Be Merry!

Hello friends!  It's time for a new Color Challenge at Splitcoaststampers!  Jeanne is hosting this week and she has chosen Poppy Parade, Lemon Lime Twist and Garden Green for the colors this week.  As we did last week, the dessert option is again "Christmas in July", so we can continue to build our stash of holiday cards!

I was running short on time this week so I pulled out one of the cute Suzy's Paintable Prints from Simon Says Stamp and used mainly Distress Inks similar to the challenge colors to watercolor the print.  With the SCS Color Challenge team using Stampin' Up Neutral colors, which now include Mossy Meadow, Merry Merlot and Night of Navy, I used Merry Merlot and a Distress Ink similar to Night of Navy to watercolor my panel.

With the playful nature of this print, I kept my watercoloring very loose, not worrying about staying in the lines so much but having fun coloring the panel.  I started by adding a light background of Chipped Sapphire, then used the wet on dry method to watercolor.  When the panel was dried completely, I used a black gel pen to trace around all the images and the sentiment, a white gelly roll pen to add white highlights on the poinsettias, then splattered everything with white gouache.  When the gouache was dry the panel was trimmed down to 3.75" x 5", adhered to a slightly larger black panel, wrapped with gold cord, then popped up with foam tape on a Lemon Lime Twist card base.

Thanks so much for visiting, it's always so appreciated!  I've added a link above to the color challenge, so I hope you'll be able to join us this week!

Stef


Product details
Stamps:  None
Paper:  Lemon Lime Twist, Black, Suzy's Paintable Prints
Ink:  Merry Merlot; Distress Inks:  Chipped Sapphire, Candied Apple, Mowed Lawn, Twisted Citron
Other:  Gold Cord, White Gouache, Tonic Nuvo Midas Touch and Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer pen, Pilot Black Gel Pen, Sakura White Gelly Roll pen

 

Picked With Love

Hello friends!  I'm sharing a recent card made using the current sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.  I recently purchased the latest card kit from Simon Says Stamp with some delicious floral garden images and decided it would work great for this challenge.  I'm also joining the Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

FMS 347

SSS Wed Challenge

The stamps used for this card includes a bunch of tulips in a mason jar and a cute picket fence, both colored it with Copic Markers then fussy cut as the dies won't be available until next month.

For the background I used a background stamp also included in the kit, the Modern Rose Blooms stamp.  I inked it up with Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide ink, stamped it off once, then dabbed it lightly with a paper towel before stamping to get a very light impression on the white card stock, which was then die cut with a stitched scallop rectangle die.. 

After the card was assembled I added a Jute twine bow and a couple of wood hearts, then used an aqua shimmer pen to add some sparkle on the flowers.

Thanks so much for visiting, I appreciate it so much!  I've added a link to the challenges above so be sure to check them out!

Stef


Product Details
Stamps:  Mandy's Flowers, Modern Rose Blooms (SSS)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Basic Black
Ink:  MFT Extreme Black, Versamark, Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide
Other:  Card Front Elements Builder dies (scalloped stiched rectangle die) (SugarPea), Stitched Shapes Circle Framelit (SU), WOW Super Fine Bright White embossing powder, Jute Twine, Copic Markers, Tonic Nuvo Aqua Shimmer Pen, Hearts & Stars Elements (SU)
 

Bearing Gifts

Hello friends!  It's time for a new Color Challenge at Splitcoaststampers!  Mary is hosting this week and she has chosen Berry Burst, Granny Apple Green and Smoky Slate for the colors this week.  The dessert option is "Christmas in July" which is always fun!

I decided to use one of my favorite Christmas stamps for this challenge.  I used Copic Markers in colors as close as possible to this week's colors.  I really liked using the markers because they are great for getting into tiny spots and this image has plenty.

After coloring the children, the wreath and the bear's Santa hat, I used a bit of brown to create some dirt to ground the image.  While the polar bear is white, I used some warm grays to add shadows.  Once the coloring was complete, the panel was die cut with a stitched rectangle die, then mounted onto a white card base.  I thought about using a snowflake cover die cut from glimmer paper for the background but it was just too busy, but I did decide to adhere the snowflakes and dots left over from the die cutting for some fun bling.  A bit of shimmer pen was used on the "fur" of the hat and a white gelly roll pen added a bit of brightness to the white polka dots on the gift bag.

Thanks so much for visiting, it's always so appreciated!  Be sure to use the link above to the Color Challenge and hopefully join in the fun!

Stef


Product details
Stamps:  Bearing Gifts (ret. SU)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White #80 and #110
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
Other:  Snowflake Confetti Fancy Die (Hero Arts), Stitched Rectangle die (Simon Says Stamp), Tonic Nuvo Aqua Shimmer pen, Sakura White Gelly Roll pen, Copics:  Clothes: RV23, 25, 29, YG03,17, C 1, 3, 5; Bear:  W0,1,3,5; Ground: E35, 37, 29; Hair: Y02; BV17, Y17; Background:  B0000

 

Dahlia Celebrate

Hi there and welcome back!  It's time for a new Color Challenge at Splitcoaststampers!  Pam is hosting this week and she has chosen the vibrant colors of Calypso Coral, Pineapple Punch and Pear Pizzazz, with a dessert option to include a tropical treat on your card.

