Black and White and a Splash of ...... Maroon

If you want to see my card for The Craft's Meow sketch challenge for November, please click HERE.

My favorite challenges at The Play Date Cafe are their "color splash" ones!  This week we're to use a splash of maroon.

I had this Stampendous Snowy Postcard cling stamp out on my desk, and thought it would be perfect for the challenge.

I stamped and clear embossed the image on white cardstock, then did some shading with Aged Mahogany distress ink and a rhubarb stalk Memento marker.  The holly leaves were colored in lightly, and I used a glue pen to apply the chunky Twinklets Diamond Dust (thanks, Carol!) on the roofs and along the ground and fence line, some red gems for holly berries and some snowflakes punched from the same cardstock that I used as the card base.  I wish you could see the almost 2nd layer of glitter - it adds a lovely subtle dimension.  

Every time I use this stamp I like it better!  Thanks, PDCC, for getting me to use this color, it's one I probably would never have tried with this stamp!

Mint, gold and leather

The Play Date Cafe's challenge uses these colors:

I had pulled out some papers and had decided to do something with my chevron dies when my eyes saw their new logo:

And I changed course a bit; here is what I came up with:

supplies: white cardstock, gold paper, design papers from Echo Park's This & That by Lori Whitlock, Die-Namics Chevron Stripes die, Hero Arts CL508 Luscious Patterned Flowers, VersaMark ink and Ranger  Extra Fine Detail gold embossing powder, aqua, brown, and gold pearls

Definitely not my usual style, but it was fun seeing if I could put this together......what do you think?

Wine, Pumpkin, and Moss

I loved the colors that were chosen for this week at the Play Date Cafe:

......wine, pumpkin, and moss.  I remembered this digital Hero Arts tree called Basic Tree, and printed it out, then colored it using the 3 colors, plus light brown for the trunk.  Since I collect autumnal papers, it was easy to find some coordinating ones to pull the colors out further, and this Webster's Pages' pleated ribbon from Sue worked, too.

supplies: cream cardstock, dps from BoBunny Very Vintage Dots,  Simple Stories Harvest Lane, and Crate Paper Farmhouse collections, EL Success Binding Edge punch, Hero Arts Basic Tree digital image, Memento and Tombow markers to colors, sentiments from The Paper Company Studio Autumn Stamp Kit, brown ink, Webster's Pages green pleated ribbon trim, October Afternoon 9 to 5 button, twine

I edged all the papers with vintage photo distress ink before assembling.

Autumn Blessings

Happy Autumn!  It's no secret to my regulars that I adore this season: the smell of woodsmoke, crisp blue skies, pumpkins, cider, doughnuts, football and soccer games.........and the beautiful colors of our changing maple trees.  A couple of things coincided this week that inspired this card.  I got an order from Simon Says Stamp that included a beautiful set of clear leaf stamps and some gorgeous BoBunny paper pads in the colors of the season.  And a few days ago my October CARDS magazine arrived and I saw a card there by Tonya Dirk that immediately spoke to me.  I thought these banners would be a great way to show off all the beautiful paper patterns.   Here's what resulted:

supplies: cream cardstock as card base, design papers from BoBunny Apple Cider Collection and Very Vintage Double Dot Designs, Just Rite Shabby Chic Autumn Leaves, Hero Arts CL559 Greatest Gift (blessings), The Paper Company Studio Autumn Stamp Kit (autumn), raffia ribbon, orange button

I'd like to enter this into the Play Date Cafe challenge this week.

Moonlight Garden

My favorite challenge at the Play Date Cafe has rolled around again - their "Black and White with a Splash" challenge.  This time the splash is lime, a color I love - here's my entry:

supplies: white and lime cardstock, Hero Arts K5361 Flower Medley, CL493 Live Life, VersaFine onyx black ink and Hero Arts ultra fine clear embossing powder, lime gems, lime baker's twine from Jillibean Soup

Pink Carnation, Orange Sherbet and Lemonade

Couldn't resist playing with the colors at the Play Date Cafe challenge this week; summer to the max!

I thought I'd make a little bouquet of posies, with the help of some masking:

supplies: white card stock, dp from doodlebug designs "hello spring", Hero Arts CL511 Sweet Threads Thank You, bubble gum and butter bar mid-tone inks, Adirondack Sunset Orange ink, peeled paint and shabby shutters distress inks, Nesties Labels Eighteen, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, orange ribbon, tiny green button

I'm also entering this into A Blog Named Hero's Freestyle challenge.

