Just A Note for The Flower Challenge

Hello friends!  Here we are, mid-October - oh my, the weeks are flying by aren't they?  I won't go into how many days until Christmas yet.  Instead I'm here with my reminder card for The Flower Challenge, where we are adding a stencil to our floral card.

TFC 96R

I decided to use the embossing folder and stencil from an older Craft Your Life set from Altenew. 

These colors are nicely muted and to me, are perfect for fall.  I used the Sugarplums and Nature's Wonders color families with the stencils.  The image is so large that I went with an A7 sized card.  

The panel was trimmed down and matted on a metallic silver cardstock, from which the sentiment was also die cut.  The mat was cut with one of the Spellbinders 5x7 Matting Basics dies, which leaves an nice embossed edge. I didn't have any cardstock that matched the plum inks, so I used the Grape Agate to blend a custom background, then adhered everything to the card base.  Lastly, a white gel pen was used to make the ends of the stamen visible.

The picture below is at an odd angle because I was trying to show the embossed dimension but I'm not sure you can really tell.

Have you joined us yet this month?  If not, you have until Friday the 25th to put your beautifully stenciled card in the gallery.  The design team has a new batch of stunning cards to inspire you, which you can find by using the link above.  I hope to see your card in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by and take care!

Stef

• Altenew CRL: Fragrant Flowers embossing folder and stencils
• Altenew Scripty Sentiments dies
• Spellbinders 5x7 Matting Basics A die
• Altenew Sugarplum and Nature's Wonders ink families
• Sakura White Gelly Roll pen

Grateful for You for The Paper Players

Hello friends!  This week at The Paper Players the lovely Joanne has chosen an autumnal color combination for our inspiration.

The Paper Players

I'm also joining the lovelies at Inkspirational with their gorgeous mood board inspiration.  I was inspired by the leafy photo and the fall colors.

Inkspirational #326

 

I had many, many ideas for these colors but in the end, I played around with messy, wonderful mica sprays to create my card.  And yes I did have orange and brown fingers for a day lol!

Right off the bat, I have to say the photos do not do justice to the beautiful colors and shine of the background.  I began with a half sheet of mixed media paper from Vicky Boutin and used two brown and two orange Distress Mica Sprays on the paper, adding water so they would mix a bit then set it aside to dry.

When it was dry the colors had mixed more than I anticipated.  Don't get me wrong, it was really pretty but the browns had dominated the oranges.  I put the panel in my Misti, arranged all the leaf stamps, then used a brown pigment ink to stamp.  That didn't show up well, so ended up gold heat embossing the leaves then used gold metallic paint to add splatters.

Next, I poured a bit of the mica spray onto a palette and used a small brush to paint the lightest orange over some of the leaves and I was so happy with that small step! When everything dried a second time the panel was die cut, wrapped with some gold twine and matted onto a dark brown rectangle before adding to the 5"x 7" ivory card base.  The sentiment was also gold heat embossed, die cut with the matching die and added to the card front along with some copper-ish gems.

We would love to have you share what you create with these colors this week!  The challenge remains open until 3 pm EDT Friday 10/18.  In the meantime, please take a moment to see all the beautiful cards my talented teammates have created for your inspiration over on the challenge blog linked above.

Thanks for visiting and take care!

Stef

• Simon Says Stamp Autumn Leaves and Graceful Florals (sentiment) stamps and die
• Waffle Flower A7 Frames rectangle die
• Spellbinders 5" X 7" Matting Basics A die
• Rangers Jack-O-Lantern, Mulled Cider, Crooked Broomstick and Fallen Acorn Distress Mica Stain Sprays
• SSS Ultra Fine Gold embossing powder
• Altenew Gold Metallic paint
• HoneyBee Stamps Fall Is In the Air gems

Always for The Paper Players

Hello friends!  Here we are, the first Sunday in October and it's time for a new challenge at The Paper Players.  This week the lovely Jan has chosen the theme Love is in the Air.  

The Paper Players

 

Last month my husband and I celebrated our wedding anniversary and I struggled a bit trying to decide what to make.  I usually create something rather fun or silly but this time I went for something a bit more elegant.  

