Altenew February Challenge

Nothing like waiting until the last minute, but finally I came up with a card for the Altenew February challenge.  I die cut Layered Floral Elements from white scraps & brushed on Fuchia, Magenta, Just Green & Sweet Leaf.  

I stenciled Wonderful Wreath stencil in Just Green.  I added Altenew black spray splatters & white Pico Embellisher dots.  The sentiment from Essential Sentiment Strips die set was cut from black & deep yellow so I could put the yellow letters in the black strip.  

I had just the right yellow sequins for the flower centers.  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.

Friendship Cards

Most of the time I make friendship cards which I can send for a special occasion or just to keep in touch.  Here's a good example, as this card was used for a birthday.  It's also my entry for the February PFS Challenge using the theme of friendship love.  

The images from PFS Sweet Friend Floral were gold embossed, die cut & colored using the stencils.  It's a single stamp & single die.  Didn't dawn on me to do the coloring before die cutting, so I just put them all back into the negative spaces.  The PTI inks I used are Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores, Tropical Teal, Bright Buttercup, Summer Sunrise, Green Parakeet & New Leaf.  Even without doing a perfect job, I love these sweet images!  PFS Fancy Oval Frame was covered in shimmer & attached to a soft yellow textured panel splattered with white gouache & gold watercolor.  

I arranged the bouquet & added a sheer gold bow.  The sentiment from PFS Delicate Wreath was stamped in Tropical Teal on a PTI Tiny Tag & I added yellow jewels.

Next is my card for Gina K Monthly Mix Challenge.  I don't do Fun Folds very often, but I have made a few gatefold cards over the years.  Decided to go with that design & stamped images from GK's A Happy Hello, Mini Wreath Builder & Sketch Wreath Builder.

The inks are PTI Hawaiian Shores, Tropical Teal, Green Parakeet & New Leaf.  I added teal & green splatters, white Pico Embellisher dots in the big flower centers & Stardust Stickles in the tiny flower centers.  The band that slips on & off was made from Green Parakeet cardstock. 

The GK Friend Caps die was cut twice from white scraps so I could stack the letters.  I covered them in Nuvo Glaze & then used the negative space to line them up on the band.  Finished off with some teal jewels.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday.

I've started following some new to me designers for a fresh perspective.  They really inspire me with beautifully modern designs.  I had their work in mind as I made my card using the sketch at FMS.  I may have stretched it too far, but I do love how this turned out.  

The branches from M&C Boutique die set, a gift years ago from my dear friend, Ros, were die cut from white scraps.  I colored them with markers & added Stickles to the berries.  EH Hex Frames was die cut from black & covered in Shimmer Pico Embellisher.  The background is PTI Soft Stone embossed with WRMK 3D geometric embossing folder. 

I gave the tiny Poppystamps Birds & Branches die to a friend several years ago after cutting some for me.  Finally I had a chance to use 2 of the little birds which I covered in Wedding Dress Pico Embellisher.  The sentiment from PTI Prominent Petals was popped up & I added some of my very old gray Rain Dots.  I'm also entering Snippets Playground.

Heartbreaking that Russia has invaded Ukraine.  There is certainly no shortage of evil in the world.  It can be somewhat hidden at times & other times it's so very obvious.  We must never take our freedom for granted.  It's not only war that can erode it.  

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

Memory Box, PTI, Uniko

With pink being my favorite color, I couldn't miss the February Memory Box Tickled Pink Challenge!  I started by brushing Distress Oxide spun sugar over the MB Texture Distressed Grid stencil.  

I lightly stamped an old favorite text stamp, added a bit of black soot Distress Ink on the edges & splattered with white gouache & the black ink.  I die cut MB Moonlight Butterfly 3 times from white scraps & randomly stamped them with a flower from Poppystamps Friends & Flowers in Distress Oxide kitsch flamingo.  Then I lightly brushed on Distress Oxide spun sugar, edged them with black soot & added Stardust Stickles to the wings.  The bodies were brushed with kitsch flamingo & covered in Shimmer Pico Embellisher. 

The sentiment from the set was stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne.  I attached the butterflies gluing only the bodies & lightly curving the wings down.  The pretty little gems were a gift long ago that I've decided to stop hoarding!  

The Feb 18 PTI Challenge is to make a BD card with a wow factor.  Decided it would be a good time to try an edge to edge shaker panel.  There are a lot of videos, but here's the one I watched.  I really like the fun PTI set called Your Beautiful Birthday. 

I stamped the layers in Lovely Lady, Blueberry Sky, Winter Wisteria & Green Parakeet.  The dots, candles & little stars from the Balloons & Banners set were stamped in Delicata Silvery Shimmer.  The flames are done in Bright Buttercup & Terracotta Tile.  The cake plate & words are stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne.  I also added silver embossing to the edges of the panel, not thinking about the shaker elements pretty much covering it up!

