may your day...

 Hello friends!  I'm popping in with a card for several different challenges:  Freshly Made Sketches, Color Throwdown, the Paper Players and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.  (Compensated affiliate links listed at the bottom of this post.  Using my links allows me to earn a small commission at no cost to you.  Thank you for your support.)  Here is what I created:

Several years ago Simon Says Stamp came out with a card kit that included the fun rainboot die that I used on my card and when I saw the challenge at the Paper Players I just knew I had to pull it out and use it.  I die cut it from white cardstock and then colored it with Copic markers.  I wanted to include the look of rain on my card so I started digging through my stencils for a raindrop stencil from MFT.  I didn't find that stencil, but I did find one from a Hero Arts card kit from a few years ago.  I'm so glad that I found it because I really like the rain/raindrop image that I was able to stencil on the SSS Fog Gray cardstock using Ranger texture paste in translucent matte.  I also stenciled the same thing on my white cardstock.  I love the subtle look it adds and it keeps the card pretty clean and simple.  I finished with a sentiment from the SSS Sunflower Garden stamp set. 

Supplies used:

SSS Sunflower Garden stamp set

SSS Rainboot Planter die

SSS Fog cardstock

SSS Dot Runner

VersaFine Clair Nocturne ink

Range Texture Paste Transparent Matte

Platinum 6 die cutting machine

Bearly Arts Glue

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

i believe in you...

Hello!  Popping in to share a card that I made for a few challenges:  MFT sketch challenge, the Paper Players challenge (into the woods) and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge (anything goes).    My youngest and I used to watch Finding Big Foot together and loved it so when MFT came out with the Beast Friends stamp set and die set  I had to get it.  It always makes me laugh when I see people leaving their yetis white because yetis have never been described as being white, but dark in color.  Anyway, I guess people think they are white because of the yeti from Monsters, Inc.!   I stamped the yetis with VersaFine Clair Nocturne ink on Canson watercolor paper and then colored them with distress inks in Gathered Twigs and Black Soot.  I then colored the trees with Forest Moss distress ink and their scarves in Chipped Sapphire and Crushed Olive.  After everything was dry, die cut and I started putting the card together I accidentally ruined one of my yetis and had to start over!  Thankfully it was easy to that done, but boy of boy you should have seen my face when I made my mistake, lol!  I used an MFT Inside Out stitched rectangle die to cut out a stencil and then inked up two rectangle with Tumbled Glass distress oxide ink on Tim Holtz woodgrain cardstock before arranging my two yetis and the trees.  I then stamped the sentiment from the set on vellum with VersaMark ink and heat embossed with black embossing powder from Ranger.   All die cutting done using my Gemini Jr.  Compensated affiliate links used where possible at not cost to you.

 Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

bunnies... and a flower!

Hello!  I'm back with more bunnies and a flower!  The first card has the bunnies on it and is for the MFT sketch challenge.  Just like the other bunnies from the Bubble Over with Joy stamp set these were colored with distress markers and die cut with their matching dies.  Per the sketch I used the smallest die in the Inside Out Stitched Rounded rectangles die set to die cut my rectangles from Tim Holtz distress woodgrain cardstock.   A piece of white cardstock was die cut with the largest AJVD Stitched Dot rectangle die and then all the little rectangles were adhered to it.  I then positioned all the bunnies to make sure I had the right about of room for my sentiment that I stamped on white cardstock with VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne ink and then die cut with a die from the MFT Slanted Sentiments Strips die set.  That was adhered and then I added the little bubbles that I colored with a Broken China distress  marker and then covered with Glossy Accents for some shine.  I adhered the panel to a kraft cardstock base.  I was a little worried that the cards would look too plain, but in the end I think it turned out perfect!

The second card features the flower and is for the Reverse Confetti Stock Your Stash challenge to make a spring or Easter themed card.  This one is spring themed.  I used the sketch from Sunday Stamps so I will be adding it to their gallery.  My friend Greta often plays along with the challenges at Retro Rubber and this month she is a guest designer!  I have never played along, but since Greta is the guest designer I'm adding this card to their challenge to use stripes.  The Reverse Confetti set I'm using is just over a year old so it makes the cut for their challenge.  I stamped the flower and the leafy images from the RC Tall Blooms set on smooth bristol and colored the images with ZIG clean color makers and a bit of water.  Once dry they were die cut with the matching dies.  I die cut the RC Tall Stripe Panel Confetti Cut from Tim Holtz distress woodgrain cardstock and adhered it to some dark pink cardstock that I die cut with the AJVD stitched dot rectangle die.  The flowers were then adhered to the tall stripe panel.  I die cut the RC Confetti Cut hello die from black cardstock three time, adhered them together and then adhered to the panel.   The panel was adhered to my card base and then I added the dark pink twine bow to finish things off.

