Halloween and Friendship

I'm honored Nonni asked me to join her Vintage Vibes Card Making Hop on IG.  It's not a style I make very often, but I have the perfect Halloween paper by Graphic 45.  

My dear friend, Betty, sent me home with several sheets the first time I visited her.  I darkened the edges of the panel and added brown Distress Stickles to the sunflower centers.  For the mat, I embossed brown cardstock with Altenew's Playful Leaves folder.  I inked and lightly distressed the edges before adding the light tan lace and pearls from my stash.  If you use IG, check out the creations of the many talented designers.  You can find the list of participants in my IG post.  I'm entering WAW. 

Next is my idea of a seasonal transition card with flowers and what I call dusty ink colors.  I've only made one card with SSS Long Stem Florals and I didn't use the stencils.  

Love the look of these images and it's really fun to add color with the stencils.  The inks I used are Altenew's Glacier Iris, Amethyst, Dusty Pink and Sagestone.  I die cut the panel with PFS Nesting Postage Rectangle and splattered with black ink.  Thought the font of this Verve sentiment went perfectly with the flowers.  Pretty sure that Verve stamp set had never been used and it has lots of wonderful small sentiment stamps.  I'm entering SSS IG, SSS Flickr, WAW and NBUS.

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

Happy Anniversary and Thankful

Very grateful it's feeling like Fall now.  We even had a few rainy days, which we really needed.  Still lots of dangerous weather in many places.  I hope things are OK where you are.

I like masking a frame, which I haven't done for quite awhile.  That's how my card for Color Hues Dusty Blue and Brown began.  

I only found 2 dusty blue inks in my huge stash of ink pads and one of them was SSS Hybrid Steel Blue.  Not every ink lets the details show with more solid stamps like SSS Anna's Flowers, but this one stamped perfectly.  It's a richer color than shows in the photo and I need to remember to use it.  The little branches from an old Gina K set were stamped in Altenew Rocky Shore--a lovely shade of brown.  I splattered both inks before adding the Winnie and Walter sentiment.  If you look closely, you can see 2 tiny white hearts above the h.  They're Gina K embellishments which I covered with shimmer.  Glad to have this card ready for my sister's anniversary next month.  I entered WAW via IG.

I'm truly thankful for my sweet cardmaking friends around the world.  One of them gave me CN9 Autumn Splendor stamp set and dies.  JUGS Die Week: Thanks gave me the motivation to use these products for the first time.  

I pulled out a variety of cardstock colors.  Decided to use a different green for each type of leaf and 2 shades of rose for the flowers.  The berries were die cut from a soft gold glitter cardstock and I added gold splatters.  You can see the shimmer and shine in my IG post.  Pearls were my favorite embellishment years ago and I was happy I still had some of the Latte ones to use for the flower centers.  It was a lot of diecutting, but so fun to see the card come to life.  Of course the look can be totally different by changing up the colors.  You can also use the images without the background piece, so I may try that next.  I'm also entering WAW.

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

My Three Latest Cards

We've had some nice weather with lower temps and good air quality.  If only some of the rain causing flooding in other states could be directed where drought is the problem, like here.  Hope you're staying safe.

Had to put on my thinking cap to make a card for Poppystamps Let's Go!  Travel! August challenge.  I'd love to be traveling this Fall for a family Thanksgiving at a big house in the country or to a cardmaking retreat with friends.  

The house is from Poppystamps Layered House Globe die set and the trees are Shasta Twigs dies.  The sentiment from PTI Scripted was stacked and embossed with clear matte powder.  I used a bunch of distress oxides for the background and colored all the white diecuts with Altenew inks.  A fine point black pen was used to draw the birds.  I'm also entering WAW.

Our small town has the most beautiful hanging baskets and they inspired this card for SSS Flickr's Bright and Colorful challenge.  I picked Altenew inks in colors very close to those in the baskets:  Razzleberry, Pinkalicious, Pink Diamond and Hydrangea.

Most of what was left of an old light green shimmery cardstock sheet was embossed with SSS Cherry blossom 3D folder.  It's my nod to the green leaves.  A scrap was used for the sentiment from Altenew's Timeless Sentiments 2 and I covered it with clear glaze.  To represent the white flowers in the baskets, I colored the flower centers with a white paint pen and used white cardstock for the sentiment background.  I'm also entering Snippets Playground where I've been absent quite awhile.

