Christmas and Friendship

I finally got some pictures of cards today so I can enter some challenges.  One is about to close, so I'll start with Caffeinated Christmas Card Flower Challenge.  I love fancy cups & mugs.  Boy would I love to have one like this...and a whole set of china! 

I used Pigment Craft Co Cup of Happy die & a beautiful sheet of paper from Spellbinders Merry Wishes pad.  I added some gold foil accents with my Quickie Glue Pen--so fun & easy.  The W&W sentiment is gold embossed on a piece of my favorite pink cardstock--Romance by Bazzill.  I colored the cup's handle using Distress Inks evergreen bough & pine needles to match the printed paper.  Finally got to use a strip of this fun, gold & white Altenew Washi tape. 

The card front is dry embossed with an evergreen branches folder & really adds something when you see it in person.  I didn't like any embellishments I tried.  Finally, I decided to add my old gold glitter dots to the rim of the cup.  It'd be hard to drink from, but we can do what we like creating cards--right?!  

Next is my entry for Woodblock Wednesday & Rudolph Days.  I still have a lot of Woodblock stamps to choose from.  This time I chose to use Penny Black's 2013 stamp called Christmas Reds & Greens along with the 2009 PB sentiment.  

I stamped the leaves in Avery Elle Celery pigment ink & embossed with Hero Arts Sparkle powder.  I covered the berries in Christmas Red Stickles & added some splatters of the green ink. 

Originally I planned to center the panel on the black mat, but I really liked it this way for a change.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday.

Hero Arts was one of the first companies I was introduced to about 25 years ago.  I still have many, many HA flower stamps--some woodblock & some cling.  Decided to use the Zinnia Style bloom from the 2005 Fashion Flowers woodblock set.  This card design was inspired by Cecile, whose work I admire so much.  

I began by blending Pigment Craft Co Himalayan & Blush inks through The Greetery Color Spots stencil onto a square of Bristol paper.  Then I stamped the bloom in Versafine Clair Nocturne.   The little sentiment from Altenew's Floral Frame was stamped a couple times in the same black ink.   I added a black satin "tab" & a couple cardstock layers for dimension before adding it to the 4 inch square mat of Bristol.  Finished off with a black enamel dot.  I'm entering the flower challenge at Stay Crafty with a Blog Named Hero & 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.

Poppystamps and Pinkfresh Studio

I love to enter the monthly challenges at Poppystamps and Pinkfresh Studio.  I'll start with my entry for Poppystamps Flower Garden challenge.  I've been intrigued for a long time by the die cut tissue paper flowers posted on IG by Flora & Fauna.  I tried a long time ago & it was a failure.  Recently I got a stamp set from MFT & hadn't put away the beautiful pink tissue it came wrapped in.  That inspired me to try again & I'm so glad I did!  You do have to be very careful removing them from the cutting plate & handling them, but it's worth it.  

Most of the blooms are from Poppystamps Potpourri Flower set, plus the smallest die from Stitched Blooms Trio.  I just mixed the blooms & layered 3 for each one.  The centers have a pink Nuvo Drop.  I used very small green scraps for Poppystamps Orchard Leaves & a white scrap for Grosgrain Bow.  The kraft floral wrap was made by folding a Memory Box Grand Heart diecut.  

Letters from Memory Box Parker Lowercase Alphabet were die cut from a black scrap covered with packing tape.  The sweet Darice embossing folder from my friend, Lisa, made the perfect background.  I'm also entering Snippets Playground.  

Next is my entry for the Pinkfresh Studio May Rainbow Challenge.  I've had the Nested Diamond Pop Out Stamp a long time, but have used it very little.  Took several tries & rewatching videos to finally figure out how to use it with each section a different color.  Love being able to do that, so need to use it again before I forget what I did!  

