Gatefold Birthday Card for the Tic Tac Toe Challenge

Hello and welcome!  It's time for a new Tic Tac Toe Challenge and this week Carol has given us some fun choices for creating.

Tic Tac Toe Challenge

I decided to go right down the center - sparkle, free, fun fold.  I rarely make fun fold cards but I attended an event Crop & Create event the last weekend of March and I wasn't able to make one of the three cards for that class, so I decided to create it for tttc159, as the design is a gatefold card.

All the products were provided by Hero Arts.  I started with the stamping, completing the panel you see on the front of the card, and the stamping on the interior of the card below.  The card itself is from vellum, which was cut to 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" and scored on each end at 2 1/8".  An A2 sized panel of red was adhered to the outside back of the vellum card, then I added an A2 top fold card to the interior.  This provided a place to continue the cherry design and also provided ample room inside to write a message to the recipient. 

Next the small stamped panel was added to the outside of the left flap of the vellum card, then a same sized panel adhered behind it to hide the adhesive.  On the other flap a slightly larger red panel has adhered with a same sized white panel on the inside.  When the card is closed, the red panel acts as a mat to the stamped cherry.  The final touch was to add Glossy Accents to the cherries on the front for a nice bit of shine.

Thanks for visiting, I appreciate it!  Be sure to use the link above to check out the terrific cards by the other team members and hopefully join us this week!

Take care!

Stef

Stamps:  Hero Arts Color Layering Cherries

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Real Red (SU), Vellum

Ink:  Versafine Clair Nocturne; Mowed Lawn, Twisted Citron, Barn Door, Candied Apple and Aged Mahagony Distress Oxide; Ocean Waves (Altenew)

Other:  Ranger Glossy Accents

Sketched Rose Wreath for the SCS Color Challenge

Hello friends!  It's my final week as guest designer for the Color Challenge at Splitcoaststampers.  This week we are playing with a lovely, soft combination of Blushing Bride, Soft Succulent and Sahara Sand.  The dessert option is to add gems or enamel dots.  A BIG thank you to Mary and the team for inviting me back to GD, it was such a pleasure!

To begin, I lightly stenciled a design on a panel of white using Fog ink, which is a warm gray, similar to Sahara Sand.  The panel was trimmed down and adhered to a slightly larger panel of Sahara Sand.  The wreath, flowers and single leaf were foiled in gold, die cut with the matching die then colored using Copic markers.

The wreath was die cut two more times from thick white cardstock, then layered together with the colored piece.  The panels were adhered to the white card base, then the wreath was added along with the gold foiled sentiment.  Some pearls with kind of a gold hue worked to finish things off!

I'm so glad you took time to stop by!  If you'd like to see the DT members beautiful creations or play along with the color challenge, you can use this link to Splitcoaststampers.

Take care!

Stef

Stamps:  None

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Hammermill white, Sahara Sand (SU)

Ink:  Fog

Other:  Sketched Rose Wreath Foil Plate and Die set (Simon Says Stamp), Everyday Sentiments II foil plate (Spellbinders), Gold Glimmer Hot Foil (Spellbinders), Fanfare Stencil (SSS), Skinny Sentiment Strips die (MFT), Soft Jellybean Mix Pearls (Lucy's Cards)

Butterfly Birthday for the SCS Color Challenge

Hello and welcome!  I'm in my third week of guesting with the fabulous Color Challenge team at Splitcoaststampers!  This week, my dear former teamie Karen has chosen some vibrant colors for us to play with - Gorgeous Grape, Pacific Point and Pear Pizzazz.  I was a bit thrown by Pacific Point at first, but figured out a way to use it that I really love, and I hope you do too!

I'm also joining the current challenge at Festive Friday.  I used blue, rhinestones and die cuts from the Inspo List.

ff0107

Because the image I stamped and colored was so large, and I didn't want to trim it down, the card ended up being five inches square.

Such an amazing stamp and the challenge colors worked beautifully with it.  It was colored with Copic markers, then I inked blended around it with a vibrant Distress Oxide ink called Villainous Poison, which as you can imagine was released last fall just in time for Halloween.  I tried to color the stamen gray but it was too blah, so I used my silver gel pen instead.  And that led me to use more silver for the sentiment die cuts and some metallic ink as well.

