Birthday & Christmas

I've had the rest of my DI rainbow panel sitting on my table since I made my card for Poppystamps last month.  Decided to use about 1/2 of what was left for the new Just Bling It challenge.  

My sweet friend, Brenda, sent me lots of Poppystamps Stitched Butterflies die cuts, so I pulled out vellum & cardstock in different sizes to layer.  Hopefully my one beautiful bling dot will qualify, as it really seemed like all that was needed.  I added some little black splatters & the sentiment from Poppystamps Hope and Thanks.  I'm also entering DRU, HLS CAS, Paru's Card Making Challenges, The Playground & SSS Wednesday.

Next is my PTI MIM entry.  Honestly, I did not see Kim's card until mine was already done--as they say, great minds think alike!  This was a really fun technique--check out the video if you haven't.  

I made an acrylic circle stencil using a die & saved packaging.  DI pine needles was sponged for an ombre effect going from lower right to upper left.  The masks were made with a die cut berry image from PTI Spruce & Sprigs.  Then with the masks removed & the stencil left in place, I stamped the berry image in DI festive berries & added Christmas Stickles. The sentiment from PTI Snowflake Flurries was stamped in Brilliance Starlite Black--a bit softer than black. I sponged the edges of the card front to match & attached the panel with foam tape.  Couldn't find an embellishment with the right colors in my stash, so decided to just use a bow made with a beautiful textured ribbon.  

Thought it still needed something, so covered the bow with painter's tape & sprayed with Perfect Pearls--just love that shimmer!  I'm also entering Christmas Card Challenges, Die Cut Divas & Word Art Wednesday.  Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.

I Did It--Yah!

My MFT Camp Create roomie, Brenda, finished & headed home a couple days ago.  Due to getting distracted (other challenges!) & procrastinating (where IS that Blog Writing Genie?!) I'm just now packing up.  The good thing is I finished all the challenges & have cards I like enough to send to people! That's certainly a win, but I AM keeping my fingers crossed for the drawings--haha!
Here's my card for Day 3, Spectacular Shakers.  I was determined to use one of the MFT shaker pouches & found the pumpkin from MFT Primitive Pumpkins was just the right size.  The little stars & sentiment are from the same set.  

My stamping was done with PTI Summer Sunrise & Plum Pudding plus Distress markers peeled paint & crushed olive. So fun to use a bit of this wonderful printed paper I've slowly been cutting into for years, along with almost the end of the black, sparkly ribbon.  My shaker mix consists of seed beads, PPP confetti stars & Stampendous Shaved Ice.  The pumpkin is also covered in Wink of Stella, so lots of shine & sparkle.  I'm also entering ATSM (stem & swirl inked with markers), CropStop, The Playground & SSS Wednesday.

I had to get creative for Day 4, Sensational Sliders.  Hopefully my sliding camouflaged tag will qualify.  You may remember this idea from a 2015 PTI MIM.  

I started by trying out the toner sheets with my new Heidi Swapp Summer Rainbow foil using the MFT Layered Rose dies.  I was a little disappointed I didn't get perfect coverage, but can't justify the price of a Minc & who knows if it would have been better.  Anyway, I decided not to be so fussy. The 2 with the solid color (same foil) are done with self-adhesive fun foam & did cover perfectly.  

I white embossed MFT Geometric Grid Background & splattered with PTI Hibiscus Burst before attaching the panel to the card front, taping it to leave space for the tag to slide in & out.  

The tag & sentiment on the front are from MFT Tag You're It, while the sentiment on the tag is from MFT Peaceful Wildflowers.  I'm also entering HLS Anything Goes with Dies & Word Art Wednesday.

Edited to add: Also entering Virginia's Summer Blog Party.

I combined the bonus Divine Dry Embossing & Day 5 Glitzy Glitter.  Love the look of MFT Dizzy Doily dry embossed--gotta do that more often.  It makes a beautiful subtle background--just what I wanted for my glittery MFT Poinsettia.  

I've glittered the poinsettia dies before using the self-adhesive fun foam. This time, though, I used 2 colors of the Elizabeth Craft glitter on the blooms: Pink & Champagne.  The leaves are done in Sweet Basil & the sentiment is from an old MFT Christmas set without a label.

The sparkle from that brand of glitter is stunning--wish you could see it in person.  I'm also entering Christmas Card Challenges, CropStop & Word Art Wednesday.  Thanks for making it to the end of this long post!  Hope you've found some time to craft--I'll be by soon!

