Basket of Wishes

Hi there!  I'm sharing a card tonight that I made for the challenges at Freshly Made Sketches and Color Throwdown.  The sketch is fabulous in the endless varieties of how you could use it and the colors at ctd are gorgeous and bright!

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I started out by cutting a piece of Strathmore Multi Media paper for the banner then stamped the basket and flowers from Basket of Wishes in Memento Tuxedo Black.  Once dried the images with my heat tool I colored them with various inks and a Blender pen.  I truly did use Melon Mambo for the large flower but it came out more a purple than a pink.  Very weird.  But I still like how it turned out.

I love this stamp set!  It has all sorts of options for mixing flowers and containers, plus some wonderful sentiments.  After the coloring was done I stamped the sentiment, added the Baker's Twine, then popped it up with Dimensionals.  White Enamel dots and clear sequins from the Metallic Sequins group were added as the final touch.

Thanks for your visit today!  I've added links above to both challenges so do be sure to head on over and enjoy all the beautiful inspiration (there's lots!).  Enjoy your weekend!

Until next time...

Stef



Product details
Stamps:  Basket of Wishes
Paper:  Marina Mist, Strathmore Mixed Media
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Cucumber Crush, Calypso Coral, Melon Mambo, Marina Mist, Crumb Cake
Other:  Calypso Coral Baker's Twine, White Enamel dots, Metallic Sequins

Leaf Scene

Hi there.  Today I'm sharing a couple of fall/Thanksgiving cards.  I used the fall scene from the retired Happy Scenes stamp set and cut it out with one of the framelits from Leaflets.  I saw several cards last year using this same technique and thought it would be fun to try out.

The first card I finished on Saturday but hadn't had time to post yet.  I incorporated a piece of the new Warmth and Cheer designer series paper stack, using those colors in the water colored scene.  As I was putting the card together I first cut a couple of leaves from embossed Delightful Dijon card stock to place under the main focal point, but it looked way too drab. So I tried again with Crushed Curry, sponging with Cajun Craze around the edges, and that just made everything pop!  So while the dsp has Dijon in it, the Curry blends just fine IRL.

The focal point was inked up with Stazon Timber Brown then Pool Party was used for the sky and Garden Green the grass.  After using a heat tool to dry, I used a small paint brush to color the leaves in Delightful Dijon and Cherry Cobbler and the pumpkins in what else...Pumpkin Pie!

For my next card I used a similar idea but changed the card layout to use the current sketch challenge at The Paper Players.  I also changed the inks used to color the scene due to the dsp which came from the retired Spice Cake.  When I saw Nance's card (link to her blog) using a different pattern of this dsp I was inspired to dig out what I had left and find a pattern that would work for my card.

While the dsp uses Soft Suede, I liked the contrast using Early Espresso for my card base and panel embossed with the new Cable Knit Dynamic Texture Impression Embossing Folder.  A very deep design to add great texture to a card.  For this scene I incorporated the colors included in the Spice Cake - Pool Party for the sky, Pear Pizzazz for the grass and More Mustard for some of the leaves along with Cajun Craze.

Last week I picked up the retired Seasonal Frame Thinlits on the Clearance Rack at Stampin' Up, primarily for the greetings.  I love the font and while it doesn't seem to stand out against the dsp in the picture, in real life it looks much better.

Thank you so much for visiting!  I've added the sketch and link to The Paper Players, so be sure to head over there and enjoy all the beautiful inspiration.

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Until next time...

Stef


Product details
Card #1
Stamps:  Happy Scenes, Thankful For...
Paper:  Garden Green, Crushed Curry, Textured Pumpkin Pie, Warmth and Cheer dsp, Watercolor
Ink:  Pool Party, Pumpkin Pie, Garden Green, Delightful Dijon, Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, Memento Tuxedo Black, Stazon Timber Brown
Other:  Woodgrain TIEF, Leaflets Framelits, Pumpkin Pie 1/4" Cotton ribbon, Regals Candy Dots

Card #2
Stamps:  Happy Scenes
Paper:  Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard, Spice Cake dsp, Watercolor
Ink:  Pool Party, Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Pear Pizzazz, Stazon Timber Brown
Other:  Cable Knit DTIEF, Pool Party twine, Leaflets Framelit, Seasonal Frame Thinlit

Birthday Bloom

Hi there!  I hope you're having a good weekend thus far.  Today is was truly one of those quintessential early fall days in Western Oregon....cold and foggy this morning, the sun burning through by noon and a crystal clear but still cooler day this afternoon.  I loved it so much I put down my crafting and went for a nice walk to enjoy the day.  The trees are just starting to change here...fabulous!

