Cupcake Inspirations #401 - Happy 85th Mom!

Hello friends.  BIRGIT had me oooohing and ahhhhhhing over a beautiful color combination that she was using to play along with the latest challenge over at Cupcake Inspirations, so I had to check it out and then play along!

Aren't those such pretty colors together?!  It also happens to be my mom's 85th birthday today, and she loves yellow, so I figured this was the perfect challenge to make her card with!  Here's what I came up with:

One of my favorite sets to use when I want to make a number birthday card is SU!'s Number Of Years.  I started with one of the stencils from PTI's Modern Background Stencils and Harvest Gold ink for my background, and then stamped the flowers in Scarlet Jewel, Bright Buttercup, Melon Berry and Old Olive for the leaves.  The numbers were blended in an ombre pattern with Scarlet Jewel ink.  And of course since it's for my mom, I had to stamp an envelope too...

There is still 4 days left to play along with this color challenge and there's also a $20 gift certificate from Birch Press Designs, so this is a great challenge to play along with!  You can find all the info you need to play along and link up right HERE.

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

Merry Monday #242 - Twigs and/or Branches

Hello friends.  Welcome to another challenge at Merry Monday!  This week our hostess is Debbie, and she would like to see TWIGS and/or BRANCHES on your Christmas cards.

One of my favorite Papertrey Ink stamp sets is Twig Wreath, so that seemed the obvious choice for my starting point!

I have always used this set with Fall colors, but lately I've seen others using it with Spring and Winter colors too, so I got on the bandwagon!!  I stamped the wreath twice with some Baked Brown Sugar ink, and then used some shades of red and green for the flowers, leaves, and twigs.  My banner is a die cut from PTI's Just A Little Something and the "joy" die cut and sentiment are from WPlus9's Hand Lettered Holidays.  My card base is from PTI's Noted: A2 Vertical Scalloped Die.

We can't wait to see what YOU come up with using TWIGS or BRANCHES on your Christmas cards this week!  You can check out the Merry Monday site for more inspiration from my team mates, and then play along with us right HERE.

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

 

Inspired by...All The Little Things #49

Hello friends.  Getting in under the wire here, but had to play along with the challenge over at Inspired by...All The Little Things featuring the fabulous Nancy Penir!!  This is a new to me challenge and I'm really liking what I see!  Here is the inspiration photo for this challenge:

Isn't that bunny just adorable?!  I would love to have that pillow sitting out for Easter time!  Here's what I came up with:

I started with Altenew's Halftone Stencil and blended in some green, pink, and blue distress inks for my background.  My bunny is a die cut from Gina Marie Designs and I edged the bunny in pink...because well, my granddaughter LOVES pink and Nana gives Addy what Addy likes!  :0)  And of course I had to add a little pom pom for the tail...Addy will love that and most likely pick it off! (she's only 2 1/2!)  My top layer uses MFT's Peek-A-Boo window die that I added foam to the back so it created some dimension around the bunny.  My sentiment comes from the latest Hero Arts monthly kit...perfect for my little bunny!  A few pink enamel dots finished off my CAS card!


Not much time left to play (just a few hours!), but you can check out Nancy's fabulous card and all the other beauties from the DT right HERE.

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

TYIC #68

Hello friends.  Playing along with the challenge over at Tag You're It where Gayatri Murali is the Featured Artist.  Her adorable tag had me wanting in on the fun too!!

I was totally inspired by Gayatri's cute little pooch, her stenciled background, and of course the big "LOVE" sentiment!  Here's what I came up with:

Our middle daughter celebrated her 26th birthday yesterday, and since her and her husband are total miniature Dachshund lovers (they have 2...Beamer and Royce), I figured this die cut from my dear friend Birgit would be perfect for this challenge and her birthday gift!  I wish I could tell you who the die cut is by, but I'm not sure.  I know Birgit loves to use Elizabeth Craft dies, so maybe.....??  Anyway, I sponged him up for some definition and added his spiffy plaid coat and scarf.  My stenciled background is from Altenew called Halftone Stencil and I started at the bottom with some Pickled Raspberry Distress Ink and went lighter as I moved to the top of the tag.  My "Love" die cut and sentiment are from SSS's Love set.  A little bit of hot pink thick bakers twine finished off my tag.

