Color Hues #131 - CORAL & GREEN

Hello friends.  Time for another challenge here at Color Hues and our sweet hostess Sheri has chosen the color pairing of CORAL & GREEN for us to play with for the next two weeks.

 I had quite a bit of fun with these colors using a stamp & stencil set from PFS (Floral Focus) and even ended up with 2 cards using the leftover pieces from card 1...a win, win!!  Here's the 1st one...

  I embossed the image with Altenew's Rose Gold embossing powder on white cs and then stenciled using SU!'s Flirty Famingo and Mossy Meadow for the flowers and leaves.  Next I used PFS's Simply Diamonds Coverplate die to cut my stenciled piece. Setting all the pieces aside, I used a piece of Mossy Meadow cs and embossed the Floral Focus stamp again with the rose gold powder and then cut again with the same Simply Diamonds coverplate die.  

I replaced all the diamond pieces into the Mossy Meadow frame (like a jigsaw puzzle) and it all lined up beautifully, but I thought it needed some dimension, so I cut from white cs the Simply Diamonds die 3 more times and added all the diamond pieces to the backs of the stenciled pieces.  It looks really cool in real life with all that dimension, but I just couldn't seem to capture it on my photos!  (Not real happy with the way the framing looks black instead of green and the flowers look really light pink rather than the deeper coral...I'm blaming it on the lack of sunshine here in Michigan!!)  I used MB's Just a Note Posh Script die with gold mirror cs for my sentiment and that shows up much better in real life too.

 I used all the leftover pieces from the first card to make this 2nd one, so it's basically just the opposite of the 1st one.  I did not add all the dimension with this one though and just inlaid each piece flat.

My sentiment on this 2nd card is also from MB (Happy Birthday Chic Script), and I did put another layer behind it for a bit of dimension.

And here they both are together.  They are very busy cards, but I actually like both of them a lot!  Just wish you could see the real colors better...the green is more green and the coral is more coral!

The DT and our Special GD Kelly have a lot more inspiration for you that you can find right HERE, so check it out and play along with us.  This challenge is open till Tuesday, April 28th @ 9:00AM.

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

Color Hues #130 - FUCHSIA & NAVY

Hello friends.  Welcome to a new challenge here at Color Hues where our sweet leader Nancy is also our hostess for the next two weeks.  Nancy has chosen the color pairing of FUCHSIA & NAVY.

I love this color combination and had so much fun with an older PFS press plate that I foiled with Speckled Aura and then stenciled with the coordinating stencils (Splendid Florals). Take a look...

It's hard to see from this photo, but the sparkle & shine of this Speckled Aura foil (like gold sparkles) really does SHINE on this card!! After foiling, I used the stencils with Starry Sky and Night of Navy for the leaves and Magenta Madness for the flowers (inks are SU!).

I hope you can see the shine a bit better in this close-up?  There is also a coordinating die that cuts out the center piece which I added with foam tape to a Night of Navy card base.  I die cut the center piece again with a scrap of Night of Navy cs and hot foiled the birthday sentiment before in-laying it into the center of the card.  

So what will YOU do with this color pairing...we can't wait to see!  If you need inspiration to get started, definitely check out what our talented DT did with these colors...I think you'll be blown away!  This challenge will be open till Tuesday, April 14th @ 9:00AM.

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

Color Hues #129 - PURPLE & MARIGOLD

Hello friends.  Welcome to another Color Hues Challenge where I am the hostess this time, and I would like to celebrate Spring with the colors of PURPLE & MARIGOLD!

These colors remind me of the first flowers that come up in my front garden...CROCUS!!  I never planted them, but they just showed up one year and have come back every year since!  They were definitely a welcome gift and I so enjoy that first POP of color each Spring!  

I actually have a twofer for you first...both basically the same with the colors reversed.  

I used The Greetery's BotaniCuts: Crocus dies and die cut 4 of the smallest Crocus and 2 of the medium size Crocus from white cs and then ink blended them with Highland Heather & Mango Melody inks from SU!.

Although it's a little hard to see, I stenciled the backgrounds using stencils from PTI's Pro Stamper's Box: March and then embossed the background with Altenew's Organic Linen ef before adding to a Mango Melody card base.  The little frame was die cut 3 times for some dimension and then glued to stenciled background. The 3 Crocus were then added along with a SB's pressplate sentiment and a few gems.