But you came by to see a card and I have one to share that is reflective of some of those fall colors.

I started by stamping the dahlia with Versamark ink and heat embossed with Stampin' Up's newest embossing powder in Copper (oh, swoon!).  I then decided the sentiment would look lovely embossed in Copper as well, so it received the same treatment.  Next, pushing on a closed Peekaboo Peach stamp pad, I got some ink in the lid, added water with my paint brush and colored the flower.  I started with a light layer then went back in with another layer of color on the outer edges.  It's such a pretty color and looks great for fall.

Originally I planned on using a piece of designer series paper under the embossed panel but then remembered I had not yet used any of the masks from the Seasonal Decorative Masks.  I pulled out this pretty design, taped the mask down over my card base, inked up a sponge dauber with Versamark ink and created that soft design.  I love how it turned out - much more subtle than dsp, and keeping things a bit more CAS.  After adhering the embossed panel to the base, a half ink strip of Copper Foil was added, along with a scattering of pearls.

I'm joining a couple of challenges with this card.  I've use the current challenge at Freshly Made Sketches and the current inspiration challenge at Inspired By All the Little Things.  I've added links below so be sure to pop on over and check out all the beautiful inspiration by both design teams!

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Inspired By #25

Thanks for visiting!

Stef


Product details
Stamps:  Birthday Blossoms, Blooming With Kindness Flower
Paper:  Cajun Craze, Watercolor, Copper Foil
Ink:  Versamark, Peekaboo Peach
Other:  Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder, Seasonal Decorative Mask, Pearl Basic Jewels, Sponge Dauber, Heat Tool

Distress Birthday

Hello and welcome back!  Tonight I'm sharing a card made for this week's Featured Stamper at Splitcoaststampers, Gail aka mamasix.  Each week on SCS a Fan Club member is chosen as the Featured Stamper.  The challenge is to search that person's gallery and find a card to CASE, changing two or more elements.  Well, Gail has an amazing and HUGE gallery but I as soon as I saw her card with a tag here (Birthday Writing), I knew that was the one I wanted to CASE.

I needed a masculine birthday card for a co-worker's birthday this week and decided on using some old Graphic 45 papers and give a distressed look to the card.  I used Gail's basic layout, omitting just a couple of small pieces behind the tag, but changed all other elements (papers, inks, colors).  Where she had a flower off the edge of her tag I added the flying clock that was fussy cut from the Steampunk Debutante Collection dsp.

The colors in the G45 papers don't exactly align with Stampin' Up color collections, but I did find that Delightful Dijon looked nice with the dsp.  After all the pieces were distressed with my Cutter Kit, I sponged with Tim Holtz Distress Inks to make the nice shabby look.  The tag is a shipping label that I trimmed down to fit the card.  It was then stamped with Timeless Textures and Gorgeous Grunge stamps along with the sentiment from the Wetlands stamp set.

Thanks for taking the time to visit and as always, I'd love to hear from you if you have a moment to leave a comment!  I hope you have a great week ahead!

Until next time...

Stef


Product details
Stamps:  Timeless Textures, Gorgeous Grunge, Wetlands
Paper:  Very Vanilla (interior), Basic Black, Delightful Dijon, Graphic 45 designer series papers collections (Steampunk Debutante and Olde Curiosity Shoppe)
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Chocolate Chip, Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Antique Linen, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, Frayed Burlap)
Other:  Hemp Twine, Shipping Tag, Cutter Kit

Bright Hello

Hello again!  So glad it's Friday night, it's been a long week at work.  When I got home today I was able to put together the card I'm sharing tonight.  I've labeled this post Bright Hello but I could have easily called it Bright and Busy Hello LOL!! Take a look.

