Spring & Christmas

I've had the Altenew Fantasy Floral Die (currently in the EH clearance section) a long time & have only used it once, which is criminal--haha!  Pulled it out for my last minute entry into the Altenew February Challenge which is a gorgeous color combo!

I mixed Distress Inks picked raspberry & worn lipstick to get a color close to the photo.  Then I smooshed a panel of watercolor paper, heating between each of several layers.  Same thing for the leaves using Distress Inks pine needles, mowed lawn, weathered wood, faded jeans & iced spruce.  I matted 2 Altenew Leaf Frame Cover die cuts from my friend, Betty onto a light gray panel.  The sentiment from Altenew Painted Greetings was stamped in Versafine Clair Morning Mist twice for a darker gray.

I attached another die cut to each of the top layers of the flower for a bit of dimension.  The die cut leaves were glued in place & then I added the flower with foam tape.  Clear sequins finish it off.  I'm also entering Inkspirational & SSS Wednesday.



Next is the Christmas card I made for several challenges:  Winnie & Walter Rerun No. 38, Winnie & Walter 5th Birthday Bash 3+ Stamp Sets & Rudolph Days.

The layout, kraft cardstock, dotted mat & die cut panels are based on Heather's adorable bunny card.  I stamped a small dot from W&W Scenery: Dotty in white pigment ink on a panel die cut with the largest die in Essentials: Tilda cutaways.  The sprigs from W&W In Bloom: Frenchy's Favorite Florals were stamped in Delicata Emerald Green on a smaller die cut panel.  The flower from the same set was stamped in Delicata Ruby Red, die cut, stacked 3 high, attached with foam tape & embellished with Wedding Dress Pico Embellisher.

I masked off the other words so I could just stamp Peace from W&W In a Word: Grand Merry using Memento Rich Cocoa stamped several times.  The panel was attached with fun foam which makes a big difference when you layer panels the same color.  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.

SSS and Winnie & Walter

I haven't used the SSS Kaleidoscope Background stamp very much, but I really love the design.  For this card I gold embossed the image & colored with Ocean Blue & Mint Green Liquid Pearls, adding just a bit of water.  The metallic sheen is gorgeous in person.  I die cut a square window in a black panel & gold embossed the sentiment from SSS Thoughtful Messages.  I'm entering SSS Flickr #117 & Kathy's 30 Day Coloring Challenge. 

Next is my entry for W&W 5th Birthday Bash Layering Die Cuts.  I used watercolor paper & stamped images from W&W In Bloom: Eva's Favorite Flowers using Distress Inks mowed lawn, lucky clover & twisted citron.  Then I added water with a brush & restamped until I liked the look.  For fun, a white gel pen was used to add little details.  The same inks were used for splatters & I lightly distressed the edges.  In a Word: Hello was die cut from a smooshed panel done in the same colors.  I discovered you can add color with a damp brush to make the smooshing deeper colors.  I used a white shadow stacked 5 high.  The word layered on top from The Big, the Bold & Seasons was stacked 3 high, brushed with shimmer & covered with Nuvo Glaze.  I matted the panel with a light gray cardstock & added Wedding dress Pico Embellisher drops.  I'm also entering Allsorts & WAW.

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

Couple Cards

I didn't want to miss Christmas Kickstart Challenge #4--Have a Heart.  Thought of making a wreath of hearts.  As I was looking for a variety of little heart stamps to use, I came across my PTI Trendy Tree Tops.  A lightbulb went on in my head & I decided to use the plaid circle with a heart in Christmas colors.

Kind of fun, I think.  The green ink is Delicata Emerald Green & the heart is covered in Christmas Red Stickles.  I love this very old Stampendous sentiment stamp & thought it worked for this unique card.


I printed a couple pictures & wanted to use the scraps of glossy photo paper.  I've not had a lot of success with my Alcohol Inks, but I'm not giving up--haha!  My first try was just blobs of color, as I forgot you need to do the blending before it dries.  Next try I used my felt applicator with Stream, Patina & Silver Mixative along with the blending solution.  I just dabbed on the blues & swiped a little with the silver.  Finally--a piece I really like!

The current PTI LFF challenge is to use your favorite stand alone die.  There are several I really love & one is definitely Window Works.  I chose the largest die to show as much of my beautiful background as possible.

