Thursday, July 30, 2020

Framed Birthday for the Tic Tac Toe Challenge

Hello friends and welcome back!  It's time for a new Tic Tac Toe Challenge!  The lovely Claire is our host this week and has given us a fun board to play with that is resplendent with ideas for summer!


For my card, I went easy for me because I was under a bit of time pressure, so I went straight across the middle (blue, square, flower).


I used a lovely hellebore image to color with Copic markers in kind of a dusky pink.  I used to have a hellebore plant in my garden back in Oregon.  It was one that starting blooming in very early spring and had dark purple petals.  But I wanted to do something a bit brighter.  A online search revealed a large variety of colors, so I chose a light pink.  After the coloring was complete, I used a square die to cut out the image.


To add blue to my card a frame was die cut from light blue card, adhered to my square card base, then the flower panel was added with fun foam.  The sentiment was stamped and die cut then added with foam squares.  And that finished of my very CAS birthday card!  The final size of the card ended up being 4.25" square, so I will be able to mail it in a standard envelope.


Thanks for visiting, I appreciate it so much!  I hope you're inspired by this new Tic Tac Toe challenge and will join us this week.  Be sure to use the link above and check out the fabulous cards from the rest of the DT!

Stef


Stamps:  Cling Small Hellebore (Stampendous), Mini Everyday Messages (Mama Elephant)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Sea Glass (Simon Says Stamp)
Ink:  Gina K Obsidian Amalgam, Versafine Clair Nocturne (sentiment)
Other:  Nested Circle Infinity die (Hero Arts), Essential Squares dies (Ellen Hutson)
Copics:  RV11, R85, 83, YG67, 25, 23, 17, 03, 01

Monday, July 27, 2020

Christmas Joy for the SCS Color Challenge

Hello friends and welcome back!  It's time for a new Color Challenge at Splitcoaststampers!  I'm hosting this week and have chosen the Shaded Spruce, Just Jade and Magenta Madness with our continued dessert option of Christmas in July.  My colors are definitely untraditional but I find it fun to change things up!


Speaking of changing things up, this is my last post as host of the SCS Color Challenge.  It has been my immense pleasure to serve on this team for nearly three years but the time has come for changes in priorities artistically and personally.  I've worked with amazing team members during this time and will always be grateful to Mary, Karen and Barbara as my wonderful creative partners over the three years along with Jeanne and Chris over the last year or so.


I went with cute characters again this week using a different Avery Elle stamp set.  I figured if your going to have critters dressed in winter garb, you might as well use them with non-traditional colors!


I started by stamping and coloring the critters with Copic markers, then die cut them with the coordinating dies.  For the background, Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide ink was blended on a panel of Bristol, then splattered with water, then "snow" using Copic White, which is a thick waterbased pigment paint.  I also added a bit of white splatter to the critters as they would be getting snowed on too if there's snow in the background.


Once the panel was dry it was mounted on the white card base with fun foam and the critters were adhered, the two smaller ones popped up on foam tape.  The sentiment was die cut from glitter paper and adhered to a piece of fun foam also cut with the sentiment die, then adding to the card front to finish things off.


Thanks so much for visiting, I really appreciate it!  Be sure to use the link above to check out the SCS Color challenge and hopefully play along this week!

Stef


Stamps:  A Merry Little Christmas (Avery Elle)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Strathmore Bristol, White Glitter (SSS)
Ink:  Gina K Obsidian Amalgam, Picked Raspberry DOX
Other:  A Merry Little Christmas coordinating dies, Holiday Words (Ellen Hutson), Gansi Tambi Starry Colors metallic paint, Copic White
Copics:  Magenta-RV09, 06, 04, 02; Jade-G17, BG34, 11; Spruce-G28, 17, 03; Bear-T8, 6, 4, 2, YR18, 27, 24; Hedgie-E37, 35, 33, 31; Penguin-BV29, 25

Sunday, July 26, 2020

Lavish Lilies for Sunday Stamps

Hello friends!  I'm very excited to share that I am the new Design Team member at Sunday Stamps!  I love this challenge and have played along numerous times.  I am thrilled to have the priviledge to work with the terrific women on this team!

This week we have a great sketch to spark your creativity!


