Freshly Made Sketches #728 and JUGS #815

Hello friends.  Playing along with a couple challenges today...Freshly Made Sketches and Just Us Girls, where Narelle has a wonderful sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and where JUGS has a BEAUTIFUL Mood Board to follow!

And here's what I came up with using both...

I used an older PTI die set of tea cups in place of the circles in Narelle's sketch and in place of the painted flowers on the rocks in the photo for JUGS.  I ink blended a sheet of white cs with rainbow colors and then die cut the tea cups. I also die cut the Leafy Branch (PFS) from a scrap of bright green cs to go along with the sketch.  My background is black that I embossed with Altenew's Organic Linen 3D ef.

I finished with a strip sentiment from Gina K's All At Once Greetings and called it good!  With all the color I didn't think it needed any bling like I usually add.

Check out all the awesome inspiration from both Design Teams and then play along with one or both of them!

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

Just Us Girls #807

Hello friends.  I have a bit of sunshine to share with you today in case you're living in an area like me that has seen nothing but snow and COLD lately.  I'm playing along with the gals over at the Just Us Girls Challenge where my friend Bobby is hosting STENCIL week...

My sweet friend Birgit gifted me a stencil/embossing folder combo for Christmas from Memory Box called Cheerful Floral and I came up with this...

I used the embossing folder first and then stenciled following the detailed instructions. (There are 5 stencils and each stencil has multiple areas to be stenciled with all the different ink colors.) I had to start over twice, but once I figured it out, it came together quite easily.

I embossed it a 2nd time carefully lining it up, and the embossing became even more pronounced...I loved it!!

 In this close up you can see the embossing even more clearly.  I added a layer of black behind my stenciled layer and then mounted both to a top folding white card base. I finished with a simple birthday sentiment (Gina K) and a few PFS Leaf Glimmer Drops.  I love all the definition the embossing gives and the bright sunny colors on this card...this will definitely brighten up someone's birthday!

The DT has some beautifully stenciled cards to inspire you, and you can find them right HERE.  This challenge is open till Wednesday, Jan. 28th @ 6:00PM.
  

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

Just Us Girls Challenge #803

Hello friends.  Playing along with the gals over at the Just Us Girls Challenge where it's anything goes stencil week.

I had been inspired last week by a sweet friend to pull out my WF Postage Collage Snowman Stencil which hadn't seen any ink since last Winter, and figured this new challenge was the perfect time to ink it up.  I ended up cutting the postage images apart and had enough that way to make 2 cards.  Take a look...

 Couldn't resist making the backgrounds a little colorful and love how they both turned out.  Here's a closer up of card #1...

I arranged the 2 snowmen and the snowflake images on a white background embossed with my favorite snowflake ef this year from SSS (Snowflake Visions).  I stamped a few extra snowflakes from the North Pole stamp set (WF), and then added my sentiment (WF's Merry Christmas Print Die) and a few PFS iridescent gems.  And also a touch of glitter.

My 2nd card uses the last 3 snowmen images and I used the book binding fold that I've been pretty hooked on lately!  I used again the same ef (Snowflake Visions) on white cs for the main portion and on some pink cs for the binding section (I used white pigment ink over the pink snowflakes to make them stand out a bit more). 

I used the same sentiment as the first card and added a few Disco Ball Sequins (Gina K) and some pink & white baker's twine to finish off this card.  I'd forgotten how cute this sweet stencil set was...thanks for reminding me dear friend!!

Lots of awesome inspiration from the DT and their special guest Leslie, and also in the gallery already, so if you like to stencil, check it all out right HERE.  This challenge is only open till Wednesday, Dec. 3rd @ 6:00PM, so check it out sooner rather than later! :0)

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

A Little Bit of Winter

Hello friends.  We had a surprise dusting of Winter early this week, so it seemed appropriate to pull out a favorite snowflake stamp and have a little fun inside! The snow is gone now but the chill is still in the air, so I know more will be coming again...darn it!!  I love paper snowflakes...the real ones not as much!  They're pretty, but I just don't like being out in them anymore...guess I'm showing my age!  But anyway, here's what I came up with...

I used Verena's sketch over at the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge to make my card and went just a tiny bit rogue and made the card using the book binding technique.  I started with a single layer of Boho Blue cs (SU!) and then attached a piece of white cs that was cut at 3 1/2" x 9 1/2" and scored at 4 3/4" and again at 3 3/4" to form the book binding.  I added a 1" strip of dsp (PTI) to stamp my sentiment on and then stamped the giant snowflake (Colorado Craft Co. - Wishes Snowflake) in Boho Blue ink.

 I did spray the snowflake with Sheer Shimmer Mist Sparkle, so it really sparkles IRL!  I also added a strip of silver glitter cardstock between the snowflake and the dsp, and also tied some white baker's twine between the two. I finished with a few iridescent clear drops from PFS and called it good.

I'd like to enter this card into the Freshly Made Sketches challenge and also the JUGS challenge where it's WORD week and the word is WINTER.

