Friendship and Anniversary

I was delighted to find PFS Artistic Bows die set at a bargain price from someone purging supplies.  Thought it'd work great with a small bouquet made from SSS Cosmos Stem and Beautiful Buttercup die sets.  

The inks are CN9 Nectar and Grapefruit with Altenew Pink Sand for the stems.  Love the font of PTI Essential Sentiments and the hello word fit perfectly.  So glad I got SSS Dibble Tile embossing folder.  It adds interest and texture, but more subtly than some others I have.  I'll probably cry if I ever run out of Lucy's Iridescent Gems--so beautiful!  I entered SSS Wednesday via Flickr.

Next is my entry for Time Out Challenge #287.  Here's the photo to use for inspiration.

I did have to think about this one for awhile, but I kept coming back to the costume on the right.  I see shiny green fabric with pink flowers that have burgundy centers and green leaves.  The pink card display board made me think of a very old Sizzix embossing folder I have.  

I began by covering white cardstock with Fake Plant Lunar Paste.  When it was completely dry, I used the embossing folder--came out great!  I found some green cardstock just a bit lighter than the background and used it to die cut the branch from Altenew's Fresh Flowers.  PTI Into the Blooms II had the perfect bloom and center to use with textured light pink cardstock and plain burgundy cardstock.  Took a ton of pictures and couldn't get the flowers to look very pink, but they truly are not white!  Memory Box Hello Friend Posh Script was die cut from the same pink and burgundy cardstocks.  I covered the words with a shimmer pen.  You can see the shimmer and sparkle in my IG post.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday.

I wanted to enter the stencil challenge at Just Us Girls and I need an anniversary card next month.  SSS Heart Mandala stencil caught my eye.  It's really beautiful, but I've had trouble coming up with how to use it.  This time I thought it could work to just ink blend a circle, starting in the middle of the stencil.  Really love how it turned out!  

The Distress Oxide inks are aged mahogany, fired brick and candied apple.  Boy does Bristol smooth cardstock make blending so much easier!  I did cut the panel down so it would be framed by the white card front.  I also couldn't help but give it a spray of Distress Spritz fired brick.  The shimmer is really beautiful and you can see it a bit in my IG post.  I used AJVD heart dies and a sentiment from Altenew's Flower Vine stamp set.  A couple cardstock layers raised the panel off the card.  I may end up making something like this for hubby, as I really love the look.

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 have a couple shimmery cards to share.  One uses Lunar Pastes and the other uses Lindy's Magicals.  First is my entry for Altenew's Inspiration Challenge.  Susan inspired me to use my Lunar Pastes for a custom metallic panel to emboss with Altenew's Perfect Poinsettias folder.  The colors are Game Over, Fake Plant and Slippery When Wet.  You can see the shimmer in my IG video.  

I lightly rubbed over the embossing with a black ink pad and thought I'd ruined it.  Luckily, I was able to smooth out the ink with a cloth and saved it.  Of course, I added some black splatters!😊 Altenew's Mini Christmas was gold embossed on black.  I also gold embossed the edges of the panel and the sentiment.  I used Altenew's Layered Floral Elements to make a poinsettia colored with the same Lunar Pastes.  Altenew matt gold sequins and a Pinkfresh gem finish it off.  I'm also entering DCD.

Here's my card using Lindy's Autumn Leaves Magicals.  I tend to over blend the colors, but I still ended up with a beautiful shimmery panel.  You can see the shimmer in my IG video.  I stamped the wreath from PFS Delicate Wreath in Versafine Clair Pinecone and embossed with Hero Arts Sparkle Powder.

The sentiment from PFS Perfect Sentiments was stamped in Pinecone on brown cardstock, which I also used for the front of my card.  Tried out several embellishments and really liked the look of PFS Ombre Sparkle gems.  I'm entering Pinkfresh Studio November Challenge, 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.

Christmas and Friendship

Here's my last Christmas in July card.  This one began by spreading fake plant Lunar Paste on a panel which I then embossed with Lumberjack folder.

The poinsettia is CN9 Fresh Cut Florals, retired.  I added red glitter to the petals and used vellum for the evergreen branches.  Thought Birch Press Merry Christmas Vintage Sentiment had just the right size and look for this card.  You can see the shimmer and sparkle in my IG post.

