Shades of Pink

I let the color challenge at The Paper Players guide the card I want to share.

 I picked up a stencil by DecoArt so of course I had to use it, mixing it with a variety of pink inks from Distress Stamp Pads on watercolor paper.  After the inks were applied with a blending sponge, I gave them a spritz of water so the inks would slightly run.  

 I gave my stenciled image some extra accents with dots using Liquid Pearls.  To have my card match the CAS(e) this Sketch I added the die cut word from Mama Elephant, "hello" cut from silver glitter paper and other layers of pink cardstock.  

 Here is The Paper Players color challenge.

And here is the CAS(e) this sketch.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Creating a background

I love so many things about crafting and this beautiful flower stamp from Altenew Stamps and a stencil for creating a background are definitely two of those things. 

 The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge is to create your own background and so I reached for this writing stencil, a foam blending tool and some Distress Ink pads.  I love the antique look some old writing adds and the inks create a soft look.  

 I wanted to do minimal coloring on these flowers using some Copic markers.  

 I sprayed the finished flower and background with a Heidi Swapp spray that gave everything a pearl look. 

Here is the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

A smear of color with Watercolor

It's no secret, my favorite inks to reach for are anything and everything Distress from Ranger.

 This might be one of the most simple ways to use the mini Distress Stamp pads to create a background.  I added a few different colors of the inks to an acrylic block, gave that a spritz of color and ran the block downward on a piece of watercolor paper.  The inks slightly run, creating a place to add other stamps and elements.     

 I then just stamped a leaf sprig on this pre-prepared background and added soft colors to that.  I used used a little bit of water and a little bit of added color with Copic markers. The leaf sprig is a stamp from Altenew and the sentiment is from a set of stamps by Simon Says Stamp.

 The layout for the card goes along with the Freshly Made sketch.

 Casology's challenge for this week is watercolor.

Plus this fits the Addicted to Stamps and More Photo Inspiration challenge.
This also fits the Simon Says Stamp flickr challenge of Emboss it.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Red roses....

Not sure what is better then red flowers and then add a watercolor look to that.

 I just received a new set of stamps from Altenew so of course I had to play a bit.  The solid flower shapes are very forgiving when you are after a loose watercolor look.  The stamps come with the possibility of stamping layers of the flowers but I did see that the layers pretty much mingled when I added the water.  The gorgeous word dies that says Happy Birthday is from Penny Black.  The set has a few sentiments in it.  This fits the TEXT challenge at Inkspirational because I used a simple text stamp from Stampers Anonymous to just fill in some of the white space.  I wasn't using it so that you could read the words, I just wanted the typewriter look. 

 Here's a close up of my resulting flowers and leaves.  I used another set of stamps that has an outline stamp in it so that I could further define my flowers.  I use some black Liquid Pearls to give a little highlight and dimension.  

Here's the Inkspirational Challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Presence of Wonder

Using the retro sketch gave me great inspiration for the card I want to share.

 I thought this sketch gave a really fun and simple way to add a sentiment to a card.  I used a thin vellum type paper so it didn't overwhelm my background.  I stamped my sentiment from Tim Holtz in a Distress Ink and while that was still wet, I added clear embossing powder which usually adds a little bit of intensity.  

 I loved how my background turned out.  I used a piece of watercolor paper and ran it through my Cuttlebug with a cover die from Lil' Inker Designs.  I didn't take out the cut pieces because I fell in love with the look of it cut but still all together.  Now I spritzed it with water and added random Distress Stain.  I loved the irregular way to paper took the ink.  

Here is the retro sketch.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Prettiest Snowflakes

I love mixing colors on a card and stamping snowflakes is the perfect time to use that combo.

 I have a thing for snowflake stamps and snowflake dies so I knew I needed this set from Tim Holtz.  Each one is so lacy.  Each snowflake was inked with Distress Stamp pad inks on watercolor paper then I spritzed the images with water so they would end up a little "messy".  

 I stamped the sentiment first and embossed the black ink with clear embossing powder so the ink wouldn't run as I added the other colors.   I added dot accents here and there with Stickles.  

My card fits this Color Throwdown challenge.

Plus I thought it fit the Time Out challenge.  I know they are circles but I thought the way they were scattered reminded me of this photo.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

You're Brag Worthy

I needed a baby card so I turned to some online challenges for my starting point. 

 I used the color combination from The Paper Players.  I thought they were just made for a baby theme.  My card needed to be for a new little boy so how could I go wrong with this adorable little airplane from Reverse Confetti.  That cute sentiment is from Paper Smooches.

 I used the matching die set to cut out the airplane and the propeller making my card fit the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.  Isn't that little background the cutest using a circle set of stamps from Simon Says Stamp.  The set has the outline circles and the solid circles.  By using the circles I made it fit the Cas(e) this sketch for this week.  All of the inks are Distress Stamp pads and I coated the airplane with Glossy Accents to make it a little more standout.  

 Here is The Paper Players challenge. 

 The Cas(e) this sketch.

Here is the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Blessings to You

I started in with another challenge to use a lot of white space.