    And here's the reverse one using more Highland Heather.  I love the way these both turned out so CAS and SPRING like!

And because I was on a roll with these colors, I have a 3rd card for you...

 I apologize that my light wasn't so great the day I took this photo, but I think you can get the gist of it.  I had 5 of the small Crocus left over from the first 2 cards and a new die from WF (Basketful Base Die) that I put together and then filled with the Crocus. My white embossed background uses SSS's Springtime Bunnies ef.  The polka dotted dsp for the basket liner is from PTI. 

So there you have my 3 Spring-y cards using PURPLE & MARIGOLD for inspiration and the DT and our Special GD Chris have even more that you can check out right HERE.  We can't wait to see what YOU come up with to brighten up our gallery!! Remember to only use these 2 colors (or hues of these colors), and of course neutrals are acceptable too...most importantly though, just have FUN!!  This challenge is open till Sunday, March 29th @ 9:00AM.

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

Color Hues Challenge #128 - GREEN & GOLD

Hello friends.  It's a new month and a new challenge here at Color Hues, and our sweet hostess Karen would like to see cards with hues of GREEN & GOLD.

I'll admit I was a little stumped at first with this one and wished I had a Leprechaun stamp or a pot of gold stamp, but then had a thought and went in a completely different direction!  You all know I love making flower cards, and why couldn't I make a card with flowers done in light to dark hues of green?!  I had a new PFS stamp set and figured I'd give it a try, and here's what I came up with...

The stamp set is called Petal Poise and I first embossed it in gold, and then used the coordinating stencils with different shades of green inks (Gina K).  I used the die to cut out the 5 floral pieces and then arranged them around a white circle that I edged with Versamark and gold embossing powder.  The sentiment that is also from the set was embossed in gold too.

For my background I did a white on white with PFS's Trellis die and the Stitched Scallop Rectangle die and attached them both to a white card base.  I finished with 3 gold metallic pearls and called it good!  GREEN & GOLD and I love how it turned out...thanks Karen for such a fun color pairing!!

And because I still had all the supplies out, I made a 2nd card exactly like the first one, except in pinks and greens...

Definitely doesn't work for this color challenge, but I still thought it turned out pretty and will help me rebuild my birthday stash!  

The DT and our Special GD's Darnell & Donna all have awesome inspiration for you with these colors, and you can check them out right HERE.  This challenge is open till Saturday, March 14th @ 9:00AM, and we hope to see YOU in the gallery! 

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

Color Hues Challenge #127 - PEACH & TEAL

Hello friends.  Time for a new challenge here at Color Hues and our sweet hostess Jules has a fun color pairing for us to play with...PEACH & TEAL.

I'm still in a bit of Christmas mode and had just received a new postage stencil from The Ton called Postage: Poinsettias Layering Stencil.  Here's what I came up with using the peach & teal colors...

I used light, medium & dark teal inks (Gina K) for the Poinsettias, and shades of peach and coral for the citrus slices.  Definitely NOT your traditional Christmas colors, but I have to say that I really like how this turned out.  I did use a bit of brown ink (neutral) for the pinecones.

 I did add glitter to the citrus slices and then backed the stenciled layer with a piece of Lakefront cs from Concord & 9th before adding both to a top folding white card base.  I finished with a sentiment banner embossed in gold from SSS's Tiny Words: Christmas.

I have a twofer for you today because I still had the stencils laying out and I wanted to see what it would look like with more traditional colors, and came up with this...

I was opting for more of a red Poinsettia, but since you start with a "light" color for the 1st stencil, it came out more pink looking.  The 2nd layer came out more pinkish too, so I just stayed with it and used a darker pink (Rose Red - SU!) for the 3rd stencil.  Added in my greens for the leaves and used the same peach & coral inks for the citrus slices.  I did add a few snowflakes in black from one of the WF postage stamp sets and used the WF Merry Christmas die for my sentiment.  Hard to see in the photo, but I die cut the sentiment twice...once from black and once from gold mirror cs and then offset the black over the gold.  I layered the stenciled layer with a piece of black cs and added to a Rose Red card base.  A few sparkly gold gems (PFS) were added to the centers of the citrus slices along with a bit of glitter.

