It's a Good Day

Welcome back!  I hope you had a lovely Christmas and are able to take a breather before heading back to work.  We had a great time with my side of the family, playing with the littlest at 1 years old, and going head to head on the pool table with the older ones.

Well, I know you came to see a card so I'll get on with sharing my latest.  I used the current sketch from Mojo Monday and the new Happy Home stamp set available a week from Tuesday!

The stamp set has three different scenes, and I found this one so sweet, especially when accompanied by this sentiment.

The scene on the tag was created by stamping in Archival Basic Black, then lightly sponging the sky with Pool Party and the grass with Wild Wasabi.  The green in the retired dsp is Gumball Green but I no longer have an ink pad in that color, so I had to substitute.  The clouds are from another scene in the set, which I stamped on a scrap of Whisper White, then trimmed out with my Paper Snips.  I used a Blender Pen to color the kite, the boy and to add a bit of Early Espresso to the dog.

Thanks for dropping by today!  As always, your visit and comments are so appreciated!  I've add a link above so you can visit Mojo Monday and check out the always amazing inspiration.

Hugs,

Stef


Products details:
Stamps:  Happy Home
Paper:  Whisper White, Pool Party, Gumball Green, Epic Day This & That
Ink:  Pool Party, Wild Wasabi, Daffodil Delight, Calypso Coral, Early Espresso, Archival Basic Black
Other:  Chevron Textured Impression Embossing Folder, retired Pool Party and White twine, 1" & 1 1/4" Circle punches, Ornate Tag Topper punch, Blender Pen, Essentials Wood Elements, Paper Snips

Thanks, Karen!

Welcome back on this Christmas Eve of 2015!  Today I have not a holiday card but instead one with sincere thanks to Karen Giron for the years of sketches both on her personal blog and on the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.  Karen has decided to discontinue the SSSC as her life is taking her in a different direction and so SSSC #300 is the final hurrah!

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge

Still playing around with the Birthday Blooms stamps set (available on January 5th in the new Occasions Catalogue), this time I used the smaller flower in the set.  It was stamped with Archival Basic Black and using an Aqua Painter, water colored the image with reinkers.  After it dried, it was fussy cut with my Paper Snips.

I started with a Lost Lagoon card base, then added strips of Birthday Bouquet designer series paper (also available January 5th).  Since the dsp already had polka dots, I chose to use Mossy Meadow satin ribbon in lieu of the round embellishments in the sketch.  After the flower was adhered to the circle, the sentiment was stamped in Mossy Meadow.

Please use the link above to visit the blog and see the design team's great takes on the sketch.  I found Karen's blog in my early crafting days and she, as well as her design teams, have provided so much inspiration.  I will miss my weekly Sunday morning visits!

Thanks for taking the time to look and I hope you have a joyful Christmas!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Birthday Blooms, Watercolor Trio
Paper:  Whisper White, Pool Party, Lost Lagoon, Watercolor, Birthday Bouquet dsp
Ink:  Archival Basic Black, Watermelon Wonder, Blushing Bride, Old Olive, Mossy Meadow
Other:  2 1/2" Circle punch, Circles Collection framelit, Mossy Meadow Satin Ribbon, clear Wink of Stella, Frosted Sequins. 

Flowering Birthday

Hi there and welcome back!  Tonight I'm sharing a card made for the current challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.  It's a really great sketch that can be used in many, many ways.

Freshly Made Sketches

I decided to use a new stamp set available free during the upcoming (starting January 5) Sale-A-Bration with a $50.00 purchase.  It's perfect for large canvases, although I had to turn the base the long way to accommodate the images.


The floral images are from the Flowering Fields stamp set, which has 6 different wild flower images and the cute little butterfly.  The flowers were stamped in Archival Basic Black and colored with a Blender Pen and reinkers in Blackberry Bliss, Old Olive, Pear Pizzazz and Calypso Coral.  The butterfly was colored with Hello Honey and Delightful Dijon, then given a little sparkle with coat of clear Wink of Stella, available in the upcoming Occasions catalogue.

The base of Blackberry Bliss card stock was covered with a piece of Wildflower Fields designer series paper, also available free during Sale-A-Bration.  The stamped panel was adhered to a slightly larger piece of Old Olive then popped up on the base with Dimensionals.  The sentiment from Birthday Blossoms (2015-2016 Catalogue) was heat embossed with Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder on Vellum, then layered on top of the stamped panel with Glue Dots.  Gold Sequins and tiny pearls were then place on top of the vellum to hide the glue dots.