Thanks for stopping by... have a wonderful day!

Supplies:  Card #1:  Cardstock: PTI white, Ranger distress woodgrain; Strathmore smooth bristol; Stamps:  MFT; Dies:  MFT, AJVD; Ink:  VersaFine Onyx Black, VersaFine CLAIR; Watercolor medium:  Ranger distress ink markers

Card #2:  Cardstock:  PTI white and black, Ranger distress woodgrain, SSS dark pink, Strathmore smooth bristol; Stamps:  Reverse Confetti; Dies:  Reverse Confetti and AJVD; Watercolor medium:  ZIG clean color markers; Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black; Dark pink hemp twine

Fun with MFT...

Hello!  Hope your week is going well!  The other night I sat down and did some watercoloring with several different MFT stamp sets and today I'm sharing two cards that I made using those efforts.  First up is a card for this week's Paper Players challenge which is a lovely sketch.  I used smooth Bristol cardstock and Ranger distress markers to color up the sweet little girl with her umbrella from the MFT/Birdie Brown stamp set called Rain or Shine.  I was thinking of my little niece Kaia and her bright pink Ugg boots as I colored up this sweet little girl!  May just have to send this card to Kaia!  Once I was done I die cut her with the matching die.  Then I found patterned papers that would work with the colors I used for my little girl.  After cutting the rectangles and laying them out on my card base I decided to do a little stenciling with the MFT Mini Raindrop stencil using MFT Blue Breeze ink.  The sentiment was stamped on a strip of white cardstock that I die cut with an A Jillian Vance Design sentiment strip die and then I got to layering up all my elements.  To finish things off I added a little sun peeking out from behind the clouds.  I will also add this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes.

The second card features a little boy and his umbrella from the MFT/Birdie Brown set called Puddle Jumper.  This card was inspired by my little nephew Max.  He isn't old enough to actually jump in puddles, but I still couldn't help but think of him as I colored this little guy!  I used distress markers to color him, as well.  When he was finished I die cut him with his matching die.  The layout comes from the MFT sketch challenge.  I used the Mini Raindrops stencil on this card, as well.  But this time I used Ranger Texture Paste transparent gloss.  I love the fun shiny raindrops!  I die cut some green polka dot paper (from MFT) with an AJVD slippery slope die and adhered it to my card base.  The sentiment was stamped on another piece of MFT patterned paper and die cut with an MFT fishtail flag stax die.   I colored up a little puddle for my little boy to jump over and then adhered all the pieces to the card base.   May have to send this card off to him, too!

Hope you have a wonderful day!  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:  Card #1:  Cardstock:  SU! blue, PTI  white, Smooth Bristol; Patterned paper:  MFT; Stamps:  MFT; Dies:  MFT, AJVD; Ink:  VersaFine, MFT; Watercolor medium:  Ranger distress markers; Stencil:  MFT

Card #2  Cardstock:  PTI white, Smooth Bristol; Patterned paper:  MFT; Stamps:  MFT; Dies:  MFT, AJVD; Watercolor Medium:  Ranger distress markers; Ink:  VersaFine, VersaFine CLAIR; Ranger texture paste

i love your kind heart...

Hey there!!  I have a card to share for a couple of challenges:  the Card Concept (floral centerpiece) and Inspired By (floral cluster).   I had made a couple of purchases from the Simon Says Stamp Fluttering By release and one of the things I bought was the beautiful Center Cut Flowers stamp.  I finally inked it up the other card to create my card.  I didn't make the card with either of the challenges I'm entering in mind it was just pure coincidence that my card worked for both challenges. Kinda like it when that happens... don't you?  I stamped the image on PTI vellum (love how thick it is!) with VersaMark watermark ink and heat embossed in white.  I colored the backside of the image using Ranger Distress markers in Abandoned Coral, Spun Sugar, Wild Honey, Dried Marigold, Squeezed Lemonade, Peacock Feathers, Crushed Olive and Peeled Paint.  I adhered the image to some Tim Holtz woodgrain cardstock and then added the sentiment from the SSS Take Heart stamp set that I embossed in white on black cardstock along with the die cut word. Finished with some Pretty Pink Posh sparkling clear sequins.  I think this would work for the clean and layered category at the Card Concept.  I'm also adding this to the current Time Out challenge to be inspired by a quote.  After reviewing the challenge I realized that my card would work perfectly since I have used blooms and I think the sentiment fits very nicely into the theme of the quote.

