A Valentine's Day Play Time with Michele

Hello friends.  Michigan Winter weather played nice with us this Valentine's Day and my sweet friend Michele was able to come over and spend the day playing.  We did our usual hugging, laughing, talking and eating, all without consuming any calories!  Well, kinda...  We had veggies, fresh fruit, and for dessert, more fruit!  And veggies and fruit don't have any calories, RIGHT??!!  Of course the veggies were on a crust with cream cheese and ranch dressing and the fruit dessert was on a pie crust with a crumbled topping, so maybe a few calories.  But hey, when you're with friends, they don't count!  That's my story and I'm sticking with it!!  

We did manage to get some stamping and stenciling done, and started with a new to me stencil set from Altenew called Stencil Art: Playful Watercolor Flowers.  

 The flowers and leaves really do look watercolored, don't they?  I used shades of coral ink (PFS) for the flowers and a couple shades of green for the leaves (also PFS).  

 I ran my panel through with SU!'s Cane Weave embossing folder before matting it to a panel of Berry Sorbet cs (PTI) and a white card base.  My little label die cut is from a Spellbinders die set that Michele had brought called Essential Four Petal Label Dies and the sentiment is from a Greetery set.  I finished with a piece of bakers twine and a few Disco Ball sequins (Gina K).

Same stencil set for this card, just different colors...light, medium & dark orchid inks (Gina K) for the flowers and Eucalyptus & Green Tea inks for the leaves (CP).  I fussy cut off the right side of the panel and added foam tape to the back before adding it to a card base that I had stenciled using Gina K's Brick Wall stencil and Green Tea ink.

I finished this one off with a silver foiled sentiment on black using Spellbinder's Everyday Sentiments II set and a few PFS gems.

 Michele pulled out my Kaleidoscope stencil (PFS) next, so we both had a play with this too.  This stencil was part of a Create & Connect Christmas event 2 Christmas's ago, so I decided to keep the card Christmas like using the Modern Snowflake Die & Stencil & Stamp set from this past Christmas from PFS.  I heat embossed in silver the snowflake twice and then stenciled it in the same turquoise and teal inks that I had used for the Kaleidoscope background.  

 I die cut one of the snowflakes from Tranquil Teal cs and sandwiched it in between the two embossed and stenciled snowflakes before adding it to the stenciled background, along with a sentiment from the coordinating stamp set.  It is a little busy, but my last card is pretty CAS, so it makes up for the busyness of this one.  (Don't you love how I justify things??!!  Haha!!)

I started by once again using the Kaleidoscope stencil and inking it very softly with light blue, light turquoise & light purple, and then die cutting a star shape from it.  I used The Greetery's Rustic Star Small die to place over the die cut star that I had stenciled, and then slipped a little die cut Baby Face Swaddle Die underneath a part of the star.  

This close up is a little washed out from enlarging it, but it shows the dimension of the Rustic Star die cut better.  I used a holographic cs for the inside silver star part that really shines when the light hits it.  I finished this card very simply with a sentiment from The Greetery's Baby Face Stamp Set and called it good.  I need to do another one in pinks and then I'm good for either a boy or girl if I need a baby card.

I know this was a loooooong post and I hope I didn't lose any of you, but when Michele and I get going, the ideas start flying and there's just no stopping the fun!  Sure hope you enjoyed tagging along and I know you'll be blown away as usual by what Michele created from our play day...you can find it all right HERE.  As always, thanks again for another FUN play day Michele and for your YUMMY cherry and blueberry fruit pizza too! :0)       

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

Color Hues #81 - LILAC & MINT

Hello friends.  It's time for a new challenge at Color Hues and our sweet hostess Stef would like to see us using Lilac & Mint.

My flower loving heart wouldn't let me go in any other direction other than floral with these two colors, and I had just happened to have a new stencil set from Altenew called Stencil Art: Playful Watercolor Flowers that fit the bill perfectly!  Take a look...

I started by stenciling with SU!'s Mint Macaron and Gina K's light, medium & dark Lilac inks and then used Memory Box's Pinpoint Leaf Plate over the top of the stenciled design.

