clean and simple cards...

 Hello!  Popping in with a couple of clean and simple cards.  First up is a card for Color Throwdown and Freshly Made Sketches.   When I saw the CTD colors I immediately thought I would make a more masculine card and this card was scheduled to be sent to my sister-in-law's husband.  Then my mom called and asked me if I would make a card for her for my son who is turning 15 on Monday!  (How did that happen?).  Since I had this card almost completed I told her I would give it to her to give to Gabriel.   I used the Altenew Trigonometry stamp and die set.  I used the dies and the happy birthday sentiment.  I die cut the triangles from aqua, blue and gray cardstock and then figured out the arrangement based on the FMS layout.  The triangles I didn't use I simply stacked behind the ones I did to give them a little more dimension.  I die cut white cardstock with the largest Spellbinders Essential rectangle die and then the center of that panel with a smaller one.  I adhered the frame that was created  flush to the card base with tape adhesive and then popped up the smaller panel with foam tape.  I added the triangles and the sentiment that I stamped in VersaFine Clair Twilight ink and die cut with a banner die.    I hope Gabriel likes it!   I'm going to add this to the As You See It challenge to create a masculine card. 

This next card is for the MFT sketch and color challenges.  I haven't played along with either of those challenges in ages and when I saw the fun sketch I just had to get a card done!   Despite the fact that this card is pretty simple it was not simple to make.  It took me four times to get the butterfly right!  Then I had trouble with the element that I would layer behind the butterfly as well as the to banners.  Finally got things figured out and the card put together!   I generally don't do this, but I actually had all the elements (except the pearls) adhered to the card before I stamped the sentiment.  Thankfully the sentiment stamped well!   I finished with my favorite pearls... Rainbow Fish from Trinity Stamps!   There are pearls in the mix that matched perfectly with the blue and green colors in the MFT color challenge!

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

More Christmas cards...

Yep... still making Christmas cards!  I think I still need a couple more, but need to make out my list to know for sure.  The first card is for Color Throwdown.  I recently got the Spellbinders Kaleidoscope Plaid die set and have been wanting to make a card with it so I used it for this card.  I die cut the bottom layer from green, the middle from red and then the top layer from aqua.   I was going to go in one direction and tried the idea I  had in mind.  The idea didn't turn out quite the way I wanted it to, but that happens, right?   So I just moved forward with the rest of my idea and finished the card.  I used my Glimmer hot foil system to foil the senitment in silver on green cardstock and then I used two dies from a Spellbinders small die kit to create the little bow for my present.  I die cut white cardstock using a Spellbinders Essentials Rectangle die and adhered the kaleidoscope plaid piece to the rectangle and then added the bow.  To bring in a little more silver I added silver flatback pearls from Spellbinders to the center of the bow and to the present.  Going to add this one to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes. 

Don't forget that Spellbinders is having a huge sale going on through tomorrow.  Click here or on my side bar to head to the sale.  Lots of great deals to be had!

The second card is for the MFT sketch and color challenge.  It looks alot like the first card in layout and honestly I didn't plan it that way.  I actually made this card before I made the CTD card!  I love snowflakes (seriously... who doesn't?) and have several older snowflake stamp and die sets from MFT so I pulled out one set to create my card.  I used inks from MFT and PTI for the snowflakes.  To bring in the red I stamp the sentiment from an older MFT sentiment set with watermark ink on red cardstock and heat embossed with white embossing powder.   The sentiment was die cut with an MFT fishtail flag stack die.  I used an MFT scalloped rectangle die for the center panel.  I arranged the snowflakes and the sentiment strip on the panel and adhered them with liquid adhesive and foam dots.  Once I had everything adhered down I added Nuvo Crystal drops in Morning Dew.  I was going to add more around the snowflakes, but I just didn't have the nerve to commit to that, lol!  So... I kept it clean and simple.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Pinkfresh Studios and MFT...