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI black, vellum, SSS gray, Tim Holtz woodgrain; Stamps:  Simon Says Stamp; Dies:  Simon Says Stamp and A Jillian Vance Design; Inks:  VersaMark; Coloring medium:  Ranger Distress markers; Pretty Pink Posh sparkling clear sequins

penny black brushstroke stamps...

Hello from some what snowy western Washington!!  We have been having snow showers over the last few days, but thankfully most of it hasn't stuck in my area!  My son is a little bummed, but he will get over it, lol!  On Monday morning an email from Penny Black Stamps landed in my inbox.  I opened it to discover that it contained a video on how to stamp with Penny Black's fabulous brushstroke stamps by the amazingly talented Jill Foster.  She constantly leaves me in awe with the magic she works with Penny Black stamps.  I watched the video not once, but twice and then in the afternoon when I had some time created this card using her technique.  My sweet friend, Greta, had gifted me with this beautiful Penny Black brushstroke stamp called effulgent almost a year ago and while I have played around with it a bit I just couldn't see to make it come to life... that is until I watched Jill's video!!  This was my first attempt with the technique and since I didn't get the stamp in the original packaging I didn't realize that some areas should be green, but I really like how it turned out so I made it into a card to share!  I think I will add this to the current Stamp Ink Paper challenge of cardmaker's choice.   To do the layered stamping I used Memento markers Angel Pink and Rose Bud, Ranger distress marker Gathered Twigs and Stampin Up! marker Early Espresso.  You can't tell in the photo, but after I die cut the piece I did some ink blending around the edges using Old Paper distress ink.

I was excited to try the technique again so after I got my kiddo off to school this morning I pulled out another PB brushstroke stamp called Berry Bramble and got to work.  This is another stamp I have had for awhile, but had been unable to come up with something that I like when I tried stamping with it.  With Jill's technique I was finally able to make something I was happy with!!   This time I used Memento markers Rhubarb Stalk and Potter's Clay and Ranger's Gather Twig.  After finishing up the stamping I inked around the edges with Vintage Photo distress ink which doesn't really show up in the photo.  I added the embossed strip of red cardstock to make the berries pop a bit more.   I have a few more Penny Black brushstroke stamps that are going to get inked up using the same technique!!  Penny Black posted another video this morning that was just as fabulous.

Hope you have a wonderful day!!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI kraft, SU! red, Arches Hot Press watercolor paper; Stamps:  Penny Black; Inks:  Memento, Ranger, VersaFine, Stampin Up!; Embossing folder

dragonfly thanks...

Hello!!  Stopping in with a card today that uses more new crafty purchases.  This time from Stampin Up!.  I'm a total sucker for butterfly and dragon fly stamps and dies and when I saw the Dragonfly Dreams and matching Detailed Dragonfly dies in the spring 2017 SU! Occasions mini catalog I just had to get them.  Finally got a chance to make something with the set in the last few days.  The card was actually built around the copper butterfly.  I did a light color wash on some watercolor cardstock using a light blue ZIG marker.  I let it dry a bit and then stamped a solid image dragonfly on the panel using Peeled Paint and Forest Moss distress inks and blended it out a bit with some clean water.  A splatter image from another SU! set I got was stamped with Broken China and then blended out a little with water.  When everything was dry I added some Crystal stickles to the wings.   The sentiment was stamp in Forest Moss.  I trimmed down the panel and then adhered the dragon fly and some sparkling clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.  For a little drama I decided to adhere the panel to some dark grey glimmer cardstock and then to a white card base. 

Wishing you a wonderful day...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  white, SSS charcoal glimmer, watercolor, Copper shimmer; Stamps and dies:  Stampin Up!; Inks:  Ranger Distress inks; ZIG clean color markers; Sequins:  Pretty Pink Posh sparkling clear

Christmas Holly...

