sending joy...

 Hello, hello!  Popping in with a card for several challenges:  Just Us Girls (word week: Joy), Color Hues (Pink and Aqua), Sunday Stamps (sketch) and Paper Players (clean and simple Christmas).  Lets have a look at what I made.

It is rare that I make a card for four different challenges, but this card is one.   It started out that I was only going to make it for Sunday Stamps and Just Us Girls, then I saw the color combo at Color Hues and had to add it to the mix.   Then I saw the challenge from Paper Players and couldn't pass up the opportunity to make a clean and simple card!   Several years ago I purchased a pretty Stampin Up! set called Joy of Noel.  I had used a few of the dies from the set, but never the stamps.  I pulled it out for this card.  Stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then colored with Copics in shades of aqua and pink.    The die cut "joy" is a very old Simon Says Stamp die that I cut from white cardstock three times and adhered together.  I then colored the top layer with the light pink Copic marker I used to color the berries.  Embossed a white rectangle with the pretty holly swirl embossing folder.  I trimmed that panel down a little bit and then added the aqua cardstock strip to the one side.  I tried to use a strip of pink cardstock on the card, but neither color I tried worked with the Copic colors I used.  So I used sparkly silver glitter cardstock!  Really like how it looks.  Layered on the colored image and the sentiments that are from an older Simon Says Stamp set that I just love.  One more Christmas card to add to my stash!

Well, that's it for me.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

more clean and simple mixed media...

 Hello!  I'm back and like the title of my post says I have more cards created in a clean and simple style that feature some mixed media!  Love combining things that don't seem like they belong together, lol.  Let's have a look at what I made.

This card is for Freshly Made Sketches and I just love how it turned out!   I used lots of distress mica sprays and I think the Fossilized Amber distress spritz for the leaves.  The whole thing started when I created the tag I used on this card.  I had alot of the sprays left over in my splatter box and so I decided to grab a piece of watercolor cardstock and soak up all the leftover sprays.  The end result was a brownish color.  Once it was dry I added some additional mica spray in Mulled Cider and Harvest Moon (I think, lol).   I let it dry and then die cut the leaves using a leaf die from A Jillian Vance Design and a set of leaf dies from Simon Says Stamp.   A piece of off white cardstock was die cut with a rectangle die and then I worked on the arrangment of the leaves.   When I had that done to my liking I took a picture so I could get the placement just right.  I glued down the leaves and then added the sentiment from the Simon Says Stamp Cozy Autumn Hugs stamp set with strip of foam tape.  I finished with the little bow.  

This next card is for Color Throwdown and I will also be adding it to the Just Us Girls gallery as I added a little bit of stenciling.   Take a look.

The CTD colors this week are orange, cream and kraft.  I thought the newly released Birch Press Design Splendid Cosmos Contour Layers die would look pretty in those colors.  I die cut the main flower from off white cardstock (PTI's Rustic White) and then added orange ink (Pinkfresh Studio Apricot) to the center of the flower extending it out on the petals.  Got a little too much on that one bottom petal, but I think it looks fine.  I die cut the center pieces from kraft cardstock and then added a little bit of the residual orange ink on my brush to the pieces.   Everything was then glued together.  I originally had another ide for the card, but when I tried it I just didn't like it.  That happens sometimes, right?   So, I decided to sleep on it and in the morning pulled out a brick pattern stencil from MFT Stamps and added the partial brick pattern to a kraft cardstock panel using Picket Fence Studios Luxe Paper Glaze in gold.   Once dry I adhered the flower and then added the sentiment that I had hot foiled on cream cardstock in matte gold.   Again, clean and simple, but with a little touch of mixed media.  Try it sometime!

I was sad to learn of the passing of Color Throwdown team member, Barbara Anders.  She never failed to amaze me with her gorgeous cards!   Her talent will be greatly missed.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

halloween greetings

 Hello!  Popping back in with another card for a few challenges:  Color Throwdown, Just Us Girls and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.   Let's have a look at what I made.

It's pumpkin season and I am here for it!  I LOVE PUMPKINS!! And making card with pumpkins on them, lol!  Couldn't resist using the Simon Says Stamp Pumpkin die set along with the CTD colors and inspiration from the JUGs mood board.  I die cut the pumpkin from orange cardstock and then added some light inking with distress oxide ink left on the blending brush I use with orange oxide inks.  I die cut the stem and leaves from aqua and green cardstocks and did the same thing with them.   Black cardstock was die cut with a rectangle die and then embossed with the spider web embossing folder.  I adhered that to a light gray cardstock base, added the pumpkin and leaves and finished with the sentiment that was stamped in black on the same light gray used for the card base and die cut with a tag die.  To tone down the gray I used the residual ink on my black soot oxide blending brush.   Another Halloween card to send to one of the littles in my life!

