sending hugs...

 Hello!  Popping in to share a card for a few challenges all of which will be closing very soon!  I have tried for days to get a card, any card made.  Finally, this one came together for me.   Let's have a look.

About a month ago I got this sweet little personalized stamp set in the mail from Altenew.  This is the second one they have sent me as I got the one they sent out last year.  It is a little surprising to me that I have gotten these sets as I don't often buy from Altenew.  They have beautiful products, but I find their selection overwhelming and honestly, I don't have a lot of money to spend on crafty supplies.   Anyway, this little stamp is so pretty that I just had to get something made with it.  Along came the current Color Hues challenge of coral and green.  Perfect!  Then I saw that the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge was feminine.  What is more feminine than a little flower cluster?  Then I decided to check out the Altenew April challenge.  The colors in the challenge work with my little flower!  Yay!

I stamped the flower using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then colored it with Copic markers.  I had to come up with my coral color myself and thankfully I had Copics that worked.  I think I did a pretty good job, too.   After I finished coloring the image I stamped it again to make the black lines a little bolder.  I did leave the image in my stamp positioner for that purpose.  I fussy cut the image which wasn't too hard to do.  Hoping they come up with a matching die.  The set I got last year has a matching die set so I am going to try to pick that up eventually.  I used my Simon Says Stamp Scalloped Arched Frames dies to cut white glitter cardstock and fog cardstock (both from Simon Says Stamp).  I adhered the glitter frame to the white cardstock panel, then added thin foam squares to the gray interior piece and inserted it into the frame.  I added the floral image using thin foam squares, as well.  I finished with the sentiment that is also in the set.  I die cut it with a labels die from my stash.   A simple card, but sometimes that is all you need!

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

Just Us Girls Guest Designer Word Week - Spotlight

Hello everyone!  It is word week at JUGs this time around and the word is spotlight technique.  I have to be honest and tell you that I was thrown for a bit of a loop when I saw the word.  Had to go look up the spotlight technique to make sure I knew what I was doing, lol!   It also didn't help that I was struggling with a bad head cold!  Thankfully I was able to persevere and get something made.  Let's look at what I created.

I hadn't used any of my Altenew products in quite some time and so I decided that I wanted to use them for this card.   I searched through what I had and settled on the Sweet Lilies stamps, stencil and die set.  I looked through my collection of Altenew Fresh Dye inks and settled on a grouping of light purples and light pinks for the flowers and darker greens for the leaves.  I then determined what size of circle die I was going to use for the spotlight portion of the card.  I picked a circle die that would include as much of one of the lilies in it as possible.  Then I stamped the image twice.  One for the spotlight portion and one for the full image as you see on the card.  Then I stenciled the flowers and the leaves.   Once I had the majority of the image that I would need stenciled I die cut it and then adhered it to the background panel with thin foam squares.  I finished the card with sentiments from the Simon Says Stamp Thanks, Mom stamp set.  I had been able to purchase the matching dies and used those as well.   

Well, that's it for me.  I hope you will play along with this week's technique.  It really is a fun one and there are lots of directions to go in.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

two cards...

 Hello!  Popping in with a couple of cards.  One card is for the Altenew August challenge and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.  The other card will be heading off to the current JUGs challenge and Color Throwdown.  Let's look at what I made.

I often think I would like to participate in the Altenew monthly challenges, but then the month goes by and I don't.  I decided to make sure that I did participate in the August challenge and here I am, barely getting it in on time, lol!   Only took me four days to get the card done!  I used the Japanese Mum Build a Flower stamp set (Does Altenew even still have that line of stamps?  I don't know because all my Altenew products are several years old!).  It is a favorite.  I paired it up with one of their dotted impression plates (don't know the name because it is old, too, lol!) and a sentiment from their Versatile Greetings 2 die set.  That isn't super old having been released in 2023.  All the inks are from Altenew, as well.   Won't win any prizes, but I thought it turned out well.  

It is stencil week at JUGs and lucky for me I got the PaperTrey Ink In the Meadow stencil set this week!  I immediately put it to use with the Color Throwdown colors to create this card.  The sentiment is the January 2023 Psalms Reflection stamp.  This is one of my favorite Bible verses.  Sometimes when I'm having a not so great day, I remember this verse and it makes me feel so much better!   So you could still see all the stenciling I did with Altenew inks in reds and aquas I embossed the sentiment in white on vellum.  It was a bit tricky to get the panel adhered, but I think it turned out okay.  

That's it for me.  Don't forget about the sales at Birch Press Design and Poppystamps.  You just might find something fun to buy.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

three cards...