My husband and I share a love of dragonflies, and I've had this die for a couple years and never used it, so I decided it would work.  I began with an A7 piece of Peacock cardstock and ink blended Black Soot Distress ink around the edges, leaving the center with a large "glow".  The dragonfly and the arched frame were all cut from black cardstock, and the wing layer from matte gold, then I positioned them on the panel so I could get the placement for the sentiment, which was heat gold heat embossed.

Before adhering everything, I added a bit of metallic gold paint splatter for some additional interest since this was a pretty simple card.  And the good news was that he really liked the card, so that made me happy. ;-)

So what are you inspired to create for this challenge?  There are plenty of options because love cards can be for all types of occasions.  Please be sure to check out what my wonderfully talented teammates have made, then hopefully join us this week!  The challenge remains open until 3 pm EDT on Friday, October 11th.

Thanks for visiting and take care!

Stef

• Altenew Delicate Dragonfly
• Simon Says Stamp Nested Domed Arches Frame die
• MFT How to Say I Love You stamp set
• Altenew Metallic Gold paint

Hello for The Flower Challenge

Hello friends!  Today begins a new challenge at The Flower Challenge and this month we're adding stencils to our floral cards.  Easy peasy!

TFC 96

I have many, many floral images with stencils, including stamps and embossing folders, but this time I decided to use a previously foiled BetterPress floral image that had a coordinating stencil.

The stencils include two for the petals, two for the leaves and one for the flower centers, so it's not a true "layering" stencil in the sense there are more than one for shading purposes.  So I decided to use a set of pink and green inks from Altenew that has four colors per color family, and used the lightest and medium for one petal or leaf, then the 2nd lightest and darkest for the others.

I used Altenew mini, detailed and micro mini blending brushes to blend on the ink to achieve some shading, although you can see the lightest flower petals don't have much contrast.  I love the muted colors for fall.  

With the stenciling complete, I messed around trying to find a sentiment that I liked.  I knew I wanted gold, and finally landed on die cutting the large hello out of gold cardstock and matting both the sentiment and the trimmed down stenciled image on dark green cardstock.  I decided not to add any embellishments because the background already had lots of foiled gold dots in-between the floral images.

This is such an easy challenge, I do hope you'll join us at least once this month!  In the meantime, take a moment to visit the challenge blog and see what my amazingly talented teammates have created to inspire you!  The challenge will remain open until Friday, October 25th.

Thanks for visiting and take care!

Stef

• Spellbinders Cosmos Backdrop BetterPress and Stencil Combo
• Simon Says Stamps Fancy Hello dies
• Altenew Pink Crystal, Mauve, Berrylicious, Acai Berry, Rhodolite, Silver Sage, Jade, Eucalyptus and Forest Fern Fresh die inks
• Concord and 9th Evergreen cardstock

Wicked for Color Hues

Happy October, friends!  It's the first of the month and time for a new challenge at Color Hues.  The lovely Julie B. has chosen a wonderful color combination of purple and orange, which made my Halloween-lovin' heart so happy!  Of course, there are many ways one can use this combination - a graphic design, flowers or just a Fall themed card with pumpkins.

Color Hues

I'm also joining Inkspirational, where the theme is Headwear, and my old teammates at Sunday Stamps for a color challenge that couldn't be more perfect for my card with purple, orange and black.

Inkspirational #325

SSC #345

So, no surprise, I went full Halloween in creating this card, keeping a tradition with my grandkids that started when they were small, so, so many years ago lol!

This card is a combination of four die sets, three from Tim Holtz's recent release and one from Spellbinders.  The card size ended up being 5" x 7" to encompass the whole scene.

I started by ink blending the background.  The moon stencil comes with a mask, so I used that while blending some orange around its perimeter then moving on to purples and black.  When I removed the mask, I lightly inked it with orange, using the stencils to create darker areas on the moon, then went over it lightly with a darker orange to mute the color somewhat. I again used the moon mask while adding white acrylic paint splatters to emulate stars in the sky.

The witch, pumpkin, hat, shoes and sentiment were all die cut from various pieces of glitter paper.  I die cut the sentiment a second time from black cardstock and layered beneath the orange glitter paper to give it more stability.  The graveyard and bats were also die cut from black.  Vellum with double sided adhesive on the back was used for the ghosts, which made adhering them very easy and I didn't have to find ways to hid adhesive.  The last step I took before adding all the images to the card front was to use an orange Copic marker to darken the orange glitter paper. 

I am very happy with how this turned out. Now my husband wants me to create one like it to hang in the front window by the door (obviously, we both love Halloween!).  

