Color Throw Down

Over at Kathy's blog, she, Deborah, and Vicky are having a color throw-down and they've invited us all to play along, too.  Here is the sketch and the colors:

And here is what I did with it; just call me "literal Lin":

I stamped the arch twice on gold paper in black ink, cut them out, and joined the halves together.  Then I colored in parts of the design with a watercolor pencil, and added a few white dots ala Kathy.  The green strip was first stamped with the Envelope Pattern in a green ink, overstamped the sentiment in black, and then I faux-stitched along the edges.

supplies:  blue and green cardstocks, gold dp from Basic Grey's ambrosia paper pad (thanks, Donna!), Hero Arts CL425 Flourish Grids, CL498 Live Life (sentiment), versafine onyx black ink,  S5507 Envelope Pattern, Hero Hues Grass Chalk ink, Prismacolor watercolor pencil in Carmine Red, Gelly Roll white gel pen

2 cards, 1 challenge

Is this inspiration photo not spring in a bottle?  And some of my favorite colors to play with.  CR84FN always has the best colors and I love playing each week!

I love these colors so much that I made 2 cards!!  When I saw the peonies and tulips in the inspirational photo, my mind jumped immediately to this Large Blossom cling stamp, which to me looks exactly like our pink Betty magnolia on the corner of our house.  It puts on a lovely display each spring, and then the pink petals fall off the tree and carpet the ground in pink.   Here is my first card:

This one started with white cardstock, stamped with the large blossom stamp in Versamark and white embossed, then colored in with markers, framed in a green paper, and onto the brighter pink background.  I added a die-cut label for the sentiment stamped in the same green marker, and added some pale pink ribbon and tiny green buttons.

supplies: white and  Core'dinations St. Valentino cardstocks, scrap of Dollar Store green design paper, Hero Arts CG271 Large Blossom, Impression Obsession WP25 Spring,  Versamark ink and white embossing powder, Tombow green  #126 and Hero Hues Momento Angel Pink markers, cuttlebug diecut label, pale pink ribbon from Michael's and tiny green buttons

For my second card, I started with a piece of Hero Hues Carnation Layering Paper and stamped with versamark, embossing in white again.  I only needed to shade a little bit over the already pink flowers with the same pink marker as I used above.  I also used the same green marker as above, also, but it shows up a little browner, as it is layered over the carnation color.  This was trimmed out, framed thinly on white cardstock, then put onto my background of a different green cardstock.  I embossed my sentiment in versamark and white powder, added a seam binding ribbon dyed with spun sugar distress ink, and added a new button that Savannah gifted me last weekend, tied on with white twine.
supplies: Hero Hues Carnation layering paper, white cardstock, My Mind's Eye: Deena's Penny Lane Leaves of Love paper, Hero Arts CG271 Large Blossom, CL131 SparkleClear Messages, versamark ink and white embossing powder, Hero Hues Momento Angel Pink marker, Tombo green #126, hand-dyed seam binding (spun sugar distress ink), button, white twine

I see that Sally had the same thought as mine - see her card here.

Play Date Cafe challenge #70

Here is the inspiration photo for this week at the Play Date Cafe.  I associate these colors with Florida, and as I'm writing this post, I'm having a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice made from Honey Bells - HEAVEN!  The only thing better would be having it on the beach overlooking the beautiful blue-green waters here in Florida, under a palm tree! 

Here is my card using these colors:

I'm also entering this into Moxie Fab World's Stamping With Markers challenge, because all of the birds and flowers were colored with markers after stamping the image using the emboss-resist technique.

supplies: white cardstock, lime Heidi Grace dp, Hero Arts CG270 Flower Bird Garden, CL490 Sending Smiles Messages, CL438 Let's Chill (hibiscus flower), Versamark ink and white embossing powder, then design colored in with Tombow marker green 126, Hero Hues Momento marker blue Summer Sky, and orange Cantaloupe, sentiment stamped with spiced marmalade distress ink, ribbon a gift from my friend Linda

Lin's Big Adventure!

