Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Color Throwdown #445

Hey everyone! It's Wednesday, so that means it's time for a new Color Throwdown Challenge.  Jodi has some fabulous colors for us: navy, pink, golden yellow and white! Isn't that bedding gorgeous?! I knew right away I wanted to use Altenew's Vintage Flowers stamp set and matching dies.  Love the dimension of the florals with the 3 step stamping!  The sentiment is from Altenew's Painted Greeting set...LOVE that font!



INK: Night of Navy by SU; Falling Star, Hayride, Old Gold, Shell Pink, Little Piggy, Sweet Gelato, Beanstalk, Last Leaf, Appletini by WPlus9.
DIES: Vintage Flowers (Altenew), Striped Sentiment Strip Cover Plate Die-Namics (My Favorite Things).

For more details on how to play along, head over to the Color Throwdown Blog and you'll find the information on the right sidebar!  You can also visit the rest of the design team's creations for more inspiration by clicking on the links below:



Amy Tsuruta - May Guest Designer



Tuesday, May 30, 2017

CAS(E) This Sketch & CC



My card was created using the colors for SCS Color Challenge (Sweet Sugarplum, Wild Wasabi and Daffodil Delight) and the layout for CAS(E) This Sketch challenge.  These fun florals are so easy to stamp and arrange!  I added Black Enamel Accents to the flower centers.  The sentiment strip and several of the flowers were popped up with foam tape.  Here is what I used...


STAMPS: Flashy Florals, Big Greetings and Burlap Background by My Favorite Things.
PAPER: Neenah Solar White.
INK: Sweet Sugarplum, Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry - all by SU; Versafine Onyx Black.
DIES: Stitched Oval (Lil' Inker Designs), Stitched Sentiment Strips (MFT), Flashy Florals (MFT).

Monday, May 29, 2017

Mojo Monday



Wow...this is the last Monday in May already, so that means it's a different shaped card for the Mojo Monday Challenge. Julee has chosen a square layout, so I went with a 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" base.  Since we're celebrating Memorial Day here in the US, I went with a sentiment that could be sent to someone who lost a loved one - whether they were in the military or not.  I first did a watercolor wash over the background using Evergreen Bough, Cracked Pistachio and Fossilized Amber distress inks.  I then stamped the fern images in the same colors.  I wanted a softer look for the background, so covered it with heavyweight vellum.  I thought it needed some kind of embellishment other than the two soft dot stickers, and happened to find this wood veneer fern in my stash.  That seemed to be the perfect finishing touch.  I used More Mustard and Forest Foliage (retired many years ago) cardstock - both by SU. 

STAMPS: Forever In Our Hearts (Verve).

We'd love to see how you interpret this challenge!  You'll want to post your creation on the Mojo Monday blog.  If you need more inspiration, check out the design team's creations below:


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

Sunday, May 28, 2017

Cheers!


It's been a rainy Sunday afternoon, so it was perfect for some stamping time! After getting a couple of cards done for design team commitments, I wanted to play along with MFT's Wednesday Sketch Challenge.  Here's what I used...

STAMPS: Mini Modern Blooms (MFT), Uncorked (MFT).
PAPER: Iced Aqua (Reverse Confetti), Burgundy (The Paper Company), White (PTI), Brushed Silver (SU), Licorice by Bazzill Basics Patterned Papers.
INK: Versafine Onyx Black, Always Artichoke (SU), Lime Green (RC), Flamingo (RC), Bumblebee Yellow (RC), Sunshine (RC), Rust (RC). 
DIES: Stitched Basic Edges, Mini Modern Blooms, and Wine Service - all by MFT; Shakers 'n Frames by Reverse Confetti.

Thanks for stopping by and commenting...



Saturday, May 27, 2017

Inspired By All The Little Things

 Happy Memorial Day weekend and welcome to a new Inspired By All The Little Things challenge!  I took a rather literal interpretation and used an image from Impression Obsession's stamp set called Essentially.  I'm also a big fan of Young Living essential oils and use them every day, so this was a no brainer for me to go with this oily theme.  Some white flowers - from Altenew's Vintage Flowers set - seemed to be the perfect embellishment .  Here is my take on the inspiration photo... 



The sentiment was gold embossed on heavy weight vellum then adhered using a very light spray of Elmer's Craft Bond spray adhesive. TIP: I lay the item I'm spraying on scrap paper inside my trashcan to avoid spray getting on things it shouldn't. :-)  The bottles were colored using Zig Clean Color brush markers.

INK BY WPLUS9: Fairy Dust, Silver Lining, Falling Star (flowers)
                                Beanstalk, Last Leaf, Appletini (leaves)

Here's hoping to see you in the Inspired By gallery!  We'd love to have you join us!  You can link up your creation to the challenge blog HERE.

Thursday, May 25, 2017

Smooches




I had so much fun putting this little country scene together and it took 3 different stamp company products to git 'er done! This uses the new layout for the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge and I'm combining it with the Furry Friends theme that is up for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

The adorable cow and sentiment are from Paper Smooches' Chubby Chums stamp set.  The fence is the Rolling Hill Die-Namics die by MFT.  The florals are from Reverse Confetti's Blooms 'n Buds stamp set with matching dies and the stitched frame is also RC's newly released Hello and Thanks Label Confetti Cuts die set...LOVE it!  

