A Few More Cards

First up I want to share my card for Time Out Challenges, Case the Designer.  I love Gina K's beautiful stenciled rainbow card.  I used her basic layout & also inked over a stencil in rainbow order.

My stencil is Stamplorations Petals 3 & the Distress Oxides are candied apple, spiced marmalade, fossilized amber, lucky clover, faded jeans & wilted violet.  The sentiment from PTI Scripted was stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne & I added black Pico Embellisher dots.  I sent this card to a friend going through difficult medical treatment.  A big surprise & honor to be chosen by the team as the winner! 

Next is my entry for Poppystamps February Challenge.  I heat embossed the intertwined hearts from Poppystamps Grateful Heart stamp set multiple times to get thick, shiny lines.  Then I colored with a very old red WOS pen which is a somewhat muted red rather than super bright.  That's what I wanted since this will be for hubby & he's not that big on red.  He did have a candy apple red car as a teenager & I think this is fairly close to that color. 

I hadn't planned to fussy cut the image, but managed to get a bit of color outside the lines of one heart, naturally!  Very easy to cut & I actually like it better because that let me attach it with foam tape to the background panel made with Poppystamps Heart Pattern Plate--a gift from a friend.  

I also covered the hearts with Shimmer Pico Embellisher for a lovely shimmery shine.  The little heart dot embellishment has been in my stash forever.  I also entered SSS Wednesday.

My newest embossing folder is Altenew's Rose Bouquet.  It is absolutely gorgeous whether you use colored or white cardstock.  I used to buy cheap packs of colored cardstock at a local store, but most of it never got used.  Many of the colors just weren't my favorite shades.  Recently I moved a blue pack so that I'd see it.  Thought it'd work for embossed panels I send with cards.  You should have seen my face when I took the first panel out of the folder.  I couldn't believe how beautiful it was with the embossed roses!  

I did several different colors & they all looked great, so this folder is a keeper!  For this card I swiped over the edges with my very old Brilliance Pearlescent Ice Blue ink pad giving a wonderful soft shimmer.  

The SSS Happy Birthday Brush Script die is also a recent purchase.  The size is great for cards & I love that the words come out in 1 piece, including the dot for the i!  I used vellum for the shadow & added a few white sequins.  I'm entering SSS Flickr, SSS Wednesday & Time Out Challenges. 

The rehab for my new total hip is going very well.  Only a couple more sessions with Physical Therapy & I'll be on my own continuing to build strength in that leg for about 6 months.  Thanks so much for all the well wishes.  I truly appreciate your taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Thankful

Getting in under the wire for some challenges & both cards have a thankful theme so I'm putting them in one post.
First up is my card for the Ellen Hutson Pin-Sights challenge.  The Classroom has tons of tutorials & the latest one showing a background done with Alcohol Inks mesmerized me! I have at least 9 bottles of the inks so picked out Lettuce, Butterscotch & Cranberry to use for Fall colors inspired by the photo.  Once again, no luck getting a usable background, but knew it'd work to die cut the EH Bold Blossoms--the only EH product I own right now.  

I used my Versamark pen & clear embossing powder for the uneven lines on the card front which I thought would work with the design of the flowers.  The bottom of the panel was cut at an angle & splattered with Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate resulting in dots with shimmer.  Not sure if other company stamps are allowed, so I used Cosmo Cricket stickers for the sentiment. The panel is mounted with foam tape & tiny brown pearls are the embellishment. I'm also entering SSS Monday Throwback (Nov. 11, 2013 Got Ink?), SSS Wednesday Anything Goes & The Kraft Journal CAS Thanksgiving (this card is going to a blogging friend at Thanksgiving with the inside message being that I'm thankful for their friendship). Long post--thanks for sticking with me.  

