Raise the Bar

Good Friday everyone! This week the Raise the Bar Challenge is going with a religious Easter theme. What better way to symbolize Easter than with a cross image?!  This is a grunge style cross from Our Daily Bread Designs.  They have a separate cross stamp that can be die cut and popped with foam dots to add dimension.  I love to use yellow for spring/Easter themes and love the wee pop of black!  Hope you can join us this week and be sure to check out the inspiration from the other bartenders by going HERE.  If you post to Splitcoaststampers, please use the keyword RTB98.

STAMPS: Never Give Up (ODBD), Grunge Cross (ODBD), Egg-stra Special (Verve) - sentiment
PAPER: Victoria Gardens DP by Echo Park, White, Black
INK: Versafine Onyx Black
ACCESSORIES: Daffodil Delight wide striped ribbon by SU, Brad by the Paper Studio, Primas, Leaf Branch die #2 by Sizzix.

Poppy Wish

Good Thursday everyone! I started this card after work last night...burning the midnight oil, and finally finished it up this morning. Love to color this quick and easy poppy image from MFT's Flowers 3 set! I used Copics, which you're probably getting tired of seeing,  but since I took the certification class, I'm trying to practice and fine tune my skills. I'm thinking I need to change out the butterfly...not sure I like the layers. The layout  is for My Favorite Things Wednesday Sketch Challenge in the forum on SCS.

STAMPS: Flowers 3 (MFT), Tiny Tags (PTI)
PAPER: Victoria Gardens by Echo Park, White, Black
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black
ACCESSORIES: Butterfly punch by MS, Butterfly Embosslits by SU, Lacey circle Die-Namic (MFT), Tiny tags die (PTI), Satin ribbon by SU, Kaiser pearls, Lace by Flourishes.

Color Throwdown 185

It's Wednesday already and that means there's a new Color Throwdown blog on board! This week,  Broni has some great colors and here is the inspiration picture that she chose...

I colored this wreath of peonies with Copics, cut it out and adhered it to a circle of Regal Rose CS.  Clean and simple!

  
We'd love to have you join us! No worries if you don't have the exact colors... feel free to substitute colors that are close! Make a card or paper crafted project and post it to your blog or online gallery. Then use the direct link and link it to the Color Throwdown blog using the Inlinkz tool at the bottom of the CTD post. If you post to an online gallery, please use CTD185 as your keyword.

 So...are you ready to be inspired?? Check out what the other designers along with our talented March guestie, Bev Gerard, have created!  Check it out HERE.

STAMPS: Mother's Words of Wisdom (Flourishes)
PAPER: Going Gray, Regal Rose, White
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black
ACCESSORIES: Lacey circle & Circle Nesties, Flag die by 'Lil Inker Designs.
Copics-R81, R83, R85, YG21, YG23, YG25, Y13

Eggplant Crush Mambo

Vicki Dutcher has some wild, bold colors for today's SCS Color Challenge - Elegant Eggplant, Concord Crush and Melon Mambo with a dessert option of stripes!  I created my own striped BG using Verve's Bountiful Backgrounds set and stamped Concord Crush ink on Elegant Eggplant CS.  The lace is from Flourishes' imported collection. 

STAMPS: Botanical Bookplates (Flourishes), Bountiful Backgrounds (Verve)
PAPER: Elegant Eggplant, White, X-Press It Blending Card
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black
ACCESSORIES: Botanical Bookplate die by Flourishes, Concord Crush ribbon by SU, Lace by Flourishes, Victoria EF, Copics.

Sending Big Hugs

 It may be rainy and dreary outdoors, but it's sunny and bright in my stamp room today!  I created this card for 3 different challenges:
Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge
CR84FN - Pink, Orange, Yellow
Paper Sundaes Challenge - Spring Blossoms
The sentiment is a freebie I got with an order with MFT and it's outlined and die cut using 'Lil Inker Designs' Flags & Tags Stamps set with accompanying die.  DP is from K&Co's Citronella 12x12 pad and the base is Yoyo Yellow from my retired SU stash.  Thanks for stopping by...hope you've had a great w/e!

Thought for today...
Difficult people are brought into our lives so we can practice patience.
---taken from the book "It's All in How You Look At It".

Viva la Verve

I can hardly believe this is the 4th and last Viva la Verve Challenge in March! Where did the month go?! Andrea has a CAS layout for us, so this was another quick and easy card. 

STAMPS: PJ Philippians 4:13 (Verve)
PAPER: Antique Cream by Creative Imaginations, Black, Vintage Cream, Textured green (? source)
INK: Versafine Onyx Black
ACCESSORIES: Rounded Scallop Frame die by Verve, Sizzix Branch with Leaves die, Adhesive rhinestones by Recollections, Lace by Flourishes, Ribbon flowers (Offray).

Howdy, Friend!