 Hello!  Popping in with three cards today.  And each card is for one challenge each!   First up is a card that I made for the current Color Hues challenge.  Let's have a look at what I made.

This card was made using the Altenew Craft Your Life Watercolor Flowers stamps and stencils along with sentiments from the Simon Says Stamp Sweet Birthday stamp set.  A few weeks ago I think I mentioned that I had been looking through my Altenew products and came across the Watercolor Flowers stamps and dies.  I had thought I had also purchased the coordinating stencils and embossing folder, but couldn't find them.  Well, I found the stencils and the embossing folder a few days ago.  YAY!   What was lost has been found, lol!  I used Altenew inks to stencil the flowers and leaves after I stamped the image.  I was going to die cut the image, but decided to just leave it as is and just die cut the panel.  I adhered the panel to a white cardstock base, stamped the two word sentiment and die cut them.  I did die cut additional layers for the words.  I adhered them together and then added the words to the card front.   A simple, but elegant card, I think.

Next up is a card for the current Just Us Girls challenge.   This week it is mood board week and it is a pretty one.  This is what I made.

 

When I saw the mood board I immediately thought of a Simon Says Stamp set that I got in a card kit called Cozy Autumn Hugs.  It had leaves in it that are similar in style to some of the images in the mood board.   I used to it create my own version of the mood board.  I tried to use what I thought were some of the colors found in the mood board, as well.  Not sure if I totally hit the mark with the colors, but I love how the card turned out.  I arranged all the leaves and berry stems around the sentiments that are also from the stamp set.  I adhered all the leaves flush to the card base.  The sentiments were stamped and die cut and then I die cut additional layers of each word to adhere behind the words so there was a bit of dimension.   Did I hit the mark?  Let me know what you think.

The final card is for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of cute critters.  Are whales cute?  I think the ones on my card are, lol!

I created this card using more new dies from the latest Birch Press Design release.  The fun whales are from the Block Print Whale Duo set.  The waves are another new die set called Corner Waves.  I also used the Wavy Hillside die set and a sentiment from the Vintage Everyday Greetings stamp and die set.  I die cut the whales and then added some ink to give them a little more depth and dimension.  I had wanted both whales to be a little more tucked behind the waves, but I wasn't paying attention when I added foam tape to the bottom two waves resulting in me not being able to tuck the whales down behind the waves.  I added the hillside in the background and then did some inking on the remainder of the white panel for the sky.    I added the sentiment to finish things off.  I think this will be a good card to send to my brother for his birthday.  

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

wishing you a beautiful day...

 Hello!  Popping in with a card for a few challenges:  Altenew monthly challenge, Just Us Girls - Stencils and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.   Let's have a look at what I made.

I went back and forth as to whether or not I would try to make something for the Altenew challenge as I wasn't really feeling the colors.  Don't get me wrong, I do like the combo of orange, green and kraft, but nothing was inspiring me.  I was going through my Altenew products and came across the Daisy Craze stencil set.  I decided to challenge myself to see if I would make that combo work and I think I was able to make it work!  I used Pinkfresh Studio inks in the kraft and orange and Altenew's Forest Glade ink for the green.  I used two shades of orange to give the flowers a bit of variation.  I used a sentiment from the Altenew Craft Your Life Watercolor Flowers stamp and die set.   I added the bit of twine around the card so the sentiment wouldn't look so lonely, lol!   Let me know what you think.

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

happy holiday...

 Hello!  Popping in with a card for the Altenew November challenge.  I will also be posting it to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.   Haven't done an Altenew challenge in several months, but couldn't pass up the chance to use my favorite poinsettia stamp set that just happens to be from Altenew!  

I love the Altenew Festive Poinsettia stamp and die set because it is one of the most realistic poinsettia stamp sets out there.  Most poinsettia stamp sets depicit the poinsettia looking more like a traditional flower.  The flowers on a poinsettia aren't the red bracts, but the tiny yellow dots in the center of each plant.   Anyway, like I said, the Festive Poinsettia is a very realistic depiction of a poinsettia.  I stamped the image twice with VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne ink on watercolor cardstock and then used my Jane Davenport watercolors to color in the images.  Once they were dry I splattered them with black paint, let them dry, again, and then die cut.  I layered them together for the front of my card.  I used Antique Linen distress oxide ink and the MFT rectangle stencil to create the background for the flowers.  I love the soft golden background it created.  I stamped the sentiment from the set in the Nocturne ink, die cut it with a tag die, inked the edges with the Antique Linen DO and then added the little red twine bow.  Another Christmas card done!  Since I did stencil the background I will also add this to the last JUGs challenge for the year.  

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!