A Happy (and bright!) Hello

Lawnscaping Challenges has a floral challenge going on this month, so I thought I'd throw my hat in the ring.

supplies: white cardstock, Lawn Fawn Flutter By stamp, VersaMark ink and white embossing powder, abandoned coral, fossilized amber, carved pumpkin, and ripe persimmon distress inks, finger daubers, Stitched Scalloped Borders die, Simon's Painted Hello  and Stitched Rectangles die, large flower from my stash, My Mind's Eye Happy brad

The Flutter By set may be my first Lawn Fawn stamps, and they have certainly been used often.  It has a lovely assortment of flowers and leaves, sentiments, and even some butterflies! This time I chose one of the flowers and stamped it repeatedly to make a background, then colored it in using distress inks.  I used the same inks to color the sentiment, too.

Thanks for your visit today!

Color Isolation

Here's a card I made to enter this week's PTI Make it Monday challenge.

supplies: white and slate cardstock, PTI The Sweet Life and Hero Arts Prayers, Hero Arts Swiss Dots background, Charcoal and a paler grey ink, Winnie & Walter Audrey Cutaways, Scrapbook Adhesives foam squares

I pretty much followed Ashley's example for my design, but added some swiss dots to the background.  It was fun to get out these lovely multi-step stamps again and use them!

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Simon Says.........Happy Birthday!

Happy Wednesday!  It's time for another challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday blog!

Our theme this week is Birthdays, and, by the way, it's our 7th Birthday!  The design team are all using Simon exclusive products, and we'd love it if you would, too, but it's not a necessity to enter.

supplies: white cardstock, Simon Birthday Flowers, Jellybean, Hero Arts Bubble Gum, Cornflower, Altenew Deep Iris, and Warm Sunshine inks, Simon Stitched Circles die

Since my first card is so feminine, I made another that is a little less so, more generic:

supplies: white and black cardstock, various My Favorite Things design papers, Simon Happy Birthday and Celebration Time dies, stamped sentiment from retired Cupcake Party clear stamp set, white twine

Now it's your turn - I can't wait to see what you create!  In honor of our birthday, sweet Heidi has provided SEVEN $50.00 gift vouchers

to the amazing Simon Says Stamp store for SEVEN lucky random winners of this week's challenge!

......and one more time!

I think this will be my final entry for the Paper Smooches challenge this month: Black/White with a Pop of Color.  The month is young, though.......you never know with me :))

supplies: white cardstock, Hero Arts Punch layering paper, Paper Smooches Blossoming Buds and Best Buds, Spectrum Noir markers, Lucy's sequins

I kind of like the way the background came out, looks a little like lace!

More Black, white, and a pop........

Here's another entry for Paper Smooches challenge this month.  When I said I'd be entering this challenge another time, I didn't think it would be so quickly, but when I got this idea, I wanted to se how it would turn out, so here's another card!

supplies: white, black, and green cardstock, Paper Smooches Best Buds and Blossoming Buds (sentiment), VersaMark and white embossing powder, green enamel dots and green gingham ribbon

Thanks for stopping by - hope your week is off to a great start!

Black, White, and a Pop of Yellow

I'm excited about this month's challenge at Paper Smooches, because it reminds me of a favorite challenge from the past. (Play Date Cafe's Black and White with a Splash, one I loved to play!).  This challenge wants us to use black and white with a pop of a 3rd color.  Here's my entry.  Since this challenge lasts all month, it may not be my only one......

supplies: white and black cardstock, dotty black dp, Paper Smooches Adorable Array and Birthday Words dies, Paper Sweeties flower sequins

I've never used black much in my cards, but lately combining it with bright white and yellow has been appealing to me.  

Here's out inspiration:

Our spring has come to a screeching halt here in NE Ohio - we had snow last night which is still hanging on, because of the frigid temps that came with it!  Hope your spring is faring better!

Happy Anniversary to The Card Concept!

When I looked at the photo inspiration for The Card Concept challenge this time, the first thing my eye went to was the scripty hat near the top - I saw a birch log.  My mind went directly to a stamp I just got, and I decided to start with that:

supplies: white and black cardstock, music dp, Stampendous Birch Bouquet cling stamp, Avery Elle sentiment from Petals & Stems, various paper flowers from Michael's and Pettaloo

Then I began to notice the colors and the patterns and the vintage look in the inspiration photo, and decided to cover the flowers in the stamp design with paper flowers in neutral colors.  I love the subtle text and music patterns they contain, too, just like in the inspiration.  

I'm not sure if this would be considered Shabby Chic, Clean and Layered, or Mixed Media style.   

Happy Anniversary #2 to the Card Concept!

