Sunny Note

Hello and welcome!  I'm sharing a summer flower card made for the current challenge at The Paper Players where Laurie has given us a lovely sketch to spark our inspiration.

PP #456

I love the long, warm days of summer but I am looking forward to fall because it is my favorite time of year.  To me, a harbinger of fall are sunflowers, and I've created a couple to use on my card.  The flowers and leaves were colored with Copic Markers then fussy cut before adding to the card.

To put my card together, I layered an embossed panel of white card stock onto the base, then tried to decide what paper to use for the horizontal panel.  Looking through some of my designer paper packs, I found this beautiful remnant of a Tonic specialty paper, which worked just perfect to pick up the brown in the sunflower centers.  For the sentiment, I wanted a strip of yellow paper to go with the sunflowers, so I used a Y15 Copic marker to color a piece of white card stock for the color I wanted, then stamped and die cut to add to the die cut circle where the sunflowers and leaves were mounted.

Thanks so much for visiting!  Have a great holiday weekend!

Stef


Stamps:  Summer Flowers (Simon Says Stamp), BB Greetings Galore (MFT)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Tonic Specialty
Ink:  Gina K Amalgam Jet Black and Chocolate Truffle
Other:  Leaves embossing folder (SU), Nested Infinity Circle die (Hero Arts), Sentiment Labels die (SSS)
Copics:  YR27, 24, Y15, 11, YG67, 17, 03, E29, 37, 35, 33

Bloomin' Birthday

Hi there!  It's time for a new Color Challenge at Splitcoaststampers!  Mary is hosting this week and has chosen Gorgeous Grape, Lovely Lipstick and Coastal Cabana for her colors.  The dessert option is a birthday card.

I'm also joining the current challenge at Just Us Girls, where this week is an inspiration photo challenge.  The reds, purples and aquas in the photo go perfectly with the CC!

Just Us Girls #502

While I love the colors in the challenge, at first I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to create with them, so I went with one of my favorite fall backs, using a Suzy's Watercolor print from Simon Says Stamp.  I found a playful floral panel and went to work coloring it up.  While the prints are on watercolor paper, a number mediums can be used to color them, including watercolors, colored pencils or, as I did, Copic markers.

Isn't that cheerful and fun?  After I colored up the A2 panel I decided to crop it down to fit on a scallop die cut layer.  A white gel pen was used to add some dots in the middle of the flowers, and the sentiment strip trimmed down and adhered with a bit of foam tape.  The die cut panel was then added to the card base, also with foam tape and I called it done!

Thanks so much for visiting!  I hope you have a great week ahead!

Stef

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Suzy's Watercolor Prints, Sentiment Strips (both SSS)

Other:  Honey Bee A2 Scallop dies, Sakura White Gelly Roll pen

Copics:  R37, 35, 43; BG13, 11; V17, 15, 01; G46, 43, 40

Birthday Blooms

Hello and welcome back!  It's been a hot minute since I've posted anything, due to a number of factors, but I wanted to be sure to share the card I made for the current The Flower Challenge, where we are to use our favorite flower.  As many joining the challenge or viewing this post, choosing your favorite flower is like choosing your favorite child - impossible!  However I decided to use my favorite new floral stamp (which I believe is a stem of roses, which is one of my very favorite flowers) for this fun challenge.

The Flower Challenge #35

I made this card for one of my dearest friends, whose birthday is next Monday, a week after mine, which we celebrated together at happy hour this last Wednesday night.  It's just the best when you're with friends that bring joy! And that she does!

The very large floral image was stamped on an large piece of white card stock and colored with Copic markers.  Due to the size it was a time consuming process but also a labor of love.  I ended up die cutting a panel to fit on an A2 card base.  The sentiment, from another favorite stamp set, was stamped on a separate piece of card stock then die cut and popped up with foam tape.  Lastly I added a small scattering of sparkly jewels to add a festive feel.

Thanks so much for visiting, it's always so appreciated!  Have a great weekend!

Stef

Stamps:  Friendship Blooms (Gina K/Hero Arts), Strong and Beautiful (sentiment/Power Poppy)

Paper:  Neenah Solar White

Ink:  MFT Extreme Black Hybrid, Versafine Claire Nocturne (sentiment)

Other:  Tags & Labels Framelit (Stampin' Up), A2 Stitched Rectangle Stax die (MFT), Sakura White Jelly Roll Pen, Clear jewels (PPP)

Copics:  RV14, 13, 11, 00, G17, BG13, 11, 000, 0000

Woodland Carpet

Hi there and welcome back!  It's been quite a while since I've posted something for a challenge, but Freshly Made Sketches is celebrating their 400th challenge and I wanted to join in.  FMS and the immensely talented DT have been an inspiration to me and many, many others for several years and it's time to celebrate with them!  This is the 2nd week of the celebration and here is the current sketch, a visit back in time to their 200th challenge.