I love winter time (crazy, I know) and it's a bit early to anticipate flowers blooming, but I always love making cards with flowers, whatever the weather!  If you're like me, you're going to LOVE the offerings in the upcoming Occasions and Sale-A-Bration catalogues.

Thanks for taking time to drop by and take a look, and of course, comments are always appreciated!  I've added a link above to FMS so you can take in the wonderful inspiration and perhaps even join in, as the challenge deadline has been extended to January 4.

Hugs,

Stef

Meadow Birthday

Hello again!  Hope you're having a great weekend!  I was able to whip out my card in very short order today, using this week's sketch challenge at Pals Paper Arts.

Pals Paper Arts

A niece's husband is having his birthday soon and I thought the new In the Meadow stamp set (available January 5 in the new Occasions Catalogue) would work perfectly.  They both hike and camp year round, so this scene seemed perfect.

Both the mountain range and tree stamps were inked up in Archival Basic Black ink and stamped on a panel of Very Vanilla card stock.  Using an Aqua Painter, Crumb Cake and Tip Top Taupe were used to color the mountains, the meadow and grass in Mossy Meadow, and water in Soft Sky and Tempting Turquoise.  I used very loose strokes and tried not to let the brush get too wet so the paper wouldn't warp too much.  The leaves were first inked in Pear Pizzazz but it looked too close to the green in the meadow, so Hello Honey and Tangelo Twist were added to give better contrast.

After using my heat tool to dry the paper thoroughly, the colored panel was adhered to a slightly larger piece of Soft Sky card stock and retired twine was wrapped around the bottom.  The sentiment from Crazy For You was inked up in Tempting Turquoise on Very Vanilla, punched out with the Large Oval punch and layered on the piece of Mossy Meadow punched with the Extra Large Oval punch.  Very easy and clean.

Thanks for taking a look!  As always, your visit and comments are so appreciated.  Be sure to use the link above to visit PPA and enjoy all the amazing inspiration!

Hugs,

Stef

Celebrate Blossoms

Hello again!  Today I have a card to show you made with this week's sketch challenge at Splitcoaststampers and for the weekly challenge at Global Design Project to make a card with the celebrate theme.  Most of the products shared today are new, available in the upcoming Occasions catalogue available 1/5/16.

Global Design Project

SCS Weekly Sketch Challenge

I continue my love affair with the largest flower image from Birthday Blooms.  This time I've colored it with an Aqua Painter on Watercolor paper with Blushing Bride, Rose Red, Wild Wasabi and Garden Green reinkers.  I could not resist the desire to use Wink of Stella (also available 1/5/16).  It's so sparkly and pretty!  The Clear version was used on the leaves and petals, then Gold colored the stamen in the middle of the flower.  Gorgeous!

The thick Whisper White base was covered with a piece of the new Love Blossoms Designers Series Paper Stack designer series paper.  This was topped with a panel of Blushing Bride card stock, with the upper portion cut out with a Squares Collection framelit, then layered on a slightly smaller piece of Whisper White card stock.  After the  floral image was colored, it was fussy cut with my paper snips and mounted with Dimensionals on the Blushing Bride panel.

The sentiment is from the Expressions Natural Element, also treated with a coat of clear Wink of Stella (seriously, I think I'm addicted!!).  Gold Metallic sequins were added as the final touch.

Be sure to use the links above to enjoy all the great inspiration!  Thanks for visiting today and I hope the remainder of your weekend is not too hectic as we head towards the final days before Christmas!

Hugs,

Stef

Bloom For You

Hello again!  I hope your weekend has been going well.  I was excited to receive my pre-order for the upcoming Occasions and Sale-A-Bration catalogues, which will be going live January 5th.  I immediately fell in love with the new Birthday Blooms stamp set, and it was the first to be inked up.  I've used the current sketch from Freshly Made Sketches for my card layout.

Freshly Made Sketches

I began by stamping the largest bloom in Archival Basic Gray on a panel of watercolor paper.  Using an Aqua Painter, I water colored the flowers with Blushing Bride and Watermelon Wonder, the leaves with Old Olive and Mossy Meadow.  I took my color cue from the colors in the new Birthday Bouquet designer series paper that is part of the Birthday Blooms suite of products.

