The Paper Players

Claire has a great sketch for this week's challenge at The Paper Players! I tried to use some colors that aren't typical for me and ventured with Ocean Tides, Stormy Sea and Smoky Shadow from Ink to Paper. I also used a lighter green - Spring Moss - which is one I use often but not in this combo. The background panel is smooshed with the Ocean Tides, Stormy Sea and Smoky Shadow inks. Reminds me of a turbulent sea - haha!

I need to build up my sympathy card stash, so that's what led me to use this sentiment. The vertical element was a trimmed down version of the Border Bling: Diamonds die by Ink to Paper.

STAMPS: Dear Friend (Ink to Paper).
PAPER: Ocean Tides, Stormy Sea, True Black, Gentle Moss, Smoky Shadow; Ranger water color paper.
INK: Gentle Moss, Ocean Tides, Stormy Sea, True Black.
DIES: Border Bling: Diamonds, Dear Friend, Pierced Feature Frames (Ink to Paper).

Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting!   ~Wanda

Festive Friday

Yes, it feels like a festive Friday with the sun shining and the grands coming over for several hours! I'm entering this card with products from Ink to Paper into the Festive Friday Challenge. Their inspo board lists ten items and we are to pick at least 3. I chose CAS design, single image (I'm considering the whole branch as a single image) and a floral theme.

I used an oblong acrylic stamp block to "stamp" the background using distress inks. After applying the ink to the block, I spritzed lightly with water. I used the more dimensional side to the Ranger watercolor paper because I wanted more texture to show. The branch was inked up with Ink to Paper dye inks.

 

STAMPS: Blossoming Branches (Ink to Paper)

PAPER: White, Enchanted Evening (Ink to Paper); Ranger watercolor

INK: Classic Kraft, Cocoa Bean, Spring Moss, New Leaf, Ripe Avocado, True Black, Spring Rain, Blueberry Sky, Hawaiian Shores, Dark Indigo; Twisted Citron, Tumbled Glass, Peacock Feathers, Blueprint Sketch distress inks by Ranger

DIES: Blossoming Branches

OTHER: Button by Ink to Paper

Thanks so much for stopping by!      ~Wanda

Fusion Card Challenge

It's time again for another Fusion Card Challenge! This time I didn't use the sketch and was primarily inspired by the colors and checks and florals in the patterns. I used stamps, dies and papers from Ink to Paper.
  

To line up the three step stamping with the florals, I used a MISTI. 

Here is my enabler's list:
STAMPS: Flourishing Florals, Feathered Friends Mini 1 (sentiment), Dear Friend (stems) - all from Ink to Paper.
PAPER: Spring Rain Pattern Pack, Spring Rain, White, True Black, Green Parakeet (Ink to Paper).
INK: Lemon Tart, Bright Buttercup, Summer Sunrise, Green Parakeet, New Leaf (Ink to Paper).
DIES: Border Bling: Diamonds, To The Point Edgers die, Flourishing Florals (Ink to Paper).

We would love to have you play along with us! You can add your entry to the Linky List on the Fusion Card Challenge home page.
                                                  Happy stamping!  ~Wanda

Color Throwdown #599

Check it out! It's time for another Color Throwdown challenge and we are one away from 600 challenges! I decided today's colors would look great using some new stamps/dies/stencils from The Greetery.

Betsy came up with a genius way to use multiple stencils to get the look of these overlapping pinwheels! I especially love the twisted ropes of color that remind me of those old-timey crepe paper streamers that used to be so popular. 

STAMPS: Birthday Blooms, Tickertape Background (The Greetery).
PAPER: Pale Peony, Aqua Mist, Green Parakeet, Bright Buttercup, White (Ink to Paper/Papertrey Ink).
INK: True Black, Bright Buttercup, Pale Peony, Lovely Lady, Green Parakeet, Aqua Mist (Ink to Paper/Papertrey Ink).
DIES: Twisted Crepe, Birthday Blooms, Pinwheel Party, Crimped Frame (The Greetery).
OTHER: Pinwheel Party stencil (The Greetery).

