Six New Cards

 

I finally had time to take photos of the recent cards I created!

I was working on them before I went on a road trip over Labor Day to Kentucky to visit family. I just didn't get a chance to photo and blog them.

I'm happy to be back in the North where we don't have the humidity that they have in the South. It just about kills me, I hate it! I know we have humidity here in Minnesota, but nothing like they have there. Normally when we visit we either go in May, June or July when it's even worse. We had one day that we could tolerate and that was the first day we were there! Anyway, it was nice to see family.

Moving on.....my first card the background was created blending distress oxide inks - fired brick, worn lipstick and fossilized amber. I then spritzed the background with water to get the droplets where the water reacted. The leaves are from a die called Outline Clustered Leaves from Simon Says Stamp. The sentiment is from a stamp set by Reversed Confetti called The Most Beauty.

 

For the card above and below I used a stencil called Wonky Grid from Altenew. 

I used Brusho Crystal Colours (which are similar to Ken Oliver's Color Burst). I used the colors gamboge, turquoise and cobalt blue. I laid my stencil down then sprinkled the power over the stencil and spritzed watered over it. I set a stamp block on top for a few minutes then lifted it. I cut the panel in two for two cards. The stamp used on the top card is called Bold Colour by Visibile Image. The sentiment used on the bottom card is from Simon Says Stamp called Handlettered Encouragement.

 

 

For the card about and below I used a stencil from Altenew called Ombre Stripes.

I applied distress oxide inks over the stencil on both. The colors used for the top card are cracked pistachio, salty ocean and blueprint sketch. For the card below I used blueprint sketch, hickory smoke and wilted violet. After I blended the inks I spritzed both cards with water to get the inks to react. 

The top card uses a sentiment from Visible Image called So Much Stronger. The card below uses a stamp for Gina K Designs called Lettered and Lovely. 

 

 

For my last card I used a stencil from Gina K Designs that I applied distress oxide ink through. The colors I used are fossilized amber, ripe persimmon and candied apple. I die cut my panel using a die called double stitched rectangles from Our Daily Bread (they've changed their name to Divinity Designs LLC now). The sentiment is from Gina K Stamps called Lettered and Lovely.

I am working my way through the pile above. I'm basically just deciding what sentiments to use on them. I may decide at last minute to add stenciling, embossing paste or die cut into flowers......the possibilities are endless...... I'm trying to keep the pretty clean and simple.

I've been working on the details for a crop I'm hosting the end of October/beginning of November. This will be our second year going to this particular retreat. It's always so fun to get together with others for three nights. I never get anything done, but that's okay! I hope we keep going year after year. The place is always booked so you reserve it a year in advance. 

This year I'm going to be doing a very casual card class. So, I'm thinking of ideas so that I can make a few sample cards for them look at. We'll be doing watercolor, stencils, paste etc so all cards will turn out different. 

We also have one of the ladies doing a Chalk Couture class, so that will be fun. I took her class back in April and loved it!

That's it for now! Thanks for stopping by!

Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge

 

This weeks Simon Says Stamp Challenge is Anything Goes using their products. 

I definitely don't have to worry about not having any of their products, because I love them!! So I'm linking my card to their challenge!

I had created this panel awhile ago. I just didn't know what sentiment I wanted to use with it to make a card. I've looked at it many times and just couldn't make a decision. I also didn't know if I wanted to add color around the image or not. I finally just pulled out a stamp set and randomly chose a sentiment. I don't know why it's so hard to do that sometimes. 

 

I heat embossed my image with white embossing powder and then watercolored the image with Zig Clean Color markers. I'm still learning when it comes to coloring images, but I think I'm getting a little better. 

The stamp sets I used from Simon Says Stamp are the Handlettered Encouragement for the sentiment and Sketched Flowers for the image. I have seen so many gorgeous cards using the Sketched Flowers stamp set. I'm normally drooling over them because they are just amazing!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by!

Addicted To Stamps and More! Anything Goes Challenge #316

One more card for a challenge today!

This one is being linked to the Addicted to Stamps and More! Anything Goes Challenge.

 

I love random thoughts. I adore Visible Image stamps. They have so many cool sentiments. 

This stamp is called Creativity. 

This was a second generation print using a stencil from The Crafters Workshop called mini chickenwire reversed and leftover ink from another card I had made. I used distress oxide ink for this print, but I'm not sure of the color. This was one of the prints I pulled from my overflowing container  of backgrounds. 

I used some bling from my stash to finish off my card. 

Thanks for taking the time to stop by.

Freshly Made Sketches 361 Challenge

Another day, another challenge!

Today's card is going to be linked to the Freshly Made Sketches challenge.

The sketch is below and my card is my interpretation of it.

I'm also linking this card to the Simon Says Stamp Flicker Challenge Let Your Stencils Shine.

