CAS Mix Up And More

Hello friends.  Playing along with this months challenge over at CAS Mix Up and they are looking for OMBRE inking on our cards.

I have been in a bit of a stamping funk lately because of health issues going on in my family and just hadn't been able to find my mojo!  That all changed though when I started seeing posts from everyone who went to Loll's crafting retreat!  So today I have 3 cards to share with you featuring some of those techniques they shared, including this first card that uses the Ombre technique that Lin shared (she was inspired by Kristina Werner's post HERE).

I masked off the left 2/3rds of my card front, and then blended using DOX inks in Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, & Carved Pumpkin to create my ombre effect.  Using the DOX inks makes such a smooth transition from color to color!  I left my mask in place and then used SSS's Outline Butterflies background stamp with versamark ink and white embossing powder...LOVE how this came out!!

I kept my card CAS and finished it off with a lovely die cut butterfly from Gina Marie Designs and an embossed sentiment strip in white on black (PTI - Keep It Simple: Thinking Of You)

Another technique shown at the retreat by Nancy was called "Cut Up Stamping" which she learned from a Jennifer McGuire post HERE.  I used the same ink blending technique with Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, & Seedless Preserves DOX inks and embossed with white using another SSS set called Sketched Flowers (LOVE this stamp set...mostly because of the font of the different sentiments!).  Then came the hard part of this technique...cutting a perfectly good panel!!  But after the first initial shock and stamping my sentiment (PTI - Keep It Simple: Birthday), I loved the look of the card!!  A few of Lucy Little Gems and some black & white baker's twine finished off this card.

My last card and probably my favorite, is a bleaching technique which Susan showed at the retreat.  I have actually done this technique before, but it's been SO long ago, that I had forgotten all about it!  So anyway, I did some more ink blending (can you tell I'm a little hooked on this?!) using Abandoned Coral and Seedless Preserves DOX inks and then stamped with black and embossed with clear my image using a SU! set called Happy Watercolor.  Then I used an old brush and some splashless bleach to paint and remove the color from the blossoms...absolutely LOVE this look!!  I matted my panel with some black cs and adhered to a white card base, and then stamped my sentiment which is also from the same Happy Watercolor stamp set.  I finished with a few clear sequins and a piece of black & white baker's twine.

If you've made it with me this far...CONGRATULATIONS!  I know this was a looooong post, but I was just so excited about using these techniques and just having FUN in my crafty space again!  There are SO many BEAUTIFUL cards from the DT and already in the gallery using the OMBRE technique, so check it all out right HERE and play along.  This challenge is open till the 24th.

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

Laurie's Fabulous Favorites - Framed Sentiments

Hello friends.  This week at Laurie's Fabulous Favorites, Laurie has asked us to show our favorite way to frame our sentiments.  Laurie loves to use FLOWERS to frame her sentiments, and I'm right there with her...FLOWERS ALL THE WAY!!

I pulled out one of my all time favorite stamp sets and in fact, Simple Sunflower stamp set was one of my first purchases at PTI many, many years ago!  I started with a cream colored card base, and then added a piece of Harvest Gold Bitty Big DSP, and then covered it with a cream colored Bold Border: Arabesque die cut frame.  I stamped my sentiment from Penned Elegance in Cocoa Bean ink, and then layered on the leaf branch from the Songbird die collection, also in the matching cream cardstock.

I stamped up 3 of the smaller sunflowers in Lemon Tart, Harvest Gold, and Cocoa Bean inks and then fussy cut them out and arranged around the corner of the sentiment.  It still needed a little color, so I added some leaves from the stamp set using Simply Chartreuse and Ripe Avocado inks.  I also added some WOS to the sunflower leaves, but you can just barely see a hint of it in this photo.  To finish I added a piece of cream baker's twine and a few gold jewels (Lucy's Little Things).

You can check out Laurie's BEAUTIFUL card and play along with this challenge right HERE.

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

CAS Watercolour June 2019 - Something Blue

Hello friends.  Welcome back to another CAS Watercolour Challenge where this month Bonnie is hosting a color challenge...SOMETHING BLUE.

I love color challenges and I pulled out an older Altenew floral called Best Mom and came up with this:

I started by heat embossing my floral image in silver, and then used PTI's Pierced Feature Frames to die cut the image into a frame.  I used the selective coloring technique by only water coloring the inside rectangle piece with an Aqua Painter and some Altenew inks smooshed into an acrylic block that I could pick up with the Aqua Painter.  I adhered my water colored piece to a top folding white card base and then added the uncolored die cut frame (that I backed with fun foam) over top of my water colored piece.  I love the look of dimension and symmetry this technique gives!!

Here's a closer up where you can see the shine of the silver embossing, dimension, and the symmetry better.  My "hello" comes from a Gina K set called Skeleton Leaves - loved that it was small enough to fit in that small space and still a pretty font too!

Our challenge is open till the 24th, so check out all the great inspiration from the DT and our special GD TaeEun and then play along with us.  Remember to keep it CAS (LOTS of white space) and use all those lovely shades of BLUE out there with your water coloring...we can't wait to see what you come up with!  

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

12 Kits Of Occasions - June Celebrations

Hello friends.  Hard to believe it's the end of May already...where did it go??!!  Welcome back to another 12 Kits Of Occasions post where this month Tracey was our delightful hostess and sent out a FABULOUS kit full of papers, images, die cuts, and sentiments all meant to celebrate Father's Day, End of the School Year, and Teacher Thank You's.  Take a look at what we all got to create with:

Aren't those PLAID PAPERS just gorgeous?!  I had a hard time cutting into the 1st piece as my instinct was to just hoard them!!  But once I started it was hard to put them down!!

