July Challenges

One last post before my shoulder replacement surgery.  I realized our anniversary is early in September & I needed to make hubby's card while I can still use both arms. 

Woodblock Wednesday inspired me to use an old favorite heart stamp which still has the price tag, but no indication of what company made it.  I white embossed it several times using my old fashioned stamp positioner.  In the same stamp drawer I saw the love stamp made by an Oregon Company, Embossing Arts.  They've been out of business for years.  I black embossed that stamp, scored a frame & taped it off.  

I ink blended Distress Oxides lucky clover & broken china, as hubby's favorite color combo is blue & green.  The little heart was "colored" with a Gelly Roll Clear Star pen & I added black splatters.  Simple one layer card I think hubby will like.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday & WAW. 

The July Pinkfresh Studio challenge theme is Go Geometric.  Circles & half circles are considered geometric, so gave me a chance to use Slim Braided Circles Panel.  I knew I wanted to use my favorite Lush Vines background stamp and thought this textured green cardstock would be perfect.  It's actually a brighter kelly green in person--so pretty.  I white embossed on Bristol paper so I could use Zigs for the loose watercoloring.  This stamp is perfect for that technique, in my opinion.

The 3 sprigs from Dainty Blossoms were die cut from a white scrap embossed with HA Sparkle powder.  The sending hugs diecut from Perfect Sentiments was already black embossed & fit perfectly on this card.

Decided not to add any embellishments & just tied on a white crochet thread bow.  I'm also entering SSS Wed via IG. 

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  Hopefully, I'll get back into a routine of leaving comments when I'm released to use my left arm.  

PTI Cards

I hadn't done Distress Ink smooshing for awhile, so pulled out these inks:  milled lavender, seedless preserves, spun sugar, victorian velvet, squeezed lemonade, scattered straw, wild honey, shabby shutters & peeled paint.  After my panels were dry, I added splatters of Gansai Tambi metallic gold & white watercolors.  

The flowers & leaves from PTI Into the Blooms II were die cut & arranged on a white panel with black splatters.  The sentiment from PTI Balloons & Banners was stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne.  Border Bling: Skinny Diagonals frame was painted with the white watercolor.  

I finished off with black enamel dots & gold sequins.  This card was entered via IG into SSS Wednesday & PTI The Great Cover-Up challenge to make a birthday card.  I'm also entering Time Out Challenges 8th BD Celebration.

Edited to add:  Thanks to Linda, I'm also entering DCD.

My next card used leftover flowers & leaves from the last card.  This time I arranged them in one of the PTI Vogue Vases which I double embossed with SSS Cream ep. 

I used the same powder to emboss the sentiment from PTI Scripted. The little gold bow is from PTI Gathered Garden & I added gold sequins, Rainstones & a couple scored lines.

Fun to see what a different look is achieved with Dark Indigo cardstock for the background. I entered SSS Wednesday & the PTI challenge to make a Spring Floral card via IG. I'm also entering Time Out Challenges 8th BD via Flickr.

Edited to add:  Thanks to Linda, I'm also entering DCD via Flickr.

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

Holiday Season

I've been making Thanksgiving & Christmas cards.  First is my entry for Poppystamps Sweater Weather challenge.  The Poppystamps Majestic Maple die was cut 3 times from watercolor paper.  

I used Altenew watercolor markers to add one color at a time, spritzing lightly with water.  I added gold & brown splatters and popped up the middle leaf.  I scored a Classic Kraft card & also splattered it with gold & brown.  

The Spellbinders sentiment was stacked with the top layer cut from gold metallic cardstock.  I haven't used gold thread for awhile & I do like it behind the leaves.  Finished off with gold sequins.  

Next is a Christmas card combining products from several different companies.  The black embossed poinsettia from Gina K's Festive Flowers was colored using a sponge dauber & Memento Rhubarb Stalk ink.  

I added black & gold splatters, as well as brushing on some of the gold.  The black panel was cut with a Papertrey Ink die & Poppystamps Merry Christmas Poe Script was die cut from black & gold cardstock. 

I added gold Stickles & gold PPP sequins.  I'm entering the ModSquad challenge to make a card with a poinsettia. 

Next is a Thanksgiving card using PTI Quilted Summer die with an old favorite DCWV paper pad called Harvest House.  I die cut the frame twice, so it's slightly raised.  

The ephemera is from the paper pad & the brown heat embossed sentiment is from PTI Autumn Adornments.  The Classic Kraft card is splattered with gold watercolor paint.  

I have left over pieces for more quilt cards that I've already started.  I'm entering PTI What Do I Do With This to create a card with embossing powder & TTTC139 (kraft, free, patterned paper).

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

Two Christmas Cards

I still love a lot of my old stamps & PTI Botanical Blocks IV is one such set.  Here I gold embossed the image & watercolored with Zigs. 