The sentiment is another favorite die--SSS Painted Hugs.  I die cut it from 2 shades of blue cardstock & brushed it with a shimmer pen.  Ignore the lines on the right--shadows from the blinds as I held it in the sun to show the shimmer.  The mat is a dark gray which I really like with the blues.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday & Die Cut Divas.
Edited to add: Also entering Virginia's February 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.

More Hearts for February

My sweet friend, Maria, enclosed a variety of hearts in a card she sent me.  I used the red felt heart to make a card for AAA Cards, JUGs & Stamplorations Theme.

I started by stamping the music image from Penny Black butterfly symphony in Brilliance Pearlescent Coral (actually a beautiful pink ink) & then the sentiment from Altenew Painted Greetings in Brilliance Graphite Black.  The felt heart was glued in place to finish my CAS card.  May decide to round the top corners--couldn't make up my mind.


My entry for the February Poppystamps Love Me Do challenge is also a CAS card.

I die cut PS Heart String 3 times & glued the top & bottom pieces to white cardstock with the die still in place to keep them correctly positioned.  So nice to use some of my white cardstock scraps!  I stamped the sentiment from PS Grateful Heart in Brilliance Graphite Black & colored one of the hearts die cuts with a red Spectrum Noir sparkle pen.  It's not a bright red, but is sparkly & pretty in person.  I didn't stack the hearts so that it is slightly recessed into the white pieces.  Since this one won't go through the mail (hubby's anniversary or next Valentines Day card) I used foam tape to mount the focal point to the black cardstock.  I really love the simplicity & contrasts of this card.  I'm also entering The Snippets Playground.
 

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

PTI and W&W

The latest PTI Laurie's Fabulous Favorites challenge is to use your favorite color of cardstock.  I love the PTI neutrals of Soft Stone, Classic Craft & Vintage Cream.  But for my card I wanted to use one of the color colors--haha!  I mostly have variety packs & use it very sparingly.  Autumn Rose is definitely near the top of my list--a gorgeous dusty rose color.  Unfortunately, I really couldn't get an accurate picture, so this will have to do.

I let the Autumn Rose shine by stamping the images from Gathered Garden in Versamark.  The sentiment from the same set was stamped in Weathervane.  The Pierced Feature Frame was die cut from Sweet Blush cardstock.  I added 3 smokey gems for embellishment.

Next is my entry for Winnie & Walter's 5th Birthday Bash Card Set Challenge.  Boy did I have fun making 3 Christmas wreaths with images from In Bloom: Frenchy's Festive Florals & a bunch of different inks.

In A Word: Noel was die cut from adhesive backed fun foam 3 times & each foiled in a different color.  I used cardstock to mat the gray/silver & red versions.  For the green one I foiled the edges of the mat with the same foil using Score Tape.  I'm also entering ABC Christmas Challenge & WAW.


I need a couple cards for men who are about to have surgery.  I like to use leaves for masculine cards, so decided to use 5 leaves from Winnie & Walter In Bloom: Renee's Leaves which works for the W&W 5th Birthday Bash 5 Challenge. 

I stamped one panel on white cardstock & the other on Bristol, cutting both out with W&W Essentials: Tilda Cutaways. 

I could probably count on 1 hand the number of times I've used my Copics to color images, but for some reason I decided to give it a try--maybe because the card isn't for a cardmaking friend--haha!

The Bristol panel was done with my Zigs & a water brush.  The sentiment is from a very old Hero Arts set called Special Note of Thanks & both have black splatters.  I matted the Copics panel with black cardstock & the watercolored panel with green.  They look quite different, but each has it's own appeal, I think.  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.

IO...again

I'm trying to get organized this year & part of that is cleaning up my table which is always a disaster.  Clearly I don't have a good system, so decided I better use the hearts (colored & fun foam) left over from my last shaker card.  Luckily, the IO In the Pink challenge is still open.

After stamping the sentiment from IO Valentine Hearts in Versafine Clair ink, I used the Zig markers that colored the heart to make a watercolor background.  Love how my splatters turned out this time--never quite the same.  I rounded the corners & glued on the heart.  Glad to have one card ready for next Valentines Day.  I'm also entering Die Cut Divas (IO Heart Set dies) & WAW.


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