Inspirational Cards

I love creating backgrounds for cards!

When I'm not in the mood to work on anything, I make backgrounds. I have a whole container of them! Every now and then I'll look through my stash and pull something out that inspires me. 

For the backgrounds on these cards I started out with an 8-1/2 x 11 sheet of cardstock, my Gelli Arts plate and some Ranger Ink Dylusions Paint. When I pulled this sheet out of my basket I decided to take some stencils from my stash and added a few patterns here and there. 

The sentiments I used on these cards are from Reverse Confetti.



I love how they turned out.

I heat embossed the sentiments with Hero Arts white embossing powder. I didn't cover the sentiments completely because I like the grungy look of how they melted while only being partially covered.

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Born To Be Wild!

Oh how I love these stamps from Art Impressions!

I got a great deal on this stamp set called Mad Rider and another one from a co-worker last week so I couldn't resist buying them.

I'm still a newbie at watercoloring these Art Impressions images. I've been practicing for awhile and am just now feeling comfortable enough to actually create a card with the images I've colored. I haven't tried using markers, just watercoloring with distress and marvy markers. I'm just going to keep working at it to get better at shading. I have noticed I'm getting a little faster at finishing an image.

To finish off my card, I just pulled some patterned paper and colored card stock from my stash along with some raindrops and adhered it all down on a white base. 

Now I'm going to go work on another image. 

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October Swap Cards

These are the cards I sent to my swap partners for the October Swap. I can finally post them! For the card above and below I used two different embossing folders from Darice. One is called Foliage and the other is called Leaves Assorted Pattern. For all the cards I used Distress Inks. I used a combination of these colors: dried marigold, wild honey, bundled sage, mowed lawn, fossilized amber, crushed olive and ripe persimmon. The sentiments are from an older stamp set I had in my stash called Autumn Foliage by Inkadinkado stamped onto acetate. 

For these two cards (above and below) I used a stencil from Echo Park called Branches. I used translucent embossing paste colored with distress ink. The one below used plain embossing paste colored with distress ink. All the leaves are from two different packages of leaves that I picked up at a craft store. 

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Cards Made At A Crop

I was fortunate to be able to attend a four day, three night crop July 23rd through July 26th. I've signed up for crops in the last few years and have had to cancel because of things that made it impossible for me to attend. There were 14 women that attended. I had a great time, met some new people and look forward to the next one I'm going to. That one will hold 40 people and there are already 32 signed up.

I didn't get much done. Ten cards, that's it. I think I laughed more than I crafted. That's okay though. I don't ever plan to get a lot done when I go to these things. 

We stayed at Besehive in Swanville, MN. For a lot of the ladies this was their third time going. The accommodations were wonderful. The crop room was large and the beds were comfortable. I was also impressed by how well stocked the kitchen was. Credit has to be given to the host of the crop, Tasha, for doing such a fantastic job of putting this altogether. This was her third year hosting. She had promised me a birthday cake the last two years and had planned to make one this year. Time was short so she ordered one and it was delicious! I asked for chocolate and she came through. It was a chocolate cake with chocolate filling and chocolate frosting. I don't have a photo, but it had a scissor and buttons on it to represent scrapbooking. It was so cute! 

I've been neglectful with my blog the last three months. I haven't had time to do any of the sketch challenges I love so much or any crafting at all. I've been working on getting the rest of the boxes unpacked (I've lived in my town home for only a year!). I also worked on my garage going through containers and donating items I'm never going to use. I still have a few things around the house that need my attention and I'm slowly chipping away at them. My craft room is always the room that suffers. Slowly I'm getting it in order. I've been going through my craft supplies with a fine tooth comb and have beens listing items in my Etsy store that I'm not going to use or are duplicates. I've also been working on organizing all of my craft supplies in a program called Evernote. I have to give credit to a group I belong to on Facebook called Stamping Enablers for starting this process for me. I've also been inspired by Jennifer McGuire to organize my stamps and dies the way she does.  Going forward I hope to be able to craft a little, do a few challenges and work on my organizing as time permits. Being able to do sketch challenges will allow me to blog more. 