I began with a panel of water color paper that was stamped with the Distress Dots background stamp in Versamark ink, then heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  It was then taped down to my craft sheet where I washed it with clear water with a large paintbrush.  Next I used a wet paint brush to pick up some Pumpkin Pie ink, followed by Melon Mambo and then Pretty In Pink.  I tried to overlay the inks so I didn't have hard lines between the colors but it didn't totally turn out as I envisioned.  But, because I was short on time, I wasn't able to make a separate attempt, but all in all I'm okay with how it turned out.

After the panel dried, the ribbon, flowers and sequins were added.  The die cut sentiment from MFT was cut twice and layered to make it pop a bit. I used Dimensionals to pop the panel up on the Pumpkin Pie base.

Splitcoaststampers is celebrating the 600th Color Challenge this week!  For the challenge, all the hostesses have chosen their recent favorites and participants join in as many times as you'd like.  I decided to use Maura's choice - #566 with the colors Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink and Pumpkin Pie, although I think all their favs are beautiful combos.

SCS CC600

I've also use this fabulous sketch from Retrosketches for my layout.

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Thank you so much for coming by today.  As always, your visit and comment are so appreciated!  Be sure to use the links above and enjoy all the amazing inspiration at both challenges!

Until next time...

Stef



Product details
Stamps:  Flower Patch, Distress Dots
Paper:  Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, Water color
Ink:  Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie, Pretty In Pink, Versamark
Other:  MTF "Hello There" die, Flower Fair Framelits, Pretty In Pink Satin Ribbon, Melon Mambo 1/8" Stitched Ribbon, Frosted Sequins, Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder

Watercolor Bloom

Hi there, I'm back today with my second card for the current challenge at Color Throwdown.  The lovely combination of light blue, yellow and black was just too lovely not use again.  And I'm glad I did as I like this card much better than my first entry posted yesterday.

In my white card stock scraps was this Blended Bloom image stamped on water color paper, so I decided to use it for this card.  The petals were water colored with So Saffron ink, layering on shadows with the same color ink.  I wanted the stamen to stand out so Daffodil Delight was used.  Once both were dry, Pool Party ink was washed around the background, and Clear Wink of Stella was brushed on the stamen.  You can really see the sparkle in the close up photo below.

Before mounting the water color panel, I used a Stampamajig to align the sentiment at the bottom of the white card stock base.  Once the panel was in place, using lots of Dimensionals to overcome the slight warping, the sequins and ribbon were added.  Love how clean this turned out.

Thanks for the visit and I'd love to hear from you if you have a moment to leave a comment!  I've included the link to Color Throwdown below, so be sure to head over there and enjoy all the amazing inspiration.

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Until next time...

Stef


Product details
Stamps:  Blended Bloom, Watercolor Trio
Paper:  Whisper White, Watercolor
Ink:  Jet Black Stazon, Memento Tuxedo Black, Pool Party, So Saffron, Daffodil Delight
Other:  Clear Wink of Stella, Pool Party Glitter Ribbon, Metallic and Fancy Frost Sequins, Rhinestone Basic Jewels

Birthday Dahlia

Hello again!  Tonight I'm sharing a CAS birthday card I made with the long neglected Definitely Dahlia background stamp.   It's such a pretty image and I love how it can be in the background, or more frequently for my use, a trimmed down version used as the focal point.

The flower was stamped in Daffodil Delight on Whisper White, then cut to a 3.5" square and layered on a slightly larger piece of Basic Black card stock.  The horizontal strip uses a piece of retired Stacked With Love designer series paper and after adhering towards the lower part of the focal point, was topped with the layered circles containing the sentiment. One of the spatter stamps from Gorgeous Grunge was added in Soft Sky ink before adding the focal point.  Of course a few sequins were needed to finish things off.  ; -)

My card was based on the current challenges at Freshly Made Sketches and Color Throwdown.  I've added links below so be sure to use them to check out all the amazing inspiration!  Thanks so much for looking.  As always, your visit and comments are so appreciated!

FMS 253

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Until next time...

Stef


Product details
Stamps:  Definitely Dahlia, Circle of Spring, Gorgeous Grunge
Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Black, Soft Sky, Stacked With Love dsp
Ink:  Daffodil Delight, Soft Sky, Memento Tuxedo Black
Other:  1 1/4" Circle Punch, Layering Circles Framelit, Metallic and Fancy Frost Sequins

With All My Heart

Hi there!  My husband and I celebrated our anniversary last night, so today I am sharing the card I made for him.  I pulled out some long retired and (definitely hoarded!) designer series paper to use for his special card.