I totally switched gear for my friendship card and used beautiful Altenew inks called Persian Blue, Blush Rose and Forest Glades.  

The background was made by randomly pressing the inks through a stencil from a friend, spritzing with water and pressing another white panel on top.  You get 2 panels--one quite a bit lighter.  What I really love is the last step which is lining up the stencil on the panel and running it through a diecutting machine with an embossing pad.  It does change the look and add texture when you see it in person.  

The SSS floral dies are Alstroemeria Stem and Morning Blossom.  I stamped a sentiment from SSS Graceful Flowers in Versafine Clair Morning Mist.  Hard to see, but there's Stickles on the blooms.  I'm entering JUGS 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.

Memory Box and Pinkfresh

Here's my card for the Memory Box Pretty in Pink May challenge.  I blended Distress Oxides kitsch flamingo and worn lipstick on a pale pink panel which I then embossed with MB Blooming folder.  

I lightly brushed the raised edges with DO picked raspberry to give definition to the design.  I also used Nicki's technique of lightly adding Lunar Paste to the blossoms and panel edges.  The color is Slippery When Wet and I also used it to color Poppystmps Double Stitch Scalloped Rectangle Frame.  

To get the size I wanted, I snipped off some of the MB Backyard Floral Stems which was die cut from vellum.   MB Hello Friend Posh Script shadow was cut from vellum and the words from the pink cardstock blended with DOs like the panel.  To make them stand out a bit more, the words were covered in Shimmer Pico Embellisher.  Beautiful pink gems finish it off.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday via IG and Die Cut Divas.

Next is my card for Pinkfresh Studios Flower Power challenge.  Once again I pulled out PFS Sweet Friend Floral stamp/die/stencils.  I love the whimsical style which makes lining up the stencils perfectly not required--at least to me!😉 

This time I used many CN9 ink cubes in pink, peach, blue and green shades for a pretty bouquet arranged in the center circle of a gray panel die cut with Slim Braided Circles Panel cut down to fit an A2 card.  I added black splatters to the card front and shimmer to the flowers.  You can see it in a short video in my IG post.  

The sentiment from Perfect Sentiments was stamped in Versafine Clair Morning Mist, clear embossed and popped up.  I'm also entering SSS Monday and SSS Wednesday.  

Did you see the Northern Lights?  We looked from our deck at 10pm and couldn't see anything.  But we heard that a cell phone camera can pick up color you don't see with the naked eye.  So I snapped a picture and was amazed to see purple!  I took another shot aimed to the south, just to be sure my camera didn't make the whole sky look purple.  The sky was just black in that picture.  Pretty amazing!  We went back out at 11pm and could actually see some purple and again, the camera captured a lot of color.  Not the fabulous view some people had, but still a pretty neat experience.  Hoping for even better tonight.

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

Challenges

Challenges are ending, so a quick post with my entries.

First is my card for Pinkfresh Studio Thanks challenge.  I've had the same great physical therapist for several courses of treatment over the past several years.  Decided to make a card for him, as hopefully he won't see me again! 

I used my favorite PFS Layered Wreath die cut from a panel of paper watercolored with Lindy's Magicals.  There's a short video in my IG post showing the beautiful shimmer.  The bottom wreath was die cut from a light green shimmer cardstock I've had for years.  The sentiment is from PFS Perfect Sentiments & the wooden dots are MME.

I mopped up the beautiful red shimmer mist I spilled with a panel of watercolor paper.  After it was dry, I embossed it with Altenew Perfect Poinsettias folder. 

For more definition, I rubbed the raised edges with Memento Rhubarb Stalk DewDrop ink pad & oh what a difference that made--love it!  I used my finger to add gold rush Lunar Paste to the flower centers. 

The Winnie & Walter Noel die was cut from a scrap also spread with the Lunar Paste.  I added red sequins with a dot of Christmas Red Stickles.  You can see the shimmer & sparkle in the video in my IG post.  I'm entering Color Hues: Red & Metallic Gold.

My last card is for the November Alex Syberia challenge.  I used the colors to make a birthday card with Spring Garden stamps, stencils & dies. 

The inks are CN9 Poppy, Cranberry, Clover & Evergreen.  For the blue I found an old textured cardstock & for the pink I used a marker to color the flower centers.  Star Dust Stickles & PFS gems add some sparkle. 

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  I'm working on catching up my blog reading.