Butterfly Hello

When you have new stamping supplies, you really do need to play with them.

 For this card, I used a few online challenges and I think my most favorite Distress Oxide stamp pad in BluePrint sketch and a new Tim Holtz stencil.  How much do I want to use both of these on everything I create!!!! For this background, I have covered the stencil in ink and I always want to make use of all of the ink I can so I spritzed the inked stencil and pressed that to watercolor paper.  

 A rather newer stamp set for me is a set from Simon Says Stamp.  It's a set with a number of great images and I picked the leaf and two of the butterflies to help me use the colors in the Color Throwdown challenge.  These were stamped in white ink, embossed with white embossing powder and then colored with Distress Stains.  One of the beauties of this set is it has matching dies, making cutting out the images so fast and easy.  
The dotted rectangle die frame is from Lil' Inkers and the "hello" is from Lawn Fawn. 

Here is the Color Throwdown challenge.

The CAS on Friday challenge is to use butterflies.

And the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge is Anything Goes.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

It's Your Day card

Not only did I want to use a few online challenges, I wanted to use my new Altenew flower dies. 

 That dotted background die is by Lil' Inkers, I thought this created a lacey look to go along with the photo in the Time Out challenge.  

 The flower and leaves are using some dies from a set by Altenew.  The flower is three layers and I colored each layer with Distress Stains before assembling the flower.  The banner and sentiment is from a set from Avery Elle.  

 Here is the Time Out photo inspiration challenge. 

 This also fits in with the Addicted to Stamps and More Anything Goes challenge. 

And it fits the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of Happy Birthday.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Golden "love"

I found a few online challenges that I simply needed to play along with.

 The color combination came from the photo inspiration with Time Out Challenge.  I wanted black and white stripes so I created my own with a black watercolor pen and a Copic black pen.  Once I drew my lines with a ruler, I used a waterbrush to make the watercolor black ink run.  In the photo this ended up looking like it has a lavender cast but it is actually more black and white in real life making it go along with the photo.  The layout of the card went along with the Freshly Made sketch.

 I made sure my card was really on the simple side by adding black and gold glitter.  

 Here is the Time Out Challenge Photo. 

 Here is the Freshly Made sketch I used. 

This also fits the CASology challenge.

 This CAS on Friday challenge is to use markers or pens. 

And the Simon Says Wednesday challenge is Anything Goes.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Big Hugs cuteness

The new year began with the desire to create more so I found a few online challenges to help get a creative spark.  I have lots of supplies but it's pretty interesting how I find direction when I find a few online challenges I want to try.  

 I started with a few brand new supplies I had on my desk that I hadn't even used yet.  How about that really neat background die from Lil' Inker.  It has enough interest and texture to be able to just leave the watercolor paper white.  The circle die and the banner are from another set of dies from Lil' Inker.  

 In order to use the colors in the Color Throwdown Challenge, I added the color pink to the circle die with a spray from Heidi Swapp.  The "big hugs" word die is from Simon Says Stamp and I colored them purple with Distress Stain.  I wanted to still keep my design on the simple and clean side so I just added the cutest little girl doggie stamp and matching die from Reverse Confetti.  

 I used inspiration from two different sketch challenges, the first one CAS(E) this Sketch.

 The second sketch challenge, CAS Colours & Sketches.

 My color choices came with the Color Throwdown Challenge. 

Plus my sentiment choice came from the CASology HUG challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Splatters and flowers

Excited to play along with Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge, Splatter It challenge.

I always love challenges and I will most often find an online challenge to be the spark to my inspiration.  I also love to add splatters to a project so this was an easy one for sure.  

I started off with a flower set of stamps from Alternew.  Adding various colors with Distress Stains made for easy and fast coloring. That cute tag is a die from Lil' Inker Designs.

 The main flower was loosely colors with Distress Stains by touching the dabber top directly to the paper.  Spritzes of water make the inks run for a watercolor look. 

I first gave the background to my card a slight wash with a soft green Distress Stain and then added splatters to match my color combination.  Splatters can be added a few different ways but a fast way to do it is to take a spray bottle of Distress Stains or other inks that come in a spray bottle and unscrew the spray cap.  There is ink on the tube that goes into the bottle so with your fingers, flick that plastic tube and you will get splatters of ink.  The only thing is you aren't controlling where the splatters go.  