Make sure you check out all the wonderful inspiration from my teammates and our Special GD Gundi right HERE and then play along with us.  Remember that you can use any hue of PEACH & TEAL and of course neutrals are always welcome too.  And most of all, just have FUN using these 2 colors! This challenge is open till Saturday, Feb. 28th @ 9:00AM.

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

Color Hues #126 - Red & Pink

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

I received some new dies from my sweet friend Birgit for Christmas and figured this color pairing would be the perfect time to try them out!  Here's what I came up with...

Originally, I had planned on using black (neutral) for only the leaves, but after trying the layered arch die cuts (Spellbinders Essential Arches) in different combos of red & pink, none of them had the look I was going for, so a bit more black on this card than I had intended, but I like the way it came out!  l stamped my background first using an older SU! background stamp called Script and then arranged my die cut floral pieces (Spellbinders Gorgeous You Florals) over the script.

 My sentiment was cut from the same red (SU! Real Red) as the blooms using Memory Box's Happy Birthday Posh Script die.  I finished with a bit of WOS on the flower centers and also added a few Disco Ball sequins (Gina K). Pretty simple but I love the card being shaped and the red & pink pairing is so pretty together with the dramatic black neutral.

As always, lots of beautiful inspiration from the rest of the DT and also our Special GD JoAnn, and you can find it all right HERE.  This challenge is open till Saturday, Feb. 14th @ 9:00AM.

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

Color Hues Challenge #125

Hello friends.  Welcome back to another Color Hues Challenge where our sweet hostess Carol has chosen the color pairing of BLUE & WHITE...perfect colors for Winter cards, don't you agree?!!

These colors definitely make me think Winter, so that's the direction I took, but you do YOU and go in any direction you desire! As long as you only use the blue & white color combination that is (although neutrals are welcome).  I have 2 cards to share with you today because it was such a fun color combo to play with and I happen to LOVE paper snowflakes! (The real ones not so much anymore!!)  Here's my first card...

See how pretty paper snowflakes are?!!  I started with a background piece and ink blended a few blue inks (SU!) onto a piece of white cs and then decided to turn the background into a Bokeh background using a very old stencil with lots of different size circles on it and white pigment ink.  Next I used my SSS Snowflake Visions ef, cut it in half and saved the other half for another card sometime.  I glued it down to my white card base and added 2 thin strips of Misty Moonlight and silver sparkle cs to separate the 2 sides of the card.

For my main snowflake image I used PFS's Radiating Snowflake stencil on a piece of Misty Moonlight cs along with Gina K's Sparkle Gel, and when dry used the coordinating die to cut the snowflake out.  This is such an easy gel to use and the sparkle is incredible...even my photography skills can capture the sparkle!!  I added it to the card with foam tape behind it for dimension and then finished with a sentiment from PTI's Winter Hills stamp set.  And an iridescent gem for the center of the snowflake.  

And card #2...

 I had gotten this PTI LARGER THAN LIFE: SNOW die early last Fall and die cut a few in white and silver right away, and then it got set aside and never used...until now.  I decided to make this a 3 3/4" x 5 1/2" card so that it would fit the snow die perfectly without any extra space on the sides.  I used the same SSS Snowflake Visions ef for the top half of the card and then a piece of gray dsp (SU!) for the bottom half.  Yep, the dsp was gray...

 I used Boho Blue ink and a blender brush over the gray dsp and changed it into a blue dsp, and I love how it turned out.  The tiny white stars are actually silver and it just looks so pretty with the Boho Blue snowflakes.  

 I added my silver sparkle SNOW die cut against the white embossed section, and then added a piece of Misty Moonlight ribbon to separate the embossed piece and the dsp.  The "LET IT" part of the sentiment was embossed in white on a tiny strip of Misty Moonlight cs and then added with a piece of foam behind it to give it some dimension.  I finished with a few PFS Iridescent Gems and called it good!

The DT and our Special GD (and friend) Bobby have some beautiful cards using the BLUE & WHITE color pairing to inspire you, and you can check them all out right HERE.  This challenge is open till Thursday, Jan. 29th @ 9:00AM and we'd love to see ALL of YOU in the gallery!!

