Perfect Poinsettia

Getting a quick post in today, hello!

I've been waiting for a perfectly elegant poinsettia stamp, and I'm using the Gina K Perfect Poinsettia layering stamp set to make today's card. Layering the images couldn't be easier and the result is rich and realistic looking. 

Playing around with color choices, I settled on SU inks in Strawberry Slush, Rose Red and Cherry Cobbler for the flower. 

I found it amazing how the bloom looked like Real Red when completed, although I didn't use that color to stamp it.  I decided that Real Red card stock and ink for the sentiment color matched the best when it was all complete. For the leaves I used  Wild Wasabi and Cucumber Crush, stamped off once for the middle layer and full strength for the last stamping. 

I added Nuvo drops in gold to the flower center, silver sequins and silver Glimmer paper for elegance. 

I'm playing with the Card Concept Rich Holiday challenge and was inspired by the poinsettias and shining crystal of the glassware for my Classic and Elegant style card. So great to be adding several styles to my holiday cards stash.  

The sun is shining again today and the weather is turning chilly. Instead of boating this weekend, my husband and I will be dancing! Great way to keep warm, don't you think?

He will look quite handsome in his tux!
Your visit today is so appreciated. See you next week! 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

              Make something beautiful!

ETA: Giving a shout out of special thanks to the talented team at The Card Concept. They work hard to bring us a beautiful challenge. Happy surprise for me - I was picked for an Honorable Mention for the last challenge! You can see the winners HERE. 

It's Fall Jump for Joy with Lawnfawn

Oh my goodness, when I saw the Jump for Joy set from Lawnfawn I just couldn't resist these adorable foxes and the other woodland animals included. 

I find that sending cards to hospitalized children enables me to add whimsical stamps to my stash which are so fun to create with. Ahhh, er---just sayin' that I happen to like them too!

I'm mass producing these so I stamped and die cut a bunch of the images and color them with Copics when I have a few moments of time.

Works out well that I can play along with the talented crew at the Color Throwdown. The tree is die cut of Kraft card stock and sponged with brown inks. 

Hope it's a happy day for you! Thanks so much for popping by to visit.  

Be yourself.

     Find delight in your craft.

          Make something beautiful! 

Also linking to the Double D "Feeling Fallish" and the Dies R Us  "Anything Fall" challenges.

Supplies used: 

Stamps: Lawnfawn - Jump for Joy and coordinating dies

Accessories - Lawnfawn - Leafy Tree Backdrop: Portrait

Special Blog Hop for Dawn McVey

 

Hello and welcome to my blog!



A special blog hop sponsored by Papertrey Ink is underway for Dawn McVey, who has been a huge influence to many in the crafting world with her beautiful designs and joyful spirit. Dawn has undergone a small intestine transplant after suffering with medical difficulties for years. I invite you to visit the hop HERE to read Dawn's story. 

I've loved following Dawn's blog for years and have been so inspired by her work and journey. Here's the get well card that I made for her using the stamp set that she designed called Floral Sketches. 

I stamped the design onto white card stock and afterwards die cut the word "prayers" from the panel and popped it up with foam tape.

You can see the depth it adds in this close up.  

After glueing it down, I covered the sentiment die cut with lots of Wink of Stella and added an outline with the white gel pen to make the word stand out a bit more.  

I kept my card clean and simple so that I could play along with my favorite challenge CTS #246. 

I'm so glad you came by today, hope the day you're having is fabulous! 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used

Stamps: PTI - Floral Sketches, Hero Arts Stamps and Cuts Prayers

Advanced Watercolor Using Gouache

Hi friends! 
I hope you are having a weekend that is relaxing and filled with happy days. 

We've spent lots of time boating this week on the lake, the weather has  been so perfect! Hard to believe I could be out in short sleeves and cropped pants in November, even in NC. 

In my craft room, it's still December as I've been focused on Christmas cards and techniques from my participation in the recent Online Card Class, there's still a list in my head of cards I want to make inspired by the lessons. 

I was so amazed with the Advanced Watercolor lesson we had that I ordered supplies to make the gorgeous cards that Dawn Woleslagle presented. This is my first time using gouache watercolors, they are opaque colors  and can be used over dark card stock.

