Rustic Layering Flower for the Paper Players

Hello friends!  It's the fourth Sunday of the month and that means it's time for a new sketch challenge at the Paper Players.  The lovely Claire is hosting and has created at good one with plenty of design options.

Paper Players

I was all set to use this sketch for a Christmas card to add to my stash, and I did make a card.  In fact, I made two but as I went to create my blog post I realized I forgot a very important part of the sketch - the vertical piece under the focal image.  Oops!  But that's okay, now I have 2 more holiday cards completed!

So back to square one and I shifted to spring because I was inspired by the challenge at Seize the Birthday, where the topping is to use primarily green on your card.

STB #322

And here's what I came up with...

I chose to use the Simon Says Stamp Rustic Layering Flower and thought a pop of yellow on my otherwise green card would look nice.  I used Copic and Olo markers to color it.

For the horizontal bar, I wanted scallops but don't have any edger dies like that.  However, I remembered I had a slimline die set with a die that would work perfectly. Happy dance!  

To go along with the scallop design, I used one of the scallop layers from the SSS Layered Scallop Tags dies and die cut it from white.  I did some partial die cutting so the length could be extended and I added a green hole tab at the top.  

The scallop strip was added to the panel that had been embossed by the Spellbinders Tiny Dots folder, then mounted the tag with foam tape and adhered the flower. I found the sentiment in with the MFT Stylish Sentiments stamp set and it was already stamped and die cut with the Altenew Featured Sentiment die, which was a happy discovery.  

The last element was the twine bow.  I put a foam square underneath the green hole tab, then secured the bow onto the foam square through the hole.  

All in all, I'm pleased with how this turned out after having to pivot and make a new card lol!  

So how are you inspired to use this sketch?  For more ideas, please head over to the challenge blog to see all the fabulous cards by my wonderful teammates.  The challenge will remain open until Friday, March 27th at 3pm EDT.  I hope you'll have a chance to join us!

Clematis Hello for Color Hues

Hello friends!  Here we are in the middle of March already and time for a new challenge at Color Hues.  This time the lovely Marcia is hosting and has chosen a beautiful color combination of purple and marigold.

Color Hues

According to my online search, marigold is described as yellow with an overlay of orange.  Having said that, please do not stress on getting a perfect match, simply something close in that hue will work just fine.

Please remember to use just purple and marigold, along with any neutrals (nope, not green!).

For my card, I used a couple of new products from Altenew, so I'll be sharing that over at Darnell's NBUS challenge.

NBUS #84

And here's my card...

I was tickled that my new Clematis dies would work so well with Marcia's color choices.  I die cut the petals and stamen from colored cardstock, then did some ink blending for shading.  I was a bit disappointed that the ink dried back as much as it did, but the flowers were already put together so I went with it as is.  

Because of the size of the flowers, my card ended up being A6 (4.5" x 6.25").  While I was trying to decide on the background, I had a lightbulb moment, remembering an old MFT Watercolor Wash paper pack, and the lighter purple worked great.  

The sentiment is from the new Creative Labels Stamps and Dies.  Love the flourished tale on the H!  The finishing touch was to add a few Opal gems.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you'll take a moment to pop over to the challenge blog to see the incredible cards from the design team and our wonderful guest designer, Chris.  After seeing all that inspiration, I hope you'll decide to join us.  The challenge will remain open until Sunday 3/29 at 3pm EDT.  

Take care!

Stef

• Altenew Clematis Layering dies
• Altenew Creative Labels Stamps and Dies
• MFT Watercolor Wash patterned paper
• Simon Says Stamp Opal Dazzling Gems

Regal Birthday for the Paper Players

Hello friends!  It's time for a new CAS challenge at the Paper Players and this week the amazing Jaydee is hosting.  We're looking to see clean and simple floral cards - limited layers and embellishments, plenty of "white" space, etc.  

Paper Players

 

I know many of you are looking to be done with all the crazy winter weather this year (I'm talking to you in the East and Midwest!) so this is the perfect challenge to think about what will be coming soon - warmer weather and flowers!  

I was looking through some of my smaller floral sets and came across this one from Altenew.  The silhouette image is so elegant, I thought it could easily be the focal image for a CAS card.  I tried heat embossing it in white on a different color of cardstock but much of the detail was lost, so I ended up using black pigment ink on this pretty Honeysuckle pink panel.

