Inspired by YOU! Challenge #200!

It's a very special day as the Inspired By Challenge launches it's 200th challenge! We have lined up a challenge that is inspired by YOU and offers special prizes too!  We have posted the winners of all the challenges this year, and been asked to choose one card by YOU to be inspired by. 

I chose this beauty that Loll Thompson created for our October challenge.  I absolutely love her bold use of colors and clean crisp details.  Isn't that buffalo plaid gorgeous? I love how she added sweet pearls and the die cut wreath has such dimension!

My card is a CASE of Loll's layout and I used the trees from The Greetery Fir & Foliage 2.  Using Distress Oxide inks I  stamped each tree in three layers and die cut them.  In keeping with the bold colors I chose red for the sentiment and added a strip along the panel. The black stars added balance and a crisp accent.

We have such fun seeing the way you create and add your entries to our gallery at Inspired By! Now it's your turn to choose one of our past winner's projects and play along! 

It's our turn to say a huge thank you to each and every one who supports our challenge. This will be probably be my last post before Christmas. 

Wishing you JOY!

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Time Out Challenges! What inspires YOU?

 Hello, hello! Hope things are going well for you today! I have two posts in the loop, so be sure to check further for the other one. 

I have the honor of being a Guest Designer at Time Out Challenges, and you will love what they have for you today! Make a card or project that goes with the theme of Inspiration. What inspires you?

There were so many ways I could go with this, but once I chose the stamps it was easy. I'm inspired by nature, sunsets, and acts of kindness. 

Our lot is wooded, our neighborhood is rural and out our windows we frequently see deer! Just this week we saw an 8 point buck inside our back fence, and later a herd of 10 coming alongside the house at the edge of the woods. They nibble at the maple near our front door. That is NOT cute!

Since the challenge has the optional twist of layers, I inked a sunset in layers of color instead of subtle blends. I stamped the image, then masked to create the sky using Distress Oxides in Scattered Straw, Dried Marigold, and Wilted Violet. The Anita Jeram image from Colorado Craft Company (Snow Happy) was colored with Copics. 

I added just a few snowflakes by spattering white paint, and three that were die cut. This card is a mini slimline. 

I love how the bunny and deer are sharing a kind moment. 

Thank you for sharing your time with me today! 

And please be sure to check the challenge inspiration HERE and play along! There are prizes!

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Inspired By Warm Winter #199

 It's Thursday and that means a new challenge at Inspired By! I've been waiting for this one as I have stamps I've just been wanting to use for a unique card. Making cookies is one of the best parts of Christmas preparations, don't you think? Which are your favorites?

These cookies are created with brand new-to-me layering stamps (WPlus9 Cookies& Cocoa)  and PTI inks. They were fun to play with and far less messy than rolling out dough. I love the sentiments, too! Inside I will choose either "it's the most wonderful time of year!" or "Let's get cozy!"

I did decorate with a bit of glitter, clear gloss, Wink of Stella pen and a trio of enamel dots. The cookie design was also heat embossed in white on a Baked Brown Sugar card stock panel. 

I hope I've made your mouth water for sweet things. Rather I hope I've inspired you to get stamping and play along with us! Check out the blog for amazing designs and all the challenge options. THis card will also be entered at the most fun challenge ever, Darnell's  NBUS Never-before-used-schtuff!

Have a great day! 

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Inspired By 198 Winter Beauty

 Hi there, I'm back again with a new card for Inspired By 198 and I'm so glad to see you today! I was stalled on this challenge. Because there are fun and beautiful options and I just couldn't decide! 

 

I went along with  **SNOW* based on the soft blue fluffy flake in the photo but it took a totally different direction. 

My card is a bridge card including snowy DSP and a die cut village. If you've never made one of these before (like me) let me tell you they are so fun! 

I included a second line of homes on a snowy hill behind the main row of images. 

These cards stand up on their own, and also fit into a regular A2 envelope for mailing.

I added a sentiment and a few aqua gems, other supplies are listed below.  

Thanks for your visit, have a great day. 

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Jennifer has a great video showing how to make a bridge card HERE.  

Stamps: Sentiment Suite Christmas and Basics Dies from The Greetery 

The houses are Stampin' Up! Hometown Greetings Edgelits THESE are used for the first time today, so I will be adding this card to the NBUS challenge. 

Red and Green for Color Hues #31

 Hello crafty friends,  time for a new gig at Color Hues! It's my turn and I picked traditional colors for Christmas in hopes that everyone could play along easily! Have you already finished this year's cards? How about a jump-start to be ahead for next year?

