Bloom & Grow: A Mixed Media Card

Were you a fan of Mona Pendleton's CR84FN Color Challenge?  I was, and I've missed it. Well, if you haven't heard, it's back--sort of. ;) This time, Mona and Sue Lelli have teamed up for A Mixed Media Color Challenge! I've dabbled in mixed media a little bit, so I'm looking forward to playing along when I can, and getting inspiration from Mona, Sue, and everyone else who enters the challenge!

I used the Viva la Verve June 2013 Week 4 Sketch Challenge for my card since it has lots of open space to play with.

I dry embossed kraft cs, distressed it with acrylic paint and gesso, then stamped the pink flowers with acrylic paint. The sentiment panel was stamped with Memento inks (I was going for a shadow effect on the sentiment, but it didn't work like I expected), spritzed with Perfect Pearls Mist, edged with silver paint, and then again with Black Soot Distress Ink.

For the flower, I used sheet music dp and Verve's Floral Circles die for the flower pieces. Then, I curled them with a stylus, put them together with a brad, spritzed it with water and crumpled the layers up tightly. When it dried, I spritzed it again with Perfect Pearls Mist, and added acrylic paint to the edges.

After putting everything together, I was done, except for cleaning up the gigantic mess I made! :)

Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
A Mixed Media Color Challenge #1
Viva la Verve June 2013 Week 4 Sketch Challenge
Verve Diva Dare June 2013: Puddles of Color
Simon Says Stamp & Show Challenge: Kraft

~Hugs,

 

Supplies:

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Celebrate Your Day!

I have a masculine birthday card to share with you today.

I cut my circles first. When I stamped the cupcake image, I placed the two circles together, in the position I wanted them to be in, then used a Stamp-a-ma-jig to make sure that the entire image would end up where I wanted it on each piece. Then, I removed the smaller circle and stamped the cupcake portion on the large one. I did the same thing for the candle portion of the stamp, removing the large circle before stamping. The image is colored with Copics, and I used Frayed Burlap Distress Ink on the edges. I added a little shine to the icing with a Spica pen. It doesn't show up in this photo, but you can see a little of it in the photo at the top of the post. I stamped the sentiment on text dp. The rectangular strips are all glued directly to the card front, but all the circles are raised with layers of crimped cs.

On the inside, I used a Corner Chomper on the gray cs, and topped it with a "happy birthday" wish.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a Happy Week!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Masculine/Father's Day
Simon Says Stamp & Show: Challenge Brought to You by the Letter S (Squares embossing plate, Summer Fresh/Simple Stories dp, Spica pen, sewing)

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Birthday Blueprint (Stampers Anonymous); Birthday Sentiments (MFT Stamps)
Paper: Summer Fresh (Simple Stories)
Ink: Copics; Spica pen; Memento; Distress
Dies: Std. Circles Lg, Labels 21 (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Squares embossing plate (Sizzix Texturz); eyelets; pearls; Corner Chomper; sewing thread
Size: A6 (4.5" x 6.25")

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What's Cookin'?

Here's one last card CASEd from one of Cindy Lawrence's cards for Flourishes Designer CASE Challenge. And, it fits in perfectly for the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday garden challenge that Katie Sims is hosting this week.

Here's the card I cased. Cindy's coloring on that watermelon is just amazing!

And, here's my version. I think this beet image is the only veggie stamp I have that I had never used before, so I figured it needed some ink. Besides, pickled beets are a fav of mine, so it's about time I featured them on a card. ;) My card is CASEd very closely to Cindy's, but instead of stamping the sentiment directly on the image layer, I put it on a vellum flag and stapled it to that layer instead.

The beets are colored with Copic markers, and the white spots on the beets and on the tips of the leaves were made with Copic Opaque White Pigment and a toothpick. I got the pigment when I went to the Copic class a few months ago, and I love how it looks on the image.

With all that rich color on the front of the card, I felt that it needed at least a little bit inside, too. The panel for personalization doesn't go to the bottom of the card so that it won't show through the punched borders at the bottom of the front of the card.