WHITE

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

Color Hues #124 - GRAY & RED

Hello friends and welcome to a New Year at the Color Hues Challenge.  Our sweet friend and fellow DT member Bonnie has chosen the color pairing of GRAY & RED for our first challenge of the New Year.

These colors make me think snow & COLD and snowmen...

I received SSS's Warm Thoughts stamp set as a freebie with an order, and I think it worked out perfectly for this color pairing!  I colored in the images with my gray and red Copics (please excuse the tiny bit of orange for the carrot nose...I just couldn't color it in red!!), and also added glitter to the snow drifts.  

I framed the image with one of PTI's Pierced Feature Frames in gray cs and added the sentiment that was part of the stamp set.  Very CAS but I'm pleased with the way it turned out!  

The DT and our Special GD's Lisa and Barb all have some fabulous cards to inspire you with these colors, and you can find them all right HERE.  This challenge is open till Wednesday, Jan. 14th @ 9:00AM.

 

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

Color Hues #123 - PINK & GREEN

Hello friends.  Happy December!!  I hope you're all enjoying this wonderful season already and not stressing too much about all that needs to be done.  If your Christmas cards are not finished yet, our sweet DT member Tracey has a fun and beautiful color pairing of PINK & GREEN that will make beautiful Christmas cards. Or thank you cards. Or birthday cards.  It's a perfect pairing for so many different types of cards, so play along with us at the Color Hues Challenge!

I went with Christmas to build up a few extra cards in case I need them...if not then I have a head start on next years stash!  I used an older PFS stencil set (Holiday Botanical Background) to come up with this simple and pretty card...

I used several different green inks (Gina K) to stencil my leaves and then used a couple shades of pink inks (also Gina K) for the berries.  I used The Greetery's Crimped Rectangle Frame die to cut out my stenciled panel and then attached to a top folding white card base.  I stamped my sentiment from PB's rejoice with joy stamp set, and I just love how perfectly it fit in the center of the stenciled frame. 

  To finish I simply added a few gems from SU! and that was all this card needed!  I think I might even make a few more to add to my stash as it was so easy to make and I just LOVE the way it turned out!

We hope you all have a little bit of time this month to play along with us and fill our gallery with all kinds of pink & green cards!  Make sure you check out what the DT has come up with using this color pairing right HERE and then play along.  This challenge is open for the whole month (till Monday, Dec. 29th @ 9:00AM) to give you some extra time, so we hope to see you all soon!  And last but not least, the whole team and I wish each and every one of you a most blessed and Merry Christmas!  
 

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

Color Hues #122 - TEAL & SILVER

Hello friends.  Hard to believe we're half way through November already, isn't it?!!  Our wonderful leader Nancy at Color Hues has chosen a color pairing that I think is just perfect to finish up those last minute Christmas cards...

Isn't that a beautiful color pairing?!!  I had recently won a random prize drawing from Jo over at the Christmas Kickstart Challenge, and the prize was a TH Ornamental Birds die set...I think it worked perfectly for this color challenge! Take a look...

I die cut all my pieces from Tranquil Teal cs (Gina K), silver mirror cs & silver glitter cs and then ink blended the Tranquil Teal pieces.  I tried using Tranquil Teal ink to blend with at first, but it just wasn't showing up, so I used just a bit of black ink to darken the edges of the bird and ornament and make them stand out a bit more.  

 Once my die cut pieces were glued together, I worked on the background...a piece of dry embossed cs using HB's Burlap ef and PB's double frames, with foam tape between the two frame layers.  The die set has a die to punch out all the TEENY TINY dots to form the string between the bird & ornament, but I gave up pretty quickly as I was making a mess with the glue and the dots sticking everywhere I didn't want them.  I ended up using some very small crystal gems that came all attached in rows to use instead, and it finished off the card perfectly!  I left the sentiment for the inside so as not to take away from the CAS look to this card.

The DT and our Special GD's Loll and Joanne have some beautiful cards to share with you for inspiration and you can find them all right HERE!  We would love to see all of you in the gallery using this beautiful color pairing!  This challenge is open till Saturday, Nov. 29th @ 9:00AM.

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