Another card today...this time for the Card Patterns Sketch Challenge which is sponsored this week by MFT. Decided to dress up the little PI cowgirl again...coloring part of her with Copics and paper piecing the other part.

STAMPS: PI-Cowgirl by MFT
PAPER: Miss Caroline "Dolled Up" by MME, Vintage Cream
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black
ACCESSORIES: Jumbo ric rack, Doily and Star Die-Namics by MFT, Jute twine, Rhinestone sticker, Labels Fourteen Nestie, Copics.

Hair-YR21, YR24
Skin-E0000, E00, R20
Shirt-R21, R22
Hat, Boots-E55, E57

Sweet 'n Sassy Butterfly

 

This was a CAS card I created yesterday for the Queen For The Day challenge on SCS. Korin Sutherland, owner of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, has the honor of being queen stamper, so I knew I wanted to ink up this great butterfly image and sentiment from her Everyday Miracles set.  I used a stipple tool to dot some Basic Gray ink then stamped an image from SU's The Art of Life over it.  This created the BG for the fern die from Spellbinder's Foliage set.  The butterfly was colored with Copics, sprayed with Dazzling Diamonds glimmer mist then popped on foam dots.  The white panel was die cut using a new Romantic Rectangles Nestie.  Easy peasy!

I'm going to leave you with this thought...
We need one another because..."Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.  For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow."  Ecclesiastes 4: 9, 10

In the Garden

Spring has sprung at Raise the Bar and this week the challenge is taking you into the garden! Just create a card reflecting a gardening theme...flowers, tools, picket fences...you get the idea. I love this image by Mo Manning and had fun coloring her with Copics. After I finalized the card, I realized I forgot to add some "dirt" to her blue jeans! :-(  The frog, seed packet and spade stamps are from an old SU set called Garden Pleasures.  To give the frog some mottled texture, I dotted the image with a colorless blender. 

The layout is this week's Sketch Challenge on SCS. 
Hope you can join us in this fun challenge....hop on over (I'm toadally into the frog frame of mind - lol) to the Raise the Bar blog and see what the other bartenders have come up with for your inspiration!

PAPER: Cosmo Cricket "Garden Variety" DP, Vintage Cream (PTI).

Easter Blessings

 ***Scroll down for my Color Throwdown entry***

With Easter just around the corner, I knew I needed to get cracking with some cards soon.  This one uses the great layout for the MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge in the SCS forum.  It's also for the Pixie Cottage Challenge to create an Easter or spring card.   This sweet PI girl was colored with Copics, cut out and popped with foam dots.  The flowers and leafy flourishes are all MFT Die-Namics.

STAMPS: My Basket of Eggs (MFT)
PAPER: Miss Caroline "Dolled Up" by MME, White (PTI) for base and X-Press It Blending Card paper for the image.
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black
ACCESSORIES: Square lattice EF by SU, Rolled roses and Leafy flourish Die-Namics by MFT, Scallop border punch by SU, Copics.

Color Throwdown 184

It's time for another Color Throwdown Challenge and this week Barbara Anders has some really awesome spring colors for us! I immediately went to some papers in My Mind's Eye "A Beautiful Life" pad - not an exact eggplant color but thought it was in the purple family and would work.

 The layout is using last week's Deconstructing Sketch #43 with the one panel being perfect to highlight one of Verve's Plain Jane stamps!

STAMPS: PJ Psalm 3:3 (Verve), Serenity (Verve)
PAPER: MME "A Beautiful Life", White
INK: Versafine Onyx Black
ACCESSORIES: Corner chomper, Brads, Leafy Flourish die by Cheery Lynn Designs

We'd love to have you join us! No worries if you don't have the exact colors... feel free to substitute colors that are close! Make a card or paper crafted project and post it to your blog or online gallery. Then use the direct link and link it to the Color Throwdown blog using the Inlinkz tool at the bottom of the CTD post. If you post to an online gallery, please use CTD184 as your keyword.

 So...are you ready to be inspired?? Check out what the Color Throwdown Designers, along with our talented March guestie, Bev Gerard, have created!

Barbara Anders,  Broni Holcombe, Danielle Kennedy, Joan Ervin, Kerri Michaud, Kristin Eberline, Lori Tecler, Lynn Put, Tammy Hershberger Bev Gerard (March Guest Designer).

Timeless Tuesday & CC

I have an extra day off work, so I'm treating myself to some stampy time and decided to play along with the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge and also the Color Challenge on SCS.  Peggy has chosen Chocolate Chip, River Rock and Baja Breeze with the dessert option to use pleated ribbon.  I had to omit the pleated part, but I did include ribbon.  I thought the papers in MME's Paris & Co. pad worked well for the colors.  Silke Ledlow has a great sketch for the FTTC and the long layout gave me a chance to use some of Flourishes' new wide lace - imported from France!  The image was colored with the following Copics: BG10, BG11, BG13YG61, YG63, YG67, Y06.