My other card is for several challenges: Twofers--Blue, Green & Yellow, Muse--inspired by the layout & CAS-ual Fridays--Tic Tac Toe bottom horizontal row--too late to link up, unfortunately & SSS Work It Wednesday--use a stamp. I'm seriously in love with using Perfect Pearls on a blended ink panel so that's what I did again. The gorgeous wheat image is CAS-ual Fridays & I heat embossed it with Zing! Mustard powder. Distress Inks weathered wood, broken china, bundled sage & peeled paint were used for the blended panel. Sparkle is subtle as I used Distress Stickles Scattered Straw on the wheat & a single gem. The sentiment from PTI Take Three Fall is stamped in broken china.  
I have to work this weekend, so hopefully the wind & rain calms down while I'm driving.  Thanks so much for stopping by.

Watercolor Ombre Background

I'm up today on the a2z Scrapbooking Challenge Blog. This month we want to see projects using watercoloring. I began by stamping & heat embossing the Hero Arts background in gold on watercolor paper.  Then I used a dark red watercolor paint with a wet brush using more paint at the top & more water moving down to create an ombre look.  I added a piece of vellum down the center with a stamped Hero Arts sentiment at the bottom using Versafine Onyx Black.  The Hero Arts tree was heat embossed in gold on another piece of watercolor paper brushed with the same paint.  I trimmed it very close, colored the dots with the paint nearly full strength & added Stickles to the stars.  
When everything dried I mounted it with foam tape & added gold dots at the top. Hope I've inspired you to join our challenge. You can use my discount code, GRETA15, to get 15% off a minimum $25 purchase in The Store.
I'm entering the challenges at SSS Monday, SSS Wednesday & Inkspirational.

Grateful

My sister & her hubby left today, so I'll be catching up on your blogs soon.  We'd love to live closer to each other, but neither of us wants to be where the other one is.  We had a nice visit, but the bad weather kept us from any sightseeing or even shopping.  
Fritz did really well--not at all anxious about them & was glad to have more people to play with. Today was gorgeous, but freezing. Fritz is a sun lover & wanted to be on the deck like in the summer. Isn't he cute in the fleece jacket that kept Keesha warm for years?
I needed another Thanksgiving card, so made one that I'm entering in the challenge at Our Daily Bread Designs.  I really love the wheat stamp from the retired set, Our Daily Bread.  I stamped it in Distress Ink wild honey using the generational technique.  The full strength images are highlighted with Distress Stickles scattered straw. I added some splotches of Distress Stain tarnished brass.  The PTI word is cut from textured brown cardstock & mounted to another one cut from heavy weight cardstock.  That makes it thick enough to provide dimension without foam tape. 

Distress Ink gathered twigs was used to stamp the sentiment from PTI Counting My Blessings. The burlap was a last minute idea & gives even more texture to a basically flat card I can mail without extra postage.  I'm also entering the challenge at Words 2 Scrap By. Thanks so much for your visit.
Edited to Add: Also entering the challenge at Simply Create Too.

Christmas Wreath

I've always loved wreaths, so have quite a few in my stamp collection. All week I've been trying to decide which one to use for the Merry Monday challenge, so here it is down to the wire, again! Finally decided to go with this berry wreath by Penny Black. It was one of the last stamps I bought before my LSS closed a couple years ago. I stamped it in the beautiful Delicata Golden Glitz which really does look like gold leaf in person. The card is cut from Spellbinders Reverse Wonky Rectangles & is stamped with PB Music Background in antique linen Distress Ink. The word die is also PB die cut in gold & cream.  I expected to use the gold one on top, but actually liked it better this way.  
I won a roll of May Arts ribbon when PB did a collaboration with them & this gorgeous iridescent gold is what I picked. I'll add this to the Anything Goes challenge at SSS Wed & the stamps & dies challenge at STAMPlorations.   
I was honored to be asked by 3 people to participate in the Creative Blog Hop, but decided to opt out.  Instead I'm going to show you cards that grabbed my attention but don't have a lot of comments & maybe you'll want to take a minute to check them out & leave some love. Today I've chosen Cat of Cat Luvs Paper.  It's interesting how we connect with various people we've never met.  Cat is a special friend who leaves me sweet comments, sends me happy mail & gave me a WOS pen--probably got tired of me saying I wanted one in every comment I left--LOL!  Here are a couple of my favorites:

http://catluvspaper.blogspot.com/2014/08/another-layered-flower.html

http://catluvspaper.blogspot.com/2014/08/thanks.html

Thanks for taking time to visit my blog.  Enjoy the holiday weekend if you're in the US.