Washi Hugs

I don't consider myself a CAS cardmaker in the pure sense, but when I saw the current challenge at CASology was "washi", I thought I'd give it a try.

supplies: white cardstock, various washi tapes, DieNamics Decorative Doily die, Simon's Painted Hugs die, some floral embellishments from my scrap basket, a sequin

I found that wide floral washi at a local craft store; I think it's made by Heidi Swapp.  I paired it with 2 others, pulling out similar colors, and then added the half-doily and flowers for pretty.

The more I looked at that floral washi, the more I wanted to play with it again, so here's another variation:

supplies: white cardstock, Heidi Swapp floral washi, Doodlebug Swiss Dot washis, Wplus9 sentiment from Blanket Stitched Blooms, die-cut line of hearts from Winnie & Walter's Audrey's Cutaways, paper flowers, pearls

These may not be CAS enough, but I had fun playing!  Thanks for your visit!

Scalloped Thanks

Just sharing a card I recently made, using  a die I just received:

supplies: white cardstock, dps from My Favorite Things Dots & Stripes Sorbet paper pad, Simon's Thanks Scallop Border, heart tag from Taylored Expressions, white organza ribbon

This scalloped die makes for an easy card, especially when you have 2 coordinating design papers!

As always, thanks for stopping by!

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

Welcome - I'm here with my card for today's new challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday blog!

As is usual, the last challenge of the month is always Anything Goes!  The Design Team are using Ranger products this week, and if you have any you can share with us, we'd love to see them being used, but it's not necessary to play.

Since we've just officially begun Spring, I decided to make something colorful, and use as many of the 2015 Distress ink colors as I could.

supplies: white and black cardstock, candied apple, abandoned coral, carved pumpkin, fossilized amber, lucky clover, twisted citron, blueprint sketch, wilted violet, and ground espresso distress inks, (found in Distress Ink Mini Kits 13, 14, and 15), Simon's Friendly Flowers and Summer Garden (sentiment) stamp sets, Painted Hello die, a dotty embossing folder

I chose 9 of the 12 colors and used the same flower stamp to stamp them in rainbow order going from top to bottom, and after trimming the panel, I embossed it to give it some texture.  Then I used the tiny dot strip in the same set and the same inks to stamp the dotty strip, putting the colors in reverse order.  These stamped panels and some thin black strips were affixed to my white card base, and then I added my diecut and stamped sentiments.

Now it's your turn - I can't wait to see what you create!  We have another $50.00 gift voucher

to the amazing Simon Says Stamp store for 1 lucky random winner of this week's challenge!

Don't forget, you can enter our challenge using your Instagram account, too!   Just add #ssswchallenge to your entry uploads.   And don't forget to follow us HERE.

Yellow and pink

Here's a CASE of a lovely card by Monika that I pinned earlier this year.    I think her card is fabulous!  Today is such a dreary day that I thought I'd make my own sunshine and use her card as inspiration.

supplies: white cardstock, watercolor paper for the butterfly, Hero Arts Artist's Butterfly and Striped Note stamps, mustard seed distress ink, Spectrum Aqua and Zig Clean Color marker, Wplus9 sentiment from Doodle Buds, Simon' Sunshine sequin mix

I love this sentiment because it can be used for so many occasions!

Grateful

This week's Share Joy Challenge wants a CAS card using a sketch.  Here's my entry:

supplies: white and black cardstock, Mama Elephant Water Blooms, Altenew Warm Sunshine, Hero Arts Grass, and VersaFine onyx black inks, Taylored Expressions grateful die (included in a recent order)

I've been enamored lately with yellow and black with a touch of green - evidently I've been starved for sunshine!

Here's the sketch:

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you have a great week!

Birch Bouquet

Just sharing a card using a brand new stamp I just got.  It is definitely for spring and Easter!

supplies: Surf Blue card base, watercolor paper, Stampendous Birch Bouquet cling stamp, Spectrum Aqua markers and water, water brush, Simon's Painted Hello die, Winnie & Walter scalloped rectangle from Audrey's Cutaways

When I saw this stamp, that pussy willow handle just melted my heart!  And of course, I love the spring flowers that the basket is filled with!

Hope you're enjoying your Easter weekend!

Wishing You Joy

I recently needed a card and decided to redo a previous favorite design.  Here is the new version:

supplies: white and lavender blue cardstock, Amuse gingham and dotty design papers, Wplus9 Watercolored Anemones, Hero Arts Soft Apricot, Ranger Cheese Puff, Simon Hydrangea and Jelly Bean, dusty concord distress and VersaFine onyx black inks, Hero Arts Joy die, sentiment from Simon's Inside Holiday Greetings, Simon Stitched Rectangle die

These colors were inspired by a little garden I saw last summer, planted in oranges and purples.

It's Friday again - I wish you a special one!