I love this color combination but instead of a tropical treat I decided to watercolor a new-to-me Dahlia image from Hero Arts.  I painted each petal first with an intense amount of Calypso Coral at the base, pulled the ink part way up the petal, then added Pineapple Punch to the tip and used a damp brush to blend.  I loved how the colors mixed and while the water coloring was a little time consuming, I love the process and the end result.  Using good quality watercolor paper also helped the colors from bleeding outside of the area being water colored.  I say this because I only recently started using Arches Cold Press and I am so very pleasantly surprised at how it holds water.

After the floral image dried, it was die cut with the companion die.  In the meantime, I was so happy to find in my stash a card base of Calypso Coral already layered this long retired Stampin' Up Designer Series Paper.  I used a scrap of watercolor paper to create the horizontal panel, layering on Calypso Coral and Pineapple Punch inks with lots of water mixed with Perfect Pearls.  After drying with a heat tool, I used a punch on one end, wrapped with twine and added the sentiment tag.  After mounting to the card base with thin foam squares, the floral image was adhered on top and a few bright yellow Nuvo drops added.

Thanks for visiting, it's always so appreciated!  I've included a link to SCS above, I hope you'll be able to join the Color Challenge this week!

Stef


Product details
Stamps:  Hero Florals Dahlia Stamp & Cut, Happy Birthday Gorgeous (SU)
Paper:  Calypsos Coral, Very Vanilla, Arches Cold Press watercolor, retired SU dsp
Ink:  Versafine Claire Nocturne Pigment ink, Calypso Coral, Pineapple Punch, Pear Pizzazz
Other:  Perfect Pearls, Eyelet Border punch (ret. SU), Hero Arts companion die, Linen Thread, Tiny Tag punch, Tonic Nuvo Dandelion Crystal Drops
 

Rockin' Birthday for The Paper Players

Hello friends!  I've got a post tonight with a card for The Paper Players 400th challenge!  Woo Hoo!  Love this challenge and the awesome design team, so I knew I wanted to join in this party!

In keeping with the "Celebration" theme, my card was made for my middle grandson's birthday.  Sigh, who turns 16 later this week.  Where does the time go?  I made him a "rockin" grunge card I'm pretty sure he'll like.

Starting with a panel of Bristol paper, I ink blended several Distress inks, sprayed with water, flicked with black Gesso and when dry, heat embossed various images from an old Inkadinkado stamp set with silver embossing powder.  Next I inked up a couple of images from Stampin' Up's Timeless Textures and Gorgeous Grunge Black Soot Distress Ink and stamped them around the panel.  Finally, I distressed all the edges, used Black Soot to ink blend around the edges and adhered to a black card stock base.

Thanks so much for coming by and visiting, it's so appreciated!  I've added a link to the PP challenge above, so be sure to head over there and enjoy the great inspiration, plus there are still a few days to play along and there are prizes to be won!  Have a great week!

Stef


Product details
Stamps:  Rock Star (Inkadinkado), Timeless Textures, Gorgeous Grunge (SU)
Paper:  Black card stock, Strathmore Bristol
Ink:  Versamark; Distress Ink:  Salty Ocean, Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire, Hickory Smoke, Black Soot
Other:  Hero Arts Silver Embossing Powder,Black Gesso
 

Happy 4th!

Hello again!  It's time for a new Color Challenge at Splitcoaststampers and I am hosting this week.  In honor of Independence Day, I chose Real Red, Blueberry Bushel and white or vanilla with a dessert option of an Americana or July 4th theme.

I didn't have any stamp sets with Americana or celebrating Independence Day so I remedied that recently by acquiring a really cool grunge flag image.

The flag stamp is 4x6" so I stamped it on a slightly larger panel of Very Vanilla card stock with the red and blue inks, then trimmed it down slightly to 3 3/4" x 5 3/4", then distressed the edges.  Next I die cut the word "happy" and the number 4 three times, adhered together then covered with a shimmer pen then crystal glaze.  While those dried I wrapped the stamped image with jute twine and adhered to a Desert Storm card base.  I searched my sentiment stamps to fin the right size birthday stamp, stamped it in red ink, then trimmed down the "th" to be added behind the 4.

Thanks for visiting, it's always so appreciated!  I've added a link to SCS above, so I hope you'll check it out and join us for the Color Challenge this week!

Stef


Product details
Stamps:  Grunge Flag (Joy Clair), Brushstroke Messages (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Desert Storm, Real Red, Blueberry Bushel
Ink:  Real Red, Blueberry Bushel
Other:  Happy sentiment die (Lawn Fawn), Bigz Alphabet Typeset die (ret. SU), Jute Twine, Tonic Nuvo Aqua Shimmer pen and Crystal Glaze