happy birthday x 2...

Hello!  Popping in today with a couple of clean and simple cards that I made for a few challenges.  First up is a card for the current Freshly Made Sketches, as well as the Simon Says Stamp flickr challenge and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.   I made this card using several of the images from the Simon Says Stamp Delicate Flowers stamp set that came in the SSS May card kit.  I stamped the images on Strathmore smooth bristol cardstock with VersaFine Onyx Black in and then colored them with my ZIG markers.  Once they were dry I trimmed them out with my detail scissors.  I cut a piece of white cardstock with an A Jillian Vance Design stitched dot rectangle die and then cut the rectangle with an A Jillian Vance Design edger die.  I adhered the die cut panel to a white cardstock base and then arranged the flowers and leaves so I could determine where the sentiment would go.  The sentiment was stamped with VersaFine CLAIR in Nocturne and then I adhered the flowers and leaves.  Finished with some Pretty Pink Posh clear jewels.

The second card is for this week's Color Throwdown, as well as the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.  I recently purchased the MFT Blended Happy Birthday stamp and die set and used it to create this super simple shaker card.  I cut some white cardstock with an AJVD stitched dot rectangle die.  I arranged the dies on the panel, taped them in place and then ran it through my die cutting.  I then used the die cut openings to get the correct placement for the stamps.  I used pink and brown inks to stamp the sentiment.  Once that was done I adhered actetate behind the die cut opening, adhered foam tape around the sentiment to create the area for my sequins and then added black and a few white sequins.   I removed all the liners from the foam tape and then adhered the die cut panel on top.   Super, super simple.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Supplies:  Card #1:  Cardstock:  PTI white, smooth bristol; Stamps:  Simon Says Stamp; Inks:  VersaFine, VersaFine CLAIR; Watercolor medium:  ZIG clean color markers; Dies:  A Jillian Vance Design; Jewels:  Pretty Pink Posh

Card #2:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Stamps:  My Favorite Things; Dies:  My Favorite Things, A Jillian Vance Design; Sequins:  Ellen Hutsom, My Mind's Eye

Happy May Day!

Happy May Day everyone!  Hope you are having a good week so far.  Since it is Wednesday I have a post up on the A Jillian Vance Design blog today and here is a little peek:

I hope you will head over to the AJVD blog to see the full project and to let me know what you think.  Have a great day!

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

Happy Wednesday!

Hello and happy Wednesday!  I hope your week has been going well.   So far so good for me, lol!  I'm popping in to let you know that I have a project up on the A Jillian Vance Design blog today and here is a little peek:

I hope you will take the time to head over to the AJVD blog to see the full project and to let me know what you think.  Have a wonderful day!

spring cards...

Hello!  Popping in with a couple of cards that I made for a few challenges.  Both a spring inspired thus the reason for my blog title.  First up is a card for Freshly Made Sketches and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.  I recently purchased the Altenew Dotted Blooms stamp and die set and had been wanting to ink it up.  When I saw the cherry blossoms in the  inspiration photo for the Simon Says Stamp challenge it made me think of that set and so I got to work.   I have to admit it was a bit of a challenge for me to line up the layering images on the flowers, but after one mess up I managed to get two relatively nice branches.  I used Altenew Crisp ink in Blush for the two larger flowers and Rouge for the smaller bud.  I wanted to capture the blue sky from the inspiration photo so I inked up some white cardstock with Altenew Turquoise crisp ink and then die cut it with an AJVD rectangle die.   The sentiment was stamped in the corner with VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne ink.  I found a light minty green patterned paper to cut my strips from and then got to layering up all the elements on a white cardstock panel that I die cut with the largest AJVD stitched dot rectangle die.   The finished panel was adhered to a pink cardstock base.

The second card is for the current Mojo Monday sketch challenge.  I used supplies from the Simon Says Stamp April card kit to create my card.    Because I'm kind of funny about having the scale right when I make a card I used my rectangle dies in a some what creative way to cut some of the elements from the sketch.  It was just a matter of lining things up or shifting them one way or another.   I love that pretty minty green large gingham paper from the kit and paired it with the floral piece.   I die cut the white sentiment panel and then stamped it with a light yellow ink similar to that found in the flowers on the floral paper.   I used a sticker from the kit that I adhered to a scrap of the patterned paper and then trimmed out to give it a bit more stability when I adhered it to the card front with foam dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Supplies:  Card #1: PTI white, SU! Pink Pirouette; Stamps:  Altenew; Dies:  Altenew and AJVD; Inks:  Altenew, Memento Rich Cocoa and VersaFine CLAIR; Patterned Paper:  My Mind's Eye

Card #2:  Cardstock:  PTI white, SSS dark brown; Stamps:  Simon Says Stamp; Dies:  AJVD; Patterned paper:  Simple Stories; Sticker: Simple Stories; Ink:  Stampin Up!

Happy Wednesday!

Hello and happy Wednesday!  I hope your week is going well!   Mine got off to a bad start (long story involving a large rock and a destroyed wheel on my car!), but things are much better now.    Since it is Wednesday that means I have a project up on the A Jillian Vance Design blog today and here is a little peek:

I hope you will take the time to head over to the AJVD blog to see the full project and let me know what you think.  Have an awesome day!