Cosmos Border Cards

Hello friends.  Sorry that other than my Color Hues DT posts, I've been a bit MIA.  My 94-year-old mom had a bad fall about a month ago and has gone from the hospital to rehab and then to assisted living where she had been in independent living.  Needless to say, my days have been full between sitting with her and taking her to different appointments. She still has a ways to go with healing and I'm not sure if she'll ever get back to independent living, but that's the goal.  We'll see...  Anyway, not much stamping or card making going on here...just trying to keep up with commenting! And on top of all that, blogger has not been playing nice with my blog and is no longer updating the blogs I follow...grrrrrrr!

When I posted my card for the current Color Hues Challenge, I received so many wonderful comments about it using a stencil from The Ton called Cosmos Border Stencil, and I remembered when I first got the stencil a few months ago, I made several cards with it using different color combos. Thought you might like to see the other 3 cards I made with the stencils, just in case you were on the fence about whether you NEEDED this stencil set or not!  Take a look...

   I used Gina K's light, medium & dark Orchid inks to stencil these Cosmos, and then added the SB's Hemstitch Die for a border  just like I did in the card for Color Hues.  My sentiment is from sweet Michele and I believe it is a SB's press plate die. A few clear gems (PFS) finished this one off.

For this one I decided to use a rainbow of colors (all Gina K inks) and really liked how bright and cheerful it turned out!  The die cut and stamped sentiment is also Gina K's Birthday Sparkle. I added a few Cream Puff sequins from SSS to finish this one off.

This one was done with Lilac and Carnation inks (Gina K) and I was trying to do an eclipse card with it, but there was too much white in the center, so not much of the hello (also Gina K) was hidden like when you're die cutting from more of a all over print.  Oh well, it still turned out pretty and someone will enjoy receiving it!

Usually I try to make at least 2 cards when I get a new stamp or die set so that I can say I got my money's worth...since I made 4 cards already with this set of stencils and want to try making some Christmas cards with it, I think I definitely have gotten my money's worth from it!  

I wish I could say I'll be back to regular posting, but at this point I'm just taking it day by day. My mom definitely needs me right now and that has to be my priority.  I know many of you have been in my shoes caring for an elderly parent and will totally understand where I am coming from, so don't give up on me...I'll post when I can.  Hugs. :0)   

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

Color Hues #139 - YELLOW & ORANGE

Hello friends.  Time for a new challenge here at Color Hues, and as the hostess I chose the color pairing of  YELLOW & ORANGE.  I love Sunflowers and thought this would be a great color pairing for them, but there is so much else you can do with these two colors...any florals, Fall leaves, Halloween, etc.!

I did make a Sunflower card, but while I was waiting for an order to come in with a die I wanted to use for the sentiment, I started another card using a stencil from The Ton (Cosmos Border Stencils) that I've been having a lot of fun with lately.  Take a look...

Aren't the soft and darker yellows and oranges so pretty?!  I used a light kraft for the leaves and just love the way it turned out!

 I used SB's Hemstitch die for a border and placed a piece of matte gold cs behind so the border would really show up.  I used the same matte gold cs for my die cut sentiment from Kristina Werner and finished with a few sparkling gold gems from PFS.

And here's my Sunflower that I started first.  I used SU!'s Sunflower 3D embossing folder and the blackout technique where I inked up the debossed side of folder with Mango Melody (SU!) ink for my yellow and then after running it through my die cutting machine, I rubbed my Pumpkin Pie (SU!) ink pad over the raised background.  I absolutely LOVE the way this turned out...so much depth and dimension!!

I didn't want to take away from the print, so I finished the card simply by adding it to a white card base and adding my hello sentiment from Kristina Werner's Framed Script Hello Dies that I die cut once from the matte gold cs and twice from plain white so I could layer it enough to stand out.  I did add a few Sparkling Champagne Pearls from PFS to finish it off.

So there's my two ideas for the yellow and orange color pairing, and our talented DT and Special GD Priscilla have lots more ideas to inspire you with these two colors.  I hope you'll have as much fun as I did with these colors and can't wait to see what YOU come up with!  This challenge is open till Saturday, August 29th @ 9:00AM.

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

Color Hues #138 - NAVY & TEAL

Hello friends.  Another month has sped by and here we are in August already!  Karen is our hostess for the next two weeks here at Color Hues and she has chosen an awesome color pairing that I think is perfect for Summer!

I have a really, really simple card for you today that totally fit a stamp set that I've had for a year or two and never used. (Yes, I'm real good at collecting stamping supplies but not always so great at using them in a timely manner!  Oh well, better late than never!!)  Take a look...

 The stamp set is SU!'s Sunrise Sailing and I used Night of Navy and Bermuda Bay inks to create this calm and peaceful scene.  

If I hadn't adhered a layer of Night of Navy cs behind my stamped panel this would have been a single layer card, but the added layer does add a bit of framing to the simple card.  I have a couple of Summer birthdays for the guys in my family, so this will work out great for one of them.  In fact, I may even make a couple more and just change up the colors...super simple and easy!!

The DT and our Special GD Rachel Ball all have some awesome cards to inspire you to play along, and you can check it all out right HERE.  We can't wait to see what YOU come up with using these 2 colors!

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