Petal Path Birthday for the Paper Players #785

Hello friends!  Today at the Paper Players we have our monthly color challenge. The delightful Claire is hosting and she chose a gorgeous color challenge.

Paper Players

I decided to try out a new die set using these colors, so I'll be sharing over at Darnell's Never Before Used Schtuff monthly challenge.

NBUS

I just love this color combination!

 

The Concord & 9th Petal Path die was used to create this card. The die cuts all the pieces in one pass, so I ran it through the die cut machine with each cardstock color and white.  When deciding on the cardstock to use, I was pleased to find I still had a couple of pieces of Stampin' Up Gorgeous Grape.  For the green I used Simon Says Stamp Granny Apple and substituted C&9 Aqua Sky for Coastal Cabana.

Before inlaying all the die cut pieces, I put the aqua panel into my Misti and stamped one of the sentiments from the coordinating stamp set in Aqua Sky ink.  This panel was layered on the white die cut panel for a little dimension then adhered to the card base.  I used two layers for the tulips and some of the flowers.  

For the second layer of the tulips, I first adhered just the stem then added a small piece of foam tape under the leafs. The tulips were glued just at the base then popped up with foam tape.  

I was going to add gems but it seemed to fussy with this playful design, so I added a bit of sparkle on all the flowers with a shimmer pen and called it done.

How will you use these colors?  Before you head off to your crafty space, take a moment to visit the challenge blog where the other DT members have some gorgeous inspiration for you.  The challenge will remain open until Friday, May 17th at 3pm EDT.  I hope you'll join us!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

Wildflower Silhouettes Birthday Card

Hello friends!  Today I'm sharing a card made for the current challenge at Time Out Challenges.  It's a photo challenge and the picture is simply amazing!

TOC 312

It took me a couple of tries to get the colors I wanted that would come close to the colors of the sky.  My colors aren't an exact duplicate but I was happy how the inks looked blended together.

I recently invested in the A7 version of the Waffle Flower Postage Collage dies and stencil.  I thought the colors from the photo challenge would create a pretty setting for the stamped wildflowers, butterflies and dragonflies. 

I laid down the block stencil and blended the sky with SSS Heather, Guava, Shell and Galaxy inks.  Next I used the Wildflower Flower Silhouette Stamps along with one stamp from the Wild Butterflies Silhouette Stamps to create my little scene, then cut the panel with the A7 PC die.

The sentiment was stamped using the WF Sweet Birthday Sentiment Stamp and Die set.  The collage piece was matted with a piece of light purple cardstock.  The last step was to place a few gems around the sentiment.

Here's my second card.  The wildflower images are pretty much in the same place as the first card, but I altered where the butterflies and dragonflies were stamped.  I also used the PC A7 Block die with the same light purple paper to create the frame around the images.

I like both versions, how about you?  Do you like it with the postage edge or with the block die cut?

Thanks so much for stopping by!  

Stef

• WF Postage Collage A7 die, blocks die and blocks stencil
• PC Wild Butterflies stamp
• PC Wildflowers stamps
• WF Sweet Birthday Sentiment stamp and die
• SSS Galaxy, Shell Guava and Heather inks
• Honey Bee Stamps Gingerbread gems

Handpicked Birthday

Hello friends!  Today I'm sharing a birthday card over at Seize the Birthday, where my dear friend, Nancy is hosting the current challenge.  She chose a "toppings" theme I couldn't resist.  Pink?  Yes, please!

STB 325

I also wanted to try out a new die set and create a fun-fold card with it.

The floral die set is from Concord & 9th, and what drew me to it is that there are dies for the florals along with dies to create a pinpoint impression for arranging without cutting into the panel, one to cut out the entire arrangement and two dies to cut either side of the florals, allowing a shaped card front as my card does or to the other direction.

I began by cutting my white card base with one of the edge dies along with the impression die.  After cutting out and adhering all the flowers, leaves and stems with various C&9 cardstocks, a panel of pink was cut at 5.5" x 4.50" and scored to create an A2 panel with a quarter inch on the right to be adhered to the back of the white card base, allowing the pink panel to swing open on the right side of the card after lifting the die cut edge. I hope that makes sense!

Before adhering the pink panel, I used my Misti to position the sentiment so it would be visible beside the florals with the left side of the card closed. After assembling the entire card, both the left and right sides swing open to the interior of the card, where I'll add a personal greeting.  I apologize for not including a photo of that.

