Wildflowers...

 Hello!  Popping in with a card for a couple of challenges:  Color Throwdown and the Flower Challenge.  I think the colors are very spring like.  Let's have a look at what I made.

I have had multiple products from the Waffle Flower Postage Collage line, but haven't really used many of them.  So, when I saw the new CTD colors I decided to remedy that situation and pulled out the Postage Collage Wildflower stencil set and got to work.  Full disclosure I did have to stencil the panel twice because when I was stamping all the little icons I messed up.  That panel didn't go to waste, though.  I simply adhered it behind the second one.   I used Pinkfresh Studio inks in Lemon Whip, Sweet Mustard, Coral Reef and Passion Fruit for the flowers.  The leaves and stems were stenciled using Memento Pistachio ink.  I die cut the panel with the A2 Postage Collage die and then adhered it to a white cardstock base.   The sentiment is from the WF Small Sentiments Bloom stamp set.  

That's it for me!  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

you are always on my mind...

 Hello!  Popping in with a quick share of a card that I made for Color Throwdown and Sunday Stamps.  I used some pretty papers from the P13 Four Seasons: Spring pad that feature all the colors from the CTD combo.  And just wondering, but who is now singing "You Were Always On My Mind" by Willie Nelson, lol?!  Anyway... here is my card.

Scrapbook.com always has some kind of freebie that you can get with purchase.  About a month ago they were offering this cute little set of flowers from Spellbinders.  I couldn't resist and ever since they arrived at my house I have wanted to make something with them.  There are actually four layers to the flower, but I decided to only use two, the top layer and the bottom layer.  I die cut them from pink patterned paper and the leaves from a sage green patterned paper from the P13 pad.   I just love that pretty creamy yellow and white polka dot paper!  The floral strip is the reverse side of the polka dot paper and features all the CTD colors.   More patterned paper was die cut with a circle die for a place to arrange my flowers. I used the same pink paper for the sentiment strip that I stamped the sentiment on using brown ink to bring in more brown.  I finished the flowers with yellow Nuvo drops in the center of each flower.  Since my card is full of pastel colors I'm going to add it to the May Flower challenge of pastels! 

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

merry & bright...

 Here with a quick post for a card that I made for several challenges:  Freshly Made Sketches, Color Throwdown and the Flower challenge.  

Recently my sweet friend, Greta, purchased the Tim Holtz/Sizzix Seasonal Sketch die set.  She was so kind and gifted me with several die cuts and I was determined to use them on a card.  The cuts Greta sent me were white so it was easy to use some ink cubes in the CTD colored to add the color to the solid die cuts and the overlays.   Once they were dry I adhered the overlayed on the solid cuts.  I created the background panel by adding black cardstock to a piece of white cardstock and then die cut it.  I die cut another piece of white cardstock per the sketch and then adhered the poinsettia and the holly leaves to this panel.  I added dots of black Nuvo drops to the center of the flower and then adhered the sentiment that I hot foiled during the Pinkfresh Studio Perfect Sentiments: Holiday foil plate.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day!

guesting at color throwdown!

 Hello!  I'm so excited to be guesting at Color Throwdown this week!   As many of you might know CTD is one of my favorite challenges to participate in.  Week after week they provide fabulous color combos and inspiration to get your creative juices flowing!   The color combo for this week is no exception!  I went with a clean and simple floral design using stamps and dies from Concord & 9th.   Specifically I used the Painted Peony stamp and die set.  I didn't use the gorgeous large peony bloom in the set, but a smaller floral image.  Inks from multiple companies were used to stamp the images.  Pinks from Hero Arts, reds and greens from Altenew and browns from Stampin Up!   I die cut everything and then got to arranging it on my white cardstock panel.  As I was creating my arrangement I decided that the geometric piece everything was arranged on looked a little plain so I embossed it with an old, but favorite, embossing folder.  That did the trick!  The sentiment is from Painted Peonies and was stamped in VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne.   I added a few sequins in red and pink to finish the card.   Here is my card:

And here is the CTD color swatch for this week:

Just realized that the challenge this month over at the Flower Challenge is to create a clean and simple card.  Since my card is pretty clean and simple I'm going to post it there, as well. 

Thanks for stopping by, have a lovely day and I hope to see your card in the CTD gallery!  Thanks to the super talented gals at CTD for having me!

more copic coloring...

