Last Minute Entry

Wreaths are one of my favorite images.  I don't even know how many wreath stamps & dies I have!  Decided it was silly not to make a card for CAS Christmas Card Challenge, so pulled out the beautiful Pinkfresh die set called Layered Wreath.

I began by smooshing DI evergreen bough & pine needles on a panel of watercolor paper.  I did multiple layers, drying between each one.  Love the variations you get, especially for leaves.  The additional leaf images were die cut from silver shimmery cardstock which I covered with silver Stickles.  The berries in the set were die cut from white cardstock scraps covered with double sided adhesive sheet scraps.  I removed the release paper & covered them in WOW Oh Dorothy! Sparkles.  It's a very sparkly glitter blend of red & silver--love it!  

The silver die cut frame is Mama Elephant Union Square & the sentiment from AJVD Christmas Star is stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne.  I'm not sure this meets the CAS requirement, but I love how my card turned out.  I'm also entering The Snippets Playground as everything but the card base is from scraps.  

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

I'm still here!

I know my blogging has been pretty intermittent.  I do appreciate those of you who still come by.  Recently I got to spend a few days with cardmaking friends & didn't have to get on an airplane--yay!  It was such a treat!  Here's a few pictures Darnell put together.

It was fun to try out some techniques that were easy to do & turned out great!  I came home with quite a few panels ready to make into cards & will be using my stencils & my alcohol inks a lot more!

While the others were coloring, I smooshed a panel using DO inks stamped & spritzed on my craft mat.  It actually looked terrible!  I didn't even show anyone what I'd done, but it did come home with me.  Thankfully, it looked fine once I trimmed it into a strip.  

I simply added black ink splatters & a couple PFS Delicate Blossoms black die cuts.  The white mat looked too plain, so I dry embossed it with my new SSS Refracted folder--love it!  The sentiment strip from Sweet Friend Floral was mounted with foam tape & I added black enamel dots.  I'm entering PFS June Monthly Challenge & TicTacToe 165 using Die Cut, Embellishment, Bright Colors.

Next is my entry for PTI Melissa's Fab Friday Feature stencil challenge.  I only have PTI alpha stencils & I used that for the last stencil challenge.  Decided to make my own stencil this time & used What the Doodle Snowflake outline dies cut from vellum scraps.  

I brushed Spring Rain through the stencils & then stamped the detailed images using Dark Indigo.  I really like the contrast on the white card, even though it's subtle.  I used the same ink to stamp the small snowflakes & the sentiment from Wreath for all Seasons.  

My usual color combo for snowflake cards is blue & silver, but this time I changed it up using Pink Stickles in the centers.  Really love the bit of pink sparkle!  I finished off with Raindots & a Dark Indigo mat.  

My last card is for Poppystamps June challenge to make a masculine card.  Gentle Leaf Collage is one of my favorite Poppystamps dies.  I made my own stencil a few years ago & it still works great.  The Distress Oxides I used are fossilized amber, spiced marmalade & abandoned coral.  

After clear embossing, I used the die to emboss the image.  Next I brushed the panel with DO vintage photo.  It needed something, so I partially embossed with a woodgrain folder using a small hammer.  I brushed on more vintage photo & wiped a bit with a baby wipe getting variations in the color--so fun!

The sentiment is made from Marzipan Greetings & Grateful Heart.  I had forgotten about these wooden dots which were just the right embellishment.  This can be a masculine retirement or birthday card.  I'm also entering The Snippets Playground since I used white scraps for the sentiment.

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

More Cards

Here are some of my recent cards.  I love kraft & red for Christmas, so thought I'd enter ABC Christmas Challenge.  I spread light molding paste through GKD Stellar Snowflake stencil & heat embossed with Zing red glitter ep.  

Such a beautiful sparkle in the light!  The little tags are PTI & the sentiment from GKD Festive Flowers was stamped in Versafine Clair Acorn & embossed with WOW Ultra High Clear ep. 

Probably not needed, but I added a few clear gems.  I'm also entering GKD Monthly Mix challenge & SSS Monday (via IG).

I've always liked black & white with a pop of color.  But this time I used scraps to make a card that's kraft & white with a pop of pink.  It's one of my favorite color combos & great for Spring, I think.  

I rubbed over the panel embossed with SSS Vine Canopy using PTI Classic Kraft ink cube.  I get much better results using direct to paper with a light touch, rather than trying to use blending brushes.  The little white rectangle was a left over PFS Blanket Stitch Rectangle die cut.  I used a kraft scrap behind the Memory Box Hello Friend Posh Script die cut sentiment that has also been laying on my table for awhile.  I die cut SSS Cosmos Stem twice & trimmed off the stem before layering them.  

The top layer was colored with Copics & I added shimmer to the center & the sentiment.  The sentiment rectangle is attached to a couple layers of cardstock scraps to help it stand out & be level on top of the embossing.  I'm entering SSS Flickr, Flickr Love Handmade Cards & SSS Wednesday.

My last card is for the Pinkfresh Studio May challenge. I chose to just use the theme: Spring.

PFS Lush Vines was white embossed on watercolor paper & then heavily spritzed with Tattered Angels Meadow Green & Forest Green Glimmer Mists.  

After air drying, I just wiped the embossing with a paper towel. The shimmer is so beautiful in person! I die cut the panel with a rectangle die to fit on the white panel die cut with the largest Blanket Stitch Rectangle. The vellum was die cut with a smaller rectangle in the set. Dainty Blossoms die cut stems were brushed with shimmer & tied together with crochet thread. 