Couldn't wait to post these few pictures of our day today.  I got to meet my sweet friend and Hero Arts Hostess sister Virginia Lu at Disney World, where she and her family have been vacationing.  I also got to meet for the first time the adorable Savannah O'Gwynn, who lives in an adjacent town here in FL!  She and Virginia are on the Etsy Inspired design team, and this was also her first meeting in real life with Virginia.  Here we are with Virginia's well-travelled poster proclaiming our love of Hero Arts.  (I think Virginia and I may have made another convert!?)

Virginia and I have been friends for 2 years, but this is the first I've met her, and now I've made a new friend in Savannah!  How's that for a 2-for-1 deal? 

We got to spend most of the day together, shared a meal, and even had some time to get outside in the gorgeous Florida sunshine and enjoy some of the grounds.

I hope I can speak for all of us to say that we all had a fabulous time! 

And may I also give a shout out to all of our husbands who patiently took these pictures, listened to our endless card-making conversations, and gave us this time with each other.

Buttons and Bows

The challenge this week at the Shabby Tea Room is "Buttons and Bows".  Here is the inspiration picture:

Here is my submission:

The silhouette stamp called Dancing with Flowers was stamped and white embossed on white cardstock, then I sponged in the background with 4 distress inks.  Anywhere that there was a flower, I added a tiny pastel button.  The bottom edge was scalloped with a punch and I added a dyed seam binding ribbon centered with a felt flower button.

supplies: white, pink cardstock, Hero Arts CG255 Dancing with Flowers, CL497 Find Joy, versamark ink and white embossing powder, spun sugar, scattered straw, tumbled glass, and shabby shutters distress inks, seam binding dyed with spun sugar, Hero Arts felt flower button, Martha Stewart double loop edge punch, tiny pastel buttons

CR84FN #16

Here is our inspiration for this week's CR84FN challenge: 

Here is my submission for this week:

I used as many small flowers as I could fit on my card, all stamped on the same pink cardstock as the card base, using an ink called Port Red; when stamped on grey and pink it comes out a nice violet color that matches my violet cardstock exactly.

supplies: pink, grey, violet cardstocks, Hero Arts CG102 Antique Brocade, CL490 Sending Smiles Messages, flowers: CL482 Dots and Flowers, CL495 Blossom Art, CL496 Layered Flowers, CL374 Big and Small Flowers, CG291 Three Dotted Flowers, Memories Port Red ink

And for all of you who have been asking for a picture of our sweet new granddaughter, here she is:

The definition of sweetness, don't you think?

My second card for the combined challenges

The Play Date Cafe and CASE Study challenges have issued us a joint challenge, to CASE this card by Eva Dobilas, usng green, red, and black.

Here is my 2nd card for this challenge:

This card started with this new ledger paper from a K&Company paper pad. The flower was already printed in the corner, so I colored it using red and green watercolor pencils, and trimmed out a panel. Then I stamped my sentiment and framed the panel in black. That was placed against a Cosmo Cricket design paper, bordered with punched music paper, and then everything was put onto a kraft card. My butterfly uses a cut-out butterfly from DCWV Mariposa paper, layered over the same punched butterfly used on my card below, with a red heart gem added to it's body.

supplies: kraft cardstock, K&Company Brenda Walton Flora & Fauna Ledger paper, Cosmo Cricket dp, the Paper Studio "Textured Cream Sheet Music" dp, DCWV Mariposa Mat Stack, Hero Arts CL173 Simple Messages, CL377 Be Happy (butterfly trail), CH173 Heart Accent Pearls, Martha Stewart Monarch Butterfly punch, colored pencils, ek success scallop punch

Please scroll down to see my other card made for this challenge.

Play Date Cafe and CASE Study combined challenge

Since these are 2 of my favorite challenges, I'm excited to play this week! Play Date Cafe is a color challenge, and CASE Study has us CASE a card.  Here is the inspiration picture for this week, made by Eva Dobilas, the February muse at CASE Study:

The challenge is to CASE Eva's card, using black, red and green.  Since I'll be away and not able to play most of this week, I got right to work and made 2 cards for these challenges, 1 elegant and almost completely stamped, and the other a little simpler, using designer papers (found in the post above this one):

This first one uses mostly stamped images.  I chose to use a lace background and I felt that I should use jewel-like reds and greens to stand up to the richness of the black against the cream background.  My red scalloped borders were first dry-embossed, then punched with a border punch.  My flower is layered using red and black. 

supplies: cream parchment, deep red and green cardstock, versafine onyx black ink, Hero Arts S5341 Lace Background, CG391 Three Dotted Flowers, F5042 Leaf Flourish, PTI Vintage Picnic Sentiments, Nestie Labels Four, EKSuccess scallop border punch, cuttlebug Textile design embossing folder, Martha Stewart Monarch Butterfly and 3 Butterflies punches, glossy accents in center of flower

Please see my 2nd card made for these combined challenges, found in the post above.

Framed spring

There are several challenges going on (PTI and Penny Black) to use vellum, but I don't have the right stamps to enter there, so I have just been playing with what I have. I stamped the frame on vellum and centered the Cherry Blossom Bird inside it, clear embossing both images. Then I turned the vellum over and used my watercolor pencils to color in the details. When you turn it back over again, it gives a kind of stained-glass look. Then I trimmed the frame around the first rectangle, cutting out the fancy work.

Next I stamped the clouds background in blue on a piece of white cardstock and overstamped the frame in black, and trimmed it out the same way. This was then glued behind the vellum image, using tiny dots of glossy accents at the corners and the middle of each side, under the black stamping.

And lastly I stamped and clear embossed the frame again on a plain white card, then glued the above panel to the inside of the frame. The nest was stamped on white cardstock, watercolored, and cut out, then popped at the corner of the frame. I couldn't resist adding little pink pearl hearts over the hearts on the frame.

Here's a closer look; hopefully you can see the effect of the vellum colored on the reverse side:

supplies: white cardstock, vellum, Hero Arts S5324 Single Frame, S5215 Clouds, Stampabilities KR1061 Cherry Blossom Bird, Inkadinkado97104 (nest), Versafine onyx black ink and clear embossing powder, faded jeans distress ink (clouds), colored pencils, pink pearls

Silhouette stamps

Hero Arts brought out lots of silhouette stamps for 2011, and I was lucky enough to get 3 of them.  I've been playing with them the last few days, and wanted to share 3 different ones, all stamped on designer papers. 

This first one is called Musical Walk.  I chose the paper it was stamped on because the pinwheels just go with the overall feel of the image.

supplies: F5468 Musical Walk, CL497 Find Joy, versafine onyx black ink,  Cosmo Cricket Togetherness mini deck, October Afternoon The Thrift Shop 8X8 paperpad, yellow card, aqua ribbon, tiny yellow buttons

Next is a cling entitled Dancing with Flowers.  I used what I think of as "Easter" colors, papers from Basic Grey's kioshi papers, and one of Donna's dyed seam binding ribbons.

supplies: CG266 Dancing with Flowers, CL498 Live Life, versafine onyx black ink, white card base, Basic Grey kioshi papers, hand-dyed seam binding, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, purple gems, colored pencils

And finally, this one is called Let's Garden Sihouette.  It was stamped over a cloud paper, framed in yellow, then in a nestie label and finally everything centered on a white card stamped with the new Envelope Pattern.

supplies: F5407 Let's Garden Silhuette, CL267 Card Messages, S5507 Envelope Pattern, versafine onyx black ink, tumbled glass distress ink, white card, my little shoebox "Sky's the Limit - Follow the Cloud" designer paper, nestabilities labels one, Hero Arts CH206 Sunshine Print Flowers, tiny aqua button

Spring is on the way

I found both these stamps at half-off at Hobby Lobby in January.  Just now playing with them.  I stamped the bird and branch, cut the nesties shape to frame it, and sponged tumbled glass around the edges.  Then I colored it with watercolor pencils.  The nest was stamped separately, colored, and cut out.  Then I cut out around the bird and branches enough to fit the nest on the branch.  This resulting image is a lovely sign of spring for me.