The card for the Pinkfresh Monthly Challenge was made with their lovely Modern Layered Florals stamp set.

I find layering stamp sets quite challenging, but my first attempt lined up almost perfectly.  Then I grabbed the wrong ink cube to darken the leaves and didn't catch it before I stamped.  It turned out to be a good thing, because I changed the colors and like the look much better.  The altenew inks are Caribbean Sky, Persian Blue, Firefly and Green Field.  The sentiment is from the same set.  I added blue and green splatters and blue sequins to the panel die cut with PFS Elongated Oval: Blanket Stitch.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday.

I heard an older song for the first time and wow!  Lori McKenna wrote it for her children.  What if these words defined us?  Our country would be so different.  This is just the chorus:

Hold the door, say please, say thank you

Don't steal, don't cheat and don't lie

I know you got mountains to climb but

Always stay humble and kind.

When the dreams you're dreamin' come to you

When the work you put in is realized

Let yourself feel the pride but

Always stay humble and kind.

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

Friendship, Christmas, Birthday

I always loved the PTI Challenges and Blog Hops where customers could enter their cards.  So I was thrilled to see the August challenge.  Luckily, I have Pure Poppy, Tropical Teal and Green Parakeet ink cubes.  I used them with PTI Wild Blooms layering stencil set. 

As you can see, I gold embossed the flower details.  Hard to tell, but the Pure Poppy flower centers were embossed with clear sparkle powder.  Since Green Parakeet isn't very dark, I used Tropical Teal for the leaf details.  It worked great!  Love how the panel turned out, so I just die cut it with Scallop Stackers: Small and used Pure Poppy for the mat.  I added very small gold splatters and soft gold sequins.  The die cut PTI Scripted sentiment was stacked and gold embossed.  I've started keeping my favorite makes on display until I mail them.  Makes me happy each time I walk by.  I'm also entering JUGS and WAW.

I wasn't planning to make a Christmas card for Color Hues Navy and Teal challenge, but that's what I ended up with.  The Spellbinders Joy die didn't even get used last year and I really love it.

I tried to follow the directions for how to set your phone camera so it captures the color teal and doesn't turn it more blue.  No luck, but I wanted to enter the card anyway.  The cardstocks are really a navy blue and a teal about the same intensity.  I attached the diecut to a silver oval.  Stickles Glitter Glue that's a very close match to the teal cardstock was added to the flower centers and clear glaze was added to the holly leaves. 

I saved the teal glitter tape letters from the snowflake card in my previous post.  Glad to use them quickly.  I've sure gotten my money's worth from Altenew's Essential Sentiment Strips.  My camera captured this shade of teal without a problem.   

I attached the glitter tape to printer paper and then die cut SSS Stitching Butterflies.  I used a scrap of black cardstock for the bodies and lightly bent the wings forward.  Hadn't used the Altenew Flower Bed embossing folder for awhile and it was just the look I wanted for this card.  I'm entering DCD, SSS Monday and SSS Wednesday.

Edited:  Thanks, Linda.  You're right.  The glitter tape is more of a mint than a teal.  Guess that's why the color looks right in the picture.

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

Friendship, Birthday and Christmas

We've been fortunate not to have any wildfires close to us.  So heartbreaking to see the destruction.  The smoke did finally make our air unhealthy the last few days and it's been too hot for me.  Fritz doesn't understand why I won't let him lay on the deck like usual.  I also had a sick day and haven't been motivated to blog.  But today I feel better, so here are a couple cards on my way to catching up.

First is the card I sent to Julia for the CCC July exchange.  I used the beautiful color combo of kraft, pink and gold.

SSS Leaf Tumble embossing folder was used with gold metallic cardstock.  It really gives a beautiful result and I've never had issues with cracking.  The flowers are a set from Pigment Craft Co that I've hardly used.  I stamped in Brilliance Pearlescent Brown and added gold Stickles to the centers.  You can see the beautiful sparkle in my IG post.  The sentiment is from Alex Syberia and I can't remember which branches I used.  The tiny pink butterfly is Poppystamps.

Next is a winter birthday card using 2 Waffle Flower dies for the first time:  Frosty Texture and Small Snowflake.  