We'd love to have you play along with us! Go to the main Color Throwdown blog to link up your creation.
                                          Happy stamping!   ~Wanda

Sketch Saturday

I was itching to make another card with this great new bird die from Ink to Paper and came across a great sketch for the current Saturday Sketch challenge! I had to flip the layout because of the bird's positioning.
 
The stenciled background strip was a leftover piece using Peacock Feathers and Twisted Citron distress inks and a hexagon stencil.

I used blending brushes to add colors after die cutting all the bird parts from white card stock. The florals were two step stamped images from Ink to Paper's Framing Florals stamp set.

STAMPS: Framing Florals, Feathered Friends Mini 1 (Ink to Paper).
PAPER: White, Hawaiian Shores, Green Parakeet (Ink to Paper).
INK: Berry Sorbet, Lovely Lady, Pure Poppy, Green Parakeet, New Leaf, Simply Chartreuse (dye inks by Ink to Paper used on florals); Carved Pumpkin, Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed, Twisted Citron, Peacock Feathers, Evergreen Bough distress oxide inks by Ranger.
DIES: Feathered Friends 1, Framing Florals (Ink to Paper).
OTHER: Enamel dots, Hexagon stencil by Papertrey Ink. 

It's a day with having a plumber in the house! Both commodes were replaced with "high rise" models - lol! Oh, the joys of aging. We are also finally getting the water filter (a Christmas gift) installed in the kitchen sink faucet and it will be connected to our frig as well.  Fun times. Have a great day everyone!  ~Wanda

Patriotic Thanks

I finished a really good crime fiction book over the weekend written by Brad Parks. It's a real page-turner with lots of unexpected twists and turns What made it more interesting is that he grew up in this area of VA and used frequent references to local roads, towns, businesses, etc. If you're looking for a good book, I recommend Closer Than You Know! 
 I also squeezed in a quick card for two different challenges.  The Paper Players challenge has us creating a CAS (clean and simple) card which I always struggle with but think there's enough white space to keep the challenge police away - LOL! I'm also using colors for the Sunday Stamps challenge.

I've said it before and will say it again...these pinwheel stencils are just so much fun from The Greetery!

With the Fourth of July coming up soon, I thought the pinwheels would be fun in patriotic colors. Here's what I used...

STAMPS: Written in Ribbons (The Greetery).

PAPER: White, Blueberry Sky, Enchanted Evening, Matte silver metallic (Papertrey Ink/Ink to Paper).

INK: Blueberry Sky, Enchanted Evening, Berry Sorbet, Pure Poppy - dye inks by Papertrey Ink/Ink to Paper. 

DIES: Pinwheel Party, Twisted Crepe, Written in Ribbons (The Greetery); Stitched Rectangle STAX (My Favorite Things).

OTHER: Pinwheel Party Stencil (The Greetery).

Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting!    ~Wanda

Freshly Made Sketches

Good Saturday everyone! I hope you're having a wonderful weekend. I ran some errands then retreated to my crafty space to create this card for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge. I had the bird and tag leftover from previous projects, so this went together very quickly. I cut out the leafy Bouquet Background die from Green Parakeet card stock. I had a follower recently tell me I was the queen of polka dots and stripes and yep...I used them again here! I love the patterned paper packs in all the stock colors at Ink to Paper. Each pack gives you two sided papers of plaids, polka dots and stripes! 

Obviously I flipped the sketch to a vertical rather than horizontal orientation. The leaves extend beyond the card base so I'll have to use a slightly larger envelope than an A2 size. I color blended the bird with brushes and gently lifted up the wing "feathers" to give it dimension.