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

Freshly Made Sketches #702

Hello friends.  Playing along with the gals over at the Freshly Made Sketches challenge today and hopefully didn't stray too far from the sketch!

The Maple leaf in the sketch definitely made me think Fall, so that's the direction I took.  Here's what I came up with...

I love this oversize acorn from PTI's Into The Blooms: Acorns and used it in place of the large circle in the sketch.  I used kraft cs for the base of the acorn and the top part was die cut using Revealz Sandable Cardstock from Sizzix in a darker brown...love how it looks once I sanded it!  The die set also comes with 2 sizes of Oak leaves and I used the smaller one on a piece of water color cs that I used Lindy's Magicals on...if you've never used it, the mica flakes in this powder turn to an iridescent color once you add water and the shine is incredible!  I also used the Magicals on the trio of berries too.

 My background uses a SU! Brick Wall embossing folder and I lightly blended some kraft ink over the top of it.  My sentiment comes from an older PTI set called SCENT-IMENTALS and I love how perfectly it fit in the acorn!  I finished with a simple twine bow and a few Sparkling Champagne Pearls from PFS.

The gals over at the Freshly Made Sketches site have some awesome inspiration to share along with this fun sketch by Cecile, so check it out and play along!  This challenge is open till Monday, Sept. 8th @ 3:00PM.

I am also sending this card over to the Just Us Girls challenge where it's "Anything Goes" using DIES where I think my card will fit right into too!

Lots of awesome inspiration over at the JUGS gallery too and their challenge is open till Wednesday, Sept. 10th @ 6:00PM. 

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

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!

Time Out Challenge #259 & Just Us Girls #718

Hello friends.  Today I'm playing along with both the  Time Out Challenge and the Just Us Girls challenge where they are both collaborating with each other and are looking for BIRDS on our cards.

I'm always in need of birthday cards and hadn't played with my Concord & 9th Tweet Life stamp and stencil set in quite awhile, so that's how this card started out.  Take a look...

Aren't they cuties?!  I love how big they are...makes it easy to fill up a card!!  I started by simply stenciling the two birds in pinks & oranges and turquoise blues & greens and then stamped the details in black.

I ran my panel through with an older Cuttlebug dotted ef before adding it to an Audrey Blue panel (SSS) that I die cut using The Greetery's Crimped Rectangle Die and then attached both panels to a white card base.

I finished with a sentiment strip that I embossed in white on black and added a bit of bakers twine to the one end and then popped up on foam tape for a bit of dimension.  I used a white gel pen to add the accents to the party hats and also added tiny coordinating pom poms (SU!) to their hats.  A couple Disco Ball sequins finished off my card.

LOTS of inspiration from both challenges and you can play in these challenges till Wednesday, March 27th.

P.S.  All the origami birds were made by one of my daughters when she was in middle school (she's almost 33 now) and she must have made thousands of them...of course I had to keep a few! :0) 

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

Just Us Girls #669 - Color Week

Hello friends.  Playing along with the Just Us Girls Challenge where it's Color Week and I'm absolutely loving the colors!!

It's such a FUN color combination, so I made a FUN little card using the same Honey Bee Heart Hugs die set that I used earlier this week, and just changed up the critter to a sweet little fox.  Take a look...

I made a plaid background using PFS's Simple Plaid stencil and Honey Mustard & Turquoise Sea inks (Gina K).  I matted it to a piece of black and then adhered to a white card base.  That sweet little fox was die cut using matching cardstock from Gina K and popped up on dimensionals and adhered to a white stitched circle die cut.

My sentiment is also from Honey Bee (Bitty Buzzwords stamp and coordinating dies).  A pretty simple card that I thought turned out rather cute using the challenge colors!

You can check out all the inspiration from the DT and their Special GD (my sweet friend Michele) right HERE.  This challenge is open till March 9 @ 9:00PM.

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

Just Us Girls #626 - WORD Week

Hello friends.  Playing along with the Just Us Girls Challenge where it's WORD Week!  And the WORD of the week is...

It just so happened that I've had some ink blended and foiled eggs sitting on my desk for a few weeks now that I wasn't quite sure what to do with.  Inspiration finally struck, and this is what I came up with:

I ink blended some white cardstock with greens and blues and pinks and oranges, and then foiled and die cut using Spellbinders Glimmer Kit of the Month from March of 2020.  I also ink blended a bit of the Turquoise blue ink onto the card base and then added PFS's Geo Tiles die cut cover plate in gold mirror cardstock.  

I die cut my bunny from a Tim Holtz's Bunny Hop die and kraft cardstock, and of course added a small white pompom for his tail before adhering to the Geo Tile background.  I added the colorful eggs next.

I finished this sweet little Easter card by adding my sentiment (SSS) to a flag die (Gina K) along with a bit of Turquoise ink blending around the edges and some gold cording.  Pretty simple to put together, but nice and bright and cheery for Easter and Springtime!

Lots of wonderful inspiration from the DT and their GD (Mac Mable) that you can check out right HERE if you'd like to play along.

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