I also decided to keep my card simple. Gorgeous DSP deserves to shine, and these roses and holly are the perfect backdrop for my large sentiment. The holly is stamped on the white circle and I added berries with Nuvo Drops. cut with red foil paper, the JOY is all that's needed for a focal point. It's from Hero Arts Joy Stamp and Cut. I pull this set out every year. 

I started with Christmas cards here on my blog on Nov. 1 and have hardly made a dent in the projects I have planned! I hope you're not ready to move on yet because I am holding out for the whole month. 

You will love the gorgeous team samples, please take a peek and play along!

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Inspired By 197 Color Challenge

 Happy Thanksgiving! For those in the US, the day consists of feasting with family and friends, football, gratefulness for all things good and just maybe - a bit of craft time? If so you're in the right place as we have a new game going at Inspired By! 

I was inspired by the pinks and reds in the photo and the touch of blue.  Adding just a hint of gold, I kept most of the card base white.

 Featuring supplies from The Greetery, this card uses the Pine Blossom Stamps and Dies, and the Window Plaid background stamp. I know it's a busy day, but we hope you'll take a peek at our samples and find some inspiration to join the challenge.

We are so happy to have part of our family joining us for a Friday celebration this year. 

Thanks so much for your visit! 

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful! 

 

Inspired By 196 Christmas Splendor

 Hello, friends. How can it be mid November already? One week before Thanksgiving?!?  I find myself getting in holiday gear and just in time for our challenge at Inspired By! 

 I enjoyed using supplies from The Greetery today, they will be listed for you below. 

The photos our fabulous leader Danni picks for us are so good that I have trouble choosing just one for inspiration. I love kraft red and green and they seemed a good mix for the natural looking greenery. 

 

  I can't wait to see how you will be inspired to play along! Thanks so much for visiting today. 

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supplies from The Greetery: Nordic Frames Dies, Merry Sprigs stamps and dies, Written in Ribbon Holiday stamps and dies.

Star of Wonder Christmas

 Good morning! 

I just had to try the technique for creating nighttime lights shared by Jennifer McGuire at Online Card Classes Holiday Card Workshop 2021.  This was fun to do and has amazing results. 

It involves ink blending  which you know I love, and Perfect Pearls that I knew I had somewhere in my stash, lol! If you don't count the amount of time it took me to FIND it (sheesh!) the card came together quickly. 

The die cuts are from Stampin' Up! ( Night in Bethlehem) and the sentiment is by Verve. I think it would have shown up better embossed in white, but my white powder has been patchy lately, so I opted for better coverage with silver.  The stars die cuts are from white glitter paper and the spatters are white gouache paint.

That's it from me for today! I will be back tomorrow. Thanks so much for your visit and kind comments. I appreciate every one. 

I will be entering this at these challenges: 

Peace on Earth

and Time Out Challenges - WORD - precious

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Color Hues Shines in Silver and Gold

 Hello friends! In the past couple weeks I've been busy working ahead on cards for the blog challenges I'm in through the end of the year. So this morning I had the fun of creating with Christmas sets in my stash, new and old. Did lots of inking and didn't even make a card, but enjoyed the explorative crafting. Now I'm moving on to getting some chores done this afternoon. 

Our Color Hues Challenge of Silver and Gold shines this month! The Waffle Flower Poinsettia Die was a delight to use for a white on white Christmas card.   

 I cut white flowers and layered them, tucking in a few leaves from gold foil. Using glue dots allowed for extra dimension between the flower layers. I put foam under the whole flower. 

The shine is hard to see on the silver foil flourish and silver embossed sentiment. Pearls seemed just right for an elegant embellishment to tie the card together. This is one of my favorites, I love how it turned out.

I can't wait to see what you will make! Hope you will play along!

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Stamps: Touched by Peace - Penny Black

Inspired By 195 White Christmas

 Hello again, and welcome! We are loving seeing your amazing cards in the gallery! Ready for a White Christmas Challenge at Inspired By? Believe it or not, I took the longest time figuring out where to go with this theme as there are so many options and the photo is delightful. 

I ended up going with a snowy night sky, taking all my inspiration from a lovely card Kristina showed at the Holiday Workshop 2021 at Online Card Classes.  Culling a few snowflake stamps from various sets, I made a background and did some inking to add depth of color around the edges. Keeping this simple to make and easy to mail were important. 

The Stampin' Up! Snowflake Wishes stamps and dies came to live with me last year, but I am just getting around to using them! With a snowy embossed background, a white heat embossed sentiment, a few rhinestones were the only embellishments. 

Joining in the fun at NBUS - never been used schtuff. 

I know you will find great inspiration at the blog, have fun with this challenge! Thanks so much for your kind comments. 

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Inspired By 194 Welcome Friends

 Hello and welcome! I am happy to turn the calendar page and greet a new month which also kicks in my Christmas card making spree! As you will see, I was literally influenced by the photo at our Inspired By Challenge! 