After die cutting the panel with an eyelet scallop die, I added a bit of white splatter to go with the white card base. After adhering the dried panel to the base, I added three black onyx gems for that finishing touch.  

What are you inspired to create for this challenge?  For more ideas, take a moment to visit the challenge blog, where my talented teammates have some beautiful inspiration for you.  The challenge will remain open until Friday March 20th at 3pm EDT.  I hope you'll join us this week!

Thanks for visiting!

Stef

• Altenew Regal Frame Silhouette stamp set
• Simon Says Stamp Eyelet Layer Frames die
• SSS White Splatter Matter
• Spellbinders Onyx gems

Rainbows and Butterflies for the Paper Players

Hello friends!  We have a fun new challenge over at the Paper Players starting today.  The amazing Joanne is hosting our color challenge week and is asking everyone to use the colors of the rainbow.

 Paper Players

You don't have to use an actual rainbow on your card, just be sure it includes all the colors of the rainbow.

For my card, I found some older pattern paper that was a gift with purchase from Honey Bee stamps and it worked beautifully for a rather CAS card.

Isn't that paper glorious?  I love the blend of the colors and how the yellow almost looks like the sun peeking out.  I was loathe to cut much from the panel so I used a fun stitched edger die, then adhered the panel to the card front.

The vellum butterflies were set them in motion across the "sky" then I added black gems for the bodies.  The last element was the die cut sentiment.  I used white on black to so it would stand out against the card base.  Super simple! Not an actual rainbow but all the colors are there.

This is such a fun challenge, I hope you'll have a chance to join us this week!  For more ideas and inspiration, please pop over to the challenge blog and check out the beautiful cards created by the other design team members.  The challenge will remain open until Friday March 13th at 3pm EDT.  I hope to see you there!

Thanks for stopping by.

Stef

• Simon Says Stamp Flickering Butterflies dies
• Altenew Scripty Sentiments dies
• Sugar Pea (no longer in business) Card Front Element Builder die
• Spellbinders Onyx gems

St. Patrick's Day

Hello friends!  I've been playing around with some new things and ended up making a St. Patrick's Day card.  I usually don't create cards specifically for this holiday, but I thought the set from Simon Says Stamp was fun and decided to add it to my stash.

And when I finished making my card, I saw that it would work perfectly for the new Just Us Girls Challenge.

JUGS #813

The set is called Printmaking Clovers and the stamps are layering, so I was able to use three different colors of greens to create the clovers and shamrocks.  The die cuts them out all at once, so that made things easier too.

After creating all the clovers/shamrocks, I moved on to the background.  I used the SSS Falling Shamrocks stencil, inked with the same three greens, then it was die cut with a fun scallop rectangle die.  

The set comes with multiple sentiments and I used the two that worked best with my design, gold heat embossing them on green cardstock and using the matching dies to cut them out.  

I layered a panel of the same green cardstock on the card base, adhered the stenciled panel, then the die cut circle was added with foam tape.  I arranged the clovers/shamrocks around the edges then popped up the sentiment with foam tape.  Super easy card!

Thanks for taking time to visit!  I'll be back tomorrow with my DT card for our new challenge at the Paper Players, so stop by if you have a chance.

Take care!

Stef

• SSS Printmaking Clover Stamps and dies
• SSS Falling Shamrocks stencil
• Hero Arts Nested Circle and Scallop Circle dies
• C&9/KW Kristina's Essential Dies (scallop rectangle)
• SSS Spring, Dublin and Lucky inks

Butterfly Birthday

Hello friends!  Today's card is using a die set I've had for many months and decided to bring it out of the NBUS pile and give it some use.  As I was finishing it up, I saw that it would work perfectly for the current Toppings at Seize the Birthday, which is Anything with Wings.

 STB #321

NBUS #84

I didn't quite realize how detailed the dies were until I started cutting them out.  There are some teeny tiny bits to keep track of if one wishes to inlay, which is what I intended.

The butterfly wings were die cut out of white plus four colors of card stock.  Thank goodness for little trays to keep all the bits contained lol! There is no backer die for the inlay, so after watching Sandi McIver on YouTube here, I used her hack of applying good old Scotch Tape to the back of the wings and then inlay all the parts. Sure, it's rather fiddly and initially I felt a bit overwhelmed, but after I decided on where each color would go, it was almost meditative.  Assembly of the butterfly was a piece of cake after that.