I can't wait to see which Flourishes designer will be featured next! I'm having fun with all this CASEing!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a fab day!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Flourishes Designer Focus CASE Challenge: CASE Cindy
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #223: From the Garden
Simon Says Stamp & Show Challenge: Brought to you by the Letter S (scalloped circle die) 

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Garden Fresh (Flourishes)
Paper: Que Sera Sera (K&Co); Summer Song (My Mind's Eye); Flourishes Classic White; vellum
Ink: Copic markers; Copic Opaque White Pigment; Memento; Distress; Versamark
Dies: Classic Scalloped Circles (Spellbinders); Banner Stacklets 1 (Taylored Expressions)
Accessories: Garden Trellis edge punch (Martha Stewart); Tropical Paisley embossing folder (Sizzix); Ranger embossing powder; ribbon; twine; button; pearls; mini stapler
Size: 4.5" x 6"

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Beach Babes

A while back, I spent almost an entire day coloring one image, and I finally got around to making it into a card.

I just love the distinct personalities these four beach babes have. :) I never liked coloring skin until I took my Copic Certification class. Now, it's fun. I gave each of these ladies different looks--the first one has clear, medium skin tone, the second is pale, has a little zinc oxide on her nose and cheeks, and uses Red Hot Mama lipstick to give herself bigger lips ;),  the third one has rosacea and age spots, and the last one is my sun worshipper. The image is colored with Copics, and I used a clear Spica pen on the sand and drink glasses, and Glossy Accents on their sunglasses. The white dots on the green scarf are a white gel pen. I added some clouds with a cloud stencil. The seam binding was dyed with Distress Reinkers. My hands will be purple for days!

Here's a better look at the sparkly Spica sand, and the age spots on the third babe's legs. 

I almost always use plastic rhinestones, but a friend gave me a packet of Swarovski crystals some months back, and every now and then I splurge with them. It's amazing how much better they look on a card versus plastic bling. I'll be using Swarovski's more often, I think, now that I've figured out an easier way to apply them. (I'll do a post on that later, after I find the tools I need for it).

On the inside I used my score board to make straight and diagonal score lines on the medium purple layer. I hope that cute sentiment made you smile. :)

Thanks so much for stopping by! Enjoy your day.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp & Show Challenge: Brought to you by the Letter S (Swarovski, summer, sand, stencil, seam binding, score board)
CMC Color Challenge #69: Orange You Cool! (Orange13)
Cupcake Inspirations #213 : At the Beach
Dare to Be Sassy Thursday #179: Hit the Beach

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Girlfriends (Art Impressions)
Ink: Copics; Memento; Distress Ink & Reinkers; Spica Pen; white gel pen
Dies: Curved Rectangles, Labels 25 (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Seam Binding dyed with reinkers (Hug Snug); Glossy Accents; Cloud Stencil (Inky Antics); flat back Swarovski Crystals; Corner Chomper; Score Board (Martha Stewart)
Size: A6 (6.25" x 4.5")

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Roses are...Yellow

No, I am not a stalker! Even though this is, yet again, another card CASEd from one of Cindy Lawrence's cards. I can't seem to help myself. ;) Here's her gorgeous card:

It is so beautiful, with all the details, trims and borders, that when I first saw it as an CASE option in Flourishes Designer CASE Challenge, I didn't, even for a second, consider it. I mean, just look at that ruffled ribbon, and those punched sides! But, it just kept calling to me (I love a real challenge, and this one definitely was that, for me), so I finally decided to give it a try. 

And...I did it! I even got my sides punched evenly and was able to get the ribbon ruffled! What a fun card to make!

Here's a look at the inside.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a wonderful crafty week! :)

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Flourishes Designer Focus CASE Challenge: CASE Cindy
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #222: It's Summertime (use sheer ribbon)
Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp & Show Challenge: Brought to you by the Letter S (sheer ribbon, satin ribbon, Sizzix, summertime)

~Hugs,
 

Stamps: Roses are Red, Life Lines (Flourishes)
Paper: Anthologie (We R Memory Keepers); Annalee (Prima); Coastal cs (Taylored Expressions)
Ink: Copics; Memento; Distress
Dies: On the Edge (Tim Holtz/Sizzix)
Accessories: Garden Rail edge punch (Martha Stewart); Bracket edge punch (EK Success); sheer ribbon; satin ribbon; pearls; Scor-Tape
Size: 5.5" x 6"

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Seaside Bookmark

I wanted to CASE one more of Christine's creations for the Flourishes Friday Focus CASE Challenge, and the deadline is looming, so I'll be quick. ;)

Check out this great masculine bookmark Christine made using the What A Catch stamp set. Her coloring on that image is amazing, isn't it! I don't have that stamp set, or any other fishing stamps, but I do have the A Guiding Light stamp set, that has some fab masculine images. I colored the lighthouse image with Copics and added a little glimmer to the sand and water with a Spica pen. After distressing everything (you know I can't make something without at least a little distressing!), I used her general layout to put it all together. I had to raid my DD's shell collection for the little seashell at the top of the bookmark. :)

I'm entering this in the following challenges:
Flourishes Friday Focus CASE Challenge: Case Christine
ColourQ Case Challenge #191
Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp & Show Challenge: Into the Woods (I used a wood image dp)

Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy your evening!

