Three Cards

The current Poppystamps Challenge is Warm & Cozy.  Luckily, a friend gave me Nordic Winter Rabbit and she definitely looks warm and cozy in her sweater and cap. 

I used PTI Pure Poppy and New Leaf to color the diecuts.  Doesn't Seed Snowflake Outline diecut made a beautiful winter background?  Birch Press Designs Warm Wishes Vintage Sentiment outline/shadow diecut goes perfectly with the snowflake, so I didn't insert the letters.  Nice and flat for mailing, so that's a plus.  First time to use the rabbit die, so I'm also entering Darnell's NBUS. 

Next is another Christmas card.  I honestly don't know how many wreath products I have, but it's alot!  One of my orders from Poppystamps or Birch Press Designs came with the Memory Box Pine Wreath die set. 

I cut the sprigs from 3 shades of green cardstock in a MB pad.  My imaginary red door was made with MB white woodgrain cardstock inked in Altenew's Velvet.  It's actually a deeper, richer red than I captured in the photo.  I inked scraps in Velvet to use for the Tim Holtz bow and for 2 sizes of berries made with Sizzix and Spellbinders dies.  The scrap for the berries was covered with packing tape before diecutting.  I used gold metallic cardstock for the card front edges, bow center and MFT Joy diecut.  The bow was embossed in matte clear ep which is a great look in person.  I used a gold ep that isn't too bright for the sub-sentiment from Winnie and Walter.  Have to admit, took me quite awhile to create the wreath.  Always looks easy in videos and I did have a circle frame to work with.  Even so, getting all those pieces arranged and glued was a challenge for me.  I had a smaller wreath in mind and thought I might have to start over.  But after leaving it and coming back the next day, I decided I liked it.  I'm entering Color Hues and Word Art Wednesday.

I discovered an acorn die in an old Hero Arts set, so I was able to make a card for JUGS.  

Love making a Fall card without orange or yellow.  Instead I used a favorite color combo of blue, green and brown.  I stamped the green cardstock with PRS leaves using Altenew's Olive Grove.  The acorns and Poppystamps Happy Fall Moonlight Script were inked with Altenew's Rocky Shore and Mocha.  The Tim Holtz linen ribbon has been in my stash a long time and was just the look I wanted for this card.  Tried various sequins colors and the green won out easily.  I'm putting a Thanksgiving greeting inside, so I'm also entering SSS Monday.  

I'm feeling hopeful for my country after the recent election.  So many Americans, regardless of political party, still value decency, democracy and religious freedom.  

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

Thanksgiving and Birthday

The end of another month and a couple more cards to enter before challenges close.  I really love coloring stencils which I used for this card made with SSS Full of Thanks.

The image and sentiment were gold embossed and colored with the stencils using CN9 inks in Clementine, Grapefruit, Parsley, Artichoke, Avocado and Fig.  The green mat was inked in Avocado.  I added small gold watercolor splatters and used a narrow gold mat.  Really love how this one turned out and I'm anxious to use more of the images in that set.  I'm entering SSS Flickr, SSS Wednesday via Flickr and WAW via Flickr.

I immediately thought of Christmas when I saw the PTI October Inspiration Challenge colors of Classic Kraft, Vintage Cream and Scarlet Jewel.  That's what I made for my first entry.  But I also had the idea of making a birthday card with the fun, whimsical Your Beautiful Birthday stamp set.  

I did a practice run on scratch paper since I didn't want to ruin a piece of my Vintage Cream Cardstock.  It helped me figure out the size of rectangle to stamp on and how close to stamp the cake layers.  Plus, I hated the look of the cake plate done in brown ink, so changed to gold embossed for the card.  I wanted something else gold and decided to just emboss the rectangle edges like I used to frequently do.  It really makes a difference in person, even though you can't really see it in the photo.  The Classic Kraft panel was die cut with Border Bling: Tin Stitched--an old favorite.  I wanted another layer that wasn't just a rectangle and remembered Melissa layering various shapes on her cards.  I settled on the middle size Love to Layer: Soft Ridges die.  Turned horizontally, it only shows on the sides, which gave color and interest without detracting from the cake panel.  Plus, I did a couple partial die cuts, using only a little bit of my Scarlet Jewel cardstock which is almost gone.  Classic Kraft turned out to be a great color for the cake, I think.  The Scarlet Jewel sprinkles were over stamped in VersaMark so I could use Sparkle embossing powder to add a festive touch.  The candle flame & glow were stamped in Summer Sunrise and Bright Buttercup and then were covered in yellow Stickles.  The sentiment from the very old Tiny Tags set was stamped in Scarlet Jewel on a scrap of Vintage Cream die cut with a small circle and stacked 2 high.  The circle mat was made with a Classic Kraft scrap die cut with a slightly larger circle.  I've made quite a few cards with this cake stamp set and this might be my favorite.  I'm also entering 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.