STAMPS: Sweet Violets
PAPER: Paris & Co. (MME), Vintage Cream (PTI)
INK: Chocolate Chip, Memento Tuxedo Black
ACCESSORIES: Cloud seam binding by MS, Charming Banner die by Verve, Adhesive pearls, Labels 25 Nesties, Lace by Flourishes.

Teapot Tuesday

Mothermark's Teapot Tuesday theme is "Dancing with the Chars" and we are to bring lots of colorful butterflies to the party...and... we're to add some birthday elements.  For the complete story, you'll want to read more HERE.  The destination this week is for the mother of one of the SCS/tea party member's mother, Joan, in Richmond, VA.  She's been homebound with some health issues and so we're going to bring her some "warm fuzzies" in the form of birthday wishes.  I got to inititate a new toy that came in the mail today - Persian Accents Shapeabilities by Spellbinders.  Love the ornate border it creates!  I wove some celery seam binding through a picot edge Nestie die and punched 2 butterflies so I could pop one on top of the other.  Speaking of dancing...I watched the first show of the new season of Dancing with the Stars and it looks like there will be some stiff competition!  Thanks for stopping by!

STAMPS: Big Wish (Verve)
PAPER: Six by Six "Vanity Fair" paper by MME, Chocolate Chip, Vintage Cream
INK: Chocolate Chip
ACCESSORIES: Corner chomper, SU Celery seam binding, SB Persian Accents Shapeabilities, Butterfly punch by MS, Rhinestones by MME.

CAS Thank You

Good Monday morning friends! I'm procrastinating with some work projects so I could whip up a quick card for the CAS Challenge on SCS to use Angela's (aka Arizona Maine) great sketch. This is a blast from the past using older SU sets.  The base was A-2 size initially but the white space on the left side was just too out of proportion, so I chopped off another 1/4" and it fit my eye better - lol!  The floral image was created by coloring with TomBow markers (905 and 098) directly to the rubber, then huffing and stamping to the paper.

STAMPS: The Art of Life (SU), Wonderful Words (SU)
PAPER: Calypso Coral, Old Olive, White
INK: So Saffron, Versafine Onyx Black

Four Leaf Clover

In recognition of four leaf clovers, this week's Raise the Bar Challenge is to create a card using elements in increments of four: 4 buttons, 4 flowers, etc. I used 4 CS layers for my focal panel as well as 4 rounded squares and 4 frond punches.  Papers are all by Papertrey Ink.  The sentiment tag is from PTI's Tiny Tags stamp set and also uses their tiny tag die.  Quick and easy!

So, let's see what you can come up with for this challenge!  Head on over to the Raise the Bar blog to see what our guest artists as well as the design team - Joni, Thanh, Julie and Peggy - have created for your inspiration!

Front & Back Challenge

It's another noon time challenge during the release week on the Flourishes blog and this time it's a "Front and Back Challenge" - use the same image in the BG as you use in the main image.  There are two images in this Sweet Violets set that are identical in design but are 2 different sizes.  I stamped the kraft panel in black using the smaller image.  I had to do some out of the box stamping/paper-piecing so I could fit everything in using the Mojo Monday Sketch for this week.  Teresa Kline has a fabulous sketch for us while Julee (Verve owner and proud new mom of twin boys) is taking a little "break" (we all know becoming a new mom is anything but a break - lol)!  I layered some embroidered trim over sheer ribbon and loved the look!  I also got to try punching a decorative edge along the entire side of the card thanks to Cindy Lawrence's very helpful tutorial video you can see HERE. 

STAMPS: Sweet Violets (Flourishes), Kids Play (Flourishes) - sentiment
PAPER: Black, White, Kraft, Concord Crush
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black
ACCESSORIES: Modern Garland border punch by MS, Sheer ribbon (Hobby Lobby), Embroidered trim by Wright's, Circle Nestie, Button by SU, Silver bow wire, Copics (BV02, BV04, BV08, Y35, Y00, YG61, YG63, YG67).

Round and Round

Yesterday's noontime challenge on the Flourishes blog is a "round and round" challenge.  Create a card using a circle as the base and that's all that's required!  Playing along will give me a chance to win some new release sets and I'm loving the new peeks this week!  I decided to combine this challenge with Stacy Morgan's DD Christmas Challenge for March to use green.  I'm not sure I'm happy with the liquid pearls for the berries, but there's no turning back now - lol!

STAMPS: Meet Me Under the Mistletoe by Flourishes
PAPER: Season's Greetings by Echo Park, Vintage Cream (PTI), Old Olive
INK: Versafine Onyx Black, Memento Rich Cocoa
ACCESSORIES: Circle and Picot Edge Circle Nesties, Ribbon trim, Copics (YG61, YG63, YG67, R22, R24, R27).