Bright and Beautiful

...that's Wendy's theme for the Free 4 All Challenge over on SCS! I was also inspired by the photo for the current Fusion Card Challenge. I hope to create another card using the great sketch. 

I did a wee bit of watercoloring by spritzing the background leaves and vase before stamping. I freehand washed some light blue to "ground "the vase. I then popped some flower and leaf dies to add dimension.  I love this hello die  and decided to add sweet friend to the sentiment and send this to a friend who is recovering from surgery.  Confession: I stamped it first on the card and it wasn't perfectly straight, so I moved to plan B and used a word window punch to cover up the goof. :-) I'll bet that hasn't happened to any of you - LOL!  I just love it when I complete a card and the very last stamping move results in a goof...NOT!

Here's what I used...
STAMPS: Spring Blooms, Coming Up Roses, Hand Lettered Hello - all by WPlus9.
PAPER: Tim Holtz watercolor cardstock, White by PTI.
INK: TH distress inks - Ripe Persimmon, Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters, Peacock Feathers, Tumbled Glass.

A Look Back at ODBD July Release

It's time to take a look back at the July release at ODBD!  Hopefully, you didn't miss the fun new pennant stamps and dies that made their debut on July 1st!  Here's a creation that highlights the versatile Pennant Alphabet Solid stamp set and Pennant Dies.

I love the variety of banner die sizes and thought it would be fun to feature a summertime banner using papers from ODBD Blooming Garden Collection.  The bees - from the ODBD Zinnia stamp set - were die cut, stamped and colored with Copic marker Y19 and the wings were highlighted with a Wink of Stella clear shimmer brush pen.  I discovered I could punch the pennant alphabet with a 3/8" circle punch (SU) which required some minor touch up on the edges using a Copic black marker. The possibilities for sentiments are ENDLESS with this alphabet set!

I often try to "think outside the box" with my dies...to see if I can make them more versatile and decided to turn the large pennant die into some Christmas trees.  I covered each one with washi tape and freehand cut some "trunks" from brown cardstock. The sentiment is from ODBD Peace and Joy stamp set.  The layered dies behind the trees are ODBD Vintage Label dies.

Be sure and check out the rest of the designers' blogs for more pennant inspiration!

Julie * Grace * Lori * Cathy * Chris * Sandy * Dawn * Paula * Wanda * Silke * Stacy * Angie 

Deconstructed Sketch

Jen has another fun layout for us in the newest Deconstructed Sketch Challenge! MFT is the sponsor this week, so had to FINALLY ink up this "Beautiful Baby" stamp set that I've had for weeks and never opened. The patterned paper from Echo Park's Bundle of Joy pad was perfect to pair up with this set.  I stamped the elephant twice (using Baja Breeze ink) so I could fussy cut his ear and pop it with a foam dot.  A very quick and easy baby card! 

Oh, Hello

Loved the July Color Challenge over on the Reverse Confetti blog and knew right away I wanted to pair it with Chupa's fun layout for her Sketchbook Saturday Challenge!  This is pretty self-explanatory, so I'll just get right to the supply list...




STAMPS: Petals 'n Posies (Reverse Confetti), Arrows and Elements (Reverse

Confetti).
PAPER: Ooh La La For Her by MME, A Walk in the Park by Echo Park, Vintage Cream (PTI), Yellow textured paper by Bazzil.
INK: Groovy Guava, Lucky Limeade, Black Licorice by MFT.
ACCESSORIES: Fishtail Flags Die-Namics by MFT, Petals 'n Posies Confetti Cuts, Pretty Panels Diagonal Stripes, Class Act Confetti Cuts, Groovy Guava stitched ribbon by SU.

Color Throwdown

Hey everyone! I'm the hostess for this week's Color Throwdown Challenge and thought these gorgeous throws were a great color inspiration. Will admit I had to really put my thinking cap on when it came time to create a card - lol!

I went with some new PTI goodies that I recently acquired.  Love the modern floral design to this 2-step stamping Garden Grace set...cutting out several of the the flowers and popping them with foam dots for more dimension.

Play along with us this week and you just might be in the spotlight next week by being our guest star stamper!  You don't have to have exact colors to play along, but you do need to have a close resemblance.  Be sure and link your creation to the linky tool at the bottom of the current challenge post on the Color Throwdown Challenge blog.
 

Want some more inspiration from the rest of the design team?  Check them out below...

Barbara Anders
Broni Holcombe   
Cindy Lawrence  
Joan Ervin  
Lori Tecler 
 Monika Davis  
Tammy Hershberger  
Vickie Zimmer  
Wanda Cullen (you are here)
Diane Jaquay (July Guest Designer) 

STAMPS: Garden Grace (PTI), Phrase Play #5 (PTI).
PAPER: Teresa Collins "Memorabilia" pad, MME "Cowboy" pad, Calypso Coral (SU), White textured ready made card base.
INK: Calypso Coral, Soft Sky.
ACCESSORIES: Garden Grace dies by PTI, Happy die by PTI, Jute twine, Button (SU), Enamel dots by MME.

More New Verve

I love the current Retrosketches Challenge layout, so wanted to create with new Verve goodies using that sketch!  I was also inspired by the photo for the Anything Goes theme at Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge - so many soft, pastel shades of color.  Congrats to Stacey on her 100th challenge! Be sure and stop by the Curtain Call blog...there are a boat load of giveaways to celebrate this milestone! Then, I'm also playing along with Verve's July Diva Dare challenge - an "Inside Out" theme to create something on the inside of the card that carries over the theme on the card front. I kept the inside very soft by using pale ink shades - Pink Pirouette and Soft Sky.  The flowers were stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa ink then colored with Copics.  I added some Diamond Stickles to the stamens (need to check if that's the correct plant anatomy term - lol). 

Here's the inside of my card. 
 

STAMPS:
Happy Place;
Moments Remembered;
Borderline - all by Verve.

PAPER:
London Market by PinkPaislee,
Vintage Cream, X-Press It Blending Card.


ACCESSORIES: Happy Doodles dies by Verve; enamel dots by MME, Stitched rectangle die by Lil Inker Designs, Fishtail Flags Die-Namics by MFT, Diamond Stickles.

New Verve Stamps!

Got home from work around 11:00 PM and there was happy mail waiting for me on the kitchen counter! New Verve stamps and dies and there was no way I was going to go to bed without getting inky first - lol!  Jen's Deconstructed Sketch Challenge is one of my fave layouts (one that I've nicknamed the "corner L" sketch).  I started with the dotted border stamped in Soft Suede, then layered a rectangle of designer paper from Prima's Botanical Collection.  I then stamped a Soft Sky chevron border and fussy cut it.  Next came the sentiment die cut with MFT Fishtail Flags Die-Namics.  The flower was stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa on X-Press It Blending Card then colored with Copics.  The butterfly was die cut on vellum then stamped and gold embossed.  A sprinkling of sequins topped off the card. 

The colors are for the Color Challenge on SCS: Soft Suede, Soft Sky, Pear Pizzazz, and Crisp Cantaloupe with the dessert option to create a feminine card.

STAMPS: Happy Place (Verve) - flower and butterfly
                 Moments Remembered (Verve) - sentiment
                 Better Together (Verve) - chevron and dotted borders
ACCESSORIES: Happy Doodles dies by Verve, Citrus Blend sequins by Avery Elle, Gold embossing powder, Wink of Stella clear brush marker.