Lots of Dots

Here's another entry for the Moxie Fab World's "Cure for the Winter Blues" challenge:

supplies: white, Bazzill Admiral, and BoBunny Blueberry Dot papers, Hero Arts CL482 Dots and Flowers, CL491 Made with Love, VersaMark ink and white embossing powder, chipped sapphire distress ink, pearls, 3D foam squares

I really like this dotted flower stamp done in white on a dark background - it makes me think of snow coming down on a dark night.  My background panel may look black, but it's a true dark navy, called Admiral.  I added some flowers in a brighter blue to brighten it up a bit.

I'll be adding this card as my entry to the Simon Says Stamp challenge: Anyting Goes.

Spring flowers

I thought it was high time to send my winter bluebird header south and substitute something more spring-like.  Violets and pansies mean spring to me, and I had found this image for my header many years ago as part of a whole blog background.  I isolated the flower part and kept a bit of the peachy background.  Then I was inspired to make a card to go along with it:

supplies: BoBunny coral dot and chiffon flourish papers, Hobby Lobby lace, Papertrey Ink "A Year of Flowers: Violets", watercolor paper and diluted distress inks, Prismacolor white colored pencil, Hero Arts CL586 XO, VersaFine onyx black ink

I stamped the flowers on watercolor paper, then mixed some distress inks to get as close as I could to the flower colors in the header.  I'd have liked them to be a bit more pale in color, but overall , I think it's a good representation of it's inspiration.  Hope this little bouquet of pansies makes you smile.  

Here in Florida we have a week of 80 degrees, with beautiful blue skies, white puffy clouds, and abundant sunshine.  My DH went into the pool today for the first time and he pronounced it "refreshing".   Life is good! Thank you for visiting today - I appreciate your sweet comments so much.  

Tuesday Trigger: Home Sweet Home

I'm sure you've seen this photo inspiration popping up everywhere - it's the Tuesday Trigger this week:

I couldn't get it out of mind, and finally I decided to make a folk-art scene, using this new Hero Arts/Operation Write Home clear set and all patterned papers:

supplies: white card base, patterned papers from October Afternoon, Jillibean Soup, K&Company, lily bee design, and crate paper, Hero Arts CL583 Right at Home, CL484 Whimsical Houses (trees), diecuts from DI003 Classic Frame (sun) and PTI clouds, Michaels  tiny heart punch

Don't you just love the sentiment?

And since I used so many patterned papers, I'll also enter my card into the Simon Says Stamp Challenge: 3 Papers.

The Cure for the Winter Blues

Over at Moxie Fab World, Cath has set us a new challenge to use the up and coming navy blue.  Several of her photo inspirations made me think of this new Hero Arts background stamp called Leaf and Floral  Background. Then I remembered thinking when I first saw it that this medallion from an older set would be a good match for it.  So here was my chance to try their pairing.  What do you think?

supplies: white and Bazzill Basics Admiral cardstocks, Hero Arts CG405 Leaf and Floral Background, CL401 Speckled Ornaments, chipped sapphire distress ink, Nesties Labels Eighteen, Recollections Floral Embellishment, 3D foam squares

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

Kissing technique

This week at Lily Pad Cards, our challenge is to use the kissing technique.  If you're not sure what I mean, it's kissing one stamp to another.  In this card, the poppy background was inked with poppy (gold) ink and the dot flower pattern with punch (red) ink.  I pressed the poppy to the dot flower stamp and then to white cardstock, and this is the result.  I like the impressionistic look of the resulting background, like a field of flowers:

supplies: white cardstock, Hero Arts PS596 punch layering paper, CG140 Poppy Background, AF181 Poppy chalk ink, CG335 Dot Flower Pattern, AF180 Punch chalk ink, CL490 Sending Smiles Messages, VersaMark ink and white embossing powder, EK Success scallop border punch, orange buttons, red & white baker's twine

We're sponsored again by Simon Says Stamp, so give this technique a try and share it with us at Lily Pad Cards to win a gift certificate! 

TWO ribbon challenges

At the Ribbon Girl Blog, there is a scrumptious selection of ribbons and lace up for grabs for the winner of their current color challenge:

Pink, brown and cream makes a beautiful combination!  And amazingly, pink and brown are the required colors for the challenge over at the Really Reasonable Ribbon challenge, too!

