Dare to Get Dirty!

It's that fun time of the year when Splitcoaststampers has a challenge-filled Dare to Get Dirty week with the dirty girls - both alumni and current members - hosting a huge variety of challenges for fan club members! You'll want to be sure and join if you're not already a member! You can find out how to do that by clicking on this link. I created this sample for my good friend Teresa Kline's challenge!  One of my fave techniques (can't give you details here...you'll have to head to SCS if enquiring minds want to know!).  I only want to pique your interest here...you'll have to join the fan club, if you're not already a member, to read the details.

STAMPS: Butterfly Dreams (Reverse Confetti).
PAPER: Mint Melody (long time retired CS by SU); Ranger watercolor CS; Vellum; White.
INK: Cracked Pistachio, Evergreen Bough distress inks; Versamark.

Freshly Made Sketches

The dotted embossed, watercolored base panel was in my leftover pile, so that was my starting point for this card for Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #247 - a super fun layout by Shannon!  I had some odds and ends of watercolor cardstock that I colored with distress inks for the leaves: Mowed Lawn, Crushed Olive and Peeled Paint.  The flowers were stamped using Picked Raspberry and Spiced Marmalade distress inks. 

STAMPS: Garden Bunch (Reverse Confetti).
PAPER: Ranger watercolor CS, White by PTI.
DIES: Stitched Rectangle by Lil' Inker Designs; Small Hello by Simon Says Stamp; Garden Bunch Confetti Cuts by Reverse Confetti.

I finally remembered to buy some Press' n Seal...a product by Glad that was invented by the husband of one of my stamping idols - Jennifer McGuire.  This is really a super helpful tool when you are layering tiny dies!  In the past, I would lay the pieces on the card until I got the arrangement the way I wanted, but getting it all glued down would be a struggle and things would shift all around.  I'm sure you know the feeling.  For a video showing this process better than I could describe, you'll want to watch Laurie Willison as she guests on Jennifer's blog and shows us how to use it HERE.

As Bugs Bunny used to say...that's all folks!  Yes, I'm dating myself. (smile)   

MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge

A quick post to unwind after getting home from work.  I finished this card this morning then the internet was on hiatus and I couldn't do the blog post.  This card is for the new MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge! Love these fun birds for a fun anniversary card!  I paper pieced the birds...adding a little bit of vintage shading with Copic markers.  Patterned papers are all from the London Market Rare Finds & Curiosities "Collage" paper pack by Pink Paislee.

We had a prolonged deluge of rain this evening...badly needed and greatly appreciated BUT...there was some flooding in nearby areas that hopefully wasn't too damaging.

SSS Anything Goes

**Scroll on down for my Color Throwdown card**

How sad that it's almost end of summer and I'm just now inking up this Spring Flower stamp set by Simon Says Stamp?! I created this for the SSS Wednesday Sketch Challenge where 'anything goes' is the theme this week!  I love the whimsical design of these flowers and thought they would look great embossed in white on Ranger watercolor cardstock.  I used Gold Class Mission watercolors with the exception of the light blue - that was done with Tumbled Glass distress ink.  After fully dry, I splattered water over the panel to "bleach" out some water spots.  I also stamped the tiny circles using Peacock Feathers distress ink.  The sentiment die and stamp is from SSS Sending and Wishing set.  The green tilted panel is my favorite green - Sour Apple by My Favorite Things.

Thanks so much for stopping by...the heat wave here in VA continues though I'm very thankful for the two light rain showers we got last evening!

Color Throwdown #403

Hi, blog friends! Time once again for the Color Throwdown Challenge and Broni has chosen such a pretty, soft color palette for us - peach, yellow, light pink and white!  Here's my take on it...

I immediately went for this Painted Flowers set by Altenew with it's 3 step stamping for each flower and leaf.  I sponged some Daffodil Delight ink using a mini Tim Holtz stencil in a diagonal loose line for the background.  Flowers are all popped with foam tape.

STAMPS: Painted Flowers (Altenew), Super Script (Altenew).
INK: Little Piggy, Miami Spice, Falling Star, Beanstalk - all by WPlus9; Daffodil Delight by SU; Memento Tuxedo Black. 

Congrats to Shawna Standish - our guest star stamper this week!  

