Harvest Home

The Impression Obsession challenge is to make a square card.  I started with watercolor paper inked with Distress Ink weathered wood, frayed burlap & crushed olive, blending with water.  I dry embossed with a leafy folder & sponged with frayed burlap to bring out the embossing.  IO screen CAC was stamped over it & I added some swipes of Distress Stain tarnished brass with a gloved finger.  The IO tree die was cut from gold & kraft to make it a bit thicker so it has dimension without using foam tape.  This is my first card using the IO stamp with a line from the song.  I have a good start on my Thanksgiving cards this year--just have to remember to get them in the mail!  I'm also entering the Anything Goes Challenge at SSS Wed.  So glad you took time to come by.

Hosting the Hero Arts Flickr Group Scramble

My turn to be the hostess for the HA Flickr group Scramble.  The rules are to make a card & post it within 90 minutes following the theme & using at least 1 Hero Arts stamp. I chose to require the use of an item not intended for paper crafting.  Thread, paperclips, staples don't count--too commonly used. I made 2 samples for inspiration.  The first one uses a piece of the gold netting wrapped around last year's Thanksgiving turkey.  The watercolor panel is randomly stamped with leaves from HA Real Leaves using Kaleidacolor Autumn Leaves rainbow pad.  The leaves were overstamped in Delicata Golden Glitz & I added splotches of Distress Ink Tarnished Brass using a waterbrush. I hand cut a double tag for the sentiment which is from HA Tree set.
The second card uses bleach to stamp HA Silhouette Grass.  It's an easy technique (make a "stamp pad" by pouring some bleach onto a folded paper towel in a pie tin or something similar, rinse bleach off rubber stamp immediately) & the results are different depending on what paper you use.  You can't tell what it's going to look like until it's dry, which happens quickly. Simple card with an embossed sentiment from HA Thinking of You Messages, ribbon & a dry embossed card front.  
Hope everyone has fun & that some will actually send their card as there's an extra little prize drawing for those who do by 10/4/14.
Thanks so much for visiting my blog.
Edited to add: I'm entering the stamping with bleach card at SSS Wed.

Peace Within

Rainy day, hubby has a bad cold & I have no motivation to do chores. That's my excuse for this last minute card for the PTI Blog Hop. I really did want to use a sketch & color combo--love them all!  

I used Harvest Berries & Through the Trees with Ripe Avocado & Distress Ink victorian velvet.  The stitched die is Lil' Inkers.  I silver embossed this lovely sentiment & popped it up.  

The card front is covered with a gray paper.  I really love how this turned out even though it's very simple. There's always so much inspiration in the Blog Hops, so thanks for taking time to check my blog.  One more card for the Anything Goes challenge at SSS Wednesday.

PTI Blog Hop & MIM card #2

I don't usually get more than 1 card done for a PTI Blog Hop or PTI MIM, but I did 2 paper castings.  I started by die cutting the bath tissue with Mat Stack 3 & then used leaves from Turning a New Leaf & a sentiment from Tag-Its #3. 

I decided not to add color this time, so just brushed the leaves with Wink of Stella & mounted it to a blue card. Paper casting is easy & fun--think I'll try some more images. Since SSS Wed is Anything Goes I'll add enter the challenge.  I appreciate your comments.

  

Enjoy

Blog Hop Inspiration

I love the PTI Blog Hops & today's inspiration photo is just beautiful! The MIM video by Danielle showing how to do paper casting also intrigued me, so that's where I started.  It was very easy to die cut the bath tissue layers with a circle die--not sure I needed to do 1/2 at a time, in fact.  
I used the little wreath from Tag-Its #3 & when the cast dried I stamped in Ripe Avocado.  It's layered onto blue felt die cut with a Mat Stack 3.  I stamped the sentiment in StazOn, added the bow & mounted it to a little gray card. I'll be back later with my other project. Enjoy the hop! SSS Wed is Anything Goes, so I'll add this to the gallery.

Journey

It's been such an honor to guest design for Our Daily Bread Designs.  My final card uses the Mountain & Mountain range stamp sets & one of the dies from Beautiful Borders. I watercolored Distress Inks weathered wood, frayed burlap & crushed olive onto a piece of watercolor paper before stamping the mountain scene in Distress Ink walnut stain which is also used for the quote. I added splotches of Distress Stain tarnished brass with my water brush.  The colors look more blended & the green isn't so stark in real life--couldn't capture it with my poor photographic skills--LOL!  Many thanks to ODBD for giving me this opportunity & to all of you who brighten my day with your sweet comments.
Edited to add: Entering Anything Goes at SSS Wed.

