Christmas In July

Hello friends.  Christmas in July??  Pretty warm in my neck of the woods to be celebrating Christmas (it's been in the 90's and very hot and humid here!!), but I'm playing along with a few challenges where Christmas just fit the bill!  I'm playing along with The Flower Challenge where they are looking for PRETTY PASTELS, the Color Throwdown Challenge where they are looking for Pink, Gray, White, & Silver, and also a special challenge with my sweet friend Michele who came over to play this week and make Christmas cards.  

We were both struggling a bit with the current Flower Challenge because neither one of us is really a pastel person, but we decided to use the same Altenew Poinsettia set and see what we came up with!  

I water colored my flower with Spun Sugar and Worn Lipstick Distress Inks (Peeled Paint for the leaves) and then mounted to a white card base with a small stitched window opening that I added a piece of embossed (SU! knitted embossing folder) gray cs behind.  The sentiment was stamped in gray (as well as the outlines of the flower and leaves) and was from one of Michele's sets that I don't remember the name of...sorry!  I also added some Silver Linings Nuvo Drops to the center of my flower and finished off with a few clear sequins.

Here's a closer up so you can see some of the detail better.  My card also works for the current Color Throwdown Challenge with the Pink, Gray, White, & Silver and their inspiration photo is what totally inspired me to use the knitted embossing folder on my card.

You can play along with The Flower Challenge HERE and the Color Throwdown Challenge HERE.  Lots of GORGEOUS cards from both Design Teams, so make sure you check them both out and play along!

I have 4 more cards to share with you today that are from the play date with Michele and she will be posting some of the cards she made today too, so make sure you check out all her lovely creations!  This 1st card uses a STAMPlorations set by Shirley called Layered Poinsettia's...

I love this stamp set and the artsy design!  SO simple but really packs a punch!!  The sentiment is from Altenew.

This was just a fun card because I wanted to use the moose die (Poppystamps) that I'd had for ages and never used.  Wasn't happy with the card though until Michele suggested tying a bell around his neck...definitely perked it up in my eyes!!

These last 2 cards were done with a Gina K set called Christmas Greenery and I had fun inking up the trees with a few different colors of green inks.  I also did some ink splattering with white and gold and a little bit of loose water coloring around the trees.

If you made it this far, CONGRATULATIONS for sticking it out through this looooong post!  Hope it made you feel a little cooler too with all this HEAT and HUMIDITY going on outside!  Once again, make sure you check out The Flower Challenge and the Color Throwdown Challenge (links above) for more wonderful inspiration, and definitely Michele's post to see all her wonderful cards from our play date!  And thanks Michele for such a FUN play day...I had SO much fun and can't wait to do it again!!   
  

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

Color Throwdown #531

Hello friends.  Playing along with this week's Color Throwdown challenge to use Rust, Purple, Gray & White.

The picture is absolutely beautiful, but when I look at just the colors I see Halloween...haha!!  I did refrain from making a Halloween card though and used the emboss resist technique with a design I learned from Laura Bassen to create a starburst pattern with masking.

I started by embossing with white, Catherine Pooler's background stamp called Rondi's Window and then using 2 strips of post it paper to mask off triangles using Royal Treatment, Mandarin Spice (CP inks) & Smoky Slate (SU!) inks to create the starburst.  I trimmed this layer down and added to a white card base, and then added my layered circles with the sentiment and the sweet little mouse from MFT's It's A Mice Time To Celebrate! 

A few purple rhinestones and some white baker's twine finished off my fun little card!

Check out all the fabulous cards from the DT and then play along right HERE.

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

Color Throwdown #529 - A Box of Sunshine

Hello friends.  Playing along with this week's challenge at Color Throwdown where the colors are Yellow, Orange, and Red.

Aren't those fun and bright colors to inspire us during the Winter days?!  My card was also inspired by a box of Sunshine that I received this week from a dear, dear friend!  I had mentioned to her that we don't see much sunshine in Michigan during the Winter months (something to do with being surrounded by the great Lakes) and that makes Winter here really, really loooooooong!  So she sent me a box filled to the brim with everything YELLOW that she could find...all kinds of treats that come in yellow packaging (Lays potato chips, Butterfinger candy bar, Peanut M & M's, Fruit Flavored Tic Tacs, Lemon cookies, Juicy Fruit gum, a lemon tea towel, lip balm, Mason Jar with a yellow and white lid and straw, lemon tea, etc. and then an envelope filled with yellow die cuts, stickers, enamel dots, and DSP!)  So anyway, that's where my card started and I just added the orange and red!!

