Thursday, February 28, 2019

Spring Berries

 
I'm playing along for the first time with the Double D Challenges where there is a pink and white theme happening spurred by this retro mood board! I needed a thank you card for the radiation oncology staff after I completed my 30 radiation treatments yesterday (the last step in my battle against breast cancer)!  Woohoo!  The ceiling in the treatment room was also an inspiration for my card.  In spite of the frequent cold
and rainy weather outdoors, I knew I would see the sun shining in the treatment room! I took the photo on the right while lying on the exam table.

I wanted a very subtle light tan coloring to my brick background, so I added a couple drops of EOO Copic reinker to a dab of Liquitex light modeling paste.  I applied it using the English Brick Wall stencil from My Favorite Things.


The berry branches are from Papertrey Ink's Beautiful Berries: Spring set which involves two-step stamping that has a more successful outcome if you use a MISTI.  I then adhered the Grand Madison Window die by Poppystamps with foam tape.  The sentiment is from The Stamp Market's Handwritten Thanks stamp set.

I'm also entering this into the new CAS(E) This Sketch challenge.


Thanks so much for stopping by!  I'll leave this post with a photo of the ceremonial bell ringing that happens when either chemo or radiation treatments are completed!  Three of the wonderful radiation oncology staff are celebrating with me! I bravely kept my scarf off and am showcasing my slowly growing, very gray hair that is growing back! :-)

Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Color Throwdown



Hello everyone! It's Wednesday so that means a new Color Throwdown challenge is up and running! Barbara Anders is the host this week and has chosen coral, blue, green and kraft as the color palette!  I saved a card on Pinterest by Dawn Woleslagle - owner of WPlus9 - and decided to CASE one of her designs using the No One Else stamp set with matching dies in this post HERE.


Here is what else I used:
INK: Coral, Baby Blue, Parakeet by Reverse Confetti; Crumb Cake by SU.
DIES: Stitched Rectangle STAX Die-Namics by My Favorite Things; No One Else by WPlus9. 
 
For more inspiration, you can click on the design team links below:

Monday, February 25, 2019

The Library Challenge



I'm playing along with a new (to me) challenge called The Library Challenge. The current inspiration book - Spark Joy - caught my eye since I recently watched the Netflix series Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. It was a great series that inspired me to tackle some drawers and a major linen closet! I tend to hang on to too much "stuff" that doesn't always bring me joy, so I'm learning to go into purge mode more often and it really does make me happy to see a tidy house!


I was obviously inspired by the green and gold cover which led me to use a panel of Yupo paper that I recently covered with alcohol inks and gold mixative.   Instead of dotting the ink on a felt circle, I made two lines of different greens and one line of gold then swiped it left to right down the length of the panel.  I then white embossed this large floral stamp from the Sketched Flowers set by Simon Says Stamp. Yupo will warp slightly when heated so it had to be anchored to the card base with strong adhesive strips.  I'm loving this new script die that looks like hand lettering. I layered white over a shiny metallic gold cardstock.  

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I'm ready to see this super gusty wind come to an end this evening!  Wind gusts were up to 81 mph in the mountains near Wintergreen which is only about 30 miles away from us!  We lost power for 2 1/2 hours yesterday afternoon which paralyzed us temporarily - lol!  The power goes out and suddenly I don't know what to do!

Sunday, February 24, 2019

Paper Players Challenge #430




There's a fabulous new sketch brought to us by Ann for the new Paper Players Challenge! I couldn't resist making yet another "love" card so I could use my new Hand-Drawn Heart die from The Stamp Market. I dug into my retired SU card stock stash to use Soft Sky for the heart. It matched the subtle grayish blue that is in the marble background. Patterned papers are from the Valentine's Day 6x6" pad by Recollections.  There was no stamping involved.  I simply let the papers do the talking!

We'd love to have you join in this challenge!  For more inspiration from the rest of the talented design team, please check out their creations HERE.

Saturday, February 23, 2019

CAS(E) This Sketch




There's a great new sketch over on the CAS(E) This Sketch challenge blog! I am on a roll with the masculine Geared Up Garage stamps, dies, etc. from Stampin' Up's Occasions catalog and used it once again! 

Patterned papers are from the 6x6" pad called Classic Garage.  The gears were die cut from shiny silver metallic card stock.


The sentiment banner was die cut with Stitched Fishtail Flags STAX Die-Namics by My Favorite Things.  I am especially drawn to this set due to my husband owning his own business...a very successful business for close to 30 years and it's called Classic Auto Body and Paint!  How cool is that sentiment now?! A bit of trivia: His shop painted a Porsche for Jerry Seinfeld many years ago!

Friday, February 22, 2019

Freshly Made Sketches


I played with some alcohol inks this afternoon after watching a video on YouTube by Jennifer McGuire. I went with two shades of blue, silver mixative and blending solution on Yupo paper. 

When I saw the new Freshly Made Sketches challenge #376 by Karren, I knew it would be perfect to use with these alcohol backgrounds since there was an abundance of open space in the design. 

The sentiment die was cut twice from black card stock and is made by My Favorite Things.  The Prim Poppy die is by Memory Box Co.  I stacked three of these dies to give it more dimension.

That's all for now...thanks so much for stopping by!

Thursday, February 21, 2019

Fusion Card Challenge




It's time once again for another Fusion Card Challenge and I've used both the sketch and the photo for my inspiration! For me, the biggest element was the rainbow of colors on the cupcake.  That led me to these patterned papers from BoBunny's Surprise 6x6 pad.