Hey there!  Popping in with two cards.  The first one is for this month's Pinkfresh Studio challenge to use florals.   I recently got the Pinkfresh Studio/Altenew colloboration stamp and die set called Celebrate today from Scrapbook.com.  At the time I purchased the set they were offering a special Pinkfresh Studio/Scrapbook.com thank you die set for free with purchase!  So I also used that on my card.  I stamped the beautiful floral image on smooth bristol cardstock with VersaFine CLAIR Morning Mist ink and then watercolored it very simply with ZIG markers using colors from the challenge color palette.   Once I was done I die cut the image with the matching die and then adhered it to a white cardstock base.  The thank you was die cut from white glitter cardstock (although it is hard to tell in the photo) and from scrap white cardstock several more times.  Everything was stacked and then I adhered the sentiment on the floral image.  Very simple, but I love how it turned out!

As you can probably guess from my blog post title the second card is for a MFT challenge (or 3, lol!).  I haven't often played along with the week long challenges that MFT host each summer.  This year it is called Summer School.  Alot of the challenges were up my alley and so I decided to make a card for two of them.  Day 1:  Visual Triangle and Day 5:  White space.   I will also be posting this to the MFT color challenge and was going to add it to the sketch challenge, but realized that my layout did not really follow the sketch challenge layout!  Anyway, that is still three challenges!   I used the super cute MFT Meant to Bee stamp and die set for my card.  I colored the bee hive and little bees with ZIG markers and then added a little more depth with my Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils.  The images were stamped with VersaFine CLAIR Acorn ink.  I die cut everything with the matching dies.  To create my branch I used the little tree from a no longer available MFT set called Sweet Forest Friends.  I colored that with a brown ZIG and a brown Polychromos.   I adhered the bee hive and the little bees.  The sentiment was stamped in the bottom corner and I added Nuvo Glitter drops in clear to the bees wings.    Lots of white (well... in this case cream!) space on this card, as well as the little bees created one visual triangle.  Being that the bee hive is actually triangular in shape that makes a second one.   Going to try to make one more card before the Summer School challenges close... fingers crossed I get my homework done in time, lol!

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

a quick post...

Hello!  Popping in with a quick post of a card that I made for the MFT sketch challenge, as well as the MFT color challenge.  I'm also going to add this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.   The card is pretty simple.  I die cut the image panel using an MFT fishtail flag stax die (cutting off the fishtail end with the straight end of the die) and then stamped it with the MFT Fresh Cut Flowers stamp in VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne ink.  I die cut the butterfly from the Brilliant Butterflies Die-namics set and then stamped it with the two shades of pink from the color challenge.  To bring in the other two colors I cut strips of yellow and green cardstock and adhered them to a white cardstock base.  I stamped the sentiment from another MFT stamp set on the image panel, adhered the panel and the butterfly to finish off the card. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

two cards... one image...

Hello!  Well I seem to be in a cardmaking lately!  I'm trying to use all of the stam

ps and dies that I purchased in November and December.   Today is the day to share two cards that I made using one image.  In either November or December I purchased the beautiful My Favorite Things Floral Focus stamp and die set.  This set consists of a large floral image and different words that can be put together to create sentiments.  The die is one large die that cuts the entire image.  However, the way the image was design there is a way to cut the image apart thus creating two separate pieces.  I stamped the image on watercolor paper and then stamped the image using VersaFine CLAIR Morning Mist ink.  I watercolored the image using my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors in the MFT color challenge combo.  I'm really fascinated with using gray to color images and even though I had already created a card using that color combo I really wanted to use it again.  Once the image was dry I added some additional color with my Polychromos color pencils and I then carefully die cut it.  The die is solid and so I had to die cut it first from scrap paper to create a template, arrange the template over the stamped image, fit the die into place and then run it through my die cutter.  It took a little bit of patience to do that, but it worked like a charm. I cut the piece apart and then I created my first card using the layout from CAS(E) this Sketch.  I will also be posting this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge and the MFT color challenge.

The second card uses the layout from Mojo Monday.  I'm going to try to play along with Mojo Monday more often this year.  We will see how it goes.  I left the ribbon element off my card for a more clean and simple design.  Going to post this one to Simon Says Stamp, as well.  No need to explain the process as I already did that for the first card! With this card you can see more of my coloring as on the first card I partially covered that up with my sentiment strip.  I must say that  even though I had to cut the image into two separate pieces I'm really pleased with how well my coloring turned out.  I have been watching lots of videos on watercoloring and learning lots.  Now I have to put it into practice!  I'm looking forward to coloring this image again and using the full image on one card!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

sending hugs...

