Guest Designing for Color Hues

I was thrilled to win Color Hues Fuchsia and Navy challenge and now I get to guest design for Color Hues #132 Yellow and Blue.  

A good friend recently gave me Taylored Expressions Petal Party Layering Stencils.  You can make 6 panels at a time, but I just used the section that includes a vase.  What do you think?  I'm really happy with the fun, modern look.

I used these Altenew inks:  Citrus Burst, Fresh Lemon, Caribbean Sky, Persian Blue and Sapphire.   I inked the edges of the mat with Sapphire and used it for the sentiment from PPP/SSS.   Love SSS Dibble Tile embossing folder and thought it worked great with my focal point.  I love to add splatters and sparkle, but decided this card should be left as is.  Hopefully it will brighten my friend's day.  I'd love for you to check out all the great inspiration from the Color Hues team and then enter the gallery.  I'm entering SSS Wednesday and WAW.

Edited to add:  First time using the stencils, so I'm entering Darnell's NBUS.

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

Hello Friend

I don't usually make more than 1 card for the Altenew Monthly Inspiration Challenge, but the April color combo is one I love.  Plus I wanted to use my Fresh Flowers die set that hasn't been used since last year.  

The inks are the same as my first card, but this time there's just a bit of green (Lime and Fresh Leaf) leaves showing and a lot of Rouge blended blooms.  Again I added foliage with white Branches and Berries diecuts.  The background was made with Deck Planks embossing folder and Dew Drops ink cube swiped over the edges.  

The sentiment from Sweet Bouquet was stamped in Versafine Clair Morning Mist, a dark gray.  I added Stardust Stickles to the flower centers and finished with 3 matching enamel dots.  

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

Birthday Cards

I like to have some birthday cards made ahead in my stash and most of the ones left I don't really like.  So, I'm working on fixing that.  I seldom make shakers, but really had fun making this one for Poppystamps January Challenge.  Think my sister-in-law will enjoy something different than I've sent her in the past. 

Poppystamps Soaring Tree Frame was die cut from white cardstock and colored with a gold sparkle pen and green and brown Faber-Castell markers.  The leaves were covered in Peeled Paint Distress Stickles.  I ink blended Altenew's Just Green and Persian Blue for the background which was covered with clear packaging and filled with Shaved Ice and a brown bead mix.  You can see the shaker in action in my IG video.  Poppystamps Nordic Bunny Trio was in my last order and think this cute fellow was the perfect addition to my card.  I added a tiny bit of color to his ears and feet.  The sweater was colored with blue ink left in my brush and a dot of Stickles was put on his tail.  The gold foil chipboard sentiment is from Memory Box.  SSS Dibble Tile folder gave me just the texture I wanted.  I'm also entering Word Art Wednesday. 

Recently a friend gifted me PFS Botanical Bunch stamp/die/stencils.  I was in the mood for a monochromatic card--maybe because of my new Altenew Sea Shore ink cubes.  

I first gold heat embossed the image and then used all the inks in the ink set with the stencils.  I added small gold splatters.  The darkest ink was used for the sentiment from PFS Perfect Sentiments.  The panel was die cut with PFS Postage Edge Rectangle and matted with gold metallic cardstock.  I attached the sentiment over a nest of gold thread and added a few Sea Shore enamel dots.  So happy with how this turned out.  I'm entering PFS January Challenge using April Floral Frenzy and September Monochromatic Magic.  Coloring stencils for stamps and embossing folders are lifesavers for me, as coloring is not one of my talents.  Using matching stencils has become one of my favorite techniques, so I'm also entering my card at Time Out Challenge 305.

Edited to add:  Also entering NBUS since this is the first card made with the floral stamp, coloring stencils, ink cubes and enamel dots.  

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

Year End

2026 is almost here.  I'm thinking about how to more consistently blog my cards.  I find posting on IG to be quicker, but I don't like not being able to search my cards like I can on my blog.  Maybe I'll finally just write very short descriptions. 

I'll start with the 2 cards I made for my Altenew Christmas Card Exchange Partners.  Unfortunately, I didn't get great pictures.  Once again they look better on IG.  I used the same Altenew Products for both: Poinsettia 3D Die Set, Perfect Poinsettia 3D Embossing Folder and fancy Peace Die.

I rubbed the raised edges of the green panel with Versamark and embossed with Sparkle Powder.  I brushed some darker red ink on the poinsettia petals and used the same ep on the tips and center.  The word was also ink blended to be darker across the top before embossing with the ep.  I'm entering SSS Wednesday.

For the other card, I used the folder with SSS Rich Red Metallic cardstock--so beautiful in person! 

I rubbed the edges with a black ink pad.  The poinsettia was cut from vellum and the word and flower center were cut from glossy black cardstock.  

I've wanted a cardinal die for a long time and finally have one just in time for hubby's Christmas card. 

SSS Cute Cardinal was actually colored with Copics R29, R59, YR04 and black.  I don't have confidence coloring, so was really pleased it turned out good.  Poppystamps Pine Needle Shoots die was cut from 3 MB green cardstocks.  I attached the shoots to MB Woodland Branch.  The blended background was done with Altenew Caribbean Sky.  Love my very old Savvy Stamps sentiment which I stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne.  The snow is white gouache splatters.  I'm entering Christmas Kickstart.