I decided to use the Lavish Lilies from MFT.  I love flowers of all kinds and we had a lovely surprise in our first spring in this house, with oodles of different kinds of lilies.  So I was definitely inspired to use this floral image.


While many of the lilies in our yard have much brighter color combinations, I decided to go with something a bit more soothing, kind of a light peach color.  The image was colored with Copic markers then I used a Terra Cotta colored pencil to darken the shadow areas on the flower petals a wee bit.


To put the card together, both the colored image and a panel of white card were die cut with stitched rectangle dies.  I decided to use some long retired burlap ribbon for the vertical part of the sketch, adhering directly to the white panel, then adding the panel to the white card base.  A small piece of Grapefruit Grove card was trimmed down and adhered to the back of the colored panel, then added to the card front with foam tape. I love the sentiment...with all that is going on in the world right now, sometimes we just need to take a moment, breathe and think of only the good things.  Finally, a bit of shimmer was added to the ends of the stamen and a few jewels added for a bit of bling.


Thank you so much for visiting, I really appreciate it!  Be sure to use the link above to check out the beautiful creations of the other DT members and hopefully join us for this challenge!

Stef


Stamps:  Lavish Lilies (MFT)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Grapefruit Grove (SU), Sentiment Strips 2 (SSS)
Ink:  Gina K Obsidian Amalgam
Other:  A2 Stitched Rectangle Stax Set 1 dies (MFT), Burlap ribbon (SU), Bridal Mix Jewels (Lucy's Cards Little Things), Tonic Nuvo Aqua Shimmer pen, Terra Cotta Prismacolor Colored pencil
Copics:  YR18, 02, 01, 00, E97, YG67, 17, 03, BG000, 0000

Balloon Birthday for The Paper Players

It's time for a new challenge at The Paper Players!  The lovely Anne Marie is hosting our sketch challenge this week and has given us a great one with which to spark our creativity!


For my card, I started by stamping the Balloon Bundle image on a sheet of white card.  It was actually small enough that I was able to stamp it twice on a single A2 panel, then trimmed it down for my main image on this card.


I decided on a color palette of purple, lime green and blue green.  This is one of my favorites and I think it can be used for either gender.  The balloons were colored with Copic markers and then I added crystal glaze to make them shiny.  What I forgot was that I had intended to die cut them and pop them up on an ink blended panel but oops!  Even after the glaze dried, I was worried it might get marred in the die cutting process so I went with a slightly different design option.


Next I used a stripe stencil to ink blend Twisted Citron Distress Oxide ink on a panel of Bristol, then trimmed it down to fit an A2 card at an angle.  I was rather dismayed when I edited my photos to find the bright green looks more like dull sand and I wasn't able to make adjustments to fix it without affecting the other colors (downside of using a free photo editing service - limited options).  But trust me, IRL it looks bright and cheery.  A panel of Peacock card was die cut with a fancy cover die, then sprayed with shimmer spray.  When dry all the layers were added to the card base, then I stamped a sentiment, added it to a green banner then popped it onto the balloon panel. 


Thanks so much for visiting, I really appreciate it!  Be sure to head over to the challenge to check out the fabulous creations by the other DT members and hopefully join us this week!

Stef


Stamps:  Balloon Bundle (MFT)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Peacock (SSS), Rich Razzleberry (SU), Koh-I-Noor Bristol
Ink:  Gina K Obsidian Amalgam, Versafine Clair Nocturne
Other:  Papel Picado Confetti cover die (HA), Sparkling Sheer Shimmer Craft Spray, Slimline Stencil (Trinity Stamps), Tonic Nuvo Crystal Glaze
Copics:  V09, 17, 15, 12, YG25, 23, 01, 00, BG78, 49, 15, 11

Monday, July 20, 2020

Woodland Christmas for the SCS Color Challenge

Hello friends and welcome back!  It's time for a new Color Challenge at Splitcoaststampers!  Karen is hosting this week and she has chosen Cherry Cobbler, Pretty Peacock and Bumblebee, with the dessert option of Christmas in July. 

For my card I used one of my favorite Christmas stamp sets with cute critters.  The images and sentiment were all stamped on white card, colored with Copic markers then die cut with coordinating dies. 


