Sending Happy Thoughts

 

I'm playing along with the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where anything goes and I'm using Karen Giron's great layout for the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.  I came home from work tonight and found some happy mail from SSS and couldn't wait to play!  The sentiment is from a newly released stamp set called Circle Sayings. I started with some Tim Holtz watercolor CS and pulled 2 different distress inks (Squeezed Lemonade and Mustard Seed) from a couple of acrylic blocks to give a subtle variegated look to the base.  After drying it with a heat gun and die cutting the panel with a stitched rectangle die by Lil' Inker Designs, I then added texture by applying Liquitex light modeling paste with the Circle Dots stencil. The designer paper is from Doodlebug Design's "Sunkissed" 6x6 pad - also from SSS. This came together quickly and hopefully it will brighten someone's day when they get this card in their mailbox!

Sneak Peek for ODBD

I'm playing along with the Color Challenge on SCS to use Soft Sky, Blushing Bride and Crumb Cake.  I had to create my own "designer paper" so went with a plaid builder stamp set by MFT.  I then black embossed the new Lord's Prayer Script stamp (to be released by Our Daily Bread Designs on May 1) on heavy weight vellum.  I added a new Fancy Fritillary Butterfly die - also part of the new May release - by cutting it from white CS then sponging it with Soft Sky and Blushing Bride ink.  

That's it from me today...a quick post as I have things to get done before heading off early to work this afternoon.  

Color Throwdown

The gorgeous color palette for this week's Color Throwdown Challenge is brought to us by the talented Jodi! I tried my hand at Dawn Woleslagle's technique to combine Copic markers and blender pen with two step stamping.

I came to a conclusion at the end of my card: I will never come close to the shading perfection that Dawn demonstrates!  After I tried removing color on the roses with a blender pen, I then went back and tried to highlight with a R83 Copic marker.  It still lacked definition, so I pulled out my Melon Mambo ink pad and did the second step again and called it done. I was OK with how my leaves turned out but dang...I sure did get carried away with my thorns - lol!  The striped panel was created using MFT's large diagonal background stamp.  I used 4 stamp sets from WPlus9: Coming Up Roses, Spring Blooms (leaves), Ink Splats and Hand Lettered Hello.  Some Caribbean Blend sequins by Avery Elle topped it off.

A little helpful hint: I used my MISTI tool to stamp the sentiment twice to get a rich black inking of the sentiment.

A big CONGRATS to our guest star stamper - Kathy Schweinfurth of Stamps at Play!  Be sure and stop by her blog to say hello!

We hate to say goodbye after today to Karen Giron - our uber talented guestie this month!  Stay tuned next week to find out who our next talented guest designer will be!

For more inspiration, you can visit the design team's blog links below or you can go to the Color Throwdown blog to see everyone's creations there.

Barbara Anders  
Broni Holcombe   
Joan Ervin  
  Jodi Collins 
  Lori Tecler   
Monika Davis
Tammy Hershberger
Vickie Zimmer 

 Wanda Cullen (you are here)

 Karen Giron - April Guest Designer

Fusion Challenge

I was inspired by both the photo and the sketch for the current Fusion Card Challenge.  I love these whimsical florals from Reverse Confetti's Petals 'n Posies stamp set and thought they would be fun to arrange on this layout!

I stamped the sentiment twice then fussy cut each word and staggered them over the smaller panel.  Papers are from My Mind's Eye "A Mother's Love" 6x6 pad - the perfect homespun patterns that I was going for - inspired by the retro feel of the containers in the inspiration photo!  

Thanks for stopping by and commenting...

Mojo Monday

It's the last Monday of April, so that means the sketch is a tall and skinny one on the Mojo Monday Challenge blog! I went with a sunny theme to try and warm things up a bit. As I was making this card, the temps were really chilly outside as a brisk spring wind decided to blow throughout the day! Would really like to retire my coats for awhile.  Oh yes...back to my card...

I mixed and matched stamps from 4 different Verve sets for this one.  The surf boards were all stamped on designer paper then fussy cut.  Pretty straightforward, so I'll get right to my list of what I used...