supplies:  pink card, white cardstock, Stampabilities KR1061 Cherry Blossom Bird, Inkadinkado 97104 (nest), Hero Arts CLCL267 Card Messages,  versafine onyx black ink, Prisma watercolor pencils, Nesties Labels Eight, tumbled glass distress ink

Fresh as a Daisy

Here's the inspiration for the challenge this week at CR84FN:

Love these springy colors!  I just happen to have received some brand new inks and they are exactly the colors in this challenge! My eye was drawn to the bouquet of flowers and the quote. Here is my submission:

Supplies: white cardstock, Hero Arts CG247 Edged Fabric with Flowers, Hero Hues chalk inks Cerulean, Poppy, and Grass, CL495 Blossom Art Flowers, Versafine onyx black ink, CL298 Scattered Leaves, CL497 Find Joy (sentiment)

I'd also like to enter this into the Card Patterns challenge:

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Made for the CARDS blog challenge to use doilies from last week, but not chosen.  I thought it would make a nice post for my favorite holiday.  I hope you all get lots of flowers and chocolate - sending you all big hugs!

Another new stamp

I'm so glad I got this big Flower Text stamp!  So many fun ways to use it.....here I stamped it in black on white, then overstamped it with the Clouds background in tumbled glass.  The flowers and leaves are paper-pieced using BoBunny dotty papers, and shaded with colored pencils. 

Supplies: aqua and white cardstock, various BoBunny dotted papers, Hero Arts S5506 Flower Text, S5216 Clouds, versafine onyhx black ink, colored pencils

Simple Frame with Wildflowers

Just sharing a card I made using some new Hero Arts stamps.  The Simple Frame was stamped on orchid cardstock in brown ink and clear embossed, and again on a page of Brenda Walton's Flora & Fauna Mat Pad, which was trimmed to fit inside the first stamping.   I colored the Wildflower Garden stamp using markers before stamping, and I added the sentiment, the twine and a pink heart pearl before centering it on the orchid panel.  Then the whole thing was placed onto a kraft card. 

Supplies: kraft and orchid cardstock, K&Company Brenda Walton Flora & Fauna Mat Pad dp, Hero Arts S5324 Simple Frame, Memories Art Print Brown ink and clear embossing powder, CG170 Wildflower Garden, Hero Hues Lilac Posies marker and Tombo green marker, CL489 Yummy Treats (sentiment), twine, CH173 pearl heart

Alma's dress

Happy weekend, everyone!  It's a beautiful sunny, blue-skied day today here in SW Florida, though a bit on the cool side, but they say we're due for a warm up next week!  Hope the sun is shining for you, too!

I  visited 2 blogs this morning that inspired this card:.  First was Libby's blog and a feature that she often posts called Courtney's Closet, where she finds inspiration in one of her daughter's dresses.  I went shopping this week for something to take for our new little granddaughter when we meet her for the first time next weekend, and had such a ball in the little girls' area of the stores!  Here is one of the outfits I bought for her:

Isn't it so sweet?  I am so pleased to be FINALLY able to shop for pastels!!!  (We had 2 sons, and even a male dog!)

Here is the card that I made using it as my inspiration:

Supplies: white card base, BoBunny mint dot (reverse) and tutu dot, Hero Arts CL495 Blossom Art, Versamark ink and white embossing powder, CLk307 SparkleClear Mini Messages, Versafine onyx black ink, seam binding dyed with spun sugar distress ink, Really Reasonable Ribbon pink gingham ribbon, Martha Stewart paper rose, Michael's tiny pink buttons



I used the sketch from Card Patterns for this week, and had just as much fun deciding on the papers and stamps I would use to simulate her little dress! 

Bits and pieces

Hello everyone!  Hope your week is going well and that you have some fun things planned for your weekend.........Valentine's Day is right around the corner!  I'm here today to play in the Play Date Cafe Challenge # 68; didn't Julie choose some fun shabby-chic images to get our juices flowing?