To get all the details on how to play along with the challenge, please go to the Color Throwdown blog and check out the info on the right sidebar!  You can also check out the rest of the design teams' creations for more inspiration on the CTD blog.. or you can clink on their blog links below.
Amy Rohl
Barbara Anders  
Broni Holcombe   
Joan Ervin
Jodi Collins 
Lisa Henke
Lori Tecler
Lynn Put  
Vickie Zimmer 
Wanda Cullen (you are here) 
Kim Singdahlsen - July Guest Designer    

Mojo Monday #458

Hard to believe this is already the last Monday in July! That means the Mojo Monday Challenge is a different than A2 size, so I've gone with tall and skinny (3 1/2" x 5 1/2").  I started with the papers from the Chapter One 6x6 pad by Kaiser Craft.  They have punch out shapes to match so that's what I used for the sentiment.  You know I couldn't make a card without some flowers, so I white embossed and fussy cut using a scrap piece of aqua CS. I opted for a small wood veneer arrow that I covered with black Enamel Accents...touching up the edges with a black Copic marker.  

STAMPS: Be Blessed by Verve.

Need some more inspiration for this sketch?  Click on the mojomakers' blog links below...or...you can go to the Mojo Monday blog and click on the first seven thumbnails.

Julee Tilman (Owner)
Justin Krieger
Lori Tecler
Marisa Ritzen 
Sarah Bigelow
Teresa Kline
Wanda Cullen (you are here)

Birthday Tweetings

I just had to ink up this new (to me) Tweet Friends stamp set by MFT when I saw this week's MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge!  I silver embossed the cage and added a light watercolor wash using Tumbled Glass distress ink. The birds were colored with Copics and die cut with the matching Tweet Friends Die-Namics.  I wanted a subtle background stencil and Tim Holtz' Mini Stencil Set #13 worked perfectly with Daffodil Delight (SU) ink.  Designer papers are from Authentique's Felicity Collection. 

Copics: BG01, BG02, BG07, YR07, Y02, Y06, Y08.

Thanks for stopping by...I'm in excitement mode as we anxiously await the late afternoon "inducing" of our second grand baby...a boy who will soon make Quinn a big sister!  Squeee!

Color Throwdown #402

Barbara Anders is hostess for this week's colors at the Color Throwdown Challenge.  Aren't they gorgeous?!  I knew they'd be perfect to ink up some new (to me) stamps by MFT.  

I was inspired by this card by Dena Rekow on Pinterest and knew I wanted to create a floral collage over bold black and white stripes! I used a variety of Tim Holtz distress inks for all the images: Twisted Citron, Shabby Shutters, Cracked Pistachio, Wilted Violet, and Carved Pumpkin.  The black centers weren't bold enough to suit me after using Memento Tuxedo Black ink, so I added black Enamel Accents and that was the perfect touch to add a bold black and some shine!

STAMPS: Flashy Florals (My Favorite Things).
PAPER: Metallic gold CS, Black and White CS by PTI.
DIES: Small Hello by Simon Says Stamp; Flashy Florals Die-Namics by MFT; Stitched Stripe by Lil' Inker Designs.

 Congrats to Colleen Begley, our guest star stamper this week!  

To get all the details on how to play along with the challenge, please go to the Color Throwdown blog and check out the info on the right sidebar!  You can also check out the rest of the design teams' creations for more inspiration on the CTD blog.. or you can clink on their blog links below.
Amy Rohl
Barbara Anders  
Broni Holcombe   
Joan Ervin
Jodi Collins 
Lisa Henke
Lori Tecler
Lynn Put  
Vickie Zimmer 
Wanda Cullen (you are here) 
Kim Singdahlsen - July Guest Designer    

Watercolor Sympathy

It's been a heartbreaking few days with two tragic deaths occurring - one with a coworker losing her husband in a motorcycle death and then this morning, a well-loved man (cousin to my husband) died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack.  Thus my need for a sympathy card which worked out for two different challenges.  It's color week at Just Us Girls, so I used the yellow, coral and pink colors.  I'm also playing along with the Paper Players Challenge to create a watercolor CAS design.  I used Picked Raspberry, Abandoned Coral and Squeezed Lemonade distress inks for the background.  I also added the colors along with clear Wink of Stella glitter brush over the die cut butterfly.  

STAMPS: Lots To Say by Reverse Confetti.
PAPER: Lemon Tart, True Black by PTI; Ranger watercolor CS.
DIES: Wonky Stitched Rectangle by Lil' Inker Designs; Floral and Flutter dies by Concord and 9th.

