Guest Designer at Time Out Challenges

I was so honored to have my card chosen as the winner a few weeks ago & now it's my turn to guest design at Time Out Challenges.  There are lots of possibilities using this colorful photo inspiration.

The wall immediately caught my attention & made me think of dry embossing.  I used a beautiful old Cuttlebug folder on an aqua cardstock panel.  Then I lightly inked the raised areas with white dye ink.  It's so fun to see how it changes the look.

The big dark flower & white table inspired the rest of my card.  I stamped the outline image from Altenew Majestic Bloom in Versafine Clair Nocturne.  The other layers were stamped in Altenew Coral Berry & Ruby Red.  I used a gold gel pen to color the center & I brushed the white edges with Coral Berry.  MFT Layered Leaves die cuts were tucked under the bloom & I gently lifted up the ends.  The die cut sentiment from the same Altenew set was stacked 3 high & brushed with a shimmer pen.  Just for fun, I didn't center the panel on the card front & I added a few white sequins for embellishment.
Here's a close up of the inspiration photo so you can see more details & you'll find lots of inspiration from the talented DT.  I'd love for you to play along & you might win the prize from Stamplorations! 

I'm entering WAW.

Hurrah--I finally have my laptop back!  The repairman even gave me a discount since the delay was due to his accidentally ruining the new part.  Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  I've gotten behind on blog reading, but if your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you as soon as I can.

Three Cards

           I keep adding items to my sale pages, so you might want to take a look.

I've really being having fun making cards while I can't spend too much time on the computer.  My last post has the second card I made inspired by Jennifer's video & here's my first attempt.

 
So glad I finally used the sweet floral image in RC Tall Blooms--worked great!  I just clear heat embossed the flower on kraft cardstock & ran it through the laminator with pink sparkle foil. 

I added a little color with pencils, but you do have to be really careful not to touch the foil.  The sentiment is from the same set & I added brown splatters.  Finished by rounding the corners & adding brown cord.  I'm entering Allsorts 10th BD celebration & RC May Challenge.

When I saw the theme for Inkspirational was gold dipped, I had to play along.  Several ideas ran through my head, but I settled on dipping the large Winnie & Walter noel word die cut. 

Before stacking, I gold embossed the red layer multiple times until it was very smooth.  A piece of purple tape gave me the straight edge.  The card front was also heat embossed with the same gold ink & powder, but only once giving the textured look.  The frame is my new Poppystamps Double Stitch Scalloped Rectangle Frames dies which I LOVE!  Again I used the same gold ink but this time I used Hero Arts Sparkle embossing powder for yet another gold look.  I stacked it to be the highest element of my card.  The hardest thing was deciding what to have behind the word.  Luckily I remembered my Tim Holtz poinsettia embossing folder which I used on a cream colored panel.

I wanted some gold there, too, so brushed on gold Perfect Pearls mixed with water--so pretty in person.  Finished off with little red (not black like they look in the photo) sparkle gems I've had forever.  I'm also entering Double D.

Last but not least is my card for the Winnie & Walter May Color Combo.  The inspiration photo is beautiful & I used Heather's Distress Ink colors of fossilized amber, ripe persimmon & seedless preserves to ink blend a panel.  Then I die cut W&W The Leaf Effect cover plate & used only the leaves on a white panel. 

I still have the negative which might end up on a card, too.  I spritzed with gold shimmer spray before mounting the panel to black cardstock die cut with the largest die in W&W Tilda Cutaways. 

The die cut word is from W&W The Big, the Bold & the Happy.  Tried out my new Sticky Specks to stack the word & to attach it to the leaf panel.  Verna mentioned using them just when I won a Dies R Us gc, so I ordered them.  They are very sticky, so it's a bit tricky peeling off a word like this.  Need to use them some more before I decide if they'll replace liquid adhesive for intricate die cuts.  I'm just not a fan of spray adhesive, but I know it's a good option for some people.  The little stamped word is from W&W The Big, the Bold & the Happy stamp set.  I'm also entering WAW.

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

Yellow & Blue Birthday with Foil

            I keep adding items to my sale pages, so you might want to take a look.

You may remember that I'm a huge fan of foil.  In fact, that was the theme for one of my Winnie & Walter Leading Lady posts.  But I just learned something new, thanks to Jennifer McGuire's video.  This time I didn't wait long to see if I could foil a heat embossed image using a laminator.  My first attempt with a single flower came out nearly perfect & I'll post that card soon.  My next try was using Impression Obsession Sketched Roses CAC.

 
I clear embossed the roses on Lemon Tart cardstock & then ran it through my laminator with teal foil.  It didn't come out perfect, but I thought it was worth using. 

I added color by brushing on Memento Teal Zeal & intensified the yellow cardstock with Distress Ink squeezed lemonade.  A dark teal cardstock worked great for the mat & I used it to die cut the sentiment which is from IO Greetings Top Edgers.  The sentiment mat is a scrap of Lemon Tart cardstock, the words are brushed with a shimmer pen & it's attached with foam tape.  I added teal & yellow sequins for embellishment.  I'm entering Impression Obsession, Allsorts, The Flower Challenge & Virginia's Show & Share.

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

Having Fun!

I keep adding items to my sale pages, so you might want to take a look.