Sparkle, Die Cut, Red

Merry Monday has a "Bingo" challenge & I chose the first vertical row with Sparkle, Die Cut, Red. My layout is based on the MFT Card Sketch & I used 2 of their dies: Dizzy Doily & Rolled Roses. The stamp is also MFT & the embossing folder is Cuttlebug. I brushed over the stamping with Tsukineko Shimmer Spritz & sparkle is provided with the little gems embellishing my felt roses.

Hope you had a good start to the week.  We finally cooled off & even had a bit of rain. 
I'm so glad you took time to come by & I'll be visiting you soon.
 

How Special You Are

Very last minute entry for PTI MIM to use paper weaving.  I've done this technique but not with leaving space between the pieces like Ashley did for her layout.  To make it easy I used several papers from MME--a pad from my friend, Rosemary.  I love the look & didn't want to cover it so just added a sentiment & a few die cut & stamped leaves from PTI Harvest Berries.  Thanks so much for stopping by--your comments make my day!

Scramble Re-make

I miss the roses we took out of the back, but my body says the 19 in front are enough work & then some!  Finished working them just as the sun got bright--another hot day here.  Brought in 3 to put in my favorite vase on the mantle where I have Mom & Dad's pictures. 

Card Made in 20 minutes

Left me just 20 minutes to make & post a card for the Hero Arts Scramble. Fortunately, the theme was to stick to basics--no die cutting or embossing & only 1 embellishment. I grabbed 2 HA sets & my only 2 HA inks & actually made the deadline! Of course, to do that meant a very simple card.  

Remake

I really liked how the stamping came out, so I cut off the back, added layers & Stickles and made it into a card for hubby's daughter. All layers but the card are scraps, so I'm entering Pixies Snippets Playground.
Couldn't resist taking another picture today of our neighbor's gorgeous tree with so much more color than 10 days ago! We even have rain in the forecast, so I know Fall is on the way & cooler temps will certainly be welcome at this house!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend & thanks for visiting.

JOY

I knew immediately that I wanted to use the Flourishes Peace & Joy set for the Merry Monday challenge to let your sentiment be the star.  I thought the simple, versatile Viva la Verve Sketch was perfect for it.
I white embossed Joy & then sponged on Distress Ink evergreen bough & festive berries.  Stickles was added to the letters & I colored in the holly leaves with a white gel pen.  The MFT Framing Flourishes die cuts, cut with my Big Shot, made a great frame in keeping with the stamp design.  The holly image from the set was white embossed on the card front & a strip of dry embossed vellum was attached in the center.  The Joy panel is mounted with foam tape.  

I decided against adding anything else as I really like it as is. What do you think--too plain?  I always appreciate your comments.
Edited to add: Also entering Cuttlebug Mania--Anything Die Cut.

Friends

It's time for my 3rd Our Daily Bread Designs Customer Guest Designer post. This song was one of my favorites, so didn't have to think twice before I bought this ODBD stamp. It works great as the focal point of a card. This time I stamped it with Memento Espresso Truffle onto a fussy cut Fancy Labels image (also ODBD) stamped with Distress Ink peeled paint.  I colored the centers of the tiny flowers with a marker & added gems.  It's popped up over an embossed burgundy panel layered with 3 Beautiful Borders die cuts.  I need to use the flowers I bought before I had dies & these worked perfectly.  All I did was add the green brads & some Stickles.  The leaves weren't quite the right shade, so I sponged them with the peeled paint. Hope you've found something to inspire you. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to Guest Design & for the sweet comments you leave.
Edited to Add: Entering the Sept. challenge at STAMPlorations to use stamps & markers.

Autumn Greetings

I haven't used or thought about glossy paper in a long time.  Becca's gorgeous background inspired me resulting in my second entry for the SSS Flickr challenge. I used a piece of glossy photo paper still lying on my table after trimming out a picture. Distress Inks spiced marmalade, scattered straw, iced spruce & pine needles were pressed onto my craft mat & spritzed.  Then the photo paper was dabbed & pulled through the colors.  SSS Scattered Leaves was die cut & I sponged on more color where I wanted it darker. 
This time I think my greens are closer to the inspiration & I included the black.  