Next I worked on the background.  A panel of Bristol was ink blended with a couple of dark blue Distress Oxide inks, then splattered with water and white gouache (the critters were splattered with a bit of gouache too).  While that dried I hand cut snow drifts from another piece of white card. 


After adding the snow drifts to the Bristol panel, the birch tree trunks were adhered, trimmed down, then the panel added to the card base.  The critters and sentiment were all added with foam tape, then a glitter pen was used on all the berries and the little birdie's hat pompom.  The final step was to use a white gel pen to add more "snowflakes" in the sky and to darken some of those on the animals and tree that seemed to dry back considerably.


Thanks for visiting, I appreciate it so much!  Be sure to use the link to SCS above to check out the challenge and hopefully play along this week!

Stef


Stamps:  Winter Woodland Wonders (Avery Elle)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Strathmore Bristol
Ink:  Gina K Obsidian and Chocolate Truffle Amalgam, Versafine Clair Pinecone (sentiment), Chipped Sapphire and Blue Print Sketch Distress Oxide
Other:  WWW matching dies, Sentiment Labels die (Simon Says Stamp), Sakura White Gelly Roll pen, White Gouache, Tonic Nuvo Aqua Shimmer pen
Copics:  W3, 1, 0, E37, 35, 33, 31, 30, G99, 94, 82, BG78, 49, 15, R39, 37, 35, YR24, Y19, 17, 15

Sunday, July 19, 2020

Celebrating Summer for The Paper Players

It's time for a new challenge at The Paper Players!  It's a rather special and notable one as it is our 500th challenge!  Wow! The lovely Jaydee is hosting our CAS week with a Celebration theme.



What do we mean by Clean and Simple?

Minimal layers and embellishments
Plenty of open space, aka "white" space
Simple and uncluttered


I'm also linking up to the current challenge at Sunday Stamps where the colors are bold and vibrant!


For my card, I went uber CAS with a one layer (rare for me) in celebration of Summer!  We are definitely hitting our summer stride here in Idaho with temps in the high 90's and low 100's all week! Thank goodness for AC!


I recently acquired this darling stamp set with gnome buddies enjoying summer and thought this guy would be perfect for my one layer card.  He and the sentiment were stamped on a panel of white card and the gnome was colored with Copic markers.  I think that beach ball is so cute and I love his polka dot shorts!


For the sand I used a variety of browns, dotting the darkest two to create some texture, then came in with a warm gray to add more shadow beneath him.  With the coloring done, the panel was adhered directly onto a white card base.  Although you can't tell in the picture, I used some crystal glaze to go over the glasses and the beach ball, so they would be shiny. ;-) And that was it!  Like I said, uber CAS!  I'll probably end up sending this to my nephew and his wife just for a fun hello, I know they'll get a kick out of it as they are enjoying hot Summer weather where they live.


Thanks so much for visiting, I always appreciate it!  Be sure to use the link above to check out all the fab CAS cards by the other DT members and I hope you'll join our Celebration this week!

Stay safe and stay healthy, my friends!

Stef


Stamps:  Chillin' Gnomes (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White
Ink:  Gina K Obsidian Amalgam
Other:  Nuvo Crystal Glaze
Copics:  B16, 04, 02, YG17, 03, 01, R24, 14, Y26, 08, 04, YR07, 16, W3, 1, C7, 5, 3, E79, 77, 57, 55, 53, 51, 13, 11, 01

Friday, July 17, 2020

Big Birthday Wishes

Hi friends, welcome back! Today I'm sharing a fun card made for a grand niece and linking it up to the current challenge at Seize the Birthday, where the toppings option is to use a non-neutral card base.


I love large sentiments and MFT's most recent release was all about birthdays, including a really cool sentiment die.  So, it came home to my craft room along with a few other goodies and with a couple of them I made this card.


To start with, I used a large balloon stencil for the background, ink blending it with Distress Inks on a panel of Bristol.  When done, it was die cut with the Big Birthday Wishes die.  Initially I was going to make a shaker card but I realized I didn't have enough sequins in the right colors, so I went with plan B and decided to pop up the die cut sentiment.


