Tuesday, September 30, 2014

a color challenge. . . .

for the September challenge at Mixed Media Monthly:



Here is my card:


A watercolor background, die cut leaves and distress inks.  The leaves and the edges of the background were overstamped with a Magenta crackle stamp.  The sentiment is a combination of a Stamplorations stamp and part of an Impression Obsession stamp.  Platinum stickles and orange dots were added.

One last entry for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge. 

Enjoy your day!

Monday, September 29, 2014

stamps and markers. . . .

and a few other things went into the making of this card:


The monthly challenge at Stamplorations is to use stamps and markers.  Stamplorations also has an anything goes challenge if you use Stamplorations stamps.  I think the daisy is the star of this card and since I also used a Stamplorations sentiment, I hope it qualifies.  :) 

Anyway, for the background, I stamped the leafy vine from B-line Designs with gesso on a piece of Tim Holtz watercolor paper.  After it was dry, I sprayed the panel with Dylusions sprays and let that dry.  Then I added distress inks through a Heidi Swapp stencil and also around the edges of the panel. 

The Stamplorations daisy was colored with Tombow markers and then I added some white dots with a Sakura white Gelly roll pen. The center was colored with  the Delicata gold ink using the tip of my finger and I added some black dots with a Sharpie pen.   I colored white cardstock with distress ink and cut my own stem and leaves for the daisy.  The sentiment is from Stamplorations.  Finally, some black bubble dots were added and the piece was mounted on some black cardstock and then a rust card base.

This is yet another offering for the Simon Says Stamp anything goes challenge.

Thanks for your visit!I   

Saturday, September 27, 2014

September CCC. . . .

My card for the September card chain challenge hosted by Deborah Nolan was sent to Becca Cruger in Michigan:


I sponged distress ink through a Heidi Swapp polka dot stencil for an all over design on the card base.  The sentiment is Hero Arts.  The Memory Box tree die cut was placed over a distress ink background that I also sponged some polka dots over.  Gold sequins were added to the tree.

This card will also go to the Simon Says Stamp anything goes challenge. 

Visit Deborah's blog to find out more about this monthly card exchange.  You will love it!!

Thursday, September 25, 2014

anything goes. . . .

as long as you use Stamplorations stamps for a new challenge here:l



I have several stamps from Stamplorations now and decided to play with some of them.  Here is the first card I am entering in the challenge:


The California poppies stamp is so pretty and I colored it with Prismacolor pencils.  After die cutting it, I mounted it on a scalloped circle and then to a distress ink background created by smooshing the cardstock through several distress inks.  This panel was die cut with the Mama Elephant Femme Frames die.  I stamped the poppies twice on my card base and then assembled the layers.  Some vintage sequins and a Memory Box butterfly were used for embellishments.

Also entering this in the Simon Says Stamp anything goes challenge.  And, the Seize the Birthday with no toppings challenge.

Hope your weekend is a good one.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

sketch challenge #20. . . .

at Stamplorations:


Here is my card:


I white embossed a Hero Arts stamp four times on white cardstock and then added distress inks.  Cut the images apart in various sizes and distressed the edges.  The Joy stamp is from Printworks.    Some vintage copper sequins were sprinkled about. 

Also sending this over the Simon Says Stamp for their anything goes challenge. 

Sorry I've been MIA in action; a few unexpected events in my life have once again taken priority.  Hopefully I can get a few more cards made for challenges with deadlines coming up!  

Monday, September 15, 2014

create your own background. . . .

is the Wednesday challenge at Simon Says Stamp this week.




This is a birthday card I made for one of my grandsons.  The background was created with two Hero Arts wood mounted stamp sets that I have had for years.  I used Brilliance inks because it is much easier to get a solid stamped image with these pigment inks.  Since my son's family got a puppy last year (I guess he's not a puppy anymore), I used this cute stamp from Simon Says that I won from Tiffany Erwin for Ethan's card.  The puppy was colored with Prismacolor pencils.  I added a party hat and some sparkly gems to lend  a festive touch.  The sentiment is from Wplus9. 

I am also entering this card in THIS challenge, since the puppy stamp has never before been used:



And, I'm also sending it over to the challenge at Seize the Birthday:



Thanks for your visit and I do appreciate all of your sweet comments!!