Christmas and Autumn

October is coming to a close, so better get my cards into the challenge galleries.  First up is the card I made with leftovers from the Poppystamps Twirly Whirly Tree in my previous post.  

I spritzed a white cardstock negative with Distress Mica Stain Tree Lot.  The outline glitter cardstock tree was then glued in place.  The gorgeous sparkle and shimmer can be seen in my IG post.  The very old wood mounted sentiment was popped up.  Super simple, but I love the result.  I'm entering Poppystamps Make it Magic October challenge to add sparkle and WAW via IG.

Next is my card for the Pinkfresh Studio October challenge.  I had fun using all the dies in their Blanket Stitched Rectangles, along with a flower from Dainty Blossoms--a much loved PFS die set.  

To get Fall colors, I pulled out 3 ink cubes from Altenew's Warm & Cozy set:  Orange Cream, Autumn Blaze and Firebrick.  The largest frame was glued flat to the card front.  The next largest was stacked 2 high and the rectangle was stacked 3 high.  It really makes a difference in real life.  The flower was die cut from gold metallic cardstock and the sentiment from Sweet Friend Floral (another favorite PFS set) was gold embossed on black.  I added a few black enamel dots to finish it off.  I'm sending it to a friend instead of a traditional Thanksgiving card.

Last is my entry for the Altenew October Inspiration Challenge, JUGS stencil challenge and WAW.  It's been awhile since I used Altenew's White Cap Peonies stencil set and I do love it.  Wasn't sure how it would look in the colors for this month, so was happy to see they actually looked beautiful once the stenciling was done.  These are the Altenew inks:  Pale Mauve, Amethyst, Grape Agate, Sunkissed, Firebrick, Silver Sprout and Sagestone.  

Love what adding some gold splatters does to a panel!  Altenew's Sparkled Frame die is one of my favorite products from when I was a guest designer.  I used matte gold cardstock for it and the word die from Floral Acanthus.  Glad I have quite a few enamel dot sets that match my Altenew inks, including these.  I got brave and added both purple and orange.  I considered skipping this month's challenge, but I'm really glad I didn't.  Ended up with a card I really love and I think it will be perfect for a Fall birthday.  

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

Christmas Cards

A couple challenges inspired me to make more Christmas cards.  They are my favorite to make.  As you'll see, these two are completely different.

First is my entry for Poppystamps Make it Magic October challenge.  I thought that would mean things like elfs or witches or mermaids.  Lucky for me, the challenge is actually to add some sparkle--right up my alley! 

I die cut Poppystamps 2014 Twirly Whirly Tree 3 times from white cardstock and once from the white/iridescent glitter cardstock from Memory Box Holiday Glitter pack.  All the pieces remained in place when I removed the tree from the die.  It was so beautiful, I decided to make the top tree green using Distress Oxide rustic wilderness.  Then I paper pieced the glitter cardstock pieces into the green tree.  So glad I did, as it's truly beautiful in person.  You can see the sparkle in my IG post.  Simple framing using Gina K rectangle dies and a favorite W&W sentiment finished the card.  I'll make another card with the glitter cardstock outline tree.  Can't let it go to waste!  I'm also entering WAW.

My other card is for the October Papertrey Ink Challenge with the color combo Classic Kraft, Vintage Cream and Scarlet Jewel. 