Hello!  A quick post today to share a card that I made for the MFT sketch and color challenges.  I used a MFT border die set that I have had for ages and never really used.  I do not know what it is called because it is no longer available from MFT, but it sure is cute!  I die cut my panel using the largest Stitched Mini Scallop Rectangle die from watercolor paper and then added a light wash of pink watercolor (Kuretake Gansai Tambi).  I dried the panel with my heat tool and then set it aside.  I die cut the hearts from dark red cardstock and adhered them to the watercolor panel.  The sentiment was stamped on a medium gray cardstock with watermark ink and then heat embossed in white.  I die cut it with another MFT die that is no longer available in the MFT store, but I believe was called Slanted Sentiment Strips.  The sentiment is from Pink Fresh Studios.  I adhered the sentiment strip after trimming it down and then finished with some sparkling clear confetti.   As you can see my interpretation of the sketch was pretty literal, lol! (I am affiliated with several companies listed on my side bar.  The majority of items I use I purchased from those affiliates.  Should you decide to purchase through my link I will receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.)  ETA:  At my sweet bloggy friend Anita's (Anita is also on the Time Out design team) suggestion I'm going to add this to the Time Out challenge.  Thanks so much for reminding that this card would work for the challenge, Anita!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!  

more floral cards...

Hey there!  I have two more floral cards to share.  This time I did some coloring.  One card features coloring with ZIG clean color real brush makers and the other with Faber-Castell Polychromos color pencils.  First up is the card I colored with the ZIGs.   This card is for the MFT sketch and color challenges and uses the Flowers in Bloom stamp set from the MFT June card kit.  I haven't used the custom blended Color Burst powders that came in the kit yet, but hope to give them a try soon!  I stamped the image on Strathmore smooth bristol cardstock with VersaFine Onyx Black ink and then colored the images with the ZIG markers giving each flower a different color.  To deepen the shadows I used a little bit of dark brown on each flower as well as in the center of each flower.  I also used a little bit a very light green to color the stems.  I finished off the design by coloring around the flowers with a light blue ZIG and blending it out with water.  I die cut the panel and then added the sentiment by stamping the word thanks in VersaMark watermark ink one vellum and heat setting with white embossing powder.  I adhered the vellum strip using my Glue Sponge and I must say that it worked really well!  (Compensated affiliate links listed below where possible.)

The second card is for the Sunday Stamps challenge that closes in just a few hours. Thank you to the team at Sunday Stamps for picking my entry in their previous challenge for an honorable mention!   I actually colored this image from Technique Tuesday with my Polychromos pencils several months ago, but never found a project to use it on.  I realized that it would work well for the Sunday Stamps challenge and so it finally made it onto a card!  I did turn the sketch on its side to make it work better for me.  A few weeks ago when I was down in Vancouver, WA visiting my friend, Greta, we spent sometime at a Craft Warehouse store and while there both of us picked up a pad of 6x6 pads with a fun linen like texture on them.  I used two of those papers for the bottom strip as well as the mat for my colored image.  Simply layered everything up and I was done.  (Compensated affiliate links listed below where possible.)

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Supplies:

Stamps:  My Favorite Things
Dies:  My Favorite Things
           A Jillian Vance Design
Inks:  VersaFine Onyx Black
           VersaMark watermark ink
Coloring Mediums:  Faber-Castell Polychromos color pencils
                                 ZIG Clean Color Real Brush markers
Cardstock:  Simon Says Stamp Fog
                   PaperTrey Ink rustic white, vellum
                   Strathmore Smooth Bristol
Embossing powder:  Hero Arts white

fiesta and a flower...

