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!

The Paper Players PP417: Claire's Theme Challenge

 

I'm linking this card to the Paper Players Theme Challenge below. 

This past Saturday evening I was working on cards at the crop I was at for the weekend. I was so happy when I finished this one. I was writing down all my products so that I could blog it when I got home and could get a decent photo. That's when I realized I had placed my image and sentiment in the wrong spot. Everything was pretty well adhered so I couldn't move anything. I set the card aside and then came across the Paper Players challenge. My card worked perfectly for this challenge!

 

I used distress oxide ink in walnut stain for my project. This is actually the second print using the Tim Holtz woodgrain layering stencil. When I pulled the stencil off the first print I spritzed the stencil with water and then laid my mixed media cardstock on top of the stencil to get the ink off. 

The leaves are some from my stash that I made with distress oxide inks using the stamp and die set from Reverse Confetti. I made quite a few to use in various projects. 

I diecut my circle using a Spellbinders die and stamped the image using Gina K Designs Autumn Wreath Builder stamp set. I love how this card turned out.  

Thanks for taking the time to stop by!

Watercooler Wednesday: WWC194 - "Anything Goes" Challenge

I am linking this card to the Watercooler Wednesday: WWC194 - "Anything Goes" Challenge.

I love fall cards. I think it's because I love all the different variations of color on the leaves.

For my background I applied distress ink over the Christmas Plaid stencil from Echo Park. I used barn door and mustard seed distress ink. 

The stamp set and dies are from Reverse Confetti called Fall Foliage. I stamped the images and then heat embossed them with gold embossing powder. Before adhering the leaves I spattered some green distress ink over the background.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by.

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #360

 

Where does the weekend go?!

I feel like it was just Friday and I was so happy to be leaving work and looking forward to two days of doing what I want to do. The weekends never last long enough. At the very least they should always be three days long. All I can say is thank God I'm super close to retirement! I can't wait!

I watercolored some mixed media cardstock Friday evening and Saturday morning with distress inks. The colors I used were peeled paint, dried marigold, barn door, wild honey, crushed olive, spiced marmalade, mustard seed and rusty hinge. While letting my panels dry I started looking through challenges to see if there were any that I wanted to link up some cards to. I found a few with one being a sketch challenge for Freshly Made Sketches. 

I started by stamping leaves using the Reverse Confetti stamp set called Fall Foliage and then die cutting them with their companion die set.  

I used mustard seed distress ink first on my background. Then using a Tim Holtz layering stencil called linen, I used a stencil brush to lightly ink the background with spiced marmalade distress ink. 

I die cut my circle from one of the watercolor panels using a double stitched circle die from Our Daily Bread. 

The sentiment I used is from the Gina K Designs Autumn Wreath Builder stamp set. 

Thanks for taking the time to stop by! 

Crazy for CAS #9 - Pinterest Inspired

For today's card I'm linking to a challenge from Crazy for CAS Pinterest Inspired. 

UPDATE: I tried to link my card to this challenge and their link isn't working.

Your card has to be inspired by a card that you saw on Pinterest. 

 I was inspired by the card below from Jen Nelson. Her blog is The Tiny Blue Butterfly.

My inspiration was the fall colors, the leaf and of course the black. 

This is really the first time I've ever created Fall/Autumn cards. 

I had a fall stamp set a few years ago, but only used it once or twice. 

I've created quite a few Fall cards this year with the stamps and dies I've picked up here and there. 

For the background of the leaf and for my sentiment I used Distress Oxide inks in these colors: crushed olive, barn door and wild honey. I put ink on my media mat, spritzed water on it and then kept dipping my card stock into it and drying it in between colors.

 

I die cut my leaf on the white panel. I stamped the leaf onto the panel I had watercolored with Distress Oxide inks. The stamp and die set are from Rubbernecker called Splatter Leaves and Fall Leaf Die set. After positioning the stamped leaf under the white panel I used foam tape to adhere the panel to my my card base.