After the ink blending was complete, I used a metallic paint/ink around the edges of the colored panel, then decided to add some splatter.  I had a couple of large "bloops" that I had to try to clean up and eventually covered up one with the strategic placement of a crystal gem.  After the paint dried, the panel was adhered to the white card base, then the sentiment (which was die cut and layered 3 times) was added along with the gems.  

I'm so glad you took time to stop by!  I've added a link above to the Splitcoaststamper's front page from which you can access the Color Challenge to check out all the great inspiration and play along this week.

Take care!

Stef

Stamps:  Spread Your Wings (Gina K Designs)

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Matte Silver (Simon Says Stamp)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Villainous Poison Distress Oxide

Other:  Happy Birthday Poe Script dies (Poppystamps), Silver Mica Ink (Kuretake), Silver Gel Pen (Altenew), Crystal Collection-Night Sky (Lucy's Cards)

Copics:  V09, 17, 15, 12, G29, 21, 40, YG45, B28, 26, 24, 21, C2

Pastel Floral Birthday for Sunday Stamps

Hello and welcome!  It's time for a new challenge at Sunday Stamps and this time we have a delightful pastel color board to inspire you.

Sunday Stamps

I'm also joining the current As You See It Challenge, where they have this fabulous sketch.

As You See It Challenge #272

When I saw the sketch I immediately thought of my well loved Watercolor Stripes stencil and thought it would work well for the sketch plus create a great background for my pastel floral wreath.  I started by stenciling Mint Choc ink over it onto a panel of white, and then I went to work stenciling the pretty wreath.

I decided to get a no line look with my stenciling, so the wreath was stamped in a very light ink, just dark enough so I could line up the stencils.  With the layering stencils I was able to achieve shading for everything except the grapes, so I used a V22 Copic marker to add a bit of shading/outline so they didn't look like just one big blob lol!  When the stenciling was complete, I used a gold gel pen to draw in the stamen on the yellow flowers, then the wreath and three additional branches were die cut.  The wreath was die cut two more times from white cardstock for layering underneath to achieve dimension. 

The striped background was added to the white card base, then the wreath.  The gold foiled sentiment was added across the middle of the wreath, then a few gold baubles scattered around the wreath to finish things off.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by, I appreciate it!  Be sure to use the link above to check out the beautiful cards by the other DT members, and hopefully play along with our color challenge!

Take care!

Stef

Stamps:  Rainbow Floral

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Hammermill White

Ink:  Gina K Barely There Amalgam; Rose Quartz, Puffy Heart, Lemon Ice, Warm Sunshine, Lime, Fresh Leaf, Wyteria and Mint Choc (Altenew)

Other:  Fancy Script Words Hot Foil Plate and dies (Pinkfresh Studio), Rainbow Floral dies (PS)

Watercolor Stripes stencil (Altenew), Gold Gel pen (Altenew), Gorgeous Golden Baubles (Trinity Stamps), Copics - V22, YG05

You Are the Best for The Flower Challenge

Hello and welcome!  It's mid-month and time for a reminder for The Flower Challenge, which remains open until the 25th.  This month the theme is to add a heart to your card.

The Flower Challenge

I'm also joining the current Four Seasons Challenge.

Four Seasons April Spring Challenge

For this card, I used a sweet background cover die to add hearts.

I love these soft colors so perfect for spring!  I started by foiling the flowers and leaves on panels of white, used the coordinating stencil to add color then die cut with the matching dies.  While I love to color with my Copic markers, stenciling is such a quick and easy way to get a card made.  I also like using the different colors that my dye inks offer.  For the flowers I used the new Saltwater Taffy Distress Ink along with Abandoned Coral and Fossilized Amber.  Love that new peachy-pink color!

For the background, the Hearts and Stars Cover Plate die was used to cut a panel of white, which was die cut with a rectangle die, leaving a nice border of green around it.  I foiled the sentiment in Blush Glimmer Foil to match the foiling on the flowers and leaves, then die cut it with the matching die.  To assemble it all, the green panel with the white die cut was adhered to a white card base, then the flowers and leaves place in opposite corners, some glued directly to the card along with the leaves, then other popped up using foam squares.  I used the die for the sentiment to cut two additional layers, adhered them together then added it to the card, along with a few gems for a touch of bling.  

