Halloween and Friendship

I'm honored Nonni asked me to join her Vintage Vibes Card Making Hop on IG.  It's not a style I make very often, but I have the perfect Halloween paper by Graphic 45.  

My dear friend, Betty, sent me home with several sheets the first time I visited her.  I darkened the edges of the panel and added brown Distress Stickles to the sunflower centers.  For the mat, I embossed brown cardstock with Altenew's Playful Leaves folder.  I inked and lightly distressed the edges before adding the light tan lace and pearls from my stash.  If you use IG, check out the creations of the many talented designers.  You can find the list of participants in my IG post.  I'm entering WAW. 

Next is my idea of a seasonal transition card with flowers and what I call dusty ink colors.  I've only made one card with SSS Long Stem Florals and I didn't use the stencils.  

Love the look of these images and it's really fun to add color with the stencils.  The inks I used are Altenew's Glacier Iris, Amethyst, Dusty Pink and Sagestone.  I die cut the panel with PFS Nesting Postage Rectangle and splattered with black ink.  Thought the font of this Verve sentiment went perfectly with the flowers.  Pretty sure that Verve stamp set had never been used and it has lots of wonderful small sentiment stamps.  I'm entering SSS IG, SSS Flickr, WAW and NBUS.

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

Happy Anniversary and Thankful

Very grateful it's feeling like Fall now.  We even had a few rainy days, which we really needed.  Still lots of dangerous weather in many places.  I hope things are OK where you are.

I like masking a frame, which I haven't done for quite awhile.  That's how my card for Color Hues Dusty Blue and Brown began.  

I only found 2 dusty blue inks in my huge stash of ink pads and one of them was SSS Hybrid Steel Blue.  Not every ink lets the details show with more solid stamps like SSS Anna's Flowers, but this one stamped perfectly.  It's a richer color than shows in the photo and I need to remember to use it.  The little branches from an old Gina K set were stamped in Altenew Rocky Shore--a lovely shade of brown.  I splattered both inks before adding the Winnie and Walter sentiment.  If you look closely, you can see 2 tiny white hearts above the h.  They're Gina K embellishments which I covered with shimmer.  Glad to have this card ready for my sister's anniversary next month.  I entered WAW via IG.

I'm truly thankful for my sweet cardmaking friends around the world.  One of them gave me CN9 Autumn Splendor stamp set and dies.  JUGS Die Week: Thanks gave me the motivation to use these products for the first time.  

I pulled out a variety of cardstock colors.  Decided to use a different green for each type of leaf and 2 shades of rose for the flowers.  The berries were die cut from a soft gold glitter cardstock and I added gold splatters.  You can see the shimmer and shine in my IG post.  Pearls were my favorite embellishment years ago and I was happy I still had some of the Latte ones to use for the flower centers.  It was a lot of diecutting, but so fun to see the card come to life.  Of course the look can be totally different by changing up the colors.  You can also use the images without the background piece, so I may try that next.  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.

Anniversary and Exchange Card

We're celebrating our 47th anniversary this week and here's the card I made for my hubby.  It was the perfect opportunity to use SSS Friendship Leafy Cluster.  I have a music box collection and the one in the photo was a gift from hubby many years ago.  

I stamped and embossed the branches in gold, using my MISTI.  Hubby loves the combo of blue and green, so I blended Altenew Persian Blue and Lagoon through the matching stencils.  Of course I had to add small gold splatters--love the look!  I don't think I've ever used Memory Box Love You Gallery Script die.  I cut the background from a scrap I gold embossed with the same powder I used for the branches.  The white outline was double stacked.  Have to say, this turned out exactly like I wanted.  Can't say that too often.  I'm entering JUGS, Inkspirational and WAW. 

Cards are piling up here, so I sent one of my favorite cards previously posted to Ellie for the August CCC.  

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

End of August

Challenges are ending as August comes to a close.  Here are my last minute entries.

First is another card for DCD challenge White with a Splash of Color.  It gave me the perfect opportunity to make my first card with SSS Pixie Snowflake embossing folder.  

I cut the panel down just enough to show a narrow strip of blue on the left side of the card.  BPD Vintage Warm Wishes background was die cut from a pretty blue glitter paper.  The white letters were stacked 2 high and glued into place.  Finished with a single clear gem.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday, NBUS and WAW.

Next is my final entry for the PTI August Inspiration Challenge.  I really like the color combo of Pure Poppy, Tropical Teal and Green Parakeet.  My Green Parakeet ink cube is about dry now and I'm almost out of that cardstock.  Might have just let it go, but now I don't want to be without that shade of green.  It's much brighter and prettier than my photo shows.  I stenciled red flowers for my first entry and for this card I die cut them from cardstock.  I have a pack of Pure Poppy with the idea of using it for Christmas cards.  But have to say, red flowers are beautiful year round.

I tend to use white cardstock for diecutting and then decide on the colors to brush on each piece.  But I do like the very different look using colored cardstock.  So happy to have finally made a card with Into the Blooms: Anemones.  I did brush the edges of the blooms and leaves with the matching inks for definition.  The centers were die cut from silver and white cardstocks.  The Tropical Teal berries were covered with Stickles.  The background is a favorite PTI die called Border Bling: Tin Stitched.  Love the font of PTI Essential Sentiments.  A few red gems from my stash were just right to finish off the card.  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.

Thank You and Christmas

Couldn't get my first idea to work for Color Hues: Yellow and Orange.  The gallery is about to close and I finally did get a card made. 