Well, the laptop saga continues.  The replacement part was damaged when it was soldered, so now the waiting starts all over again.  Apparently, soldering is almost never required which tells you how old my laptop is.  Trying to think positively as I still hope he will be able to do the repair.  Next time, I'll just give in & get a new laptop.
On a happier note, hubby has finally turned the corner after 3 days of antibiotics.  Luckily the rain returned, so he hasn't been tempted to work outside.  Fritz is slowly finishing each of the additional meds he was put on for the gastroenteritis.  So far, so good.  Time will tell if he needs to take any of them on a permanent basis.
The "having fun" title of my post applies to the card I have to show you.  I can go to Instagram on my phone, so have looked at it more while I don't have my laptop.  I was inspired by some cross stitch I saw @dsiegel27.  I die cut Altenew Pegboard Canvas & pulled out teal & lime craft cord.

Instead of my original idea, I just stitched a simple frame.  Then I covered the center area with a piece of white cardstock.  SSS Painted Thanks was die cut from white cardstock & silver glitter paper & glued together.  The little words stamped in gray are from PTI Counting My Blessings & the silver splatters are done with stamps in PRS Fall Colors.  I seldom use SSS Sketch Ranunculus dies, but now I'm glad I have them.  The smaller flower was stamped in Memento Teal Zeal & then I brushed on additional color so that the center area was the darkest.  Love these sweet leafy branches which were stamped in Brilliance Pearlescent Thyme.  I colored in the leaves with the same ink using the smallest brush in my $9 set from Amazon--same as the $50 ones.  Just got Tsukineko Silver Shimmer Stix, so tried it out on the flower.

It's the same sparkle as the spray, but is a tube with a dauber end for control.  The flower is mounted with foam tape, so it's a bit higher than the stitching or the die cut word.  By the way, Score Tape on the back of the stitching worked great to attach the panel to the card front.  I'm entering RRCB (PTI stamp 2012, Floral 2016), SSS Flickr & SSS Wednesday.
Edited to add: I forgot to enter Virginia's Show & Share which I had in mind when I started the stitching.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.  Just know that right now it's taking me a lot longer, so I'm behind.

A couple cards

Still no laptop, so it's hard to keep up on my blog reading.  I do have a couple cards to show you.
First is a white on white card made with C&9 Blossom Die & SSS Painted Hugs die.

The blossom die was stacked 6 high & glued to a slightly different shade of white card.  I added a thin layer of Stickles Frosted Lace inside the outlines & then filled each section with Nuvo Glaze.  It's the faux stained glass technique, but without color.

The hugs die cut was stacked 4 high & is covered with Stickles Frosted Lace.  I'm entering CAS on Friday, SSS Flickr Challenge 123 & SSS Wednesday.

Next is my first card using the beautiful Poppystamps Gentle Leaf Collage die.  The die was cut from a white cardstock scrap & then glued at an angle to a soft green glitter cardstock rectangle.

I used brown cardstock to cover the card front, as I love green & brown together.  The sentiment from Poppystamps Hope & Thanks was stamped in Versafine Clair Acorn, matted with a scrap of the brown cardstock & attached with foam tape.  

This is for a blogging friend who has a May birthday, so it will soon be in the mail.  I'm entering Poppystamps, The Snippets Playground & 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 as soon as I can.

Coffee Plus

I hadn't planned to enter the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop this time, but then I saw my cute Stamplorations set called Coffee For All Seasons.

I stamped the Spring image in Versafine Clair Morning Mist on a scrap of watercolor paper.  Then I added watered down Distress Inks tumbled glass, milled lavender & bundled sage using a piece of acetate.  I hadn't done smooshing this way before & it does give you more control for placement of the colors.  The cup, saucer & word Spring were colored with a Sakura Clear Star gel pen--so pretty in person.  The gray cardstocks are PTI Weathervane & Soft Stone.  Love the sweet floral embossing folder from my friend, Lisa.  The sentiment is from the same set & I popped up the focal point.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday (card for a sweet blogging friend) & Virginia's Show & Share.  Edited to add:  Also entering Stamplorations Anything Goes.

Next is my entry for PTI LFF: Tags.  I don't have many tag dies, but my friend, Vikki, die cut a bunch for me.  The large image from What the Doodle: Snowflake was white embossed on Tag Sale #4.

Then I brushed on Enchanted Evening & Blueberry Sky.  I splattered water & randomly stamped the tiny snowflake from the same set.  I love Tiny Tags, which I do have, so added the round one for the sentiment.  I may end up adding this to a card as I think it'd be a lovely focal point.

Last is my entry for the May Pinkfresh Challenge.  I was looking for my Pinkfresh Christmas paper pack when I spotted the Pinkfresh Felicity collection I won several years ago.  I'd totally forgotten about it--papers, chipboard, sentiments, embellishments, Washi strips & puffy stickers.  It even includes a stamp set which I didn't use here.

Gotta say--it was really fun trying various combinations, but ended up pretty much where I started.  I was really proud of myself to incorporate a couple of the Washi strips as I almost never manage to use Washi tape on my cards.

The only thing I added was Stickles Star Dust & a yellow gem to the flower.  Luckily, I recently got a sheet of cardstock in just the peachy pink shade I needed for the card front.  Fun to make a card so outside my comfort zone--very modern with lots of elements.  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.