Sorry for such a long post. Let's move on to the cards I created below. For the first card I used a Penny Black Cling Stamp called Gentle Whisper. I used Tim Holtz distress inks and then spritzed lightly with water for the water color look. I also used water color paper. The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp called Handwritten Borders.

 

This next card uses a new stamp set I picked up called Color Layering Butterflies from Hero Arts. I didn't pick the die up that matches this stamp set at first. I went back yesterday and bought it. I can't wait to make some more butterflies and try it out! I used Ranger's Dye Inks and the colors are so vibrant.

   

This card uses a new stamp set I picked up on the way to the crop at Crafts Direct in Waite Park, MN. I love that store! The set is called Enamor by Penny Black. I used a distress ink to stamp the image. The sentiment is from the same set. The patterned background paper is from a paper pad by Ki Memories called Autumn Flowers that I picked up in the bargain section. 32 sheets of paper for two bucks, what a deal!

   

For the next seven cards I created the backgrounds using Brusho Crystal Colours. I am in love with them! I first learned about them from a group I belong to Facebook. I started researching them and knew that they would be something I'd like to work with. I used watercolor paper and all of my card bases for all the cards are either from PaperTrey Ink or Simon Says Stamp. All the sentiments for the cards below are from Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous. I'll list the name of the stamp set below each card in case you're wondering what it is. 

 

Urban Chic

 

Urban Chic

 

French Memories

French Memories

Stuff To Say

 

Flights of Fancy

 

Good Thoughts

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CAS Colours & Sketches: Challenge #118

I thought I'd try the CAS Colours & Sketches Challenge. After reading the rules of the challenge I realized that I didn't have Stampin' Up! cardstock. You could still participate without it so I tried to  match the colors as best I could. I found three different colors of green cardstock in my stash and decided to go with them. Even though there are three different colors, in the photo it almost looks like two are the same.

This is a very CAS card! Lots of open or white space and minimal layers and embellishments. This type of card always challenges me. I always want to keep adding more stuff!

For my sentiment I used a new stamp set called Handwritten Borders that I purchased from Simon Says Stamp! I used a die from Memory Box called Charlotte Border for my green diecuts.

CAS Colours & Sketches: Challenge #118

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Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge: Sketch #101

Every day I get the newsletter from Paper Playful with all the daily listings of challenges. It's one the the emails I love to get and peruse to see if there are any challenges that catch my eye. The other day the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge looked interesting so I thought I'd give it a try. This is my first time playing along with them.

For my card I used Tim Holtz watercolor paper and inked it up with these distress inks: crushed olive, worn lipstick, scattered straw, tumbled glass and dusty concord. I found some thinner Bazzill cardstock in my stash and used two different Fiskars flower punches to create three flowers. I dusted the edges with versamark and then finished them off with white embossing powder. the sentiment is from a Tim Holtz clear set called Phrases 2. Base cardstock is from PaperTrey Ink. I used bling from various manufacturers: Recollections, Doodlebug Design and October Afternoon.

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge: Sketch #1

Be sure to click the link about to go check out the submissions for this challenge! Thanks for stopping by!

CAS - Colours and Sketches Blog: Challenge #107

Loved this challenge from CAS - Colours and Sketches Blog because it used three of my favorite colors! I used PaperTrey Ink colors since it wasn't required to use Stampin' Up products. 

For my image I used a stamp from the Hero Arts Delicate Leaf Clusters clear set and stamped it onto my cardstock with Versamark ink. For the sentiment I used another Hero Arts stamp set called You're So Kind. The bling is from BasicGrey called Candy Buttons. Pretty simple, quick and easy!

CAS - Colours and Sketches Blog

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You Make Me Smile

This is a card I just about tossed! I started out mixing some Festive Berries Tim Holtz Distress Ink with Golden Light Molding Paste. I then spread it over a TCW Balzer Designs mini chevron stencil. After it dried I wasn't too enthused by the almost "pinkish" color. I then let it sit for.......a few weeks! As I was picking up my craft room the other day, I looked at it again and thought "I can do something with this". 