Hello!  Popping in with a card for a few challenges and as my post title indicates I did some more coloring with my Copic markers.  I'm going to post this card to the following challenges:  The Flower Challenge (anything goes), Freshly Made Sketches and Time Out (I fussy cut the flower and it is a birthday card).  I have always been scared of coloring with reds.  They can be so unforgiving if they bleed and you try to clean it up.  But I decided to be brave and color with a red combo courtesy of Kelly Latevola.   The flower I used is from the A Jillian Vance Design Dear Daisy stamp set.  I stamped it in Memento Tuxedo Black and then colored it with the following markers:  R32, R35, R29 and R59. The center was colored with Y02 and Y08 and the leaf with YG03, YG05, G17 and G28.  I fussy cut the flower out and then outlined the flower and cleaned up the white edges with a black Mircon pen.   I kept everything regarding the sketch very simple as I really wanted the flower to be the focus.  The sentiment is also from A Jillian Vance Design (Make A Wish) and the dies I used are also AJVD.  I must say that I'm really pleased with my coloring.  I managed to create a consistent highlight area on the petals giving them a slightly rounded look.  Never thought I would be able to do something like that!

Thanks for stopping by today... stay safe and well!

rennie roses...

Hello!  Popping in with a clean and simple card that I made using the Altenew Rennie Roses stamps and dies for the following challenges:  Freshly Made Sketches, The Flower Challenge (CAS) and Altenew October Inspiration challenge.   I stamped the flowers on smooth bristol cardstock with VersaMagic watermark ink and then embossed with white embossing powder.   I then pulled out my ZIGs markers and did simple watercoloring of each of the roses in the colors from the inspiration photo (pink, yellow, blue) and the leaves in green.   I let them dry and then die cut them with their coordinating dies.   I diecut some white cardstock with a rectangle die, placed the panel in my stamping tool and arranged the flowers and leaves so I could determine where to stamp the sentiment.  Once that was figured out I stamped the sentiment using VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne ink.  I decided that the panel looked a bit plain so I did some selective embossing in the approximate areas where the flowers would be adhered and then adhered the flowers with foam tape and the leaves with adhesive.   The panel was then adhered to a light gray cardstock base.   I want to thank the ladies over at the Flower Challenge for picking my card from last month's challenge as one of the Top Picks!   That really made my day!  (Compensated affiliate links listed below and used where possible at no cost to you.)

Supplies:    Rennie Roses stamp set:                      Altenew
                                                                                Scrapbook.com
                   Rennie Roses die set:                           Altenew
                                                                                Scrapbook.com
                   Rennie Roses stamp and die bundle:   Altenew
                   Smooth Bristol:                                    Dick Blick
                   VersaFine Clair Ink:                             Scrapbook.com
                   ZIG Markers:                                       Scrapbook.com
                   VersaMark watermark ink:                  Scrapbook.com
                   Embossing powder:                             Brutus Monroe
                   Gemini Jr. die cutting machine:          Scrapbook.com
                   Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive:                      Scrapbook.com

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!            
  

hello...

Hello everyone!  Popping in with a card for a few challenges:  Freshly Made Sketches, Color Throwdown and the Flower Challenge.    I reached way back into my stamp collection and pulled out the first two stamp sets that I purchased from Altenew:  Label Love and Painted Flowers.   The first time I saw the Painted Flowers stamp set I was immediately fascinated with it and had to have it.   Sadly once I got it I hardly ever used it.   I hope that I'm not the only one who does that!  I stamped two of the flowers in the set using Altenew Crisp inks in Crimson and Velvet and then in MFT Daffodil and Hero Arts Butter Bar so that I ended up with three red flowers and three yellow flowers.  The outlines for each flower was stamped using Altenew Crisp ink in Evergreen (to bring in the green) and then the accents in the leaves with Altenew Crisp inks in Frayed Leaf and Forest Glade.   Once all the stamping was done I die cut all the flowers with the matching Painted Flowers dies.   I determined pretty quickly that the flowers would look best clustered together.  So per the sketch I used two yellow flowers up top and then three red flowers down below.   A piece of white cardstock was die cut with an AJVD stitched dot rectangle die and then cut in to two pieces to create the center strip.  The lower piece of the panel was trimmed down a bit more to create a bigger gap and then both pieces were adhered with foam tape to a kraft cardstock base to bring in the kraft color from the CTD inspiration.  The flowers were then attached and I finished things off with the simple "hello" sentiment from the Label Love that was stamped in Altenew Permanent Black ink.  Thought about adding some gems, but decided not to this time around.  Love the clean and simple look of the card.  (Compensated affiliate links used in my post where possible.)

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

cards with flowers...

