Cool Colors

I have another warm colors card to post, but today I've gone back to cool colors.
First up is my color blocking card for PTI MIM.  Marlena used What the Doodle Snowflakes for her Blog Hop card which reminded me that I haven't opened that stamp set yet.  

I bought it because the images are beautiful, even without coloring. Love how they look clear embossed on colored cardstock: Winter Wisteria, Lavender Moon & Aqua Mist.  The sentiment from the same set is silver embossed on vellum & Nuvo silver glitter dots & a little silver bow add some sparkle.  I'm also entering Rudolph Days, HLS Christmas Challenge & SSS Wednesday.

Next is my entry for the July Winnie & Walter Color Challenge--beautiful & refreshing!  

I decided Brilliance Pearlescent Jade (looks blue to me) & Pearlescent Lime were pretty good matches, so I blended a panel with each of them.

Then I die cut each with W&W The Leaf Effect Cutaway.  The lime leaves were glued into the jade frame & of course, I have the opposite also ready to use.  

My favorite W&W Hello die was stacked 3 high with 2 layers of white cardstock for the shadow of the top glitter layer.  Hugs is done with Tim Holtz stickers & a few PPP clear confetti mix dots for a fun embellishment.  I'm also entering HLS Anything Goes with Dies,  DRU, SSS Wednesday & Word Art Wednesday.  We enjoyed a cloudy morning, so Fritz & I could actually walk more than a few feet down the street--haha! Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.

Edited to add: Also entering SSS Work it Wednesday.

Papertrey July Blog Hop Challenge

When I first saw the inspiration for the PTI July Blog Hop, my Butterfly Hope cover plate was on the table.  I haven't used it much, so decided to just use the colors & watercoloring for my inspiration. May end up making another card with Turning a New Leaf--one of my all-time favorite stamps & dies.  

Took several days to get something I was happy with, as I was trying to include the green & just didn't like it. 

The butterflies were done with several blue & gray markers & watercolors.  I wanted something else, so pulled out my unused Gansai Tambi Starry Colors watercolors. Oh my goodness--so gorgeous with the gold just brushed over the butterflies!  

I layered the cover plate to a piece of textured white cardstock with pink watercoloring so it would show in the open areas of the butterflies.  I really like how that turned out.  The sentiment from Tiny Tags was stamped in blue on a Soft Stone scrap, trimmed into a flag & attached to the frame.  I used the ultra fine point white Sharpie to add 3 little stitches--held my breath as I'm not a doodler--haha!  The card front was also covered with a panel of the Soft Stone--think I'll get a pack of it as it's a great neutral.  Lots of inspiration, I know--enjoy the hop!  I'm also entering HLS Anything Goes with Dies & Word Art Wednesday. 

Warm Thoughts

I really wanted to use the darling Impression Obsession Spring Chickadee stamp given to me by my sweet friend, Maria.  

With the current IO challenge to use summer/warm colors, I decided to stamp the bird on kraft with brown ink.  I fussy cut the bird & another wing for some dimension.  I used my neglected gel pens to add a bit of color & mounted the bird to a panel blended with Distress Inks & sprayed with gold Perfect Pearls.  The shimmer is really stunning in person.  The sentiment from IO Anytime Sentiments was stamped in brown under the panel & I added gold splatters.  The little wooden embellishment from Freckled Fawn seemed perfect to finish it off.  I'm also entering CCCB & Word Art Wednesday. Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.

More Friendship Cards

I was without my laptop for a few days, so got further behind in visiting blogs.  We're in for a hot weekend, so won't be working outside & I'll catch up with you soon.
I was about to give up on the PTI MIM challenge: Emboss Resist Shadow Sentiments.  I only have a couple big word stamps & they have a design which didn't work at all!  Last night I decided to make a fun foam stamp with the Wonderful Words: Hello die & it worked!  

Obviously, I moved my stamp more than Ashley did, but I think it's still OK.  For the resist I used stencil brushes with Winter Wisteria, Lovely Lady & Tropical Teal.  For just a bit of interest & texture, I partially embossed the dots from an Echo Park folder that's one of my favorites. The butterfly from Butterfly Hope was stamped in the same inks & die cut.  I added clear sticker dots & the sentiment from the same set. Love having matching cardstock for the PTI inks.  I'm also entering ATSM & Word Art Wednesday.

Next is another splash of color card, but with 6 colors!  Yep--used another little bit of my rainbow swiped piece.  

The little flowers are from SSS Hello Friends (2015) & I used an ink applicator tool to color the centers with the same Distress Inks. I added a drop of Nuvo White Blizzard glitter drops & stamped the sentiment from SSS Warm Wishes (2014). Most of my US friends probably don't want me to send them any more sunshine than they have--haha!  I'm entering SSS Flickr #76,  Retro Rubber & Word Art Wednesday.  Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.