 In order to do that, I started out with my new background circle stamp from My Favorite Things.  I stamped it with white ink and embossed it with white embossing powder.  I love the white on white and this makes the perfect start to adding a little bit of color in one focal point.  I used the CAS(e) this Sketch for my layout although I reversed the side the main element was on. 

 I used Distress Inks to add color to just a portion of my stamped background.  I then stamped and embossed the flower, coloring that too with Distress Inks.  I like using my image as a palette, focusing more color in some places, less in others.  I just got the matching dies for this Altenew flower set so I cut my flower out.  The wreath is a die from Simon Says Stamp and the word "blessings" is from Winnie & Walter.  Both of those were cut from the same watercolor paper that I used on my card background. 

 Here is the CAS(e) this Sketch.

Here is the CAS-ology Precious challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Keeping white space

Why does it seem so hard to create a card and still keep lots of white space?

 The challenge at CAS-ology this week is Precious, meaning that white space is precious.  I of course had to give it a try.  

 I started out by mixing a little bit of orange and purple Distress Inks onto a piece of watercolor paper. I spritzed these inks with water and created the little burst of color that I wanted.  I stamped this great sentiment on the ink once it was dry.  Then stamped the flower with white ink and embossed it with white embossing powder.  I added color with Distress Stain ink.  The flower and sentiment are stamps by Wplus9 Designs and the flower has a matching die.  I added Glossy Accents to the middle of the flower and then added some white pearls with Liquid Pearls.  

Here is the CAS-ology Precious challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Time for another Just Us Girls challenge

Plus my time as a guest at Just Us Girls.

 The challenge this week is colors.  I was also so inspired by that yummy lollipop and those fun colors.

 Because the inspiration photo looks so much like a party, I went with a birthday theme.  

 To use some of the colors, I used a paint brush swipe stamp from Avery Elle and just inked it several times with Distress Ink.  I first stamped the words "happy birthday" using white ink and white embossing powder.  The embossed lines acted as a resist as I stamped the inks over that making the words pop out.  I wanted a very simple look but I did need to add a balloon which is a stamp from Simon Says Stamp.  

Be sure to check out the rest of the teams cards at Just Us Girls and play along too.

This also fits the Curtain Call challenge of Celebrate.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Two shades of blue and some roses

Time to play....

 And when I get to play a little bit I turn to online challenges for my inspiration.  For this card I used three different challenges, the first one being the Repeat challenge at CAS-ology.  I wanted to make a statement and yet keep my card very simple.  I picked up some of my favorite flower stamps by Altenew.  After I stamped the outline of the flowers, I stamped the base of the flowers with the two shades of blue in the Colour Me challenge with Distress Stamp pads on watercolor paper.  A spritz of water helped the inks to run a bit.  

I used my brand new dotted label die set from Lil' Inkers Designs. The size of die I used cut both of these pieces.  I mounted the inside one with foam tape for a little bit of dimension.  The sentiment is by Heidi Swapp, plus a few Liquid Pearl dots.  

 Here is the Colour Me challenge.

 Here is the CAS-ology challenge.

Plus the Happy Little Stampers Stamping challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

LOVE everything red

So I did retake pictures of my card in the daylight.  You can read below about the card and my last minute picture taking last might.

 I love the way the stamped paint strips ran when I spritzed them with water.  I did add a small spray of some Heidi Swapp Color Shine.

Plus a close up of the flower and the leaf stamps. I stamped the flower with white ink, embossed with white ink and then colored the paper that was on with red Distress Stain.
Last Nights post...
I need to take a better picture of my card in some good light but this has to do for now because I just had to play along with a challenge that all about red.

 On watercolor paper I stamped a paint brush swipe stamp from Avery Elle.  Because of some spritzes of water, the Distress Ink ran a bit for a watercolor look.  That is the entire background of my card.  

I used a flower and a leaf stamp from Avery Elle plus the "Hello" sentiment.  This was all finished off with white sequins and white Liquid Pearls.

Here is the Colour Me challenge.

Plus the Paper Players The Great Outdoors challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Happy Balloons

What goes with Happy Birthday greetings better then balloons.

 I wanted to use this "happy birthday" die from Paper Smooches and I knew I wanted the words to be multicolored.  I also wanted some simple balloons for accents so I used a stamp and die cut set of circles by Simon Says Stamp.  This set also includes an outline stamp to match each circle.  I used Distress Stamp pads for the coloring of the balloons and I hand drew the little strings.  

  For my colored words, I took a piece of watercolor paper and made colored stripes with Distress Stains and a stripe stencil from Clearsnap.  With some spritzes of water, the inks ran and created the neatest, soft colored stripes.  I cut the die cut word from my colored piece of paper and I also cut it out of a plain piece of watercolor paper, making sure of my placement of the words.I wanted to use the negative of my word and fill that with my colored set of words.  Because my background piece of cardstock for the card base is turquoise, I let that show through the openings of the letters.  

 This fits the Stampin' Celebration challenge because of the colors and the strings on the balloons. 

It fits the Seize the Birthday Toppings challenge to use the negative. 

It fits the Happy Little Stampers challenge to use die cuts.

Plus the Pals Paper Arts color challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)