Anyway, I've been wanting to use pastel rainbow colors & this was the perfect challenge for that.  I used Lawn Fawn Ballet Slippers & Peach Fuzz, PTI Lemon Tart & Vintage Jadeite, Hero Arts Soft Sky & Memento Lulu Lavender.  For some reason, I couldn't get good images white embossing PFS Small Butterflies on vellum.  Finally gave up & just stamped with Versafine Clair Nocturne on white cardstock.  That worked & they actually look much better on the card than my first idea.  I colored the bodies with a light gray Copic, brushed the wings with a shimmer pen & colored the dots with a black glaze pen.  There's a short video showing the shimmer on my IG post.  They're attached just in the middle so the wings can be slightly raised.  Tiny clear gems are the only embellishment.  The black embossed sentiment is from PFS Perfect Sentiments & I found just the right shade of gray cardstock for the mat.    

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

Guest Designer at Time Out Challenges

I'm so thrilled to be the Guest Designer for Time Out Challenge 238.  This time it's an Inspired By Words Challenge and the sponsor is Varada Sharma Digital Designs.  The quote is: "Dare to love yourself as if you were a rainbow with gold at both ends." ~ Aberjhani  

You can be inspired by the whole quote or any of the words.  Hopefully you can tell that I used the words rainbow & gold.

The adorable Taylored Expressions umbrella die was a freebie in my last order.  I die cut it from white scraps & then sponged with Distress Oxides candied apple, spiced marmalade, fossilized amber, lucky clover, faded jeans & wilted violet.  Each one was backed with a white diecut circle covered with shimmer.  My golden sunrays were made using light molding paste over the Honey Bee Radiant Circle stencil.  I quickly added gold embossing powder & heated it with my heat tool.  Beautifully gleaming texture in person!

The Impress Cards and Crafts sentiment was stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne before I attached the umbrella circles with thin foam tape.  I matted the panel with black cardstock & added a tiny pearl to the top of each umbrella.  We're known in the Pacific Northwest for lots of days with both rain & sun, so we often see rainbows.  That's what I had in mind when I created this card.  Hope you like it & will play along in the challenge.

I'm 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.

Florals and Friendship

Seems all my cards are floral lately, but that doesn't mean they look alike.  First is the card I sent to Bonnie for the April CCC.  

I inked SSS Bouquet of Roses stencil on a watercolor panel with Memento Angel Pink, Sweet Plum, London Fog & Espresso Truffle and spritzed with water.  I added more ink to the image & the background until I was happy with the look.  I spritzed with shimmer spray & added black splatters.  

Then I dry embossed with SSS Refracted stencil.  Memory Box Hello Friend Posh Script words were die cut from a black scrap covered with packing tape & the shadow from a vellum scrap.  The sentiment was attached over a silver thread nest.  I'm entering SSS Wed Challenge & The Snippets Playground.

Next is my first card made with Altenew metallic watercolors on black watercolor paper.  I gold embossed & die cut PFS Sweet Friend Floral which gave me 5 floral stems.  I used 2 colors for the blooms & 2 for the leaves, plus yellow/gold for the flower centers.  

Decided to add tiny black dots to the flowers.  Always surprises me what a difference something little like that can make.  There's a short video on my IG post that shows the beautiful shimmer of the paints.  PTI Vintage Cream cardstock was die cut with PFS Blanket Stitched Rectangles & splattered with Altenew black ink spray.  The sentiment from PFS Perfect Sentiments was double gold embossed & TE matte gold enamel dots finish it off.  I'm entering PFS April Monthly Challenge & SSS Monday.

Sue's card for Just Us Girls CASE a DT member inspired my last card.  I used one of my favorite embossing folders, Memory Box Blooming, along with MB Serene Bird and Branch die & PFS Perfect Sentiments. 

Hard to see in the photo, but the cardstock I used was a very old piece of white with a mottled blue pattern.  I swiped over the embossed edges with my Ultimate Encore Metallic blue ink pad which has a lovely shimmer.  The bird was die cut from the same paper.  I brushed the bird with the blue ink & just the edges of the wing.  I added ultrafine glitter to the lines of the wing for a subtle sparkle.  

The branch was die cut twice from HA woodgrain vellum.  I stamped the sentiment in the blue ink & clear embossed.  The panel was attached to a card front also brushed with the blue ink & I added 3 beautiful white gems.  I love monochromatic cards & dry embossing, so I totally enjoyed making this card.  I'm also entering the May Memory Box Challenge & 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.