Warm Color Combo

The current Impression Obsession challenge is to use summer or warm colors.  My first thought was to use yellow, blue & green. But then I saw some of my newest mini Distress Inks & decided to blend fossilized amber, abandoned coral & candied apple as a background for the IO Solid Tree stamped in Hero Arts Cup O' Joe.  

May be my new favorite color combo, even though I always say I prefer cool colors.  Then again, my favorite metallic is gold which I used to stamp over the sentiment so it wouldn't look exactly the same as the tree.  I also spritzed the panel heavily with gold Perfect Pearls--so gorgeous in person!  The sentiment looks hard to read in the close up photo, but it really isn't.

It would have been a one layer card, except I messed up using a stitched rectangle die.  Fortunately, I could just trim the panel a bit & mat it with brown textured cardstock.  Might actually like it better anyway.  I'm also entering CropStop, Freshly Made Sketches & Stamplorations Theme. Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.

Christmas in July

Christmas in July has always been popular with me.  When I was a kid at summer camp I got our cabin to pick that theme for the cabin decorating contest--can't remember if we won! This year there are lots of blog features & challenges with the theme, so more to come.  Actually, I made a Christmas card for last week's PTI MIM challenge & here's my entry for PTI CAWU.  I really loved Laurie's black, white & gold card & was inspired by the gold on white die cuts, gold frame & contrasting card.  

As you can see, I used Pure Poppy cardstock instead of black. The die cuts from Spruce & Sprigs are stamped in Delicata Golden Glitz--my favorite gold ink.  I made the frame with AJVD Polka Dot Backdrop rectangles & sponged with gold. The sentiment from Botanical Blocks IV is gold embossed & I couldn't resist adding a few small PPP gold sequins. The panel is mounted with fun foam to the card front, so will need a bit of extra postage. I'm also entering HLS Christmas challenge, Die Cut Divas & Word Art Wednesday.

Next is my first card using a brand new die from CASual Fridays.  Haven't been letting myself buy new stamps or dies, but couldn't resist the bell dies in the retirement sale.  I didn't have any bell dies, so that's my justification--haha!  

So fun to use the shape of an object for a shaker window & I tried out Stephanie's technique of stacked layers instead of foam--great when the opening doesn't have straight lines.  The shaker mix is white seed beads & Stampendous Shaved Ice.  I have 2 Lawn Fawn plaid paper pads that have hardly been used--love the look!  The PPP bow was the perfect size to top the bell & I added an iridescent gem that ties into the mix.  The sentiment from the first card was still in my Mini MISTI & was the right size, so I stamped it several times in DI pine needles which closely matches the cardstock panel.  I'm entering CAS-ual Fridays, CCCB, CropStop, HLS Anything Goes with Dies, SSS Wednesday & Die Cut Divas. I'm slowly catching up on blog reading--thanks for your patience.  Enjoy the weekend!
Edited to add: Joining the Summer Link Up at Merry Monday using #241 (red, green & white) or #240 (bell)--thanks for the suggestion, Linda.
   

Cards for Friends

My favorite cards to make are Christmas, but next to that are cards going to blog friends when they don't expect it.  That's why I got the Lawn Fawn sentiment die many, many months ago.  So glad the July Ellen Hutson Mix It Up Challenge is with Lawn Fawn, which got me to finally make a card with it!  

I began with a white panel & the foam stamp I made from EH Bold Blossom small die.  The inks are DI tumbled glass & cracked pistachio.  I sponged the edges with worn lipstick & didn't like it, but just kept going--I'll spare you the details--haha!  The next day I tried using a vellum panel over most of it & decided it was OK.  I inked a scrap with cracked pistachio & cut a strip plus the 2 Bold Blossom leaves which I covered in Wink of Stella.  

The sentiment is stacked 3 high & covered in Crystal Lacquer. Finished off with a few black Pico Embellisher dots.  I'm also entering CropStop, Stamping Sensations & Word Art Wednesday. 

I loved The Play Date Cafe challenges--especially black & white with a splash of color.  So I was really happy to see that's the current theme for SSS Flickr #75.  I know you'll be shocked to see I chose a splash of pink--haha!  

I used SSS Falling Snow stencil with white ink on a scrap of black paper & also stamped a leaf cluster from SSS Sketch Ranunculus.  The blossom from the same set was stamped in black on a white scrap, as well as another leaf cluster & one blossom which I die cut.  The sentiment from Hero Arts Leaf prints was white embossed & trimmed into the little banner.  A piece of black ribbon covers the intersection of the 2 panels & the single blossom is partially matted with black & popped up.  The pink splash of color comes from Nuvo Rosewater Jewel drops.  I'm also entering The Playground  & Word Art Wednesday.  Hope you're staying safe with all the fires & flooding.  We're having one cloudy day in the midst of many full of sun, so spent the morning working in the yard.  I'll catch up with you soon.