Using another piece of the watercolored background I stamped my greeting. The sentiment is from Sunny Studios called Autumn Greetings. The frame is from Reverse Confetti called All Framed Up Confetti Cuts. Bling from my stash finalized my card.

 

Thanks for taking the time to stop by!

CAS on Friday - Flowers

I found another flower challenge. I've really had good luck this past week with card challenges! I wish that would happen every week. This challenge is another clean and simple challenge. Be sure to click the link below and check out the cards their design team created.

CAS on Friday - Challenge #141 - Flowers

For this card I used the stamp set called The Most Beauty by Reverse Confetti. My background was created using twisted citron Distress Oxide ink. I create backgrounds and toss them in a container until I decide what I want to do with them. For my flower I took one of the backgrounds from my container and die cut a wildflower using a die from the Sizzix Tim Holtz die called Wildflowers. The Distress Oxide colors used for the flower are twisted citron, fossilized amber, salty ocean and faded jeans.

 

The colors aren't always exact on my photos even though I edit them. Some colors look exactly like the card. The background color is a little darker in the photo than the real card. 

Thanks for taking the time to stop by!

Cards In Envy - Yellow & Black Card Challenge

Cards In Envy - Yellow & Black Card Challenge

I love yellow and black together!

While I was perusing one of email lists I get everyday of card challenges, my eye caught this one and I knew I wanted to participate. The project has to be flat meaning no lumps or bumps that are thicker than 1/4". The sequins are no problem as far as adding dimension. 

I'm just going to enter the card above in this challenge even though I made two. This is my first time creating a card for this challenge. 

What I find interesting and something that I like is that they have a list of upcoming challenge themes on their blog. Right now they are out to January 21, 2019! I love that I can find the themes I like and create a card further in advance. I wish more card challenge blogs would do this. I'd probably be able to participate in more. When you work full-time, some days are more exhausting than others. It's hard to make the deadlines of some of the challenges you want to play along with. Some evenings I just can't get any crafty time in. I don't always have the whole weekend to craft. Enough of that, on to my cards!

Products for both cards are identical except for the sentiment and the stencil I used. The first card uses a stencil from Hero Arts. I'm not sure what the name of it is. The second card uses a stencil from Heidi Swapp. Again I'm not sure what the name is. The image on both is from Rubbernecker Stamps called Floral #4. Both sentiments are from The Most Beauty stamp set by Reverse Confetti. I used Distress Oxide in fossilized amber for the background and VeraFine in onyx black for the sentiment. 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

A Bit More Time To Craft Challenge #74 - "Anything Goes"

I'm linking this card to the challenge below. 

A Bit More Time To Craft Challenge #74 - "Anything Goes"

 

I used The Crafters Workshop (TCW) light and fluffy modeling paste over a Dare To Be Artsy mixed  media stencil called Wacky Boxes. I understand that there is now a Wacky Boxes die! I may have to buy it! 

This is the third card I've made with the same color combination. I swear it's my last one using these colors, for now anyway! You can see those cards here and here. I just can't stand to waste ink. I put too much down on my mat. For this card I spritzed more water on the ink and flicked it over the wet modeling paste. I love the dimension.

The Distress Oxide ink colors used were carved pumpkin, fossilized amber and salty ocean.

The sentiment is from Reverse Confetti called Sentiment Essentials. There is also a die to match. 

I stamp the sentiment using VersaFine black onyx ink.

Thanks for stopping by!

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!

CAS(E) this Sketch #286

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

They have the best sketches!

CAS(E) this Sketch #286

For this card I used leftover ink that I had used for another card. The distress oxide colors are: carved pumpkin, fossilized amber and salty ocean. I then added some stenciling over the background using Hero Arts Stencil Borders using some of the salty ocean ink. My sentiment is from Reverse Confetti called A friend Like You. I love their stamps, they have the best sentiments! Bling is from Doodlebug Design. 

This was a great clean and simple sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch this week! Be sure to stop over and see all the beautiful cards their design team created!

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!

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.

Thanks for stopping by!