I mounted my stenciled layer to a piece of Mint Macaron cs and then a top folding white card base, and then finished with a sentiment strip that I hot foiled with silver using Spellbinder's Everyday Sentiments II plates and a few PFS gems.  These colors are definitely making me wish Spring would hurry up and get here!!

The DT and our Special GD Bonnie have outdone themselves with inspiration for you, so check it all out right HERE and then play along with us.  You know we'd love to see YOU in our gallery!  This challenge is open till Wednesday, Feb. 28th @ 9:00AM.

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

The Flower Challenge #88 - Reminder

Hello friends.  Just a friendly reminder that there's still time to play along with us at The Flower Challenge where we're looking for HEARTS along with FLOWERS of course!

Since Valentine's Day has passed, I decided to add a Heart to a birthday card using The Greetery's Sketchbook Roses stamp set.  Here's what I came up with...

I started this card with an embossed background using SSS's Vine Canopy embossed folder.  I added a couple hearts from PTI's Love To Layer: Hearts die set in Real Red and white cardstock and then added the stamped and die cut roses from The Greetery's Sketchbook Roses set.

Can you see the little X's and O's around the border of the red heart?  I love this little set of 3 dies from PTI!!  My sentiment was embossed in gold on a strip of vellum using an older PTI set called Think Big Favorites: #24, and I also added a few gold pearls (Gina K) and a tiny gold bow in the upper left corner to finish this card.

Lots of AWESOME inspiration from the DT to get you inspired to play along, so check it all out right HERE...we would LOVE to see YOU in the gallery!  This challenge is open till Sunday, Feb. 25th @ 5:00PM.

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

Postage Collage Mini Slimline

Hello friends.  No Valentine cards here today, but a couple birthday mini slimline cards using the new (to me) Waffle Flower Postage Collage Mini Slimline Die and the Delicate Rosebuds Stencils from PFS and also one from WF's Rose Background Stencil. 

 I'm not much of a fan of regular sized slimline cards (they're too BIG and sooo hard to photograph!), but I love the mini size (3 1/2 x 6) and I love working with the collage dies that Waffle Flower has come out with recently including this mini slimline sized one!

For this first card I did my die cutting of the Postage Collage Mini Slimline Die first, and then stamped the rose outline from the Delicate Rosebuds set and then proceeded to use the coordinating stencils to blend in the color of the buds and leaves.  I know you can't see it in the photo, but I used WOS on the buds and leaves, so in real life this card really shimmers!  I also used the coordinating stencil to color in the blocked backgrounds with a very light turquoise ink.  The sentiment is from a Penny Black set and the postage amounts are from WF's Postage Collage Stamp Set.  The little pink glitter heart at the bottom is a leftover from a Greetery die cut.

  

My 2nd card was done the same way as the first one, except I stenciled in the roses using WF's Rose Background Stencil in different colors.  The sentiment is also from a Penny Black set and the postage amounts and circle cancellation stamp are all from the Postage Collage Stamp Set.  

I'm sending both of these cards over to the Stencil Fun Challenge (did you see the optional HEARTS on both cards??), and also Darnell's NBUS Challenge #59 since the die had never been used or the Rose Background Stencil.

  

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

Word Power Challenge #2

Hello friends.  Playing along again with Diane & Darlene's newest challenge Word Power...I love cards that focus on the words/sentiment!

 The Word Power Challenge gives me a great reason to use my collection of verses that PTI has put out for many, many years now, including this one from March of 2017 called Year of Psalms: March and is from Psalms 91:4. 

Can you tell I was trying to channel my inner Melissa Phillips with this card of many, many layers?!!  I have loved her style since she very first started with Papertrey Ink and still love it, even though most of my cards these days are of the CAS style.  Sometimes it just feels good to add on all the layers, and this one certainly has a few!  I started by stamping my verse and then heat embossing it in clear before using a SB Notched Corner Frame Die to cut it out.  I sponged the edges with a bit of Harvest Gold ink (PTI) and then went to work on the 2nd layer that I stenciled with WF's Rose Background Stencil using the same Harvest Gold ink for the flowers and a couple shades of green for the leaves.  This layer was also die cut with the SB Notched Corner Frame Dies.