Another Mother Teresa Quote

I love my new ODBD stamp set--Let Us Begin. This is the second quote I've used--1 more to go. This week's challenge is to be inspired by one of 2 photos & I chose this one with it's beautiful, elegant look in ivory & lavender.  

I stamped the Sweet William blossoms in Distress Ink shaded lilac, sponged ink in the centers & then over-stamped.  I used Dawn's debossing technique with the matching Spellbinder Blossoms 3.  The scalloped edge is also a Spellbinder die.  The sentiment is stamped in Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate.  Tied on some ribbon & added ivory pearls.  Hope you like it.  I'll add this to SSS Wednesday: Anything Goes & Inkspirational: Bloom. Thanks for taking time to come by.

Happy Easter

He is not here, for he has risen, just as he said. Matthew 28:6

Hope you're having a lovely Easter.  I've gotten behind on making cards & reading blogs, but did manage to finish a card for hubby.  It's been ages since I used this gorgeous Magenta stamp.  I'm never quite sure what to do, so this time I decided to let it pretty much stand alone.  I inked it with Distress Ink bundled sage & sponged the edges with frayed burlap which was also used on the card front & the back of the vellum strip. A metallic gold Gelato was mixed with water & splattered over the image with a paintbrush.  I colored the Candi embellishments with the bundled sage ink--love how that works.  The sentiment is by Inkadinkado.  I'll enter the Magenta challenge,  SSS Wednesday & Pixies Snippets Playground (the vellum was cut from a scrap).  

Fritz is learning quickly--most things--LOL!  This week is challenging since he was neutered & we're supposed to keep him quiet & he has to wear the dreaded Elizabethan collar when he's in his crate. Poor guy feels fine & has no idea why we won't play. It's part of the reason my crafting & blog reading is behind, but I'll catch up eventually. Happy Easter!

Christmas Card & Blogiversary Winner

I put the names in a basket & hubby drew Nat.  We became friends long ago through the Hero Arts Flickr group & she has faithfully followed my blog. I'll be sending her another card & a little gift to celebrate my first 2 years of blogging.  I appreciate all of you--the sweet comments you leave & the inspiration I get from your work.  By the way, I'm always up for exchanging cards.
Logically, one would make cards for challenges in the order they must be posted.  However, it doesn't always work that way for me.  It means deadlines are not always met, including last week's Merry Monday challenge.  I'm still making a holly card, but fortunately have mine done early for Merry Monday Sparkle & Shine with Aqua, White & Silver.  I used Penny Black stamps from yuletide greetings & christmas harmony.  The silvery embossing powder is an old favorite from Stampendous! called Pewter.  It has just a bit of sparkle & I love the shade of silver. For the aqua I used VersaMagic Turquoise Gem.  I wanted the sentiment embossed even though I wasn't using pigment ink.  It's not a problem if you quickly add the embossing powder.  Debated about using color for the sentiment mat & card front, but decided I like the white on white.  

Expected to add
ribbon or twine, but pearls seemed to be all that was needed. Snippets for the sentiment, so will also add this to Pixies Snippets Playground.  Hope your week is going well.
Edited to Add: SSS Wednesday challenge was made for me--LOL! Adding this card with pearls.

Card for a Guy

Needed one more card for a co-worker.  He was recently hired so I don't know him very well. I also wanted to make a card for Merry Monday & decided a deer would be great for a masculine card.  However... almost gave up as nothing I did looked good.  I like the Tim Holtz embossed trees so just kept trying to make it work.  A gold embossed deer (Penny Black) next to the trees looked terrible, so I took a scrap of cream paper, red embossed it & used the MFT Fishtail Flags die.  Better, but too stark with the kraft, so started sponging.  Ended up being able to attach the flag over the gold deer & by the time I finished with the DeNami sentiment on the green strip, I actually liked the card!  