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: A Guiding Light (Flourishes)
Paper: Dolled Up (My Mind's Eye); Clippings (Basic Grey)
Ink: Copics; Distress; Memento; Spica pen
Accessories: Corner Chomper; jute; seashell; circle punches; pearls; Zing embossing powder; eyelet
Size: 2.75" x 5.5"

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Best Year Ever!

Julee, from Verve Stamps, posted a fab card this week for the Verve Diva Dare challenge, and as soon as I saw it, I knew I was going to have to CASE it for a masculine birthday card (you can find Julee's card here).

One of the first things that caught my eye on Julee's card was all the die cut negatives. I don't have many small sizes of star dies, so I made do with what I have, and I really like how my die cut stars turned out. With the brown ink and Stickles on the edges of both the positive and the negative die cuts, it looks like the stars just burned themselves right out of the paper. ;) The stars that I cut out also have a gold embossed star in the center of each one (from the Verve Super Dad stamp set), and a few of those same embossed stars are directly on the card, too. The smallest stars are brads. Besides the negative die cuts, I also CASEd Julee's layout, color palette, and distressing.

I used the same dp on the inside of the card, in a different configuration.

Thanks for stopping by, and have yourself a crafty week!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Verve - May Diva Dare (Stars and Stripes) (I used the Super Dad stamp set by Verve)
Really Reasonable Ribbon #72: Red, White, Blue, and Ribbon theme
Simon Says Stamp & Show Challenge: Into the Woods (I used a wood grain dp)

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Birthday Sentiments (MFT Stamps); Super Dad (Verve); Signature Greetings II (PTI)
Paper: A Little Beachy (Sara Sullivan, Design House Digital); Sailing (Tia Hoffman, Design House Digital)
Ink: Distress Ink; Zig marker; Sharpie marker
Dies: Stars Five (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Garden Rail edge punch (Martha Stewart); embossing powder (Recollections); ribbon; pearls; star brads; mini staples; Stickles; paper piercer; Washi tap; sewing thread
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

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Pears...A CASE

I tried my hand at a bit of watercoloring today, using my Distress Ink Reinkers. Flourishes is having a CASE challenge, to CASE one of Christine Okken's cards, and I absolutely love the Old Tea Rose card she watercolored with reinkers a few weeks ago, so I checked her blog, and since she had explained how she painted it, I decided to give it a try, myself.

The Pears stamp set from Flourishes is one of my all-time favorite stamp sets, and it seemed perfect for a watercolor project. I used the Week 4 Viva la Verve Sketch for the card since it has a nice, big panel to work with, but I turned it upside down because I didn't want to cover my pears up with the horizontal strip (or in my case, ribbon) that stretches across the card. I watercolored the image, without worrying too much about the ink bleeding, and I colored the bg with Peacock Feathers reinker, simply because I love that color with green. Then, just as Christine did on her card, I flicked color over the image, and distressed the edges, both with ink and with my Distrezz-It-All. She did some sewing, and added buttons with jute twine, so I followed her lead. As I was working on this, I wasn't too sure it was going to work out, but once everything was dry and put together, I loved it! I can't wait to try watercoloring again! :)

On the inside, I stamped a smaller image from the Pears set, added a scalloped dp for some color, and sewed a strip of the green cs over the join.

Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Viva la Verve May 2013 Week 4 Sketch Challenge
Flourishes Friday Focus CASE Challenge: CASE Christine
Simon Says Stamp & Show: Favorite Ink (mine is Distress Ink)

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Pears (Flourishes)
Paper: Watercolor paper; Que Sera Sera (K&Co)
Ink: Distress Ink pads & reinkers; Versafine
Dies: A2 Matting Basics
Accessories: Diamond Lace Edger (EK Success); ribbon; jute twine; buttons; sewing thread
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

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Watercolor Daisy

If you've seen many of my cards, you know they tend to have a lot going on--layers, colors, embellies, texture. More is better, as far as I'm concerned. ;) But, a CAS card can stop me in my tracks! So, every now and then, I give CAS a try. This is about as CAS as I can get. :)

The card base and oval are kraft cs, the rest are from my scrap pile. I stamped the Watercolor Daisy image with Staz-On ink, then, using daubers and Distress Ink, I loosely colored it. The dragonfly and grassy images are stamped with Distress Ink. I used a white gel pen to draw a few highlights on the daisy and dragonfly wings. I wanted an oval that was bigger than any die I have, so I cut it by hand, which didn't look so hot, so I distressed it. That's one of the reasons I love distressing so much. Besides being beautiful to look at, it can also cover up all kinds of boo-boos. ;) A little sewing, a piece of twine, a couple of buttons, a punched border, and I was done. 

