Altenew and Waffle Flower

Pinks, green and metallics are in the photo for the July Altenew Monthly Challenge.  I've been wanting to use Altenew's Plants & Vases stamp/die set again and I love metallic vases.  

Decided to use the light pink for my background.  I cut a panel of Bristol paper and ink blended Altenew Rose Quartz in the center.  It's hard to see in the photo, but is very obvious in person.  The vases were embossed with a mix of Gold and Moonstone powders to look more like those in the photo.  I used CN9 Sweet Pea and Altenew Firefly and Grass Field to stamp the branches.  The sentiment from the set was stamped in Versafine Clair Acorn.  Decided on a strip embossed with Altenew Angled Mosaic folder to ground the vases.  I didn't want it stark white, so I lightly brushed the raised areas with Distress Oxide Antique Linen.  I did the same for the sentiment to make it match.  The thin mat was embossed with the same powders.  The background looked too plain, so I added Antique Linen splatters.  Made a big difference in person.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday.

My niece just got a new job, so wanted to surprise her with a card.  I was also debating about what to make for Color Hues Black and Red Challenge.  Since my niece likes red, her card works for the challenge.

I finally got some Waffle Flower Postage Collage products after Christmas and the only card I've made was a Valentine using the Rose stencil.  Now I've also used the Wild Flower Silhouettes stamp set and I love it!  I first die cut the panel from Bristol paper.  Luckily, a piece with a goof on one side was just the right size.  With the stencil in place, I blended Altenew Cherry Sweet and Coral Red--2 of my new red inks.  It did take me quite awhile to decide which images to stamp in which openings, but finally I had stamps in place in my MISTI.  Then came the scary part--stamping in Versafine Clair Nocturne!  I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the images stamped great--right up to the edge of the stencil.  I removed the stamps and added others to fill in where I thought it was needed.  The tiny butterflies and dragonfly were stamped after I removed the stencil to allow some of them to stamp outside the openings.  Really happy with how it turned out and decided to leave it alone--no splatters or glitter.  PFS Perfect Sentiments Congrats! was the perfect size and I love the font.  Hard to see, but I added one tiny Poppystamps butterfly with a red gem just above the letter C.  I'm also entering JUGS Stencil Week, WAW and Time Out. 

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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.

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Waffle Flower Valentine and PFS Friendship Card

I resisted the postage collage trend, although I love it.  Finally I used a WF gc to get a few of the products and made my first card.  

My sister loves blue and her hubby is a fan of green, so I often use that combo for their cards.  Thought they'd love a Valentine made with the Rose Stencil, as they grow roses, too.  The inks I used are Altenew Arctic, Caribbean Sky, Persian Blue and Just Green.  I used Heidi Swapp screen ink for the little accents on the last stencil.  It's like a paste, so gives texture and shimmer.  You can see it in my IG post video.  The little stamped images are from an old PB stamp set.  Now I'm anxious to make some more postage collage cards!  I'm entering JUGS.  

Love that the Pinkfresh Challenge is Anything Goes using mainly their products.  I pulled out three of my favorites:  Small Butterflies, Lush Vines and Perfect Sentiments.  Decided to use the Color Hues challenge of Peach and Teal with MFT Peach Bellini and PTI Tropical Teal ink cubes.

After gold embossing the one piece stamp containing 9 butterflies, I used the matching stencils to add the color.  I just used the 2 ink cubes varying the amount of ink to get some lighter areas and some darker.  The teal shows more contrast.  I used the one piece die and then picked out 3 butterflies for my card.  Couldn't resist brushing them with a shimmer pen--so beautiful in the light.  You can see it in my IG video.  Glad I remembered seeing cards I liked that had black and white backgrounds with colored focal points.  I stamped Lush Vines in Versafine Nocturne and die cut the old PTI dotted rectangle from the panel.  Gotta say, I love the look!  You may see more black and white backgrounds!  I triple layered the sentiment, glued the butterflies only in the centers and added 3 black enamel dots around the sentiment.  Now to make another card with the leftover butterflies.  There may be too much black and white for Color Hues, but I'll leave that up to them.  

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

Valentine and Christmas Card

Continuing to escape the awful reality of my country's leaders by making and sending cards.  Here's my second Valentine and this time I used AJVD hearts.  

I inked them with Altenew's Rose Quartz, Puffy Heart and Purple Wine.  Love their ink sets, so I don't have to guess about shades that go together.  Couldn't resist brushing the hearts with a shimmer pen--so beautiful in person.  You can see the shimmer in my IG post.  Taylored Expressions Swiss Hearts embossing folder was used for the background.  I inked a gray panel and Alex Syberia Friend diecut with Versafine Clair Morning Mist.

I'm entering WAW.

The JUGS Mood Board challenge inspired me to stamp an Evergreen forest using three Trinity Stamps silhouette trees with Altenew Hunter Green and Fresh Leaf ink pads.  The photo second from the left in the bottom row of the mood board is what caught my eye.    

I spread Tim Holtz Snowfall Grit Paste at the base of the trees and added snow with a white paint pen.  My new Waffle Flower sentiment shadow was die cut from vellum and the words were die cut twice from white cardstock.  Hard to see, but they were layered so that the lighter green is visible on the left side of the letters.  The top layer was covered with glaze. 

I finished the card with a variety of translucent green enamel dots.  A simple card that is just my style! 

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Time Out Challenge #268

The theme for Time Out Challenge 268 is To Be On Vacation and our sponsor is Varada Sharma.  All the challenge details can be found in the blog post.

In the Pacific Northwest, a summer vacation means going to the beach for lots of people.  I'm actually more fond of the mountains and lakes, but I did grow up spending a lot of time at the beach.  I was lucky to have been a tagged friend for a Waffle Flower giveaway on IG.  The prize was their Beach Tote Die and Beach Tote Sentiments stamp set.  Just what I needed for my DT card!

I found a long neglected paper pack and chose 3 of the blue and green papers.  The tote was fun and easy to put together.  I used the stamp set for the blue towel stripes and used matching paper for the sunglasses.  The lenses are actually light blue paper covered with glaze, but they turned out to look white.  The sentiment from the stamp set was stamped directly on the tote using Versafine Clair Morning Mist.  Stamplorations cover plate of dotted circles made the perfect background.  My sister loves the beach, although she seldom gets there these days.  Think she'll enjoy this card.  

Hope I've inspired you to join the gallery.  You can find lots of inspiration from our guest designer and my teammates at Time Out.

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