Paper Players Sketch Challenge

It's been way too long since I played along with The Paper Players challenge! Laurie has a great sketch for us and it was perfect to create a simple sympathy card that I needed for a former nursing supervisor who lost her mother several days ago. 

I played around with some alcohol inks this afternoon and loved the combination of Pool and Sublime inks by Ranger. I added the gold Alloy mixative and blending solution to work it around on Yupo paper.

I really LOVE

this new blending tool and highly recommend it. My preference of paper is by far to use Yupo when I want to blend alcohol inks. I pick some up whenever Mike's has a coupon opportunity - lol!

The sentiment die is by Lil' Inker Designs and has three layers to make it a thicker consistency. The stitched rectangle dies are by My Favorite Things. I used a foam mat with adhesive on one side to "pop" up the alcohol ink panel. I find this is more cost effective than foam tape when I have larger panels to pop up. I get it at Michael's in the poster board and paint section of the store rather than the card making supplies area.

Well...it's raining again here in VA again. Seems like a day rarely passes when it doesn't rain. Hopefully April showers will bring May flowers!                                                ~Wanda

Color Throwdown

It's time for another Color Throwdown challenge and Vickie has some great colors for us: orange, yellow and blue!  Orange and blue are especially popular in VA after the University of VA Cavaliers won the national NCAA basketball championship last week!  Wahooah! A first for our state and a nail biting, heart wrenching down-to-the-wire last three games of the season! Since yellow was the third color, I went with a birthday theme (instead of UVA school colors) and was inspired to use alcohol inks based on the photo.

I used Ranger Denim, Dandelion and Valencia alcohol inks along with their blending solution.  The brass "veining" you see was obtained with adding Pinata Brass mixative to the mix.  The sentiment die is Lil' Inker Design's Boxed Up Birthday Greetings.


Here's another view of the tools I used. I like to "move" the ink colors around quickly with this "marker holder thingy" after I drop them onto the Yupo paper.  I don't know the proper name of this tool and have had it for a long time. When you squeeze the bulb, the forced air moves the ink around.  You can also use a straw but this method won't make you hyperventilate - lol!


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

Amy Rohl 

Amy Rysavy
 Barbara Anders
Broni Holcombe
Jodi Collin
Lisa Henke
Lori Tecler
Lynn Put  
Vickie Zimmer
 Wanda Cullen (you are here)

Fusion Card Challenge

It's time for another Fusion Card Challenge! Don't you just love this sketch and all those wonderful eggs as inspiration?! I've had this older paper pad - Spring by Echo Park - for a couple of years and it's so perfect for spring/Easter themed cards!

I'm debating on whether or not the egg basket should have been omitted as it makes it really busy!  But...I had so much fun arranging those sweet stitched eggs, so I kept it in the design - lol!  

Sentiments were added to the inside and another bunny was added to the envelope.  Another card for my grands completed! 

STAMPS: Happy Bunny Border (Lil' Inker Designs).
PAPER: Spring 6x6" pad (Echo Park).
DIES: Stitched Easter Basket, Bunnies and Bows (Lil' Inker Designs); Stitched Circle and Stitched Fishtail Flags STAX (MFT).

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!

Alcohol Inks

TGIF! I'm looking forward to a lunch date with two good friends then more good basketball games for the Sweet Sixteen tournament this evening! 

I pulled out another alcohol ink panel from a recent binge I had playing with these fun inks! The layout is for the current Freshly Made Sketches challenge.

STAMPS: Easter Hodge Podge (Lil' Inker Designs).

PAPER: Tempting Turquoise (SU), Sour Apple Green (MFT), White (PTI), Bumblebee Yellow (Reverse Confetti).

INK: Coastal Cabana (SU).

DIES: Easter Hodge Podge, Perky Posies (Lil' Inker Designs).

SSS Wednesday Challenge

I couldn't resist ordering this Hello Dino stamp set with matching dies from Lil' Inker Designs' August release! I will probably use this for my granddaughter who turns 3 next month and she's loving anything dinosaur related! I'm entering this into Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge where the theme is to create for a child.  

STAMPS: Hello Dino (Lil' Inker Designs).
PAPER: Bumblebee Yellow, Lime Green (Reverse Confetti); White (PTI).
INK: Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry, Crumb Cake, Lucky Limeade, Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Baked Brown Sugar, Soft Sky - all by SU.  
DIES: Hello Dino and Stitched Clouds (Lil' Inker Designs); Stitched Dome Frames (MFT).

Inspired By All The LIttle Things

Hello everyone! Hope your weekend is off to a fabulous start and that you'll find some time to join us in the new Inspired By All The Little Things Challenge!  Leigh has a beautiful inspiration photo for us with this table setting.  I was inspired by the runner, the colors and of course, the gorgeous florals!  

