Summer Roses Gatefold

Hello, and a happy good morning to you!

Now that it is officially summer, I am pulling out the kind of roses that I grow - the ones in my craft room, lol! Well, I must correct that - we do have a gorgeous yellow rose bush by our back door. I am lucky if I can cut each bud before the deer eat it.

Let's get onto the card now! 

I'm in love with the Rose Builder stamps from WPlus9 Design and I had stamped and layered many images awhile ago in a ton of colors. I picked out aqua roses and a pale yellow rose for this card.

The card base (Fog card stock) has a stamped background that I heat embossed in white. 

I made an off-center gate fold card that begins with a panel cut 5-1/2 by 8 inches. The flaps are scored and folded at 2-1/2" and 1-1/4". I slid the A2 sized aqua panel for the inside of the card, and used a vellum belly band to hold the card closed. 

The sentiment and background images are also from WPlus9 Design, the Hello and Thanks stamps and dies. 

I'm playing along with the Flower Challenge that asks us to do some background stamping.

So happy that you stopped by! Hope you'll be back soon.

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Strawberry Smiles

I'm so glad to have you visit this morning, sweet friends. 
Sweetness is the theme here today along with sunshine and smiles! Hope your day is including some or all of those. 

My card is filled with a cascade of beautiful berries from the Corner Adorner set and dies from Papertrey Ink. 

I've been wanting to use the color combo of red, yellow and green, and the berries work well with the polka dotted papers.

Now that I've been calling them strawberries - I'm beginning to wonder if they aren't raspberries?  Guess it will make no difference to the recipient, do you think?  

After stamping, I added Nuvo Crystal Drops in Red Berry to each berry and black for the flower centers. Thanks so much for your visit today. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 
          Make something beautiful!

I'm happily playing along with the challenge at Mojo Monday. 

Fleur Impressions Birthday

Happy greetings to you today! I had a birthday last week and guess what? I'm getting to play with some new stamps, the gorgeous Fleur Impressions set from The Greetery. If you haven't checked out Betsy Veldman's new business you should, you will be amazed at her beautiful collections.

I couldn't wait to ink up the layers in these florals. They were easy to line up and so forgiving! I chose really clean inks for this project as I wanted a crisp colorful look. I paired the pinks and purples with lime green leaves and a pale gray card base. 

The sentiments are from the Sentiment Suite: Thinking of You set which includes many sayings in different fonts and sizes that pair up well. The matching dies provide lots of mix and match options.

To dress up the card I chose simple pearls and an intricate die. So grateful for your visit today!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: The Greetery - Sentiment Suite: Thinking of You, Fleur Impressions and matching dies

Paper: Neenah Solar White, WPlus9 - Fog, SU - Basic Gray

INK: WPlus9 - Shell Pink, Little Piggy, V.I.Pink, Sweet Gelato, Miami Spice, Bloomsberry, Cockleshell, Wild Mango, Silver Lining

Accessories: WPlus9 - Ironworks Background Die, white embossing powder 

What I Love - Challenges

Hi there! 
It's Wednesday and I remember awhile back setting this as a day to post what I love. Today I'm focusing on my love of card challenges.

I especially like sketch challenges. They help me think outside of the box in choosing stamps and themes, and sometimes I'm surprised!

Sketches limit your supplies automatically. I looked through my stash for small images that would work with the sketch and buttons. 

The sketch is very straight-forward but my approach took some liberties. 

CAS(E) This Sketch   These images are great for creating scenes, but I went with a collage-y row of little things. 

I had in mind a few specific things for the Retro Rubber Challenge - buttons and bows! Working them in with the layout was easy with the set called Beautiful Ride from SSS. I think it's over 2 years old?  Glad to pull it off my shelf and use it again.

This card makes me smile. I hope you're glad you came by to visit. Make it a great day!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Circle of Love Watercolor

Hello, how are you today? 
We had a fun and busy weekend but in between the activities I found some moments to watercolor. I have two cards to share with you today.

I fell in love with the Circle of Love set from Papertrey Ink.  I know I'll enjoy using the solid fill-in images for this floral bouquet on future projects. My desire was to be able to watercolor the images and feel pleased with the results. It's a very humble beginning!

The first card is a CASE of this card done by Betsy Veldman. Nothing like trying to imitate a master, right? Stamping in pale ink, I used the no line watercolor technique, with loose coloring. What you see is my second attempt at this, and I am pleased enough to post it. Number one was for the trash can. 

I added a few sequins, keeping the card very simple. 

For the second card, I embossed the image in gold and then watercolored. While this was easier, I'm not as pleased with the result because the embossing seems to stand out more boldly and the colors seem to get lost. I paired the die cut image with some patterned paper, and added a bow from gold thread.

I chose the Oh happy day sentiment because the card could be for a birthday, wedding or anniversary depending on the greeting inside.  Stamping the trio of hearts was a fun addition. 

I am so grateful to be able to share here on my blog. Many thanks for coming by to spend a little time with me today. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps:  Circle Of Love and coordinating dies

Paper: Neenah Solar White, Canson Cold Press watercolor paper, DSP from Penny Black - Beau Jardin 

INK: Versamerk, WPlus9 - V.I.Pink, Bloomsberry, Fairy Dust 

Accessories: Watercolors - Kuretakd Gansai Tambi, sequins

Framing Summer Citrus

Do you love lemons? In your tea, in water, in a pretty bowl on your table? I do!

I bought the Summer Citrus set when it first came out last year. I googled lemon illustrations and although I found amazing ideas, I never got around to using them. You could say the card with this set and color combo has been steeping on the back burner of my mind for a year. 

Turns out I really like how it turned out. I call it SWEET when that happens!

I've been focusing on appreciating and using what I have. The result?  I've never had more fun creating projects.

Achieving the right mix of Hero Arts inks was important for the lemons to look real and bright enough. I stamped each image repeatedly to add more color and detail.

I took a second photo in better light today so you can see the tone on tone background stamped on the Night of Navy card stock. Thanks for your visit! 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: WPlus9Designs - Summer Citrus, Tropic Fever, Welcome Wreath

Paper: Neenah Solar White, SU - Night of Navy

INK:Simon Says Stamp - Intense Black, SU - Night of Navy; Hero Arts - Butterbar, Lemon; Plus 9 - Wild Mango

Accessories:  WPlus9 - Welcome Die 

 

Framed Sentiments

Hello and welcome! 

I've been enjoying my stamping and have new-never-been-used-stuff to inspire me for today's share. 
I'm playing along with Laurie's Favorite Challenge to show our favorite way to frame sentiments. 

I love using an elegant die cut to provide impact for sentiments, and then surround them with flowers. You knew flowers were a favorite of mine, right? 

These flowers make stamp layering a breeze. I love that there is an outline as well as the solid stamps to add to their versatility. 

I'm also playing along with the Inspired By challenge for this week. I kept the colors fresh and summery and used the detailed circle die to represent the lacy fabric in the photo.

That's all from me today. Thanks so much for your visit and your kind comments! Supplies are listed below. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: Sentiment is from PTI - Circle of Love; flowers from WPlus9 My Whole Life and companion dies

Paper: Neenah Solar White, PTI Bitty Big papers

INK:Simon Says Stamp - Intense Black, WPlus9 - Lake House, Hayride, Queen Bee, Lime Light Dye inks, SU - Marina Mist

Accessories: PTI - Shape Shifters Circle Die, black enamel dots.