I inked the snowflake with Altenew Volcano Lake which is a close match to the beautiful teal glitter tape I've had for years.  I attached the tape to cardstock and then die cut the dots and Altenew Essential Sentiment Strip Happy Birthday.  I usually think of navy blue for snowflakes, but really like the soft, pretty look of the teal.  These products will be great for Christmas cards, but I enjoyed making a birthday card first.  I'm entering SSS Monday via IG, SSS Wednesday, NBUS and DCD.

Here's the last card I made for Christmas in July.  Didn't get nearly enough done, so I'm also planning to do Christmas in August.😀 Actually, I usually make Christmas cards every month, as they're my favorites. 

This one uses the wonderful CN9 Boughs and Holly stencil pack.  The inks are Altenew Firefly, Grass Field, Cherry Sweet and Coral Red.  I inked the branches from a CN9 die set to match and added red and green splatters.  Waffle Flower Cardinal Duo diecut was colored using the matching stencil with Altenew Rhodolite, Cherry Sweet, Coral Red, black and PTI Honey Nut and Weathervane.  I used a glue pen to add touches of fine glitter to the bird, berries and branches.  You can see the sparkle in my IG post.  Birch Press Vintage Sentiment letters were stacked 2 high and inked with Cherry Sweet before being glued in place on the vellum shadow.

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

June CCC

So much fun to make my stenciled card for June CCC.  I was inspired by Erica's recent YouTube video.

Took a ton of pictures and this was the best I could do.  It's much better in real life.  The stencil set is Altenew's Chateau Blooms and the inks are Brilliance Starlite Black and Pearlescent Poppy.  After I finished with the inks, I replaced the stencil and used glitter paste over the flowers.  The sentiment is MB Hello Friend Posh Script die cut from vellum for the shadow and glossy black cardstock for the words.  I added a few Altenew Gem Sparkles for embellishment.  

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

Friendship and Christmas

I'm behind on blog posts, so here are 3 recent cards I posted on IG.

First is my entry for Altenew's June Inspiration Challenge.  My last Altenew order included Chateau Blooms stencils, so it was an easy decision to use them for my entry.  

The Altenew inks are Coral Berry, Coral Red, Wisteria, Ultraviolet, Lime and Fresh Leaf.  I embossed the panel with Altenew's Angled Mosaic folder which gives such a great look in real life.  Couldn't resist adding shimmer to the panel with Lindy's Gang Fairy Fluff spray.  You can see it in my IG video.  The old Altenew Fancy Hello die is still a favorite.  I used glossy black cardstock for both the word and the mat.

   

Next is my entry for Christmas Kickstart Snow Day Challenge. My wintry little Christmas card scene is made with Poppystamps Sloping Hillside die embossed with a mix of white and white plus glitter powders. The glittery one didn't have enough white and it worked great just to mix the 2 powders.

I was careful not to ink the trees so I could color them green with a Copic.  Then I used a Versamark marker to add dots for snow that I embossed with the same powder mix.  The card edges were also embossed.  I ink blended the background with CN9 Blueberry and Midnight and inked the mat to match.  Held my breath and drew the birds with a black fine-line pen.  Happily, they came out OK.  So happy I talked myself into getting Birch Press Peace, Love, Joy Confection Script die set during one of the sales.  I blended the inks using Blueberry on the bottom and Midnight on the top.  I'm also entering WAW.

My final card is another one for the Pinkfresh June Challenge.  The first card I made used the second panel I made with Pinkfresh Botanical Bunch.  For that card I started by silver embossing the stamped image.  But for my first try, I white embossed and then stenciled with VersaMagic Pink Petunia and Turquoise Gem.

I didn't think my stenciling was perfect and I smeared ink in a couple places, so I set it aside and made the other panel.  But I kept the first panel on my table.  The other day I realized the smears were near the edge, so I used PFS Elongated Oval Blanket Stitch die to get a useable panel.  I added Stickles to the flower centers.  I used a larger die to make the double thick frame.  The background was inked with Pink Petunia and the sentiment from PFS Perfect Sentiments was stamped in Turquoise Gem.  PFS Small Butterflies one piece stamp was white embossed and colored with the same inks using the matching stencils.  Fun to get a different look, even though the stamp set and inks are the same.  I'm also entering DCD, WAW and SSS Wednesday.

Edited to add:  Thanks to Lisa, I'm also entering JUGS since there are pink flowers in the mood board.

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