Guest Designing for TTTC

I was delighted to be asked to guest design for TTTC288.  The board has lots of options that let you make any kind of card.

I chose the last vertical row of Splatter/Smooshing, Die Cut Shapes and Embellishment.  Since I'm working on Easter cards, that's what I made.

I smooshed Altenew Just Green ink and splattered it with Hunter Green.  Poppystamps Proper Happy Easter shadow was inked in Just Green and I used white cardstock for the letters.  The cute Easter eggs from Memory Box were die cut from watercolor paper I painted with Lindy's Magicals.  The shimmer is so beautiful in person. 

I kept the detail layers white and added little clear gems.  There's lots of inspiration from the DT and I'd love to see you in the gallery.  I'm entering DCD, WAW and 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.

Birthday and Easter

At a time when the world seems upside down, I was reminded that little moments matter.  A man using a walker was ahead of me as we headed to the post office door.  I got close enough to offer to get the door for him.  But he opened it for me, saying you have your hands full with that purse.  I smiled, said thank you and walked through.  He said thank you for that beautiful smile.  Just a few seconds of positive human contact between strangers.  He brightened my day and hopefully I brightened his.   

I recently watched Erica's video on 3D embossing folders.  Inking the edges of an embossed folder wasn't new to me, but it reminded me to do it.  Here's the masculine Spring birthday card I made. 

I began by diecutting SSS Happy Birthday Brush Script shadow from a panel of Altenew's Forest Glades cardstock.  Then I embossed the panel with SSS Tumbling Leaves.  I inked the edges with Altenew Olive Grove and inked the card front with VersaMagic Niagara Mist.  The words were inked with Olive Grove and double clear embossed.  No sparkle for a guy's card, but cute little Poppystamps butterflies inked to match finish it off.  I'm entering DCD (through Flickr) since green leaves are part of Spring.

Edited to add: Thanks to Julie B's comment, I'm also entering Cardz 4 Guyz for the first time.

I recently pulled out my laminator, foil and toner card fronts to make one for a friend.  While everything was out, I made quite a few panels.  3 years ago I used rainbow foil with Unity Wild Garden toner card front.  This time I used specialty gold foil--really eye-catching!  Check out my IG post.  Decided this was the perfect chance to try ink blending over the foil and I'm hooked!  

I used Altenew Just Green, heavier around the edges.  I added an old SSS frame diecut along with Poppystamps butterflies and Proper Happy Easter inked to match.  Now to make more of my foiled panels into cards!  I'm entering Color Hues and DCD.

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

Wild Blooms

Loosing myself in cardmaking, as much as possible.  It's been quite awhile since I used PTI Wild Blooms layering stencil set, so pulled it out for stencil week at JUGS.  

I used a cream panel laying on my table with Altenew inks Blush Rose, Wisteria and Sagestone plus CN9 inks Pink Lemonade and Artichoke.  It was night when I finished stenciling and I wasn't sure I liked it enough to use it for a card.  Decided to leave it overnight and see what I thought in the daylight.  Next day I cut it down and brushed the edges with the Sagestone ink.  Then I used my finger to apply gold wax through the stencil for the flower centers--so beautiful!  Now the panel was growing on me, so I mixed a bit of water with some of the wax and splattered it over the panel.  I picked up the leftover with a small brush and went around the edges.  The mat was brushed with Blush Rose to match and I attached the panels to the center of a cream card.  Debated about the sentiment and decided on an old Winnie and Walter stamp/die set.  The little word was stamped in Artichoke and spring was die cut twice and brushed with a shimmer pen.  Pulled out the new to me Poppystamps Bunches o' Butterflies.  I chose one, inked it with Pink Lemonade, dabbed a bit of gold wax on the tips of the wings and attached a gold glitter dot to the body.  You can see the shine and shimmer in my IG post.  Glad I didn't toss the stenciled panel as I ended up with a card I really like.  I'm also 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.

Christmas and Birthday

I came across some beautiful deep green cardstock in my box of 8 1/2x11 sheets, so I made a couple Christmas cards.  Both of them started by embossing a green panel with SSS Holiday Greenery 3D folder.  I posted them in Flickr for challenges, so thought I'd show them here.

First is the card I entered for Christmas Kickstart inspired by the song White Christmas.  

I rubbed a white pigment pad on the raised edges and added Frosted Lace Stickles to the berries.  The new to me CN9 sentiment shadow was cut from vellum and the words from matte silver cardstock.

I swiped the other embossed panel with a gold ink pad using a fairly heavy hand.  That meant some of the ink also got on the areas not raised.

I added satin gold embossing powder and decided I kind of liked the look.  The edges were distressed and gold embossed.  SSS Peace, Love, Hope, Joy was stacked 2 high and double gold embossed with the same powder.  I added it to a vellum oval before attaching it to the panel.

Last is my entry for Woodblock Wednesday.  Karen's card using an old Stampington image reminded me that I have one of their butterflies.  It's Debbie Mumm's 2000 Grand Butterfly.  

Making this card was so much fun and just the distraction I needed.  I used Pentel Milky Pop pink and orange gel pens plus Pentel silver Sparkle Pop.  Sometimes I forget that it's OK to leave some areas white.  For me, that really makes this card.  The silver shimmer/sparkle is gorgeous and you can see it in my IG video.  The sentiment is an old favorite from Penny Black.  I'm also 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.