Thanks, Christmas, Friendship

Couldn't let the left over pieces get messed up or lost from the first card I made with the SSS Bright Flowers die.  Fun to see such a different look using the watercolored outline with the silver glitter pieces inlaid.  

I got 2 panels of watercolor paper when I originally did the smooshing with Distress Inks salty ocean, mermaid lagoon, lucky clover & cracked pistachio.  Glad I had that second piece to use for the matching frame. Everything is layered on the SSS Fog card front after I added some splatters.  I'm entering SSS Flickr Challenge #69, SSS Monday (sprayed inks with water for smooshing) & The Playground.

Next is my one layer card for the challenge at Where Creativity Meets C9. My other cards are the result of one try, but I stamped this one layer card 3 times & went with version 2!  

Some day I have to figure out how to use the rest of the C&9 Flourish stamp set, but for now I'm sticking to the large 3 layer flower & the sentiment words.  I pulled out some of my very old & still loved Brilliance ink pads: Graphite Black, Pearlescent Coral (totally a pink ink), Pearlescent Purple & Pearlescent Crimson.  The flowers have a beautiful soft shimmer.  Thought about adding some scoring or embossing & sequins, but in the end I just used splatters.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday since pink & white are in the mood board.

Final card is one I've had in my mind since I saw Shay's card for W&W Rerun #18.  I loved the grouping of flowers & leaves under a die cut word.  The design is so versatile I'll use it for lots of occasions, but I wanted to start with a Christmas card.  

I usually make them frequently all year & it's been awhile.  You know I love the hello die (my introduction to W&W) & I feel the same about the noel die.  The images from In Bloom: Frenchy's Festive Florals were stamped on watercolor paper using Distress Inks victorian velvet, milled lavender & bundled sage.  I blended with water, but the colors were too light, so I stamped them all again & blended some more.  I inked the card front & a scrap with bundled sage, so the noel would match.  It has a very small black shadow to help it pop just a bit.  I added Star Dust Stickles to the flower centers & the word along with a few dots in the background. I'm also entering Christmas Card Challenges.  Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.

NBUS

I've been trying to make my card for Ellen Hutson Mix it Up with Avery Elle for the last 3 days.  Couldn't get it to work, so went ahead with another idea.  Unfortunately, I discovered that VersaMagic goes through micropore tape, so that card had to be cut down leaving no room for my EH sentiment. Turned out with a card I like that will only need 1 stamp, so that's good. I'll show it to you next, but here's my EH card using AE Winter Wreath.  

Every time I saw it used on a card I was drawn to it, so finally got the stamps & dies last year.  Have no idea why I didn't use them for any 2016 cards, but now it's going to be hard to put them away!  The wreath is stamped first in Brilliance Thyme & then in Pearlescent Olive which gives a beautiful goldish sheen. The bow & berries are stamped in VersaMagic Red Magic & Diamond Glaze is added to the berries.  I splattered the 2 green inks before attaching the EH sentiment made with dies from the Merry & Bright set.  You can't see in the photo, but they have sparkle from a Spectrum Noir clear pen.  I'll use this for a winter birthday card, so I'm also entering SSS Wednesday & Word Art Wednesday.

Here's the first card I made.  The sentiment is from the same stamp set & is stamped in Versafine Vintage Sepia.  I used a PTI balloon string to stamp the red lines.  

Here's a close up showing the wreath colors--same for both cards.

I'm entering the Flickr Love Group, Christmas Card Challenges & HLS Christmas Challenge.  Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.

Merry & Bright

Can't resist being in the drawing for a $50 Ellen Hutson gc.  That's the prize for Mix It Up Challenge: Pink Fresh Studio.  

I've won 2 different PFS paper pads including Christmas Wishes--very fun, modern papers that don't need much added. The sentiment is made with Ellen Hutson Merry & Bright dies.  I colored the top layer with a gold Wink of Stella pen.  

The paper panel is sprayed with gold Tsukineko Shimmer Spritz which you can see in the close up.  My tendency would be to use black for the mat, but when I laid the panel on a kraft sheet that was it.  Can't take much credit for this card, but I do love it!  I'm also entering Christmas Card Challenges, HLS Anything Goes with Dies & Paru's Card Making Challenge.  The big storm didn't come as close to land as expected, so we came through without any problems.  Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.