoise inks (Gina K) for the foliage.

My sentiment is a favorite of mine from PB's yuletide wishes stamp set, and then I embossed the whole panel using SU!'s Subtle embossing folder.  I trimmed my panel down just a bit to add a Cherry Cobbler border/card base.  This one is definitely my favorite of the two, but I really do like both of them and think the stencils made lovely Christmas cards! I think I can safely say I've gotten my money's worth from this set of stencils!

I'm sharing these cards with the Peace On Earth Christmas Challenge where it's an anything goes as long as it's Christmas, and I think both my cards qualify!  Lots of BEAUTIFUL cards from the DT to inspire you on getting those Christmas cards done...time is definitely running out!!

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

Peek-A-Boo

Hello friends.  Sharing a cute (NOT spooky!!) Halloween card for my youngest granddaughter Bella who will be 2 in December and playing along with the Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge.

Here's what I came up with...

Isn't that just the cutest image?! It's from an old wood block/red rubber stamp from Whipper Snapper Designs called Peek-A-Boo Ghost.  I colored the image with my Copics and then stamped and die cut the posted from PB. The image fit so perfectly in the postage frame opening...gotta love it!!  I used an older SU! embossing folder for the spider web and Certainly Celery cs for my background, and then lightly ran a white pigment ink pad over the webbing to make it stand out a bit more.  I also sprayed the background with some Sheer Shimmer Spritz Spray for some sparkle...you can see it a bit better in my close-up...

I finished with an orange polka dot bow that I'm sure Bella will pull off first thing, but I love how it gave a bright POP of color to the card!  That's 4 Halloween cards done and one more to go for my youngest grandson, so stay tuned!!

LOTS of fun Halloween cards from the DT that you can find right HERE for inspiration and the challenge is open till the end of the month. 

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

Freshly Made Sketches #756

Hello friends.  A sweet friend made some absolutely adorable cards last week using mice images and I told myself I didn't NEED them (but did I order them?? You bet I did...I admit I'm weak!!) and that I had several mouse images in my stamp collection I could use.  I pulled out an oldie but goody from MFT and came up with a card to play along with Freshly Made Sketches.

Using Kim's sketch, I came up with this...

This little pumpkin toting mouse is from MFT's Harvest Mouse and I colored him with my Copics and then fussy cut him out. (I do have the dies but didn't want the white border around him!)  I used a SSS Fall Foliage ef for my kraft background and also on a piece of Elegant Eggplant cs (SU!) that fit my PFS Dotted Postage Square Die.

Per Kim's sketch, I used a scrap I found in my Taylored Expressions Fall Foliage Background stamp & stencil set package that matched perfectly with my mouse and the embossed eggplant piece. Don't ya love it when you save a leftover scrap and actually end up using it?! It's at least a year old and maybe even 2 years ago. I used foam tape behind my sweet mouse and also on my strip sentiment that I embossed in white on kraft using Gina K's All At Once Greetings. Pretty CAS (for me) and I really like the way it turned out!!

As usual I'm getting in at the tail end of this challenge, but you can find all kinds of beautiful cards from the DT and those already in the gallery right HERE.  

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

Color Hues #142 - AMBER & BURNT RED

Hello friends.  Happy October!!  We have a fun color pairing for you here at the Color Hues Challenge with Stef as our hostess...

Don't these colors make you think Autumn?!  That's where my mind went and this is what I came up with...

I started by ink blending a background with DOX inks in Fossilized Amber, Wild Honey, & Fired Brick. When it was dry I added a piece of 2 sided sticky sheet over one side of a piece of heavy vellum and the other side to the ink blended background. Next I ran it through my SSS Falling Leaves ef. I loved how the piece of vellum looked but you couldn't really see the ink blended colors!  Maybe if I had used thinner light weight vellum it would have shown through better...next time!  I ink blended another piece of cs and then foiled it with SB's Autumn Leaf Border and gold foil...I think it turned out beautiful!!

 I added a Crushed Curry (SU!) card base to the vellum layer and then added the ink blended and foiled strip across the vellum layer.  I added 2 tiny strips of black cs to the edges of the foiled strip and then finished with a die cut sentiment from MB (Just A Note).  Even though my background didn't turn out the way I pictured it in my head, I still love the way this card turned out!

Make sure you check out all the beautiful cards from the DT and our Special GD Crystal Minkler for inspiration and then play along with us!  We'd love to see YOU in the gallery!  This challenge is open till Wednesday, Oct. 14th @ 9:00AM. 
 

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

Freshly Made Sketches #755

Hello friends.  Playing along with the current Freshly Made Sketches Challenge hosted by my sweet friend Donna.  She has a wonderful sketch for us to follow, and yes, I did see a TREE and that's the direction I took!

 

I knew right away I wanted to pull out an Altenew set I bought last year and had so much fun with!  It's a very graphic set and not my usual style at all, but for some reason this set just really called to me.  So along with Donna's sketch, here's this year's version of Festive Triangles...

I hope you can see Donna's sketch in my card?  I went with pastel colors (Concord & 9th) and started with the basic triangle stamp for my "A", and then used my MISTI to line up the rest of the letters to spell PEACE. 

 I stamped over the triangle "A" with one of the decorative triangles in the set to make it look more like a Christmas tree and then finished with the sentiment strip and a small star gem for the top of the tree.  After looking at it for a while, I wondered if it was too plain, but then decided I really did like the CAS look of it!