Gotta run and head out to work shortly...thanks so much for stopping by and commenting!

May 2017 Blog Hop



Welcome to the PTI May 2017 Blog Hop! We were given this photo for our inspiration and I must say...the colors were very different from my norm!  I loved the watercolor look to the inspiration florals, so went with distress inks for the majority of my stamping. I used the 'rock and roll' technique so I could get two colors of ink included on the leaves.  The sentiment was white embossed using Stampendous detail white embossing powder.

So...here is my take on it...


STAMPS: Bitty Bouquets (PTI), Garden Grace (PTI).
PAPER: Not Quite Navy (SU), Ranger Watercolor CS.
INK: Tumbled Glass, Stormy Sky, Milled Lavender, Picked Raspberry, Tattered Rose distress inks by Ranger; Crisp Cantaloupe by SU; Versamark.
DIES: Stitched diagonal strip by Lil' Inker Designs; Bitty Bouquets by PTI.

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Color Throwdown #444



It's Wednesday and that means there is a new Color Throwdown Challenge! This was a unique color combination - green, gray and white - which I truly LOVED! Having just gotten my first stamps from The Stamp Market (a new company this year), I knew I wanted to create some white peonies! It meant two step stamping for the leaves and three step stamping for the flowers.


The sentiment was silver embossed on heavy weight vellum after first die cutting a banner die by Reverse Confetti.  I started with a Hickory Smoke distress ink watercolor wash on the base then added white texture paste using a Tim Holtz mini brick stencil. 

STAMPS: Pretty Peony (The Stamp Market).
PAPER: Lime Green (Reverse Confetti); Ranger distress watercolor cardstock; Whisper White (SU).
INK: Fairy Dust, Silver Lining, Beanstalk, Last Leaf - all by WPlus9; Versamark.
DIES: Pretty Peony (The Stamp Market); Stitched Rectangle (Lil' Inker Designs); Tag It (Reverse Confetti).
  
For more details on how to play along, head over to the Color Throwdown Blog and you'll find the information on the right sidebar!  You can also visit the rest of the design team's creations for more inspiration by clicking on the links below:

Amy Tsuruta - May Guest Designer

Monday, May 22, 2017

Make It Monday: Felt Flowers



I'm playing along with PTI's Make It Monday Challenge on Nichole Heady's blog. Lizzie Jones has a fun tutorial showing different kinds of felt flowers using PTI dies HERE.  It's been ages since I played with felt, so I decided to simply create a gift tag that's embellished with a single flower. I used Raspberry Fizz 100% wool felt from PTI and green felt from a local big box store (Michael's) and there is clearly a big difference in quality!  Pssst...I recommend PTI's felt!  Here are the pieces I cut...
I folded each medium flower (five of them) in quarters as Lizzie shows in her tutorial.  I hot glued them on the one larger sized flower.  I cut 3 leaves using PTI's Delightful Dahlia Additions dies. Here is a side view...
I had a leftover winter berry sprig that had clear beads on short pieces of wire and cut three of them to glue to the center for stamens.  The sentiment is from PTI's Delightful Dahlia Additions stamp set. The tag is now ready to attach to a gift bag when I need it! Thanks for stopping by...

Mojo Monday



Good Monday everyone! Hope you are ready to kick off the week with another great sketch brought to us by Julee for the Mojo Monday challenge! I had several leftover pieces of gelli plate printing that I created last winter and thought the colors would work to add a pop of color to the kraft card base!  I tore the edges then sponged with Tea Dye distress ink.  I used 3 different Verve stamp sets:  Button Best (flower), Bloom and Grow (leaves), and Simply Amazing (sentiment).  I also used 3 different Verve dies: Amazing Adjectives, Elegant Leaves and Petal Points.  I added clear Wink of Stella glitter pen to the entire flower to give a subtle hint of shimmer.  

We'd love to see how you interpret this challenge!  You'll want to post your creation on the Mojo Monday blog.  If you need more inspiration, check out the design team's creations below:



Saturday, May 20, 2017

CAS(E) This Sketch


I managed to whip up this quick CAS design for the new CAS(E) This Sketch challenge by using some leftover elements from previous projects. The striped border was stamped using MFT's diagonal stripe background and Grape Soda ink (Reverse Confetti).  I used Grape Soda cardstock (RC) and die cut the open dotted border (RC's Edge Essentials). The gold embossed bamboo rose (Altenew) was colored with Zig clean color brush markers.  The only new items were the lovely sentiment stamp and die combo from The Stamp Market - called "You".  I adhered some clear dew drop embellishments with SU's fine tip glue pen.

Thanks for stopping by...I'm heading off to work in a bit.  