Hello!   Once, again, it feels like ages since I last posted, but it has only been a few days.  I have been busy doing some coloring lately and the images I have been coloring are rather large so that is taking up a lot of time.  I'm sharing one of those cards today at the end of the post.  First up though is a card for the My Favorite Things sketch challenge and color challenge.   I love that fun little piñata die from the April, 2018 MFT release and decided to use that along with the fiesta word die.  I seem to like layering the word over the little piñata because I came across a card that I had made quite awhile ago where I did the same thing!  Hey... if it works go with it, right?  I die cut all the main body of the piñata from white cardstock and all the pieces from purple, coral and red cardstock.  Then I determined how I was going to layer all the pieces and adhered them to my base.  Finished things up by adhering the teeny tiny eye!  Last weekend my boys and I made a little trip down to Vancouver, WA to meet up with my friend, Greta.  She lives in Oregon so we meet up in a place that is about half way for each of us.  She took me to one of her favorite crafty shopping places Craft Warehouse where I was able to purchase the Glue Sponge.  I used that to help me adhere the teeny tiny eye pieces together.   It works pretty good!   I die cut a rectangle from white cardstock using the largest MFT Stitched Mini Scallop Rectangle Stax die.  I attached some white twine to the back of the piñata and then attached that to the back of the rectangle.  The rectangle was adhered to my white cardstock base using foam tape.  I die cut the word from light gray cardstock three times, adhered them together and attached to the piñata using a combination of glue and foam tape.  When I was done I realized that I forgot to give the piñata its tail!  Oh well...  Sending this off to Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes, as well.

The second card was created using a stamp set from a newer stamp company called Colorado Craft Company.  They have a line of stamps called Lovely Legs and recently started a new line called Big & Bold.  All the stamps in this line feature big and bold floral images.  When I saw the images I couldn't resist picking up the Get Well Hydrangea and Missing You Peony.  Today I'm sharing a card I made with the Get Well Hydrangea.  I stamped the image with VersaFine CLAIR Morning Mist and then colored the image with my ZIG Clean Color Real Brush markers in shades of blue and green.  When I started the card I knew I was going to send it to a friend for her birthday so I used a sentiment from the Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Flowers stamp set.   VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne was used for the sentiment.  After die cutting the card with the largest die from the Jillian Vance Design basic rectangle backdrop die set I adhered the panel to a blue cardstock base and then added sequins.  I used the Glue Sponge for this task.  I really like how the coloring turned out.  Stay tuned as I will be sharing a card I made with the Missing You Peony stamp set!

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

Supplies:  Card #1:  Cardstock:  PTI white, Bazzill coral, SU! purple and red, SSS Fog; Dies:  My Favorite Things; SU! white baker's twine

Card #2:  Cardstock:  Reverse Confetti light blue; Strathmore smooth bristol; Stamps:  Colorado Craft Company; Ink:  VersaFine CLAIR; Sequins:  Verve; Coloring medium:  ZIG Clean Color Real Brush markers

cards to share...

Hello!  Popping in with a couple of cards that I made for a few challenges.   That seems to be the way I'm blogging lately... so much easier to get it done in one post!   First up is a card for the Altenew May inspiration challenge, as well as Freshly Made Sketches.   Love this week's FMS layout.  In fact I used it to make a card that I can't share just yet.   When I saw the layout I thought it would be perfect for the Altenew inspiration challenge.  As the main colors in the inspiration photo are light gray, medium gray and green I decided to go with a light gray cardstock card base and then added the medium gray in with the little banner elements and the green with the small leaf cluster from the Altenew Leaf Canopy stamp set.  I stamped it in VersaFine Onyx Black on smooth Bristol cardstock and then colored it with one ZIG marker in medium green.  When it was dry I die cut it with the matching die.  I adhered the banners with repositionable adhesive so I could make sure I got the sentiment stamped relatively straight.  Once that was done I adhered them with permanent adhesive.  Added the leaf cluster with foam dimensionals and then added the enamel dots for a pop of the pinky-purple color found in the flower in the inspiration photo.  Pretty happy with how the card turned out.