STAMPS: Feathered Friends Mini 1 (Ink to Paper).
PAPER: Bitty Big: Harvest Gold patterned paper, Aqua Mist, Green Parakeet, White (Ink to Paper).
INK:  True Black, Spring Rain, Blueberry Sky, Lemon Tart, Bright Buttercup, Summer Sunrise (dye inks by Ink to Paper).
DIES: Background Bouquet, Feathered Friends 1, Charming Tags (all by Ink to Paper); Stitched Rectangle STAX by My Favorite Things.

Thanks so much for stopping by!                      ~Wanda

CAS(E) This Sketch

Since I don't have any release deadlines right now, I'm free to play along with some of my fave challenges. This card is for the CAS(E) This Sketch challenge and was perfect to highlight some of the June release goodies from Ink to Paper!

It's pretty self-explanatory, so I'll get to my list of supplies. For the three step stamping involved with the flowers, I used my MISTI to get them lined up perfectly. A trio of clear sequins from Pretty Pink Post finished it up.

STAMPS: Flourishing Florals, Feathered Friends Mini 1 (Ink to Paper).
PAPER: White (Ink to Paper).
INK: Picked Raspberry, Pure Poppy, Berry Sorbet, Spring Moss, Olive Twist, Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores, Tropical Teal, Lemon Tart, Orange Zest, Cocoa Bean, True Black - dye inks by Ink to Paper.
DIES: Love to Layer: Notched Dies, Flourishing Florals, Feathered Friends Mini 1 (Ink to Paper). 

This was a relaxing way to entertain myself on a rainy Friday afternoon. Have a great weekend!                       ~Wanda

Color Throwdown #598

It's Wednesday and that means another Color Throwdown challenge is happening! Lynn is our hostess this week and has chosen pink, aqua, gold and white for our colors. I immediately thought "baby card" and went for the newly released Playful Patterns stamps and dies from Ink to Paper. This is such a fun and versatile set!

I stamped the plaid background in Aqua Mist and Lovely Lady inks using my MISTI to reposition the stamp. I then cut off the two long sides of the postage frame die to use for a decorative edge. This little rainbow is one of my all-time favorite rainbows! I also adore the patterned clouds and the funky fun font (say that fast 3 times!) on the sentiment.

STAMPS: Playful Patterns, Nifty Plaid (Ink to Paper).
PAPER: White, Aqua Mist, Lovely Lady (Ink to Paper).
INK: Aqua Mist, Lovely Lady, Versamark.
DIES: Love to Layer: Scalloped Circles, Border Bling: Postage Frames, Playful Patterns (Ink to Paper). 
OTHER: Pink and white twine.

Be sure to stop by the Color Throwdown blog and check out all the other designers' entries! We'd love to have you play along so hope to see you in the gallery!
                                          Happy stamping!    ~Wanda

Ink to Paper Release Day

Woohoo! It's release day at Ink to Paper and the products that have been introduced over the past several days will all be ready to purchase at 10 PM ET tonight! My photo shows a peek at five of the eight cards I created for this release and I hope that I've inspired you to go shopping as this is a stellar release in my opinion! AND...holy guacamole! Ink to Paper is giving away a $150.00 paper gift card to one lucky person who comments to their question! Check it out HERE!

Get that shopping list ready and happy stamping!     ~Wanda

Ink to Paper June Release Day #4

We are on day #4 of the introductions to the June release at Ink to Paper! We are introducing Dear Friend stamps/dies + Border Bling: Tribal Frames + To Die For Sentiments: Hope Your Days Are Bright + To Die For Sentiments: You Brighten My Life + Love to Layer: Scalloped Circles.

This is another sweet bird but instead of assembling die pieces like the previous one, you create this bird by stamping different steps. I had a brainstorm one day when I was thinking of ways to add a nest to a card. Birds use twigs in real life, so I went with the twig oval frame and cut two of them from kraft paper, sponged the edges and cut them into sections and folded them around in an overlapping circle to form a nest. 

