Poppystamps and Pinkfresh

Fun to use some favorite older dies to enter Poppystamps August Summer Daze Challenge.  My card was inspired by all the green leaves and butterflies we see in summer.  No, I haven't seen a pink glittery butterfly--artistic license! 😀

I used Freida Curve, Dotted Curve and Scribble Hello along with Memory Box Moonlight Butterfly and Kaleidoscope Butterfly.  The green cardstocks are from Memory Box Greenery Cardstock Pack and the shimmer pink is from Vintage Pastel Mirror Pad.  The detail butterfly was cut from pink glitter tape attached to copy paper.  Scribble Hello is stacked and clear embossed.  I added white paint pen dots in the background, which do add interest and texture in person.  You can see details in my IG post video.

My next card is for the August Pinkfresh Challenge and to remind you there's still time to enter Christmas Kickstart Wreath it Up.  I loved PFS Layered Wreath die the first time I saw it and eventually I added it to my stash.  I use it every year and this time I added it to a panel of the 2015 Christmas Wishes paper pack.  I'll probably cry when I use it up, but that will be awhile.  I definitely admire it a lot more than I use it! 

The bottom wreath is vellum and the top is PTI Ocean Tides--almost a perfect match.  This is my first card using the new SSS Splatter Medium.  It's very liquid and I need to try it some more.  Not sure my results are much different than when I add water to white gouache.  Definitely have to be careful not to spill the little jar.  I used 2 different dies to get 2 sizes of berries.  I had just enough sheer, red ribbon to make the bow.  You can see details in my IG post video.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Elf Duties--Reminder Post

I'm back to remind you that there's still time to play along with Jo and me at Christmas Kickstart: Wreath it Up.  The gallery is filling up with such wonderful cards and it's amazing how many have wreaths that are also in my stash!  

My first card was made with stencils, so this time I wanted to use one of my wreath stamps.  I settled on a much loved 2004 Art Impressions woodblock stamp.  Luckily, I still have an old fashioned stamp positioner.  

I started by inking the entire stamp in Altenew Misty Mint.  Then I used a sponge dauber to randomly add Mountain Pine.  I went back and forth until I was happy with the results.  I used an old set of circle dies to cut my wreath, a red cardstock circle and a circle inked in Mountain Pine.  I attached everything to a circle card made with the same die as the green mat.  One of my favorite sentiment stamps is a little 2003 Hero Arts woodblock stamp and it was just the right size for the center of my wreath.  Decided I needed a bow, so die cut 2 old PPP bows from red and white.  They're so thin, I stacked both colors 2 high.  Amazing how much better they looked!  I added Christmas Red Stickles to the berries and the center of the bow.  Be sure to stop by the blog to check out Jo's card and why not join the gallery?!

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Memory Box, Altenew and Stamps Happen

I just could not make my first idea for the Memory Box August Animal Themed Cards Challenge work.  Luckily, I realized birds are in the animal kingdom!  That let me use the wonderful Backyard Wren die. 

First I ink blended Distress Oxides bundled sage, lucky clover, speckled egg and broken china.  Then I smooshed over the blended areas with lucky clover and broken china to add more texture.  Love the look.  Instead of a tree branch, I decided to put my bird in a bush using MB Tall Frilly Leaf Stems brushed with several green metallic sprays.  Many of my old spray bottles clogged, so I just pour some out and use a paintbrush.  You can see the sparkle in my IG post.  I brushed the bird diecuts with DO vintage photo, fossilized amber and antique linen.  The oval frame was made with Elizabeth Craft dies and I inked it with DO antique linen and a touch of vintage photo--purposely not making it a solid color.  Poppystamps Scribble Hello was stacked and inked with the vintage photo.  Not sure about embellishments, so left them off for now.  I'm also entering Tic Tac Toe 276 using Any Color/Free/Sentiment.  

My next card is for the August Altenew Inspiration Challenge.  I had fun using some of their older products along with a new one. 

The Fresh Flowers diecuts were ink blended with Puffy Heart, Rose Quartz, Citrus Burst, Maple Yellow, Forest Glades and Frayed Leaf Altenew inks.  Watercolor Stripes Cover Die was cut from vellum and attached to a soft yellow textured cardstock panel.  The sentiment letters from Essential Sentiment Strips were ink blended to match and inlaid into the vellum base which was matted with the same yellow cardstock.  I finished off with tiny yellow gems.  I'm also entering JUGS.

I finally made a card with this beautiful woodblock stamp called Rose Parade.  It's by Stamps Happen and I bought it over 20 years ago at a stamp convention.  

The image was embossed in SSS Rose Gold powder before I watercolored with Distress Oxides kitsch flamingo, picked raspberry and pumice stone.  I failed to leave enough lighter areas, so I added a bit of white metallic watercolor.  That helped, I think.  You can see the shimmer and shine in my IG post.  I added a very soft watercolor wash around the image using kitsch flamingo and finished off with pink sequins.  I entered the last Woodblock Wednesday challenge and I'm entering Color Hues Pink and Gray.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

On Elf Duty!

