Ink to Paper Weekend Challenge

There's a weekend challenge happening on the Ink to Paper blog and we are asked to create a card using items from the February release!  Some lucky, random winner will win a $75 gift card!

I already had this background in my leftover pile, so the card went together very quickly. I smooshed Twisted Citron and Wilted Violet distress inks on water color paper then splattered some gold over it.
That led me to using this beautiful layered cross from the Risen stamp set. The leaves were inked up with Twisted Citron distress oxide ink then "kissed" lightly with Mowed Lawn distress oxide ink. I used lots of foam tape to pop up many of the layers. 

STAMPS: Risen, Just Sentiments: Easter (Ink to Paper).
PAPER: Amethyst Allure, White, Gold Luxe (Papertrey Ink); Ranger water color CS.
INK: Wilted Violet, Twisted Citron distress inks by Ranger.
DIES: Risen, Sweet Celebration (Ink to Paper); Pierced Feature Frames (Papertrey Ink).

There were lots of fun items in the February release, so if you haven't gone shopping yet, you can do so HERE.
                                                                            ~Wanda

Freshly Made Sketches

There's a great new layout for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge and it was perfect to try out my newly acquired Botanicuts Lily and Palm dies from The Greetery. My first lily was an attempt at coloring a Tiger lily in pink. It looked more like it had chicken pox so I placed that on the epic fail pile! LOL! I love to pair yellow with black and white, so went with that option instead. I colored all the pieces with Zig clean color brush markers then blended some with an Aquapainter.

STAMPS: Just Sentiments: Easter (Ink to Paper).
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black.
PAPER: Bristol Smooth watercolor paper; Black and White Stripes 6x6" pad by My Favorite Things; White CS by Papertrey Ink.
DIES: Botanicuts: Lily and Palms (The Greetery); Stitched Fishtail Flags STAX (My Favorite Things).
OTHER: Zig watercolor brush markers.

Thanks so much for stopping by!               ~Wanda

Color Throwdown #582

It's hump day and that means it's time for a new Color Throwdown Challenge! Barbara is hosting this week and has hot pink, aqua, kraft and white chosen for our colors.

That gorgeous flowering tree in the photo just naturally inspired me to use some florals. I used the triple step stamped flowers from The Greetery's Fleur Impressions. The mason jar was also triple stamped but I used the same color (Aqua Mist) for all three steps. Love how it darkens up gradually as the layers are added.

STAMPS: Fleur Impressions, Just Mason Around, Sentiment Suite: Thank You - all by The Greetery.
PAPER: Aqua Mist, Kraft, White (Papertrey Ink).
INK: Pale Peony, Raspberry Fizz, Bright Buttercup (Papertrey Ink); Crumb Cake (SU).
DIES: Fleur Impressions, Just Mason Around, Sentiment Suite Basics, Postal Frames, Inside and Out Berry Branch (The Greetery). 

The aqua base was popped up with foam tape.

For more inspiration, be sure to check out what the rest of the CTD design team has for you HERE!  Hope to see you in the gallery!
                                                                       ~Wanda

Ink to Paper - More February Release Cards

Hello everyone! I can't seem to stop using the spring/Easter goodies from Ink to Paper's February release and got on a roll and created four new cards! I decided to pair the Blossoming Branches set with the Risen and Just Sentiments: set on my first card.

STAMPS: Risen, Blossoming Branches, Just Sentiments: Easter (Ink to Paper).

PAPER: White, Kraft, Spring Rain, Blueberry Sky (Papertrey Ink).

INK: Green Parakeet, New Leaf, Spring Rain, Blueberry Sky, Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink); Memento Tuxedo Black.

DIES: Risen, Blossoming Branches, Border Bling: Tin Stitch, Mix and Mat: Postal Die (Ink to Paper/Papertrey Ink).

OTHER: Black Enamel Accents.

My next two cards feature a large sentiment die as the focal point.

I color blended the background then splattered water droplets over it to add more visual interest. After dry, I heat embossed flowers and leaves with white embossing powder. The frame is popped up with foam tape.

STAMPS: It's A Sign: Birthday Sentiments

INK: Abandoned Coral, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Twisted Citron, Peacock Feathers distress oxide ink

PAPER: White, True Black (PTI); Ranger water color; Vellum

DIES: Pierced Feature Frames, To Die For Sentiments: Happy Easter

This die is such a beautiful combination of fonts! I wanted a homespun, quilted look so adhered patterned strips to the background. This is a great way to use up those paper scraps!

STAMPS: Risen

INK: Sweet Blush, Aqua Mist (PTI)

PAPER: Bitty Big: Aqua Mist patterned papers; White, True Black (PTI)

DIES: Risen, To Die For Sentiments: Risen

I thought it would be fun to use a variety of sentiments to create a collage style focal point. Again, the fonts are so beautiful and varied! The tag was popped up using foam tape.

