Lenten Roses

There's something new going on this summer over on the Flourishes blog...a designer focus every Friday! We get to know the design team better, then we get a chance to win some new goodies by CASEing one of their cards!  Julie Koerber is being featured this week and she has got a fabulous gallery!  I chose this card on the right to CASE...so beautiful! I used the same layout but changed up the image, the colors and omitted some of the layers. 

I'm also playing along with the Play Date Cafe Challenge - to use Maroon, poppy and soft jade colors.  I colored this lenten rose image with Copics, then fussy cut and adhered with foam tape.

STAMPS: Lenten Rose (Flourishes), Hydrangea (Flourishes) - sentiment.
PAPER: This & That pad by Echo Park, White (PTI), X-Press It Blending Card.
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black.
ACCESSORIES: Victorian Oval template die by Flourishes, Seam binding by Verve.
COPICS: Flowers - R24, R27, R29, Y15, Y19
                Leaves - YG21, YG23, YG25
                Vase/Water - BG0000, BG10

Play Date Cafe Meets CAS-ual Friday

I decided it was high time to play along with a couple of challenges that I've been neglecting for some time.  It's splash week at the Play Date Cafe Challenge - black and white with a splash of magenta!  For some reason my photo looks more red, but IRL it's a hot pink shade. Over on the CAS-ual Friday blog, they are celebrating their 2nd birthday, as well as their 100th challenge, with a tic tac toe board listing their top 10 challenges!  I chose the middle horizontal line to create a square card, use bling and use text.  This was such a quick and fun note card to create...generic with no specific sentiment...and ended up being 4 1/4" square.  I first stamped several of the watercolor wonder images in Melon Mambo and Black inks, then masked off a column and stamped with SU's French Script BG stamp.  I had these velvety texted leaves in my stash to add some texture then finished it up with a layered flower topped with bling!
I also wanted to recognize the Featured Stamper Challenge on SCS where they are honoring Gayatri Murali - a super talented stamper who rocks a clean style of collage in her style!  I didn't CASE a specific card, but hopefully I captured her collage style that is prominent in her wonderful gallery!

Here's what I used:
STAMPS: Watercolor Wonder by PTI, French Script BG by SU.
ACCESSORIES: Adhesive bling embellishment by Recollections, Flower die by PTI, Leaves (? source), Foam tape.

Easter Wishes

Another cold and wintry day with snow coming down fast and furiously while I'm coloring up a springtime Easter card! :-(  I created this for the Play Date Cafe Challenge that uses these  gorgeous colors and also for the Paper Players Challenge using this fun sketch by Anne Marie.

I inked up this new Flourishes' image using Memento Tuxedo Black on X-Press It Blending Card then colored with Copics.  The cream panel was embossed using a plaid patterned EF for some texture.  Papers are from a mystery pad - lol!  The cover is missing and I can't recall it's name.

STAMPS: Easter Wishes (Flourishes)
PAPER: Vintage Cream (PTI), ? DP
ACCESSORIES: Plaid EF, Sentiment flags die by Lil Inker Designs, Vintage Floral border punch by MS
COPICS: Egg-E50, E51, E53
                Peony-RV55, RV63, RV66, Y13
                Small flowers-Y13, Y15
                Leaves-YG21, YG23, YG25
                Ribbon-BG53, BG57
                Sentiment-YG0000, YG00

Bit of Texture

Good Friday everyone! TGIF and I'm off this weekend with a laid back schedule! I wanted to play along with Flourishes' Bit of Texture Challenge to celebrate their new release this week!  They never disappoint with wonderful images and sentiments!  This is also for Jen's Deconstructed Sketch Challenge and the colors are for the Play Date Cafe challenge.  I colored with Copics, paper pieced the pillow and added texture through burlap, rhinestones, a button and lots of layering.

STAMPS: On the Porch (Flourishes), Tiny Tags (PTI)
PAPER: Tangerine pad from The Sweetest Thing collection by MME, Black, White
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black
ACCESSORIES: Circle Nesties, Rhinestones, Burlap, Button, Pennant die, Gingham ribbon
COPICS:  YR02, YR04, YR07, E97, E99, Y19, Y21, C00, G0000, G000, G00, G02.

Splash of Blue

Jen Shultz has a great layout for this week's Deconstructed Sketch Challenge and I used the colors in the Play Date Cafe Challenge to use black and white with a splash of blue.  I love this butterfly image...colored it with Copics: B21, B23, B24, B26, C3 then fussy cut and popped it with X-Press It foam tape. 

STAMPS: Everyday Miracles by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps
PAPER: DP by Recollections at Michael's, Black, White, X-Press It Blending Card
ACCESSORIES: Butterfly lace trim by Wright's, Black satin ribbon, Oval Nestie, Flag die by 'Lil Inker Designs.

The Open Sea

 It was a beautiful day off...got more flowers planted, picked up a flat of fresh, local strawberries (pretty much at the end of the season for us), did a mountain of laundry, ate supper out with our middle son, and managed to squeeze in some inky time to make this card for the Play Date Cafe Challenge (use colors - navy, light blue and red) and for the Deconstructed Sketch Challenge. I tweaked the circle placement a bit so I wouldn't cover up the red burlap border so much.