I used the medium sized skinny postage frame die and inserted a stamped center to look like brick. The leafy spray is a favorite of mine from an older Floral Delicacies die set. The card front sentiment is from the Dear Friend stamp set and the larger die cut sentiment was used on the inside. 
et.
HELPFUL TIP: Always try to tie the inside of the card to the front in some way. I had a narrow piece of the brick stamped panel left over, so I added that to the inside.

STAMPS: Dear Friend, Feathered Friends Mini 1, Rustic Brick Background.
INK: Dark Chocolate, Cocoa Bean, Classic Kraft, Simply Chartreuse, Ripe Avocado, Lemon Tart, Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest.
DIES: Floral Delicacies, Border Bling: Twigs, To Die For Sentiments: Hope Your Days Are Bright, Feathered Friends Mini 1, Border Bling: Tribal Frames, Border Bling: Skinny Postage.
PAPER: Rustic White, Classic Kraft, Green Parakeet.
The tribal frame border is very subtle and I was not able to get it to show up well in my photos...but it's there.

My second card has only minimal stamping on some of the leaves.

The greens in the leafy spray really pop against the Dark Indigo patterned papers.  Having varying shades of green in the leaves make them much more realistic looking!

STAMPS: Dear Friend.
INK: Green Parakeet, New Leaf.
PAPER: Bitty Big: Dark Indigo, White, Dark Indigo (Ink to Paper). 
DIES:To Die For Sentiments: You Brighten My Life, Love to Layer: Scalloped Circles. Dear Friend. 

This is the end of reveals for the new release. The Ink to Paper store will be open tomorrow for your shopping pleasure! 

                               Happy stamping!     ~Wanda

Ink to Paper June Release Day #3

It's day three of the new reveals at Ink to Paper! Today we will introduce Vintage Postage stamps + Vintage Postage Sentiments stamps + Border Bling: Postage Frames + Border Bling: Skinny Postage + Feathered Friends Mini 1 stamps/die + Feathered Friends 1 die. 

I decided to go with an ivory/black/gold theme and create a 50th

wedding anniversary card. This was really very simple to do yet looks very elegant. I layered the Border Bling: Postage Frame in Luxe Gold over a Vintage Cream card base. I then stamped the Vintage Postage image 3 times using True Black ink and my MISTI tool to get a crisp black image. The sentiment was gold embossed and a skinny black satin ribbon finished it off!

 

STAMPS: Vintage Postage, Vintage Postage Sentiments (Ink to Paper)
INK: True Black, Versamark
PAPER: Gold Luxe, Vintage Cream (Ink to Paper)
DIES: Border Bling: Postage Frames
OTHER: Gold embossing powder, Black satin ribbon.

My second card is my favorite of the two! This bird was totally cut from white card stock (except for his black eye) and the colors were brushed and blended onto the white. I glued his wing on carefully and lifted up the feathers so they look dimensional. 

I stamped the Vintage Postage stamp with white pigment ink at least 3 times on Spring Moss card stock. The Border Bling: Skinny Postage die was cut from Simply Chartreuse paper. I enjoy pairing new items with older released images and loved how the bird paired up well with Blossoming Branches.

STAMPS: Blossoming Branches, Vintage Postage, Vintage Postage Sentiments.
INK: True Black, Pale Peony, Berry Sorbet, Orange Zest, Lemon Tart, Harvest Gold, Classic Kraft, Cocoa Bean, Spring Moss, Simply Chartreuse, Ripe Avocado dye inks; White pigment ink.
PAPER: Spring Moss, Simply Chartreuse, White.
DIES: Feathered Friends 1, Border Bling: Skinny Postage, Blossoming Branches.

So...what is your preference with the postage stamp set? The bold black or the softness of white ink? It's definitely a versatile set!

Hope to see you back again tomorrow for the 4th and final reveal day!                                   Happy stamping!    ~Wanda