CAS Hyacinths

 Celebrating spring with some grape hyacinths, loosely watercolored. (The mats are dark purple, not black). 

This card is entered in these challenges

Beautiful Blossoms -- anything floral

Simon Says Stamp Monday -- Beautiful blooms

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- clean and simple

Winter Wonderland

 

 

 

Does the silhouette deer look odd next to the detailed tree? I had planned to use a die-cut tree outline, until I discovered this previously stamped and die-cut tree and decided to use it. The tree has white Stickles on it for the snow. I can't decide how I feel about the flatness of the scene (although the tree is on foam tape and I did sponge around the edges of the blue panel, but the ink is too similar to the paper I used for the sky.)

 

This card is entered in these challenges:

Christmas Kickstart #108 -- out of the woods

ABC  Christmas -- F is for foliage (tree)

The Paper Funday #85 -- fur or feathers

Double Trouble #212-- 3 colors, 2 images, 1 sentiment + optional 4-legged animal 

Word Art Wednesday #744 -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2611  -- anything goes

Pattie's Creations #240 -- anything goes 

 

Almost hummingbird season

 

The weather here has been crazy -- record-setting warm one day, freezing the next. Daffodils and flowering trees are starting to bud, and I'm afraid a hard freeze is going to come along and spoil all that spring beauty.

Since spring might be on the way, my thoughts turned to birds. I haven't used this IO hummingbird image in a long time, so I brought it out. At first I tried doing a marker-spritz version, to get a watercolored look, but it just wasn't working. In the end, I stamped it on watercolor paper and colored it with watercolors. For the background panel, I used the technique where you ink up the EF, run the paper through, and get color on the debossed areas. (I'm sure there's a name for it.)

All the papers used on this card are snippets, mostly in shades of green that seem more harmonious IRL.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday -- a bit of green

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- a bit of green

Double Trouble #211 -- 3 layers, 2 colors, 1 image

The Paper Funday #85-- fur or feathers

Triple B -- bird

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2610 -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #742 -- anything goes

Snippets playground #527 -- use snippets (everything on the card)

 

 

Vintage rust

I got a piece of Stamplorations new Collage papers and decided to go vintage on a card. This paper is from the Faded Botanicals set. Since the flower is so pretty, I wanted to leave it largely visible.  I  used sentiments from Stamploration's Bloomfully Remember stamp set, stamped and heat embossed with an old embossing powder I have called Woven Tapestry from Personal Stamp Exchange.  It gives a slightly faded, distressed look to the sentiment and around the  edges of the panel.

To add to the vintage feel, I tried doing a faux rust technique. I found a YouTube video that called for acrylic paint, glue and cinnamon to create faux rust, but the result is an overall rust effect (see photo to the right), and I didn't want that much rust. So I decided to create my own technique. I took chipboard, covered it with Versamark, then applied silver EP and heated it. Then I mixed white glue with some brown and orange flocking material (Oh, the goodies I have stashed away!), applied it to the edges of the chipboard and let it dry. It's passable rust; if I do it again I'd add more of the orange flocking. (Cinnamon would work, too, but since I have this flocking I'll nver use for anything else, why not use it?)

    

This card is entered in these challenges:

Stamplorations -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #742   -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinki'es #2610  -- anything goes

CRAFT #775  -- anything goes

Gem of a Challenge  -- anything goes

Digi Choosday  -- anything goes

Polkadoodles  -- anything goes 

Cheery chicks

 I went cute and country with this card. The chicken and chicks are from an Alley Way set. They were colored with pencils and fussy cut. I used a marker and colored pencil to create the little tufts of grass. The sunflower ribbon adds another touch of cute and cheerful, and the gingham pattern background adds to the country feel.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday: Make it Cute.