I stamped and colored the chick from SU!'s Hey Chick set with lots of yellow, orange, and red Copics and then fussy cut her out.  I added her to a white Pierced Feature Frame (PTI) and used one of the yellow and white checked papers that was included in the box of sunshine for the center of the frame.  The sunshine die cuts were also included in my box of sunshine and I think they are MFT, but not positive.  The orange enamel dot was also included in the box.  I stamped the sentiment in red on a stitched banner and put it behind the pop dotted chick.

Check out all the FABULOUS inspiration from the DT and play along right HERE.

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

Color Throwdown #523

Hello friends.  LOVED the colors this week at the Color Throwdown Challenge and just had to play along!!

Also picked up a BEAUTIFUL Poinsettia plant last weekend that fit right in with this weeks colors, so I used it as inspiration for my card too!

I just loved the spotted red leaves on the Poinsettia and also the bright and dark greens...soooo pretty!!

I started with a kraft card base and then added PTI's Bold Borders: Yuletide die cut in white over the top of the card base.  Next I stamped my sentiment from one of my favorite PB sets...Yuletide Wishes.  Next came the fun of adding on the Poinsettia's that I had stamped and fussy cut from PTI's Pleasing Envelopes set.  I used a splattered stamp from SU!'s Gorgeous Grunge in Granny Apple Green ink and then quickly before it dried I added some clear embossing powder.  I did this so that when I stamped the flower image, the green spots would still show through.  Here's a closer up:

I love the way the flowers look with the green speckles and then the extra added greenery from the leaves and pine sprigs.  I did add a few Pale Gold Nuvo Drops to the centers of my flowers to finish off my card.

LOTS of beautiful inspiration from the DT, so check it out and play along...you can find all the info right HERE.

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

Color Throwdown Challenge #521

Hello friends.  Playing along with this week's Color Throwdown Challenge where they're looking for Silver, Black, Gray, & White.

I'm more of a "gold" than "silver" person, but even I have to admit that that is one ELEGANT tree!!  I had fun using a couple new silhouette dies (AliExpress) for this challenge, and here's what I came up with:

Isn't that silhouette just the sweetest image for a Christmas card?!  I started with a black card base, added a layer of Smokey Slate cardstock, and then an embossed snowflake (Darice) white layer, before adding my black silhouette.  It still needed something, so I added a smaller strip of Smokey Slate that I stamped with Penny Black's Christmas Story background stamp n Smokey Slate ink.  To finish I added some silver cording and a few silver sequins.

I have a "twofer" for you today using another silhouette die (AliExpress):

Made the exact same way, just using the other die.

Lots of wonderful inspiration for this challenge, so check it all out and play along right HERE. 

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

Color Throwdown Challenge #508

Hello friends.  Getting in just under the wire, but wanted to play along with this past week's colorful challenge at Color Throwdown!

Isn't that such a beautiful picture and such bright and FUN colors?!!  I've been wanting to use my Yellow Sunshine Die (PTI) for quite awhile now and this seemed like the perfect time to use it!

I randomly stamped my Maple leaves from Clearly Besotted's Autumn Flowers stamp set in the challenge colors of Purple, Green, Yellow, & Red on a white panel and then die cut the Yellow Sunshine Die on another white panel cut the same size and added foam tape behind it before adhering it to the stamped panel.

Here you can see the dimension a bit better that using the foam tape created.  I mounted both these layers to a Pure Poppy card base and then added a black sentiment strip with white embossing using PTI's Keep It Simple: Thinking Of You stamp set.  I finished off with a few iridescent sequins and some black & white baker's twine.

You can check out all the beautiful cards from the DT and play along right HERE if you're real quick!  :0)

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

Color Throwdown #507

Hello friends.  This week's colors at the Color Throwdown challenge are SOOOO pretty...love them!!

I was totally inspired by the leaves on the comforter, pillows, and curtains, so decided an Autumn card with these colors was in order!

I started by using a really OLD die from Cuttlebug (the kind that is a square metal plate with the foam on it...remember those???) for the leaf shape, and then it has a embossing folder to add all the veins and outline.  I used a sponge dauber to add my inks (Green Parakeet, New Leaf, Aqua Mist, & Elegant Eggplant) and then did a little water splattering.  My sentiment is from Clearly Besotted's Autumn Flowers and is stamped in the Elegant Eggplant ink.  A little bit of scoring around the edges finished up my CAS card.