The ink blended panel sans die cut letters was adhered to the bright pink card base.  Next I die cut some Fun Foam with the same sentiment die and adhered the ink blended sentiment die cuts to the Fun Foam letters, then glued them to the card base.  It look pretty cool but then I had the bright idea to use a shimmer pen to add a glittery look.  Oops, big mistake as the shimmer pen is water based and thus reactivated the inks, smearing them.  I was beside myself for not thinking that through.  Then I realized I had some purple glitter paper that would work with the ink colors, so those die cut pieces were adhered on top.  Oh, yes, lots of dimension LOL!  But it worked out, saving my card.  The last thing was to add some sparkling clear sequins.  I'm sure I'll have to add extra postage when we mail this card!


Thanks so much for visiting, it's always appreciated!  Stay safe and healthy friends!

Stef


Stamps: None
Paper:  Strathmore Bristol, Doll Pink (Simon Says Stamp), 6x6 Glitter Assortment Paper Pack (SSS)
Ink:  Worn Lipstick, Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet Distress Inks
Other:  Big Balloon stencil and Big Birthday Wishes die (MFT), Sparkling Clear sequins (PPP)

Thursday, July 16, 2020

Chevron Birthday for the Tic Tac Toe Challenge

Hello friends, so glad you've stopped by to take a peek at my card for the lastest Tic Tac Toe Challenge!  Tenia is hosting and has given us a really fun board to play with.


I have tons of family birthdays during the summer months, so I took this opportunity to make a birthday card for my middle grandchild.  He is turning 18 (what???) so of course I wanted to make one with a more masculine appeal and I thought the middle column (chevron, stapler, free) would work perfectly.


Beginning with a panel of Bristol paper, I ink blended 3 shades of blue/blue green Distress Oxide Ink-Speckled Egg, Peacock Feathers and Chipped Sapphire.  Next the panel was splattered with water to get that cool oxide look and when dry, was die cut with a Wonky Chevron cover die from Neat and Tangled.  Four more chevron cover dies were cut from white card to form the frame.


After the ink blended panel was dry, the interior pieces were trimmed out of the frame, and inlaid into the white frames that had been adhered to the card base.  The sentiment is from an old (I assume retired) PTI stamp set.  It was inked up in dark blue pigment ink for good coverage and when dry was die cut with a rounded rectangle die.  I added the staples then added the sentiment to the card using foam tape.  Even though I wanted to keep the card pretty simple, it still looked a little plain, so I found some silver star sequins in my stash and added three of those.


Thanks so much for taking time to visit, I really appreciate it.  I hope you'll be inspired by Tenia's board and come join the challenge this week!  Be sure to use the link above to check out the fabulous creations by the rest of the DT!

Stef


Stamps:  Stylish Sentiment: Birthday (PTI)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Strathmore Bristol
Ink:  Versafine Clair Blue Belle, Speckled Egg, Peacock Feathers and Chipped Sapphire DOX 
Other:  Wonky Chevron Cover Plate die (N&T), Nested Rounded Rectangle Infinity die (Hero Arts), stapler, star sequins

Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Sweater Weather

Hello friends and welcome back!  I have a card to share that I made for the current Just Us Girls challenge.


I have made only a few slimline, or long and skinny cards, but I've found they're great for creating a scene card.  Although we're in the midst of Summer right now, I wanted to use a cute stamp set I recently acquired, Sweater Weather from MFT.


I love those woodland creatures all wrapped up in their sweaters, some holding their coffee cups!  I started by creating a background on Bristol paper, using a scene builder stamp with the trees, bushes and hills.  It was made to use on an A2 card so I just used a sepia Micron pen to extend the hills all the way across the panel.  Next the sky and the ground were ink blended with Distress Inks.  Then I was able to plan my scene with the various critters.  I actually pulled the two squirrels and the log from another MFT stamp set to fill out the scene.  All the critters were stamped, colored with Copic markers and die cut with coordinating dies.  Because the coloring so obscured the bear's eyes, I used a black glaze pen to make them visible.


Back to the panel, I used Copic markers to color the trees, then lined the panel up in my Misti to stamp the sentiment.  After adhering the panel to the card base, All the animals were adhered either with liquid adhesive or foam tape.  I LOVE how this turned out, it just makes me chuckle every time I look at it!  And of course it will be perfect to send to one of my girl friends in Oregon who was always the organizer for activities for our group of friends there!