What are you inspired to create with these colors?  I encourage you to head over to the challenge blog (linked above) and see what my talented teammates and wonderful guest designers Trina Pham and Stephanie Lanzalotto came up with and hope to see your card in the gallery!  The challenge will remain open until 9 am EDT Monday October 14th.

Thanks for visiting and take care!

Stef

• Spellbinders Witchin' Heels
• Tim Holtz/Sizzex Vault Fright Night (graveyard and ghosts), Vault Gothic Portraits (wicked sentiment), and Vault Wicked (bats)
• Picket Fence Haunted Moon Stencils
• Villainous Potion, Wilted Violet, Rusty Hinge, Wild Honey, Carved Pumpkin and Black Soot Distress Inks

Gratitude for The Paper Players

Hello friends!  It's the fifth Sunday of the month and that means we have a Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge at The Paper Players this week!  The amazing Claire is hosting and created this fun TTT board to inspire you!

The Paper Players

My initial choice was to go across the top row, but in the end, my card also fit left to right diagonal as well as the center column.

I couldn't decide which way to go but then I challenged myself to use some patterned paper.  I don't have a lot (I purged most of it years ago) but have since acquired some through card kits or very selective purchasing.  

The background is a piece of that pp that was included in a card kit about 3-4 years ago. This piece a pretty vintage style collage and even after trimming it down I was able to capture a sunflower and pumpkin for the background.  For the "table" I found a piece of brown from another paper pack and embossed it with a woodgrain folder, although you really can't tell in the pictures.  

Next, I went to my Fall dies and found the pumpkin already ink blended and assembled. The same thing happened when I was searching through my Autumn themed stamp sets.  The stamp set I pulled out had the leaves colored and die cut, and the sentiment already stamped, so I just used the coordinating die for it.  I used a rounded corner punch for the base and pp, then assembled all the elements, including the three enamel dots.  And I was really happy with how this turned out!

Claire's TTT board has many opportunities for a variety of cards.  I hope you'll find a column or row that suits your fancy and play along!  The challenge will remain open until 3pm EDT, Friday October 4th.  

Thanks for visiting and take care!

Stef

• Simon Says Stamp Layered Pumpkin die
• SSS/Memory Box Beautiful Moments Collaboration set (Stamptember 2022?)
• Tim Holtz Lumber embossing folder
• P13 Autumn and Honey Bee Stamps Harvest Festival patterned papers
• Spellbinders Corner Rounder punch
• Altenew Warm and Cozy Enamel Dots

Merry & Bright for The Paper Players

Happy Sunday, friends!  It's time for a new sketch challenge at The Paper Players and this week the lovely Joanne has created a fabulous one for us!

The Paper Players

I was bound and determined to make a Christmas card with this sketch, so I started by going through my patterned papers.  I found a package of A2 sized papers that was a gift with purchase from Honey Bee Stamps a year or two ago and chose one to use as the background.

I loved the design on the paper with the packages, branches and flowers, plus the colors were not your standard fare for the holidays.  I had a trimmed down piece in the same package that served as the horizontal strip, then I found a piece of red cardstock that was similar to the background, although a bit brighter.  

After looking at a few branch dies I found this pretty design that arched like the branches in the background.  And bonus!  I had two leftovers from last year stored with the die. And because this made my card assembly so quick, I ended up making two cards. 

The branch was created using a couple colors of Tim Holtz Distress Mica spray and I apologize but I don't recall which colors.  I used the branch die again, this time with a piece of the red cardstock, trimmed off the berries, then added them to the green die cut.  I added sparkle with a shimmer pen then covered them with Glossy Accents for shine.

The sentiment was stamped in a dark teal color that matched the background beautifully, then cut with the matching die.  I cut one more, layered them up and added them to the red strip and my card was complete!

This is a great sketch and I hope you're inspired to come play along with us this week.  My talented teammates have some wonderful inspiration for you, so please head over to the challenge blog and take a peek.  The challenge will remain open until 3 pm EDT on Friday, September 20th.  

Thanks for visiting and take care!

Stef

• Simon Says Stamp Etched Berry Branch die
• SSS Graceful Holiday Greetings stamp and die
• Tim Holtz Distress Mica Spray Stains
• Nuvo Shimmer pen
• Ranger Glossy Accents