Inspired By All The Little Things



The weekend is here and for most people, that's a happy time!  For me, it means my 8 days of staycation are over and I head to work this afternoon - sniff, sniff!  Since many of you are off, I hope you'll take time to join us for the Inspired By All The Little Things challenge!  The colorful tulips in the photo are so gorgeous and I knew right away I wanted to color one of my favorite images with Copics. As is my norm, I stamped the image twice using a MISTI.  You can currently get the Tulips in Hobnail Pitcher image through Marcella Hawley's Power Poppy company (it was released a number of years ago through Flourishes). 


STAMPS: Tulips For Friends (Flourishes).
PAPER: Painted Blooms 6x6 pad by Penny Black; X-Press It Blending Card.
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black.
DIES: Stitched Basic Edges Die-Namics by MFT; Stitched Circle by Lil' Inker Designs. 

 

Thursday, May 18, 2017

Loose Watercoloring


Good Thursday everyone! I was up rather late last night finishing this card for the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge and for Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where the theme is "A Bit of Sparkle".  I wanted to try some "loose" watercoloring which I always struggle with.  The OCD side of me thinks I need to fill in the coloring space - lol - so it's difficult to leave white space.  My sparkle elements are the gold foil stripes, gold embossing and clear sequins.  I colored using Zig Clean Color brush markers.

STAMPS: Bamboo Rose (Altenew).
PAPER: Blush and Mint (Recollections); Ranger watercolor CS.
INK: Versamark.
DIES: Bamboo Rose (Altenew); Stitched Rectangle (Lil' Inker Designs). 

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Color Throwdown


Hello blog peeps! It's Wednesday and that means a new Color Throwdown Challenge! LOVE, love, love Broni's colors she chose this week! They just scream summer to me and that means flowers and more flowers! I took this week off to plant some flowers outdoors and while I was in my craft room, I planted more flowers on my card!  I'm also playing along with Reverse Confetti's May Sketch For You To Try.


As you can see, I took a rather loose interpretation of the sketch but
was happy with the results.  A young friend of my DIL just learned she has breast cancer on top of already having a MS diagnosis.  When my DIL asked me for a card, I added this one to her options.  I started by adding Peacock Feathers distress ink on Ranger watercolor cardstock.  I then splattered water droplets and dried them to "bleach" out some spots.  I used three different stamp sets by Reverse Confetti:


BLOOMS 'N BUDS
GOD IS GOOD
ELEMENTAL STRIPES
I was thrilled to see Reverse Confetti added four new inks in the yellow color family, so I went with all four in stamping the florals (Buttercup, Bumblebee Yellow, Sunshine, Rust). The leaves were stamped with Lime Green (RC) and Garden Green (SU).  It took three inkings with my MISTI to get the Versafine Onyx Black ink to stamp well on the WC cardstock.  Don't know how I lived without this tool! LOL!  

For more details on how to play along, head over to the Color Throwdown Blog and you'll find the information on the right sidebar!  You can also visit the rest of the design team's creations for more inspiration by clicking on the links below:


Amy Tsuruta - May Guest Designer

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Sunday Stamps Challenge



I finished up this card late last night and wanted to post it quick before my hair appointment today. I went with a vintage feel (as in
Victorian style wallpaper) with this great sketch design by my BFF, Teresa, over at Sunday Stamps.  I started with a couple of patterned pages from FSC's "Pretty Posy" 6x6 paper pad.  I discovered a handy layering guide on Altenew's website that helps so much with getting the 3 steps lined up properly with their Vintage Flowers stamp set. The sentiment banner die is from PTI's Tag Sale: Quilted Die and the sentiment is from PTI's Blooming Button Bits.  You can barely see the circle element, but I used a Martha Stewart doily tag.

INK: Little Piggy, Sweet Gelato, Cranberry Crush, Beanstalk, Last Leaf - all by WPlus9; Versafine Onyx Black.

Monday, May 15, 2017

Mojo Monday

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Good Monday everyone! I was blessed to have a wonderful Mother's Day weekend with all three grandchildren together and now I can look forward to being off this week until the weekend!  Doing the happy dance here!  I needed a card for a lady who has gotten more bad news about her health, so that is what started the thought process for my card sample for the Mojo Monday Challenge.




I used papers from The Citrus Mat Stack by DCWV.  My diagonal stripe is opposite from the sketch, but that was the direction of my stitched die, so I went with it. :-)  The poppies were fussy cut, popped with foam tape, then had black Enamel Accents added to the centers.  Part of the sentiment was paper pieced.

STAMPS: Poppy Birthday (Verve); Wonderfully Made (Verve).
DIES: Stitched rectangle and Stitched diagonal stripe by Lil' Inker Designs.

We'd love to see how you interpret this challenge!  You'll want to post your creation on the Mojo Monday blog.  If you need more inspiration, check out the design team's creations below:



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


I'll leave you with a few photos from the weekend... 

All three of the grands - Cash (10 months), Quinn (2 1/2), Matilda (8 months) 
What you don't know is how funny this really is!  Our one DIL was singing and dancing a super funny song and we adults were all cracking up.  Two of the littles just weren't going for it - lol!  They kept their serious little faces the whole time!

Happy Matilda on May 12 - her 8 months birthday