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.

Blue for Christmas and a Birthday

Just realized I never posted my entry for Color Hues Cream and Gold challenge.  You can see it on IG here.  Before that happens again, decided to blog the cards I've made for some challenges.

First is my entry for Poppystamps July Things with Wings and DCD Christmas in July.

I used Altenew inks Arctic, Persian Blue and Sapphire to color Poppystamps Nordic Doves--a gift from a friend.  The top row of holes was colored with a silver glitter pen and I used a white gel pen to highlight the eyes and tail.  The word die is BPD Confection Script, the stamped words are from W&W and the embossed panel is SSS Holiday Greenery.  My IG post has a video showing the Lindy's Gang Fairy Fluff Glitz Spritz I used on the embossed panel.

Next is my entry for the Pinkfresh July Challenge and SSS Wednesday.  This card was mailed to a sweet lady turning 100.  I made the flowers blue, since it's one of her favorite colors. 

I stamped PFS Botanical Bunch in Versafine Clair Morning Mist and used PTI inks Spring Rain, Blueberry Sky, Enchanted Evening, Mint Julep and Vintage Jadeite through the matching stencils.  Blue Bayoou Stickles add a bit of sparkle to the flower centers.  You can see the sparkle in my IG post.  The sentiment is from PFS Perfect Sentiments and I used PFS Diagonal Stitch Rectangle to die cut the panel.  A few white sequins were added for subtle embellishment.  I really love stamps with matching stencils.

The people in power here and their actions continue to horrify and depress me.  Crafting is an escape I am very thankful for.  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.

Pink and Turquoise

Not getting much cardmaking done, but didn't want to miss the Color Hues challenge with Pink and Turquoise.  It's the perfect opportunity to use VersaMagic Pink Petunia and Turquoise Gem.  

I started by silver embossing Pinkfresh Botanical Bunch and then used the matching stencils.  I die cut the panel with the 3rd largest PFS Postage Edge Rectangle and matted it with silver metallic cardstock.  The sentiment from the set was stamped using the Turquoise ink. The same ink was used for the colored mat. I'm also entering PFS June Challenge, DCD and WAW. 

I'm happy to say that Fritz is doing much better.  He's on a NSAID for his problem leg and it's already made a huge difference.  Thanks for all the well wishes.

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

Christmas Cardinal

I always loved seeing cardinals when we visited family in Indianapolis.  One of my grandmothers always sent Christmas cards with cardinals.  Now I can, too!  After last Christmas I got the Waffle Flower Cardinal Duo Die-n-Stencil.  Here's my first card.

I used PTI Pure Poppy and Smokey Shadow through the stencil which was very easy to line up.  I used a white gel pen to highlight the details.  Poppystamps Shasta Twigs were colored with PTI Pinefeather.  The embossed background was made with Honey Bee Snowy Pines folder which I sprayed with Lindy's Pixie Dust for a beautiful gold shimmer.

Birch Press Design Merry Christmas Vintage Sentiment was leftover from last year and was just right with the beautiful gold glitter letters.  Can't wait to make some more cardinal cards.  I'm entering Christmas Kickstart, DCD 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.

Flowers and a Butterfly

Altenew April Inspiration Challenge has a beautiful color combo.  Once again I used my favorite Sweet Bouquet stamp/die/stencil products for an entry. 

The coloring was done with Rouge, Lime and Fresh Leaf inks brushed through the matching stencils.  I brushed Dew Drops in the center of the card front.  Sparkled Frame, another favorite, was embossed with matte clear powder so it would be more visible.  This card does have a different look from the others I've made with Sweet Bouquet because I added some Branches and Berries diecuts.  I really like this version.  Hard to see the Stickles in the flower centers and on the berries.  

The sentiment is from the same set and I used matching enamel dots.  I'm also entering WAW.

I combined Poppystamps and Color Hues challenges for my next card.  A friend recently gave me a sack of beautiful patterned paper sheets.  I picked out one with shades of green and used MB Texture Distressed Grid stencil with Distress Oxide Lucky Clover. 

I randomly inked and stamped an old woodblock text stamp with Distress Oxide Pine Needles.  It's subtle, but definitely changed the look.  I wanted just a bit more interest in the background, so used 2nd generation stamping of the flower from Poppystamps Friends and Flowers inked in Versafine Clair Grass Green.  Again, subtle, but visible in person.  If you enlarge the picture, you might be able to see that I used a PFS blanket stitch rectangle and splattered white gouache.  Poppystamps Dream Butterfly was die cut twice.  The outline layer on top was inked heavily with Distress Oxide Abandoned Coral.  I used a lighter hand for the bottom layer with the inside pieces kept in place and brushed with shimmer.  MB Just a Note Posh Script shadow was inked with the Coral and the words were die cut from the same patterned paper piece.  Finished off with white 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.

Easter and Birthday

Happy Easter Sunday.  I have many happy memories of Easter's growing up.  Often it would rain, so my folks would send the 3 of us to the basement while they hid the eggs inside our house.  Our church youth group always went to the community-wide sunrise service together.  Then we met at one kid's house for Easter breakfast prepared and served by the parents before church.  Such love I probably didn't really appreciate at the time.  Today, I wake to an unhinged rant including an expletive by the US president.  I can only pray that God opens the eyes of my fellow Christians.  The character of our president does matter.

A friend recently sent me a card she made using multiple thin Washi tape strips.  That inspired me to pull out my box of tapes I pretty much never use.  I didn't find a variety like she used, but I did see 3 beautiful ones with gold foil.  So I switched gears and made a card with my new SSS Nested Eggs.

I covered a scrap of cardstock alternating the 3 designs.  I had already planned which egg dies I wanted to use for the focal point, knowing the Washi egg would be the top layer.  I dry embossed the white egg and cut the largest one from a soft gold glitter paper.  The very old sentiment was gold embossed, including the top and bottom edges of the strip.  I can't wait to make some more cards with this die set and be ahead for next year.  I'm entering JUGs, SSS Monday, WAW and SSS Flickr.

I watched Jo Simons video a long time ago, thanks to someone referring to it in their blog post.  Unfortunately, I can't remember who it was.  Finally decided to make a card using her technique of embossing cardstock and vellum at the same time.  It truly did work perfectly.  Here's one of the cards I made using Altenew's Dreamy Daylilies folder with a satin vellum.  Soon I'll show you what I did with the cardstock embossed in the same run through my machine.

I used the matching lily stencils and very lightly brushed on pink, green and yellow inks.  I added Champagne Stickles to the ends of the stamens and used a PTI frame diecut.  Altenew's Essential Sentiment strip was die cut from matte champagne and white cardstocks.  Another Spring BD card ready to mail.  I'm entering 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.