Thanks for stopping by...hopefully tomorrow will bring less sad news.

Mojo Monday #457

Hope this Monday morning finds you starting off the week with a bang! Julee has another fun Mojo Monday Challenge sketch for us, so hope you'll find time to play along.  I tweaked it a bit by adding borders to give the illusion of a horizontal panel.  Again, I couldn't resist reaching for one of the borders in Reverse Confetti's Edge Essentials Confetti Cuts.
The sentiment is from Verve's Surely Goodness set and the florals are from the Poppy Birthday set (I just love these funky versions of one of my fave flowers!).  I added black Enamel Accents to the flower centers (hard to capture the shine in the photograph).

The watercolored background was created by the following distress inks on Ranger watercolor cardstock: Mowed Lawn, Peeled Paint, Broken China and Peacock Feathers.  I then embossed it with Cuttlebug's large dotted embossing folder.  I used Festive Berries and Carved Pumpkin distress inks to watercolor the poppies. 

Need some more inspiration for this sketch?  Click on the mojomakers' blog links below...or...you can go to the Mojo Monday blog and click on the first seven thumbnails.

Julee Tilman (Owner)
Justin Krieger
Lori Tecler
Marisa Ritzen 
Sarah Bigelow
Teresa Kline
Wanda Cullen (you are here)

Scent With Love

I am needing to build up my oil-themed card stash again, so when I saw Leigh Penner's great layout for the new CAS(E) This Sketch Challenge, I knew I had a plan!  I already had this watercolor wash background in my leftover pile where I used Cracked Pistachio and Evergreen Bough distress inks then splattered some water droplets over it to "bleach" out some spots.  I colored and fussy cut only two out of the three oil bottles then popped with foam tape over a vellum belly band.  I love using my old clear dew drops as embellishments with this set!  

STAMPS: "Essentially" by Impression Obsession (sentiment is from the clear set and bottles are from the rubber set).
COPICS: G00, G000, C0, C2, C3.

Speaking of oils...my latest favorite products from Young Living are the Cool Azul pain-relieving cream just released in June at convention.  The Genesis hand and body lotion (you'll have feet and elbows smooth as a baby's butt - lol) is another favorite as is the new Live the Passion oil blend.  It diffuses such a great scent!

Thanks so much for stopping by...

Bright Hello

Good morning blog friends! I started this card late last night when I saw the Tag, You're It Challenge with the gorgeous inspiration tag by Donna Mikasa!  Jen M. has a great square sketch today for the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #245, so I paired the two together for this 4 1/2" square card.  I had this yellow watercolored CS leftover from a previous project and the largest of WPlus9's Timeless Tags 2 dies fit the piece perfectly.  The watercolored flower and leaves were also in my leftover stash, so this came together very quickly.  I wanted to incorporate the black and white stripe element from Donna's tag, so this Scotch

washi tape (a find at Target) was perfect.  While she white embossed her images, I went with gold embossing. Remember when seam binding was all the rage and I couldn't seem to create any cards without using it?  I have tons of ribbon and was happy to use some of it once again!

STAMPS: Peony Scrolls (Altenew), Painted Greetings (Altenew).
WATERCOLOR PAINTS: Gold Mission

I'll close by sharing a photo from a visit to Chick-Fil-A's Cow Appreciation Night last evening!  Who knew Quinn would be so udderly excited at meeting the cow!  (I know...pun is totally lame - lol!)

She could hardly eat for yelling out "Cow, cow!"...trying to get him to come to our table...which he eventually did.  Nana's cow mask and Eat More Chikin' sign met with protest from Miss Q, so daddy ended up wearing it instead! In all the excitement, I realized I never got a picture of daddy.  😞

Color Throwdown #401

Happy hump day everyone! You know that means another Color Throwdown Challenge is on board and our hostess - Amy Rysavy - has some beautiful colors for us! I typically don't gravitate toward purple, but this ended up being a really fun combination to work with! Here is my take on it (and note that I voted green as a neutral - lol!).

I'm also playing along with the current Retrosketches Challenge #222 and really loved this layout!  I had these frames in my leftover pile (Quadrangle Frames dies by Simon Says Stamp), so adhered them over some watercolor CS that I painted with purple (mixed with white) Gold Mission watercolors.
I used WPlus9 inks for everything except the black sentiment.  The stripes were stamped with Cockleshell ink on MFT's Diagonal Stripes BG stamp using a MISTI.  Florals were triple stamped using Sweet Gelato and Miami Spice.  The leaves were stamped with Mojito.  I love the light gray ink (Fairy Dust) that was used on the sentiment collage stamp over the background.
Once again you see the mini scallop border die by Reverse Confetti.  Some purple twine and some clear sequins were the final touches.  