I don't have too many Autumn/Thanksgiving sentiment stamps, but remembered this unopened Inkadinkado set.  I cut the opening for the sentiment with a LifeStyle Crafts oval die.  Took me forever to decide whether or not to add embellishments.  As you can see, I finally went with a few black enamel dots I just bought in a close-out sale.  I'm also entering To Every Thing There Is A Season at Words 2 Scrap By & the technique challenge at SSS Monday: Distress Inks spritzed on craft mat used to color glossy paper & layered die cuts.  Thanks so much for checking my blog--love reading your comments.

Blessings

When I saw the new Impression Obsession challenge was to stamp your background, I knew I wanted to use my 
C-A-C Spatter.  First time to try the technique of stamping & then turning the stamp before stamping again.  I used 2 Distress Inks: fired brick & spiced marmalade.  I die cut the tree (DIE006V) from brown cardstock & sprayed with Glimmer Mist.  The tree is inlaid in a white panel cut narrower than the tree.  I didn't think about the tiny pieces--took awhile! The IO stamp "Blessings" was masked so I could use just the one word.  
Finished off with a bit of red sparkly ribbon & 3 little brown pearls.  I'm also entering the challenge at SSS Wed & Freshly Made Sketches. I've had quite a few days off--probably will take all morning to go through e-mails & most will just get deleted--LOL! Thanks so much for visiting my blog.

Emboss Resist

I love the PTI MIM videos & this week Laura shows one of my favorite techniques--emboss resist--using diecuts. I used my one & only coverplate which is the hexagons & sponged on Limeade Ice, Simply Chartreuse & Ripe Avocado.  The diecut leaves from Turning A New Leaf are stamped with Distress Ink walnut stain which is also used for the sentiment from Boutique Borders: Birthday.  The card front is dry embossed with a Cuttlebug folder & the hexagon panel is mounted with foam tape. The MS butterfly is punched from cardstock & vellum--hard to tell.  I added tiny MME enamel dots & brushed on Wink of Stella.  
Another Fall birthday card ready to go & speaking of Fall--here's another picture of the same tree I showed on 9/1. The leaves are changing fast even though we've still had high 80s or low 90s during the day.  So glad you stopped by--thank you.
Edited to add: My one butterfly lets me add this to the City Crafter Challenge.

Bountiful Blessings

I don't usually enter challenges at CTS, although I love the sketches. However, when I saw the one for this week it made me think of the SSS die I recently won called Clustered Leaves.  I inked the leaves with various Distress Inks & brushed on Goosebumps for shine & texture.  The flower die is also SSS called Bella Bloom & it was part of a prize I won long ago.  
I inked the back of the vellum blooms with the same inks, cut the center from orange felt & attached everything with a yellow brad. The sentiment is one of my favorites & is from Impression Obsession stamped in Versafine Vintage Sepia.  Feels good to have a Thanksgiving card made--it always sneaks up on me!  
I'm also entering Darnell's NBUS challenge (neither die had been used) & SSS Monday challenge. 

Becca's Card

Edited to add: SSS says colors are close enough, so I'm entering their Flickr challenge.






I try to leave a comment for people who take time to leave me one. Becca recently visited me & here's what I found when I went to her blog.
Isn't it beautiful?!  I hope you'll take a minute & check her post. 
Thanks so much for stopping by.  

Life Is Beauty

Today I'm honored to bring you my second ODBD September GD card.  I used the beautiful set called Iris. As you may know, coloring is not one of my talents.  I do love the look of water color & it doesn't have to be done precisely to achieve a nice effect.  I heat embossed the flower on water color paper & then dampened the flower going a bit outside the lines. Next I dabbed on a bit of Distress Ink, blended with more water & added more color for shading after it was dry. My colors are dusty concord & peeled paint.  The edges were sponged with antique linen after being lightly distressed. The sentiment is done the same way with a soft wash of the green.  I added splotches of Distress Stain tarnished brass with my water brush. My blogging friend, Joy, gave me the beautiful Graphic 45 paper pad called Secret Garden. The panel edges were sponged with antique linen & another of the papers was die cut with ODBD Beautiful Borders die.  I used a strip of cream satin ribbon between the 2 die cuts & then mounted the flower & sentiment with foam tape. Pearls are probably my favorite embellishment & couldn't resist adding some of these soft gold ones. Hope you've enjoyed seeing my card & that you'll check out the wonderful products at ODBD.  
I'm entering the printed paper challenge at Virginia's View. Thanks for visiting my blog.