My last card is for the Altenew Year in Review Challenge. 

I was inspired by the April challenge photo of beautiful pink flowers against a backdrop of green leaves.  

I used these Altenew products:  Fresh Flowers die set, Sweet Bouquet sentiment stamp, ink colors Rose Quartz, Puffy Heart, Purple Wine, Citrus Burst, Shadow Creek and Mountain Pine plus Versafine Clair Nocturne.  I couldn't resist adding sparkle with Lindy's Gang Fairy Fluff spray.  You can see it in my IG post.  I'm also entering SSS Monday and Word Art Wednesday.  

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

Altenew and Pinkfresh

I loved the first card I saw by Hannelie using Altenew's White Cap Peonies stencils.  Finally added it to my stash and made an entry for the September Inspiration Challenge.  

The Altenew inks are Wisteria, Hydrangea, Ultraviolet, Andromeda, Sunkissed, Orange Cream, Forest Glades and Jet Black.  I splattered Altenew Jet Black ink spray and used their wonderful Dotted Swirls Debossing Cover Die.  I used Gina K Master Layouts 1 to die cut the rectangles.  The sentiment is from Sweet Bouquet and I added a few black enamel dots.  Already sent it off to a friend with major challenges right now.

 

Love that the Pinkfresh Monthly Challenge now has an Anything Goes option.  That let me pull out my 2018 Hello with a Bouquet die.  I've used it quite a bit, but don't remember ever using Fall colors. 

Thought about ink blending a background, but decided to smoosh Distress Oxides on a cream panel instead.  The colors are fossilized amber, wilted violet, peeled paint and vintage photo.  I was really happy with the look of my panel, especially after spraying it with fossilized amber Distress Spritz.  You can get an idea of the beautiful shimmer in my IG post.  The letters are stacked and covered with glaze.  Couldn't resist adding Golden Rod Stickles to the flower centers.  Think this could be for a birthday or maybe even Thanksgiving.  I'm also entering SSS Monday and DCD.

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

Orange and Green

I wasn't planning to make orange flowers for Color Hues #17, as I generally use orange for leaves and pumpkins.  But I wanted to make a card using SSS stamps to try Therese's faux watercolor technique from a Card Summit tutorial.  Thought it might work with SSS Spring Flowers.  

You ink up the wrong side of the clear stamp, spritz heavily with water and stamp.  You really want the ink to move and not just make a solid blob, which happens if you don't use enough water.  When it's dry, stamp over the area using the right side of the stamp and die cut the image.  I used Altenew Orange Cream, Autumn Blaze, Firefly and Grass Field inks.  I added white and black splatters.  The Soft Stone and black rectangles were die cut with Gina K Master Layouts 2.  Poppystamps Scribble Hello fit my design perfectly.  I'm also entering Die Cut Divas. 

So frustrating that we haven't been able to get our Covid 19 vaccine yet.  As I said before, I'll never forgive Trump for giving RFK power over our health care system.  Total dangerous disaster!

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

Notecard

I'm having trouble getting back into the swing of things after a short vacation.  I was determined to make a card and here it is.

I used 3 papers from Your Paper Insider's Box 12 which they generously sent to me.  The dies are from PTI, Penny Black, SSS and Poppystamps.  I decided against adding a sentiment and will just write a note inside.  I'm entering JUGS, DCD and WAW. 

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

Square and Z Fold

I'm grateful Your Paper Insider sent me Box 12 to use and show you.  I'll post my first card later.  Today's card was inspired by Freshly Made Sketches #700.  The first time I entered was November 2013, Challenge #111.  Here's that card:

This is really still my kind of card.  No surprise I used dry embossing for the background.  Those MFT rolled roses made from felt would be on my cards today if mailing costs weren't so high.  

Back to my current card.

I cut 4 squares of the beautiful White and Red Flowers: Yuzenshi paper and matted them with dark brown cardstock in my stash.  The little branches were die cut from the same brown paper.  To keep from covering up much of the background, I used a scrap of my vellum for the shadow of SSS Happy Autumn die.  The Gold Diamond Glitter paper in the box was perfect for the card front and letters.  You can see the sparkle and shine in my IG post.  And yes, I'm ready for Autumn's cooler weather!

Next is my first Z Fold card--yay!  I'm a slow cardmaker, so I don't usually make fun fold cards.  However, I watched a video recently and thought the simple version was something I could do.  Here's what I came up with using some favorite Altenew products.

I cut a white panel in 2 and lined the pieces back up in the Flower Bed embossing folder.  Sweet Bouquet was colored with the matching stencils using Rose Quartz, Puffy Heart, Cosmic Berry, Firefly, Forest Glades, Shadow Creek and Citrus Burst.  I splattered the bouquet with SSS Splatter Medium and added yellow Stickles to all the flower centers--focal point and background.  The sentiment from the stamp set fit perfectly inside.  I did add cardstock layers to the bouquet to make it sturdy enough to have only the left side attached.  You can see details and sparkle in my IG post.  This is another card for the Altenew August Challenge and I'm entering DCD where Altenew is the sponsor.

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