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.

Poppystamps and Pinkfresh Studio

I love to enter the monthly challenges at Poppystamps and Pinkfresh Studio.  I'll start with my entry for Poppystamps Flower Garden challenge.  I've been intrigued for a long time by the die cut tissue paper flowers posted on IG by Flora & Fauna.  I tried a long time ago & it was a failure.  Recently I got a stamp set from MFT & hadn't put away the beautiful pink tissue it came wrapped in.  That inspired me to try again & I'm so glad I did!  You do have to be very careful removing them from the cutting plate & handling them, but it's worth it.  

Most of the blooms are from Poppystamps Potpourri Flower set, plus the smallest die from Stitched Blooms Trio.  I just mixed the blooms & layered 3 for each one.  The centers have a pink Nuvo Drop.  I used very small green scraps for Poppystamps Orchard Leaves & a white scrap for Grosgrain Bow.  The kraft floral wrap was made by folding a Memory Box Grand Heart diecut.  

Letters from Memory Box Parker Lowercase Alphabet were die cut from a black scrap covered with packing tape.  The sweet Darice embossing folder from my friend, Lisa, made the perfect background.  I'm also entering Snippets Playground.  

Next is my entry for the Pinkfresh Studio May Rainbow Challenge.  I've had the Nested Diamond Pop Out Stamp a long time, but have used it very little.  Took several tries & rewatching videos to finally figure out how to use it with each section a different color.  Love being able to do that, so need to use it again before I forget what I did!  

Anyway, I've been wanting to use pastel rainbow colors & this was the perfect challenge for that.  I used Lawn Fawn Ballet Slippers & Peach Fuzz, PTI Lemon Tart & Vintage Jadeite, Hero Arts Soft Sky & Memento Lulu Lavender.  For some reason, I couldn't get good images white embossing PFS Small Butterflies on vellum.  Finally gave up & just stamped with Versafine Clair Nocturne on white cardstock.  That worked & they actually look much better on the card than my first idea.  I colored the bodies with a light gray Copic, brushed the wings with a shimmer pen & colored the dots with a black glaze pen.  There's a short video showing the shimmer on my IG post.  They're attached just in the middle so the wings can be slightly raised.  Tiny clear gems are the only embellishment.  The black embossed sentiment is from PFS Perfect Sentiments & I found just the right shade of gray cardstock for the mat.    

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

Friendship Cards

Color Hues is remembering their teammate, Lindsey, who lost her battle with ovarian cancer.  I didn't know her, but I know the sorrow of loosing loved ones to cancer.  Here's the card I made to join in honoring Lindsey using her chosen colors of Blue & Purple for a CAS card.  

I recently got the Altenew Nesting Ovals in a sale with the idea of making a rainbow which I saw someone do months ago.  I added glitter to my old blue & purple ep.  The middle arch is embossed in Hero Arts Sparkle ep after covering it in white pigment ink.  The sparkle is so pretty in person.  

I die cut & embossed light gray cardstock with a Spellbinders square die.  The GKD sentiment was stamped in Versafine Clair Morning Mist.

Poppystamps August challenge is to let the sentiment take center stage.  I decided to do that with a white on white background & a colored sentiment.  

I started by using Memory Box Texture Distressed Grid stencil with light molding paste not totally covering the stencil. Really love the look! Then I attached Poppystamps Flower Field Corner diecuts in opposite corners. I trimmed the large bloom from 2 more diecuts so I could add it on top for dimension. Poppystamps Luscious Script Hello is one of my favorite dies. I cut a couple shadows & a couple words from white cardstock scraps. The word was embossed in WOW BEE Kind & Spring Breeze powders--beautiful sparkle in person!

I used a Quickie Glue Pen to add the same powders to the blooms.  The secondary sentiment is Tim Holtz stickers on cardstock mounted with foam tape.  I added tiny gems to tie in the black.  

My final card is for JUGS Butterfly challenge.  I had several leftover diecuts I didn't want to store or throw away & now I have one of my favorite cards ready to send to a friend!  

The PFS gold embossed Small Butterflies were stenciled in Lawn Fawn Ballet Slippers & Peach Fuzz.  The background is made with Poppystamps Lattice Small Curve Border 2 high covered in Poppystamps Flower Field Corner diecuts--2 complete ones plus pieces left from the last card.  

Everything was attached to a beautiful Bazzill textured pink panel which I splattered with gold & white metallic watercolors. Love the font of the Mama Elephant sentiment which I stacked 3 high. I'm also entering SSS Monday.

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

Catching Up

If I didn't know better, I'd think it was summer!  We're not supposed to be in the 70s in April!  All that sun has everything blooming.  My lilacs are about to open--hurrah!

It's been forever since I posted here, so will catch you up with a few of the cards I've recently made.  I'm not going to include many details, but let me know if you have any questions.
I'd much rather make a card to have a chance at a gift certificate than to leave blog hop comments.  So I've been making lots of cards for the ITP PTI challenges.