Yep--I'm so happy to be Jo's Guest Elf for Christmas Kickstart: Wreath it Up!  If you know me, you know I LOVE wreaths.  I honestly can't even count how many wreath stamps, dies and stencils I have!  And I just got another one! 😄  Plus, I love to use small stamps or individual diecuts to make wreaths.  For today's card, I used one of my newer products: CN9 Boughs & Holly Stencil Pack.

The inks I used are CN9 Evergreen, Clover, Cranberry and PTI Cocoa Bean.  It's a fun stencil to use.  You ink it once and then turn it 180 degrees and ink again.  The bow is from Pinkfresh Artistic Bows which I got for $3 from a crafter's destash sale.  The bow was brushed with a shimmer pen and the berries were covered in Christmas Red Stickles.  I tried several sentiments and decided on this one from PTI Joyful Florals.  I hope you'll check out Jo's card with a darling unexpected image and join the challenge.  I'm entering SSS Wednesday.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Altenew

Decided to squeak in with one more entry before the Altenew Inspiration Challenge ends.  I used some of their products I really love.

I've used the Flower Bed embossing folder a lot.  One of my favorite techniques is to add color to white cardstock before embossing.  I put the panel into the folder so I can see approximately where the flowers and leaves will be.  Then I add my colors, but not precisely.  For this card I blended Persian Blue and Fresh Leaf until the entire panel was inked.  After embossing, I experimented with lightly rubbing an off white pad across the raised areas.  Didn't like the result, so just wiped it mostly off with a paper towel.  Then I did the same thing with a gold pad.  It was subtle, but pretty.  Decided to add gold embossing powder--just wanting a bit here and there.  A lot of powder stuck!  So I used a small paintbrush to remove a lot of it.  Still ended up with more gold embossing than I'd planned, but I actually like it.  Sparkled Frame is another favorite product.  I used the same beige cardstock as my first entry, since it's very close to the color in the graphic.  Most of the time I use the Happy Birthday die from Essential Sentiment Strips, so it was nice to make use of a different one for this card.  I inked the card front and sentiment strip in the Persian Blue and used the same SSS Antique Gold embossing powder for the letters.  The medium shade of Deep Sea Sapphire Gem Sparkles finished off the card. You can see the sparkle and shine in my IG post.  I'm also entering SSS Monday, SSS Wednesday and WAW.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Pinkfresh and SSS

I almost forgot to post the first card I made for the July Pinkfresh Studio Challenge which closes tomorrow.  

I silver embossed PFS Folk Snowflake and then brushed Altenew Arctic, Caribbean Sky and Persian Blue inks through the matching stencils.  You can see the embossing shine in my IG video.  The sentiment is from the same set.  I added low profile clear dots, so still flat for mailing. 

It's Stencil Week at JUGS challenge and I didn't want to miss it this time.  I pulled out an old SSS stencil called Bouquet of Roses.  

The inks are Altenew Blush, Rouge, Crimson, Sweet Leaf, Just Green and Hunter Green.  I purposely let a bit of the green go into the roses, as I like "connecting" the leaves to the flowers.  The panel was splattered with Altenew Black Ink Spray and then covered with Heidi Swapp white Color Shine.  The shimmer is beautiful and you can kind of see it in my IG post video.  I matted the roses panel and the sentiment from PTI Essential Sentiments with silver metallic cardstock.  At the last minute, I decided to add one of the butterflies from SSS Stitching Butterflies die cut from vellum.  It looks much better in person--sorry the photo isn't better.  I'm also entering SSS Flickr 237.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Birthday Cards

Yana's post for SSS reminded me of the one she did in 2020 using SSS Anna's Flowers.  In fact, that's why I bought the set!  Happy to have been inspired to use it for this card.  

I was going to do something closer to Yana's cards, but wasn't happy with my first attempt using a very light pink.  So I turned the panel over and filled it with overlapping flowers using Altenew's Puffy Heart, Purple Wine and Cosmic Berry.  Now it looks like printed paper and I really like it.  Of course, pink being my favorite color may have something to do with it.😀  I did add some white gouache splatters that came out pretty subtle.  This is a sentiment I think works for lots of occasions, including birthdays.  I stacked it and used a shimmer pen which you can see in my IG video.  The subsentiment is from PTI Scripted and I added TE silver sparkly gems.  I'm entering SSS Monday, SSS Wednesday and Seize the Birthday.  

I don't want to miss the Pinkfresh Studio July Challenge, so decided to combine it with Color Hues: Yellow and Green.  Yellow isn't a color I reach for very often, but it is a happy color--perfect for a birthday card. 

I stamped PFS Modern Layered Florals in Altenew Fresh Lemon, Maple Yellow, Grass Green and Shadow Creek.  I added some details with a white gel pen.  PFS Lush Vines was clear embossed on soft green textured cardstock and I glued the bouquet to Fancy Oval Frame.  The sentiment is from the same set and I added yellow gems.  Turned out to be a card I really like, so that's a win! 😊 The colors look more accurate on my phone, unfortunately.  I'm also entering Inkspirational.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.