Pretty Pastels

Such pretty colors at the Play Date Cafe this week - I had fun with these!  I again used the same stamp as the card below in the next post, but this time I embossed it in white on pale yellow paper, then colored in the pink flowers and leaves, leaving the larger flowers alone.

supplies: white card, pale coral and tulip cardstock,  lawn fawn dp (on large flower), various other scraps of yellow and green dps, Hero Arts CG247 Edged Fabric with Frame, VersaMark ink and white embossing powder, pink and green Memento markers, CL5527 Stitched Frame (large flower and leaves), CL496 Layered Flowers (small flower), CL130 Frames & Messages (sentiment), VersaFine onyx black ink, Basic Grey brad, Fiskars brackets border punch

Caribbean Sunshine Strips

supplies: white cardstock, strips from various design papers:  My Mind's Eye Stella & Rose pads: Hazel and Gertie,  Lost & Found Two: Breeze, Echo Park's Hello Summer, MME Six by Six Everyday Flair,  Basic Grey's Shine On, Hero Arts CL495 Blossom Art, CL511 Sweet Threads Thank You, mid-tone Pool ink, blue gems, Martha Stewart doily punch, Fiskar's edge punch

Here's a card I made for 3 challenges this week.  The Play Date Cafe wants us to use Caribbean Blue, Shoreline, and Sunshine:

And CAS-ual Fridays want us to use strips of color or pattern in a CAS card:

And I'd also like to enter this card into the Stamp It! Cards Thank You Challenge at Moxie Fab World.

...and a Splash of Blue

I love playing at the Play Date Cafe when they have a color splash challenge!  This week it's blue:

I recently got this elegant lady image, designed by Nina Brackett for Penny Black, and thought it would be perfect for the challenge.

supplies: white cardstock, Penny Black #40-132 so blessed, VersaFine onyx black ink, clear embossing powder, blue Spectrum Noir alcohol marker, Nestabilities Labels Four,  Darice Damask embossing folder, blue ribbon, Creative Charms Vintage Brad, Scrapbook Adhesives 3D foam squares

This is one of those cards where there is no good place to put a sentiment, so I'm leaving it blank.........

Apricot, Canary, Latte and Rose....

.....are the colors at the Play Date Cafe challenge this week:

And here's what I came up with using the colors with lots of different design papers and minimal stamping:

supplies: white cardstock, design papers from Crate Paper's "Emma's Shoppe, Basic Grey's "Porcelain"  and DCWV's "Garden Party" pads, floral rub on from Dear Lizzy, Nestabilities Labels twenty, PTI sentiment from Garden Variety, natural twine, beige pearl

And once again, entering this into the Simon Says Stamp "Anything Goes" challenge.

Black and White and a Splash

It's time for another Color Splash challenge at The Play Date Cafe; these are my favorites, so funny because I don't like black, and never use it except in these challenges.......

Here's my card this time:

supplies: white and yellow cardstock, A Muse black dot dp, Hero Arts K4883 Happy Wishes, 657773 Antique Butterflies & Flowers stamp and die, VersaFine onyx black ink

Maybe the reason I love these challenges so much is that the black really makes any color pop!

Just for You

Look at the luscious colors we have to play with at the Play Date Cafe:

I thought that these papers from the Gabrielle Collection by Bo Bunny were a wonderful match to them.  Here is my entry:

supplies: white and grey cardstock, design papers from BoBunny's Gabrielle Collection, ivory seam binding, Die-Namics doily die, Nestabilities oval scallops, Martha Stewart Monarch Butterfly punch

Need hugs?

The challenge at the Play Date Cafe this week is to use hot pink, orange, and white:

I decided to play with this Purple Onion Designs stamp called Hearts on a String.  It is so fun to paper-piece!

supplies: white and hot pink cardstock, dps from Doodlebug Designs Sweet Cakes (pinks), and oranges: Echo Park A Walk in the Park and Crate Paper Farmhouse, POD Hearts on a String, Hero Arts CL586 XO, versfine onyx black ink, Signo white pen for accents on hearts, Sizzix embossing folder, pink baker's twine

Primary colors

Look at the fun photo inspiration from the Play Date Cafe challenge this week:

I just loved the bright happy colors and the retro look of many of the images.  So I made a pinwheel card:

supplies: blue and white cardstock, dps from October Afternoon and unknown (green), red, yellow and green buttons and baker's twine, wood skewer, Hero Arts CG211 Magical Background, Adirondack Stonewash ink, CL456 Big Hugs, VersaFine onyx black ink

My pinwheels started out as 2" squares of double-sided papers.  HERE's a tutorial by Tami Hartley at the Hero Arts Blog showing how to make them.