Just a Note and Happy Birthday

Squeaking in with a last minute entry for JUGs Photo/Mood Board Challenge.  The first time I looked at it, I thought of pink tissue paper flowers.  

I die cut Poppystamps Layered Pointy Petals using 3 layers of pink tissue paper at once.  Then I pulled apart the layers and glued 2-3 different size flowers together.  Instead of the diecut centers, I used pink transluscent enamel dots.  Couldn't resist the recent 50% off flash sale at The Greetery and picked up 2 dies.  This is my first card using It's a Wrap: Mini Posy Pocket which I die cut from PTI printed paper.  Decided my flowers needed something, so I added Memory Box Garland Greenery die cut from vellum.  The embossed panel is SSS Dibble Tile and the sentiment stamped in Versafine Clair Morning Mist is from PFS Perfect Sentiments.  Glad I had enough Sweet Blush cardstock for the mat, which actually is just a frame.  I cut a smaller rectangle from the center to use for another card.  I'm also entering NBUS.  This is the first outing for the flower wrap, flowers and greenery.

Next is my card for Uniko's 14th BD Celebration.  I admire Beverley's designing skills and ability to run her own company.  And I'm happy to count her as one of my friends.  

I used CN9 inks for the floral image and Versafine Clair Nocturne for the sentiment.  The base stems/leaves layer of Beautiful Blooms III was stamped in Artichoke, the fill-in color in Parsley and the veins in Artichoke.  For the flower and berry I used Pink Lemonade and Dragonfruit.  I wasn't happy with the flower outline and didn't want to start over, so I carefully traced it using a Gelly Roll Clear Star pen.  Thankfully, that gave me a look I liked.  Floral Vines is another Uniko stamp set I really like, but this time I just used the birthday sentiment.  I splattered black ink and added 3 pearly white sequins.  The black dry embossed background was made with  Altenew's Angled Mosaic.  I'm also 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, Stamplorations and Pinkfresh

The February Altenew Challenge has a beautiful color combo.  I used Altenew's Plants & Vases for my entry, along with their Nesting Oval dies.  

The inks I used are Altenew Blush and VersaMagic Oasis Green.  The cardstock is PTI Soft Stone.  I used a gold metallic pen to highlight the dots on the vase and randomly stamped little splatters using gold metallic watercolor.  You can see the shimmer in my IG video.

Next is my card for Stamplorations February Challenge.  I love the style of the Layered Vase stamp set.  There are solid images to use for adding color.  

I stamped the outline image in Versafine Clair Nocturne and used Altenew Blush Rose, Raspberry Sunset, Sagestone and Caribbean Sky for the color.  I stamped the water 3 times to get a slightly larger area colored.  The sentiment is from the same set.  I splattered black ink and added matching enamel dots.  Now I want to make another card with this fun set!  

My final card was made with the rest of my PFS butterflies that weren't used for the card in my last post.  The gold embossed Small Butterflies were stenciled with MFT Peach Bellini and PTI Tropical Teal. 

I cut off an inch of the card front and attached matching colored strips to the inside of the card.  The splatters were made with an old IO background stamp using the same inks and the butterflies were glued only in the middle. 

The sentiment is from PFS Sweet Friend Floral.  I'm entering PFS February Challenge and Color Hues Peach & Teal.

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

Waffle Flower Valentine and PFS Friendship Card

I resisted the postage collage trend, although I love it.  Finally I used a WF gc to get a few of the products and made my first card.  

My sister loves blue and her hubby is a fan of green, so I often use that combo for their cards.  Thought they'd love a Valentine made with the Rose Stencil, as they grow roses, too.  The inks I used are Altenew Arctic, Caribbean Sky, Persian Blue and Just Green.  I used Heidi Swapp screen ink for the little accents on the last stencil.  It's like a paste, so gives texture and shimmer.  You can see it in my IG post video.  The little stamped images are from an old PB stamp set.  Now I'm anxious to make some more postage collage cards!  I'm entering JUGS.  

Love that the Pinkfresh Challenge is Anything Goes using mainly their products.  I pulled out three of my favorites:  Small Butterflies, Lush Vines and Perfect Sentiments.  Decided to use the Color Hues challenge of Peach and Teal with MFT Peach Bellini and PTI Tropical Teal ink cubes.

After gold embossing the one piece stamp containing 9 butterflies, I used the matching stencils to add the color.  I just used the 2 ink cubes varying the amount of ink to get some lighter areas and some darker.  The teal shows more contrast.  I used the one piece die and then picked out 3 butterflies for my card.  Couldn't resist brushing them with a shimmer pen--so beautiful in the light.  You can see it in my IG video.  Glad I remembered seeing cards I liked that had black and white backgrounds with colored focal points.  I stamped Lush Vines in Versafine Nocturne and die cut the old PTI dotted rectangle from the panel.  Gotta say, I love the look!  You may see more black and white backgrounds!  I triple layered the sentiment, glued the butterflies only in the centers and added 3 black enamel dots around the sentiment.  Now to make another card with the leftover butterflies.  There may be too much black and white for Color Hues, but I'll leave that up to them.  

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