I used papers from My Mind's Eye Lost & Found's Madison Avenue paper pad - this was the perfect place to use this lovely pink bird on a chocolate brown background:

supplies: cream card base, MME Lost & Found Madison Avenue dps, , Die-Namics large scallop die, ivory lace, pale pink ribbon, hemp twine, pink heart buttons

It's very strange to make a card and not do any stamping, but these papers didn't need anything else; even the sentiment was already there!  I cut the card narrower to accomodate the scalloped edge and balanced it with the beautiful ivory lace.  

Our Creative Corner

There's another "black and white and a splash" color challenge over at Our Creative Corner this week.  We get to choose our "splash" color.  Here's my entry:

aupplies: white and black cardstock, BoBunny buttercup dot reverse, Hero Arts CL482 Dots and Flowers, CL497 Find Joy, Versamark ink and white embossing powder, VersaFine onyx black ink, black button, foam adhesive

Sweet Stamp Shop at Lily Pad Cards

It's time for another Virginia's View at Lily Pad Cards!

This week we're sponsored by the Sweet Stamp Shop, and each of us was given some sample stamps.  Here's what I did with mine, part of a set called "Melvin and Vernie"

supplies: white, aqua, red and brown cardstock, October Afternoon dp from "Sidewalks" collection, Sweet Stamp Shop "Melvin" and sentiment, diecuts: Sizzix Branch with Leaves, PTI clouds, Nesties Labels One, 

Be sure to visit Lily Pad Cards to see what my other teamies did this week; there's also a sketch to use, if you 'd like.  You could win a $25.00 gift certificate to Sweet Stamp Shop!!

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:

Ribbon Carousel challenge

There's a sketch challenge at the Ribbon Carousel Challenge, and the prize this week is from The Craft's Meow!
I used a digital Pure Innocence image, playing up the heart theme, along with some lace and twine for my entry:

supplies: white and blue cardstock, Pure Innocence digital image, watercolor pencils, Hero Arts CL272 All Occasion Messages, Sizzix embossing folder,  Nesties Labels Eighteen,  crochet lace, red and white baker's twine, Hero Arts pearl hearts

Chartreuse, gray, and lavender

Gray and lavender.........colors that I've shied away from for many years.......these were our colors for our (local) sorority at Grove City College back in the 70's, Theta Alpha Pi, and I wore them at least once a week for 3 1/2 years.   They were hard colors to wear for most of us, and thankfully at some point after I graduated, they changed the colors to burgundy and silver.   But I digress.......

The new challenge at CR84FN includes these colors plus chartreuse........here's the photo inspiration, really lovely, isn't it?

Here's my take on it:

supplies: grey cardstock, My Mind's Eye "Penny Lane" lavender and green  design papers from Hobby Lobby, Die-Namics rolled rose die, Sizzix Branch with Leaves die, Cutlebug Birds and Swirls embossing folder, Hero Arts AR127 Script Messages, pearls colored with purple marker

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's my card for all of my wonderful blog friends out there!  To me, Valentine's Day is the day for letting my family and friends know how much I appreciate them.  Hope you pass these feelings along to those who mean something to you, also.  Wishing you lots of Valentines!!

2 challenges, paper piecing, and Purple Onion Designs stamps

This week at CAS-ual Fridays we are to make a card using paper-piecing.

I used the Purple Onion Designs stamp called Cups of Joy:

supplies: white cardstock, BoBunny Passion Fruit Dot, Buttercup Dot, and Mint Dot, POD Cups of Joy, Hero Arts CL497 Find Joy, VersaFine Onyx Black ink, Memento markers

And at Jay Gee's Nook we have this wonderful photo inspiration:

Aren't these colors wonderful?  I was inspired in particular by the dotted turtles near the bottom right corner, and here is my take on the challenge, using another POD stamp called Heart Flower and the same BoBunny design papers:

supplies: white card stock, BoBunny dot dps, Hero Arts CL184 Thoughtful Messages, VersaFine Onyx Black ink, Martha Stewart butterfly punches