a kind word...

 Hello!  I'm popping in today with a card for a couple of challenges:  Sunday Stamps and the Paper Players.  The challenge at the Paper Players is clean and simple with flowers so I just had to play along. 

I used the color combo from Sunday Stamps to color up my Honey Bee Stamps tulip bouquet with Copic markers.  I was able to use most of the Sunday Stamps color, but I did add in a little bit of blue.  I hope that is okay.  I used my Birch Press Pinpoint Radial plate to add interest to my background.  The sentiment was stamped in VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne ink and die cut with the matching die.  I die cut the bouquet, popped it up on the background along with the sentiment.  To fill in the background a little more I added lots of sparkling clear sequins. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

happy hellos...

 Hey there!  Well... we survived our yearly two days of snow here in the Pacific Northwest!   The snow is pretty, but I really don't like driving it in.  Since I didn't go anywhere except the store because of the snow I had some time to spend making a couple of cards.  Both feature the word hello.  First up is a card for the Inspired By challenge.   It is a lovely inspiration photo of a pink pitcher full of what look to me like tiny purple flowers and greenery.  It was so pretty I just had to play along.   I thought I had an image in my stash that was similar, but I don't so I used some images from the Reverse Confetti Tall Blooms to create my little bundle of flowers.  I stamped the images with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored simply with Copic markers.   I then die cut all the images with the matching die.  I die cut the Reverse Confetti cover panel from pink cardstock and then several times from thin white cardstock.  Everything was adhered together and then attached to a white cardstock card base.  I arranged my floral images on the panel and then added the sentiment from the Tall Blooms set that I stamped with VersaFine Clair Nocturne in and die cut using a banner die from Reverse Confetti.  I finished off the card with some little pearls from Trinity Stamps.   I will also add this to the Reverse Confetti Stock Your Stash challenge for February. 

The second card was made just for fun and I used the sweet little stamp set called Happy Mail from Honey Bee Stamps.  I stamped the image on watercolor paper and did simple watercoloring with the Altenew 12 pan watercolor set.  Once everything was dry I die cut it with the matching die.  Before I watercolored the envelope that the flowers are coming out of I had colored a patch of the cardstock to determine if I liked the color I had mixed up.  I used that little patch to die cut the tag from and stamp the hello sentiment from Happy Mail on it.  The tag was a little freebie from Trinity Stamps!  I embossed the kraft panel with a swiss dot embossing folder and then adhered the envelope image to the panel.  I finished off the card with some little jewels that I had also purchased from Trinity Stamps.   I'm really loving the pearls and jewels I bought from them and can't wait to buy more!

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

Joy to the World

Hello!  Hope you are having a good week!  Had a few more Christmas cards to make and so I pulled out a Christmas set that I bought last year from Honey Bee Stamps and made a card for the current Sunday Stamps challenge.  I stamped the image on water color cardstock and then heat embossed the image in gold embossing powder.  The cool thing about the image is that there are two dies that allow you to cut the sentiment  and floral images separate from each other.  I didn't even realize that until I pulled the set out to make my card.  Anyway, I just decided to keep the sentiment and the image together for my card.  I used distress inks in Forest Moss, Bundled Sage, Fossilized Amber, Festive Berries and Abandoned Coral to color my images.  Once the coloring was done I added some additional Fossilized Amber around the sentiment and image.  When the entire piece was dry I die cut it with a large rectangle die and the I further cut it down to fit a red cardstock base.  I simply popped up the image with foam tape and I was done.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Color Throwdown #566

Hello!  Hope your week is going well!  I also hope that you have checked out the WOW!/AJVD blog hop that is going on right now.  You can find out all the details here.    The CTD colors this week are orange, gray and cream and given the inspiration photo and my love of pumpkins I might have gone that route... but I didn't, lol!  I decided to color up some more flowers using this unique color combo.  The flowers I used this week are from the Honey Bee Stamps Winter Anemone set.  I stamped the large cluster that I used on Canson watercolor paper with VersaFine CLAIR Morning Mist ink and then colored the flowers with Wild Honey and Ripe Persimmon distress inks and the leaves with Weathered Wood distress ink.  When everything was dry I die cut the piece with a large rectangle die.  The sentiment is from another Honey Bee Stamps Friendship stamp set.  The word was die cut with the matching die set from gray cardstock and vellum.  I stamped the sentiment using the Morning Mist ink and then adhered the die cut sentiment.   I quite pleased with how my coloring turned out.   All die cutting done with my Gemini Jr.  (Compensated affiliate links used in my blog post where possible at no expense to you.)

Here are all the details regarding playing along with Color Throwdown:

Once you’ve finished your card or other paper-crafted project, add a direct link to your creation using the Inlinkz tool at the bottom of the Color Throwdown post. And, don’t forget to use the keyword CTD566 if you upload your project to an online gallery, or hashtag on social media with #ctd566 and/or #colorthrowdown.  

Challenge guidelines are in the right sidebar on the Color Throwdown Challenge Blog in case you have any questions.

The rest of the team...

Barbara Anders - Paper Pursuits

Broni Holcombe - Splashes of Watercolor

Lori Tecler - Inking Aloud

 Wanda Cullen - Cullen-ary Creations

 Jodi Collins- Stamping a Latte

Lynn Putt- The Queens Scene 

Lisa Henke- My Little Creative Escape

Amy Rysavy - Prairie Paper & Ink

 Amy Rohl - Ink About Me

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope you will play along with Color Throwdown this week!

cards with flowers...

Hello!  I'm popping in with two cards that both feature flowers.  First up is a card that I made for several challenges:  CAS(E) this Sketch, The Flower Challenge and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.   I have been wanting to do some coloring ever since I got back from Yellowstone and found the time the other night to color up two images from the Simon Says Stamp Delicate Flowers stamp set.  I stamped the images on smooth Bristol cardstock with VersaFine CLAIR Acorn ink and then colored them with the following ZIG markers:  Carmine Red, Light Carmine Red and Orange.  The little bit of orange gives them that feeling of autumn.  Once they were dry I die cut them with the matching dies.  I adhered them together with Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive to give them the feel of the two circular elements in the CTS layout.   A few days ago I purchased the Carta Bella Fall Market 6x6 pad and used a piece of paper from the pad for the strip element.  I placed the strip in my stamping tool, arranged where I wanted the flowers to be and then stamped the sentiment (from a very old, but favorite Simon Says Stamp set) in the same Acorn ink.  I then die cut a piece of kraft cardstock with the largest AJVD Stitched Dot rectangle die and then adhered the panel and the strip to an off white cardstock base.  The flowers were adhered with foam dimensionals and I was finished. (Compensated affiliate links used in the body of my blog post where possible.)
 

The second card uses the cute little flowers from the Simon Says Stamp School Days Grow set.  I was going to use the piece for a different card, but in the end it just didn't work.  Then I saw the current Mojo Monday sketch and new it would be perfect once I turned the sketch to be portrait instead of landscape.  The flowers were stamped on smooth Bristol with VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne and colored with ZIG markers in pink, yellow and orange.  I used a green ZIG and a blue ZIG to color the grass and sky and then die cut the piece with one of the smallest AJVD Stitched Dot rectangle dies.  I then die cut some super cute patterned papers from the Honey Bee Stamps The Bees Knees 6x6 pad using two other Stitched Dot rectangle dies.   The larger patterned paper rectangle was adhered to a light gray cardstock base and then the sunny yellow/white dotted rectangle was adhered with fun foam to give it height.  I then adhered the stamped panel to that.  Super clean and simple.   Those little flower faces just make me smile! (Compensated affiliate links used in my blog post where possible.)

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Hey... buttercup!

Hey there!  I'm popping in to share a card that I made for a couple of challenges:  the Paper Players (colors) and Time Out (nature).   Back in May I purchased the Chin Up Buttercup stamp and die set from Honey Bee Stamps.  I just loved the sweet little flowers in the set and when they had a sale I decided to make it mine.  I have been wanting to use it ever since I arrived in my mailbox and the Paper Players challenge was the perfect opportunity, as is the challenge at Time Out.  I stamped all the images from the set on Arches hot press watercolor paper with VersaMark watermark ink and heat embossed with white embossing powder from Hero Arts.  I then colored everything with my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors and clean water.  When everything was dry I die cut them with the matching dies.  Then the hunt was on to find a purple ink that was similar to the Highland Heather color called for in the Paper Players color combo.   I don't generally buy purple inks and so my choices were limited, but I think PTI's Winter Wisteria filled in nicely.  I used that to stamp the words hey and buttercup.   Both words have matching dies to I used the one for the word buttercup and then stamped the word hey on my white cardstock panel.  Then I arranged all the die cut pieces and adhered the panel to a white cardstock base.  Love how this one turned out!

Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Arches hot press watercolor paper; Stamps: Honey Bee Stamps; Dies:  Honey Bee Stamps and A Jillian Vance Design; Ink:  VersaMark watermark ink, PTI Winter Wisteria; Watercolor medium:  Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors; Embossing powder:  Hero Arts

flowers and fish!

Hello!  Another two card post today.  Hmmm... I seem to be doing a lot of that lately, lol!  Anyway today I have cards that feature flowers and fish!  First up is my card featuring flowers.  The other day I spent part of my afternoon coloring some images from the Honey Bee Stamps Winter Anemone stamp set with my ZIG markers.  I had been planting daffodils earlier in the day and I guess I had yellow on the brain because I colored my anemones yellow!  Once they were all done I die cut them with the matching dies.  Now I colored all the images prior to knowing that the color combo for Color Throwdown would be yellow, green, red and white.  So I only had to figure out how to work red into my design and I had my card for the challenge!  I went with red enamel dots since I have lots of them and need to use them on projects.   The sentiment from the Honey Bee Stamps Thinking of You stamp set was stamped in VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne on the card base, the flowers arranged in the corner and then I finished with the enamel dots.    Also going to post this to the Flower Challenge.  This month it is anything goes.

The second card features the fish, obviously!  This one is heading to CAS(E) this Sketch and CASology (the theme there is ocean). In order to make my idea work for the CTS layout I turned it on it's side.  I recently got the March My Monthly Hero kit.  It is jam packed full of stamps and dies.  I purchased this kit because I have two other ocean theme My Monthly Hero kits from previous years and I knew they would work perfectly with the new kit.  I used two of the Hero Arts reactive inks that come in the kit.  One called Sea Glass was used to ink up the white cardstock panel for my bit of ocean.  The second color called Blue Water was just to stamp the kelp.  I then stamped two fish one in an emerald green and the other in a color called Tranquil Tide.  It is a blue/green/gray color.   Die cut them with the matching die.  I splatted on some water and them removed it with a towel to get the look of bubbles.  The sentiment was stamped in VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne.  I die cut the panel with a rectangle die, adhered it to a light gray card base and added some of the little droplets that come in the kit.  I think I will post this over at Less is More, too, as I did use the kelp image three times and there are three of the droplets.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Supplies:  Card #1:  Cardstock:  PTI white, Strathmore Smooth Bristol; Stamps and dies:  Honey Bee Stamps; Ink:  VersaFine Onyx Black, VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne; Watercolor medium:  ZIG Clean Color Real Brush markers; Enamel dots:  Freckled Fawn

Card #2:  Cardstock:  PTI white, SSS fog; Stamps:  Hero Arts; Dies:  Hero Arts and A Jillian Vance Design; Inks:  Hero Arts, VersaFine CLAIR, Stampin Up! Emerald Envy and Tranquil Tide; Hero Arts droplets

cards with just a splash of color...

Hello!  Today I have two cards to share and both have just a splash of color on them.  First up is a card for Color Throwdown, Fusion (I mainly used the Fusion sketch) and Reverse Confetti Stock Your Stash challenge.   When I saw the color inspiration photo for CTD I noticed that there was woodgrain in the background behind the string heart so I looked through my patterned paper collection and finally found a piece with a woodgrain design.  I die cut that with the smaller scalloped square from the Reverse Confetti Scalloped Squares Confetti Cuts.   Some white cardstock was die cut with an AJVD rectangle die and then I adhered the scalloped frame to the white panel.  The center cut piece was adhered with foam tape for dimension.  The floral image from the RC Something Wonderful was stamped on white cardstock with Catherine Pooler Flirty Fuchsia ink and die cut with the matching die.  I adhered that to the raised square.  I placed the panel in my stamping tool and stamped the sentiment from the Mod Floral Stack stamp set.    I finished things off with a little black twine bow and then adhered to a light gray cardstock base.

The second card is for Freshly Made Sketches and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge (black, white and one color).  I have to admit that when I see a sketch I often can't get past the shapes that are used for the sketch and really have to push myself to use other shapes.  However when I saw the FMS layout I immediately wanted to make a card using triangles!  I have a set of triangle dies from MFT that I have never used so I pulled those out to make my card.  The floral image is from the beautiful Honey Bee Stamps Winter Anenome set.  I decided to use the largest image from the set, but didn't need part of it as it would have gone off the edge of my panel and did not look right.  So I did a little masking on my stamp and then inked up the image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  Before I started coloring the image I laid out the larger triangle and then placed the smaller one on top to determine where I would need to die cut the second image that I needed to stamp.  Once everything was stamped I colored the one flower with Marvy Uchida alcohol ink markers.   Then I die cut the large triangle from the main panel.  I die cut the smaller triangle from the second image and then colored it.  Finally I die cut the main panel, stamped the sentiment and assembled everything on a light gray cardstock base.   I'm pretty pleased with how my idea turned out.  I only wish that my triangles were just a little bit taller and thinner.

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Supplies:  Card #1:  Cardstock:  PTI white, SU! Smoky Shadow; PP:  My Mind's Eye; Stamps:  Reverse Confetti; Dies:  Reverse Confetti and AJVD; Inks:  Catherine Pooler and VersaFine CLAIR; Black twine:  Stampin Up!

Card #2:  Cardstock:  PTI white; SSS Fog; Stamps:  Honey Bee Stamps; Dies:  MFT and AJVD; Inks:  Memento and VersaFine CLAIR; Coloring medium:  Marvy Uchida alcohol ink markers

two cards...

Hello!  The weekend is here!  I hope you have some fun plans.  I'm popping in with a couple of cards that I have made over the last few day.  First up is a card for Freshly Made Sketches.  I recently ordered a few things from Honey Bee Stamps and received a little card with my order that can be colored.  I decided to try my hand at coloring with grays using the card.  I pulled out my Prisma Color pencils and found three compatible grays and got to coloring up the flowers.   Once I finished with the flowers I found a green that was in the gray family, as well and a light yellow that I toned down even more with a white pencil.    I trimmed the panel just a bit once I was done.  I adhered some black cardstock that I embossed with an embossing folder to a light gray cardstock base and then added my panel.  I have to admit that I really pleased with how things turned out!

The second card is for Color Throwdown and CAS(E) this Sketch.  When I saw the CTD color palette I immediately thought of one of the Starbucks Christmas mugs that you can find in their stores.  They are so pretty and feature I stylized poinsettia on them so I decided to make a poinsettia for my card.  I just love poinsettias!  I pulled out my AJVD Poinsettia die set to create the poinsettia using red and aqua cardstock. Once the flower was created I added strips of silver glitter cardstock to a white cardstock base.  I placed my flower on the card where I wanted it and then placed my sentiment stamp.  The flower was removed, the sentiment was stamped using VersaFine CLAIR Tulip ink and then I adhered the flower.  Love the super clean and simple design.

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  white, aqua, light red, gray, black, silver glitter; Stamps:  Honey Bee; A Jillian Vance Design; Dies:  A Jillian Vance Design; Embossing folder:  Darice; Ink:  VersaFine CLAIR

a couple cards to share...

Hello! As my title indicates I have a couple of cards to share.  The other day I found a new to me art supply store in town.  When I got the chance to be back in the area I went in and asked if they carried Faber-Castell polychromos pencils.   To my delight they do... so picked up some!   As soon as I got home I wanted to try them out and remembered that when I got my Honey Bee Stamps order over a month ago one of the things in the package was a little postcard with a floral image stamped on it.  So I colored it up and I am in love with my new color pencils!  I made the piece into a card that I have shared on Instagram.   Today I colored up some of the flowers from the Honey Bee Stamps set Spring Blossoms using my pencils and turned it into a card for this week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge.  After everything was colored I die cut them with the matching dies.   The sentiment is from the Honey Bee Stamps set called Donut Worry.  I stamped the words in VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne and then die cut them with matching dies from the set.   The I layered everything up.  Threw in a little bit of sparkle with my strip of silver glitter cardstock.

The second card is for Color Throwdown and Where Creativity Meets C9.  This will be my third entry for the WCMC9 challenge.   I used the one C9 turnabout stamp set that I have (Wreath Turnabout) to create my card.   I stamped the wreath using all the colors and then stamped the sentiment in the center with VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne ink (yes... I LOVE that ink, lol!).  I added three little hearts using the eggplant, aqua and lime green inks and then added a little twine bow that I made using white and dark green baker's twine.   Super clean and simple... my favorite kind of card!

 

Have a wonderful day!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  White, light blue and silver glitter; Stamps:  Honey Bee Stamps, Concord & 9th; Dies:  Honey Bee Stamps and A Jillian Vance Design; Inks:  Stampin Up!, VersaFine CLAIR; Coloring medium:  Faber-Castell polychromos color pencils