Hello!!  Stopping in with a Christmas card for the current Merry Monday Christmas challenge to create a clean and simple card.  I paired the MM challenge with the current Freshly Made Sketches layout to create my card.  The other day I decided to play around with watercoloring with the one package of Distress Crayons that I own and decided to use an older Hero Arts Holly cling stamp.  I don't recall the name of the stamp because I threw the packaging away so if someone out there does... please let me know.  I haven't played along with Merry Monday since early December because I needed a break from Christmas cards, but when my sweet bloggy friend, Linda, gave me a lovely shout out on her blog I just had to play along!  Please make sure you head to Linda's blog to check out her amazing CAS Christmas card!!  I stamped the holly on some watercolor paper with VersaFine Onyx Black ink and then colored it up with Peeled Paint and Festive Berries distress crayons.  When the panel was dry I die cut it down with an AJVD Stitched Dot rectangle die, added some additional Peel Paint crayon and then applied Nuvo Glitter Drops White Blizzard to the berries.   Because the panel is rather small I needed a small sentiment and found that in the PTI stamp set Merry Little Christmas.  To add a little something to the light gray card base I stamped it with the holly image twice using a light gray ink.  the panel was matted with red cardstock and adhered using foam dots.  To little buttons in a shade similar to the holly leaves finished off the card.

Hope you have a wonderful day...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  SSS fog and dark red, Ranger watercolor paper; Stamps:  Hero Arts and PaperTrey Ink; Ink:  VersaFine Onyx Black; Watercolor medium:  Ranger Distress crayons; Nuvo Glitter Drops; PTI green buttons

courageous...

Hello!!  As I sit here typing this blog post the wind is whipping around in the trees and the rain is pouring down!! I guess the Pacific Northwest is being hit by the remains of a tropical storm that was born in the Pacific ocean!  Perfect weather to stay inside and do a little crafting!!  As the storm was heading our way last night I got started on the card I'm sharing today.  I finished it up this morning.  I'm posting it to the current Color Throwdown, as well as the new challenge blog dedicated to Concord & 9th called Where Creativity Meets C9.  Their challenge this month is watercoloring.  I love C9 stamps and dies and have a nice little collection going, but unfortunately I never seem to find the time to make things with them... hoping this new challenge will help me change that!!  I used the C9 sets Being Classy and Give Thanks for my card.  I also used the courageous die from the die set that is a companion to Being Classy.  The leaves were watercolored using a simplified version of the technique I used on this card.  For the aqua leaves I used Broken China and Peacock Feathers distress markers and for the lime green leaves I used Crushed Olive and Peeled Paint.  Once all of the leaves were stamped and watercolored I then added the veining using a medium gray ink.  The word courageous was stamped using the same gray and then die cut with the matching die.  I inked up the heart shaped image using the same technique and colors.  After stamping it I blended the colors out using clean water.  When it was dry I stamped the sentiment and adhered it to the inside of my card.  To finish I trimmed down the main panel and adhered the word with pop dots.  A piece of black cardstock was placed on an angle on the card base and then the main panel was adhered at the opposite angle.  Some hemp twine in matching colors was added. 

inside of card

Hope you have a wonderful day and that you have good weather where you live!!
Supplies:  Cardstock:  SU! black and Sahara Sand, Ranger watercolor; Stamps and dies:  Concord & 9th; Inks:  Versafine Onyx Black and SU! Smoky Slate, Ranger distress markers; Twine:  Hemptique

bountiful blessings... pti august blog hop

Hello!!! Playing along today with this month's PTI blog hop.  Nichole provided a lovely inspiration piece that had my thoughts going in all kinds of directions.  I really wanted to play off of the way the paint palette looked and so tried an idea that unfortunately totally bombed, lol!  But that is why we try things, right?  Since I had to take my little guy (seriously I think I have to stop saying that... he isn't that little anymore, lol!) to swim lessons on Wednesday (the day before the hop)evening and I still had to make dinner my crafting time was limited.  So I went with an idea that I think turned out nicely.  When I looked at the inspiration photo I saw the colors of coral, dark yellow and navy blue.  I used Abandoned Coral and, Fossilized Amber distress inks and navy blue cardstock.  The PTI stamps I used are from the Brushed Off stamp set and the new Color Pop Autumn mini make it market kit.  The brushed off image was stamped in Abandoned color on watercolor cardstock and then blended out with water.  I did that to provide some of the depth of color that you see in the inspiration photo.   I added some additional color by stamping several of the detail leaf images from the Color Pop Autumn and blending them out with water.  The word "bountiful" was die cut from navy cardstock three times and adhered together.  The watercolor panel was then die cut with the largest die from the Inside Out die set and a second was die cut from kraft cardstock to provide a little bit of a mat.  I wanted to bring in the silver from the paintbrushes and so I added a coil of silver thread to the panel and then adhered the die cut word on top.  Finished off by adding the sentiment "blessings" in black ink. 