Blue Mist, Grey Wool, and Avocado

Here is the photo inspiration for the challenge at the Play Date Cafe this week:

I love blues and greens together, and the addition of this medium grey works nicely, too.  Here is my card:

supplies: aqua and grey cardstock, dp from Teresa collins Carolina Breeze, Hero Arts CL596 Pattern Hearts & Flowers, CL476 With Sympathy, VersaFine onyx black ink, watercolored with broken china and peeled paint distress inks, cuttlebug textile embossing folder, Fiskar's edge punch, aqua and green pearls

Play Date Cafe

 

Aren't these standout colors this week at the Play Date Cafe?  I was really intimidated by trying to mix these, until I saw Debbie's card using a technique I call strip-piecing, which I learned from my friend Mary Anne, and had forgotten about.  Suddenly I knew just what I wanted to do:

supplies: white cardstock, colored strips from PTI and Hero Arts cardstock, My Favorite Stams Pure Innocence "Blooming Good Day", VersaFine onyx black ink, Memento and Letraset markers, Signo white pen, PTI cloud die, 3D foam squares

I much prefer Debbie's printed papers; they make for a softer card, I think, but these solids were the only ones I could find close to the challenge colors.  Thanks, Debbie, for your inspiration!

Charcoal, ash, and butter

Just sharing a simple card I made using the Play Date Cafe's current colors for the week:

supplies: white, medium grey and dark grey cardstocks, BoBunny buttercup dot,  Hero Arts CG206 Little Stencil Flower, stamped in Hero Arts butter bar and field greens mid-tone inks, CL371 Essential Messages, VersaFine onyx black ink, Nesties ovals and scalloped ovals, Sizzix little flowers embossing folder

Here's the pretty photo inspiration from the Play Date Cafe:

Forget-Me-Nots

Here is the photo inspiration at the Play Date Cafe challenge for this week:

Pretty pastels, aren't they?  Here's my take on them, using a brand new Penny Black stamp called Scented Message:

supplies: cream parchment and sand cardstock, Bazzill Basics Celtic Green embossed dots cardstock, Penny Black #4239K Scented Message, VersaFine onyx black ink, Prismacolor pencils, CG405 Leaf & Floral Background, old paper distress ink, CL434 Just Find Me, seam binding dyed with tattered rose distress ink, Nesties Labels Eighteen,  green floral button, ecru crochet lace from Carole


Entering this into the Simon Says Stamp "Anything Goes" challenge.

Baby Blue, Orangesickle, and Basil

I have 2 cards for you today, both using the same colors, chosen by the Play Date Cafe Challenge. I found them so soothing to work with that I made a card for 2 challenges using them.  Here is the PDCC inspiration photo:

Here's my card:

supplies: white crdstock, Hero Arts pool layering paper as card base, Hero Arts CL511 Sweet Threads Thank You (flower and leaf), CL491 Made with Love (sentiment), soft apricot and soft pool shadow inks, bundled sage distress ink, VersaFine onyx black ink and clear embossing powder

I used the same colored inks for my next card, plus some design papers, for the Simon Says Stamp "3 Different Papers" challenge:

supplies: white cardstock, PTI Flower Fusion #12 stamps, soft apricot and soft pool shadow inks, bundled sage distress ink, srm sticker sentiment, papers from Hero Arts Pool Deisnger paper, BoBunny Sweet Pear Dot, and Echo Park Playground

Black and White and a Splash

I love the Play Date Cafe's challenges when we do "Black and White with a Splash"!  This time the splash is hot pink.  Here's my entry, using this gorgeous new background stamp by Hero Arts - love the script detail!

supplies: black and white cardstock, reverse of BoBunny Pink Punch dot dp, Hero Arts CG405 Leaf & Floral Background, 857773 Antique Flowers & Butterflies stamp and die, CL493 Live Life, VersaFine onyx black ink, hot pink gemstones

Here's the photo inspiration: