Sunday, April 30, 2017

From Butterfly to Dragonfly

Yesterday I did a butterfly and today I decided to do a dragonfly because Crafting With Dragonflies wanted me to show them one!



My card base and mats are Blackberry Bliss (retired), the embossing folder is the retired Hexagon Hive, my DSP is the soon-to-be-retired Inside the Lines. I used a technique that LeeAnn Greff did by spritzing the paper with alcohol and then dropping ink refill on it and spreading it around. The ink refills I used were Pool Party, Bermuda Bay and Pear Pizzazz. Those were the same colors I used to do my dragonfly, which was cut from Detailed Dragonfly Thinlits and stamped from Dragonfly Dreams. I don't usually do a card without a sentiment on the front, but I wanted the front of the card to speak for itself.

Thanks for looking!



Saturday, April 29, 2017

Musical Butterfly

The watercolor paper I used for this card is a Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor card stock. I haven't been happy with it except for the watercolor smooshing card I made awhile back. This technique was one shared by Kim Peck and just involved stamping and "spritzing". I used Sweet Sugarplum, Island Indigo and Rich Razzleberry with the Gorgeous Grunge stamp. When I spritzed it, the water ran down the card front into my Sahara Sand sentiment and off to the side. Perhaps I used too much water or perhaps it's the watercolor paper. I would like advice on what kind of paper to get when I reorder. I thank you in advance.

All other products I have used are Stampin' Up. I was inspired by Just Add Ink #357 "Colour" and Fusion - Musical Butterfly Challenge

These are two of the most fun sites for challenges and I hope you'll visit them if you haven't already. So for my card...the before picture...
and the after picture...

I restamped the sentiment on scrap watercolor paper and adhered it to a scrap of Sweet Sugarplum paper. The music DSP is from This Christmas and the butterfly was from the Butterflies Thinlits and cut out of gold glimmer paper. The sentiment came from the Picture Perfect  stamp set.  The first attempt didn't even pass the Rorschach test...lol!

Thanks for looking!

Friday, April 28, 2017

Earth Day

April 20th was Earth Day so, in remembrance of that, I created this card. SCS WT632 provided a chart that showed the colors involved. My base is Crushed Curry. The DSP is from an old Safari group that I bought at JoAnn's years ago. I used Crushed Curry ink for the flower (Botanical Blooms SU stamp set) that I fussy cut and Early Espresso for the sentiment (Flourishing Phrases SU stamp set). The baker's twine is from a Dollar store, and the embellishments were something I ordered from Stampin' Up but I don't remember when. I tend not to keep track of what I spend and when...lol.


Thursday, April 27, 2017

Thursday Card Group

Well, we have been apart for two weeks and today I was the hostess at a friend's house. Here is the before pic...

and the during pics...


We did a mystery card first, based on Jackie Bolhuis' Mystery Facebook card challenge and here is what "my girls" came up with...




and you have already seen mine on a previous post and a post to come tomorrow!

We had a lot of fun today...plus I think they liked my lasagna and blackcherry jello salad!!


All Things Bright and Beautiful

I have a special person in mind for this card and it will be for a birthday. I used Whisper White for my mats, with the exception of the purple mat. A friend gave me a stack of paper she didn't want and it also included the yellow and lime green. My card base is Perfect Plum and my sentiment (from SU Flourishing Phrases) was stamped with Perfect Plum ink.  I used baker's twine that I bought at a dollar store at the bottom, rather than a strip of card stock. I put dimensionals on the purple mat before I adhered everything to the card base.

The inspiration for this card came from two challenges:


AND


If you are interested in the measurements, leave me a comment and I'll reply. Thanks for looking!

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Roses from Our Garden

RRCB 61Grab our button

The card really needs no explanation except for the Retro Rubber challenge. I used Best of Flowers, which retired March 2014 and the sentiment came from Flowering Florets, which retired May 2014.

I used Strawberry Slush ink (retired) for the sentiment. The flowers were colored with the current SU watercolor pencils (Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, Calypso Coral). The buttons came from blouses I used to have. The square was die cut from Stitched Shapes Framelits.


The roses are from our garden...living in Florida, we get to enjoy them year 'round.

Thanks for looking!

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Everything is Beachy Keen!

Mojo Monday 494 is my sketch challenge for today and Can You Case It is my color challenge.
Image may contain: text

My card has a definite theme and I believe I captured the spirit of the sketch and colors. The stamp set I used is retiring the end of May...Day at the Beach. I hand cut the "banner".

I used Tempting Turquoise, Smokey Slate, and a Versa Mark Pen for inks. Paper/cardstock used were Sky Blue (Office Max), Early Espresso, Smokey Slate, Whisper White and Serene Scenery (Stampin' Up). I hand wrote my sentiment and embossed it with Silver Embossing Powder. I also used a retired Scallop Punch and current Stitched Shape Framelit from Stampin' Up.


Thanks for looking!


Monday, April 24, 2017

Green Bay Packers Colors?



Green and yellow/orange are not my favorite colors (which I may have said before) so I thought this challenge at Sunday Stamps Color Challenge 151 Spring Citrus 
 might be difficult. However, my inspiration was an old DSP that I never cared for and haven't used. I think it might even date back to 2012 or earlier! (I do like the Packers, however!) If anyone knows the name of it, please let me know. 

The layout of my card is based on Sandy Mathis' idea at The Paper Players #341

Thanks for looking!

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Fiesta Time

Today I was inspired by a couple of talented Stampin' Up demonstrators, Mary D. and LeAnne P. Further inspiration came from 

and

and for my card...

The Festive Birthday DSP and the Birthday Fiesta stamp set will be retiring the end of May. The banner was created with the Thoughtful Banners stamp set. My colors are Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise and Pumpkin Pie. This was a quick and easy card thanks to the measurements from Mary!

Thanks for looking!


Saturday, April 22, 2017

Stampin' Up! Tuscan Vineyard

I wanted to use my Tuscan Vineyard stamp set today and just happened to see a card on Pinterest that I wanted to CASE. Thank you, Elizabeth's Craft Room for the inspiration! I came across a challenge site Paper Play Sketches Color Challenge that also gave me inspiration to use Night of Navy, Whisper White and Tip Top Taupe (soon to be retired). Here's the photo for their challenge. 

and here's my card...

Because I used the Floral Boutique DSP from Stampin' Up (retiring May 31), I am also entering Crafty Hazelnuts Patterned Paper April 2017 Challenge. The vineyard stamp was stamped in Night of Navy and die cut using the Layering Ovals Framelits. The little round grape stamp was stamped in Tip Top Taupe and punched with a 1" circle punch. The ribbon is Night of Navy seam binding, which is retired. 

Thanks for looking!



Friday, April 21, 2017

Look at Those Dresses, Look at that Card!

As You Like It  has a challenge going this week and I decided to enter. I made my card specifically for this particular challenge. You had to pick your favorite color (or 2) and tell why. The colors I used are Hello Honey and Mossy Meadow, both retired Stampin' Up products. My reason for choosing these colors can be seen in this photo
Image may contain: 2 people

48 years ago gold and olive green were the colors of the day and I still love them! I'm not so sure my friends were crazy about my choice, however! Aren't they beautiful? I am still friends with them today and I'm still married to that wonderful guy who was crazy enough to marry me! So, for my card...

I CASE'd Mary D's Card and chose to use different DSP from the Serene Scenery pack she used (which is retiring the end of May, along with the Wetlands stamp set). I altered the size of the ovals and the orientation of the sentiment. But best of all is the huge mistake I made...I glued the slim DSP layer on the front inside fold of the card and not on the outside of the fold. Good news is...I had used Tombow glue and realized my mistake immediately. Bad news is...there was glue remaining where I removed the panel and the "Z fold" was adhered to the center front panel. I should send this to Mary so she could get a good laugh. BUT I'm going to keep it for a guy...he'll never notice and will just think it's my style! My style is rectifying goofs!

Thanks for looking!




Thursday, April 20, 2017

Paper Tearing

My card today was inspired by Jackie Bolhuis. She used different colors and rhinestones. I chose Blackberry Bliss, Mossy Meadow, Lost Lagoon and used a marker to make the 3 dots in the corners. Paper tearing is not my forte and I'm not sure I'll do it again. Perhaps there's a simple tutorial out there for me! The card base is embossed with the Falling Petals TIEF. I found a very uncomplicated challenge for this card at Aud Sentiment #178. The stamp set I used was Artistically Asian by Stampin' Up. I love this sentiment because right now we are trusting as we don't understand...but we also trust when we do understand :-)


Thanks for looking!

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Stampin' Up! Vertical Greetings


I am entering this card in these three challenges, one of which has a deadline at 5 PM EST! (It is 4:52!) Wish me luck. 

My colors were from Inspiration Palette Challenge - A1917; sketch from Freshly Made Sketches #284 - A Sketch by Karren;
and CAS easy for WWC115 - Gail's Clean & Simple "Spring Theme" Challenge.

The colors I used were Pear Pizzazz, Pink Pirouette, Marina Mist and Elegant Eggplant. The sentiment is from Vertical Greetings. The butterflies are gold foil punched with the retiring Bitty Butterfly.

Thanks for looking!

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Mystery Card

Last night I participated in another Mystery Card done by Jackie on Facebook. This morning I decided to post what I made for these three challenges:


and


For the first clue, Jackie gave us 10 minutes to get our cardstock, inks, embellishments and cutting ready. I chose Crushed Curry for my base, DSP from the retiring Affectionately Yours paper for my mat and banner. On Very Vanilla cardstock, I stamped the sentiment (from a Paper Pumpkin kit) in Night of Navy. I stamped a heart from a Paper Pumpkin kit in Crushed Curry and fussy cut it and adhered it to the banner. I used the white gel pen to add stitches along the banner so it would be more visible. I tied Crushed Curry baker's twine around the bottom of the sentiment piece and tied a bow. I added 3 rhinestones for my bling. You can see how the mystery stamp along works here...Mystery Stamp-A-Long...and here is what I ended up with...

I wish I had sponged the sentiment edges! Oh, well, thanks for looking!






Thursday, April 13, 2017

CASE'd My Own Card!

Now, in the card making world, CAS means clean and simple. If you add an "E", it means either "Copy and Share Everything" or "Copy and Selectively Edit". On April 9 I created a CAS card that I was not thrilled with. So, today, I decided to copy and selectively edit certain elements. Because we are headed for Disney, I am not going to enter any challenges. I just wanted to show you what you can do to change the course of a card.


Check out my previous card by clicking on the "older post" at the bottom until you get to April 9.

Thanks for looking and Happy Easter peeps! I won't be posting again until April 18.

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Delicious Colors

There must be something wrong with the photo settings on my new iPhone. I am so disappointed with how my pics are coming out for my cards. This one is a Sahara Sand base, a piece of Mint Macaron stamped with the flower from retired SAB Avant Garden. I stamped Perfect Plum full strength twice and stamped off once for two of them. The Perfect Plum panel is stamped in Sahara Sand using the Brushstrokes stamp. My sentiment is from Avant Garden. I punched candles in the Tags and Labels die cut using a retired mini candle punch. I had to cut the tag in half so I could do that as the punch was not deep enough. Then I glued it back together and covered the seam with baker's twine. The purple bling is something a friend gave me.

So, with all that said, I am entering this card in The Paper Players Color Challenge by Joanne - PP339 


and 


Thanks for looking! Oh, and if you have any suggestions for my phone camera, I'd appreciate that!!

  

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Monogrammed Thank You

I looked at the challenges this morning and at 9:30 PM I decided to make my card thinking I remembered what the two were that I wanted to enter. Well, let's see if they can stretch their imaginations like I did! Here's my card...


and here are the two challenges...


and



For my card I used Pink Pirouette, Blushing Bride and Falling in Love DSP. For my "flower", I used the retired 1 1/4" scallop punch and the letter F from the Little Letters Thinlits dies (retired). The additional lace trim is Venetian Crocheted Trim (retired). I embossed the pink pieces with an embossing folder made by Darice. Today a lot of my stamps, embossing folders and dies were put on the SU list of items that will be retired May 31. I am retired and tired. Nighty night!

Thanks for looking!!





Sunday, April 9, 2017

Less Is More

This challenge site is very difficult for me but since it is Palm Sunday and I'm off to church, it became very easy!

Challenge 323. Hopefully it fits all the criteria...CAS (clean and simple) with lots of white space; "curve"...the actual challenge; one layer; and one focal point. My focal point is that I am thankful and blessed, especially today!!

The stamp set I used is Stampin Up's retired Paisleys and Posies. For my colors, I chose the inks from SCS CC629

Thanks for looking!

Pammie's Inky Pinkies Challenge #2411

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