Thanks for stopping by today...


Supplies:  Cardstock: PTI kraft and Fine Linen, Ranger watercolor, Simon Says Stamp navy; Stamps and dies:  PaperTrey Ink; Inks:  Ranger and VersaFine; Silver Thread:  Coates & Clark

happiness...

Hey friends!!  Happy Wednesday!!  I have a post up on the AJVD blog.  If you want to check it out, please click here.   Back in February I got the PTI Color Pop Floral Make It Market mini kit (say that fast three times, lol!), but hadn't gotten around to using it.  When I saw this week's ColourQ combo I decided to pull out the kit and create a card.  Since one of the ColourQ colors this week is kraft I used one of the kraft cardstock sheets included in the kit.  The flowers were stenciled using Ranger Picked Raspberry and Festive Berries distress ink and then the flower centers were added using the same ink with the stamps.  I don't own a ton of stencils, but I can say that the PTI stencils that came with the kit are very sturdy and I really like that.  Some stencils can be a bit well... flimsy and hard to keep in place.  The leaves were stenciled using Stampin Up! Coastal Cabana and then the centers stamped with the same ink.  I really like how the stenciling turned out.   The sentiment came from another PTI Make It Market mini kit... Garden Gild.  I stamped the large word happiness and then added the smaller sentiments around it.   Once everything was done I die cut the panel using an A Jillian Vance Design Rectangle Backdrop die (the largest one) and then simply adhered it to my card base.  Since this is a spring like card I think I will also add it to the current ChouxChoux Paper Art challenge which is Easter/Spring. 

Thanks for stopping by today...

watercolor cards...

Hey friends!!  Stopping in to share all the cards that I made for the Altenew Academy Stunningly Simple Watercolor Techniques class.   There were six days of classes, but I only completed cards for five of the days.  One of the techniques covered was no line watercoloring and that was the one that I did not make a card for as I need to watch the video again and then do some more practicing.  As I said in a previous post Lydia Evans is an amazing teacher.  The projects she created for the class are so gorgeous!!  She really inspired me to improve my watercoloring skills!   First up is a card I made for day one of class:  creating ombre backgrounds. 

 

The stamps I used are Painted Poppy and Half Tone Hello and the Hello die from Altenew.  The hello was stamped in grey ink, but it looks silver here.   The next card I made using the day 2 technique of watercolor smooshing.   The card was made with my second effort with this technique.

 



This card was made using Painted Lily stamps and matching die.  I die cut the lily from the piece I watercolored and then stamped it with one of the layers.  The panel was attached to the card base and then I popped up the lily over the die cut opening.   The next card is for day 3 of class watercoloring embossed images.

This card is my favorite of the bunch.  I used a stamp from the Concord & 9th set Shine Brighter as I didn't have suitable image from Altenew to use.  The flower was colored with Altenew Crisp inks Frosty Pink and Coral Berry.  The lattice background was die cut using the WPlus9 Design Lattice Frame die.  My super sweet friend, Greta, sent me this die and I absolutely love it!!  The leaves are from the Altenew set Painted Flowers.  The next card is from day 5 watercoloring solid images.

I was really pleased with how this card turned out.  The little tree is a set that I got for free from Altenew called Pear Tree.  I stamped the tree using a light green ink, applied some water to smooth out the images and then added the shading with a darker shade of ink.  The sentiment is from Painted Poppy.   The final card uses the day 6 technique dropped in color.

When I finished the panel for this card I wasn't really happy with it, but once I got the card put together I started to like it better.  I used Half Tone Hello, again, along with a sentiment from Label Love.  Lots of gold embossing on this one (the hello and the label).   Well... that's all the card.  Thanks for stopping by today...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  white, black, pink and Ranger watercolor cardstock; Stamps:  Altenew and Concord & 9th; Dies:  Altenew, WPlus9 Design and A Jillian Vance Design; Inks:  Altenew Crisp Inks and Stampin Up; Ranger Gold embossing powder; Heidi Swapp glitter cardstock; Pretty Pink Posh clear sequins

PTI November Blog Hop... let it snow!