Then again, I may have gone a bit overboard in adding confetti, sequins, seed beads & Shaved Ice--haha!  Good thing I heat embossed the words so they show up better.  Hopefully, it will make the recipient smile.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday.

My last card is for Uniko's 10th Anniversary IG challenge & CAS Colours & Sketches Challenge 458.  When I saw the sketch it made me think of ink cubes, so that's how I started.  Altenew Forest Glades was pressed & rubbed on an acrylic block in the pattern you see, spritzed lightly & "stamped" onto the card front.  

Then I stamped the beautiful larger branch from Uniko's Season of Beauty which has lovely modern poinsettia images & great holiday sentiments.  Love that the branches work for many kinds of cards all year long.  Happy Birthday from Uniko's Floral Vines was stamped in Forest Glades & Versamark so I could clear emboss it.  

Since this is a card for a guy, no embellishments.  I may end up adding some splatters, but left them off for now.  Just realized I can also enter this at Time Out where they're celebrating 8 years--congrats!

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

PTI cards

The PTI Great Cover-Up Challenge Feb 9 was to freshen up a previous card using the same stamps & dies.  I chose to make a new version of this winter floral card.

I like the card, but with bulbs blooming & bushes budding, I wanted something looking toward Spring.  I started by die cutting Border Bling: Tin Stitch & Skinny Diagonals Frames from white cardstock this time.  

I used Soft Stone for the card front as I really love the look of white with soft gray.  I used scraps of Lovely Lady & Green Parakeet cardstock for die cutting the blooms & leaves from Into the Blooms II.  I brushed the ends of the blooms with Raspberry Fizz & the leaves with New Leaf ink.  The flower tips are covered with Pink Glam Stickles & the white dots are Pico Embellisher. 

This time I used Versafine Clair Morning Mist to stamp the sentiment from Essential Sentiments.  I have to say, this simpler, brighter, fresher look is my favorite.

The Feb 14 PTI What do I do with This Challenge is to make a Valentine.  I'm always happy to have cards ready ahead of time!  I knew I wanted to use the old PTI Love die, so that's where I started.  It fit great on Border Bling: Flower Frame I had already cut from white cardstock & never used.  The current challenge at Color Hues is Navy and Pink which happens to be one of my favorite combos.  

I used a scrap of PTI Dark Indigo to cut the word 3 times.  The top layer was covered in Shimmer Pico Embellisher which adds shine & makes the cardstock look darker.  Trust me, it really is navy--the same as the sheet under my card.  Most of what I had left of a piece of pink glitter paper was attached behind the flower frame.  It's a beautiful shade of pink, but is very difficult to die cut.  This was a great way to make use of it.  I dug through all my alpha stickers & found a sheet of white glitter ones that were the right size.  

I colored them with a dark pink Copic & then covered them in Pink Stickles--almost matches the glitter paper.  Decided to keep it pretty simple, so just added some old navy pearls from my stash.  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.

Valentine and Birthday

The challenge at ModSquad is to make a card showcasing hearts and flowers.  I stamped the image from GK A Big Hello in Altenew Ruby Red on opposite corners of the white panel.  It's a beautiful deep red I need to remember to use.  

Then I die cut Memory Box Grand Heart from the center of the panel, added some additional heart layers & glued it back in place.  The sentiment from IO Valentine Hearts was embossed in JudiKins Black Diamond powder. 

It has a beautiful sparkle in real life, even though this font is pretty thin.  Decided against adding splatters, for a change--haha!  The tiny GK heart embellishments are so sweet & provided the perfect finishing touch.  I'm also entering SSS Monday, SSS Wednesday & TTTC148 with red, free, die cut.

I have some cardstock sampler packs from PTI.  One of them includes 2 sheets of True Black, which I've never used.  That turned out to be a good thing, since I wanted to enter The Great Cover Up challenge to make a card with a True Black cardstock background.  I haven't used Framed in Florals very often & really wanted to see what I could come up with.  I could have used my Zigs, but instead I did loose coloring using PTI inks & a smaller make up brush.  

The colors are Autumn Rose, Scarlet Jewel, Blueberry Sky, Dark Indigo, Pinefeather, New Leaf & Prairie Grass.  I added Stardust Stickles to the flowers & berries.  The diecut is stacked several high & the sentiment from Friendly Flowers is silver embossed. 

I matted the panel with silver metallic cardstock before adding it to the black card front.  The Rainstones are a subtle embellishment when used on black cardstock--just what this card needed.  I'm also entering Seize the Birthday & The Flower Challenge.

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