Due to the size of the butterfly, the card base is A7.  I settled on a large embossing folder with a leaf background.  I used Altenew's Dew Drops Crisp Dye ink, the closest match to the aqua cardstocks used for the die cuts, and used the ink pad directly on the flat side of the folder and ran through the die cut machine.  I did this about 3-4 times.  After adding it to the base, the butterfly and sentiment were popped up with foam tape.  I finished things off with a bit of sparkle by adding a few opal gems.

Thanks for taking time to visit! I'll be back tomorrow and Sunday with new posts; stop by if you have a moment.  Take care and have a great weekend.

Stef

• Alex Syberia Butterfly Bliss Die Set
• Altenew Essential Sentiment Strips die
• Spellbinders Leafy ef
• Simon Says Stamp Opal Dazzling Gems
• Spellbinders cardstock in Coral, Sicily, Seaside and Waterfall

Celebrating YOU, Time Out Challenges!

Hello friends!  Today's post is very, very special because Time Out Challenges is celebrating their 12th birthday!  Woot woot!  And I am truly honored to join in as the muse for their Case the Designer challenge as part of the birthday celebration. 

TOC #308

Time Out Challenges was started 12 years ago by Sandie Munro and Nonni Niskanen who love to take "time out" to craft and have others join them.  The challenge has continued to have wonderfully creative challenges all these years, along with amazing design team members.  

I had to spend some time thinking about what type of card to make for everyone to CASE.  I love a variety of styles, but I decided to use the elements I love the most - Copic/OLO coloring, florals (especially BIG florals lol!), embossing, text (although it's hard to see on the kraft cardstock), a minor bit of distressing, splatter and having a metallic in some fashion. Hopefully that gives everyone lots of design options. Here's what I ended up with...

One of my favorite flowers is a peony, so that's what I chose for the floral image.  I used a combination of Olo and Copic markers to color it, and because I'd left the stamp in my positioner, I was able to stamp it a second time and gold heat emboss it, along with the sentiment.  This image is quite large, so my card size ended up being 4.5" x 6" because I didn't have the heart to chop off any of it lol!

I cut a kraft panel to fit the card base, then used a text background stamp before distressing around the edges.  The next layer is a piece of embossed watercolor paper, and I used an Old Paper Distress ink pad to lightly swipe across the raised areas, then distressed it as well.  Splatter was added in gold and white, then I used hemp twine to create a bow.  

The last step was to add the flowers and sentiment with thin foam tape.

Thanks to Stephanie and the rest of the design team for offering me the privilege of celebrating along with you!  

I hope you'll join in the celebration with your CASE and have a chance to win a $25 store credit to Waffle Flower!

Thanks for visiting and take care!

Stef

• Altenew Lovely Rose Peony stamps and dies
• Simon Says Stamp Old Letter 1878 background stamp
• Altenew Arched Foliage Bundle 3D embossing folder
• Tim Holtz Heavystock Kraft cardstock
• Canson Monteval watercolor paper
• Altenew Metallic paints
• Olos - RV0.6, 0.4, 0.2, 0.1, YG1.6, 1.4, 1.2
• Copics - YG67, YR23, Y15

Everything Wonderful for Color Hues

Hello friends!  Well, here we are at the first of March and therefore it is time for a new challenge at Color Hues!  The amazing Karen is hosting this time and has chosen a beautiful color combination!

Color Hues

I think this combo would be perfect for St. Patrick's Day/leprechauns/four leaf clovers, but instead, I had a beautiful leafy image in mind to use.  

This is from the Altenew Arched Foliage Craft-Your-Life bundle.  I mulled over many ways to use this leafy arch, by cutting it  to create various layouts but then I saw this video by Mindy Eggan aka "master ink blender" and knew I had to use her design.

To start, the die was used to cut the leafy arch, then it was stenciled with three greens (Jade, Eucalyptus, and Forest Fern) from Altenew's Frosted Foliage quad.  It's one of my favorite green color combos.  Next the die cut was embossed with the matching folder, then adhered to a second layer for more stability.  

A panel of white was then inked blended with the same colors, fading off to white on the left side, and then added to the card base.  I used foam tape to add the leaf die, cutting off anything hanging off the edge of the card.  For the gold splatter, I used Altenew's Metallic Paint set.

The stamp set has some wonderful greeting stamps, but to be honest, I was being lazy about heat embossing it in gold, so I used one in my stash that I'd previously foiled and die cut.  And, it's a lovely sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by and I encourage you take a moment to visit the challenge blog to see all the gorgeous cards by the other design team members and our wonderful guest designers Donna and Darnell.  The challenge will remain open until 9am EDT on Saturday March 14th.  I hope you'll join us!

