Color Hues, Altenew, Memory Box

I took my Concord & 9th Turnabout stamp sets to the recent craft retreat.  Finally stamped Deck the Halls using borrowed Catherine Pooler ink pads:  one blue & one green.  I double stamped one turn with the blue & one turn with the green.  The other 2 turns were single stamped, so I got 4 shades with 2 ink pads.  

After I got home I added the PFS Blanket Stitch Rectangle frame stacked 2 high.  The HoneyBee sentiment from the Rejoice stamp set was stamped in Brilliance Starlite Black & stacked 2 high.  The poinsettia from an old Spellbinders card kit was die cut from Memory Box silver glitter cardstock & then colored lightly with a Copic very close to the color of the blue ink pad.  

White glitter dots in my stash were just right to finish it off.  I'm entering Color Hues challenge.  

I'm so lucky to have lots of generous cardmaking friends.  Recently I was gifted the Altenew Metallic Watercolor set & oh boy are the colors gorgeous!  Decided to use them to enter the Altenew June Inspiration Challenge.  I also used a couple liquid watercolors trying to get close to the photo colors.  I gold embossed the floral outline image & sentiment from Handpicked Bouquet on a watercolor panel. 

I let some color go outside the lines & I added splatters.  It's amazing how the colors change in the light.  The close up really is the same card! 

Always fun to see the difference mats make.  I tried a couple different looks, but really thought the gold on top of the black was best.  Finished with a few gold sequins & this one has already been mailed.

I was still thinking about those Altenew Metallic Watercolors, so I used them to color Memory Box Small Double Peony diecuts that were included free in a recent Poppystamps order.  

Since I used heavier watercolor paper scraps, the individual petals stayed mostly in place. That's a trick I learned from Dave Brethauer. I used the same gold to watercolor the shadow layer of the Hello Friend Posh Script diecut. The peony outlines & top sentiment layer were die cut from scraps of heavy weight white cardstock. The background was made with the 2014 Texture Distressed Grid stencil, which I love, & light molding paste.

Hard to see, but I also added fine white glitter while the paste was wet.  Just love the bit of sparkle which is completely non-shedding.  The panel is backed with 2 cardstock layers & the blooms are attached with glue & foam tape.  Finished off with Fairy Jewels that go perfectly with the gold watercolor.  I used a scrap of cardstock to make a stencil with the die so I could decorate the flap with Delicata Golden Glitz.  I'm entering Memory Box Metallic Mania Challenge, SSS Monday (Stenciled Background) The Snippets Playground & WAW.

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

Last Minute Entry

Wreaths are one of my favorite images.  I don't even know how many wreath stamps & dies I have!  Decided it was silly not to make a card for CAS Christmas Card Challenge, so pulled out the beautiful Pinkfresh die set called Layered Wreath.

I began by smooshing DI evergreen bough & pine needles on a panel of watercolor paper.  I did multiple layers, drying between each one.  Love the variations you get, especially for leaves.  The additional leaf images were die cut from silver shimmery cardstock which I covered with silver Stickles.  The berries in the set were die cut from white cardstock scraps covered with double sided adhesive sheet scraps.  I removed the release paper & covered them in WOW Oh Dorothy! Sparkles.  It's a very sparkly glitter blend of red & silver--love it!  

The silver die cut frame is Mama Elephant Union Square & the sentiment from AJVD Christmas Star is stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne.  I'm not sure this meets the CAS requirement, but I love how my card turned out.  I'm also entering The Snippets Playground as everything but the card base is from scraps.  

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

I'm still here!

I know my blogging has been pretty intermittent.  I do appreciate those of you who still come by.  Recently I got to spend a few days with cardmaking friends & didn't have to get on an airplane--yay!  It was such a treat!  Here's a few pictures Darnell put together.

It was fun to try out some techniques that were easy to do & turned out great!  I came home with quite a few panels ready to make into cards & will be using my stencils & my alcohol inks a lot more!

While the others were coloring, I smooshed a panel using DO inks stamped & spritzed on my craft mat.  It actually looked terrible!  I didn't even show anyone what I'd done, but it did come home with me.  Thankfully, it looked fine once I trimmed it into a strip.  

I simply added black ink splatters & a couple PFS Delicate Blossoms black die cuts.  The white mat looked too plain, so I dry embossed it with my new SSS Refracted folder--love it!  The sentiment strip from Sweet Friend Floral was mounted with foam tape & I added black enamel dots.  I'm entering PFS June Monthly Challenge & TicTacToe 165 using Die Cut, Embellishment, Bright Colors.

Next is my entry for PTI Melissa's Fab Friday Feature stencil challenge.  I only have PTI alpha stencils & I used that for the last stencil challenge.  Decided to make my own stencil this time & used What the Doodle Snowflake outline dies cut from vellum scraps.  

I brushed Spring Rain through the stencils & then stamped the detailed images using Dark Indigo.  I really like the contrast on the white card, even though it's subtle.  I used the same ink to stamp the small snowflakes & the sentiment from Wreath for all Seasons.  

My usual color combo for snowflake cards is blue & silver, but this time I changed it up using Pink Stickles in the centers.  Really love the bit of pink sparkle!  I finished off with Raindots & a Dark Indigo mat.  

My last card is for Poppystamps June challenge to make a masculine card.  Gentle Leaf Collage is one of my favorite Poppystamps dies.  I made my own stencil a few years ago & it still works great.  The Distress Oxides I used are fossilized amber, spiced marmalade & abandoned coral.  

After clear embossing, I used the die to emboss the image.  Next I brushed the panel with DO vintage photo.  It needed something, so I partially embossed with a woodgrain folder using a small hammer.  I brushed on more vintage photo & wiped a bit with a baby wipe getting variations in the color--so fun!

The sentiment is made from Marzipan Greetings & Grateful Heart.  I had forgotten about these wooden dots which were just the right embellishment.  This can be a masculine retirement or birthday card.  I'm also entering The Snippets Playground since I used white scraps for the sentiment.

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