I finished things off by adding a few tiny white flowers from another C&9 die set on the pink panel, then using sparkly gems for all the flower centers. 

Thanks for visiting, I appreciate it!  And if you have another moment, take a peek at my Paper Players DT card for our new challenge that went live earlier today.

Take care!

Stef

• C&9 Handpicked dies and Briar & Bloom dies
• Waffle Flower Sweet Birthday Sentiments Stamps

With Thanks for the Paper Players

Hello friends!  It's the first Sunday of the month of May (wow are the weeks rolling by!) and the lovely Jaydee is hosting our theme challenge to create a feminine card.  

Paper Players

For my card, I used some components of the Simon Says Stamp March card kit. Take a look!

While flowers don't necessarily have to be used solely on feminine cards, that's the way it usually ends up on my cards.  I also used a paper doily to "wrap" the flowers and a scallop border die to trim the background panel for lots of feminine detail.  

The flowers, doily, twine and sentiment strip were all from the kit and those things are still available separately at SSS.  I normally use a stamp positioner for stamping but for the technique I used for the flowers, leaves and dies, I pulled out some acrylic blocks.  The stamps were inked up, then I used a sprayer to add a mist of water before stamping on watercolor paper.  I found I had to aim carefully to use just one spray, because more than that caused the images to be blurry, and that wasn't the look I was going for. 

After drying, the stamped images were cut out with the coordinating dies. After adhering them together in the design I wanted, they were tucked into the doily, which was then glued shut and added to the pink background panel.  Next came the sentiment strip and a jute twine bow, with the final touch being the addition of a few sparkling gems.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you'll take a moment to visit the challenge blog, where my talented teammates have some gorgeous inspiration for you!  The challenge will remain open until Friday, May 7th at 3pm.  We'd love to have you join us this week!

Stef

• Simon Says Stamp Watercolor Bouquet Stamps and Dies
• SSS Eyelet Layer Frame Die
• SSS XL EZ Strips sentiment and banner die
• Honey Bee Stamps Aurora Borealis gems

Cheers to You for Color Hues

Hello friends!  We have a new challenge for you over at Color Hues and this time I am hosting!  I've chosen one of my favorite color combinations for the challenge.

Color Hues

As a reminder, you may use any hue of the two challenge colors, so lighter, darker, whatever tone, as long as it's a yellow and a blue.  Neutrals are also welcome (black, white, gray, ivory, brown, kraft and metallics).  So sorry, but green is not a neutral lol!

I'm also sharing over at Seize the Birthday for their Anything Goes portion of the challenge.

STB #325

Okay, let's get to my card! 

For a long time I knew precisely what I was going to create for this challenge, but then...Spellbinders released their Just A Cake Birthday Card Kit and I went in a completely different direction.  Take a look!

As I am always in need of masculine birthday cards, I chose to use the Birthday Brew die set from the kit, Confetti Drop embossing folder and the Just Add Cake stamps and dies.  In addition, I used the Essential Arches and the Color Block Accent Arches, which are not part of the kit.

I love that color block look in yellow and blue!  For the beer mug itself, it was die cut from both light blue and vellum.  Between those two layers a piece of acetate was added to give the look of glass with the beer behind it.  

The watch was easy to put together, once I decided on the colors of metallics to be used.  Sandwiched between the face and band of the watch is a die cut circle of gray to make the watch hands visible.  

The background arch was cut from white, embossed with the Confetti Drop folder, then a yellow ink pad was swiped across the raised elements so they would be more visible, plus give more contrast between it and the beer "foam". I used partial die cutting to create a top-folding arched shaped card base.  The final step, after everything was assembled, was to add a few small clear dew drops for an effervescent look.  

Thanks for stopping by!  Please take a moment to visit the challenge blog for more inspiration by my incredibly talented teammates and guest designer Greta.  The challenge will remain open until Thursday, May 14th at 9:00 am EDT.  I hope you'll join us, I'd love to see your card in the gallery!

Stef

Beautiful Day for the Paper Players

Hello friends!  It's the fourth Sunday of the month and that means a sketch challenge over at the Paper Players.  I'm hosting this week and I've created a sketch that should give you lots of options for your card.

Paper Players

I'm also sharing my card over at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where they are looking for feminine cards.

I really love wreaths and thought the wide-open space on the right side of the sketch would work well for one.

The wreath is from Concord & 9th's Briar & Blooms die set and the banner sentiment is from the matching stamp set.  The wreath, along with the layering leaves and flowers, was die cut from colored cardstock, then I did some ink blending to give them more depth and dimension.