Hello!  I'm popping in with two cards that both feature flowers.  First up is a card that I made for several challenges:  CAS(E) this Sketch, The Flower Challenge and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.   I have been wanting to do some coloring ever since I got back from Yellowstone and found the time the other night to color up two images from the Simon Says Stamp Delicate Flowers stamp set.  I stamped the images on smooth Bristol cardstock with VersaFine CLAIR Acorn ink and then colored them with the following ZIG markers:  Carmine Red, Light Carmine Red and Orange.  The little bit of orange gives them that feeling of autumn.  Once they were dry I die cut them with the matching dies.  I adhered them together with Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive to give them the feel of the two circular elements in the CTS layout.   A few days ago I purchased the Carta Bella Fall Market 6x6 pad and used a piece of paper from the pad for the strip element.  I placed the strip in my stamping tool, arranged where I wanted the flowers to be and then stamped the sentiment (from a very old, but favorite Simon Says Stamp set) in the same Acorn ink.  I then die cut a piece of kraft cardstock with the largest AJVD Stitched Dot rectangle die and then adhered the panel and the strip to an off white cardstock base.  The flowers were adhered with foam dimensionals and I was finished. (Compensated affiliate links used in the body of my blog post where possible.)
 

The second card uses the cute little flowers from the Simon Says Stamp School Days Grow set.  I was going to use the piece for a different card, but in the end it just didn't work.  Then I saw the current Mojo Monday sketch and new it would be perfect once I turned the sketch to be portrait instead of landscape.  The flowers were stamped on smooth Bristol with VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne and colored with ZIG markers in pink, yellow and orange.  I used a green ZIG and a blue ZIG to color the grass and sky and then die cut the piece with one of the smallest AJVD Stitched Dot rectangle dies.  I then die cut some super cute patterned papers from the Honey Bee Stamps The Bees Knees 6x6 pad using two other Stitched Dot rectangle dies.   The larger patterned paper rectangle was adhered to a light gray cardstock base and then the sunny yellow/white dotted rectangle was adhered with fun foam to give it height.  I then adhered the stamped panel to that.  Super clean and simple.   Those little flower faces just make me smile! (Compensated affiliate links used in my blog post where possible.)

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

another floral card...

Hello!  Popping in with another floral card.  This time for the current My Favorite Things sketch challenge, as well as the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.  I pulled out my MFT Painted Petal stamp set to help me create this one.  I must admit that it took me way to much time to come up with a color combo that I liked.  I ended up going with blue flowers and used a set of Altenew  inks in shades that coordinate with each other.   The leaves were stamped with a green Altenew ink.  After die cutting the stamped flowers I cut a strip of white cardstock and then stamped it with the sentiment from the MFT Flowers in Bloom stamp set in VersaFine Onyx Black ink.  I then embossed the lines across the strip using my Scor-Buddy scoring tool.   I adhered the strip using foam dimensionals and then arranged all the flowers based on the sketch.  I finished the card by adding lots of Pretty Pink Posh jewels in a pretty shade of pastel blue using my new Glue Sponge.  I think I will also post this card to the Flower Challenge as my blues are fairly light and pastel in color.   Decided to add this to the current Time Out challenge as I am using flowers.   (Compensated affiliate links listed below where possible.)

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Supplies:  (Compensated affiliate links used where possible.)

Stamps:  My Favorite Things
Dies:  My Favorite Things
Inks:  Altenew blue, Altenew green, VersaFine
Cardstock:  PaperTrey Ink
Adhesive:  Glue Sponge, Scrapbook Adhesive by 3L, Stampin Up! foam dimensionals

floral cards...

Hello!  Hope everyone in the USA had a wonderful and safe 4th of July!  I'm popping in with a couple of cards that I made over the last few days.  First up is a card that I made for the Color Throwdown and Freshly Made Sketches challenges.  Back in May I won a gift certificate from Pinkfresh Studios and purchased the beautiful Hanging Florals stamp set and matching Hanging Florals dies.  I die cut the main image from Canson watercolor paper and then stamped the die cut with images in VersaMark Onyx Black ink and then watercolored with Distress Crayons in Festive Berries, Fired Brick, Crushed Olive and Peeled Paint.   I die cut some white cardstock with the largest Stitched Dot rectangle from Jillian Vance Design and then adhered the image to the panel with foam dots.   The sentiment was embossed on vellum with WOW! Embossing powder in black and then trimmed down to fit the card front.  I used Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive and medium Zots that I rolled up to adhere the vellum to the image.   The panel was adhered to a light gray cardstock base and then I added some tiny Pretty Pink Posh jewels in white, silver and clear to the image for a tiny bit of sparkle. (Compensated affiliate links used when possible at no cost to you.)