I picked out a few things from the inspiration pictures - the seed packet and those pale pink roses, and then dug into my collection of papers and started arranging:

I remembered a post from Jacqueline where she used this vintage cologne bottle label and referenced it here at the Graphics Fairy - thank you, Jacqueline!  The only stamped image here is a scrap from a white-embossed lace background; everything else is a scrap of printed paper.  The little bit of music is something that Jacqueline sent me awhile ago.  I hand-dyed the seam binding using spun sugar distress ink, and also used it to color in the center of the digital label.  I also used antique linen to darken the lace that Carole sent me and edge some of the elements.  The tiny pink roses are Martha Stewart. 

CASE Study

Here is the wonderful card by Eva Dobilas that we get to CASE this week at CASE Study.  I was drawn to the damask-like panel surrounded by the lovely edging, and the flourished sentiment tag.  Each element makes a statement, and all of them blend together perfectly:

Here is my take:

I got to use some brand new Hero Arts 2011 stamps on this one, and some more of my friend Donna's hand-dyed seam binding in that gorgeous blue.  To play up the blue, I kept almost everything else black and white. 

Supplies:  white, black and blue cardstock, Hero Arts CG245 Classic Fabic Design, CL488 Congrats, CL374 Big and Small Flowers, CG291 Three Dotted Flowers, PTI Vintage Picnic Sentiments, Versafine onyx black ink, Martha Stewart edge punch, hand-dyed seam binding, white pearl heart

Blue Poppy

Hi everyone!  I wanted to make a card using this lovely Penny Black stamp called Poppy Poem.  I've already done it in pink, but this time I wanted to include this gorgeous hand-dyed ribbon from Donna Mikasa.  I'm entering this into the current Penny Black challenge, to use white space as a primary element.  The white panel was dry-embossed with a cuttlebug flourish folder, and then put onto blue cardstock.  The poppy was watercolored and diecut with a nesties label  and edged with some faded jeans distress ink.  The sentiment was stamped with the same ink, and both were popped above the embossed background. 

Supplies: blue and white cardstock, Penny Black 4036K poppy poem, Versafine onyx black ink, watercolor pencils, nesties label four, hand-dyed blue seam binding ribbon, Hero Arts CL173 Simple Messages, faded jeans distress ink, cuttlebug flourish embossing folder

On a happy note, I went shopping today for little baby girl clothes and found some sweet little things in pink and green - had a ball!  We'll be visiting our little granddaughter Alma next week!!!

Pinks and brown

Here is the photo inspiration for this week's CR84FN challenge:

Here's my take on the challenge - love the chocolate and pinks together, though my 2 pinks aren't that different in tone.  I paper-pieced the large flower, using solid and printed papers, adding an extra darker pink layer all around the edges, and dry-embossed the background in a tiny flower design. 

Supplies: chocolate, orchid pink light and dark cardstocks, the Paper Studio Coco & Pink SM Polka Dot (Hobby Lobby), other unknown pp (flower center), Hero Arts S5485 Many Petals, CL380 Truly Appreciated, twine, Sizzix little flowers embossing folder, twine, tiny pink buttons from Michaels

Sweet Hearts

Here's our photo inspiration for this week's Shabby Tea Room challenge:

And here's my take on it.......I zoomed in on the dotted green base of the tiered stand and the doilies, and then the yummy colors - I love the way the minty green, peachy pink, and chocolate work together!

I started with a chocolate card base, and trimmed a piece of Lasting Impressions Whimsical Dot in kiwi to fit the front.  Then I added a paper doily, and topped that with some hand-dyed seam binding (worn lipstick distress ink).  The hearts and sentiment are from an Impression Obsession clear set of hearts, stamped in worn lipstick and vintage photo distress inks, and I added some punched hearts and a lacey one that my friend Linda sent me, and topped it with a pearl heart gem. 

Supplies: chocolate, white, kraft cardstock, Lasting Impressions kiwi Whimsical Dot,  Impression Obsession CL65 Love is All Around, vintage photo and worn lipstick distress inks, heart-in-heart punch, lace heart, pink pearl heart, Hug Snug seam binding, dyed with worn lipstick distress ink, sentiment label is a cuttlebug die, cut apart to make smaller

Hearts and Flowers

I found a few new challenges just recently - Speedy the Cat's Friends challenge #41 from Mark's Finest Papers.  The challenge this week is to make something using self-made flowers.  This card also works for the Wild Orchid Challenge: "Love is...".  And I also want to enter this into the Hero Arts Challenge this month: Love & Friendship.

