Thanks

I wanted to share a card I made for a recent Scramble at the Hero Arts Flickr group.  Our hostess Janet asked us to use words prominently in our design.

Starting with a subtle tone-on-tone check design paper, I overstamped Hero Arts Friend Definition and then overlayed that with their Large Lotus Pattern and spread on some texture paste.  When that had dried, I trimmed it on an angle, added a black frame and put it on a white card base.  I also added some black enamel dots and a die-cut from Hero's Thanks Stamp and Cut set that my friend Linda had shared with me.  To finish I wrapped some crinkle ribbon around the top of the card.

Thanks for stopping by today! 

Smell the Flowers

I liked the sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch this time, and have been drawn to yellows lately, so this is also for the Fusion Card Challenge.

supplies: white and Bazzill Juicy Pear cardstock, Authentique Classique and Doodlebug Kraft in Color papers, Essentials by Ellen Bold Blossoms dies, PTI's Vintage Picnic sentiments, Simon's Crystal sequin

Thanks for stopping by!

Bloomin' Hugs

Here's a play I had with my new Bold Blooms stamps.

supplies: Essentials by Ellen Bold Blooms, embossed in white and sponged with distress inks, Lawn Fawn Hugs die, paper doily, rose and white cardstock

I love how big these flowers and leaves are, and these are the smaller of 2 sizes in the set!  It doesn't take much else to fill up a card with these pretties in hand!

Enjoy your Sunday!

Simon Says........Anything Goes

Welcome to another challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge!

It's Anything Goes week once again, and the Design Team were treated to some Spectrum Noir Aqua Markers to play with!  AND they'll be providing a prize in addition to our regular prize this week - how generous is that?

I have 2 cards for you, colored with my new Aqua Markers, one very busy and the other very CAS.

supplies: watercolor paper, Bazzill Candy Hearts cardstock, Floral and Essentials Aqua Markers, Hero Arts Tweed Background, embossed in white powder, Hero Arts Floral Blossoms, Simon's Sending die and sentiment from Sending & Wishing stamp set, Doodlebug Tangerine sprinkles

Starting with a piece of watercolor paper, I white heat embossed the Tweed Background, then chose a variety of yellows, pinks, and oranges from my Aqua Markers and randomly scribbled them on that stamped panel.  Next I spritzed the panel with water, which allowed the colors to blend and run together, and then I blotted the whole thing with a paper towel.  This brought the white embossing out again.  Next I colored 2 pinks and 2 greens directly onto my floral stamp, spritzed it lightly, then stamped it onto another piece of watercolor paper.  After it was dry, I cut it out carefully.  The Sending die was glued to the bottom right, and then the whole thing was popped up above the tweed background panel.  To finish, I added the tiny sentiment below, stamped and white embossed on cotton candy cardstock and some tangerine sprinkles.  

supplies: white and green cardstock, watercolor paper, Aqua Markers Floral set, Penny Black Dancing Daffodils, Winnie & Walter Big, Bold Seasons

Again, I used a markers to color directly onto the stamp, then spritzed the stamp with water and stamped on watercolor paper.  After it was dry, I stamped my sentiment.

Now it's your turn!  We have a $50.00 gift voucher to the amazing Simon Says Stamp store for one lucky random winner of our challenge!

And Spectrum Noir has offered an Aqua Markers set of the winner's choice to one lucky random winner!!

Do you use Instagram?  If you do, we'd love you to add #ssswchallenge to your challenge entry uploads so we can see them on there, too!

My Favorite Things Bonus Sketch with PageMaps

There is a great sketch challenge at My Favorite Things - they're playing along with one of PageMaps sketches, and it appealed to me immediately:

I pulled out my March Card Kit from Simon Says Stamp, added some Die-Namics rolled roses,  and here's my entry:

supplies: Authentique Classic Beauty papers and a fussy-cut journaling card (doily),  Paper Smooches dashes die for stitch marks MFT Rolled Roses, large and mini, leaves from Wplus9's Folk Art Florals dies, sentiment from Simon's On My Mind stamp set

I haven't made a rolled rose in ages, but I still love that they always turn out so pretty!  Thanks for coming by today!