I'm so glad you stopped by today, and I sure hope you'll use the link above to see all the new DT inspiration and hopefully join us by the 25th!

Take care!

Stef

Supplies are all from Pinkfresh Studio unless otherwise noted:

Brighter Days Hot Foil plate, Stencils and Die set, Hearts and Stars Cover Plate die, Fancy Script Words foil plate and die, Blush Glimmer Hot Foil (Spellbinders), Distress Inks - Saltwater Taffy, Abandoned Coral, Fossilized Amber, Twisted Citron and Mowed Lawn, Nested Infinity Rectangle die, Iridescent Jewels (Lucy's Cards)

Beautiful You for the Tic Tac Toe Challenge

Hello friends, I hope you're doing well!  It's time for a new Tic Tac Toe Challenge and this week I've created this board that I hope will inspire you to join us!

The Tic Tac Toe Challenge

Originally, my intention was to make a slimline card but limited time led me to make something relatively uncomplicated, so I went across the middle of the board - floral bouquet, spring, word die.

The floral bouquet image was stamped on the white panel and colored with Copic markers, using some nice vibrant colors.  I decided the blue vase needed a bit of something more, so I added a white polka dots, that ended up being a bit wonky (aka not uniform lol!) but I was okay with that.  I used a couple of the markers to add shading over the polka dots to match the original coloring and then went around the left edge of the image with a couple of light blue markers.  The panel was then trimmed down to 3.75" x 5".

The sentiment was stamped in blue pigment ink and die cut with a sentiment label die.  I took the darkest of the blue Copic markers, colored a scrap of white cardstock, then die cut the word you.  I layered the color panel on two additional white panels then added it to the card base.  I also used two die cut layers of white under both the sentiment strip and the word you before adhering to the card front.  The last step was to paint the word you with a shimmer pen, then cover it was Glossy Accents so it would be shiny.  I 'm really happy with how everything turned out, with the vibrant colors and the cute bouquet image.

Thanks so much for visiting, I appreciate it.  Be sure to use the link above to check out the fabulous cards by the other DT members and hopefully play along with us this week!

Take care!

Stef

Stamps:  Beautiful You (SCT Delivered)

Paper:  SCT white

Ink:  You Die (SCT Delivered), Skinny Strips die (MFT), Aqua Shimmer Pen (Tonic), Glossy Accents (Ranger), Sakura White Gelly Roll pen

Copics:  Y28, 26, 19, 13, 00, RV66, V05,01, RV29, 25, 23, 21, B28, 26, 24, 21,000, 0000, G28, 05, 17, G29, YG45, G21, 40, YG67, 17, 03

Happy Easter for the SCS Color Challenge

Hello and welcome!  It's week two of guest designing for the Color Challenge at Splitcoaststampers and this week Jeanne has given us a great combination of Pretty Peacock, Rococo Rose and So Saffron with the fourth color of Just Jade to add for "dessert".  I was in need of more Easter cards, so I used the same stamps and a layout similar to this card, which was my DT card for the Tic Tac Toe Challenge.

I just adore these gnomes and it was fun to color them up with the challenge colors, plus the addition of neutral brown.  I used Copic markers to color them then the gnome trio was die cut with matching dies.  The eggs are from a different stamp set and they were fussy cut after being colored.

Next I used a couple of Distress Inks that were close to So Saffron and Just Jade, ink blending them on a panel of Bristol paper, then die cutting with a deckled rectangle die.  I used that die to cut two additional layers then adhered them altogether before adding to the white card base.  The gnomes on either side of the bunny gnome were glued directly to the background, along with the two eggs, then the bunny gnome was added with thin foam squares and that finished things off!

Thanks for taking time to drop by! If you'd like to join us this week, be sure to use the link above to take you to the SCS front page where the color challenge is linked.

Take care!