I added both my stamped and stenciled layers to a piece of PTI's Bitty Big DSP in Harvest Gold and used the Crimped Rectangle Die from The Greetery to add the decorative edge to this layer.  All were then added to a card base of Harvest Gold cs.

Of course I needed to add a little birdie to go along with my verse, and one of my all time favorite bird stamps (I have many!!) is PTI's Brushed Birds.  After stamping and die cutting him out, I added him to a Crimped Circle Frame Die cut (also The Greetery), along with a bit of sponging and some greenery (Poppystamps - Leafy Sprig Die).  My card was finished with a bit of glitter to the birdie and the greenery, and then a few yellow gems from PFS.  Definitely a few more layers and work than I usually put into a card these days, but I love the way it turned out and will definitely work for when I need to send out encouragement to someone in need!

Make sure you check out this new challenge if you haven't already and then play along...you can find all the details right HERE.  This challenge is open till Thursday, Feb. 29th.

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

The Flower Challenge #88 - Add A Heart

Hello friends.  Welcome back to The Flower Challenge, where this month it's all about HEARTS!  And FLOWERS too of course!!

 I used PFS's Delicate Rosebuds stamp and stencil set to come up with this card...

I started by hot foiling my background using PFS's Heart Grid Foiling Plate with Silver Prism Foil.  I heat embossed the Delicate Rosebuds image in silver, and then stenciled with greens and pinks before cutting out with the coordinating die.  I layered the image over a pink and white die cut hearts from PTI's Love To Layer: Hearts and recessed the smaller pink heart by adding foam tape behind the larger white heart.  

My sentiment is from the Gina K Love You Trio die set and I used black and silver glitter cardstock to make them stand out from the rest of the card.  I finished with a few silver pearls from Gina K.  Such a feminine card...I think it will go to my mom for Valentine's Day!

We sure hope you'll play along with us this month...just remember to add a heart somewhere on your card and of course FLOWERS!  You can find lots of wonderful inspiration from my talented teammates right HERE.  This challenge is open till Sunday, Feb. 25th @ 5:00PM.

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

Color Hues #80 - RED & PINK

Hello friends.  Happy February and welcome to a new challenge at Color Hues where Sheri is our hostess and she would like to see RED & PINK on our cards.

Do you like our new graphic?  All of us at Color Hues are loving it and hope you do too!  

I could have gone in so many directions with this color combination, but needed a few Valentine's cards and what a perfect fit this combo is for the love holiday!  I have a very CAS card to share with you today and I love how it turned out!  (Sometimes less really is more!!)  Take a look...

I stamped my sentiment first (The Greetery - Signed & Sealed With a Kiss) and then flipped  my panel over to make a score mark on the back that would be raised on the front.  Then I added two Ribbon Maker Heart Strip die cuts (The Greetery) using glitter cardstock from PFS in red & pink. In the past I've always used glitter cs from Michael's or Hobby Lobby, and they always have a kind of plastic backing on them that makes it really hard to die cut with them, but this new glitter cs from PFS cuts like a dream and the colors are so pretty!  

I lightly colored with Copics the little bunnies from Anita Jeram's (CCC) Snuggle Bunny stamp set, and then fussy cut them out and added them behind the die cut heart strips.  I matted with a red panel and attached both layers to a white card base and then finished with a few of the red & pink hearts that were left over from the die cutting strips.  Easy peasy and I'm tickled with the way it came out!

Edited to Add:  Also adding my card to the Just Us Girls Challenge where they are also having a red & pink color challenge...great minds think alike!!

Make sure you check out all the inspiration from the DT and our Special GD Bobby right HERE and then play along with us...we'd love to see YOU in our gallery!  This challenge is open till Wednesday, Feb. 14th @ 9:00AM. 

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