 

Today I'm trying to link all the cards I made at a crop this past weekend to the challenges that are ending in the next day or so. I think right now I have three including this one that I have to link. 

I had to wait until I got home to get decent photos so I could submit them. 

I make a lot of backgrounds when I don't know what I want to do while in my craft room. I usually toss them into a container until I decide if I'm going to use them for a card or die cut sentiments from them. I was able to use a few of my backgrounds this past weekend and create cards!

For this card I used a PaperTrey Ink stencil along with distress oxide ink to create a watercolor background. The colors I used were wild honey and crushed olive. 

I die cut some garden greens using a Tim Holtz thinlet die from Sizzix. I've started die cutting more and just tossing them in a container for use on cards at a moments notice. 

The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp. The set is called Handlettered Encouragement. I love all stamps from Simon Says Stamp. They are one of my favorite companies.

I finished off the card with some cork bling from Recollections. 

That's it! Now on to the next card!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by!

CAS on Sunday Challenge #145

 

This is my clean and simple card for the challenge going on over on the CAS on Sunday: Challenge #145 blog. 

I was at a scrapbook retreat the last four days with a lovely, lively fun group of women. We had a blast! I don't usually get a lot done at these events because I spend more time socializing than I do crafting. I did get quite a few cards done for some challenges going on this week and this is the first one that I'm posting. Many more to come in the next few days!

 

I really love clean and simple cards. The theme for this card is to make a card to brighten someones day. That's not hard for me because I have a lot of stamps sets with positive sentiments, which are my favorite!

This card was pretty easy to put together. I applied distress oxide ink in mermaid lagoon over a Tim Holt layering stencil with a stencil brush. I don't have all my stuff put away yet and I neglected to write down the name of stencil. I stamped the triangles using the stamp set from Simon Says Stamp called Perfect Shapes. The sentiment is also from Simon Says Stamp called Handlettered Encouragement. 

The crop retreat I was at is in a cute little town in Buffalo, MN. On the first day of the crop I maybe got one card finished. The second day I was gone for quite a while because a few of us took a field trip to St. Cloud, about 50 miles or so away so that we could go to this wonderful craft store called Crafts Direct. The third day the same few of us went shopping around Buffalo, MN where the crop was held because all the stores were open. There are so many fun little boutiques, occasional sales and antiques stores to go through! We didn't hit them all but we did get to quite a few. 

Saturday evening I really got busy so that I would have cards for the challenges I want to participate in. I had a fantastic time, but it's back to reality and that means going back to work! Thankfully I was smart and took an extra day off so I can get all my stuff put away and just rest!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by!

CAS(E) this Sketch!

My card today is linked to the CAS(E) this Sketch Challenge.

I had hoped to link some cards to a few more challenges this past week but time wasn't on my side!

CAS(E) this Sketch #294

 

My background was stamped using a stamp set from Gina K Designs called Whimsical Wildflowers.

This is a great set because there's also a set of dies that coordinate with the flowers and leaves. 

 

I used Distress Oxide inks for the flowers. The colors used were: fired brick, fossilized amber, wild honey, spiced marmalade, peeled paint and tea dye.

The background for my sentiment was created by adding fired brick ink to my mat, spritzing it with water and then dipping my cardstock into it. I stamped the sentiment with versafine ink in black onyx. 

I love this stamp set. I can't wait to play with it some more!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by!

So Many Reasons.....

This is my card that I'm linking to the three challenges below.

The Flower Challenge "Add Sparkle"

Simon Says Stamp Challenge Anything Goes

Crafting With An Attitude: Challenge 44 Anything Goes

 

I was scrolling through some YouTube videos on my lunch hour and came across one by Jennifer McGuire where she did some foiling. Unfortunately I didn't save the video and can't find it so that I can link to it. I searched her videos and she has quite a few on foiling. 

 

Her directions were pretty easy. She stamped her image with versamark ink and then heat embossed with white embossing powder. After that you add foil on top of the image and then run it through your laminator. Easy peasy. She didn't even use a piece of parchment paper, she just ran it through the machine without it. I followed her directions and was very happy with the results.

 

I used Therm-O-Web's Summer Rainbow Deco Foil.

 

I wish I could have taken a better photo. It's really hard to capture shine from the foil. In my photos some of the images look darker than they really are. 

For my image I used the stamp set Sketched Flowers by Simon Says Stamp. The sentiment is also from Simon Says Stamp. The stamp set is called Uplifting Thoughts. I added some clear bling to finish off my card.  

Thanks for taking the time to stop by!

The Flower Challenge #24 'Anything Goes'

The Flower Challenge #24 'Anything Goes'

Today I'm sharing a card I created for The Flower Challenge. 

The flower stamp is from Rubbernecker Stamps. It's called Daisy Daydream. I googled daisies so I could see all the different colors that daisies come in. I decided to go with blue with a green center. 