Stef

Stamps:  Spring Gnomes (Simon Says Stamp), Chubby Bunnies (Sunny Studios)

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Koh-I-Noor Bristol

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Clair Nocturne, Fossiled Amber and Lucky Clover Distress

Other:  Spring Gnomes dies, Deckled Frames die (Waffle Flower)

Copics:  Pretty Peacock - BG78, 49, 15; Just Jade - G17, BG34, 11; So Saffon - YR24, Y15, 11; Rococo Rose - R85, 83, 81; Brown - E47, 44, 43; Skin tone - E13, 11, 21; Beards - W3, 1, 0; Other - C1, 00, R20, E30

Playing Cards with Michele

Hello friends!  Today's post is a special one because I am playing cards with my friend Michele Ferguson.  I few months ago she asked me if I'd like to join her and truly, how could you say no to Michele?  She's one of the sweetest and kindest people I've met through card making and I was thrilled and honored she asked me to join her.

The theme Michele chose is Hope because April is the National Month of Hope.  Pretty much the only restriction to what we could make was no flowers allowed (!), which was a real challenge for this flower loving gal lol!  However, after I started thinking about the things that represent hope, I thought about Spring, rebirth, metamorphosis...and I decided to use butterflies and a fresh green and white palette.  I hope you like what I came up with!

I started by hot foiling the Lush Vines plate using gold glimmer foil on white paper.  After trimming it down, I used Copics to color just a select number of leaves as I wanted the card to have plenty of white.  After the panel was adhered to the green card base, I die cut the oval frame from gold mirror card stock that fortunately matched up perfectly with the gold foil.

The sentiment was white heat embossed on some of the same green cardstock.  I really love the encouragement, and I think hope, that it conveys.  Along with the sentiment, the two butterflies were die cut - the detail from white and the solid from pearlescent vellum.  All the components were adhered to the card, and I was done.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by, I appreciate it.  I can't wait to see what beautiful creation Michele has come up with - be sure to join me here at Michele's blog, you don't want to miss seeing this!!

Take care!

Stef

Stamps:  Beautiful Butterflies (sentiment/Simon Says Stamp)

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Paisley (C&9), Gold Mirror (Tonic), Pearlescent Vellum (Lawn Fawn)

Ink:  Versamark

Other:  Fancy Oval Frame die (Pinkfresh Studio), Delicate Butterflies dies (Spellbinders), Nested Infinity and Rounded Infinity Rectangle dies (Hero Arts), Lush Vines Hot Foil plate (PS), Gold Glimmer Hot Foil (Spellbinders), White Detail embossing powder (SSS)

Copics:  VG67, 17, 03

Butterfly Birthday for SCS Color Challenge

Hello and welcome!  Recently I had a wonderful surprise email from the SCS CC team leader, Mary Martinez, asking me if I'd like to be a guest designer for the month of April.  Of course I said yes, since it's been almost 2 years since I left the team and thought it would be fun to play along with my old (and some new) teammates.

This week the colors are a lovely combination of Misty Moonlight (such a dreamy blue), Old Olive and White, with a dessert option to add a fourth color.  I chose to use orange as the fourth color for my card.

I decided to use the lovely Botanicals and Butterflies stamp and die set from Pinkfresh Studio (actually almost all the products on this card are from PFS).  I debated about orange or blue flowers and ended up with blue so the butterflies could add nice pops of orange around the card.    The branch and butterflies were stamped, colored with Copic markers then die cut with the matching die.  

I love mixing organic images with geometric images, so I used the Geo Tiles cover die to cut a background from white cardstock.  I planned to adhere it to a panel of Misty Moonlight, but it was just too dark and the branch kind of got lost against it.  So I found a light blue ink that was a perfect match for Misty Moonlight and ink blended that on a panel of white and adhered the die cut to it. After that was added to a white card base, I used the Botanicals and Butterflies die to cut out two more layers, so everything could be have a bit of dimension against the background.  Once those were all in place, I found the sentiment that had previously been foiled and glued it across the main image, with additional die cut layers under just the letters off the edge.

Thanks for taking time to stop by!  If you want to see the Design Team's beautiful cards and perhaps join in the challenge, here's a link to Splitcoaststampers, where you can find the link to the Color Challenge on the front page.

Take care! 