 There is still time to play, so check out all the fun and oh so cute inspiration from Gayatri and the DT, and then play along right HERE.

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

Make It Monday #279 - Curved Sentiments

Hello friends.  Playing along with Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday challenge, where Ashley shows us how to get more mileage out of our straight sentiments stamps by curving them on acrylic blocks.  I hadn't had a chance yet to play with the new Beautiful Berries: Spring yet, and ended up and made two cards.

I've gotten really hooked on using grays for leaves, and while I know it's not very realistic, I just really like the look!  I used some Raspberry Fizz for the berries and then lightly used my Aqua Painter to give a bit of a water colored look.  I used the Keep It Simple: Thinking Of You set and curved it on my acrylic block to match the curve of the oval die cut. 

For my second card I stamped the leaves and berries twice for a bit fuller look, and then used the sentiment from the Winter Woods set.  I added a few Rainstones and some hot pink thick bakers twine to finish off both cards.

Two very CAS cards and I really like how both turned out!  There's still time to play along, so check out Ashley's video and BEAUTIFUL card right HERE and then play along!

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

Merry Monday #241 - Use Red, Green, & White

Hello friends.  We have a color challenge for you this week at Merry Monday, and our hostess Deanne would like to see you use Red, Green, & White on your Christmas cards!

Don't those cherries look so festive all decorated up?!  I love this inspiration photo!  I also love traditional Christmas colors, so this was a FUN challenge for me!!

One of my last Simon Says Stamp purchases had to be this Lined Trees die set that I've seen many out there in blogland using lately...I just love the simple lines of the trees!!  I decided to keep my card pretty CAS because of the tree dies, so didn't add a whole lot else to this card!  I used Gumball Green, Certainly Celery, and Real Red cardstock for the trees, the birds (PTI's In The Meadow), the star tag (PTI's Tiny Tags), and the bottom portion of the card that I also stamped using Penny Black's Footnotes stamp.  The scalloped border is die cut using a SSS Wavy Scallop Stitches die.  I finished with a few stars at the tops of the trees and some bakers twine.

What will you come up with using the red, green, & white color scheme??  We can't wait to see!  If you need more inspiration, check out the FABULOUS cards my teammates created right HERE and then play along with us!

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

Papertrey Ink March 2017 Blog Hop

Hello friends.  Playing along with Papertrey Ink's monthly Blog Hop and Nichole gave us a BEAUTIFUL piece of inspiration by Victoria Johnson.

As much as I love this piece, I have to admit that I struggled to turn it into card form.  Probably because it reminds me of a summer dress I had when I was a young girl, so it reminds me of material.  Anyway, I LOVE the colors, so they were obviously the starting point for my cards!

My 1st card was also inspired by a card and technique Lizzie Jones showed HERE, where she showed how to use your stamps to build backgrounds.  I loved how she used the What The Doodle: Paisley stamp set, and had to try it out using the colors from the inspiration photo.  I used colored pencils to color in the images, and then added a curved bottom to the card by using the In The Meadow snow hill die along with some Blueberry Sky striped DSP.  I used Big Basics: Congratulations and silver mirror cardstock for my sentiment.  I also used my Spectrum Noir Sparkle pen quite liberally on this card, but of course it doesn't show...grrrrr!!

My 2nd card I'm not as thrilled with!  I still loved the colors and of course I had to play with my new Butterfly Hope stamp set, but that's where the love ended!  I think the dark background is too plain, but it's one of those cards I fiddled with for a whole day, and then finally said enough is enough!  I actually like the matching envelope better than I like the card!!

Once again, I used quite a bit of my Spectrum Noir Sparkle pen on all the butterflies, so IRL that does add some pizazz to this card and envelope!  It's not a throw away card, but just not one of my favorites!  I'm sure once I start hopping I'll be saying "Now why didn't I think of that?!!" and have all kinds of ideas on how I could have made different cards using the inspiration photo!  Oh well, I always enjoy my time in my stamp room, so it wasn't wasted time!!  :0)

You can stop by Nichole's site right HERE to check out what every one else did with the inspiration photo and even play along!

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do!  And if you are looking for my Baby Girl Blog Hop for Lesley Croghan post, you can check all that fun out right HERE.