The colors of Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake and Baja Breeze are wonderful for a masculine card, as are the plaid patterns in the dsp.  The Crumb Cake panel was stamped with the flourish from Friends 24-7 - I kept that stamps set after it was retired just for that beautiful flourish.  For the focal point I used the flourish from another retired stamp set, Affection Collection.  It was stamped twice, once in Chocolate Chip and once in Baja Breeze, then the sentiment section was fussy cut and layered using Dimensionals.  The sentiment, from the lovely Verve stamp set Small Phrases, was a perfect fit (the hearts are from another retired SU stamp set, Just Sayin').  After distressing and lightly sponging all the layers with Crumb Cake ink, the panels were put together, wrapped with thick Crumb Cake Baker's Twine, and popped up on a Chocolate Chip card base.

This week's sketch at Mojo Monday was the inspiration for my card.  I've added a link below, so do be sure to use it and check out all the wonderful inspiration!

MOJO 464

Thanks for looking and always, you visit and comments are so appreciated!

Until next time...

Stef


Product details
Stamps:  Affection Collection, Friends 24-7, Just Sayin', Small Phrases (Verve)
Paper:  Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Parisian Breeze dsp
Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Baja Breeze
Other:  Layering Squares Framelit, Thick Crumb Cake Baker's Twine

Wildflower Bliss

Hello!  Today I decided to make a card using retired Stampin' Up Sale-A-Bration products - the Flowering Fields stamp set and the accompanying Wildflower Fields Designer Series Paper.  I ended up with a pretty bright and busy card - see what you think.

I used this week's Tall & Skinny sketch from Mojo Monday, so my card ended up measuring 3.5 x 5.5 inches.  Using two of the Flower Fields images worked well with the long panel.  The flowers were colored with a Blender Pen then framed on each end with a border stamp from Tin of Cards.

I really wanted to use the colorful chevron dsp.  It was hard to match it up without making the whole card look too busy, but finally settled on the Hello Honey background.  I still think it's a bit too busy but I decided to keep it and make the only addition the Blackberry Bliss twine.

Here's the sketch and a link to the blog.  Be sure to use it and check out all the wonderful inspiration!

MOJO 463

Thanks so much for taking time to visit today!

Until next time...

Stef


Product details
Stamps:  Flowering Fields, Tin of Cards, Birthday Blossoms
Paper:  Whisper White, Blackberry Bliss, Wildflower Fields dsp, Strathmore Multi-Media
Ink:  Basic Black, Old Olive, Mossy Meadow, Blackberry Bliss
Other:  Blackberry Bliss twine

Spooky Fun

Hi there!  I finally had time to play with my new Halloween stamp set, Spooky Fun, and the matching Edgelit dies.  It was a lot of fun to create a little scene with it.

The first step was to create the background by masking the moon and sponging the sky and ground.  I started with a light sponging of So Saffron, then added the ground and hill in Old Olive.  Returning to the sky, I layered on Pumpkin Pie, Cajun Craze and Rich Razzleberry, leaving a light area in the middle for contrasting "moonlight".  Black ink was then sparingly sponged around the edges.  After the background was done, I removed the mask over the moon then used a sponge dauber to add So Saffron.

Next I used the Edgelits to cut out the fence, tree and tombstones, and then I fussy cut the cute ghosts.  When gluing the tombstone in place, I was trying to make it look as though it was up the "hill" from the tree, but I think the perspective is a bit off.  Oh well, hopefully the 3-year old receiving the card won't mind!  ; - )

I've used the awesome current sketch challenge at Pals Paper Arts for the layout of my card.  A link to the site has been added below, so do be sure to use it and check out all the amazing inspiration!

PPA 316

Thanks for taking time to visit and as always, your comments are so appreciated!  I hope the remainder of your long holiday weekend is enjoyable.

Until next time...

Stef


Product details
Stamps:  Spooky Fun
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Whisper White, Smoky Slate, Early Espresso, Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Halloween Nights Specialty Designer Series Paper
Ink:  So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie, Cajun Craze, Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black, Memento Tuxedo Black
Other:  Halloween Scenes Edgelits, 7/8" Scallop Circle & 1" Circle punches, Paper Snips