Hello!  The 25th of the month has rolled around again and that means time for a new PTI blog hop.  This one is all about snow!  Here in Western Washington we don't get a lot of snow, except up in the mountains and that is where I prefer it to stay, lol.  Love looking at Mt. Rainier covered in snow on a bright winter day.  But driving in it??  Not so much!  Anyway... on to my card.

I bought the PTI Wonderful Words: Snow set last year and this is the first time I have actually used it.  I stamped the word "snow" and the phrase "let it" from the set in watermark ink, applied white embossing powder and then heat set it.  Once that was done I stamped the snowflakes (from the PTI set Winter Swirls) in three different Distress inks (Chipped Sapphire, Faded Jeans and Salty Ocean) randomly around and over the embossed area.  Stormy Skies was then sponged on over the sentiment and snowflakes.  I finished off the card by adhering some snowflake, light blue and clear sequins.

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white & spring rain; Stamps:  PTI; Ink:  VersaMark and Ranger Distress inks;  Sequins:  Lawn Fawn and Pretty Pink Posh

time out challenge guest designer!!!

Hello!!  I'm so excited to be guesting with the fabulously talented Time Out challenge team!  I was picked as the winner of the Home Sweet Home (challenge #10) challenge.  And seriously when I saw I was the winner my mouth fell open, lol!!  Anyway... the new challenge is "Inspired by Words" and the sentiment is "if Music be the food of love, Play on".   All the challenge details can be found here.  For my card I focused on the music aspect of the sentiment and came up with this:

I used the Penny Black set Butterfly Symphony, as well as the Hero Arts Music Background stamp and played around, again, with some simple watercoloring.  I stamped the swirl on watercolor paper using VersaMark ink, applied white embossing powder and then heat set.  The same thing was done with the butterfly.  Once I had my cardstock embossed I got to work adding the colors.  For the main piece I used Ranger Peacock Feathers and Salty Ocean distress inks and the butterfly I used Spiced Marmalade and Ripe Persimmon.  After the main panel dried I stamped it with the Music background stamp using SU!'s Coastal Cabana ink, the sentiment using black ink and then the piece was matted with black cardstock.  I adhered the butterfly, added the rhinestones to the body and then adhered the piece to my card base.

Popping this into the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge:  Anything Goes, as well as the Simon Says Stamp August Work It Wednesday.

Thanks for stopping by... and thanks to the Time Out team for giving me the opportunity to guest design with them!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white and black; Ranger watercolor paper; Stamps:  Penny Black & Hero Arts; Inks:  Ranger distress inks; VersaFine black; SU! Coastal Cabana; Rhinestones:  Stampin Up!

watercoloring...

Hello!!   Well... the rain has returned to Western Washington and for once that is a good thing!  And to go along with all the water falling from the sky I decided to do some watercoloring for the current Make It Monday:  No Outline Watercoloring.  Most of the time I don't even get one card made for a MIM challenge, but this week I actually got two done!  Both card use the sunflower image from Botanical Blocks.

The first one I watercolored the previous day and actually threw away after it was done.  I used some Ranger Distress Makers and Ranger Old Paper Distress Ink.  I wasn't super happy with it which is why it got thrown away.  But this morning I decided to give this technique another try using reinkers.  But before I started I decided to get my rejected efforts out of the recycle basket and give them another look.  I decided that my first effort wasn't so bad and made it into a card.   I used the Counting My Blessings mini set and one of the word dies.  The card base was embossed with a piece of burlap.

 

I will admit that the second card is my favorite of the two.  I think I did a better job with the technique and actually got some shading and more depth to the colors.  Kept things simple for this card.  Roughed up the edges, added the sentiment and some hemp twine and then matted it with some yellow cardstock.

ETA:  Since I did emboss the card base I'm going to pop this into the current Simon Say's Stamp Wednesday challenge:  embossing.

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  Ranger Watercolor paper; Strathmore watercolor paper; PTI white; SU! Crumb Cake; CTMH yellow; Stamps:  PTI Botanical Block, Counting My Blessings; Inks:  Ranger Old Paper Distress Ink:  Memento Rich Cocoa & Tuxedo Black inks; Reinkers:  SU! Old Olive, River Rock, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, More Mustard & So Saffron; Distress Markers:  Peeled Paint, Crushed Olive, Wild Honey, Dried Marigold, & Tea Dye; white hemp cord; Dies:  PTI Counting My Blessings; burlap

a purple hello...

