Skies are Blue

I just came down from the craft room to find Dr B coming in from the front yard - where it was raining, and proclaiming that in the back yard, it was sunny and dry! Now the skies are blue again. Just in time for my card! 

I am returning to my love of florals and the fun of the slim line shape for this card. Are you wondering what prompted me to pull this Look for the Rainbows (SSS) set from my stash? 

It was the theme at Time Out Challenges: Days Gone By. I wanted to use this quote that has been around a long time and I got to use the stamps that have been in my stash quite awhile too. It always feels good to find a reason to use what I have that's been neglected.

Coloring was done with Copics. I had the awful discovery that a couple of my Copic oranges were DRY. Just when I had decided to put myself on a spending freeze. Now the big decision, do I invest in a few reinkers or just buy a new marker? 

I am also playing at Just Us Girls who asked for a long and skinny card. To make mine, I used the Slim Diagonal Stitched Rectangle Dies from Pinkfresh Studio. They have a great lineup over on the JUGS challenge.

I added sparkle with a shimmer pen, a few gold sequins and a bit of clear nuvo drops on the flower centers. 

Thanks for hanging out with me today!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Clean and Simple Thanks with Masking

Hello, welcome to a new week at my blog! I am so glad you've come for a visit. The air conditioning is on, and the little fan in my craft room too. Makes me think staying right here is the best place to be on this very very HOT day. Summer has come to my neck of the woods. Today's card began with masking a corner of the card front, and inking just that corner lightly. 

I used post-it tape to mask along the left side and along the bottom of the card front. I stamped then needed to mask the kiosk and the balloons images. Having those dies made it very easy to create a mask! After inking and the reveal, I used Copics to color the store front, canopy and balloons keeping it very simple. I wanted the red and white of the awning and the balloons to stand out.

I added the word thanks and the flowers and milk can as die cuts, thinking it just needed a bit of dimension. Additionally, I used Wink of Stella to add sparkle to the balloons, and clear Nuvo Drops on the milk can to add a metallic shine.

It's Clean and Simple week at The Paper Players and here is the inspiration photo from Joanne.

I wanted to add a metal element to my thank you card, and things went from there, incorporating the red and white stripes and what looked to me like a boardwalk at the beach scene. My creation is a bit of a more literal take on the photo than usual. But it sure helped me to think outside of the box! And I loved using a neglected stamp set to boot.

I hope that you're staying cool where you are! If it stays this hot, I may be doing lots of stamping this week, so come back soon!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: HERO arts - My Monthly Hero Kit from January 2019

WPlus9 - Hand-lettered Thanks stamps and die

Paper: Bristol Smooth

INK: Gina K amalgam black; DOX - Cracked Pistachio, Antique Linen and Tumbled Glass; COPIC markers

Accessories: WOS, Nuvo Drops in Morning Dew, Gina K Masking Magic Sheets

 

Cut Paper Background Scenes

Hello there! For Spring Cards Stamp Day 3 I was busy creating all afternoon. We used an abstract background stamp to create scenes and it was quite a challenge for me. 

My background stamp (SU retired) has wild animal stripes on it. Stamped on different colors of paper, can you see the possibilities? I cut it out and pieced layers for each card. 

An ocean voyage?  For a birthday card or just, thinking of you.

Spacious skies, fields of grain and rolling hills? 

Well you have to use your imagination. 

What I liked about these cards is that they are very colorful. What I didn't like? They were time consuming. But I am reminding myself that learning something new takes time, especially the process part of wondering what to use and how to make it work with what I have. 

The sense of accomplishment is nice. Sharing is fun! The best part is getting two cards for one technique and it really does get my brain thinking about how to make the next one. I know it will get easier. I also know that I could have cheated and used a die to create the same look, or nicer actually. But I wonder, what's the fun in that?

Thank you so much for visiting and listening to me think out loud. You are so kind! 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!