Sunday, September 14, 2014

a patterned paper heart. . . .

for my last entry to Virginia's View challenge:



The paper is from the Basic Gray Konnichiwa 6 x 6 paper pad.  The die is from Spellbinders; I think this particular one may have been discontinued.  It is hard to see, but I edged the entire heart with a Pilot metallic gold pen.  The sentiment is from Magenta and was stamped with Delicata gold ink.  The gold sequins are from Neat and Tangled pixie dust mix.

There's still time to enter the Virginia's View challenge.  Check out the blog for all the details.


Thanks for visiting.

Friday, September 12, 2014

simon says stamp. . . .

recently started a challenge on their Flickr group and Barb Engler will be hosting these on a bi-weekly basis.  For the first challenge we are to use at least three of these colors:


My card is a bit CAS:



My friend, Greta, sent me two of the clustered leaves die cuts recently and I wanted to use one for this challenge. Because this die is so large, I made a 5x7 inch card.

I colored the leaves with distress inks and let the inks dry.  Then I added Versamark ink over the cluster and heat embossed it with a slightly sparkly clear powder that I purchased from Hobby Lobby years ago. The powder gives a bit of a bumpy texture when melted, which I like a lot.


The sentiment is from the SSS Thinking of You stamp set and was stamped in Versafine onyx black ink and also clear embossed.  The black dots are from the SSS Whimsical Flowers stamp set.  A friend gave me the tiny dew drops.

Hopefully I will be able to get another card done for this fun challenge before the deadline.

Have a good weekend!

a christmas card. . . .

for Virginia's View, using patterned paper:


The Impression Obsession Die I used cuts four sections at the same time.  I used several papers from the My Mind's Eye Merry Little Christmas 6x6 pad.  After playing with all of the pieces, I chose to use only three of the shapes.  A gold metallic paper was layered under the other to peek through and give some interest.  The row of trees make a nice focal point.  I added a gold square embellishment to the top of the tallest tree.  The sentiment was gold embossed and is from Stampington & Co.  A Pilot gold pen was used to edge the entire card.

Here is the link to Virginia's View.  You still have time to join in the fun.


I'm sure you have a few (or many) pieces of patterned paper in you stash to use for this challenge!

Thursday, September 11, 2014

chocolate and mint. . . .

are the colors for this week's challenge at Less is More. 
Here is my card:



It was very cloudy here when I took this photo and it did not turn out very well.  The mint cardstock looks light blue.  I have several dark brown inks that I tried for this card.  When I stamped them on white cardstock, two of them were a rich chocolate color.  When I stamped them on this mint cardstock; they were a very light, washed out brown.  I was not happy.  So, I decided to go with silver embossing for the sentiment and die cut my butterfly from silver paper.  The dies  are from Memory Box and the sentiment is from Wplus9. 

Have a great day!

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Stamplorations sketch challenge . . . .

#19 runs through the 12th:



Here is my card:



This photo does not show the true color of the glitter strip behind the image.  It is really much closer to the color of the cake.  :(   Anyway, the stamps used are all from Stamplorations and the image was colored with Prismacolor pencils and embellished with lots of Stickles glitter. I will add a sentiment to the inside when I know to whom I will send this card. 

Thanks for your visit!

Monday, September 8, 2014

patterned paper. . . .

is the challenge at Virginia's View this month. 



Here is my card:



I was the lucky recipient of a giveaway on Tiffany Irwin's blog recently.  The patterned paper I used here is from a Crate Paper 6x6 pad she included in the giveaway.  There are several graphic designs in it, along with an allover butterfly pattern.  I circle punched three of the butterflies from the sheet and then layered them onto three larger circles punched from a sheet of glitter paper from a DCWV  6x6 pad.  The small dots were punched with a regular office supply store paper punch.  The sentiment is from Hero Arts.

I have a few other ideas for this challenge in the works; just haven't had time to play for a week or so. 

Thanks for visiting!

Monday, September 1, 2014

ccc for August. . . .

Here is the card I sent to Robyn in Australia for the August card chain challenge hosted by Deborah Nolan.



The die is a new one from Memory Box that my son bought for me while we were visiting Estes Park in Colorado.  There is a fabulous stamp store there; sure would be fun to live close to it!  I used distress inks to create the background and glued the die to it.  Added a tiny MB butterfly and then some gold stickles to the centers.  The embossing folder is from Darice.  Since I was mailing this to Australia, I kept the card fairly flat to avoid excessive postage.

My last entry to SSS's challenge of anything goes week!  BTW, Simon Says is hosting their fifth Stamptember event and I am excited to see what they have up their sleeve(s) for us.