Sometimes a save isn't possible, but reminded me not to give up too quickly. Wishing all of you a great weekend as you finish preparations for Christmas.  I have some baking to do so I can take a loaf of pumpkin bread to a friend I'm meeting for coffee. Thanks for stopping by.
Edited to Add: Also entering Paper Crafts December Gallery Challenge.

Silver Embossed Nativity

Marion's Inspiring Card

Such a pretty card by Marion for the Muse challenge this week. I was inspired to make a window card, although mine does not go through to the inside. My window frames the PTI nativity image from Star of Wonder-- silver embossed. I used VersaMagic Night Sky to ink the sentiment from the same set. The card front is covered with random stamping of an old star image done with a soft Brilliance silver ink. This card is for my co-worker who just participated in a Christmas play that ran 3 nights at her church. She said she's going to hire me to make her Christmas cards next year. I can tell you I won't be volunteering to do window cards as it takes me forever to line things up--LOL! Thanks for stopping by during this busy holiday season.

Smile

 

Thought I'd have some fun as I don't go in for the ghoulish or horror side of Halloween.  I do smile seeing the little ones in their costumes & that was my inspiration. All stamps are by Stampendous!: Cling Mumpkin, Elegant Borders & Flower Chat. My colors are from 4enScrap & I used Spellbinders Labels 10.  Emboss resist is one of my favorite techniques (works for those of us with less than great coloring skills!) & I used Distress ripe persimmon & PTI Summer Sunrise along with a bit of Distress frayed burlap on the edge. The card front is sponged with Memento Grape Jelly before the border is stamped in the same ink.  I used 2 sizes of Hero Arts green gems for the eyes & stamped smile in Distress gathered twigs on kraft, cut it out & attached it just at one end.  The piece is mounted with foam tape to the card front.

I'm entering these challenges:
Stampendous!
4enScrap
Simon Says Stamp Monday 
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday
And Edited to Add: Shopping Our Stash

So glad you stopped by!

Make A Wish

Oh boy did I have fun making my card for this week's MFT sketch challenge!  I bought several sheets of these Chatterbox double-sided papers years ago & they're still one of my favorite collections.  Decided they'd be perfect to paper piece this sweet girl in the MFT Make A Wish set--a recent purchase.  I colored her hair with markers & used a soft colored Gelato to watercolor her body.  The flower is made from the same printed paper using MFT Die-namics Layered Rose & Mini Rolled Roses.  One of my latest die purchases is the Wavy Edge I got in a recent MFT sale & I love it!  The sentiment from the same stamp set is stamped on the back of one of the papers & is cut with the smallest die in the Fishtail Flags Layers. I attached it with the center slightly raised. 

So glad you took time to come by. Your comments are always a bright spot in my day.

Vellum for a Birthday

Click HERE for my DeNami Blog Hop Post.

I always look forward to the Monday PTI videos & this week's card by Ashley totally appealed to me. Off I went to see what small images I could find in my PTI sets to use for a randomly stamped background.  Turns out there are dots of various sizes in several of my sets, but I decided to use 3 different images to make my background. The 3 little dots are from Harvest Berries & all the other images are from Quilled Elegance.  I have a few PTI inks & chose Berry Sorbet, Aqua Mist & Simply Chartreuse to stamp on white cardstock.  It's been a long time since I made a card with an entire top panel of vellum--don't know why as I love that look, especially with white embossing.  I ran it through my Xyron machine & attached it to the background.  Fortunately I have one card of My Mind's Eye assorted buttons with one the right size & color. It doesn't always happen, but this time my finished card is just what I wanted--yah! Since I used 3 embellishments (floss, button, pearls) this is my entry for Passion for Papertrey. I'm also adding it to the Birthday Card Challenge in the Moxie Fab World.  Hope you had a great weekend.  Thanks for taking time to stop by.

It's A Good Day

  

I really wanted to enter the current MFT challenge as it's been awhile & I love the sketch.  I hadn't had a chance to use this beautiful pink felt, so decided on pink, white & gray for my colors.  I framed the MFT sentiment using the negatives of the MFT Framing Flourishes.  The flower is made with MFT dies: Layered Rose & Prima Donna Petals.  Hoping it is a good day for you!