Spring Flowers

Barb has posted another challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Flickr group, and the theme this time is Springtime/Easter.  I'm always up for pastel colors and flowers, so inspired by a pink and yellow garden of tulips I remember a few years ago, here is my entry:

supplies: pink,  yellow, and white cardstock green gingham dp from Doodlebug's Hello Sunshine pad, a dotty embossing folder, tulips from Simon's Floral Bookmarking set, stamped and fussy cut, sentiment from Winnie & Walter's Big Bold Seasons cutaways and stamps, Simon's Stitched Rectangles die

This challenge runs through April 2 and there are 2 random winners of a $25.00 Simon gift voucher so I hope to see you there!

Pure fun

Yesterday I received both the Essentials by Ellen stamps and dies called Bold Blossoms, and couldn't wait to have a play.  It was fun to cut out these lovely scribbled flowers and see where they led me.

supplies: Bold Blooms dies, coral and lime cardstock, yellow Doodlebug sprinkles, Crate Paper Maggie Holmes Open Book embossing folder, Winnie & Walter Big, Bold Seasons cutaway, grey cardstock

I probably broke all kinds of photography rules for that photo above, but I really wanted you to be able to see the embossing, and taking a picture inside just wasn't doing it, so I moved outside, and loved this one which had both sunshine and shadow in it because it showed the dimension on the card.  I adhered the flower die-cuts just in their centers and pulled their edges upwards a bit for interest.  I used a grey sentiment because black just seemed too stark.  

Here's a "regular" photo:

These dies were so fun to play with, and I'm so glad I got the matching stamp set, too; that will be next on my playlist!  Thanks for your visit today!

Hello Beautiful

Here's a card I made with 2 challenges in mind.  CAS-ology's theme this week is Blossom, and I knew just which of my flower stamps I wanted to use.  And the AAA Cards challenge this week is to make a CAS card with lots of white space.  Here's my entry for both these challenges:

supplies: Clearly Besotted's Brushed Poppies, Wplus9's Hand-Lettered Hello

These poppies are so fun to stamp and always look stunning.  I paired them with this gorgeous sentiment - just love the font and beautiful curves of it! 

Jar of Daisies

Kathy's put the coloring bug in me with her 30 Days of Coloring challenge, and I'm sneaking in last minute for Hero Arts' Nature Challenge, so I pulled out an older flower stamp and made a jar of daisies!  Putting flowers in a jar or a stoneware pitcher is almost always the way I arrange flowers at home.

supplies: Hero Arts Be Happy (flowers), colored with mostly markers but also some colored pencils, Love Jar, Simon's Sending die and Sending & Wishing stamp, white, yellow, and coral cardstock, vellum for jar

I colored my flowers in various warm shades and fussy-cut them out, detaching them from their stems.  After stamping my jar on vellum and cutting that out, I laid everything out on my background panel and then glued only the top of the jar down, so I could lift it and add the stems and leaves; then I attached the edges of the jar to the background with teensy drops of glossy accents around the edges.  To finish I layered my flowers, popping 2 of them up with foam adhesive, and then added my sentiment.

Sparkle and Shine Challenge #2

There's a new challenge in town - Sparkle and Shine!  Their 2nd challenge is a sketch, and here's my first take on it:

supplies: pink dotted washi tape, Paper Smooches dots die, Simon's Best Mom Ever flowers, Lil Inker Spot On (sentiment), pinks and greens from Pretty Pink Posh Springtime Mix sequins, stitched rectangles

I used  a mix of washi tape and a dotty die to make my background, and had so much fun making it that I did a second version:

supplies: Freckled Fawn washi tape, Die-Namics Blueprints 20 zig-zag dot die,  red, white, and green cardstock, mint dot from Echo Park's Bundle of Joy Dots & Stripes pad, Wplus9 Folk Art Florals dies, Simon's Giving Thanks (sentiment), red sequins

This time I mixed a zig-zag die with my washi.  And I really enjoyed making this tiny little scene in the same colors.

Here's the sketch:

If I have time, I think I'd like to try it using all design papers..........

Thanks for stopping by!

In the Spotlight.......

I'm back again today over at the Winnie & Walter blog with another "Spotlight" feature there.  Here are some sneak peeks:

I'd love it if you'd hop on over to Winnie & Walter and leave me some love!

Simon Says...........Easter or Spring Inspiration

Happy Wednesday and welcome back to a new challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge!

This week we have a beautiful inspiration collage, made by our Mandy, along with an Easter/Spring theme.

The Design Team are using Bazzill products. I chose this Bazzill Green with Envy variety pack of cardstock, which contains 2 sheets each of 3 beautiful greens and 3 aqua to turquoise shades.  Just this range of colors said spring to me!