Stef

PS - In case you missed my DT post for the Paper Players, you can find it here.   Also, I'd love it if you'd come back by on Thursday, when I have a very special surprise post! 

• Altenew Arched Foliage stencil, die and embossing folder
• Spellbinders Everything Wonderful Sentiments Betterpress plate and die
• Altenew Metallic Gold Paint
• Altenew Frosted Foliage ink quad

Magical Day for the Paper Players

Hello friends!  The weeks just fly by and here we are on the 1st of March!  This week at the Paper Players the amazing Christy is hosting, and she has chosen a really fun theme of Mythical Creatures. Think fairies, elves, leprechauns, dragons, aliens (I guess?), unicorns, mermaids...anyway, I think you get the picture!

Paper Players

I have a few "mythical creatures" in my crafty stash but I've been working on cards for children and teens to contribute to the Cards for Cubs card drive for children in the foster system, so I pulled out an old favorite stamp and die set from MFT (which is now closed, sadly).

I love this cute dragon flying with the little child on his back.  I decided to go with a purple dragon just for fun.  I like this image because child could be a boy or a girl.  

After coloring and die cutting the image, I added some fun dots on the dragon with my white gel pen.  The next step was to create a background.  Oh boy, did I fuss around with this, but finally decided to crop the stenciled cloudy sky background down with a circle die, then adhere the dragon and child directly to it.  I wanted a little bit of texture on the card base and found this panel already cut with a cover die.  I wasn't sure if I liked it or not but, in the end, thought it worked okay, especially in the light green color. Let me know what you think. 

The sentiment is from an old Lawn Fawn stamp set.  It was cut with a label die then I fished tailed the ends.  Both it and the circle were then added to the card front with foam tape, and I finished things off with a few purple enamel dots.  

I hope you'll join us for this fun challenge!  For more ideas and inspiration, take a moment to visit the challenge blog to see the fabulous cards by my talented teammates. The challenge will remain open until Friday, March 6th at 3pm EST.  

Thanks for visiting and if you have a chance, please come back by later for my new DT post for Color Hues.

Stef

PS  I'd also love it if you'd come visit on Thursday, March 5th, when I have a very, very special post to share!

• MFT Birdie Brown Magical Friends stamp and die
• Lawn Fawn Fairy Friends Sentiment stamp
• MFT Mini Clouds stencil
• Hero Arts Nested Circle die
• Pinkfresh Studio Stitched Diamonds cover plate die
• Copics - YG67, 17, 03, E29, 37, 33, 04, 21, 000, B39, 37, 34, 01, 000, 0000
• OLOs - V2.7, 2.6, 2.4, 1.1
• Altenew Shades of Purple Enamel Dots

Charming Daisy for the Paper Players

Hello friends!  This week at the Paper Players the lovely Jan is hosting our monthly sketch challenge, and she has created a really good one.

Paper Players

As soon as I saw Jan's sketch, an image popped into my head and that was it, no other idea seemed as good.  Take a look.

This Charming Daisy die set from Simon Says Stamp certainly lives up to its name, at least to me.  Along with that die set, I also used the SSS Fiddly Leaf die for some additional foliage.  All the pieces were cut from white cardstock then I used my Copic and Altenew Artist Markers to color it.  

As an aside, I recently (finally!!!) did a very big craft room purge of things I hadn't touched in years, then started reorganizing.  One of the things I rediscovered was a bunch of Artist Markers that I'd tucked away.  I don't have many, only about 30, but I look forward to using them more, as they are different colors than my Copics or Olos.

Okay, on with the card info!  The daisy print patterned paper is from Moda Scraps and I'm guessing it's retired because I've had it for a few years.  The panel was cut with a fun scallop rectangle die.  The yellow strip was embossed with a basket weave folder and layered on the card.  I cut a strip of white and gently inked with in light blue before adhering the flower and leafy branch.  I mulled over several sentiments and decided to forego one, and instead wrapped twine around the card front. I like the additional texture it brought and I can always add a sentiment later.  

