Poppystamps, Pinkfresh and Hero Arts

Here are 3 more Easter cards inspired by challenges.  First is my second entry for Poppystamps March Cute Critters challenge.  I couldn't let the leftover piece of PTI New Leaf printed paper from my first card using Poppystamps Easter Bunny Egg die go to waste.  

This time I colored the flowers with a pink pen and added tiny pearls.  The background is made with an old favorite WP9 die and dark gray cardstock glued on the white card.  Really love the look of Poppystamps Proper Happy Easter die cut from the same printed paper.

I'm really glad the monthly Pinkfresh Studio challenge is now Anything Goes.  I gold embossed the one piece Small Butterflies stamp and used the matching stencils with CN9 inks Nectar, Grapefruit and Buttercup.  Do you agree that it's a pretty combo for Spring?  

I really took my time lining up the one piece die and this is the first time all the butterflies cut great--yay!  I actually used all but one of them.  The background is PFS Lush Vines white embossed with a light inking of Nectar in the center. 

Decided a little foliage was needed, so I die cut a couple Dainty Blossoms stems multiple times and brushed them with Distress Spritz fossilized amber.  You can see the shimmer and shine in my IG post.  The W&W sentiment was already gold embossed in my leftovers from last year. 

My last card is for Stay Crafty with a Blog Named Hero.  The 2011 Large Blossom cling was stamped in Versafine Clair Grass Green.  

I used gold metallic cardstock for the mat and added Stickles to the stamens.  The embossed background was done with SSS Leaf Tumble folder.  

I love this old sentiment from The Craft's Meow which was also gold embossed and with my leftovers from last year.  I'm thinking this would be beautiful done in any spring colors and would be lovely for any occasion.  

Edited to add:  Just remembered that I meant to add this card to the gallery at Just Us Girls Word Week: Green.  Luckily I have just enough time before the gallery closes!

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

Wonderful Friend

Wanted to make one more card for the W&W Color Challenge which is about to close.  

The black embossed bloom from In Bloom: Addie's Garden was fussy cut, as I don't have the dies.  I colored with Distress Markers by mixing dried marigold & worn lipstick to make the peach and dusty concord & festive berries to make the reddish purple. Then I painted with a small wet paintbrush.  I used a golden Stickles & black gem in the flower center & heavily brushed with Wink of Stella.  

The leaves were stamped in DI lucky clover, sponged with cracked pistachio & fussy cut.  The WP9 lattice die cut was sponged with the same 2 green inks.  The sentiment is from PTI Take Three Summer & I added 2 tiny black gems.  I'm also entering Dies R Us, Die Cut Divas & SSS Work it Wednesday.

Next is my card for PTI MIM where the theme is Watercolor Wash Backgrounds.  I love emboss resist & knew that's what I wanted to do. Decided to give it a try with my Zig markers, so I used Bristol paper.  

Quilled Elegance is a beautiful set & worked great for the technique.  I used my new Mix & Mat  Flourishes die to cut the rectangle of little holes--such a neat look!  Wonderful Words Love was die cut from self-adhesive fun foam & covered with Elizabeth Craft Cool Highlight glitter.  

The sentiment is from Counting My Blessings & clear Nuvo Drops finish it off.  I'm also entering Allsorts & CCCB.  Love how so many people are staging their cards, so thought I'd try using one of my grandmother's Haviland plates as a backdrop. Need to practice getting the angle right, but kind of fun to do something a little different. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Green, White & Gold

I don't often use green for a focal point, but the beautiful gown & hydrangeas in the Ellen Hutson Pin-Sights challenge mood board inspired me.  I used scraps of light green textured cardstock & vellum for the EH Bold Blossom dies.  Really love the look of gold Stickles on the blooms. The bouquet is attached to the WP9 die cut which I backed with a gold metallic panel.  

The sentiment from Winnie & Walter Big, Bold, Seasons was stamped in Versafine Vintage Sepia.  I used 2 layers of cardstock instead of foam for just a bit of dimension.  I'm also entering The Playground, SSS Monday, SSS Wednesday & Word Art Wednesday.  I'm working this weekend, but will catch up on my blog reading soon.  Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.
Edited to add: Also entering SSS Work It Wednesday.

Joyous Easter

Thought it'd be fun to "decorate" my Memory Box egg dies by stamping on them.  This beautiful lace image is from Penny Black's lace delight set which I've had about 3 years. I've barely used the set & never used this image. The  inks are VersaMagic Spring Pansy, Aloe Vera & Sea Breeze which were lightly sponged after stamping. I brushed them with WOS & added gems.  The sentiment stamp is also NBUS from Stampendous. I've had it at least 2 years & have no idea why it didn't get inked before now!  Fun to thread some ribbon through the WP9 Lattice die cut--will do that again for sure!  I'm entering these challenges:  Darnell's NBUS, Retro Rubber, The Playground, Die Cut Divas & Time Out. Thanks for stopping by.

New Foil for a Birthday

I'm still loving foil on self-adhesive fun foam, so used a coupon to get one more color. Actually, there are still a few I don't have, but not many--haha! This one is called Opal & I thought it was white.  Actually it's iridescent with pink & green--very pretty, I think.  My blossoms are MFT Layered Rose & the flourish is MFT Large Flourish.  One of the items I bought recently wasn't on sale or part of a prize, but I just couldn't resist the WP9 Lattice die after seeing a card made with it.  The sentiment is from an older Penny Black set & I stamped it in Brilliance Starlite Black on a white panel cut with Lil' Inker Designs Stitched Rectangles.  Hope my blogging friend will enjoy this.  Now that I have one WP9 product, I'm entering Throwback Thursday #10--hoping this qualifies.  I'll also add this to Word Art Wednesday. Tomorrow I cross off one more shift in the Countdown to Retirement & there will only be 3 left!  I'm calling it retirement, even though I may work a few shifts in 2016.  No set schedule & no obligation pretty much means retirement! We're so grateful to have dry weather now, even though it's 20s-30s at night.  As you can see, Fritz still thought it was sunbath weather!  

Thanks so much for stopping by.