STAMPS: Just Sentiments: Easter; Risen, Blossoming Branches

INK: Hibiscus Burst, Raspberry Fizz, Green Parakeet, New Leaf (PTI); Memento Tuxedo Black

PAPER: Raspberry Fizz, True Black, White (PTI); Patterned stripes

DIES: Blossoming Branches, Tag Sale: Quilted Die

OTHER: Black Enamel Accents

Are you still with me? Quite a long post, but hopefully you've been inspired with these great new stamps and dies! To go shopping at Ink to Paper, head on over to their website HERE!

                                                                         ~Wanda

Wintry Pine Cones

This is my second post for today and it's a card for the new CAS(E) This Sketch challenge and was also inspired by the photo for The Card Concept Challenge.  There is a wintry look outside with a weather forecast of snow along the coast of VA later tonight. Hopefully we won't get anything here in the valley, but you never can tell! That also influenced me to create a subtle snowy background to this design as did the inspiration photo. I balled up a sheet of copy paper then dabbed it onto Tumbled Glass and Peacock Feathers distess oxide ink pads and smooshed it lightly onto some white card stock. I then used a snowflake stencil and embossed some Liquitex light modeling paste over the corner area.

The Botanicuts Pine Bough die set was cut, sponged and assembled

next. I finished it off with a twine bow and a tiny sentiment tag.

STAMPS: Sentiment Suite: Thinking of You (The Greetery).
PAPER: Tempting Turquoise (SU); Scraps of green for the pine boughs; Kraft, White (Papertrey Ink). 
DIES: Nordic Frames, Botanicuts Pine Bough, Sentiment Suite Basics - all by The Greetery.
OTHER: Snowflake Stencil (The Greetery). 

Thanks so much for stopping and commenting!    ~Wanda

Fusion Card Challenge

Hello blog friends! I hope you are ready to play along with a new Fusion Card Challenge! There's a great new sketch and a neutral inspiration photo to get your mojo going! I chose to go with both and started with a very neutral pad of patterned papers.

The papers dictated that this would be a card for a wedding and I'll have to admit, I struggled with keeping it so colorless - lol! I colored the vase with Copics (T0, T3, T5) after stamping in Memento Tuxedo Black on X-Press It Blending Card. The floral stems were stamped in Smoky Slate (SU), Gray Granite (SU), Fairy Dust (WPlus9) and black. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Delightful Dahlia set and was die cut with The Greetery's Sentiment Suite Basics die. 

STAMPS: A Little Wispy (Ink to Paper); Delightful Dahlia (Papertrey Ink).
PAPER: Love Story by Recollections.
DIES: A Little Wispy (Ink to Paper); Basic Sentiment Suite (The Greetery).

So how will YOU interpret this challenge? For more inspiration, check out the rest of the talented design team's samples HERE. We hope to see you in the gallery!                                                                                                                      ~Wanda

Freshly Made Sketches

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

A quick post for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge where Kim has a fun layout for us! I LOVE the new Risen stamps and dies just released this month at Ink to Paper! The cross can be stamped so quickly and then popped and layered to give it great dimension.  I started with stenciling a concentric circle pattern using Squeezed Lemonade distress oxide ink and a blender brush. 

I paired up Squeezed Lemonade with Mustard Seed and Twisted Citron with Mowed Lawn. I first covered the stamp with the lighter color then tapped the darker shade lightly over only portions of the stamp to "kiss" a bit of different color onto the image. The green strips are washi tape. This would be an easy design to mass produce!

STAMPS: Risen (Ink to Paper).

DIES: Risen (Ink to Paper).

OTHER: Washi tape (Altenew); Concentric Circles stencil (My Favorite Things).

                                                       ~Wanda

Color Throwdown #581

It's Wednesday, so that means another Color Throwdown challenge is happening! Amy Rysavy has this beautiful bold color palette this week that is perfect to bring on some spring time creations! I had not played with my Altenew goodies in a long time, so had fun pulling out leftovers from my card stock scraps and layered up these flowers and leaves! My darkest pink is almost hidden by the other lighter pink shades but it's all in the family and hopefully all good. 

I added black enamel accents to the center of the purple flowers then double cut the sentiment twice to give it more dimension. Seemed funny that I didn't use any stamps or ink on this card...just dies! That doesn't happen very often.

PAPER: Smoky Slate, Wild Wasabi, Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, Strawberry Slush (SU); Raspberry Fizz, True Black, White (Papertrey Ink); Sour Apple (My Favorite Things).
DIES: Watercolor Stripes cover die, Miss You word die, Rose Flurries 3D die - all by Altenew.