My card is a blend of products from SEVEN different stamp companies!
The Stamp Market: Pretty Peony stamp set.
Altenew: Daisy stamp set.
Reverse Confetti: Stone cardstock for card base and Tall Stripe Panel die. 
Simon Says Stamp: Big Hugs sentiment die. 
Paper Smooches: Stitched die.
WPlus9: Beanstalk, Appletini, Little Piggy, Sweet Gelato Pure Color dye inks.
Stampin' Up: Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry, More Mustard, Pretty in Pink ink pads. 

I'm also entering this into the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where Anything Goes is the theme this week.  

Thanks for stopping by...hope to see you in the gallery HERE!

Speckled and Snarky

I created this card for two challenges - CAS(E) This Sketch and Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge - but totally missed the deadline for CC. Nothing like being a day late - lol! Anyway, their photo led me to splattering black and then gold paints on watercolored flowers. The layout was perfect to once again use this MFT die for the background.  
Here's what I used:
STAMPS: Snarky Sentiments by Lil' Inker Designs.

PAPER: Color Splash by Recollections; Whisper White (SU); Ranger watercolor CS; True Black (PTI).
DIES: Spring Blooms, Perky Posies, and Seriously by Lil' Inker Designs; Striped Sentiment Strip Cover Plate Die-Namics by MFT.

Inspired By All The Little Things

Good Saturday everyone! Rabbits are a sure sign of spring and the new Inspired By All The Little Things Challenge has one for us in the new inspiration photo. I just wasn't ready to go with dark, neutral colors, so my take on the photo was simply to go with a rabbit theme in general.  I used stamps and dies by Lil' Inker Designs.  The egg stamp was white embossed then colored with distress ink markers and spritzed with water to give the image a more blended, watercolor look.  

Here's what I used:
STAMPS: Easter Hodge Podge (LID).
PAPER: Splendid Sunshine (Echo Park), Neenah Solar White.
INK: Versamark.
MISCELLANEOUS: Perky Posies, Bunnies and Bows, Quilted cover plate and Easter Hodge Podge dies by Lil' Inker Designs; Stitched Basic Edges Die-Namics by MFT; Enamel dots.

Would love to have you join us and hope to see you in the gallery!

Kitty Huggers

When Lil' Inker Designs had their last release, I fell in love with the Kitty Hugger stamp and die bundle!  Now that I have three grandchildren, I can't resist some of the cuteness that is available for papercrafters!  The heart die base (SU) was perfect to adhere the kitty (die cut from Reverse Confetti's Stone cardstock).  What treat could be more perfect than a miniature KitKat bar?!  Adding a small glue dot to each paw works great to hold the candy in place.  I was able to mass produce 15 of these treats for a preschool class in an hour.  I'm hoping the class of 2 year olds will think they are pawsome!  ❤️

Color Throwdown

Hi everyone! I'm happy to say I'm the hostess this week for the Color Throwdown Challenge and I'm hoping you will love this color palette - golden yellow, navy and white - as much as I do! I was inspired by these wedding cakes and thought the colors could be used for SOOO many different card themes!  Initially, I was going to go with a a classy wedding card, but those cascades of flowers drew me in a different direction in the end!  

I adhered the striped patterned paper from Echo Park's Splendid Sunshine pad, then raised a white CS panel with foam tape.  I loosely adhered navy and vellum die cut leaves (large and small Mariana Vine dies by Poppystamps) then added layered die cut posies by Lil' Inker Designs.  The layered sentiment and tag are dies by Reverse Confetti.  I rounded a couple of the card corners using the 1/4" corner chomper setting.

Be sure to visit our guest star stamper - Linda Beeson from the Paper Cutting Kind of Day blog!

Sadly, we say goodbye to Amy Rohl who has been an awesome inspiration as our guest designer this month!  Stay tuned next week when we announce our new May guestie.
  
To get all the details on how to play along, 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.
Barbara Anders  
Broni Holcombe   
Joan Ervin
Jodi Collins 
Lisa Henke
Lori Tecler
Lynn Put  
Vickie Zimmer 
Wanda Cullen (you are here) 
Amy Rohl- April Guest Designer  

Retrosketches

It's been a long time since I've played along with the Retrosketches Challenge, but my need to create a birthday card was made easy with this great layout!  I started with using a Provocraft embossing folder on some white linen paper.  The stars and seriously sentiment are dies by Lil' Inker Designs.  I didn't have a large silver button in my stash, so the MFT button die set came to the rescue (stacking 3 on top of each other make it look more realistic)!  The stitched banner die is also by MFT.  I just can't seem to finish up a card anymore without using some sequins, so silver was the choice here.  The sentiment is from Lil' Inker Designs' Snarky Sentiment stamp set.