FMS 400

I'm working on a set of notecards for a dear friend for her upcoming birthday and used the sketch for inspiration.  I used one of the beautiful images from the recently released Woodland Carpet from Power Poppy to create my main image.  I stamped in brown Copic friendly ink and went about coloring it up.

I love all the beautiful details, especially the cute mushrooms and snail, but every detail of both stamps in the set are amazing!  It was a bit challenging to color because of the small size of some of the images, but in the end I feel it just helps me become a better colorist.  I started by coloring the sky with two shades of light blue, colored the main image, then used stippling to create some texture around the "ground".  The panel was die cut with the stitched scallop die, then I added a light ink blending of Antique Linen Distress Ink to the bottom of the panel to create more continuity for the ground.  Stamped the sentiment in the same brown ink, wrapped the panel with some Linen Thread and adhered to a card base with Fun Foam.

Thanks so much for visiting!  I've added a link to the challenge above, so be sure to head over and check it out!

Stef


Stamps:  Woodland Carpet (Power Poppy), Delicate Flowers (sentiment/Simon Says Stamp)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White and Desert Storm
Ink:  Gina K Chocolate Truffle Amalgam, Antique Linen Distress Ink
Other:  Card Front Element Builder Stitched Scallop rectangle die (SugarPea Designs), Linen Thread (SU)
Copics:  Sky-B0000, 000; Fern-YG67, 17, 03; Mushroom-R59, 46, 27, 14, E47, 44, 43, 41, 40; Snail-W3, 1, 0, E77, 74, 73, 70; Leaves-G28, 24, 21, 20 Y19 YR21, 18, 16 YG95 Grass-YG45, Y19; Ground-E49, 37, 35, 33, 31, 30; Butterfly-Y11, 13, 15, 17, YR18, 16, BV17, 13, 02, 00; Flowers-BV13, 02, 00, Y17
 

Garden Friends

It's time for a new Color Challenge at Splitcoaststampers!  Jeanne is hosting this week and has chosen Flirty Flamingo, Daffodil Delight and Pacific Point, with a dessert option to use an embossing folder. I struggled a bit with this beautiful color combo, but try number three turned out to be a keeper.

I started by ink blending Distress Inks in colors similar to the challenge colors on white card stock.  I achieved the green at the bottom by blending the blue and yellow inks together.  Once done, I stamped the pretty silhouette image with black pigment ink.  I love this IO stamp with the humming bird and firefly checking out all the flora.  After trimming down and mounting on a piece of black cardstock, the piece was popped up on a butterfly embossed panel wrapped with Baker's Twine and adhered to the card base.

Thanks for taking a look, I always appreciate your visit!  I've linked the SCS home page above, which lists all the weekly challenges.  I hope you'll head over there and check out this week's Color Challenge!

Stef


Stamps:  Garden Silhouette (Impression Obsession)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Black
Ink:  VersaFine Claire Nocturne; Distress Inks - Salty Ocean, Worn Lipstick, Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed
Other:  Black Baker's Twine, Fluttering embossing powder, Life Changing Blending Brushes (Picket Fences)
 

Wild Meadow

It's time for a new Color Challenge at Splitcoaststampers!  I'm hosting this week and have chosen Rich Razzleberry, Pineapple Punch, Mango Melody and Shaded Spruce as my color combo, with an Anything Goes dessert option.  My dessert option choice was to use dimension on my card.

I chose these colors with the Wild Meadow stamp in mind, so I could have lots of colors for all the flowers.  I also used a color similar to Mossy Meadow, which is considered a neutral by Stampin' Up.  I colored the flowers and leaves with Copic markers, then die cut with the companion die.

Next I ink blended Squeezed Lemonade and Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks onto a panel of Bristol paper and splattered with lots of clear water drops.  Once dry, it was adhered to the white card base and the die cut floral image added with foam tape.  I stamped the greeting and trimmed down with my paper trimmer and also used foam tape for a bit of dimension.  A few clear dew dots were the final addition.

 
Thanks so much for visiting, it's always so appreciated!  I've added a link to SCS above and would love for you to check out this week's challenge!

Stef


Stamps:  Wild Meadow (Mama Elephant), BB Greetings Galore (MFT)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Strathmore Bristol
Ink:  Gina K Jet Black Amalgam, Versafine Claire Nocturne (sentiment), Spiced Marmalade and Squeezed Lemonade DI
Other:  WM matching die, Stitched Rectangle die (SSS), Dew Drops, Copic markers