Stef

Stamps:  Botanicals and Butterflies

Paper:  Neenah Solar White and Hammermill White

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Blueberry (Altenew)

Other: Botanicals and Butterflies matching die, Geo Tiles Cover Plate die, Fancy Script Words Hot Foil Plate and die, Gold Glimmer Hot Foil (Spellbinders)

Copics:  B97, 45, 41, YG97, 95, 93, E29, 37, 33, YR09, 07, 16, Y17, 15

A Bit of Sunshine for The Flower Challenge

Hello and welcome!  It's time for a new challenge at The Flower Challenge and this month we are adding hearts to our cards.  I hope you'll join us this month!

The Flower Challenge

For my card, I found a really lovely layering stamp with flowers in the shape of a heart from Kitchen Sink Stamps.   

I just love the depth the layering stamps give to the final image, although next time I might use inks that produce even more contrast.  But I used what I had for yellows and I think it's just so sweet.  I started by testing out a number of yellow and brown ink combinations until I found the one I liked.  And I have to say lining up the four stamp layers was a breeze using the stamp layering guide.  When the stamping was complete, a light blue ink was blended all around the image, then the panel was die cut with the Chunky Scallop die.

I decided to keep things fairly CAS, so I die cut the trellis from white cardstock and adhered to the white card base.  The sentiment, from the same stamp set, was stamped in brown and die cut with a label die, then I added the second part of the sentiment inside that says "to brighten your day".  The main panel was added to the base with foam tape, the sentiment attached with thin foam squares and a few crystals added for a little bling. The final step was to add shimmer to the flowers with an aqua shimmer pen, which of course doesn't show up in the photos  :-( .  

Thanks for taking time to stop by!  Be sure to use the link above to see all the gorgeous cards by the other DT members and don't forget to come back here on the 15th when I'll have another card to share for this challenge.

Take care!

Stef

Stamps:  Sweetheart Daises (KSS)

Paper:  Neenah Solar White

Ink:  Versafine Clair Acorn; Carmel Toffee, Chamomile, Citrus Burst and Sea Glass (Altenew)

Other:  Chunky A2 Scalloped Rectangle die, Garden Trellis Cover die (Altenew), Tonic Aqua Shimmer pen, Studio Katia Ocean Wave Crystals

You Are Loved for Sunday Stamps

Hello and welcome!  It's time for a new challenge at Sunday Stamps and this week I've created the sketch for this challenge.

Sunday Stamps

I'm also joining the current Color Throwdown challenge, where the challenge colors are purple, sage green and cream.

CTD 686

You'd think since I created the sketch, that it would be easy to make my card, but oh, no, I ended up having so many ideas I had to take time to sort them out.  However, when I saw the pretty CTD colors, I settled on this pretty floral.

I started by stamping and Copic coloring the large dahlias, then fussy cutting as there are no coordinating dies.  It's a relatively easy image to fussy cut and I left the section in the middle, because first of all it would be tricky to cut out, and secondly, I knew I'd be mounting the florals on a white circle so it wouldn't be obvious.  The next step was to emboss at panel of Natural White (which is a nice ivory/cream color) and die cut the scalloped strips from white.  The skinny strips of green were die cut from a scrap of white cardstock that I colored with a couple of green Copic markers, in order to have it match the flower stems.

With all the components ready, I put the card together, adhering the embossed panel to the white card base, adding the scallops and green strip, then layering two white die cut circles in the middle before popping up the floral image with foam tape.  The silver foiled sentiment was one of many left over from a prior foiling session.  It was glued to the floral image except for a couple letters hanging off the right side, which had foam tape added to them.  The final task was to add a few silver baubles and I was done.

Well, there you have it!  The team has created some lovely cards, so be sure to head over to the challenge (link above) for more inspiration and hopefully play along with us!

Take care!

Stef

Stamps:  Dahlia Bright Eyes (Altenew), Celebrating You (Pinkfresh Studio)

Paper:  Neenah Solar White and Natural White

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

Other:  Blossom Field 3D embossing folder (Simon Says Stamp), Slim Lacy Layers die (Waffle Flower), Stripes 1 die (SSS), Nested Infinity Circle die (Hero Arts), Celebrating You Hot Foil Plate and matching die (PFS), Silver Glimmer Hot Foil (Spellbinders), Silver Baubles (Trinity Stamps)

Copics:  BV08, 17, 13, 01, 01, 000, G28, 46, 24, 21, 20