I'm always so mesmerized when I go to a stamp show and stop at the Rubbernecker booth. I love watching the guy that does demos. He makes it look so easy. He always uses Ken Oliver's color burst powders. I don't have those, I have the Brusho Crystal Colors. I do like them, I just forget to pull the out and play with them. 

I used Distress Oxide inks for my watercolor. The colors I used were mowed lawn and blueprint sketch.  I used VersaFine onyx black for the sentiment. The sentiment is from the Flower Turnabout stamp by Concord & 9th. 

Thanks for taking the time to stop by!

Crafty Creations Challenges Challenge #373 - Anything Goes

I'm linking my card up to the Anything Goes challenge over at Crafty Creations Challenges. 

Crafty Creations Challenges: Challenge #373 - Anything Goes

 

I've been picking up sassy sentiment stamps for coffee for awhile. 

I thought I'd better start using them!

This sentiment is from Rubbernecker Stamps. I love it!

 

The background was created using a few stamps from the Stampin' Up Timeless Textures stamp set.

The coffee cup die and stamp is from the Sizzix Coffee set by Stephanie Bernard.

I used a Spellbinders circle die for the sentiment.

Inks used were Memento rich cocoa, Distress Oxide inks in vintage photo & walnut stain.

I'll be posting more coffee cards in the near future. I need to use my stamps!

Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge 104! - Anything Goes

 

I'm entering the two cards above in the Simon Says Flicker Challenge #104 this week.

The theme this time is "Anything Goes"

The cards below are extra cards I made using different sentiments that aren't from Simon Says Stamp. 

All cards use the stamp set called Many Thanks from Simon Says Stamp.

The card above on the left uses the Simon Says Stamp Thanks For Being There set. 

Since I had the Many Thanks stamp set out and set up in my MISTI I decided to create several cards at once. 

 

This card uses the stamp set A Friend Like You from Reverse Confetti.

 

The stamp set for this card is also from Reverse Confetti called The Most Beauty.

This final card uses the Avery Elle Simply Said stamp and die set. Sentiments for all cards were stamped with VersaFine black onyx ink. The Distress Oxide inks used for stamping the flowers are: salty ocean, squeezed lemonade, peeled paint, mermaid lagoon and picked raspberry. On the last card I used Gina K's fresh asparagus for the leaves.

I love using the MISTI for stamping multiple cards at once! 

Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge 104!

Thanks for stopping by!

Addicted To Stamps and More! Challenge #306 - Anything Goes

Happy Saturday!

The card I'm sharing today is for the card challenge going on over at:

Addicted To Stamps and More! Challenge #306

I am participating in several challenges this week. I get an email everyday letting me know what challenges are going on. I go through them all to see what I can come up with. I generally stay away from any challenges that have to do with using digital images. I have way to many stamps for that! I love the "Anything Goes" challenges and the ones I tend to gravitate toward are color, sketch and CAS (clean and simple) challenges. Today's challenge is an Anything Goes challenge.

Since I knew I wanted to play in several challenges, I scanned them all and started creating my card backgrounds. After I did that I narrowed my sentiments down for each card.

For this card I used Distress Oxide ink in fossilized amber, carved pumpkin and salty ocean. Because I always have leftover ink and I don't want to waste it, two cards for two more challenges use the same color combination.

The sentiment is from Reverse Confetti called The Most Beauty. I diecut it using the Double Stitched Circles from Our Daily Bread Designs. I stamped the sentiment using VersaFine ink in black onyx. After I finished the card I flicked ink over it using the Tim Holtz Splatter Brush.

Check back for the rest of the cards I post today!

Thanks for stopping by!

CAS(E) this Sketch #285 - Welcome Autumn

 

I'm playing along with the CAS(E) This Sketch! Challenge again this week!

CAS(E) this Sketch #285

My card from the challenge last week got an honorable mention, so that was pretty cool!

 

 

I watercolored a piece of Strathmore Mixed Media paper with the distress oxide inks shown above. 

I used Memento in Rich Cocoa to stamp the leaves. 

 

I always love all the Fall cards that I see every year. 

I only have one stamp set that is Fall related and I always forget to pull it out.

I picked up this stamp and die set at the Rubber Stamp show I went to in July. It's from Rubbernecker Stamps. The stamp set is called Splatter Leaves and the die set to match is called Fall Leaf.

I want to play around with some more inks to create some different colors for the leaves. 

I really love the colors of Fall! 

The only thing I don't care for is that for me when I think of Fall I think of Winter and I'm not a big fan. I don't like having to wear coats and closed toed shoes. I want to be able to wear capris and sandals year round. I guess I grew up and live in the wrong state!

Be sure to check out the challenge this week!

CAS(E) this Sketch #285

Thanks for stopping by!