Merry Merry

I am truly "Merry Merry" as I am honored to Guest Design with the wonderful Merry Monday team today.  Random drawings are fun to win, but it's such a thrill when your creation is chosen by fellow cardmakers. 
This was indeed a challenge for me as I found only one stamp in my huge Christmas collection that included a vehicle.  This cute image from Penny Black's marzipan greetings had never been inked.  Being so not good at coloring, I decided to stamp it on a watercolored background using Distress Inks salty ocean, dusty concord & brushed corduroy.  Usually you see this technique with something like a beautiful flower, but I think it works for a scene, too.  

It has more interest in real life as the panel is sprayed with Glimmer Mist giving a wonderful sparkle & I added Stickles Frosted Lace to the pompom.  The sentiment is from the same set & I added a bit of the blue watercoloring--not sure why it doesn't look like the same color in the picture. 
The stitching is from Lil' Inkers dies & the panel & sentiment flag are mounted with foam tape. Hope I've inspired you to play along this week. 
I'm entering Darnell's NBUS challenge. Thanks so much for stopping by.

  

Anniversary

Thursday we celebrated our 35th anniversary by going to the opening Seattle Seahawks football game.  Don't feel sorry for me--it was my idea! My dad was a radio sports announcer & I grew up going to games practically from the time I could walk.  Here we are heading out in a rental car--one time coming back to our car broken into is enough! The weather was perfect--didn't even need my sweatshirt walking the 5 miles back to the car--OK, maybe it wasn't quite 5 miles--LOL!  The lady sitting behind me took a picture just before the game started & we were still smiling at the end as the Seahawks won! Thought it'd be fun to have a memento of our day sitting on the coffee table along with the cards we gave each other.  I backed the brown cardstock with recycled cardboard & glued on a simple cardboard support stand.  I began with the sketch at MFT & will enter the challenge, although I'm not sure if I stretched it too much or if you have to make a card.  Anyway, I made a stencil using MFT leaves dies & added Zing embossing powders to the paste.  The panel was spritzed with Heidi Swapp Bronzer & Tattered Angels Cork mist which provide a lovely shimmer in real life.  All the stamps are MFT & I used stickers for the numbers.  The kraft panel was also spritzed with the TA after stamping the hearts & the photo mat was spritzed with the bronzer.  

Darnell has another NBUS (new stuff) challenge & the mist & I Love You stamp hadn't been used until now. Scraps were used, so I'm also entering at Pixies Snippets Playground--not playing for the prize.  It's not a card, so I'll enter the new mixed media challenge at The Mirror Crack'd where my good friend, Sue, is on the DT. I'll also enter the Curtain Call Lovely Leaves challenge. Thanks for visiting my blog.

Masculine Fall Birthday Card

My brother's birthday is in the Fall, so that's what I had in mind for today's Hero Arts Scramble.  I didn't finish in time to enter, but I'm happy with the card which also used the colors for the challenge at Colour Me & might qualify for The Mixed Media Card Challenge.  The scramble requirement was to use book paper, so I took a page out of a very old book: Europe on $10/Day. Can only imagine the title now--LOL!  I applied Gesso to cardstock & then the torn page & some more Gesso on top.  I sponged on Distress Ink squeezed lemonade & stamped the HA leaves with VersaMagic Jumbo Java.  I used my Big Shot to emboss with the Leafy Branch Cuttlebug folder & then sponged on more squeezed lemonade to bring out the embossing. Next I flicked & brushed on Distress Stain tarnished brass.  The panel was cut into 4 squares & mounted with foam tape to a piece of yellow cardstock, also with tarnished brass splotches & brushed edges.  The HA sentiment is done the same way & is also popped up.  The only embellishments are a few yellow sticker dots.  

I hope you're enjoying the weekend.  It's boiling hot here--hope our Oregon Ducks don't pass out trying to play football!
I'm always glad to hear from you.
Edited to Add: Also entering the stamping challenge at SSS Wed & a new to me challenge called Cuttlebug Mania.
Edited again to add: Also entering the challenge at a2a Scrapbooking Supplies.