I took my color inspiration from the strip of plaid paper, which was part of an old paper pack from MFT.  The light purple paper was embossed with a floral design, then both pieces were adhered to the card base, with a strip of white to cover the seam.

I had to chuckle because this is my sketch and I almost forgot the shape at the lower right.  I wanted something small, which I found in an older Mama Elephant sentiment set.  The smallest die from a Hexagon die set worked beautifully to die cut the sentiment.  

After gluing the wreath to the card front, a bit of foam tape was added beneath the large purple flowers and also the center of the banner.  The happy birthday was also popped up with foam tape. Then, to finish things off, tiny little gems were added to the tiny little flowers for some pretty sparkle.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Be sure to take a moment to visit the challenge blog for some wonderful inspiration by my talented teammates!  The challenge will remain open until Friday, May 1st at 3pm EDT.  I hope you'll join us this week!

Stef

• Concord & 9th Briar & Blooms stamp and die sets
• Mama Elephant Mini Everyday Messages stamp set
• Simon Says Stamp Tiny Flora embossing folder
• SSS Strips die
• Pinkfresh Studio Nested Hexagon die
• MFT Plaid Patterns Paper Pack
• Spellbinders Fairy Tale, Lavender, Beeswax and Saffron cardstock
• C&9 Sprout and Parsley cardstock
• Inks - SSS Honey and Iris; Altenew Fresh Leaf and Mountain Pine; Versafine Clair Mountain Mist

Little Things for the Paper Players

Hello friends! It's time for a new CAS challenge at the Paper Players and this time the amazing Christy is hosting.  She's chosen a fun theme for our CAS cards.

Paper Players

I don't have many baby animal stamps or dies, but I found one in my stash that is so sweet, I'm glad I remembered it.

I have a number of Anita Jeram stamps from Colorado Craft Company but hadn't used this particular image before.  The little bunnies are just toooooo cute in this scene and the sentiment says it all.

To color the image and create a background, I went back to my roots and used Distress inks to watercolor.  The soft colors are wonderful and perfect for this family of bunnies out for a little jaunt on a Spring day.

When the watercoloring was dry, the panel was trimmed down with an Eyelet Layer frame die.  It was adhered to a panel of light blue then added to the card base with foam tape.  

We would love to have you share your baby animal card with us this week!  I encourage you to head over to the challenge blog where my talented teammates have some wonderful inspiration for you.  The challenge will remain open until Friday, April 24th at 3pm EDT.  Hope to see you there!

Stef

• CCC/AJ Happy Days Stamp set
• SSS Eyelet Layer Frame die
• Lost Shadow, Hickory Smoke, Broken China, Mowed Lawn, Worn Lipstick and Mustard Seed Distress inks

Charmed Birthday for Color Hues

Hello friends!  Today the lovely Sheri is hosting our new challenge at Color Hues.  She has chosen some wonderful spring colors.

Color Hues

Remember that you can use any hues of these colors and you'll see that with the gorgeous cards by the other design team members, as well as mine.

I've always found coral to be a bit tricky to create with using inks or alcohol markers.  But then Jennifer McGuire came to my rescue in a video earlier this year, using three shades of Altenew inks (listed below).  So that's what was used to ink blend all the die cut petals on the flower. (If anybody that has suggestions for coral Copic marker combos that don't look too red, I'd appreciate knowing!)

After the ink blending of both the leaves and flower petals was complete, the flower was assembled, all six layers (!) plus the center pieces.  I didn't care for the shape of the top flower center die that was part of the die set so I substituted one from another set.

Both the Betterpress sentiment and the flower center were inked using Altenew Antique Gold pigment ink.  Texture was added to the green background with a cover plate die, then a die cut lattice became the landing spot for the peony.  Other than fussing with the flower center, this card came together very quickly!

The challenge will remain open until Wednesday April 29th at 3:00 pm EDT.  For more inspiration, I encourage you to visit the challenge blog to see all those gorgeous cards created by my amazing teammates and our guest designer Kelly. I hope you'll join us!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

• Altenew Coral Charm Peony dies
• Spellbinders Woven Lattice Texture die
• Pinkfresh Studio Stitched Diamonds Cover die
• Spellbinders A Little Message Sentiments Press Plate and die
• Altenew Pink Pearl, Coral Bliss and Coral Red inks
• SSS Lime, Limelicicous and Pearfection inks