Thanks so much for visiting, I really appreciate it!  I hope you'll come back by tomorrow afternoon when I will have my DT card for the new Tic Tac Toe Challenge!

Stef


Stamps:  BB Sweater Weather, BB Fall Friends, SY-08 Scene Builder (all MFT)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Cajun Craze, Koh-I-Noor Bristol
Ink:  Gina K Chocolate Truffle Amalgam, Versafine Clair Pinecone (sentiment), Scattered Straw, Fossilized Amber and Tumbled Glass Distress Inks
Other:  Coordinating dies, Micron 05 Sepia pen, Sakura Black Glaze pen
Copics:  E79, 77, 74, 59, 57, 55, 49, 47, 44, 43, 37, 35, 33, 31, 30, 19, YR21, 18, 14, 12, 07, 04, YG99, 97, 95, 93, T8, 6, 4, W5, 3, 1, 0, RV99, 69, 39, 37, R85, 83, 81

Monday, July 13, 2020

Thank You for the SCS Color Challenge

Hello friends and welcome back!  It's time for a new Color Challenge at Splitcoaststampers!  Mary is hosting a very special challenge as we celebrate our 800th challenge on SCS!  Woo Hoo!  Each design team member chose her favorite color combo from the last 100 challenges and made new cards using those colors.  AND there will be prizes!  Each DT member is giving a prize to her favorite using her throw back colors!!  My favorite was from CC784 - Melon Mambo, Grapefruit Grove and Blushing Bride with a dessert option of flowers (of course!).


Here's a link to my blog post for CC784.  For CC800 I've used a flower image that is more playful than the original.


The image was stamped and then colored with Copic markers using colors similar to the challenge colors plus a brown and green similar to SU neutrals Soft Suede and Mossy Meadow.  When complete a black glaze pen was used to color the centers of some flowers and also the ends of the wispy images, and a white gel pen was then dotted in the centers of the other flowers.  For the cone flower I used the Copic Colorless Blender pen, pressing down to make dots by removing color.


The panel was trimmed down and adhered to a slightly large black panel, then added to the white card base.  I went searching through my sentiment stamps and found this one already stamped and trimmed down, so it was adhered to the card with foam tape, and that finished off the card.


Thank you so much for visiting, I really appreciate it!  I hope you'll use the link above to check out the challenge, play along and potentially win a prize!

Stef


Stamps:  So Beautiful (Simon Says Stamp), Label Love (sentiment, Altenew)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Black
Ink:  Gina K Obsidian Amalgam, Versafine Onyx Black
Other:  A2 Stitched Rectangle Stax die, Sakura Black Glaze and White Gelly Roll pens, Nuvo Crystal Glaze
Copics:  YR68, 65, 01, 00, 000, RV17, 09, 06, 04, 02, R32, 20, 30, G99, 94, 82, E79, 57, 37, 35, 33

Sunday, July 12, 2020

Beautiful Day for The Paper Players

Hello friends, so glad you are here and I hope you are continuing to stay safe and healthy!  It's time for a new challenge at The Paper Players where the fabulous LeAnne is hosting our monthly Color Challenge!


Aren't those some lovely colors?  I really like them together but I have to admit I struggled a lot to find the right design that I found pleasing.  After much trial and error (read lots in the recycling bin), I pulled out my favorite floral stamp set from Altenew and here's what I came up with:


The flower and leaves were stamped on white card and colored with Copic markers.  There really isn't a perfect match for So Saffron in the Copic color family so I got as close as I could.  After coloring, the images where die cut with companion dies and set aside. 


For the background, an oval was lightly ink blended with Faded Jeans Distress Ink through a stencil, then the panel trimmed down and adhered to the Seaside Spray card base.  I used tape runner to adhere the leaves to the edge of the oval except for the end leaf which was popped up with a piece of foam tape for some nice dimension.  Next the flower and sentiment were added with foam tape as well, then a few clear sequins finished things off.  In the end I really love the soft colors and simple design (really happy I thought to use the oval stencil LOL!).