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, Splatter It.

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)

CardMaker Magazine and May Arts Blog Hop

The CardMaker Magazine blog team and May Arts Ribbon team are combining to host a blog hop.  It's a great way to share some fun cards and to feature all of the fun that is involved with May Arts ribbons.  If you are following the hop,  you might have come here from Latrice Murphy's blog.

Find all of the details on either the CardMaker Magazine blog or the May Arts Ribbon blog because there are prizes to be won.

 I started out with a simple background by embossing a design with a Lil' Inker cover up die into a piece of watercolor paper.  

 Next, to let a couple of the ribbons shine that I was given to play with, I tied a bow that included the pink ribbon and the cute white lace ribbon.  The sentiment is a die from Lawn Fawn cut from red glitter paper.  

 I just had to create another card because I completely fell in love with this banner ribbon.  Let me tell you this stuff is genius.  It is SELF ADHESIVE!!!! In no time at all you have it attached to your card or project.  

The background is another embossed piece by using a dot embossing folder.  It is finished off with some snowflake dies, the biggest one is from Simon Says Stamp.  

From my blog hop on over to Lori Williams blog.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Love Red Hearts

I could use hearts in my crafting all year long but of course with Valentines Day coming up that is the natural time to use them.  

 I hadn't used my Lil' Inker heart dies yet so this was the perfect time.  I wanted to add some interest to the white background so I used white embossing paste and a dot stencil.  The die cut words are a die set from Simon Says Stamp.  

 This angle shows off the embossed dots and the great accents with the heart dies.  This set includes several sizes of hearts and it also adds the stitching detail.  I just kept cutting hearts and then embedded them.  The striped heart is created by covering the paper first with strips of washi tape.  The red is glitter paper.  

Here is The Card Concept challenge that was my inspiration.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Snowflake time

Well, we won't really get any snowflakes where I live but I sure love using snowflakes for winter anyway.

I first of all I used a snowflake plate from Lil' Inker and embossed the entire piece using watercolor paper.  Next I took one of my Zig Clear Color pens and added some color.  I then used a watercolor brush to "paint" each embossed snowflake.  I loved the resulting soft look.  The sentiment from Simon Says Stamp was stamped on vellum.  I like that I could add the sentiment is a subtle way.  

 I also cut out snowflakes from this set of Lil' Inker dies, I love the stitching marks that are in the dies.  I sprayed the cut out snowflakes with Brushed Pewter Distress Spray.  I placed the die cut snowflakes over some of the embossed snowflakes.  

 The card fits the Inkspirational FLAKE challenge.

 The colors fit the Sunday Stamps challenge.

Plus it fits the Simon Says Wednesday Die Cut challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Hello Friend

I wanted to use the Freshly Made sketch and I also wanted to keep my card on the clean and simple side.

 I used my watercolor paper for the entire card.  To go along with the sketch I used my Dotted label die from Lil' Inker.  I embossed the label into a piece of watercolor paper and then cut out a matching piece from the same die to add to the center.  I used a few Distress Stains to add color.  Spritzing the inks with water help to make then run and mingle.  

 The circle piece with the cut out "hello" is a die from Technique Tuesday.  This die set comes with several words so I used the word, "friend".  I added a piece of washi tape across the card. 

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

Play along with Addicted to CAS

I have one last challenge with Addicted to CAS as their guest designer.  I've loved playing along with them.  

 I love how easy it is, just create with blue.  

 Once again, I turned to my Distress Stains to create my background.  I applied the ink directly to an acrylic block, spritzed it with water and then pressed it to the watercolor paper.  Working with the Distress Stains this was is always unpredictable but I always love what happens.   

I used my Lil' Inkers dotted label die and used it to emboss a design into my paper.  LOVE those dots.  The stamps with matching dies I used are from a set by Wplus9 Designs. I wanted my look to be very simple so I didn't color my giraffe except for the bottoms of his little feet.  The big balloon and the sentiment are also from the same set.  I only added some accent to the balloon with a light gray Copic marker.  I hand wrote the string for the balloon. 

Check out what the rest of the Addicted to CAS team created and be sure to play along too.

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)