I began with stamping on kraft card stock to get the feel for the gouache paints. The main flower is from the  Perfect Poinsettia stamps by Gina K. It was larger and I thought that made it easy to practice on. 

Using very little water enables these inks to dry quickly and be layered with color for highlights and shading.

This is my second practice piece, the first one was trashed but I am pleased with how the coloring turned out on this one, so I finished it into a card. 

I know someone will like receiving it, even if I'm still in a big learning curve with this skill. 

Thanks to you for coming by to visit today and encouraging me in this adventure of loving my stamps, paper and ink. And die cuts. Definitely die cuts!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

 

Hello with Spruce and Sprigs

Hello, how are you today?

I'm doing pretty well, I have a card to share with you! 

I got inspired by the Make It Monday Challenge at Papertrey Ink to use ribbon and twine on a card. Sounds simple, right? That's what I thought! NOT. 
Here's the beautiful card by Stephanie Gold. 

It took way too long to make my card. I was bent on weaving twine through the holes of the die cut panel. Unfortunately I had to stamp the random background and die cut the panel three times until I was happy with it. That's a LOT of tiny little holes to poke out. 

After completing the panel with images from the Spruce and Sprigs set, I did weave Linen Thread onto the top left corner of the card and topped it with a bow. Underneath the sentiment banner I added a green ribbon. I tucked the die cut berries in as a focal point, covering them with clear Nuvo Gloss Drops. 

I ended up with a warm country feel to my card that I really like. Hope you do too. 

Thanks for visiting!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: Papertrey Ink - Spruce and Sprigs stamps and dies, Scripted

Paper and Inks: PTI - Berry Sorbet, Green Parakeet

Accessories: PTI - Mix and Mat Flourishes Die, Banners Die; SU - ribbon, Linen Thread

I'm linking this card to the Tic Tac Toe Challenge where I decided to go with the middle row across; pink, free, ribbon.

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Fa La La La La

Good morning! It's a delightfully chilly day here so I feel like  jumping in with another fun card for Christmas. I'm using the very new set from Papertrey Ink called Sing A Song of Christmas. The images contain the words to several carols. I love Christmas music so much! In fact I keep the snowman clock on the wall all year long in my craft room, and it plays a carol every hour on the hour. 

Fa La La La La. 

I'm playing along with CAS(E) This Sketch today. I love the way their sketches kick off my mojo, so I've made up my mind to participate every week. 

I was so happy to be chosen as a CTS Favorite with this card. 

Hope your day is wonderful and that you have a song in your heart. I am so glad to have you stop by! 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies 

Stamps: PTI- Songs of Christmas

Accessories: SU - holly leaves and berries, SSS - snowflakes

Autumn Elegance

Good morning! Are you ready for a new week? 

I'm taking a break from making kid's cards for a little while. The last few posts when I've made holiday cards have given me a chance to remember some of my favorite styles besides whimsical and CAS. 

For today's autumn card I wanted to go for layers and elegance. I began by getting inky creating with Distress Oxide Inks. 

Using watercolor paper, I loosely painted these three colors onto a panel. I dried it and repeated this process until I got the look I wanted, ending by flicking some of the colors onto the paper and also flicking a few spatters of water onto the design. 

I stamped the leaf outlines over this background in Fired Brick and Peeled Paint Oxide Inks and then die cut the leaves. The photo above shows the leaves close up and is closest in color to how they really look. All the images came from the same sheet of paper that I colored even though they look like they are different colors.

After die cutting the images I used my Copic markers to add details and shading. 

Having texture and details in the images, I wanted to add more layers and texture to the card. I embossed Very Vanilla card stock with a leafy design and layered it onto a card base with a layer of fun foam behind it. The tag was stamped, and heat embossed in gold. A few flicks of spattered gold paint tie in that element. 

Finally, I wrapped it all up with a Kraft silky Seam Binding bow. 

Here's a look at the markers I got out, although I didn't use them all . 

Hope you've enjoyed my card today! 

Be yourself

Delight in your craft 

Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps:  WPlus9 - Autumn Leaves stamps and dies, Bold Banner Greetings

Accessories: SU - ribbon, Darice - embossing folder

I was inspired by the elegant tone on tone layers on the cake and the leaf colors. 

I'm playing along with challenges at The Card Concept and Simon Says.