Hi everyone!!  Happy Friday... pretty excited for the Super Bowl this weekend since the Seattle Seahawks are playing in the big game... GO HAWKS!    Anywhoo... have a pretty plain and simple card that I made for a couple of challenges:  CASology and CAS(E) this Sketch. 

I started out with a different idea for this card, but gave it up when I realized it just wasn't going to work.  I really tried to make it work, but nope!   As indicated above the card is very simple and on the plain side... did try to perk things up a bit with some bling, though.  I used a Hero Arts background stamp on the purple cardstock, die cut the "hello" with a My Favorite Things die and the "friends" sentiment came from a PTI set.   I should have die cut the white cardstock piece and inlaid the "hello", but didn't think about that until I was done... oh well! 

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white & purple; Stamps:  Hero Arts & PTI; Ink:  Seedless Preserves & Dusty Concord Distress inks; Dies:  My Favorite Things; Rhinestones:  KI

Penny Black Stamp Squad Blog Hop!

 

Hello friends!!  Happy Saturday!  Now that all of the members of the Penny Black Stamp Squad have been revealed we are celebrating with the first ever Penny Black Stamp Squad blog hop!! Woo hoo!!! Not only are we hopping, we're giving away stamps, too!!  Leave a comment on each blog, including the Penny Black blog, for a chance to win a selection of Penny Black stamps.   You should have arrived here from the blog of  my uber talented Stamp Squad teamie Penny Ward.  However, if this is your first stop you may want to head over to the Penny Black blog where you can find the complete hop list and start from the beginning. 

For my card today I used the following Penny Black stamps:  eloquence (30-162), blooming garden (30-155) & fleur de lys (40-204).  When I first saw the blooming garden set I knew I wanted to use one of the images along with my distress inks.  I lightly inked up the fleur de lys background stamp with Old Paper distress ink, place the cardstock on top and just lightly pressed the cardstock onto the stamp.  I then inked up the edges with additional Old Paper distress ink and then roughed up the edges a bit with my thumbnail.   The poppy image from blooming garden was stamped on the main piece using Forest Moss distress ink and then again on white cardstock using watermark ink.  Clear embossing powder was applied and the image was heat set.  I then applied Spun Sugar and Worn Lipstick distress inks to the flowers.   The flowers and pods were trimmed out and adhered to the main piece using pop dots.  The sentiment was stamped using Tuxedo Black ink and a few sequins were applied to finish off the card.

Thanks for stopping by... don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win some yummy Penny Black stamps!  And now off you go to the Penny Black blog!! 

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps:  Penny Black; Inks:  Ranger Old Paper, Spun Sugar and Worn Lipstick distress inks, Memento Tuxedo Black and VersaMark watermark ink; vintage sequins

CCC #48... miss you in yellow

{For my Penny Black Stamp Squad announcement click here or scrolled down}

Hello friends!!  Its Tuesday and that means time for a brand new CASology challenge!  After I finished my card for last week's challenge "wheel" I checked out what this week's cue word would be I laughed when I saw it was the word yellow!  So... here I am back with another CASology card done in yellow!   All the details can be found here.  This week our guest designer in the very talented Jessi!!

 

For my card this week I decided to combine it with the current sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch.  I resisted the idea to use a feather and instead used a very pretty MFT stamp set called Pretty Poppies.   The inks I used this time are Ranger Distress inks in Squeezed Lemonade and Mowed Grass.  I kinda like the mottled look that distress ink provides when stamping solid images.  I did a little bit of masking on this card, as well.  The ribbon is PTI's Lemon Tart and I like the fact that it isn't exactly the same shade as the Squeezed Lemonade ink.  Things don't always have to be "matchy, matchy" ya know?   The other finishing details are a small tag stamped with the sentiment and attached to the ribbon using a little yellow safety pin.

Thanks for stopping by... I cannot wait to see what "yellow" related ideas all you super talented papercrafters come up with for this challenge!! In the meantime make sure you check out the cards from the rest of the design team: Melissa, Tracey, Jen, Ardyth, Judy, Maureen, and Meghan and our guest designer, Jessi!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps:  My Favorite Things; Inks:  Range; Ribbon:  PTI; safety pin: unknown