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Sending Joy

I'm feeling joy this morning - both in my card's sentiment and for realz! :-)  I'm loving my new and improved computer hard drive that just zips me from one page to the next without any spinning rainbow wheel appearing anymore!  The Color Challenge on SCS is being hosted by Peggy and she has these awesome colors that would have worked for one of my gazillion floral images, but I stuck with my plan to whittle away at my Christmas card list and went with that theme instead.  The dessert option is to use triangles, so I went with this fun triangular tree die by Impression Obsession.  The plaid background was created using MFT Plaid Background Builder stamp set with Melon Mambo, Wild Wasabi and Baked Brown Sugar inks.  Not sure why my Wild Wasabi ribbon looks so washed out in the photo! :-(  The sentiment is a die set by Lil' Inker Designs.  I'm also playing along with the  current Paper Players Challenge - a great sketch by Anne Marie.    Thanks for stopping by...

Retro Sketch and Color Challenges

I usually gravitate toward brighter colors, but yesterday and today I've gone with a more pastel route.  Here's my card for the Color Challenge on SCS (Sahara Sand, Pink Pirouette, Soft Sky) and for the Retro Sketch Challenge #66:

A really clean and simple design...quick to put together!  I thought the papers in MME's Be Happy pad would be perfect for the Color Challenge.  If you look closely, you'll even see a tiny butterfly in the upper right corner which is the dessert option for the CC.  Then there's the butterfly in my watermark - lol!

STAMPS: Flags and Tags Stamps by Lil Inker Designs; Borderline by Verve.
INK: Groovy Guava (stamped off once), Soft Sky, Black
ACCESSORIES: Flags and Tags dies by Lil Inker Designs, Corner chomper, Adhesive gemstones by Hero Arts.

Lil' Inker Designs Challenge

 Laura has a fun challenge hop over on the Lil' Inker Designs blog...check it out HERE! 

 We were to be inspired by this photo...a fabulous summertime collage with sunshiney colors and clouds...just perfect to get out my fave cloud dies (love those stitched details!).  Because of the faux stitching, I'm also entering this into the TLC gallery of SCS to use crazy stitching on a card.

I had a little creative spurt and decided to try a scallop design by cutting the die shape from the Flags and Tags Stamp set in half.  Thought it turned out to be a fun and funky border! :-)  My all-time, most used Lil' Inker Designs die is the sentiment flag!  Had to tuck in a small sentiment of thanks using it.  After some cooler, rainy weather over the weekend, I was ready for a sunny days challenge!  So, I'm lifting my glass of lemonade with a toast for more sunny days! Cheers!

STAMPS: Triple Treat Flower by SU, Sentiment is unknown

PAPER: Family Ties by Pebbles, White by PTI, Green (?) scrap from my scrap pile.

INK: Old Olive (to sponge leaves), Daffodil Delight, Versafine Onyx Black.

Love is in the Air

Took a quick peek on SCS and both the Technique Lover's Challenge (to dry emboss and sand on patterned paper) and the CAS Challenge (use the theme "Love is in the Air") were posted and I just couldn't resist a quick card  before going to bed!  It's also for the Retrosketches Challenge.  The patterned paper is from a 12x12" 29th Street Market sheet called Elegant Print/Poised Purple.  I wanted to use a paper with a white core so it would show up when I sanded the Victoria embossed pattern.

STAMPS: Flags and Tags by Lil Inker Designs
INK: Rich Razzleberry, Versafine Onyx Black
ACCESSORIES: Dies by Lil Inker Designs, Victoria EF, Rhinestones, Two of Hearts die by Cheery Lynn Designs.

Good night all!

A Pink Birthday

I'm just now getting around to playing in the HYCCT challenges...yes...I'm embarrassed to admit that! I won't bore you with busy excuses, but hope to play "catch up" when I'm off the next 2 days.  Cindy (aka Mothermark) has a pink birthday card challenge for us today.  I can't believe I stuck the vertical flag down before I embossed it...Grrr!  I used the layout for Jen's Deconstructed Sketch #74.

It's pretty self-explanatory, so I'll just list what I used:
STAMPS: Flags and Tags Stamps by Lil Inker Designs, Borderlines by Verve (cross-stitch border)
PAPER: Text Style In Blossom DP by PTI, Raspberry Fizz and New Leaf (PTI), White
INK: Versafine Onyx Black
ACCESSORIES: Fishtail Die-Namics (MFT), Flags and Tags dies by Lil Inker Designs, Mini rolled roses Die-Namics by MFT, Olive Branches die by Cheery Lynn Designs, Black pearls, Vintage Floral border punch by MS.