Penny Black Snowflakes & PFS Hello

I've had this card in mind ever since I saw the Christmas Kickstart White on White theme.  Neutrals & silver/gold are allowed, too.  I white embossed the beautiful Penny Black snowflakes I won a long time ago from Virginia on a Soft Stone panel. 

It's such a classy look, but couldn't get a very good picture.  The sentiment from Avery Elle was embossed with JudiKins Diamond Sparkle--so pretty in real life.  I added a dot of Silver Stickles to each snowflake.  

Think I'll make some one layer cards with this same design & a variety of ink colors for hubby's cousins.  I'm also entering Retro Rubber (snowflakes & sentiment from stamps I've had at least 2 years) & Rudolph Days.

I'm certainly getting a lot of use from my first PFS purchase: Hello with a Bouquet die.  Thought it'd look great with rainbow letters for the PFS September challenge.

I first die cut the Bouquet from white cardstock.  Then I die cut PFS Color Block Stripes from white cardstock & colored 5 of the strips with DO candied apple, spiced marmalade, fossilized amber, peeled paint & faded jeans.  I attached the strips to a scrap of white cardstock & taped it over the letters of the die.  Then I glued the white die cut to a panel of Soft Stone & glued the rainbow letters over the white ones.  Finished off with PPP clear dots.  I'm also entering Virgina's Show & Share & WAW.

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

ITP, HA, SSS

So far, I don't know anyone who really likes the new blogger.  Looks like using the old version is no longer an option, so I'm just not going to worry about the format.  It's not like I'm making money with my blog & I don't want to move to just using IG.

My sister's favorite color is blue & her birthday is almost here.  That gave me the inspiration for my ITP PTI Birthday Challenge entry. 

I've had Bold Blooms for quite awhile & finally the matching dies were available.  I wasn't sure I needed them, but now I'm glad I have them.  Love this vase from Vogue Vases & this time I die cut it from PTI dotted paper a friend gave me.  I also cut it from thick fun foam to get the look I wanted.  The branches were double stamped in Soft Stone & the flowers were stamped in Dark Indigo.  The mat is Enchanted Evening & the sentiment is from Simple Stems.  Needed a little something more, so I added Star Dust Stickles to the flowers & pearls to the vase.  

I really like how this turned out & think my sister will, too.  I'm also entering The Snippets Playground (branches, flowers & mat from scraps) & Virginia's Show & Share.

The current Stay Crafty with Hero challenge theme is critters.  I pulled out a 2011 Retailer Teaching Kit which was the prize I won in a HA Scramble.  It's a 6x8 stamp set composed of images & sentiments from a variety of stamp sets that were available at that time.  Decided to use the adorable reindeer & this sentiment which I thought was perfect for it.  

I put the stamps in my Mini MISTI & stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne.  That gave me the option of doing a little watercoloring, but I loved the look as stamped.  Clearly, though, that big nose was calling out to be red, right?!  That was easily accomplished with Christmas Red Stickles.  Then I added Silver Stickles to the snowflakes & dots on the sweater.  I debated about coloring the sweater trim, but was afraid I'd ruin it.  Instead I just added Frosted Lace Stickles.  

Thought about stamping some background snowflakes, but really don't think they're needed.  Only other thing I did was add black Pico Embellisher to the eyes.  This will be perfect for my sweet neighbors with 2 young kids.  I'm also entering ABNH & SSS Wednesday.

Sometimes you love a product, but end up hardly ever using it.  That isn't the case with my SSS Bouquet of Roses stencil.  This time I chose Fall colors of DI: aged mahogany, wild honey, peeled paint & forest moss.  

I inked through the stencil with blending sponges & no masking.  I didn't care if the greens got onto part of the blooms or the bloom colors got onto the leaves.  Then I covered everything with Versamark & heat embossed with HA Sparkle ep.  Loved the panel so much I could have just framed that 6x6 piece!  Instead I held my breath & added a light watercolor wash of weathered wood & love the change it made.  Decided to cut my piece into a 4x4 panel & then into 2 inch squares which I mounted to a navy mat.  

The sentiment from SSS Warm Wishes was embossed in SSS Antique Gold ep on a vellum strip before adding the panel to a Classic Kraft card.  I tried various sequins, but didn't like them, so no bling.  I'm entering SSS Flickr Challenge 158, 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.

MFT Poinsettia and Twofer Trees

We hadn't had rain in at least 4 weeks, so everything was bone dry.  The wildfire smoke was making the air hazardous to breath, so we we've been stuck inside since Labor Day.  Finally a big thunderstorm came with a good amount of rain--such a relief! 

It felt like we were let out of jail as we opened the doors, walked Fritz & just sat outside.  Luckily, there was enough rain that even the lightening wasn't a problem, from what we've heard.  The fires are so big it wasn't enough to put them out, but it certainly helped those on the front lines & some evacuations were lifted.  The recovery will take a long time & our beautiful state won't be the same in my lifetime.

I do have some cards to share, starting with my entry for the MFT Super Star challenge in the CAS category.  I entered via IG, not knowing when I'd get a blog post done.  I'd been wanting to make a felt poinsettia card, so figured I may as well enter.  There's nothing clever or unique about my card, so no chance of winning.  That's OK--it's my kind of card! 

I used MFT Wild Cherry & Jellybean Green felt with the old MFT poinsettia dies.  The center is a white, glittery sticker & the sentiment is from MFT Trim the Tree--a retired set.  I did score a frame which really adds to the look, I think.