Thanks so much for visiting, I really appreciate it.  Be sure to use the link above to check out the wonderful creations by the other DT members and hopefully join us this week!

Stef


Stamps:  Beautiful Day (Altenew)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Seaside Spray
Ink:  Gina K Obsidian Amalgam, Versafine Clair Morning Mist (sentiment), Faded Jeans Distress
Other:  Oval Extraordinaire stencil (MFT), Beautiful Day matching dies, Sparkling Clear Sequins (PPP)
Copics:  YR23, Y26, 19, 15, 13, C7, 5, 3, 1, 100

Monday, July 6, 2020

Cheer & Joy for the SCS Color Challenge

It's time for a new Color Challenge at Splitcoaststampers!  Jeanne is hosting this week and has chosen Balmy Blue, Soft Seafoam and Coastal Cabana for her colors with the dessert option of Christmas in July.  Actually, with the exception of next week when we celebrate our 800th (!) challenge, we will be doing Christmas in July all month long.

For my card I decided to do an ink blended panel with these lovely cool colors, then use silver for the sentiment and snowflakes, and also as an accent.


I used Distress Inks in colors similar to those of the challenge and a blending brush to get a very softly colored panel.  IRL you can see the subtle color differentiation but unfortunately it is not very obvious in my photos.  I let the panel dry overnight then heat embossed the sentiment and snowflakes in silver embossing powder.


Next I decided to step things up a bit since the card looked pretty plain and used silver metallic paint to rim the panel and add a bit of splatter.  Once dried the panel was popped up on the white card base with foam tape.  I considered trying to add some sequins but decided to keep it simple so when the holidays roll around it will be easy to mail.


Thanks for visiting, I appreciate it so much.  I hope you'll use the link above to check out the challenge and hopefully play along.  It's never too early to add to your holiday card stash!

Stef


Stamps:  Holiday Greetings Mix 1 (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Strathmore Bristol
Ink:  Versamark, Speckled Egg, Cracked Pistaschio and Peacock Feathers Distress Inks
Other:  Silver ep (Hero Arts), Nested Infinity Rounded Rectangle die, Fintec Pearlescent Colors metallic watercolor paint,


Sunday, July 5, 2020

Hexagon Hello

Hi there friends!  I hope everyone in the US had a good July 4th, despite the current circumstances and everyone else had a great weekend!  It was my first Independence Day in Idaho after living forever in Oregon and there were a lot more fireworks flying in the air in this neighborhood LOL!

Anyway, I'm here with a new card for the current challenge at Sunday Stamps!  This week it's a sketch challenge and a great one for lots of design options.


I've made a card using the relatively new Center Cut Hexagon Floral background stamp from Simon Says Stamp.  I stamped the large background stamp then colored three of the images with Copic markers.  When done, the individual hexagons were die cut with a coordinating die.


I love the delicate flowers in this stamp.  Because of how small the images are, I didn't do a huge amount of color blending other than the purple flower.  After the coloring and die cutting was complete, I used some gold metallic watercolor paints and a 00 round paintbrush to add gold around the edges.


While the paint on the hexagon was drying it was time to figure out the background.  I decided to use a rounded rectangle to die cut some white card, then match the gold border of the hexagons, along with adding just a tiny bit of splatter.  The die cut sentiment was cut from gold mirror paper, layered on a additional 4 die cuts for some nice dimension, then adhered to a black banner.  The gold rimmed panel was then added to the base with Fun Foam, after which the hexagons were adhered, layering one upon the other, some with thin adhesive squares, then with foam tape.  Finally the sentiment strip was adhered with layers of foam tape to keep it level against the varying layers below, which was probably the trickiest part of putting the card together LOL!


Thank you for visiting, I appreciate it so much!  Have a great week and please stay safe and healthy!

Stef


Stamps:  Center Cut Hexagon Floral (SSS)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Black, Tonic Gold Mirror
Ink:  Gina K Obsidian Amalgam
Other:  Gansai Tombi Starry Colors metallic watercolor paints, Bold Hello die (SSS), Hexagon Greetings coordinating die
Copics:  R43, 32, 20, Y26, 19, 13, 00, E37, V09, 06, 05, 01, YG67, 17, 03, BG000, 0000