I used my WRMK envelope punch board to make the little flag ends on the black and white card stock. I didn't apply the molding paste too thick, so the design isn't raised a lot. It does have some nice texture though. 

After popping up the sentiment which is by Hero Arts called All Occasion CL272 and adding a few Hero Arts black metallic decor, I think it turned out okay!

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Fushion {Hypothesis #5} Challenge

 

Here's my card for the Fushion {Hypothesis #5} Challenge this week. I really like their challenges and have been able to participate in almost all of them. I think I've missed two. With my life right now it's hard to squeeze time in for challenges, but I'm going to do my best to try and participate if possible. 

Normally I've just use the sketch and not combined both sketch and color. This time my card is loosely based on the color, but I haven't added any green and the colors are not exact.

This is the sketch I followed:

For my card I used patterned paper from Webster's Pages from the Sunday Picnic & Everyday Poetry collection. The flowers and leaves were die cut using Spellbinders Rose Creations by Donna Salazar. The banners were cut with the Spellbinders Shapeabilities Nested Pennants. I inked all he edges with Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink. The flower centers are pearl gemstones from Hero Arts. I used some burlap ribbon for the leaves. The sentiment is called Fancy Friends by Hero Arts.

Be sure to stop by Fushion and check out all the beautiful cards. Don't forget to stop back after the linky closes and vote for your three favorites!

This post is also linked to these parties:

All Things Fee

Craft-O-Maniac Monday

A Round Tuit

A Marvelous Mess

Made by you Monday

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A Basketful Of Flowers

I finally used some paper that I received in the Webster's Pages warehouse sale box last December!!! I'm really trying to go through my patterned paper. With the amount of paper that I have it could be years!

Fro my three border strips, I used an On The Edge die called Scallops by Tim Holtz Alterations. I don't use these dies near enough. This patterned paper is from the Petite Papers Sunday Picnic & Everyday Poetry Collection Combo Pack.

I used a Hero Arts rubber stamp called Bicycle for the main image. Black metallic decor was added to the wheels of the bike. Because I'm not one to use any kind of markers etc, I decided to use up some Hero Arts flower gems that I had in my stash. I added enough to make it look like the basket is flowing over with flowers.

For the sentiment I used another Hero Arts stamps set called Find Joy. I stamped the words and then cut them apart and lightly inked the edges.

Perfect card for an almost perfect day. We are getting some sunshine today and the snow is almost completely melted (as well it should be since it's May!).

Products used:
Patterned Paper: Webster's Pages
Bazzill
PTI - Vintage Cream
Ribbon
Hero Arts: Metallic Decor, Flower Gemstones
Stamp: Hero Arts Bicycle F5293, Joy Ride CL481
Tim Holtz One The Edge Die Scallops
Baker's Twine
Memento Ink - Tuxedo Black

This post is linked to these parties:
Bowdabra Crafty Showcase
Think Pink Sunday
Sew Darn Crafty

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great week!

Cards Using Cosmo Cricket Scraps + Washi Tape

 

I found a scrap of Cosmo Cricket cardstock in my stash that was large enough to make three cards. For this one I used the flower pattern and for the other two I used the striped side. I used washi tape on all three. Out of all of them, I think this one is my favorite! No special reason why, but I suspect it's the black that does it.

 

I stamped a flower and embossed it with white embossing powder. I love the center on this flower. It's the Newsprint Candi from Craftworkcards. 

I used glue dots on the buttons when I attached them to the washi tape. I've found that they don't adhere very well. This job called for the heavy duty hot glue gun!

Products used for these cards:
Patterned Paper: Cosmo Cricket
Washi Tape from various manufacturers
PTI in White and True Black
Sentiment: Hero Arts - Find Joy - CL497
Sentiment: Hero Arts - All Occasion - CL272
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Black Soot for edges
Memento Ink in Tuxedo Black for sentiment
Flower - Autumn Leaves - Rhonna Farrer - AL2586
Flower Center - Candi from Craftworkcards - Newsprint
Cloud9 Design Rain Dots
Bakers Twine
Buttons
White Embossing Powder

This post is linked to:
Link It Up Thursday

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