Color Hues #85 Yellow and Pink

 Hello, stampers!

It's mid month and lovely Hannelie has a new combo for us that's perfect for happy and cheerful cards! Whether you go with pastels or bold hues, we are sure that you will have fun with Yellow and Pink!

I sure did, in fact I made a card way ahead of time for this challenge but today I'm changing it out for another completely different style. Here's my BOLD version. 

I've loved these funky flower stamps and dies (Painted Florals by Julie) that I got before Ellen Hutson closed her shop. Now I pulled them out to use for the first time with bright papers and inks from Concord & 9th. The colors are a bit wonky - it's been rainy and dark here so the photo isn't showing them off as well as they look IRL. The sentiments are from Honeybee. 

I can' wait to see what you will make! Be sure to check the blog HERE, as you will surely be inspired. 

I thank you for your visit today, it's been great chatting. 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

The Flower Challenge Add Layers

 Hello, I'm here to remind you about our monthly theme at the Flower Challenge. We want you to use Layers on your card along with a bunch of flowers. Or even just a few flowers. You still have until the end of the month to upload your creation to our gallery, and we hope that you will!

I used inks to create a layered background for my card. This background has been in my 'already made' folder for quite some time. I can't remember exactly what I used but it involved ink smooshing and spatters, and a bit of a scripty stamp. 

The gold foiled florals from PinkFresh Studio were colored with Copics and arranged around the diamond shaped panel. 

I hadn't done foiling in quite a while and it was nice getting out the machine and  becoming familiar  with this technique again. I look forward to having a bit more play at a smooshed background too! 

How would you like to craft today? I hope your creative time is enjoyable. I'm glad you've come by, and I want to encourage you to check out the DT inspiration as well. See you soon! 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

The Flower Challenge #90 Add Layers

 What flowers are blooming in your part of the world? It's dogwood and azalea time in my state and the colors are fabulous! For April, at The Flower Challenge #90 we're asking for LAYERS in addition to featuring flowers, please! 

I began thinking about a die for a pretty layered flower but then thought, why not add layers of designer paper patterns too? So that is exactly what I did. 

 I pulled out papers from Lori Whitlock (Forward with Faith) that I've had for quite some time, knowing I'd love to use them. I also went with the new-to-me Sulphur Cosmos Die (Altenew) and proceeded to sponge colors onto white card stock and die cut the petals. This process took a very long time as I wanted to match the paper colors, thus trying out several shades of ink.

Finally I assembled the flower and spritzed it with Festive Berries Distress Ink spray. Spritzed is the wrong word. I doused it and was finally pleased enough with the color when it dried. The DSP had multiple journal cards and I cut one strip for the sentiment and will choose another one for this inside. 

 I hope you will join in the challenge with your layered floral cards! 

I can't wait to see what you will make.

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Roses are pretty in peach!

 Greetings to you on this Wednesday! 

Here I am with another card using Peach and green - or is it a rosy peach? Either way, you can't go wrong with a great stencil and roses! 

If you love these colors, I'm still hosting the Color Hues challenge using them. It's just getting started over there, so please join the crafty party! 

Using the Rose Background Stencil Duo from Waffle Flower made this card so easy to create! I began with white card stock and enjoyed lightly sponging the background.

The sentiments and die cut are from Concord & 9th. 

I'm happy to have a few posts going this week, and one more tomorrow. See you soon and let's do it again! Have a great day. 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Card challenges:

April Stencil Card Challenge - Use flowers 

Beautiful Blossoms - Anything Goes

Tic Tac Toe Challenge - middle row across; Spring colors, Free, Stencil

Shopping Our Stash - Spring Has Sprung

Sending Prayers

 Hello, I'm especially happy that you've come back to my blog today. I'm sharing a sympathy card for a friend. It's always sad to need one of these. I don't usually have a stash of them but I may fix that now that I've made this one. 

I used a stamp from Penny Black from my stash ( 40-744 Garden Variety) and tried a new layout idea which has been shared often by a fabulous artist. I've been watching amazing videos by Micheline Jourdain and I gave one of her techniques a try. 

It worked well for a sympathy card. I can't wait to try it again using more of my stamps. 

Beginning with masking and a watercolor wash, I inked the stamp with Distress inks and stamped onto watercolor paper. Removing the mask, I added some bits of the image outside of the masked area, adding details and shading. 

The sentiment was partially heat embossed with gold and the smaller text in gold ink. I like the way the sentiment is the focal point. Spatters in orange and gold were the last touch. I may have added a bit too much - but I was having fun! And motivated to get on my way to other tasks, lol! 

I know this post is pretty long already but I want to let you know what I've been up to. I've had need to go to physical therapy for the last months, and you know, that takes time but my sciatica and medial epicondylitis (called golfers' or tennis elbow, but I might add, crafters get it too!) are improving. 

I also spent the last month doing a HUGE down-size to my craft supplies. I have been long overwhelmed with TOO MANY CHOICES and not finding where things were in the craft room -- so getting rid of MANY older  and some current stamps, inks, dies, and some even much older STUFF, has helped immensely. I also regrouped many of my stamps by theme instead of by companies, thinking this will make it easier for me to combine supplies from various companies and use what I have. How will this affect you? 

I'm going to stop listing all my supplies except the stamps or dies that are current. If you really want to know a certain supply, please just shoot me a reply to the post. I am also trying to keep my cards more simple.

I hope to be enjoying my streamlined space more often and kudos to you for sticking with me through this long post! I will end it here and send you a quick hug!

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Challenges: 

4 seasons - Anything goes Spring

Krafty Chicks - All Occasions 

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge - Florals

Penny Black Saturday Challenge 

Color Hues #84 Peach and Green

 Welcome to April 1, a new challenge for card makers at Color Hues! I'm excited to be the hostess this month and I've chosen Peach and Green for our new combo. Concord and 9th products are featured in my card, as I was utterly inspired by their Cottage Garden supplies. I bought the bundle. Are you surprised?

When I saw the Garden Party Patterned Paper Pack I knew right away that those were the colors I loved for my challenge! I layered some paper strips, stamped the sentiment and hash marks in Grapefruit Ink, and added the die cut flower for a simple card. I happen to just love these colors! 

I hope they will inspire you as you create. Something for spring or Summer, or a birthday? I can't wait to see!

Thanks so much for stopping by today. March was keeping me busy with things other than crafting. More about that soon. I'm happy to be back!

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!