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.

Guest Designing for TTTC

I was delighted to be asked to guest design for TTTC288.  The board has lots of options that let you make any kind of card.

I chose the last vertical row of Splatter/Smooshing, Die Cut Shapes and Embellishment.  Since I'm working on Easter cards, that's what I made.

I smooshed Altenew Just Green ink and splattered it with Hunter Green.  Poppystamps Proper Happy Easter shadow was inked in Just Green and I used white cardstock for the letters.  The cute Easter eggs from Memory Box were die cut from watercolor paper I painted with Lindy's Magicals.  The shimmer is so beautiful in person. 

I kept the detail layers white and added little clear gems.  There's lots of inspiration from the DT and I'd love to see you in the gallery.  I'm entering DCD, WAW and 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.

Woodblock Wednesday Guest Designer

I'm delighted to be a guest designer for Amy's Woodblock Wednesday November Challenge.  I still have a lot of my old wood mounted stamps.  If you've been stamping for over 25 years, you might recognize this wonderful 1998 DeNami stamp.  I used Versafine Clair Green Oasis and embossed with clear powder.

I love the design of the trees and that the sentiment is included.  Can't really remember the cards I made with it years ago, but I know they weren't watercolored!  I used green and brown Zigs and the Zig blender pen for the trees.  The background wash was done with blue Prima Confections watercolor.  Can't see in the photo, but I also added white gouache splatters.  I really like the look of using thin mats, so my Gina K Master Layouts 1 and 2 are getting a lot of use these days. 

I've seen a lot of colored card fronts lately and I do like them.  This one was made by brushing the green ink on the white card edges. Leftover red die cut dots covered in Christmas Red Stickles add some bling and tie in with the red mat.  If you have woodmounted stamps, why not join in the challenge?  It's always fun to see the variety in the gallery.  I'm entering Time Out (emboss, nature) and WAW.

Edited to add:  Also 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.

Week 2 Guest Designing for JUGS

I'm back as the October JUGS Guest Designer with my card for Word Week: Halloween.

I don't make many Halloween cards, but I really had fun with this one.  Plus, I used a couple dies for the first time--yay!  Reverse Confetti Halloween Bits die set was in a destash giveaway some time ago and I won Memory Box Happy Halloween Posh Script a few months ago.  I also pulled out SSS Birch Tree Window die that I used once in the past for a Halloween card. 

I started by covering the bat in WOW Regal Sparkles (glitter) and the ghost in Ice Pop.  The bat was outlined with a silver pen and the ghost with a black one.  I backed the bat eyes with a scrap colored with the silver pen and the ghost eyes and mouth with a scrap colored with the black.  I ink blended the background using Distress Oxides fossilized amber and spiced marmalade.  The cardfront was covered with MB glossy black cardstock for a nice contrast from the plain black cardstock I used to die cut the window.  

I ink blended the Happy Halloween shadow to match the background and stacked it 2 high.  The words were die cut from the glossy black cardstock.  There's a video showing the sparkle and shine in my IG post.  Be sure to check out all the wonderful creations by the JUGS team and I'd love to see you in the gallery!  I'm entering SSS WCMD and WAW. 

"And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise."  Luke 6:31  I'm so sick of the ongoing threats, name calling and retaliation.  By the way, Portland, Oregon is not "war ravaged" or a "burning hell hole."  

Thank you 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.

Elf Duties--Reminder Post

I'm back to remind you that there's still time to play along with Jo and me at Christmas Kickstart: Wreath it Up.  The gallery is filling up with such wonderful cards and it's amazing how many have wreaths that are also in my stash!  

My first card was made with stencils, so this time I wanted to use one of my wreath stamps.  I settled on a much loved 2004 Art Impressions woodblock stamp.  Luckily, I still have an old fashioned stamp positioner.  