On the inside, I used linen paper and tore the edges with a deckle ruler, then stamped the sentiment with Distress Ink. Well, at least the inside is CAS, right?

Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the rest of the week!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Color Throwdown #243
Simon Says Stamp & Show Challenge: Favorite Ink (Distress Ink, of course!)

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Watercolor Daisy (Hampton Art); Delicate Leaf Clusters (Hero Arts); Little Things (Our Daily Bread)
Ink: Distress Ink; Staz-On, white gel pen
Accessories: Scallop Diamond Edge Punch (EK Success); twine (The Twinery); buttons; Stickles; sewing thread; deckle ruler
Size: A6 (4.5" x 6.25")

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Grow

I'm back! I made this card for my DD's principal, who is retiring after tomorrow. I'm sorry to see her go, because everything runs perfectly with her in charge, and my DD still has two more years to go to that school. The incoming principal for next year will have some big shoes to fill!

Is that not the sweetest face ever? I just love this stamp! It was a freebie from Krista at Saturated Canary, and it's my first time to color one of her images, but I guarantee you, it won't be my last time.

I colored the image with Copics and used a white charcoal pencil to do a little highlighting. There are two small dots of Stickles on her hair barrettes. I sponged the edges of the layers with Distress Ink, then used my Distrezz-It-All to scrape the edges of the panels, which are popped up with layers of crimped cs.

You can see the raised layers better in this picture.

This month's Verve Diva Dare is Stars & Stripes, so I added some glittery gold star-shaped brads. Once they were on the card, I realized that they look just like the gold stars I used to get on my school papers in grammar school. Given that this card is for an educator, I thought the stars were a nice detail.

This sentiment comes with the digital stamp. You can't see it very well in the photos, but after coloring the letters with Copics, I gave them a subtle shine with a Spica Pen.  I used the inside part of the Rounded Scalloped Frame die for the sentiment layer.

The inside is distressed to match the front of the card, and like the sentiment on the front, the stars here got some glimmer with a Spica pen.

The little girl on the card is holding a potted orchid, so I got one for my DD to give to her principal, too.

I don't think those blooms could be any more beautiful!

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a chance to get inky this week! ;)

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Viva la Verve - May 2013 Week 3 Sketch Challenge
Verve Stamps: Stars & Stripes May 2013 Diva Dare
ColourQ Challenge #190
Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Flower Power
Simon Says Stamp & Show Challenge: Favorite Ink (mine is Distress Ink)

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Grow--Digital Stamp (Saturated Canary); Super Dad (Verve); Vertical Greetings (MFT Stamps)
Paper: Reunion (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Copics; Distress Ink; Spica marker; Memento
Dies: Rounded Scallop Frame Die (Verve)
Accessories: White charcoal pencil; Ribbon; star brads; rhinestones; Stickles; sewing thread; Distrezz-It-All
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

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Butterfly Birthday

Hi there! I've got a birthday card using a simple, but fun technique, to share with you today--embossed resist.

The main image was heat embossed with white ep, then I painted all the open areas with Distress Inks. I love this technique because anyone can turn out something beautiful. I especially like how this one turned out with the white embossed bg, rather than black, which I've done in the past.

The inside is simple, with just a sentiment and a few stamped butterflies.

I'll be back in a little while with a super cute card I made for my DD to give to her school principal.

Thanks for stopping by, and I'll see you later tonight. :)

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge #221: Butterflies
Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Flower Power
Simon Says Stamp & Show Challenge: Favorite Ink (mine is Distress Ink)

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: On Butterfly Wings (Hampton Art); Signature Greetings (PTI); Papillon Potpourri, From My Heart (SU!)
Paper: Summer Song (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Distress; Memento; Versamark 
Accessories: Embossing Powder (Zing); lace; Corner Chomper
Size: A6 (4.5" x 6.25")

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