The second card I'm going to send off to this month's Flower challenge to use pastels.  I colored up the Missing You Peony from Colorado Craft Company's Big & Bold line with my ZIG Clean Color Real Brush markers after stamping the image with VersaFine CLAIR Morning Mist on smooth Bristol cardstock.   After die cutting my panel I adhered it to a cardstock base and then embossed the sentiment from the set on vellum using Hero Arts white embossing powder, trimmed out the sentiment and adhered it with Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive.  Added a few sequins and I was done!  I must admit that it took me several days to color this image because of its size, but boy was it worth it!  (Compensated affiliate links used when possible at no cost to you.)

Thanks for stopping by today!

hello... lovely

Hello!  Hope your week is going well.  I'm popping in with a card that I made for a few challenges:  the Paper Players (colors), the Flower Challenge (embossing) and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge (stitching - mine is faux stitching on the die cut rectangle).   Several months ago I got the dies that match the Concord & 9th Hello Lovely stamp set and ever since then I have been trying to get something made with them.  Well that day finally arrived when I saw the color combo at the Paper Players.   I heat embossed the floral image on some watercolor paper in white and then colored everything with my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors.   I let the piece dry, splattered on some black paint and then die cut the piece when the splatters were dry.  I die cut some Simon Says Stamp fog cardstock with the largest A Jillian Vance Design stitched dot rectangle die and adhered that to a white cardstock base.  The die cut floral image was adhered with foam dimensionals.  I die cut the word lovely from Fog and Pool Party cardstocks, adhered them together and then adhered to the floral piece.  The word hello was heat embossed in white on vellum, die cut with a little banner die and then adhered with glue dots.

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

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white and vellum, SSS fog, SU! Pool Party, Arches Hot press watercolor; Stamps:  Concord & 9t; Dies:  Concord & 9th and AJVD; Ink:  VersaMark watermark ink; Watercolor medium:  Kuretake Gansai Tambi; Embossing powder:  Hero Arts 

flowers and fish!

Hello!  Another two card post today.  Hmmm... I seem to be doing a lot of that lately, lol!  Anyway today I have cards that feature flowers and fish!  First up is my card featuring flowers.  The other day I spent part of my afternoon coloring some images from the Honey Bee Stamps Winter Anemone stamp set with my ZIG markers.  I had been planting daffodils earlier in the day and I guess I had yellow on the brain because I colored my anemones yellow!  Once they were all done I die cut them with the matching dies.  Now I colored all the images prior to knowing that the color combo for Color Throwdown would be yellow, green, red and white.  So I only had to figure out how to work red into my design and I had my card for the challenge!  I went with red enamel dots since I have lots of them and need to use them on projects.   The sentiment from the Honey Bee Stamps Thinking of You stamp set was stamped in VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne on the card base, the flowers arranged in the corner and then I finished with the enamel dots.    Also going to post this to the Flower Challenge.  This month it is anything goes.

The second card features the fish, obviously!  This one is heading to CAS(E) this Sketch and CASology (the theme there is ocean). In order to make my idea work for the CTS layout I turned it on it's side.  I recently got the March My Monthly Hero kit.  It is jam packed full of stamps and dies.  I purchased this kit because I have two other ocean theme My Monthly Hero kits from previous years and I knew they would work perfectly with the new kit.  I used two of the Hero Arts reactive inks that come in the kit.  One called Sea Glass was used to ink up the white cardstock panel for my bit of ocean.  The second color called Blue Water was just to stamp the kelp.  I then stamped two fish one in an emerald green and the other in a color called Tranquil Tide.  It is a blue/green/gray color.   Die cut them with the matching die.  I splatted on some water and them removed it with a towel to get the look of bubbles.  The sentiment was stamped in VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne.  I die cut the panel with a rectangle die, adhered it to a light gray card base and added some of the little droplets that come in the kit.  I think I will post this over at Less is More, too, as I did use the kelp image three times and there are three of the droplets.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Supplies:  Card #1:  Cardstock:  PTI white, Strathmore Smooth Bristol; Stamps and dies:  Honey Bee Stamps; Ink:  VersaFine Onyx Black, VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne; Watercolor medium:  ZIG Clean Color Real Brush markers; Enamel dots:  Freckled Fawn

Card #2:  Cardstock:  PTI white, SSS fog; Stamps:  Hero Arts; Dies:  Hero Arts and A Jillian Vance Design; Inks:  Hero Arts, VersaFine CLAIR, Stampin Up! Emerald Envy and Tranquil Tide; Hero Arts droplets