Here's what caught my eye - kraft, buffalo plaid, a satin bow,

 woodgrain and layers of texture! Oh, and did I say berries? 

What speaks to you in our photos today? Hope you will craft along with us and link your project in our gallery!  For those looking for card details, I will include them below. 

I'm joining the fun with Ann's tic tac toe challenge at The Paper Players, choosing the diagonal row: ribbon, patterned paper, embellishments.

Thanks for your visit today!

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Details: I created the background on white card stock by stamping the Wood Grain Background (WPlus9) in pale gray ink. The frame (Anastasia Tag) and deer (Stag Trio Die) were also from WPlus9. 

I went for a rustic look and added a new to me embossing powder from WOW! called Perissa. It blends two metallic shades and gives a bumpy texture which I just love. You can see it on the kraft frame and a bit on the deer.The greenery was cut from Vicki Boutin Foundations card stock. This mixed media paper is heavy and I used Distress Oxide inks to blend the greens, then cut them with dies from The Greetery. Snow was created with Ranger Distress Spray and WOW Puff White embossing powder. I added Glossy accents to the berries. This card was completely inspired by things I learned from Dawn Woleslagle and her fabulous lives!

Color Hues #29 Orange and Brown

Good morning! It's a new day for a challenge from Color Hues and you won't believe the gorgeous inspiration our team has for you this month. We're using brown and orange, perfect hues whichever way this takes you - fall, leaves, critters, thanksgiving, florals - lots of options! 

Here is what I came up with. Remember, kraft can be used as a neutral. I began with bold pops of color using stitched frames (PTI). 

The leaf dies from Stampin' Up! Colorful Seasons created the orange leaves and gold foil outline for the focal point. I wrapped the kraft panel with a bit of twine after stamping the sentiment and embossing it in white.  

 Can't wait to see your creations! Hope you will play along. 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Inspired By 193 Friends Fall Together

 Hi! Today I am celebrating my favorite fall event, when friends and family gather for the Thanksgiving holiday. Our theme this month at Inspired By is Friends Fall Together. For my card, I did some ink blending on the stamps before stamping them using my MISTI so that I could achieve multiple tones. 

The larger leaf images are from WPlus9 Autumn Leaves stamp set. The smaller leaves and sentiment are from Gina K. It's my first time using the Wreath Builder template and I really enjoyed it! My card measures 4.50" square. A bit of gold thread and gold embossing are the dress ups. 

I was more inspired this time by the theme although these are super fun prompts. Hope you will play along! 

Have a great day! 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Harvest Meadow Meets Succulents

 How are you doing today, friends? Well, I hope! We've been enjoying gorgeous sunshine the last few days and it's still warm and pleasant outside. I love this Indian summer weather!

I know you came for a card, and I have been playing in the craft room too. The lovely sketch at The Paper Players has been on my mind, so here's the card I made using it. 

I fell in love with the Harvest Meadow DSP from Stampin' Up! and was trying to come up with a way to use the gorgeous pattern in pale neutrals. Inspiration comes from the strangest places. I have a friend who decorates beautifully. Her whole guest bath is done with pale kraft, gray, and white and sketchy botanical artwork. The only color in there was a bold pop of deep green from a tall succulent. I was brave enough to try to pair these images and patterns versus keeping it safe with matchy colors. What do you think? 

Using sponges to ink the pot image, I combined colors to give an ombre look. The only embellishment is the clear gloss addition to the plant pot, and added dimension to the die cut sentiment, which brings a pop of white. I think I like it!

Our friend loves succulents too, so this will be a thank you for having us to dinner. Hope she likes it! 

Thank you Paper Players for a great sketch!

I appreciate you so much for joining me here for a little bit. Be back tomorrow!

Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

          Make something beautiful! 

Supplies used: 

Stamps: The Greetery - Pot-Pourri, stamps and dies

Accessories - WPlus9 - Welcome Dies

Pumpkin Season

 Hello! What gorgeous fall weather we've been having! It's a sunny Saturday, and before getting outside I have a quick post today, using the Pumpkin Season stamps and dies by Julie Ebersole. 

I love the simplicity of these images and just had to give a favorite color combo a whirl. The challenge at Fusion inspired orange and turquoise. After embossing the outline images in gold, I sponged inks to color the solid stamps allowing for gradation of the hues. I am adding Freshly Made Sketches to the playlist. The panel of kraft with stripes brings out the gold accents and sentiment. 

Also adding this to NBUS since the stamps are brand new. 

This was hard to photograph, it shines IRL. 

Hoping you're having a great day take care and thanks for visiting!

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!