That's it for me!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

sweet wishes release...

 Hello, hello!  Did you see?  Simon Says Stamp has a brand new release called Sweet Wishes.  You can find the complete collection of products right here.  Simon Says Stamp generously sent me the beautiful Sketched Leaves stamp set and I created two projects with the set.   I went full on autumn colors mode for both projects.  Let's have a look at the first one.

For the card I started off by stamping the maple leaf on watercolor paper with VersaMark watermark ink, applying gold embossing powder and then heat setting it.  I then used my Tonic Studio Aqua Flow pens in autumn shades of red, yellow and brown for the background.  Once the piece was dry, I die cut it with a rectangle die and then sprayed it with distress mica sprays in Harvest Moon, Mulled Cider and Fallen Acorn.  I roughed up the edges for a more rustic look.  I embossed the sentiment in gold on vellum, trimmed it down and tore one edge.  I wrapped the other edge around the back of my panel, secured it with glue dots and tied the bow.  The panel was then adhered to an off-white cardstock base.  Adding this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge to add texture.  

I really had alot of fun creating my next project.  Let's have a look at it. 

When I first saw the stamp set I knew that I wanted to create a decor type piece with it.  I went with a tag design using a Stampers Anonymous #8 thick board tag with a distress #8 heavy stock tag on top.  For this piece I used distress oxide inks in Carved Pumpkin, Fossilized Amber, Bundled Sage and Gathered Twigs.  I blended on the inks to my liking and then splattered the tag with water.  I let the tag dry for a bit and then stamped on the three leaves using VersaFine CLAIR Acorn ink.  I finished the tag with lots of splatters foundry wax in the color Gilded.  I heat set the splatters to give them shine and make them permanent.  The edges of the tag were also roughed up for a more rustic look.   You don't see it in the photo, but I used some Tim Holtz washi tape to cover the sides of the thickboard tag for a more finished look.  Then I adhered the inkblended tag using Multi Matte Medium and let it dry.  

For the leaves I used the same oxide inks on a piece of cream colored heavy stock cardstock.   Once I had the inkblending done I stamped each leaf using the Acorn ink and then trimmed out each leaf.  There are matching dies that you can find right here, but I don't have them (yet!).  Since the leaves are fairly large, trimming them out was pretty quick and easy!   I also splattered the leaves with lots of the Gilded foundry wax.  The edges were roughed up and then I glued each leaf on top of the image stamped on the tag by adding glue down the center of each one.   To finish I stamped the sentiment in VersaMark watermark ink, applied gold embossing powder and heat set.  The sentiment was then die cut with a cute little fancy shaped tag from Simon Says Stamp.  The edges roughed up and it was adhered to the tag.  I also added a little bit of inking to the edges of the leaves before gluing them on.  Some Memory Box fairy drops in autumn shades were added, along with the ribbon bow.  I custom colored the ribbon using the mica sprays in Harvest Moon and Mulled Cider.  I really love how this tag turned out!

The challenge at Just Us Girls is to create a project based on the word leaves.  My tag fits the challenge perfectly so I will be posting it there.   Love it when things work out like that!

That's it for me.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

two cards...

 Hello, hello!  I'm popping in to share two cards that I made recently.  First up is a card for Freshly Made Sketches and Color Throwdown.  Let's have a look.

I used the pretty CTD combo of light blue, kraft and cream with the Greetery Bittersweet Bouquet stamp set.  I thought it would look pretty stamped in the light blue with a light brown and I was right.  Once stamped I die cut the panel with a rectangle die and then trimmed the panel into three pieces.  They were adhered to my card front using foam squares.  I die cut the Greetery bow from the same cardstock used for the panel (PTI rustic white) and then blended some of the light blue ink in the center.  I finished with a sentiment from a Simon Says Stamp set and a few light blue and clear sequins.

This card is for the Pinkfresh Studio August challenge to use washi tape and for the JUGs challenge of anything goes with stencils.  Now, you might ask where is the washi tape?  Well, the entire background is washi tape!  I adhered it to thin white cardstock and then die cut it with a rectangle die. You can't see it in my photo, but I added some glossy accents to the fur on Santa's hat and sleeve, to the tree he is holding and some of the leaves on the left side and then added Rock Candy glitter.  I stenciled the Pinkfresh Studio Berry Branch image, stamped over the stenciling with the coordinating stamp and then added Rock Candy glitter to the berries.  The sentiment is from the PFS Folk Snowflake (I think that is the name) that I stamped in the same light green I used to stencil the berry branch and die cut it with the matching die.  I added the panel to my card base and then adhered the stamped image with glue.  Another Christmas card to add to my stash!

Well, that's it for me!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Bee thanks...