STAMPS: Watercolored Anemones (WPlus9), Greetings and Salutations (WPlus9), Diagonal Stripes BG (My Favorite Things).

Congrats to Katrina Buffton - our guest star stamper this week!

To get all the details on how to play along with the challenge, please go to the Color Throwdown blog and check out the info on the right sidebar!  You can also check out the rest of the design teams' creations for more inspiration on the CTD blog.. or you can clink on their blog links below.
Amy Rohl
Barbara Anders  
Broni Holcombe   
Joan Ervin
Jodi Collins 
Lisa Henke
Lori Tecler
Lynn Put  
Vickie Zimmer 
Wanda Cullen (you are here) 
Kim Singdahlsen - July Guest Designer    

Mojo Monday

Good Monday everyone! I survived a really busy weekend with out of town company, a special family gathering Saturday evening with a visiting nephew and family from AZ, babysitting a sick granddaughter on Sunday, etc. etc. etc. 

On with my card for the new Mojo Monday Challenge...I started by splattering Heidi Swapp gold color shine on a white rectangular panel then layered it over another panel of Sour Apple CS (MFT).  A vellum circle, a sentiment die cut from metallic gold CS and an arrangement of flowers and leaves came next.  

STAMPS: Bloom and Grow (Verve) - flowers and leaves, Simply Amazing (Verve) - sentiment.
INK: Melon Mambo, Lucky Limeade (SU); Versamark.
ACCESSORIES: Stitched circle die by Lil' Inker Designs; Stitched Fishtail Flags STAX Die-Namics by MFT; Elegant Leaves and Amazing Adjectives dies by Verve; Gold sequins.

Need some more inspiration for this sketch?  Click on the mojomakers' blog links below...or...you can go to the Mojo Monday blog and click on the first seven thumbnails.

Julee Tilman (Owner)
Justin Krieger
Lori Tecler
Marisa Ritzen 
Sarah Bigelow
Teresa Kline
Wanda Cullen (you are here)

Simple Thanks

This is a quick card post using some leftover flowers from a previous project paired with a popped up window frame for Splitcoaststampers' 600th Sketch Challenge.  We were to choose any of the last 100 sketches and I went with SC596.  

Here's what I used:

STAMPS: Painted Flowers (Altenew), Fancy Frames (Paper Smooches).
PAPER: Black and White Collection by Recollection; Black, White by PTI.

Color Throwdown

Hi everyone! It's my turn to host the Color Throwdown Challenge and I've got a classic color combo that will hopefully make you happy: red, green and white!  Remember, you can pair it with another neutral, so black was my choice to really make the colors pop! 

I created a watercolor wash background using Yellow Green and Olive Green from my Gold Class Mission watercolor set.  I then splattered some droplets of water over the dried paints which I just realized I covered most of them up with florals - lol!  The flowers - from Altenew's Peony Scrolls set - were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on X-Press It Blending Card then die cut with matching dies.  I popped the peonies with foam tape for added dimension.  The striped paper is from Recollections' Black and White collection.  See that wee bitty scalloped red border?  It's one of the fun new border dies by Reverse Confetti called Edgelit Essentials.  The sentiment - Label Love by Altenew - was stamped twice using a MISTI then fussy cut and popped with foam tape.  

We're so happy to have Kim Singdahlsen from Joyful Creations as our new guest designer for the month of July!  I've been a follower and fan for a long time and can't wait to see what she'll create!

Congrats to Harriet Skelly of Alley Cat Cards for winning our guest star stamper spot this week!  You don't want to miss her gorgeous creation!

To get all the details on how to play along with the challenge, please go to the Color Throwdown blog and check out the info on the right sidebar!  You can also check out the rest of the design teams' creations for more inspiration on the CTD blog.. or you can clink on their blog links below.
Amy Rohl
Barbara Anders  
Broni Holcombe   
Joan Ervin
Jodi Collins 
Lisa Henke
Lori Tecler
Lynn Put  
Vickie Zimmer 
Wanda Cullen (you are here) 
Kim Singdahlsen - July Guest Designer