I added dots of gold Stickles to the flower centers.  The die cut word from Don't Forget to Write was stacked & gold embossed.  

The little sentiment from Botanical Blocks was stamped in Memento Rhubarb Stalk & I finished off with some very old glittery adhesive dots that are a soft gold.  My other gold embellishments were too distracting.  I like lots of card styles, but this is really me!  I entered the PTI challenge to make a holiday wishes card. 
My good friend, Rosemary, loaned me the SSS Christmas Foliage die set a couple years ago.  I die cut all the images from various cardstocks, including the red metallic I used for this card.  

The gray panel was scored before I attached the branches to the top corner.  I've hardly used the sweet Lil' Inker bow, but glad I thought of it to adorn my little swag.  I picked out this sentiment from SSS Peaceful Christmas & stamped it in Versafine Clair Morning Mist--a lovely deep gray.  Thought about using a dark gray mat, but really liked black the best.  I'm entering SSS Flickr 186, CAS Christmas--first time for that challenge & TTTC136 using the middle horizontal row.

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

Christmas and Friendship cards

I'm back sooner than expected to show you a few more cards.  First is a fun Christmas card inspired by the AAA Card Challenge theme to have everything in a 1 inch strip.  I've been wanting to use the Flora & Fauna die set called Festive that I got in the after Christmas close out 2 years ago at a local craft store. 

I scored a 1 inch strip near the bottom of a slightly smaller white card.  The die cuts were colored with Copics B02, G02 & RV21--kinda fun! 

I added dots of Stickles, used a W&W sentiment & added 3 tiny clear gems.  Can't wait to use these cute dies again.  I'm also entering Rudolph Days.

I really enjoyed pulling out Rosie Posie & RP Step 2 for the ITP PTI challenge to add embossing powder accents. 

The stamping was done with Blueberry Sky & Enchanted Evening inks.  Not sure I've ever used all 4 dies in Sentiment Splits: Curve Vertical.  It's designed for the sentiment to go in the curved space, but I think this works, too.  The sentiment is from ITP Effortless Beauties.  

I have 2 drawers of powders, so had plenty of choices.  I noticed one very old jar of sparkly blue powder that appears to be completely full.  It's so beautiful!  Hope you can get an idea from the photo.

I've been wanting to enter the Stamplorations Things with Wings challenge.  Finally, I played around & came up with this card using their Trendy Butterflies stamp set, W&W Rugby Stripe stencil & SSS Painted Hugs die. 

I actually started by making the plaid using Distress Oxides twisted citron & candied apple.  Instead of using a small brush or masking, I used a regular size blending brush to get a sketchy plaid.  Fun to see what a different look you can get by doing that.  I picked the twisted citron because I thought it was a close enough match to some foil I have, but wasn't happy with it.  Since I liked the plaid, I blended some of the ink on a white scrap & used it to die cut the sentiment which is stacked & brushed with a shimmer pen. 

The butterflies were stamped in candied apple & fussy cut.  I brushed them with a shimmer pen--the reason the design is so subdued.  Then I covered them in Nuvo Glaze & added tiny black pearls.  These days I've been making pretty flat cards, but decided the panel really needed to be popped up.  I have a sheet of black fun foam which worked great.  I'm also entering Stamplorations April Stencil challenge, SSS Flickr Challenge 174 & 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.

A Few Cards

I've entered some challenges through IG & thought you might like to see them.  First is a Thank You card made with C&9 Turnabout Triangle.  

I had never inked it up, but will again now!  Love the look of the triple white embossed SSS Painted Thanks die cut word.  I'm also entering DCD.

Next is the card I made for the ModSquad challenge to white emboss on one color of cardstock. I chose an image from Gina K A Big Hello & a sentiment from Sketched Wreath Builder.

The cardstock is PTI Weathervane--a beautiful gray.  I used Lil' Inker Stitched Rectangle & some clear Nuvo Drops.  I really love simple, elegant cards & so must Judy at ModSquad.  She chose my card as a Top Pick--hurrah! 

Finally is a last minute entry for Inspired By: Happy Holly Days.  My friend, Lisa, is on the DT, but I've never entered that challenge.  I'm not very good at using photos or sketches for card inspiration.  But I love holly & the sketch, so here's my card.  

I stamped Uniko Winter Foliage in PTI Vintage Jadeite & Lovely Lady.  The sentiment from Uniko Rustic Wreath was stamped in Brilliance Starlite Black.  Stardust Stickles was added to the berries, I used a Clear Star Gelly Roll pen on the holly veins & I scored a frame.  I'm also entering Uniko 'Tis the Season, Optional Twist: Sparkle.

Hope your holiday projects are coming along.  I'm still addressing envelopes, but figure people will enjoy getting a card even if it's late.  Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.