 Hello, hello!  I'm back with a card for this week's JUGs challenge.  My bloggy friend, Lisa, is the host of this week's challenge and she put together a fabulous mood board featuring bees!   I pulled out the one stamp set that I know I have (I could have others, lol) that has bees in it along with another stamp set and got to work.   Let's look at what I made.

Both of the stamp sets I used are from Hero Arts monthly card kits from back in 2021.  The one kit featured a beautiful floral image and the bees, but the floral image from that kit didn't fit with the idea I had so I used the image (above) from the other kit.  I stamped the image in Memento London Fog and then added just a light wash of color to the image using Copic markers, except for the center of the flowers.  For that I used the stencils that came in that kit and used a light brown ink for the stenciling.  Since the bees were already a little bit bolder than the background I colored them with a bolder yellow combo.  A light gray was added to the wings along with some Rock Candy Stickles.   I also went bold for the sentiment using glossy black cardstock to die cut the word thanks and then layering it on the shadow layer that was die cut from thick vellum.    Going to add this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge, too. 

That's it for me.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

a couple of very different cards...

 Hello!  Hope your day is going well.  I'm popping in to share two cards that couldn't be more different!  Let's take a look at the first one.

This first card is for Freshly Made Sketches and Just Us Girls.  The JUGs challenge is a word and the word is summer.  I think this card says "summer".   Yes, it is rather similar to the card I made for the last FMS challenge!  That is because I loved the 49th and Market Summer Porch chipboard ephemera pack I got for free from Scrapbook.com so much I had to order a paper pack.  Boy am I glad that I did as the papers in the 6x8 pack are absolutely gorgeous! I used three for my card and then several more of the chipboard pieces.  If I keep this up, I may have to actually buy another pack, lol!  Anyway, the card is pretty self-explanatory.   

My next card is for the Altenew monthly inspiration challenge.  I always tell myself that I'm going to try to play along and then the end of the month arrives and I didn't make anything.  I was determined this month and my dear friend, Greta, cheered me on in my effort!  I did some direct to paper inking of the three colors.  Boy are they bold and bright... a real punch in the face, lol!  I used the Altenew Zero Waste Leaf Pattern die, the Dotted Wave debossing die and a sentiment from the Craft Your Life: Watercolor Flowers stamp set.  I thought with the colors being so bright I would keep things simple by layering the three larger stems together and then adding them to the debossed background.  I also kind of turned the stem in to a flower stem by adding the fun little layered centers to each cluster.   Probably not going to win me any prizes, but I like the quirkiness of it.  

So, as you can see the cards are very different.  One is calm and serene while the other is bold and quirky!   Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Let's Celebrate You!

 Hello!  I'm popping in with a pretty and romantic looking card that I created for Freshly Made Sketches and JUGs challenges.   Let's have a look at what I created.

Lately, Simple Stories has had several paper collections that I have really, really liked and so I have picked up a couple of them.  The most recent is the Simple Stories Simple Vintage Spring Garden.  I got the 6x8 paper pad and a pack of ephemera because the pieces in it are just so beautitful!  I used both to create my card today.   Another thing I have been into lately is adding texture to my cards.   Like alot of papercrafters I have more than several embossing folders, but I don't often use them.  They are perfect for adding texture and so I used the Simon Says Stamp Blossom Field embossing folder to emboss the pink gingham paper I chose from the pad.  I added more texture by applying Glossy Accents in certain spots on the flowers, butterfly and bees and then covering the Glossy Accents with Distress Rock Candy glitter.   The glitter is very subtle, but pretty.

In this photo you can see the Rock Candy glitter a little bit better.  I adhered the background with double sided tape and then added the flowers, butterfly and bees with different heights of foam squares.  I finished with a sentiment from the Simon Says Stamp Sweet Birthday stamp set.  

That's it for me!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

simply flowers...

 Hello!  Hope your weekend is going well.  I have two cards to share today for several different challenges.  Both cards are pretty clean and simple.  Let's take a look at what I made.

This card is heading off to the Just Us Girls challenge to use lavendar, peach and gray.   Those are definitely not colors that I would put together, but that is what a challenge is all about... challenging yourself to do something outside your comfort zone!  I did direct to paper inking to get the colors that I wanted.  For the lavendar color I used Milled Lavendar distress ink, for the peach I used Pinkfresh Studio Peach Fuzz and for the gray I used Weathered Wood distress ink.  The wreath was created using PaperTrey Ink's Into the Blooms wreath die set.  For the background I used the A plate of the Birch Press Design Grace layering die set to emboss the white cardstock.  I then layered on the wreath and all the elements.  I finished with one the Memory Box/Open Studio sentiment tabs.  I will also be posting this in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge to make a feminine card.