Donna and the DT all have some wonderful inspiration to inspire you to play along that you can find right HERE.  This challenge is open till Monday, Sept. 28 @ 3:00PM.

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

A Few Friendly Ghosts

Hello friends.  Just a quick post to share 2 Halloween cards I made for my oldest 2 grandkids (they're at an age where they like to save my cards and display them on their dressers), and I'm sharing them over at the Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge.

Both cards were made with mostly products from The Greetery, and although there was a lot of small pieces and busy work, I love how they turned out and was glad I put the time into them!

I used the Market Place No. 1 & Market Place No. 2 dies for the larger houses and the Market Place Mini dies for the smaller houses on the right hand side of each card.  Most of the Halloween elements were from PTI's Spookville Manor set (done by Betsy Veldman waaaaay back when she was still designing for PTI).  The gray cats are from Poppystamps and the names on the buildings are from The Greetery's Market Place Eerie Avenue stamp set.

The upper half of my backgrounds were inked with DOX inks and a small circle mask to bring the full moon in.  I had a lot of fun picking and choosing the colors and decorating these haunted houses up for Halloween...hopefully the grands will get a kick out of them too!

Here they both are together and I can't even pick a favorite...I love them both!  This challenge is only open for a couple more days, but the DT and the cards already in the gallery are FA-BOO-LOUS and filled with inspiration!  You can find it all HERE.  

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

CAS Christmas Sept. 2026 - Woodland Critters

Hello friends.  Playing along with the CAS Christmas Challenge where they are looking for Woodland Critters.

I was recently enabled by a friend (you know who you are!) about a sale at Unity Stamps and HAD to take advantage of a few new adorable stamps!  This was one of them that fit the challenge perfectly...

The name of the stamp is Woodland Visitors...pretty fitting, huh?!  And I love that this red rubber stamp has all the shading etched into it, so not much coloring needed...just a few Copics on the bunny, the bird, and the carrot nose.  

I added a bit of TH's Grit Paste for snow and while that was drying stamped my sentiment from an CCC Anita Jeram stamp set called Make A Wish Mini. I added a piece of gingham-like DSP from PTI on the bottom third of the card and finished with a piece of jute twine, and the sentiment backed with foam tape. And a couple gold dots. Easy peasy and done. I really LOVE this image and what a cute and quick card it made.

Sweet Lisa Elton is hosting this challenge, and her and the rest of the DT all have some amazing cards to share for inspiration that you can all see right HERE.  This challenge is open till Wednesday, September 30th.

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

Freshly Made Sketches #754

Hello friends.  Judy's sketch over at the Freshly Made Sketches challenge made me put my thinking cap on, but luckily, the DT had some fantastic inspiration to get the juices flowing again!

It was the blank part at the top half of the sketch that got me, but once the idea came, it was full steam ahead. I came up with an easy AND CAS card that I really liked when finished. Take a look...

It's been a bit cooler here (and wet!!!), so I've had Fall on the brain, and this sweet little line up of pumpkins from Impression Obsession (by Lindsay Ostrom D19277) fit the bottom half of this card

perfectly!  I stamped the image in black and heat set it with clear embossing powder, and then did some paper piecing which I haven't done in quite some time!  I used dsp from PTI in Canyon Clay, Basic Kraft, & Hawaiian Shores and fussy cut out each pumpkin and I really love how this came out.

For the top half of the card I used a piece of kraft cs and embossed it with my SU! Subtle ef.  I finished it quite simply with a piece of narrow seam binding ribbon to cover the center of the card and then added a strip sentiment from Gina K's All At Once Greetings that I embossed in white on black cs. I used foam tape behind the sentiment for a bit of dimension and then told myself to leave it as it really didn't need anything else.  

Nothing like getting in at the last minute, but I craft when I can these days!  This challenge is only open till 3:00PM today, but maybe if you're quick you can still play along.  You can find the DT's fabulous cards right HERE if you need some inspiration!

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

Color Hues #141 - PURPLE & ARTICHOKE

Hello friends.  It's the middle of the month and time for another challenge here at Color Hues. Sheri is our hostess for this round and she has chosen the beautiful pairing of PURPLE & ARTICHOKE.

I had fun with this one, using an older set from The Greetery (Print Shop: Fresh Floral) that I hadn't used in quite some time!  Take a look...

 This set uses stencils and stamps, and I have to admit it was fun to do a little stamping after using not much other than stencils and die cuts the past few years (not including sentiments!!).  The larger flowers are the stenciled ones and the rest are stamped.  I used Gina K's trio of Lilac inks and the closest I could find to artichoke (after googling it) was my Old Olive (SU!) stamp pad.

 I trimmed my panel down and added it to a top folding white card base, and then added my sentiment from SB's Bouquet of Hugs Sentiments which was letter pressed.

I also added a single flower that I stenciled, stamped and die cut, and then added with foam tape down by the sentiment.  A few Disco Ball sequins (Gina K) were added for a touch of bling.

The DT and our Special GD Amanda all have some beautiful cards to inspire you that you can find right HERE, so check it out and play along!  We'd love to see YOU in the gallery!!  This challenge is open till Tuesday, Sept. 29th @ 9:00AM.

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