STAMPS: Relax (surfboards and waves), Strong Anchor (circle border), Happy Hello (sentiment), Take Note (arrow) - all by Verve.
PAPER: Splash 6x6 pad by Echo Park, White (PTI).
INK: Pool Party, Tangerine Tango, Crushed Curry, Versafine Onyx Black.
ACCESSORIES: Jute twine, Circle Nestie, Avery Elle Citrus sequins.

For more inspiration, check out the other mojomakers' creations by clicking on their blog links below OR you can go to the Mojo Monday blog and the first 8 thumbnails will be the mojomakers' cards.
Carole Burrage
Debbie Carriere
Julee Tilman (Owner)
Marisa Ritzen 
Mary Fish
Sarah Bigelow
Teresa Kline 
Wanda Cullen (you are here) 

Hello Bouquet

 

This card was inspired by the bouquet photo for the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge and I also used the layout for the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.

I started by water coloring some Tumbled Glass distress ink on the background, then added the die cut scribble circle in metallic gold CS. 

I then stamped the 2 step florals using Blossomsberry and

Cockleshell dye inks (WPlus9) for the flowers and Old Olive (SU) for the leaves.  I pulled the color into the leaves using an aquapainter.  I popped several of the blooms to add dimension.

STAMPS: Garden Grace (PTI)
PAPER: Splash by Echo Park, White, Gold, Black
ACCESSORIES: Scribble Circle, Garden Grace and Wet Paint dies - all by PTI.  Clear sequins by Simon Says Stamp.

Color Throwdown

Hi everyone! You're going to love this week's great Color Throwdown Challenge! Check out hostess Joan's classy colors! I knew right away I wanted to use the unique sketch from last week's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge...LOVE this one!  I layered up these Gerbera Daisy Die-Namics from MFT and thought this sunny sentiment (MFT Sunflower WTG stamp set) fit perfectly with the pop of yellow against the black and white papers!

A couple of helpful tidbits...
1.  One of the many things I love about my MISTI is that I can stamp a sentiment twice to get really vivid black inking! 
2.  Each layer of the flower has a piece of foam tape to give it a bit of dimension.
 
Congrats to our talented guest star stamper - Simonne Clay - and be sure to check out her amazing card  HERE!

For more inspiration, you can visit the design team's blog links below or you can go to the Color Throwdown blog to see everyone's creations there.

Barbara Anders  
Broni Holcombe   
Joan Ervin  
  Jodi Collins 
  Lori Tecler   
Monika Davis
Tammy Hershberger
Vickie Zimmer 

 Wanda Cullen (you are here)

 Karen Giron - April Guest Designer

Masculine Birthday

I needed a card for our middle son who turns 29 on the 21st. The MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge had the perfect layout to get the job done! The stars and numbers are Die-Namics by MFT.  This new sentiment from Reverse Confetti's Fancy Word Coordinates stamp set expresses it so well!  Truly...wow...where have 
the years gone?! 

He's such a fabulous daddy to his little girl and it's been heartwarming to see him take on the parenting role along with his wife!  This photo was taken on Easter Sunday and no...baby Quinn did not wear her jammies to church.  It was just more practical to change her for feeding and nap time! :-)

PAPER: Oxford Lane 6x6 pad by Kate and Co., Night of Navy, Garden Green, White.

Mojo Monday

Another Monday means it's time for another Mojo Monday Challenge! I used Verve's Happy Place stamp set with coordinating flower die for the focal point.  Using a Tombow marker (#126) to the stamp for the leaves, I then used Tangerine Tango ink to stamp the flowers on a second die.  I then fussy cut and paper pieced the flowers to the stems.  I used an aquapainter to pull the color into the images.



For more inspiration, check out the other mojomakers' creations by clicking on their blog links below OR you can go to the Mojo Monday blog and the first 8 thumbnails will be the mojomakers' cards.
Carole Burrage
Debbie Carriere
Julee Tilman (Owner)
Marisa Ritzen 
Mary Fish
Sarah Bigelow
Teresa Kline 
Wanda Cullen (you are here) 

What did I use?
STAMPS: Happy Place (Verve).
PAPER: Retro Fresh DP by SU; Baked Brown Sugar, So Saffron, Vintage Cream.
INK: Baked Brown Sugar, Tangerine Tango.
ACCESSORIES: Square Lattice EF by SU, Retro Fresh washi tape by SU, Stitched sun die by Lil' Inker Designs, Happy Place die by Verve.