Once the water coloring was complete and the paper dry, my plan was to adhere the entire panel to a slightly larger Blushing Bride panel, but then I thought I should go around the edge of the flower with a light neutral color with the Aqua Painter. However, that turned out to be a disaster (looked horrible!), so I used my paper snips to fussy cut the flower.  In hind sight, it might have been less time consuming to recolor a new image but after the card was finished I realized I rather like it popped up with Dimensionals, with the leaves hanging over a couple edges.

One of the new products Stampin' Up! has decided to carry is Wink of Stella - swoon!   Love the sparkly finish it left on the flower petals!  It's a bit hard to see in the photos but IRL it looks amazing!  The other great thing is how easy the application is with the soft brush tip and it's not messy to use.

Thanks for visiting today.  As always, your visit and comments mean so much!  Be sure to use the link above to visit the FMS blog and check out all the gorgeous inspiration!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Birthday Blooms
Paper:  Whisper White, Thick Whisper White, Blushing Bride, Watercolor, Dazzling Details Glimmer Paper, Birthday Bouquet dsp
Ink:  Archival Basic Gray, Blushing Bride, Watermelon Wonder, Old Olive, Mossy Meadow, Crushed Curry
Other:  Scallop Border punch, Clear Wink of Stella, Metallic Sequins, Paper Snips

It's Snow Time!

Welcome back!  I finished a card tonight made for the Let It Snow theme challenge at Paper Players.  I also used last week's challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.

Freshly Made Sketches                       The Paper Players

I decided to substitute a tag for the banner in the sketch.  I used the Happy Scenes and retired Holiday Home stamp sets to create the scene.  The trees were inked up with Pear Pizzazz and then used a Crumb Cake marker for the tree trunks.  The sky was then sponged with Soft Sky and a bit of Pool Party, then the "snow" dots from Happy Scenes stamped in Pool Party.  After Santa and the reindeer were stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black, Dazzling Details was used to create the sparkly snow.

The Pool Party base was partially embossed on the bottom 2/3 on the front of the card with the Softly Falling embossing folder.  The top portion was then covered with a piece of Winter Frost designer series paper and a strip of Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper.  After the glitter dried on the tag, it was adhered to the card and the Snowflake Element added to the top.

That's it for this card.  Pretty easy but still festive with the glitter glue.  Thanks for the visit and I'd love to hear from you if you have a moment to leave a comment!

Hugs,

Stef

Blue Mist Wonderland

Hello again!  Tonight I have two cards to share made with the Wonderland stamp set, one for my son-in law's birthday and the second being one of several Christmas cards made to give to my fellow Stampin' Up demonstrators at a dinner held by our upline next week.  I first made the birthday card and had a left over piece that became inspiration for the Christmas card.

My SIL is a hunter so the elk from Nature Silhouettes seemed a natural addition to the forest in the background.  I started by stamping the trees in Marina Mist, first in the foreground then stamping again without reinking to create the misty looking trees in the background.  I used torn post it notes to mask the foreground while stamping, then sponged Marina Mist around the lower edges and sides of the foreground.

The sky was lightly sponged with Soft Sky, then Craft Whisper White ink was sponged over the entire forest to enhance the "misty" feeling.  After that was done, the elk was stamped with Archival Basic Black.  After the ink dried, the upper left side was punched with a 1" Circle Punch, the panel adhered to a slightly larger piece of Basic Black card stock, then the Antique Brad was added.  Using Dimensionals, the entire piece was popped up on a base of Marina Mist.

This second card began with a Whisper White panel of trees stamped in Marina Mist both in full ink and stamped off once, trimmed down and then Dazzling Details added on the tree limbs.    After that dried, the card stock was naturally a bit warped due to the wetness of the Dazzling Details, so it was adhered with strong adhesive onto a slightly larger piece of Marina Mist to keep it flat.

The finishing touches are the sentiment cut with a Christmas Greetings Thinlit in Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper and the Snowflake Element topped with an Iced Rhinestone.  Very simple and great for mass production.

As always, your visit and comment are so welcome!!  Thanks for dropping by and enjoy the remainder of your weekend!

Hugs,

Stef