Moving Along with the Times #187: Birds and Bees

The Paper Funday #85: Fur or feathers

Creative Inspirations: cute critters

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2609: Anything goes 

Word Art Wednesday #742: Anything goes 

Triple B --  birds/blooms

DigiChoosday -- Anything goes

CRAFT #775 -- Anything goes 

3 panels, embossed

 Today's card was inspired by the Beautiful Blossoms mood board photo and the Try a Sketch on Tuesday sketch. The mood board featured a vase with an array of purple, yellow and white flowers. I paired a digi image with a stamped sentiment for the focal point. For the background panel, I found snippets of yellow and lavender patterned papers that worked well together and enhanced the main image. After taping the three strips together, I ran them through an embossing folder. (It's called Textile and it's very old -- I think the first EF I purchased. I mention this because a few weeks ago someone posted a picture on FB trying to get info on the EF; since I still have the original packaging I answered. )

This card is entered in these challenges:

Beautiful Blossoms -- florals

Double Trouble #210 -- 3 colors, 2 pattern papers, one  embossed element + TSOT

Try a Sketch on Tuesday #689

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2608 -- anything goes

Crafters Cafe #327 -- for the girls

Word Art Wednesday #740 -- anything goes 

Digi Chooseday -- anything goes 

 

Music fun

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       I found this cute digi image, called IPod Panda from Kitty Bee, and thought it would make a fun card (I read that wired headphones are making a comeback, although I've never completely given mine up). The image is colored with pencils, die-cut with a stitched square die, and matted on a green/red/blue/white patterned paper. I cut a tag from the same paper and added some die-cut some music notes. After figuring out where to place those two items, I black-embossed the sentiment on a coordinating patterned paper and added a ribbon on the tag. 

This card is entered in these challenges

Double Trouble #210 -- 3 colors, 2 patterned papers, 1 embossed element

Word Art Wednesday #740 -- anything goes

Stamplorations -- anything goes with an image

Digi Choosday -- anything goes 

Polkadoodles -- anything goes 

 Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2607  -- anything goes

 

Shabby chic collage

 

The Double D Challenge is to do a shabby chic design. That's not my typical style, for sure, but that's what makes it a challenge.  I made a shabby-chic/vintage collage.

I started with a piece of patterned paper with an extremely realistic pattern of buttons. (Did it fool you?) On top of that I layered white rick rack (which ended up getting almost completely covered as I progressed), some postage themed ephemera, a torn ticket, and an acrylic oval sentiment. Then I die-cut a few Tim Holtz wildflowers and sponged them with light pink and pale green inks.  A brown piece of baker's twine finishes it off.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Double D -- vintage/shabby chic

Word Art Wednesday #739 -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2606 -- anything goes

 

 

Splatters away

 This card features a background technique Ardyth has made a couple of videos about. Basically it involves using watercolors to create loose designs, and adding to the work until you like the results. This background features stripes of watercolor, augmented by stripes of a rosy/gold glittery watercolor. I also added splatters of the glittery gold and navy blue watercolors to add more interest. The background is fun, but it's a little much for a whole card front, so I added a fun die-cut to break it up.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday -- spritz/splatter

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2606 -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #739 -- anything goes

A Cut Above -- use a die-cut

Crafts Galore Encore -- Anything goes

Digi Chooseday -- anything goes 

 

Musical ornament

 

I am always amazed to see what old blog posts of mine are currently getting views. Recently I noticed that a card  I made more than a decade ago was getting a lot of views. I decided to make an updateed, musical-themed version of the card, which used ribbon behind a ornament-shaped aperture.

For this card, I die-cut a tag, then die-cut the ornament shape out of it. Cut the ornament again from green cardstock, placed the ribbon over the green ornament, and inlaid it into the tag. The background layers include sheet music and a strip embossed with musical notes for some texture. 

This card is entered in these  challenges:

Christmas Kickstart #107 -- Christmas Singalpng

Simon Says Stamp Monday -- add texture

ABC Christmas -- anything Christmas

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2605 -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #738 -- anything goes

CRAFT #773 -- anything goes

Crafts Galore Encore #144 -- anything goes

  

Pink Christmas

 Non-traditional Christmas colors but fun, right?

Stamped, gold-embossed, and die-cut Christmas tree from pink carfd stock. Added gold stickles. Mounted on stitched panel, then on pink panel. Sentiment is gold embossed on card base.

