poinsettia...

 Hello!  I'm back with another Christmas card.  I don't really need to make more Christmas cards, but I bought the beautiful Winter Foliage card kit from Gina K. Designs, and I was determined to make a card with the gorgeous poinsettia image from the stamp set.    The Color Hues challenge provided me with the color combo.  My poinsettia isn't exactly scarlet, but close enough, I think. Well, I missed the opportunity to link up my card to Color Hues.  But I think it works for the new color challenge over at Sunday Stamps.  Take a look:

I decided I wanted to do some watercoloring so I got out my Fabriano Artistico watercolor paper and stamped the image using VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne ink.  I learned that I need to reink my Nocturne ink pad because I had to stamp the image more than five times to get a good image.  Oh well.  I started watercoloring, but things weren't going so well.  I stopped and decided that I was going to do something different.  But as I figured out that idea, I decided I didn't like it that much.  So, I went back to the poinsettia and kept working at it until I got something I was happy with.   You can't tell in the photo, but the image has a nice sparkle and shine thanks to my set of Altenew metallic watercolors.  So pretty!  The sentiment is from a sheet of sentiments included in the kit.  I diecut my off-white cardstock panel and then decided to add texture to it using the SSS snowflake stencil and Snowfall grit paste that I used on a previous card.  I just love the look.   I'm glad that I persevered with my watercoloring as I really like how the image turned out.

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day.

more leaves...

 What can I say?  It's fall... there are leaves falling and I love leaves!  So here is another card featuring leaves.  October 2nd was world cardmaking day and I did spend some of the day making cards.  One that failed spectacularly  and the one I'm sharing.  Turned out pretty nice I think! 

I used the colors from Color Throwdown (I already entered the card there through Instagram) and the layout from Freshly Make Sketches.  Originally I was going to use the leave die from the Concord & 9th Thankful Leaves Turnabout stamp and die set, but the leaf was just too big to have two of them on my card front.  I suppose I could have made the card 5x7, but I generally don't do cards that big.   Then I took a look at my Grand Leaf Trio die set.  This is one of my most favorite die sets and I use it all through out the year!  I pulled out some watercolor paper and my Altenew 12 pan watercolor set and created to areas of color that combined the CTD colors.  I made on area yellow/brown and the other purple/green.  It was hard to keep the purple and green from getting too muddy, but in the it worked!  Once everything was dry I die cut the leaves, my panel and adhered the leaves.  The sentiment is from Sweet Sunflower stamp set.   I heat embossed it in gold on vellum, trimmed it down and adhered it to the leaves.  I finished with some sparkling clear sequins.  Going to add this to the SSS world cardmaking day link up and to the SSS Wednesday challenge. 

More Easter Cards...

 Yep... back with more Easter cards!  Gotta get them done... Easter is in one week!  The first card is for the Pinkfresh Studio monthly challenge, as well as Freshly Made Sketches and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.   The Pinkfresh challenge this month is flowers so I just used that and took more of my color inspiration from the SSS mood board.  I stamped the Pinkfresh Studio/Altenew collaborative stamp set called Celebrate Today on watercolor paper with VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne ink and then watercolored very simply with Altenew's 12 pan watercolor set.  When dry I die cut it with the matching die.  I trimmed a piece of white cardstock down and then ran it through my die cutting machine in a pretty lattice design embossing folder that I have had for years.  I added a little strip of light gray cardstock at the bottom and then adhered my panel to a white cardstock base and added the floral image.  The sentiment is from A Jillian Vance Design.  I stamped it on white cardstock with the Nocturne ink, die cut it with a banner die and attached.  Finished off the card with some sparkling clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.

The second card is just a bonus card, really.  I got the March Glimmer kit earlier this month, but just never found time to make anything with it.  I was using my Glimmer the other night to make... yes... Easter cards and Glimmered the sentiment from the kit along with the layering daisies for my card.  I used the Spellbinders Essentials rectangle dies and the inserts that are part of the set on the large pink rectangle and the smaller white rectangle.  The sentiment and the daisy were glimmered using Rose Gold foil, but you really can't tell.  In real life the Rose Gold foil looks so pretty with the pink cardstock.  I layered the rectangles on my card base, added the rose and then finished with a Trinity Stamps Something New pearl in the center.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!