Make It Monday #245 - Color Isolation

Hello friends.  This week Ashley is hosting the challenge over at Make It Monday and shows us how to do a color isolation card.  I hadn't had a chance yet to play with PTI's Script Swirls: Birthday and came up with this:

I used Soft Stone ink to randomly stamp my background, and then cut off a portion of it and mounted it to a Soft Stone card base, with another cut 2/3 of the way down to leave an open area for my sentiment (Keep It Simple: Birthday).  Next I used the swirl image and embossed it with clear embossing powder on a piece of white cardstock, and then blended Raspberry Fizz and Orange Zest inks over the swirl.  After fussy cutting this image out, I pop dotted it to the card, added some hot pink bakers twine, and a few rainstones, to finish off my card. 

You can check out Ashley's video and pretty, pretty card, along with all the other cards in the gallery, right HERE. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do!  :0)

CAS Mix Up April Challenge

Hello friends.  Today is my mom's 84th birthday, and I thought I'd mix it up this year by making her a bright and funny card instead of the normal bright and flowery card I usually make every year!  And how perfect to use the CAS Mix It Up challenge to guide my card!! 

  
This month's challenge is to use stenciling along with your stamping and one other choice from the mix it up list.  Here's what I came up with:

I started with a TH Clockwork stencil and used the Stencil Monoprint technique for my background, using Picked Raspberry and Twisted Citron distress inks.  I embossed the bird from TH Bird Crazy stamp set in black, and then watercolored her with the Picked Raspberry and Twisted Citron inks.  My sentiment is from a Penny Black birthday set.  Not my normal card for my mom, but with everything she's been through these past 2 months health wise, I'm hoping she'll appreciate something a little lighter and silly!  :0)

Lots of time to play along this month, so make sure you check it all out right HERE.

Edited to Add:  Also adding this card to HLS APRIL CAS CHALLENGE.

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do!!  :0)

Merry Monday #198 - Christmas Carols

Hello friends.  The challenge this week at Merry Monday's is to use a Christmas Carol on your card.  I have many, many favorite Christmas carols that I love (mostly the traditional ones), but "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" has sort of wormed its way into my heart ever since watching Michael Bubble sing it on one of his Christmas specials.  LOVE that Frank Sinatra way of crooning that Michael has...sigh.  But anyway, here's my card:

I know I've been using this brick embossing folder a LOT lately, but can't seem to help myself!  And especially after I saw Loll's post about using embossing folders and Brushos...what a cool technique!  I used Crimson Brushos with my brick embossing folder, and just a little bit of water, and came up with this really neat background!  My sentiment is from PTI's Think Big Favorites: #20, and those adorable little birdies are from Penny Black's Winter Wonderland stamp set.  I colored them with my Copics and fussy cut them out, and then perched them onto my sentiment banner.  I added a few music notes from Winnie & Walter's Ring in the Celebration stamp set to add to the Christmas carol feel.

 

There's still a couple days left to play along with this challenge, and there are some seriously fabulous cards by the DT and in the gallery to inspire you to get a head start on those Christmas cards!  You can see it all right HERE!

 

 

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do!!  :0)

 

Birgit and Marcia's Monthly Challenge - March 2016

Hello friends.  It's that time of month where BIRGIT and I challenge each other, and this month we're using photos from Pinterest to inspire our cards.  I chose 3 photos, and have 3 cards to share with you.  My first card was inspired by a simple photo of some dark purple tulips:

 



I started with a sponged background using Smokey Slate ink, and sponging in strips to mimic what appears to be blinds in the background of the photo.  I used PTI's Tulip Time to stamp and die cut my tulips using Winter Wisteria, Royal Velvet, & Ripe Avocado inks.  My sentiment is also PTI from Think Big Favorites #3.  I left out the vase in my card as I didn't have anything close to use, and decided to just keep it simple.

 

 



I love all the photos of bicycles with flowers in a basket that are popular right now, and this one particularly drew me in as it was such a CAS photo, but still had a lot of visual interest.  I used SU!'s new Sale-A-Bration Pedal Pusher stamp set for my bicycle and sentiment, (bicycle colored with Copics) and the windows are die cut from a Poppy Stamps die (Small Madison Window).  I took a little bit of liberty for the building and used a brick embossing folder (Darice) and white ink. 

My last card is my favorite, and is a take off of a wedding invitation:

 

Isn't that just a beautiful wedding invitation?!!  I still have one daughter that's single (she just turned 21, so I'm ok with her still being single!), and if she decides to have a wedding, I would love to do something like this if she likes it!  For my card I started with a kraft background and stamped my sentiment in white and then overlapped my stamping again with Soft Suede ink.  The sentiment is from one of my newer favorite stamps sets from PTI called Phrases & Praises.  The flowers are from a PTI cover plate die from the Make it Market Mini: Garden Guild.  I used sponge daubers and various colored inks to color the flowers and leaves, and then glued it over the kraft layer.  Lastly I added a very thin frame of gold mirror card stock  over the edges of the card for a more finished look. 

I hope you've enjoyed seeing what inspired me lately, and make sure you check out what inspired my dear friend BIRGIT over on her blog too!

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do!!  :0)

Make It Monday #244 - Score Lines

Hello friends.  Playing along with this weeks Make It Monday challenge where Laurie Willison shows how adding score lines to our projects can add detail and texture!  I have been in love with the Splits: Just A Note set by Maile Belles since it came out and thought it would be a great one to use on this challenge.  This is what I came up with:

I started with blending 2 colors of ink (Dusty Concord & Worn Lipstick) on my background...Kay Miller does this often and I love that look!  Next I scored the layer every half inch to bring some more dimension to my background.  I also ink splattered the background a bit to give just a little more visual interest.  Next I stamped the die cut in black and the sentiment in Dusty Concord, and then pop dotted it to my background.  A few sequins and a white embossed butterfly (What The Doodle: Butterfly) on vellum finished off my card. 

Laurie has a great video and cards showing different ways to add scoring to your cards, and you can check it all out right HERE.

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do!!  :0)

Flowers or Rorschach Inkblots??

Hello friends.  Hoping you all had a wonderful Easter with family and friends...we did!  Today I'm sharing a card that I'm a little on the fence about!  Penny Black has had some absolutely beautiful new flower stamps come out this Spring, and my local stamp store is carrying a few of them, so of course I had to grab one!  And of course the picture on the package is absolutely stunning, which made me want it all the more!!  Unfortunately, I am not that talented and tend to forget that when buying some of these stamps!  Don't get me wrong...I do all right with stamping and make some very pretty cards, but.....some of these stamps are just a bit out of my league!!  Anyway, having said that, it didn't stop me from buying the stamp and trying it out!  And this is what I came up with:

The stamp is called Passionate and if you have time, look it up on Penny Black's site to see the actual photograph....there's a tad bit of difference between theirs and mine!  I love the color I used on mine (Royal Velvet - PTI), and I also spritzed lightly with some water before stamping on my cardstock.  After it dried, I couldn't decide if it still looked like a flower or a Rorschach Inkblot?!!  It's hard to tell from my photos, but I used a gold glitter gel pen to lightly add some stamens to the centers of the flowers.  This is definitely one of those stamps I'll have to play around with a bit...

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do!!  :0)

Happy Easter

      Wishing all of you a very happy and blessed Easter!!