I started by inking the entire stamp in Altenew Misty Mint.  Then I used a sponge dauber to randomly add Mountain Pine.  I went back and forth until I was happy with the results.  I used an old set of circle dies to cut my wreath, a red cardstock circle and a circle inked in Mountain Pine.  I attached everything to a circle card made with the same die as the green mat.  One of my favorite sentiment stamps is a little 2003 Hero Arts woodblock stamp and it was just the right size for the center of my wreath.  Decided I needed a bow, so die cut 2 old PPP bows from red and white.  They're so thin, I stacked both colors 2 high.  Amazing how much better they looked!  I added Christmas Red Stickles to the berries and the center of the bow.  Be sure to stop by the blog to check out Jo's card and why not join the gallery?!

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

On Elf Duty!

Yep--I'm so happy to be Jo's Guest Elf for Christmas Kickstart: Wreath it Up!  If you know me, you know I LOVE wreaths.  I honestly can't even count how many wreath stamps, dies and stencils I have!  And I just got another one! 😄  Plus, I love to use small stamps or individual diecuts to make wreaths.  For today's card, I used one of my newer products: CN9 Boughs & Holly Stencil Pack.

The inks I used are CN9 Evergreen, Clover, Cranberry and PTI Cocoa Bean.  It's a fun stencil to use.  You ink it once and then turn it 180 degrees and ink again.  The bow is from Pinkfresh Artistic Bows which I got for $3 from a crafter's destash sale.  The bow was brushed with a shimmer pen and the berries were covered in Christmas Red Stickles.  I tried several sentiments and decided on this one from PTI Joyful Florals.  I hope you'll check out Jo's card with a darling unexpected image and join 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.

Guest Designer for Word Art Wednesday

It's time for another WAW Challenge and here's what I made as the April Guest Designer.  Sometimes using paste with a stencil comes out great and other times it takes me several attempts.  This time it was challenging, but I'm happy I stuck with it.

I used SSS Floral Borders stencil with beautiful gold Lawn Fawn embossing paste.  The verse was printed and cut with an Altenew oval die.  The glossy black mat was cut with an Elizabeth Craft oval die.  I used black cardstock for the mat and added 3 small gold dots.  All the challenge details and inspiration from the DT can be found at WAW.  I'm entering SSS Flickr 234. 

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 Penny Black Saturday Challenge

Penny Black was one of the first brands I was introduced to when I started making cards and it quickly became a favorite.  I was on the PBSC DT from Sept. 2014 through 2017 and I'm delighted to be the GD for January's Anything Goes--Optional Something New challenge.  I goofed and didn't email my card to Helen in time for the initial post.  But today we're reminding you that there's still plenty of time to enter the challenge.  Here's my card.

A long time ago I was given PB Graceful Wings die and I'd never used it.  So glad I finally pulled it out, as it's absolutely beautiful!  I die cut it twice from a soft red shimmer envelope and gently lifted the top wings.  For the background, I stamped PB music background and a branch from PB xmas sprig in gray ink on a gray panel.  The sentiment is from PB enamor.

I added the darker gray frame, attached the butterfly and added 3 dark silver gems.  Why not pull out your Penny Black goodies and enter the challenge?  Favorites will be picked and one lucky entrant will win a voucher to 123 Stitch.

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

Altenew

My win for the Altenew November 2023 Monthly Challenge gave me the opportunity to participate in their Cards for Parents IG Hop.  Here's my card using Altenew's Rose Bouquet 3D embossing folder and a sentiment from Floral Frames.  There's a close up in my IG post and info on the hop including prizes.  

I love the Altenew March Inspiration Challenge.  My first entry used a stencil and I really wanted to make another card using a layering die set.  Last night I got all the pieces from Altenew Fantasy Floral die set inked and today I put the card together.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute!  

The inks for the flowers are Altenew Pink Wine, Rose Quarts and PTI Lemon Tart.  The leaves are Altenew Forest Glades and Limeade.  Hard to tell, but I did add tiny splatters of pink on the blooms and green on the leaves.  

Altenew Deck Planks 3D embossing folder makes such a great background.  This time I used a kraft panel and rubbed over the edges with Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate.  The sentiment from Floral Acanthus was die cut from a scrap of the kraft cardstock and the stacked words were covered with Shimmer Pico Embellisher.  I wanted a soft look for the embellishments and thought Altenew Satin Gold sequins were a beautiful option.  I'm also entering SSS Monday and 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.