The PTI products I used are Joyful Florals stamp set/dies, Vintage Cream and Classic Kraft cardstock, Scarlet Jewel printed paper, Classic Kraft and Scarlet Jewel ink cubes, Scallop Stackers:  Small and Delicate Circle die.  The sentiment was gold embossed and the poinsettia centers were colored with a Pental gold Color Pop pen.  You can see the shimmer and shine in my IG post.  

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

Note Card and Christmas Card

I love stencils, so didn't want to miss the JUGS challenge which is about to close.  I also wanted to make another Artichoke and Purple card for Color Hues, as my first card had very little purple.  Unfortunately, I missed the deadline.  

I started with a PTI Vogue Vases white diecut.  I found a stencil from a friend that looked made for the vase and it worked great!  After using CN9 Plumberry through the stencil, I lightly brushed over the vase with the leftover ink.  I "glazed" my pottery with clear embossing powder.  I colored the diecut greenery from Memory Box and Poppystamps with CN9 Artichoke.  The same ink was used with Memory Box Texture Distressed Grid stencil on green cardstock.  I've seen some cards I like with pops of white, so I kept Poppystamps Little Layered Asters white and used Plumberry to color the centers and brushed them with shimmer.  I splattered white gouache and added the panel to a slightly larger white card.  I'm also entering SSS Monday and WAW.

I'm happy to have one more Christmas card completed.  No dies, just stamping, and it's flat for mailing.

The background is SSS Poinsettia Background stamped in CN9 Evergreen.  NOEL is a very old Penny Black stamp which I'd forgotten about.  I opened my last jar of JudiKins Egyptian Gold embossing powder--so beautiful in person!  It's been in my stash a long time.  Would you believe it cost $2.50?!  I used a gold sparkle pen to color the letters and added Christmas Red Stickles to the berries.  You can get an idea of the sparkle in my IG post.  I'm entering 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.

Altenew, Pinkfresh, Poppystamps

Short month, so I'm posting 3 cards today for challenges.  First is the Altenew September Inspiration Challenge.  The inspiration photo is a branch of beautiful apples, but the color combo of red, green and brown made me want to create a Christmas card.

The shade of red is not one I would have thought to use, but really like it.  I found a cardstock in my stash that was very close to the color in the graphic and used it for Altenew's Poinsettia 3D die set.  I brushed the petal edges with Coral Red and added a bit of shimmer with a pen.  The flower center and Fancy Peace sentiment were die cut from scraps inked with Mocha followed by Versamark so I could emboss with clear sparkle powder.  I found green cardstock in my stash that was very close to Fresh Leaf and embossed it with Altenew's Perfect Poinsettia folder.  I inked the edges with Fresh Leaf, but it was too similar.  So I used Olive Grove to deepen the corners and edges--does make a difference.  I inked the card front with Mocha to tie it all together and decided against any embellishments.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday, TTTC 302 (Diecuts, Free, Embossing) and WAW.

Next is my entry for the September Pinkfresh Challenge using 3 favorite PFS products:  Delicate Wreath, Layered Wreath and Perfect Sentiments.  

I stamped the wreath in CN9 Artichoke, purposely making some random areas darker.  Then I overstamped in Delicata Golden Glitz for a beautiful shimmer.  I used the same inks for the card edges.  I colored a scrap with CN9 gorgeous Plumberry ink and then used it for the berries die from Layered Wreath.  After gluing down the berries, I covered them with glaze.  A long time ago I cut apart the one piece Perfect Sentiments so I could stamp directly onto cards.  Here I used Versafine Clair Acorn and then embossed with a matte clear powder.  Finished off with Artichoke splatters.  You can see the shimmer and shine in my IG post.  I'm also entering Color Hues and WAW.

I'm posting my September CCC card early.  It reached the recipient and I want to enter Poppystamps September challenge and WAW.  I used the colors and the sketch.

I masked off the area I wanted to ink blend with Altenew's Pinkalicious, Purple Wine and Ruby Red.  Then I dry embossed the panel with Altenew's Flower Bed 3D folder.  Poppystamps Layered Pointy Petals were inked in the 3 colors and I added Stickles.  The white branches are from CN9.  Poppystamps Scribble Hello was stacked and also covered with Stickles.  You can see the sparkle in my IG post.

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