And this works for Simon Says "Love is in the Air", and  Papertake Weekly's Anything Goes + Flowers.

I've used my current favorite flower stamp to make the flower, stamping each size and putting it together using 5 layers.  That was added to a die-cut scalloped heart, overstamped with a script, and then that was placed over a panel of my favorite BoBunny passion fruit .

A detail picture showing the layers on the flower:

Supplies: white cardstock, BoBunny passion fruit dot and avocado dot, Hero Arts CL291 3 Dotted Flowers, S4878 Old Letter Writing, CL163 Always Heart,  versamark ink and white embossing powder, spun sugar distress ink, versafine onyx black ink, CH173 white heart accent pearl

Winter Thaw

That's what the challenge is over at the Flourishes blog, with a chance to win the whole new February release!  Here is the inspiration picture:

Such a breath of springtime!  I loved the flowers, and my mind went on to remembering those brave little daffodils that usually bloom with snow all around them in so many of our recent springtimes.  Here is my submission:

I used these new flowers to try and simulate daffodils, by bending up the petals, and made up some floating clouds with the words from an older clear set of Spring word stamps.  To finish I added some twine, a felt flower and a button to anchor my sentiment. 

Supplies: blue cardstock, BoBunny double dot dp in yellow, orange, and green, Hero Arts CL495 Blossom Art, CL272 All Occasion Messages, Versafine onyx black ink, Impression Obsession WP25 Spring, Colorbox Frost White ink, Hero Arts felt button and spring card button, white twine.

I'm also entering this into this month's Hero Arts challenge: Love and Friendship.

All you need......

The challenge at the Penny Black Saturday challenge is to complete the phrase "Love is.......".   It will be fun to see what everyone comes up with!  Give it a try - the prizes are a Teddy stamp from Penny Black or some pretty ribbons from The Ribbon Girl!  Here's mine:

One of the fastest cards I've ever made, using a Stickeroo from the set called Hearts and Flowers, some tiny alphabet stickers from Making Memories, and the heart border punch from Martha Stewart!

Friends

I love the challenge this week at the Shabby Tea Room!  We are to "Get Creative", design a card or project using just stamping  and our own handmade embellishments.  No patterned papers allowed this week.  This is exactly the kind of thing I like to do!  So here is my submission:

Starting with white cardstock, I stamped various background patterns using either worn lipstick or spun sugar distress inks, cut them into various size blocks and arranged them on the pink card, edging each with antique linen distress ink.  I made a block using the houndstooth pattern stamped with spun sugar distress ink and framed that with kraft cardstock.  Then I stamped each of the 3 sizes of flowers from my newest cling flower set called 3 Dotted Flowers on a peachy pink solid and tone-on-tone checked cardstock, and embossed them in white, making 6 layers in all, and glued them together, first curling the petals a bit.  The flower was centered with a tiny button.  I added the leaves from  the same set, my "Friend" sentiment, and some pink pearl hearts.  And to finish I dyed my winter white seam binding using the same spun sugar distress ink and water.   So everything except the buttons and pearls was made by me.  Here is a detail of the flower:

This also works for the Papertake Weekly Challenge: "Anything Goes + Flowers".  And I'm entering this into Hero Arts monthly challenge: "Love and Friendship".

Supplies: pink, white and kraft cardstock, Lasting Impressions Checks in Guava and Kiwi, and an unknown solid pink cardstock, Hero Arts CG291 3 Dotted Flowers, CL434 Just Find Me (sentiment), and background stamps S4878 Old Letter Writing, S5341 Lace Background, CG222 Music Background, CG102 Antique Brocade, K5175 Houndstooth, Versamark ink and white embossing powder, spun sugar, worn lipstick, antique linen distress inks, Hero Hues Latte Chalk ink, Hug Snug seam binding, Hero Arts CH173 Heart Accent Pearls