There's still time to play along with this challenge, so check it all out right HERE.  

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

Color Throwdown #504 - Black, Copper, & White

Hello friends.  This week's challenge at Color Throwdown stumped me for about 10 minutes...

I LOVE copper, but this one had me thinking I might bow out...and then it hit me!  Cattail Copper Brown Magicals!  If you've followed me for the past year, you'll know I am absolutely in LOVE with Lindy's Magical Powders, and once I remembered this copper color, the rest of the card came together very easily!

After my panel with the Magicals dried, I die cut my butterfly (Memory Box - Vivienne Butterfly) from the panel and a 2nd one from a scrap of black, and then inlaid the pieces together.  I used a Tim Holtz die to cut a stencil and then used Black Soot DOX ink to stencil my background.  I used a stitched rectangle die to cut my stenciled background and attached to a white card base.

Here's a close up that shows the shimmer and shine of the copper magicals a little better...IRL it's phenomenal!!  I finished off my card with some SU! Copper Cord (retired) and a few iridescent sequins and a sentiment from PTI's Winter Woods.

This color combination is really SO elegant, and there are some absolutely BEAUTIFUL cards from the DT to inspire you!  You can check it all out right HERE.

I would also like to add this card to the current Double D challenge which I love the title of:  Don't Bug Me.

I think my black and copper butterfly fits in beautifully with this challenge also!  Check out all the BEAUTIFUL cards from the DT as inspiration, and then play along with this FUN challenge too right HERE.

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

Color Throwdown #503

Hello friends.  This week's color challenge at Color Throwdown makes me think Christmas...

I know the inspiration picture shows SUMMER, but I went with my first thought of Christmas and used a stamp from The Cat's Pajamas that I've had since last Fall and had never inked up!

Doesn't the face with the BIG ears just crack you up?!!  I love the funny sentiments that come with this set too (S-5850 CL)!  I embossed a piece of Weathervane cardstock with a Richard Garay knitted ef to bring in the gray color and the knitted ef to go along with the rabbit and his knitting.

I paper pieced the sweater he's working on from the Warmth & Cheer SU! DSP and then used a couple of Copics to color the yarn ball (G07) and his nose (R00 & R30).  A few red and green enamel dots and some Christmas baker's twine finished off my card.

This challenge closes tomorrow, but if you have time to play today, there's some beautiful and FUN inspiration from the DT HERE to get you started.  

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

Color Throwdown Challenge #500

Hello friends.  This week's Color Throwdown challenge is an elegant one, and very fitting considering it's their 500th Challenge!!

I kept my Navy, Blush, Gold, and White card very CAS, just like the inspiration photo.

I started by embossing in gold PTI's Cover Up: Grid on TH water color cs and then water colored with Kuretake Gansai Tambi Deep Blue.  Once dry I layered on a white panel that I die cut with MFT's Peek-A-Boo Rectangle Die, and then added my flower that I embossed in gold and then water colored with Sweet Blush ink.  (The flower is from PTI's Vintage Linens)

I finished by adding my sentiment from PTI's Winter Woods stamp set and also adding a few gold sequins.

Check out all the BEAUTIFUL cards from the DT right HERE, and then play along!

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

Color Throwdown #499

Hello friends.  Playing along with this week's Color Throwdown challenge with the beautiful colors of Blue, Yellow, & Green.

Here's what I came up with using these lovely colors:

I started by making my background using PTI's Text & Texture: Roses stamp set and two shades of blue from Gina K (Blue Raspberry & Powder Blue), and then die cutting the dotted rectangle with PTI's Mix & Mat: Flourishes die.  I love that little pop of design all those die cut dots give!

I used PTI's The Sweet Life to stamp my roses and leaves and then fussy cut them out and added them to my background.  At first they got lost against all the pattern of the blue background, so I added a plain white rectangle just inside the dotted area, and then my flowers and leaves showed up much better.  I also added a little sprig from PTI's Spruce & Sprigs set and used GA on the blue berries to make them stand out a bit more.  I finished with a simple sentiment banner and a yellow enamel dot.

Check out all the beautiful and fun cards from the DT and then play along right HERE.

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