For my first card, I was influenced by the bird in the lower left corner.  I pulled out my Wplus9 Folk Art Florals dies and made a little spring scene.  Nothing says spring better than the tweeting of the birds outside my windows at this happy time of year!

I also used Wplus9's Hand Lettered Hello stamps, stamped in Hero Arts Splash ink, a Simon stitched rectangle die, and one of the Blueprints 20 dies (scalloped edge) by Die-Namics.  I used all of the colors in my paper pack except the darkest green.

We were given this assignment just about the time this Art Impressions First Bloom stamp came into the store, and I thought it represented spring beautifully, so here it is on my second card.

I colored my image with a combination of Spectrum Noir alcohol markers and colored pencils, then trimmed it out, mounted it on a Die-Namics Insta-Frame die cut from the lightest of the aqua papers, added a spring sentiment (Winnie & Walter's Big Bold Seasons Cutaways), cut from the medium shade, and added some tiny flower sequins.  Then I placed the whole thing on a white card base that had been embossed with a little flower folder by Sizzix.

Here's a closer look at the adorable stamp.  Around the edges, it says: "The first bloom of Spring makes my heart sing!"

It's your turn now!  We have a $50.00 gift voucher to the amazing Simon Says Stamp store for one lucky random winner of our challenge!

Do you use Instagram?  If you do, we'd love you to add #ssswchallenge to your challenge entry uploads so we can see them on there, too!

Floral Fusion

I loved both the colors and the sketch at the Fusion challenge this time!  And this is also for Kathy's 30 Day Coloring Challenge, and my first time playing at Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge, which is Anything Goes this week.  I needed a birthday card for a friend; hopefully this will brighten her day!  Here's my card:

supplies: Paper Smooches Blossoming Buds, colored with Spectrum Noir Primaries and Essentials colored pencils, Doll Pink, black, and white cardstock, Wplus9's Hand Written Hello die and stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Thank You

Here's another entry for Avery Elle's Stripes Challenge:

supplies: Avery Elle's Petals & Stems and Oh Happy Day, Hero Arts Canvas Stripes, Simon's Hydrangea and Green Apple, Hero Arts Bubble Gum and Butter Bar inks, white sequins

I love stripes and florals mixed, but I don't have any striped AE stamps, so I substituted a retired Hero Arts one, and added some flowers stamped in spring colors and centered with white sequins.

Thanks for your visit today!

CASE This Sketch

What a fun sketch we have at CASE This Sketch this time!  I know it will be one I'll use again......

Here's my take:

supplies: white and BoBunny Strawberry dot cardstock, Paper Smooches Blossoming Buds, Spectrum Noir markers, Technique Tuesday Say It - Hugs and Simon's Stitched Rectangles dies, white marker

After stamping and coloring my flower panel I cut out a center stitched rectangle, added dimensional dots to it and popped it above the panel, adding a die-cut sentiment.

And since I used markers to color this, I'm entering Kathy's 30 Day Coloring Challenge once again.  I even added a few of her signature white dots, but my hand isn't very steady for them, so I kept those to a minimum!

See you tomorrow!

Thinking of You

When I visited Theresa's blog recently her card reminded me of a Flourishes stamp that fits the bill for the Card Concept challenge, and also Kathy's 30-day Coloring Challenge.  I've always enjoyed coloring, no matter what the medium.......Here's my card; I guess I"d consider it Clean and Layered:

supplies: Flourishes Picking Wildflowers (retired), Avery Elle Simply Said Hello, white, yellow, pink and green cardstock, MFT Blueprints 20 (scallop rectangle and stitched rectangle) dies, Lawn Fawn and Paper Sweeties sequins

Muse Challenge

What a beautiful Muse we have this week!  I just loved Michele's card, and her sunshiney yellow and pretty flowers really made me want to play!

But when I looked through what I have here, I changed gears and made a pink one.

supplies: Hero Arts Tall Flowers, sentiment from Simon's Watt's Up?, pink gingham ribbon, black and white cardstock, Doodlebug Hello Sunshine paper, Spellbinder's Small Deckled Mega rectangle die

I colored in just one flower, and wrapped my panel in a favorite pink gingham ribbon.

Thanks for visiting today!  

A Happy Hello

I wanted to play in this month's Avery Elle challenge: Stripes.

Here's my entry:

I used a Doodlebug striped design paper, along with Avery Elle's Petals & Stems, Laurels, and Simply Said Hello sets.  I masked and fussy cut my flowers, and popped them above the MFT Insta-Frame die.  And added a few sequins in matching colors.

Thanks for stopping by.