Here's an Easter card ready for next year.  I used PTI Tag Sale: Quilted & Lovely Layers with the sentiment from Winnie & Walter.  Fun to use some of my MFT felt.

Next is a Christmas card I made for a challenge to make a heat embossed stained glass element on a card.  I used Liquid Platinum EP, PTI Botanical Blocks IV, Zig Watercolor markers & Nuvo Glaze.  Love the Soft Stone card front instead of white for this one.

Next is my entry for the April Poppystamps challenge: Sending Rainbows.  I had fun making a Copic marker background for Poppystamps Stitched Bloom Trio die cuts.  I brushed them with a shimmer pen & added Nuvo White Blizzard drops used like glitter glue to the inside sections.  The sentiment is from Grateful Heart.

Finally, I signed up for the free Altenew class, All About Layering 6, Dies Addition. I don't have the sets used in the class, so I pulled out Wild Rose 3D for the first lesson's homework.

Lydia used a hibiscus leaf to make the lacy look on the bottom of her card.  My leaf was much smaller & it felt like hours to get them all die cut--haha!  Luckily, I love the look, so it was worth it!  I used my old Penny Black cardstock that came with 3 shades of each color to die cut the focal point.  The sentiment is from Floral Frame.

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

Summer School Plus

My dad was born 104 years ago today.  I was so blessed that he lived to be 93 yrs old & was very sharp, independent & loving.  I took some of my roses to the cemetery--really miss him.

My heart goes out to all the people who have lost family & friends from Covid.  Lots of BD celebrations like my dad's 90th won't be happening.  I was sure the US would do what was needed to minimize deaths, but here we are with greater than 150,000.  Denial of a problem doesn't make it go away.  Hubby & I continue to take precautions--wearing masks, keeping our distance & staying out of buildings as much as possible.  I have a funeral next weekend, but probably won't attend.  I may just drive to the church & try to see people afterwards from a distance.  Sad times.
Thankfully making cards is a wonderful distraction.  I've made & sent a lot of them & more are about to go in the mail.  First up is a modified slimline card--3 3/4x6 1/2.  It wasn't planned, but I just liked how my left over print panel looked with the top & bottom borders slightly bigger than the sides. 

I had leftover Poppystamps Stitched Bloom Trio diecuts from the first card, too.  I just added a bit more of the Altenew watercolor markers in areas & painted them with Inkon 3 Liquid Pixie Dust.  The die cut window is MFT Rectangle Peek a Boo Window & the tiny sentiment is from PFS Delicate Wreath.  I found some enamel dots that were just the right colors, so finished off with them.  I'm entering Poppystamps August Challenge: Heat Wave.  These are definitely warm, summery colors in my book.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday.

Next is a 50th wedding anniversary card for a lady I used to work with.  We had lots of fun times at their house playing games late into the night.  My Spellbinders Small Die of the Month kit arrived just in time.

I used gold adhesive backed cardstock for the frame & tiny flowers.  The flowers were actually cut from some of the pieces that pop out of the delicate frame die cut.  Can't waste that expensive gold paper--haha!  The leafy branches from The Stamp Market were die cut from 2 green scraps & I switched the inside pieces.  The sentiment from HA is stamped in brown ink on the vanilla card.  I don't like a card to be too girly when it's for a couple.  Hopefully they'll both like this one.  I entered SSS Wednesday via IG & I'm also entering The Snippets Playground & WAW.

MFT Summer School is back!  Here's the card I made for Day 1: Visual Triangle.  I used my favorite MFT stamp set called Brilliant Butterflies.  The colors are from MFT Color Challenge 146.  I used these inks:  PTI Berry Sorbet & Lovely Lady, Altenew Dew Drops & Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate.

Decided to keep it clean & fresh, so just added white Pico Embellisher dots & mounted the panel with fun foam to a white card.  The die cut sentiment is MFT Block Happy Birthday which I stacked 3 high.  The top layer of letters were inked with Pearlescent Chocolate.  I'm also entering SSS Monday & SSS Wednesday.

Here's my card for MFT Summer School Day 2: Rainbow.  Decided to go for a more pastel rainbow & in reverse order.

I silver embossed MFT Geometric grid & then sponged on DO broken china, cracked pistachio, squeezed lemonade, spiced marmalade & worn lipstick.  After I trimmed it to the size I wanted, I brushed the panel with a shimmer pen--so pretty in person.  I got a pack of several thin rolls of Washi last year & finally opened it.  The silver was just what I needed for the edge of my panel.  The white embossed sentiment from MFT Totally Happy was die cut with a PTI die & mounted with fun foam.  Thought about splatters, but instead just added some dots of silver Stickles.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  I'm constantly behind in blog reading these days.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you as soon as I can.