life is...

Hello!!  Checking in with a little card I made for a couple of challenges.  I enjoyed my week away.  It was nice to have some down time and not have an agenda (ie... housework, places to go, etc) for more than one day and to spend some time reading.  I was able to read a really awesome book and get slightly addicted to crossword puzzles using an app on my Nook tablet!  Now it is back to reality, lol! 

So, I made this card for the following challenges:  Color Throwdown and Freshly Made Sketches.  I used some Clearly Whimsy Stamps (Travel 1) and dies (Leaving on a Jet Plane) for this card.  I love the CWS set Travel 1.  It is full of cute little travel icons and has some great sentiments.  I stamped the road image from the set using three of the colors from the combo and then used the fourth for the airplane icon.  The sentiment was stamped in black, trimmed out and popped up over the black bakers twine I tied around the panel. 

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps:  Clearly Whimsy Stamps; Inks:  Stampin Up!, PTI and Memento; Dies:  Clearly Whimsy Stamps; Baker's Twine:  Impress

thinking of you...

Hello... have another card to share.  This time for Freshly Made Sketches, Color Throwdown, AEI{heart}U:  diecuts and Less is More:  Anything Goes. (Happy belated birthday, Chrissie!!)  This is my last post for awhile... off on a little vacation with my boys.  We are heading to Birch Bay, Washington for some fun in the sun with my in-laws.  The boys are excited to be spending a whole week hanging out with their cousins!  I'm looking forward to some down time and doing some reading!

Anywhoo... on to my card.  This came together pretty quickly.  Some washi tape, a die cut, some hemp twine, a few enamel dots and I was done.  To add some interest I cut the panel to 3 3/4 x 5" and then rounded one corner.  The corresponding corner of the card base was rounded as well.  The Avery Elle set I used is Petal & Stems, as well as the Petals & Stems die.  I can't seem to stop making projects with that set... absolutely love it!

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps & Dies:  Avery Elle; Inks:  Stampin Up! Rich Razzleberry & Memento Tuxedo Black; Hemp twine:  Hemptique yellow; Enamel Dots:  My Mind's Eye; Washi Tape:  Stampin Up! & Impress

a cup of tea...

Hello... popping in with a card for a couple of challenges:  AAA - CASing Angela and Colour Me...! 

I used the Clearly Whimsy Stamp set Time for Tea Additions, as well as Whimsy Stamps Time for Tea Additions die set.  I admit that my CASE of Angela's card is a pretty loose one, but I did try to keep to the overall design of her card and even got some of the colors too.  Patterned papers are from Stampin Up! (Sunshine & Sprinkles).  I got my gold in by using some gold mirror paper which you can see peeking out underneath the black cardstock.  I did do some partial embossing of the black cardstock to break up the starkness of all that black. 

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white & black; Patterned Paper:  Stampin Up!; Stamps & Dies:  Clearly Whimsy Stamps; Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black; Embossing folder:  SU! Decorative Dots

PTI July Blog Hop...

Hello!!  Here with my card for this month's PTI blog hop.  Love the sweet inspiration photo that Nichole provided.  Aqua and red is one of my favorite color combos... it is just yummy!

For my card today I used the Beautiful Brushstrokes stamps and dies, along with the smallest die from the Tipped Top die set.  The patterned paper is from Stampin Up!.  I really liked the little posey of red flowers placed atop the heart shaped doily and so used that as my starting point.  All the inks are from Stampin Up! (Ruby Red, Real Red and Cherry Cobbler for the flowers; Pear Pizzazz and Wild Wasabi for the leaves).  I had originally just had the large flower, but realized once I had put the card together that things were "off".  So this morning I die cut two of the smaller flowers and leaves, stamped them and added them to the card... definitely much better!  There is a doily on the card, but you can only see bits of it peeking out here and there.  The sentiment is from the Beautiful Brushstrokes sentiments set and I added a few of the clear dew drop embellishments.

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white, Stampin Up! Pool Party; PP:  Stampin Up (Coastal Cabana); Stamps & Dies:  PTI; Inks:  Stampin Up! & Memento; Doily:  Wilton; Embellishments:  PTI

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

you make me happy...

Hello!!!  Here with a card that I made for a couple of challenges:  Less is More Theme week (inspired by Singing in the Rain) and Viva La Verve (sketch). 

When I saw the new LIM challenge I immediately thought of the Verve set Rain or Shine.  The song "Singing in the Rain" always makes me think of umbrellas!  I paired the set up with some fun Stampin Up! designer paper aptly named "Sunshine & Sprinkles" and Viva la Verve sketch #3.  To CAS-ify the sketch I created the bottom layer by embossing my cardstock with a Spellbinders long plain rectangle die and used only white cardstock to provide as much white space as I could.   The rest of the layers were kept equally simple with no matting in sight.  The only embellishment is the little umbrella cut from some of the patterned paper.   I think this card proves that you can have layers and keep your card clean and simple!

Thanks for stopping by...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; DP:  Stampin Up!; Stamps:  Verve Rain or Shine; Dies:  Spellbinders plain long rectangle & plain circle dies; My Favorite Things fishtail flag stax die