STAMPS:The Open Sea by SU
PAPER: Night of Navy, White, SU DP from a 6x6" pack
INK: Night of Navy, Bashful Blue
ACCESSORIES:  Large dotted EF, Large flag die by Lil Inker Designs (each side trimmed by 1/8"), Circle Nesties, Baker's twine, Anchor charm (Michael's-in jewelry section), Star brads, Burlap trim from Funkie Junkie.

Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

Always On My Mind

After a busy day off, I'm winding down with this card which I created for a couple of challenges:

Play Date Cafe
Viva la Verve - sketch by Amber.
I decided to play with some new goodies from Lil Inkers Design and really love the large banner die!  These colors were also a change from my norm and I'm really liking them as well!

STAMPS: Flags and Tags Stamps by Lil Inker Designs
PAPER: Brocade Blue, Almost Amethyst, Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive, Frond DP by Memory Box, Inc.  
INK: Elegant Eggplant
ACCESSORIES: Fern punch by MS, Mini rolled roses Die-Namics by MFT, Dies by Lil Inker Designs, Adhesive pearls.

Dali Decals Inspiration

Steph has another fun website, Dali Decals, for the Inspiration Challenge on SCS! I chose the Eiffel Tower decal and stamped this Tim Holtz image in Blue Bayou on Vintage Cream CS. The diamond argyle stamp was done with Cameo Coral ink. The edges were distressed and sponged and layered on Blue Bayou CS. Some bling, a Prima, crinkled Baja Breeze seam binding and a Garden Gate deep punch border finish off this card. Paper is from the Two Scoops pad by BasicGrey. I used the beautiful colors for the Play Date Cafe Challenge to use blueberry, cream & dusty rose.

Birthday Poppies

It's a beautiful, sunny Mother's Day and I'm so glad I'm off work and can enjoy the time at home. Following church, we opted to avoid the crowded restaurants and just have a cookout at home. We ate in our new sunroom and enjoyed the breeze through the screens without fighting any bugs! This card is a CASE of Jo (aka reddydyisco) who is the FS this week on SCS. She has a number of poppy creations, but I went with her colors in this card. I used the masking technique for the images and colored with Copics. The layout is for the Totally Gorjuss sketch challenge and it also works for the Play Date Cafe Challenge to be inspired by this picture using red, yellow gold & white. I'm also entering this card in the Crazy 4 Challenges to use lots of flowers.
STAMPS: Poppy Patch (Flourishes), Sentiment Flags (Lil' Inker Designs).
PAPER: Modern Homemaker (OA), Summer Days (Echo Park), Real Red, White.
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black.
ACCESSORIES: Nesties, Adhesive pearls, Button, Baker's twine, Copics.

You Mean the Whirl to Me

This is my first attempt at making a pinwheel...the newest craze in papercrafting! It was so easy using Lil' Inker Design's die (which is currently sold out but due to be back in stock within a couple of days). The colors were inspired by this photo from the Play Date Cafe Challenge. The layout is for the Card Patterns Weekly Sketch Challenge.
STAMPS: Pinwheel Sentiments (Lil' Inker Designs)
PAPER: Stella & Rose Hazel papers by MME, White
INK: Real Red, Versafine Onyx Black
ACCESSORIES: Pinwheel die (Lil Inkers Designs), Baker's twine, Button, Grommet die, Lace.

Tulip Corner

It's a dismal, cold and blustery March day, so will have to warm things up with a spring creation in my stamp room! Just got this tulip corner stamp in the mail yesterday, so it was perfect for the Stamping in Time ODBD challenge to use something new. I used the purple/blue/white colors for the Play Date Cafe color challenge...coloring the image with Copics and layering with Plum Pudding (PTI), Marina Mist (SU) and white. The sentiment was stamped over the triple layered mat stack dies from MFT. This card is also for Paper Sundaes Challenge to use embossing. I used two EFs from SU: Square Lattice and Framed Tulips.
STAMPS: Tulip Corner (ODBD), I Am the Way (ODBD) - sentiment.

Note of Thanks

I love the weekly layouts for MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge! The circle element gave me another chance to use my newest fave image. I also am playing with the Play Date Cafe Challenge to use black and white with a splash of color. I wanted to use some Webster's Pages DP for the vertical strip, so used ivory with black instead of white. Do I hear sirens in the distance - lol? The blouse was paper-pieced with SU DP from their Jolly Holiday pack. Copics were used to color in the remainder of the image. I'm off today and looking forward to catching up with some challenges between multiple laundry loads.
STAMPS: Who's That Musical Girl? (MFT), Sentiment Flags (Lil Inker Designs)
PAPER: Webster's Pages Lullaby Lane & Life's Portrait combo pack, Vintage cream (PTI), Black, Cherry Cobbler
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black
ACCESSORIES: Nesties, Doily lace Die-namic by MFT, Cherry Cobbler seam binding, CB EF

3 Challenges in 1

This card is for 3 challenges:
Crazy 4 Challenges - hearts
Play Date Cafe - picture inspiration
Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge
I started by flipping Karen's sketch, so I could use this digi image by Mo's Digital Pencil - one of the images for the Katie Renz fundraiser. I colored this sweet image with Copics and added some twine to her pigtails. A punched border, some primas and ribbon finish up this girly card.
STAMPS: Mo's Digital Pencil
PAPER: Citronella pad (K&Co), Destination Paradise (Me & My Big Ideas), Pink Pirouette, Neenah Solar White
ACCESSORIES: MS heart border punch, Copics, Ribbon (Mike's), Twine, Primas