The sentiment from Sweet Friend Floral was stamped in DO rustic wilderness & mounted with foam tape.  I tried a bunch of different embellishments, but really only liked the softness of PPP Marshmallow sequins.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday via IG.

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

I don't try to color very often, but I did pull out 2 pink & 2 green alcohol markers to use on GKD Festive Flowers poinsettias which I black heat embossed.  

I cut the green one apart to use for leaves & added yellow Stickles to the flower center.  I masked the sentiment from the set so I could stamp 2 of the 3 words using Versafine Clair Nocturne.  The beautiful image from GKD Holiday Tapestry was stamped in Versamark & heat embossed with a very old satin powder.  It's truly stunning in person--so elegant!  

I also embossed the card edges in that powder & mounted the panel with a black mat.  I posted the card on IG without embellishments, but the next day decided I liked the look with 3 black enamel dots.  I'm entering Gina K Monthly Mix.

One of my favorite designers, Martina, inspired me to get a set of Lindy's Stamp Gang Magicals.  I made a panel with each color to see what they looked like.  I've already die cut flowers from the purple & the pink, but this one of Sassy Sapphire has been sitting on my table.  Decided to use it for my Memory Box May challenge entry.  

Didn't make much difference, but the little darker blue dots were done with SSS Falling Snow Stencil & Delicata Sapphire Blue ink.  The black frame is Poppystamps Double Stitch Scalloped Rectangle Frames, the flowers are Memory Box Arianna Sprig & the sentiment is Poppystamps Scribble Hello.  

I brushed the flowers with a shimmer pen & added gloss to the sentiment.  Finished by tying on white crochet thread & attaching an iridescent gem.  Wish you could see the sparkle & shimmer in person!

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.  Don't forget to check your blog for comments being labelled spam.  Blogger is still causing problems!

PTI and FMS

As you know, I enter the PTI challenges whenever I can.  Here's my entry for the challenge to make a black & white card with a pop of color.  

I die cut Into the Blooms II from scraps of 2 shades of red.  I didn't want to add another color, so I used vellum for the leaves.  The background is Nifty Plaid stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne & a black Pierced Feature Frame.  The sentiment from Essential Sentiments is stacked 3 high.  I added Stickles to random petals for a bit of sparkle. 

This one goes to family who have an anniversary in a couple weeks.  Thought the little black Gina K heart embellishments made the perfect flower center.  I added gloss so they stand out more.

Next is my entry for Melissa's Fab Friday challenge to recreate her card putting our own personality into it.

I take that to mean our own card style & mine is simpler with fewer colors.  I did begin like Melissa, but I stamped Bold Blooms onto a white Border Bling: Tin Stitched die cut using Berry Sorbet & Vintage Jadeite--spritzing before stamping.  

The vellum layer is Border Bling: Diamonds.  I stamped the sentiment from Wildflower Garden on the white die cut from the same set using Versafine Clair Nocturne. 

Finished with die cut blooms & leaves along with a few Rainstones.  Melissa's card is beautiful & I love that it inspired me to make a card in my style.

Cecile's sketch for FMS intrigued me, so had to play along.  I used leftover Simply Graphic die cuts that I had watercolored with gold Gansai Tambi.  The Ellen Hutson Hex Frame was die cut from a scrap watercolored with Lindy's Magicals Drop Dead Gorgeous Green.  

Both products have incredible shimmer in person.  The card is PTI Rustic Cream with splatters of the gold & green.  I love this sentiment from PTI Prominent Petals which I stamped in Versafine Clair Acorn.  

I finished off with the beautiful sequins from Lucy's Things Champagne mix--part of a prize from The Snippets Playground, where I'm also entering my card.

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

I will visit you--if Blogger lets me!  

Edited to add: Blogger is now randomly labeling comments as spam.  Today I found that Blogger let one comment be published & labeled the other comment left by the same person as spam!

Poppystamps and Blogger Trouble

Several of us are having problems leaving blog comments.  I read that it's an issue with 3rd party cookies.  One suggestion was to change comments from embedded to pop-up.  I made that change & a couple people were then able to leave comments.  I'm also able to leave comments if they are pop-up, but not if they're embedded.  Trying to leave comments today, but I'm giving up.  There's no message saying comments are being moderated, so can't tell if that's why my comment doesn't show or it didn't take.  So frustrating!

Edited to add:  AND Blogger is labeling some blog friends' comments as spam!  Thankfully it still works to mark them as not spam in order to get them published.  If only Blogger would identify actual spam as spam!

I do have my card for Poppystamps May challenge already done!  Martina inspired me to try again to do emboss resist with spray inks.  I haven't always been happy with the results, but this time I love it! 

I used Tattered Angels Caribbean Blue & Meadow Green over the watercolor panel with Poppystamps Friends & Flowers embossed in white.  Actually, I double embossed the flowers, slightly off-set, to give more white lines.  I like the sketchy look.  I used a small brush to add more blue to the flowers & green to the leaves.  For even more shimmer, I sprayed Heidi Swapp white Color Shine & Perfect Pearls mist.

The holes are done with PTI Mix and Mat: Flourishes.  Martina made her own sparkly flock & that sent me hunting for the little bottles I knew were here somewhere.  I found them!  Pulled out the white which said it had sparkle, but I added a lot more fine glitter.  It gave Luscious Script Hello the neatest velvety feel & beautiful sparkle!  I masked the sentiment to get just the word friend, which I popped up.  SSS Frosty Pine sequin mix had just the right colors for my embellishments.  

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