SSS Beautiful Buttercup dies were cut from cardstock I colored with Lindy's Flat Fabio sprays Pineapple Paradise and Mango Mania.  I added matching Stickles to the top edges.  I had CN9 Stitched Vines Card Front die on my wishlist a long time and finally got it.  Think it makes a great background for my bouquet.  The cute little bow is IO and the sentiment is PFS.  This card goes in the mail Monday.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday and WAW.

I generally use a full panel of dry embossing, but decided to try just a wide strip for this card.  

Altenew's Perfect Poinsettias folder is beautiful with so much interest for a mostly white card.  BPD Handwritten Merry Christmas and Outline was die cut from MB red glitter cardstock with double stacked white cardstock for the words.  I'm entering DCD, 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.

Papertrey Ink, Altenew and SSS

Decided to make another entry for the August PTI challenge.  This card is very different than my first one and gave me a chance to use some of my PTI cardstock and printed paper.  

PTI 2018 Beautiful Birthday is such a fun stamp set.  I used PTI inks Pure Poppy, Tropical Teal, Green Parakeet, Summer Sunrise and Terracotta Tile.  I added Stickles to the flames for a bit of sparkle.  I brushed PTI Border Bling: Diamonds diecut with Tropical Teal and glued it to the Tropical Teal rectangle.  I matted the cake panel with Green Parakeet cardstock.  Really love the look of the Pure Poppy dotted cardstock layer.  I'm almost out of Green Parakeet cardstock, but had enough to cover the card front.  I stamped the PTI Tiny Tags sentiment in Pure Poppy and matted it with a larger Pure Poppy circle diecut.

Our wonderful doctor of many years is retiring.  We're sad for us, but happy for her.  Decided to use the Altenew August Inspiration Challenge colors for her card.  I can't get enough of Altenew's Chateau Blooms stencils. 

The inks I used are Altenew Rouge, Memento Lilac Posies and Lawn Fawn Manatee.  The flowers and buds were then heat embossed with clear sparkle powder.  You can see it in my IG post.  I die cut the center of the panel with an Altenew Nesting Oval, added thin foam tape and attached it back in place.  Love how the black mat shows enough to help define the oval.  I didn't like so much white around the sentiment from Painted Greetings, so just used the gray ink left on my brush around the edges.  What a difference!  The stems from Branches and Berries die set were cut from vellum and I used gray pearls for embellishment.  I'm also entering WAW.

I had fun using my Lindy's Flat Fabio sprays to make a birthday card for SSS Flickr #250.  

SSS Beautiful Buttercup was die cut from papers I colored with these sprays:  Pink Ladies Pink, Pineapple Paradise and Caribbean Blue.  The flower edges were covered in matching Stickles.  I used SSS Leaf Tumble folder for the background and sprayed it with Flat Fabio Luscious Lime.  To get the design to show, I rubbed a green ink pad over the raised edges.  The vellum die cut is PTI Love to Layer:  Soft Ridges and the sentiment is from PTI Tuck It.  I'm also entering SSS Monday.

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

My Three Latest Cards

We've had some nice weather with lower temps and good air quality.  If only some of the rain causing flooding in other states could be directed where drought is the problem, like here.  Hope you're staying safe.

Had to put on my thinking cap to make a card for Poppystamps Let's Go!  Travel! August challenge.  I'd love to be traveling this Fall for a family Thanksgiving at a big house in the country or to a cardmaking retreat with friends.  

The house is from Poppystamps Layered House Globe die set and the trees are Shasta Twigs dies.  The sentiment from PTI Scripted was stacked and embossed with clear matte powder.  I used a bunch of distress oxides for the background and colored all the white diecuts with Altenew inks.  A fine point black pen was used to draw the birds.  I'm also entering WAW.

Our small town has the most beautiful hanging baskets and they inspired this card for SSS Flickr's Bright and Colorful challenge.  I picked Altenew inks in colors very close to those in the baskets:  Razzleberry, Pinkalicious, Pink Diamond and Hydrangea.

Most of what was left of an old light green shimmery cardstock sheet was embossed with SSS Cherry blossom 3D folder.  It's my nod to the green leaves.  A scrap was used for the sentiment from Altenew's Timeless Sentiments 2 and I covered it with clear glaze.  To represent the white flowers in the baskets, I colored the flower centers with a white paint pen and used white cardstock for the sentiment background.  I'm also entering Snippets Playground where I've been absent quite awhile.

The card for the Pinkfresh Monthly Challenge was made with their lovely Modern Layered Florals stamp set.

I find layering stamp sets quite challenging, but my first attempt lined up almost perfectly.  Then I grabbed the wrong ink cube to darken the leaves and didn't catch it before I stamped.  It turned out to be a good thing, because I changed the colors and like the look much better.  The altenew inks are Caribbean Sky, Persian Blue, Firefly and Green Field.  The sentiment is from the same set.  I added blue and green splatters and blue sequins to the panel die cut with PFS Elongated Oval: Blanket Stitch.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday.

I heard an older song for the first time and wow!  Lori McKenna wrote it for her children.  What if these words defined us?  Our country would be so different.  This is just the chorus:

Hold the door, say please, say thank you

Don't steal, don't cheat and don't lie

I know you got mountains to climb but

Always stay humble and kind.

When the dreams you're dreamin' come to you

When the work you put in is realized

Let yourself feel the pride but

Always stay humble and kind.

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