This card is for the Color Hues challenge to use lilac and lime green.  Now, I used Shaded Lilac distress ink for this flower, but to my eye the color looks more like lavendar and the Milled Lavendar on the first card looks more like lilac.  What do you think?  Anywho, I used a Simon Says Stamp floral die called Sunrise Stem and the same direct to cardstock inking that I did on the first card.   The layout for the card comes from the current Sunday Stamps challenge and I used one of my favorite die sets the Memory Box Curved Capped Pinpoint layers die set for the panels.  I layered those on a light gray cardstock base along with the white banner.  The sentiment is another Memory Box/Open Studio sentiment tab. 

That's it for me.   Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Floral Cards

 Hello!  Stopping in to share a couple of cards.  I will be posting one of the cards to the following challenges:  Freshly Made Sketches, Color Throwdown and Just Us Girls.    The other card will be going to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.   Here is the first card.

The challenge at JUGs is anything goes with stencils.  I have quite a few stencils, but don't often use them.  I looked through my stencils, but then decided to use an older Hero Arts stamp and stencil set that came from one of their My Monthly Hero card kits.  I don't remember what year or month.  I did the stenciling using the CTD colors, but accidentally got ink on the image during the process, so I set that one aside and decided to use the Simon Says Stamp Groovy Blooms stencil set with the CTD colors and the FMS layout.  I stenciled flowers and leaves and then die cut the panel down to fit the FMS layout.  I was able to trim out one of the large flowers and adhered that to the main panel.  I then decided to stencil some of the smaller flowers and leaves to add to the panel.  I used a scrap of the original stenciled piece to die cut the word "hello" from.  I die cut a few more of the hello from other scraps of cardstock, adhered them together and added it to the shadow die cut from vellum.  I used some pretty yellow glitter cardstock for the other elements in the sketch, then adhered everything to a white cardstock panel and then to a card front. 

This card was made with the first round of stenciling that I mentioned above.  After I finished the above card I decided to figure out a way to make this image work.  I thought about just trying to cover up where I had gotten ink on the image, but didn't really like that idea.  Then I covered up part of the image with a strip of cardstock and I liked that look.  So I cut the floral image into two pieces.  I cut the strip of black glitter cardstock and adhered it directly to a cardstock base using thin foam squares.  I added glue to the back of the floral piece and tucked it underneath the glitter strip.  I die cut the work thanks from the yellow glitter cardstock I used on the first card and vellum for the shadow and adhered it to the card front.  I think I was able to create a pretty decent save.   

That's it for me.  Thanks for stopping by and have lovely day!

a spring flower?

 Hey there!  Popping in to share a card that I made for two challenges:  Paper Players and JUGs.  The JUGs challenge is a mood board challenge and it closes in just a few hours so I'm cutting it close for that one.  The Paper Players challenge is a clean and simple challenge to use spring flowers.   Take a look.

The JUGs mood board features soft muted colors and pictures of a flower, friends, coffee and a scene of the ocean.   I went with the flower and the ocean scene to create my card.  I tried to pull out a color from the color palette, but it turned out to be a little too dark.   I'm trying to use up different products that I have in order to free up space on my desk.  To that end I have been using my Tonic Studios Aqua Flow pens to watercolor things.  I used several for my flower that I die cut from watercolor cardstock, including a color called Cameo Pink.  Had I not used such concentrated color it might have been more muted, but I still like it.   The flower die is from Simon Says Stamp.  For the ocean I used a very old Hero Arts sea scape stencil to create the waves using Salty Ocean distress ink.  I then pulled out my distress grit paste and added some swipes of the paste to create "foam".   I made a boo-boo at the bottom of my panel so I created some "sand" by tearing a strip of kraft card stock and then adhering it to the panel.  I finished with a sentiment from a Simon Says Stamp set called Brushed Flowers.  The set has matching dies for some of the sentiments which comes in handy!

That's it for me!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Easter Bird...

  Hello!  Hope all is well in your part of the world.  I have a card to share today for several challenges:  Freshly Made Sketches, Time Out, JUGs and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.  JUGs and Time Out are doing a collaboration and the theme is "birds of a feather".   I recently received an order from Simon Says Stamp that included the sweet little bird die set called Sitting Sparrow from Memory Box.  Perfect timing, right? Here is what I made.

I used a MFT brickwall stencil and some grit paste that I tinted with Hickory Smoke distress ink re-inker for the background.  The little bird is sitting on the Memory Box Magnolia Leaf Branch that I die cut from watercolor cardstock and then colored with distress ink re-inkers in Brushed Corduroy and Bundled Sage.  I tried to do the same thing with the bird not once, but twice and both times it was an abysmal failure.  So, I went back to my tried and true technique of inkblending with my Waffle Flower 0+ blending brushes and distress oxide inks.  This time success!  Once the grit paste had dried (with a little help from my heat gun!) I assembled the card.   Since I wanted the card to be an Easter card I finished with the Happy Easter sentiment from the Simon Says Stamp Bunny Love stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!