The second card is quite a departure for me.  I made this one for the MFT sketch challenge, as well as the MFT color challenge.  I recently purchased the MFT Fresh Cut Flowers stamp set and wanted to have a go at coloring it.   So... I decided to make things a little hard for myself and use the colors from the MFT color challenge!   I decided to color the flowers using a dark blue ZIG combined with a teal ZIG with the teal only appearing on the tips of the flowers.   It is hard to see the teal color on the smaller flowers, but it is there.  I also went very unconventional with the leaves and used a combo of the orange and kraft colors for them (used ZIGs in orange and tan).  The image was stamped on smooth Bristol cardstock using VersaFine Onyx Black ink.  Took me a long time to color the image and while the colors are not what you would see on a flower and I have lots more practicing to do I'm pretty pleased with how everything turned out overall.  I die cut the image using a fishtail flag stax die that is no longer carried by MFT.   The banners were then adhered to a kraft cardstock base using foam dimensionals and the interior piece with regular adhesive.  The sentiment is from the MFT Sweet Forest Friends stamp set that I heat embossed in white on black cardstock.  Kind of dramatic don't you think?   Going to add this one to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.

Supplies:  Card #1:  Cardstock:  SSS fog, PTI Weathervane, Strathmore smooth bristol; Stamps:  Altenew; Dies:  Altenew, My Favorite Things; Ink:  VersaFine; Watercolor medium:  ZIG Clean Color markers; My Mind's Eye enamel dots

Card #2:  Cardstock:  PTI kraft, Strathmore smooth Bristol; Stamps:  My Favorite Things; Dies:  My Favorite Things; Ink:  VersaFine Onyx Black, VersaMark; Hero Arts white embossing powder

floral cards...

Hello!  Seems like ages since I last posted anything.   I have been busy making things just haven't had the time to sit and do a post until now.   First up is a set of cards that I made using the colors from Color Throwdown and the layout from Freshly Made Sketches.  I will be posting this card to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge, as well.    Originally I was only going to make one card, but I ended up not really like the card with two flowers on it so I decided to make two cards.  The flowers are leaves were created using the Spellbinders April small die kit.  I cannot say enough good things about these die kits.  They are packed with dies and only cost $12.50 per month (shipping included!).    This month's kit is all about layering flowers and leaves.  I started my card by scribbling orange, yellow and two different shades of green ZIG markers on watercolor paper and then blending out the color with clean water.  Once the paper was dry I die cut all the flowers and leaves.  Because originally I thought I was going to use both flowers on the card I had all the yellow pieces layered together and the same for the orange, but I didn't really like that look so I alternated each flower between the two colors.   The leaves were also done in the alternating shades of green.  As I laid out the flowers and leaves I realized that have everything on one card didn't look right so I decided to create two cards.   I cut strips of navy blue cardstock that I had embossed with a Stampin Up! embossing folder.   The sentiment is from a Spellbinder's stamp set that I received in December of 2018 as a thank you for being a club member.   I arranged the flower and leaves where I wanted them, placed the stamp where I wanted it, removed the flower and leaves and then stamped the sentiment.  Layered up all the elements and then adhered the panel to a neutral card base.

The second card is for the MFT sketch challenge and color challenge.  I recently purchased the MFT Painted Petals stamp and set set and had been wanting to use that for something.  The two MFT challenges were the perfect chance.  I stamped all the flowers using just one color of ink for each flower using the multiple stamping technique to get a darker version of the main color for the lined image portion of the flower.  The leaves were actually stamped with two different colors of green ink.   Quite sometime ago I discovered that I had purchased a brick wall style cover die that I think is from MFT.  I hope I'm not the only one who buys something and then totally forgets that they even purchased it!  It was been sitting out ever since I found it waiting to be used!  So I decided to use it to emboss my white cardstock panel as a background for the flowers.   After embossing the cardstock I die cut the panel with the largest AJVD stitched dot rectangle die.   The flowers were arranged and then I heat embossed a sentiment from the MFT Springtime Blooms on vellum with white embossing powder and die cut it with an MFT Slanted Sentiments Strip die.

Supplies:  Card #1:  Cardstock:  PTI white and indigo, Canson watercolor, SU Sahara Sand; Stamps:  Spellbinders; Dies:  Spellbinders; Embossing folder:  Stampin Up!; Ink:  VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne; Watercolor Medium:  ZIG Clean Color markers

Card #2:  Cardstock:  PTI white, vellum; Simon Says Stamp fog; Stamps:  My Favorite Things; Dies:  My Favorite Things and AJVD; Inks:  Catherine Pooler, Stampin Up!, VersaMark; Embossing Powder:  Hero Arts