Twofer Card Challenge: Trees caught my eye as I love trees & have a lot of tree images in my stash.  However, a lot of them are pretty large & I thought that would make it harder to come up with 2 different designs.  Then I spotted the 2009 Penny Black stamp called Splendor--just what I needed. 

I began with a sympathy card for hubby to send to the family of a relative.  I used an old fashioned stamp positioner so I could use markers & stamp as many times as I needed.  

The grass was done with a wet brush & DI.  I blended just a bit of blue at the top & stamped the sentiment from HA Color Layering Fuchsia.  The vanilla card front was dry embossed with an old Cuttlebug folder.  I added a strip of Classic Kraft & mounted the tree panel with fun foam.

Next I made a Fall Friendship card by stamping the tree 3 times & embossing with an old, copper powder.  

Then I brushed on 2 green DIs & 2 blue DIs.  I used the darker of each shade to add splatters & stamped the Verve sentiment.  I used fun foam to mount the panel to a brown, textured card front after using a stitched rectangle die.

Adding challenge badges with this new blogger is really a pain.  Not interested in having to spend more time to do a blog post.  Guess I'm not going to worry about format.

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

Fall Colors/Fall Foliage

I love my Kaleidacolor Autumn Leaves ink pad I've had for many years.  Here's my first card using it this year. 

I brayered a scrap of glossy photo paper--my favorite way to use this ink pad.  The panel was cut into 3 pieces & I mounted them to a kraft slimline card I just cut from a sheet of cardstock.  The IO sentiment (D14779) was gold embossed & I added 2 layers of cardstock before mounting it to the center.  I've had IO leaf dies (DIE095-D) for quite awhile & finally used them! 

I colored with markers & brushed them with a mixture of water & gold Perfect Pearls.  No embellishments, as this is for a male relative.  I'm entering IO Fall Colors, JUGS, DRU, ModSquad & NBUS.

We're hoping for better air quality by the end of this week.  Some people have been able to return to their homes & for many nothing is left.  It is heartwarming to see how people find ways to help & so discouraging to see the criminals take advantage.  I'm no longer surprised to see how people jump on the bandwagon of misinformation & down right lies, but I don't understand it.  There's also a lot of damage from the hurricane & dangerous flooding.  Stay safe if you're in that area. 

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

Fall Colors

Thanks for thinking of us during the awful Oregon wildfires.  The flames are no longer coming our direction for which we are very grateful.  I didn't pack a go bag, but we did discuss how we would leave if it was needed.  Our air quality is terrible, so all I can do is take Fritz into the back yard for a few minutes at a time.  He keeps wanting to go out the other door where we go for walks.  Hopefully by the end of the week we'll get a bit of wind to give us some relief without fanning the fires.  The little town where we used to moor our boat at the lake is devastated along with little towns we drive through to get there.  It's only an hour from our house.  My heart breaks for all the people affected.  The smoke is keeping our temps down, so it feels more like Fall.  Here are a couple cards with Fall colors.

I couldn't resist the Spellbinders Kaleidoscope Plaid dies which I cut from rust, orange & gold cardstock.

The same cardstock was used for the SSS Clustered Leaves.  The sentiment from SSS Warm Wishes was stamped in Versafine Clair Acorn on the Classic Kraft card.  

I'm entering SSS Flickr 158 & Virginia's Show & Share.

The ModSquad Challenge is Step Up Your Stencil.  I pulled out the old HA Checkerboard stencil & sponged DI vintage photo through it on a vanilla card.  

Then I stamped little images from SSS Sketch Ranunculus in PTI Simply Chartreuse, Summer Sunrise & Autumn Rose.  I doodled little lines on some of the squares with a gold pen--kinda fun! 

SSS Autumn Blessings was die cut 3 times from a scrap of brown cardstock & I added gold Pico Embellisher dots.  I'm also entering SSS Flickr & 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.

Pinkfresh Studio and Gina K

I've been very distracted as the wildfires are the worst I've seen & I grew up here.  Usually the fires are on the other side of the mountains.  This year some of the fires are within an hour from us & go from the northern border of Oregon to the southern border, plus 2 at the coast.  Here's what it looked like at 8am on Tuesday--very eerie.  It's been so dark we have to use our lights all day.  

I do have a couple cards to share.  First is my entry for the September PFS challenge: Rainbow.  Couldn't wait to try my idea for another rainbow wreath using PFS Delicate Wreath.  

The inks are VersaMagic Pink Grapefruit, Mango, Thatched Straw, Sage, Sea Breeze & Spring Pansy.  I added a layer of Brilliance Pearlescent Yellow over the Thatched Straw to get a more yellow color.  

The sentiment from the same set was gold embossed on a strip of vellum.  I attached the wreath to a gold mat & added gold sequins.  This is one of my favorite stamps, so I'm also entering SSS Monday.  

Next is my entry for GK September Monthly Mix Challenge: Fall.  I used another favorite stamp: HA/GK Collaboration set called Friendship Blooms. 

It's fun to see what different looks you can get with a stamp just by changing the color scheme.  I began by brushing the masked area with DO wilted violet, spiced marmalade & peeled paint.  Then I embossed the beautiful image with a sparkly gold powder--so pretty.  The sentiment from the same set was stamped in Versafine Clair Acorn on a vellum strip & clear embossed.  

I found some gold satin finish sequins to add bling that doesn't detract from the sparkly image.  Instead of using foam, I added 2 layers of carstock for just a bit of dimension.  This card will go to a friend for Thanksgiving.  I entered SSS Monday via IG.

Thanks to Brenda, I'm also entering We Love Chocolate Baroque ATG option.

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.