Had to color up this sweet little girl from PPP's School Friends and back her against some of that wonderful plaid paper (Lawn Fawn).

This time I colored (Copics) up the little guy from PPP's School Friends and added him to more of that delicious plaid paper along with some Kraft and Summer Sunrise cs that I die cut using PTI's To The Point Edgers.  The little wood veneer elements are from Jillibean Soup.

I absolutely fell in LOVE with this Mondo Gerber Daisy from Ellen Hutson and did a little blending before adding it to another piece of the wonderful plaid papers Tracey included in this kit!  Is there such a thing as a "PINK" lady bug?  Probably not, but for the sake of my card, and me liking to be all matchy-matchy, a pink ladybug is what I pop dotted onto my sentiment flag banner.

Tracey also included one of Lawn Fawn's Reveal Wheel die cuts and since my dad has been gone for over 18 years now, and our 3 grown daughters all get their own Father's Day cards for their dad, I decided to make this card be from our dog Daisy who gives new meaning to the phrase "Daddy's Girl"!  She is absolutely in LOVE with my hubby and only comes to me when "Daddy" is at work!  Daisy is part Britany Spaniel (although we say part goat, part cat), so I just added a few light tan spots to her otherwise white fur and then added the die cut trees that were part of the kit and mounted them both to the front of the card that I also stamped some more trees to (Deep Red - Winter Pines).  I used a piece of the navy plaid to layer with and used an MFT die to cut the banner with the "Dad, You're" sentiment to go along with the sentiments that were part of the Reveal Wheel.  FUN to make and FUN to play with!!

My last card uses this sweet little girl from Sugar Pea Designs (Class Act) that I colored up with my Copics again, and then simply added her to more of that gorgeous plaid paper.  I thought the sentiment was perfect for my granddaughter to give her pre-school teacher as a thank you in a couple weeks when school is done.

Here's a photo of all 5 cards together, and luckily I still have leftovers to create a few more after I see what the other gals did with their supplies.  This was such a FUN kit to play with, so thank you, thank you Tracey for putting together such a delightful kit...LOVED it!!  Make sure you check out what all my teamies did with this same kit right HERE...you will be blown away for sure!! 

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

Tag You're It Challenge #88 - Spring Flowers

Hello friends.  Playing along with the Tag You're It Challenge where they've given us a BEAUTIFUL inspiration photo with Spring Flowers/Colors.

Everything about this sweet photo inspires me...from the array of beautiful flowers to the lovely Spring colors, and of course that wonderful blue teapot!  Of all the bazillion stamps I have, I do not have a single teapot, so I used a brand new Penny Black stamp called Bunches For You that I thought fit the challenge beautifully!

Isn't this image of the envelope with the bunch of flowers spilling out just as sweet as can be??!!  I stamped and embossed the image in black and then using my Aqua Painter and a bunch of Gina K inks smooshed into an acrylic block, lightly water colored the envelope, flowers, and leaves.  Once dry, I fussy cut the image and attached to a MFT tag die.

The "thanks" sentiment is from SSS's Sketched Flowers and I also die cut another tag from Hawaiian Shores cardstock to back behind the white tag.  A piece of heavy bakers twine finished off my colorful tag.

There are some absolutely BEAUTIFUL tags from the DT over at Tag You're It, so check them out and then play along right HERE.

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

Laurie's Fabulous Favorites - Favorite Summer Colors

Hello friends.  This week at Laurie's Fabulous Favorites, Laurie is asking us to use our FAVORITE SUMMER COLORS.  That was an easy one for me as I'm especially drawn to bright pinks and oranges, and Summer also makes me think of the stamp set Some Like It Hot!

I started by masking off a square in the upper half of my card base and then blended Picked Raspberry and Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks in the square opening.  Next I stamped the Flamingo from the Some Like It Hot set in black for a silhouette look.  I added the smaller Hibiscus flower and also a sentiment from the Words To Live By: Smile stamp and die set.

A few sequins and some bright pink bakers twine finished off this bright and fun card.  Make sure you check out Laurie's beautiful bright card and then play along right HERE.

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

Tag You're It Challenge #87

Hello friends.  Finally had time to make a tag for the current Tag You're It Challenge and take a look at the amazing inspiration photo they chose for us to work with this time...

And here's what I came up with:

First up, can you see my "oops"??  I used PTI's Quilted: Winter Tag die and obviously not paying attention, I glued my die cut branches from PTI's Songbirds to the backside of the tag...grrrrrrr!!  And of course by the time I realized what I'd done, it was too late to peel the branches off without ripping them!  Oh well, it is what it is!  I water colored a piece of heavy cardstock with the greens and purples for my die cut branches, and my birds were die cut from a piece I water colored with pinks.  The birds are also from the Songbirds set.  The music banner was stamped with Perfect Plum ink and die cut from the same Songbirds set.

In this close up you can see that I had dry embossed the tag with a SU! folder and also sprayed the whole tag with Sheer Shimmer Sparkle Spritz.  A few purple enamel dots and some pink thick bakers twine help pull out the colors from the inspiration photo and finish off my tag.

You can check out all the beautiful inspiration from the DT right HERE and play along.

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