Looking Back at ODBD April Release

Today we are taking a look back at Our Daily Bread Designs April release. Here is the card  I created using the new Shower of Blessings stamp set along with the Umbrella and Clouds and Raindrops dies. 

To create the sun, I used the smallest pennant from ODBD Pennant Dies and attached them with tiny glue dots.  I then sponged the edges with Crushed Curry ink.  I'm always on the lookout for 'out of the box' ideas to stretch the use of my dies!

I angled a couple of Wonky Rectangles (Spellbinders) after sponging with Night of Navy ink.  Have to say...in hindsight, I wish I had added the die cut raindrops instead of stenciling with a dotted stencil.  :-/

 
For more inspiration using the April release, be sure to visit the ODBD blog or you can click on the designers' blog links below:

Julie * Sandee * Cathy * Lori * Dawn * Wanda * Sabrina * Lisa

Summer Lovin'

Couldn't wait to play with some new Reverse Confetti in da house! Aren't these pineapples just the sweetest?! The yellow panel has a watercolored look, but it's actually designer paper (? retired SU).  I stamped with Crushed Curry ink then took an olive green Tombow marker and quickly colored the tiny scallops on the pineapple, huffed it, stamped it and then used the coordinating die cut.  The xoxo is from a new die set of words that I just love!  The simple layout is for the current Freshly Made Sketches challenge #182.

STAMPS: Pineapples Aplenty (Reverse Confetti).
CONFETTI CUTS: Pineapples Aplenty, Diagonal Stripe Pretty Panels, Fancy Words, Tag Me.

One more day of work then I'm off for a 4 day weekend!  Yay!!!!!  Thanks for stopping by...

Color Throwdown

Hey everyone! It's hump day and that means a new Color Throwdown challenge! Broni is our hostess and she's given us a gorgeous color palette! 

I started with white embossing the retired SU Antique Background stamp on TH watercolor CS then did a water wash and added Peacock Feathers and Peeled Paint distress inks.  I sponged these same inks on a die cut butterfly.  The chevron die cuts are from my scrap pile, so I'm not sure of their exact color name.  The photo colors don't blend as well as the card IRL, so not sure what's up with that! 

Congratulations to Cassie Trask who is our featured star stamper this week!  Be sure and stop by her blog - A Day in the Life of a Homeschooling Mom - and say hello!

For more inspiration, you can visit the design team's blog links below or you can go to the Color Throwdown blog to see everyone's creations there.

Barbara Anders  
Broni Holcombe   
Joan Ervin  
  Jodi Collins 
  Lori Tecler   
Monika Davis
Tammy Hershberger
Vickie Zimmer 

 Wanda Cullen (you are here)

 Karen Giron - April Guest Designer

STAMPS: Antique Background (SU), The Tweet Life (Reverse Confetti) - sentiment.
ACCESSORIES: Chevron Confetti Cuts die by Reverse Confetti, Butterfly die by Cheery Lynn Designs, Stitched rectangle die by Lil' Inker Designs, Wood dots by Teresa Collins.

Mojo Monday

Hello everyone! Are you ready for another fabulous sketch happening on the Mojo Monday Challenge blog?  Julee has this great horizontal layout...unless you'd like to flip it! :-) I was feeling a little distressed IRL so thought I'd carry it over into my papercrafting by making a distressed card!  Something cathartic about roughing up those edges - lol!

Love these papers from Prima Marketing's Time Traveler's Memories 6x6 pad that have a great vintage look.  After distressing the edges, I sponged with Tea Dye distress ink.  The flowers were stamped and sponged with WPlus9 Cranberry Crush ink.

STAMPS: Sunny Days (Verve) - flowers; Bloom and Grow (Verve) - sentiment.
ACCESSORIES: Fishtail Flags Die-Namics by MFT, Leafy flourish Die-Namics by MFT, Gold sequins by Avery Elle, Brads by Bo Bunny.

For more inspiration, check out the other mojomakers' creations by clicking on their blog links below OR you can go to the Mojo Monday blog and the first 8 thumbnails will be the mojomakers' cards.
Carole Burrage
Debbie Carriere
Julee Tilman (Owner)
Marisa Ritzen 
Mary Fish
Sarah Bigelow
Teresa Kline 
Wanda Cullen (you are here)