This card is for these challenges:

Christmas Kickstart #106 -- dreaming of a pink Christmas

ABC Christmas A=anything Christmas, B=Bright

CRAFT #772 -- Christmas

A Cut Above -- use a die-cut 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #736 -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2604 -- anything goes

Gem of a Challenge -- anything goes

Digi Chooseday -- anything goes

 

Bird on a branch

 Die-cut bird with color sponged on. To create the "branch," I took a length of thin brown ribbon, doubled it, and tied a series of knots. (I tried this many years ago and totally forgot about the technique until I recently saw a photo the card I made.) Sentiment is gold embossed. 

This card is entered in these challenges: 

Simon Says Stamp Monday -- things with wings

Triple B  -- must use bird, blossom or butterfly

The Paper Funday #83 -- anything goes

Crafts Galore Encore -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2603 -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #736 -- anything goes

 

Digi Chooseday -- anything goes 

 

 

Wintry Fun

This card features stamps from Stamplorations, which is back in business after the owner took a long break due to health issues. The scene is colored in pencils with accents of Wink of Stella on the snow. It's framed by a Polaroid style frame that I stamped with snowflakes in blue ink. The main image is mounted on a blue-gray embossed card. 

This card is entered in these challenges:

Stamplorations -- anything goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- emboss it.

Inkspirational Challenge # 359 -- winter blues 

The Paper Shelter #663-- Winter

Word Art Wednesday #734 --anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2603 -- anything goes

Pattie's Creations #238 -- use an iamge

Polkadoodles -- anything goes 

Birthday wishes

 How about a birthday card. My card features an adorable set of stamps/dies from Studio Katia, including the punny sentiment of happy bear-thday. The images are colored with pencils and displayed on a die-cut stitched square from I-O.  For even more fun, I added some puzzle-shaped pieces that have other birthday-related words. (I'm not sure where I got these puzzle pieces originally -- possibly at a yard sale -- and I'm not sure of their purpose. They are thin, like strong foil, and have no adhesive, so I don't think they were intended for this kind of use. And I don't think they'll actually fit together as if you're making a jigsaw puzzle, so they're a mystery to me. If you have any ideas, drop a comment, please.) The main square is sponged with blue ink, and a few acrylic dots finish the card off.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Double D -- birthday

Word Art Wednesday #734 -- anything goes

Pammie's INky Pinkies #2601  -- anything goes

The Paper Funday #83 -- anything goes

Creative Inspiration -- anything goes

Gem of a Craft Challenge -- anything goes

 

Kitty Exercise

 

 I played with a new image I got from The Paper Shelter called Kitty Acrobatics. How fun is that. I paired it with several pieces of patterned paper that I've had for ages -- so a bit of new and old. I used the orange/green/blue color scheme from the plaid when choosing colors for the image. The main image is cut with a circle die (using the out of the box technique) and mounted on another die-cut circle. I created and printed out the sentiment on my computer, then die-cut it with a stitched rectangle die.

This card is for these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday -- something new

 Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- something new

Die-cut Divas -- use a new item

Double Trouble #207 -- 3 colors, 2 shapes, 1 sentiment

Word Art Wednesday #734 -- anything goes

The Paper Shelter #662 -- in with the new, in with the old 

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2601 -- anything goes

Polkadoodles Digi ChooseDay -- anything goes

Pattie's Creations #238 -- use an image

 

Happy New Year

 I am in a swap group that does themed swaps. One of the January swaps focuses on symbols of the new year, and the swap organizer listed birches as one of the symbols. Apparently birches are very resilient so they are considered a sign of rebirth and the new year. 

With that new fact in mind, I decided to use my new, never-been-used birch dies to create a care. I die cut the trees from watercolor paper and watercolored the bark to create the traditional dark gray patches. To create the background panel, I watercolored a blue sky and left the bottom third of the paper white to be snow. After placing the trees on the background, I painted two birds and added some shadows with gray paint, then added a sentiment.

This card is entered in these challenges:

NBUS #82 -- NBUS item is the birch tree dies

Crafts Galore Encore #143 -- anything goes

Colorful Options -- blues, whites and grays

Die-cut Divas -- use a new item

Word Art Wednesday #733 -- anything goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- add a sentiment