For more inspiration, be sure to check out what the rest of the CTD design team has for you HERE!  Hope to see you in the gallery!
                                                                       ~Wanda
 
                                                  

CAS(E) This Sketch

I'm loving this week's CAS(E) This Sketch challenge layout (a former retro sketch #7) and decided to dust off some Altenew dies that haven't been used in a long time! I started with some patterned paper from Papertrey Ink then used some leftover florals from a previous project. I like to make extras while I have the multiple dies out and that makes it easy to throw a quick card together down the road! I added black Enamel Accents to the yellow blooms.

I used a stitches sticker for an accent element. The sentiment was stamped then die cut after I botched an attempt to add the sentiment without the banner to the card base. Grrr! The flowers and leaves were created with scrap pieces of card stock in my huge leftover pile, so I'm not sure of all the color names.


STAMPS: Sentiment Suite: Thinking of You (The Greetery).
PAPER: Bitty Big: Smokey Shadow, White (Papertrey Ink). 
DIES : Sentiment Suite Basics (The Greetery); Rose Flurries 3D die. 

This was a nice leisurely Monday with two appointments originally in the plan getting changed. I love when that gives me more stamping time! Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
                                                                   ~Wanda 

Ink to Paper February Release

First of all, happy heart day to all my blog friends! Besides being Valentine's Day, today is also the last day of reveals of the beautiful February spring/Easter release at Ink to Paper! One of my favorites is the two layered cross stamp/die combo called Risen!

STAMPS: Risen, Just Sentiments: Easter (Ink to Paper)

INK: Green Parakeet, New Leaf, Lovely Lady, Hibiscus Burst, True Black (PTI); Twisted Citron distress ink (Ranger)

PAPER: Green Parakeet, White

DIES: Risen, Sweet Celebrations, Pierced Feature Frames

This quick and easy watercolor background was created by covering an acrylic block with Twisted Citron distress ink, spritzing a couple of times with water, then "stamping" onto cardstock. I also combined two ink colors when I stamped the flowers and leaves. I stamped the lighter pink and green first, then "kissed" the edges of the stamps with the second darker color. I was excited to discover that the die from the Sweet Celebration die set (Ink to Paper) fit this sentiment perfectly!

My second card features a new border die - Border Bling: Chain - and a fabulous background die- Background Bouquet!

STAMPS: Just Sentiments: Easter

INK: Black

PAPER: White, Summer Sunrise (PTI); Watercolor card stock (Ranger)

DIES: Border Bling: Chain, Background Bouquet (Ink to Paper)

OTHER: Water color paints by Pelikan

The floral bouquet is such a fun and easy die to water color! I splattered some purple paint over the base to coordinate with the berries. I love the chain border frame which was easy to adhere by spraying it lightly with Elmer's adhesive.

If you missed my Tuesday reveal post HERE, you can check out the details on this next card using Blossoming Branches and Just Sentiments: Easter which are also part of the February release! 
 

The release will be available for ordering on Saturday, February 15, at 10:00 PM ET so you will want to head on over to the Ink to Paper store and click away on some new crafty goodness! 
                                                                   ~Wanda

Color Throwdown #580 & Sunday Stamps

It's hump day (as my 3 year grandson loves to say!) whenever Wednesday rolls around. That means a new Color Throwdown Challenge and yours truly is hosting this week with a color palette of violet/purple, green and gray. I found this photo of a polymer piece of jewelry on Pinterest and fell in love with the inspiration possibilites! I took it literally with the heart shape and the florals.

I used products from a variety of companies! The Smoky Slate

paper, ink and French Script background stamp are all from Stampin' Up. The Postal Frames die, Sentiment Suite Basics die and sentiment from the Sentiment Suite:Love stamp set are from The Greetery. The floral heart and die are from a fabulous multi-step stamping set called Love in Bloom by Papertrey Ink. It's layered on a unique tag die - Stitched Hex Tag - by Reverse Confetti. I embellished with a glittery brad. Several of the layers were popped up using foam tape. I'm enjoying all the Valentine creations and will be sad to say goodbye to creating them after this week, however, I'm thinking it wouldn't be a bad idea to send some love throughout the entire year!

I used the sketch from the current Sunday Stamps challenge. I always love using a tag as the focal point!

For more inspiration, be sure to check out what the rest of the CTD design team has for you HERE! 
                                                                      ~Wanda

February Release Reveals Start at Ink to Paper

Today marks the start of the reveals of new products for the February release at Ink to Paper! You are going to LOVE the spring/Easter/anytime uses for the new stamps and dies!

I used two new stamp sets - Blossoming Branches and Just Sentiments: Easter - on my card.

 

When I saw the tiny script stamp, I knew I wanted to do a repeated stamping in black on kraft using my MISTI. I then tore the edge and layered it over a torn strip of vellum. In my early days of stamping (20 plus years ago), tearing was an easy way to add some texture and visual interest to a card.  I used Rustic Cream (Papertrey Ink) card stock for the card base. 

The design team at Ink to Paper is unbelievably talented and you do not want to miss their card creations! Stop by the blog HERE to check it out! 
                                                                   ~Wanda