I stacked 3 red "happy" diecuts then stamped "birthday" twice using a MISTI and Versafine Onyx Black ink. A trio of enamel dots topped it all off! This was another case where the papers did most of the talking and it was very quick and easy to put together.

For more inspiration, be sure to check out what the rest of the design team has created.. Barb Ghigliotty, Jeanne Jachna, Jen Mitchell, Karren Johnson, Linda Callahan, Lyndal Higgins , Michelle Leone, Michelle Lupton, Wanda Cullen (you are here). Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you in the Fusion gallery!

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

CAS(E) This Sketch




I'm squeaking in under the wire with the CAS(E) This Sketch challenge! I had all my supplies out for this Geared Up Garage bundle of stamps and dies, so went with that theme again. The layout is a unique one...designed by Chrissy Larson.  In hindsight, I should have layered the two banner elements over black, but this is the simpler, cleaner version of that idea.




The car was die cut from one of the 6x6" pages of paper from the Classic Garage pad. The gears were die cut from Tranquil Tide CS. The sentiment was stamped with black ink on Crushed Curry CS. Though it looks busy, it was really very simple to assemble.

Win It Wednesday


Laurie Schmidlin is challenging us to use our favorite stand alone die for this week's Win It Wednesday challenge on the Papertrey Ink blog.  PTI's Scribble Circles dies are fun to use as abstract flowers!  I cut them in both teal and white and slightly off set the layers.  I have missplaced my set of word dies by PTI, so had to resort to using a stamped sentiment (Direct Messages). The leaves are by My Favorite Things.


The background was created with alcohol inks on Yupo paper.  I tend to make a variety of these panels at one time, so it makes it quick and easy to create a card with a "wow" background when you have a stash pre-prepared!

I had a "snow day" today and skipped going to my radiation treatment due to snow and ice.  It gave me a great day to do lots of papercrafting! I laughed because I felt like a school kid when they hear the weather forecast and the announcement of school closings!

Color Throwdown #531





It's hump day yet again and that means a new Color Throwdown Challenge! These colors were a bit difficult for me initially, but then I went with these peonies and colored them with Copics and was happy with the outcome!  This is one of the great perks of playing with different challenges...you are forced to work outside your norm and you discover new likes!





Here's what I used...
STAMPS: Peonies on Parade and Background Basics: Birch (Papertrey Ink); Label Love (Altenew).
PAPER: Basic Gray (SU), White (PTI).
INK: Silver Lining (WPlus9), Memento Tuxedo Black.
DIES: Mix and Mat: Plaid (PTI), Peonies on Parade (PTI), Stitched Rectangle STAX Die-Namics (MFT).

For more inspiration, you can click on the design team links below:

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Tuesday Morning Sketches

 
I'm playing along with the Tuesday Morning Sketches challenge #491 and am using new products from Stampin' Up's Classic Garage suite that includes stamps, dies, embellishments, 6x6 patterned papers, etc. that all coordinate together. 


There are numerous car lovers in our family and friends circle, so this set from the 2019 Occasions catalog by SU was a must have!  I stamped the car with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on X-Press It Blending Card then colored with Copics (G12, BG72, C1, C2). I added Glossy Accents to the headlights and windows.

STAMPS: Geared Up Garage (SU).
PAPER: Crushed Curry, Tranquil Tide, Black (SU); Classic Garage 6x6" paper pad.
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black.
DIES: Garage Gears Thinlits dies (SU); Fishtail Flags and Stitched Circle STAX Die-Namics by My Favorite Things.

Sunday, February 17, 2019

Paper Players Challenge




It's time for another Paper Players Challenge and it's clean and simple week! We are also to use monochromatic colors in our design, so it was the perfect time to try out my new roll of washi tape from Altenew! It was so ridiculously easy to make this card! If you're like me, you end up at times with white cardstock panels that might have ink smears or other "blemishes".  This 4 1/2" wide washi tape allows you to cover up an entire A2 card base. 


 


I stamped the sentiment 3 times with navy ink and a MISTI, then fussy cut and adhered it to the card. A few clear sequins were the only embellishments.

STAMPS: Super Script (Altenew).
PAPER: White, Night of Navy (SU).
INK: Navy Blue (Reverse Confetti).
DIES: Stitched Rectangle STAX Die-Namics (My Favorite Things). 

For more inspiration by the rest of the design team, be sure to check out their entries HERE.

Friday, February 15, 2019

Mojo Sketch




Yay for Friyay! I am always ready for a weekend break after 5 consecutive days of radiation therapy.  Only 7 more treatments remaining!  Julee came out with another beautiful Mojo Sketch Challenge this past Monday and it was perfect to whip up another birthday card that I needed for tomorrow! I recently ordered Altenew's Hibiscus Garden 3D die set which I love cutting out from watercolored paper. It was easier for me to get the different
shades of a similar color by using my Zig Clean Color brushes where I colored the shapes after they were die cut.  This set has quite a few dies and many are fairly similar.  To keep them organized, I store the dies for each flower in small ziplock bags.  The dies for the leaves are stored in a medium size bag.  This saves me a lot of time when I don't have to sort and figure out what goes with what for each component. 



I nearly covered up the stitched circle die, but it's hiding there if you look closely. I embellished with zigzag stitch stickers.  I cut the sentiment die three times and adhered them together to give it a thicker, chipboard look.  

STAMPS: Sending, Hoping, Wishing by WPlus9.
PAPER: White CS (PTI); Perfectly Plaid Rainbow 12x12" (Lawn Fawn); Ranger watercolor paper.
DIES: Sending, Hoping, Wishing (WPlus9); Hibiscus Garden 3D (Altenew); Stitched Circle STAX Die-Namics (MFT).