The Flower Challenge #31

Hello friends.  I am playing along with The Flower Challenge today, and this time it is a sketch challenge.

And here is the sketch they want us to follow:

I love sketch challenges because otherwise I tend to stick to the same layout all the time and it's good to change things up once in awhile!

I followed the sketch and used a couple new (to me!) Altenew products to make my card.  I used the Sketched Lines Stencil with Mountain Mist and Soft Lilac inks to create my vertical panels and then layered them both with Lilac Grace cardstock so they would stand out a bit more.  The shorter one is also popped up on some foam tape for a little more dimension.  For my flowers and sentiment I used the new Sweet Violet set with the Sea Shore (greens) and Shades of Purple mini ink cube sets.  I love using these coordinating ink cube sets for multi step stamping!!

After stamping and die cutting the flowers and leaves I mounted them to my stenciled panels and added that to my card base that I had splattered with a bit of black ink.  The sentiment is also from the Sweet Violet stamp set and then I finished off my card with a few light lavender sequins.

Check out all the amazing cards using this sketch from the DT right HERE and then play along!  This challenge is open till the 25th of this month, so plenty of time to still play along!

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

CAS Stencil April 2019

Hello friends.  The challenge this month at CAS Stencil is to use embossing pastes or gels along with your stencils...messy but oh so FUN!!

I had just gotten a new jar of Viva Glitter Paste, so it was a great time to try it out for this challenge.  Here's what I came up with:

I started by blending my background first with Gina K's Applemint ink, and then used a Penny Black stencil (Petite Blossoms) and the same ink color to create the leafy background.  Without removing my stencil I added the Glitter Paste and then quickly removed it to let it dry.  Here's a closer up so you can see the sparkle better:

This card has some serious sparkle going on and it's even prettier IRL!!  I made this card into a sympathy card with a PTI sentiment and a Poppystamps die cut (Massa Leaf Background).

This really is a FUN way to use stencils and I even made another one using a sunburst stencil, but haven't had time to make it into a card yet.  Check out all the FABULOUS inspiration from the DT, and they also have links to several videos if you've never used pastes or gels with your stencils...you can find it all right HERE.  This challenge is open till the 24th.

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

Laurie's Fabulous Favorites - Inspiration

Hello friends.  Playing along with Laurie's Fabulous Favorites where this week she's asking us "Where do you find your inspiration?"  I find my inspiration everywhere...outside my window, ads, store fronts, clothing, and of course, Pinterest!

Here's a photo I found on Pinterest that totally made me think of the Meadow Greens stamp set:

All the black lines in the top 2 pink flowers reminded me of the flower centers in the Meadow Greens flower stamp and since I hadn't played with that stamp set in a loooooong while, I decided to pull it out for this challenge.

In keeping with the water color theme of the inspiration photo, I used Ocean Tides and Hibiscus Burst inks on my craft mat and smooshed to create my backgrounds.  I ended up with 2 cards because I did one on water color cardstock (TH) and one on heavy white cardstock (PTI), not knowing which one I would like better.  Here's the 1st one:

This one is on the PTI cs and I really like the way the background turned out on the smoother surface.  After inking up the greenery and the flower, I misted them both with water before stamping to continue with the water colored look.  The sentiment is from the Meadow Greens set and the framing is Ocean Tides cs and the largest of the Pierced Feature Frame dies (PTI).

This 2nd card is done on actual water color cs and gives more texture to the background and the stamping.  My sentiment was stamped and die cut using Penned Elegance II stamps and dies, with some mini pop dots behind it along with some gold thread.  The frame is the same as the 1st card from the Pierced Feature Frames.

I think they both turned out pretty, but I do like the one on the left better...which one do you like better??

Where do YOU find your inspiration??  Play along with Laurie's challenge HERE for the chance at a $100 gift card.

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

Tag You're It Challenge #84 - Reminder

Hello friends.  Just a friendly reminder that there's still time to play along with the current challenge over at Tag You're It!

What inspires YOU about this photo?  I was once again inspired by the warm colors and came up with this tag:

I used Gina K's Perfect Blend stamp set along with a MFT tag die to create this fun little tag with the snarky Monday morning sentiment, and I know the perfect person to give this to with an attached Starbucks gift card!

Check out all the FABULOUS inspiration from the rest of the DT and then play along right HERE.  And also a BIG THANK YOU to the DT for letting me tag along as GD for this challenge...it's been a blast!!

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

Christmas Kickstart #7 - Delectable Die-cuts

Hello friends.  The current challenge at Christmas Kickstart is called Delectable Die-cuts and it's all about creating a Christmas card from die cuts!

I used a Cottage Cutz die (Holiday Cardinal) that my dear friend Birgit gifted me this past Christmas and came up with this:

I love all the detail in this die and yet it was SO easy to put together!!  I used Old Olive and Real Red cardstocks (and a tiny bit of black and Summer Sunrise) to die cut everything and then ink blended around the edges to give some depth.  The "Joy" is from PTI's Bold Borders: Flurries die.  I used a white card base and added a layer of Old Olive cs and then another layer of white that I dry embossed with a Sizzix embossing folder.  A little bit of jute and bakers twine finished off this easy and pretty Christmas card.

Still a few days left to play along with this challenge, so get a Kickstart on those Christmas cards using your dies this time and play along right HERE.

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

CAS Watercolour April 2019 - Poppy

Hello friends.  Loll has a fun challenge for us this month at CAS Watercolour and wants to see a Poppy on your CAS cards.

I used an Altenew set called Painted Poppy and came up with this card:

I started by embossing the outline image with Versafine black ink and clear embossing powder...for me this technique helps keep the water color more inside the lines.  Then I used my MISTI and stamped the two layering images with Gina K's Red Velvet and Cherry Red inks and then spritzed with water before stamping each layer.  I also used my Aqua Painter to move the color around a bit to give the more loose look of water coloring.  I did the same for the leaf and the bud and then fussy cut my images out.

Before mounting my Poppy to the card front, I added a piece of white cardstock that I had die cut with a die from AliExpress to give some dimension and visual interest to the background.  My sentiment comes from PTI's Winter Woods stamp set.

Check out what the rest of the DT came up with and also our Special GD, and then play along with us right HERE.  We can't wait to see our gallery filled with lots of POPPIES!!    

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

Laurie's Fabulous Favorites

Hello friends.  This week PTI's Laurie Schmidlin is asking us to choose a favorite Make It Monday feature on our card for the Laurie's Fabulous Favorites challenge.  I'm combining two favorites...#305 Love of Layers and #315 Embossing Enamel Splatters.

I started with a grid stencil and Lemon Tart, Harvest Gold, & Bright Buttercup inks to create my background, and then layered the Shape Shifters: Oval over top.  Then I added LOTS of layers with Tulip Time, Forest Floor: Spring and A Bit More: Butterfly Blooms.  To the leaves and the butterfly I added Shabby White Embossing Enamel...here's a closer up:

  
I may have gotten a little carried away with the embossing enamel on the butterfly considering I had already embossed it in white before blending my ink colors to it, but I still like the way it turned out.  I layered all this to a Harvest Gold piece of cs and then adhered that to a white card base.  I left a sentiment off as I'm not sure if I'm going to use it as a Mother's Day card or maybe even a Thinking of You card...I'll decide later!

There were SO many wonderful Make It Monday challenges that it was hard to choose, but it was definitely FUN to go back and browse through them all!  Play along right HERE by Wednesday April 3 (6:00AM) and you could win a $100 shopping spree!!  

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