Jan's sketch certainly provides a lot of design leeway, so I hope you'll find time to join us this week.  In the meantime, be sure to head over to the challenge blog to see all the gorgeous creations by the rest of the design team.  The challenge will stay open until Friday, February 27th at 3pm EDT.  Come play along us this week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

• SSS Charming Daisy and Fiddly Leaf dies
• C&9/Kristina Werner Kristina's Essential dies scallop rectangle
• SSS Basket Weave ef
• Lawn Fawn hemp twine
• Copics - YG67, 17, 03, YR23, Y15, 00
• Artist Markers - Sunshine Valley Garden greens

Just For You at Color Hues

Hello friends!  The first half of February feels like it has just flown by; does it feel the same to you?  But the good news is that it brings us to a new challenge at Color Hues. This time the amazing Jules is hosting, and she's chosen one of my favorite color pairings.  

Color Hues

I used the Altenew Majestic Roses stencils to create my card with these colors.  The result with these stencils is so amazing!  Take a look.

The set has four stencils for the flowers and three for the leaves and it more than fills an A2 card, as you can see.  When the stenciling was done, I decided not to trim down the panel and instead use a frame.

I used Tim Holtz/Idea-ology Metallic Classics Kraftstock in glossy black. It has a kraft backing, which seems to be a bit sturdier than my other metallic and glossy cardstocks.  

The sentiment is from another Altenew set, the Lovely Rose Peony. It was black heat embossed, then layered on two additional die cuts before adhering to the card front. The final step was to add three Spellbinders Onyx gems just around the sentiment.  A super CAS card for me but those gorgeous roses don't seem to need much more to carry the card!

Please be sure to take a moment to visit the challenge blog for more inspiration by my wonderful teammates and our fabulous guest designer Gundi.  The challenge will remain open until Friday Saturday February 28th at 9 am EST.  I hope you'll join us!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

Wild Birthday for the Paper Players

Hello friends!  It's time for a new challenge at the Paper Players and this week I am hosting.  It's our CAS challenge, were we want to see limited layers and embellishments plus plenty of "white" space. In addition, we're making birthday cards with balloons (or balloon).

Paper Players

For today's card I brought out a previously unused stamp and die set along with an unused background stamp, so I'll also be linking up with Darnell's Never-Before-Used-Schtuff (NBUS) challenge.

NBUS

I'm also sharing my card over at Seize the Birthday, where Glenda has chosen a topping of CAS with Dies.

STB #320

All the images in the stamp set are so cute but only one had a balloon, so that's what I used for today's card.

Isn't that little tiger so cute?  I used Copic and Olo markers to color everything, then die cut the tiger and the sentiments, which are from the same set.  I then used a white gel pen to make some highlights and also add some white fur around the ears, head, tail and feet.  You can see it better in the larger photo below.

For the background, I used two colors of blue ink and blended them right on the front of the white card base.  I then used white pigment ink and stamped a large birthday text background stamp onto it.  The white pretty much absorbed the ink color, and it came out quite subtle, which is what I was going for.  After drying it with my heat tool, the little tiger and sentiments were adhered after layering them on a couple of additional die cuts.

What do you have in mind for this challenge?  Before you head off to your crafty space, be sure to pop over to the challenge blog for some amazing inspiration by the rest of the design team.  The challenge will remain open until Friday February 20th at 3pm EDT.  I hope you'll be able to join us!

Stef

• Simon Says Stamp Wild Birthday stamps and dies
• SSS Scripty Birthday Background stamp
• SSS Cadette and Royal inks
• Honey Bee Stamps White Pigment ink
• Copics - YR18, 09, 07, 16, Y35, W4, 2, E0000
• Olos - YG 1.6, 1.4, 1.2, B0.7, 0.6, 0.5, 0.3

Time for Valentines!

Hello friends!  I finished making and mailing my grandchildren's Valentine cards and thought I'd share them with three challenges.  My grands are all adults now but they still like getting cards from their grandparents. 

I'm joining in over at Time Out Challenges (1st card - I used sparkle, pink, heart), Just Us Girls and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

I'm sharing the two styles of cards I created.  The first one is for my granddaughter.  

I used the Kirstina Werner Jumble of Hearts stencil to create the background.  One of the wonderful things about it is that one of the stencils masks the hearts and colors in the background.  I used the Altenew Rose Petals quad to ink blend the hearts and used one color, Purple Wine, for stamping the sentiment, which is from KW's Love & Adore You stamp and die set.  

The panel was cut with KW's Essential Dies scallop rectangle and I used the small heart die from the same set. The large white glitter heart was cut using the Simon Says Stamp Nested Rounded Heart die set.  After the card was all put together, I thought it needed a little something more, so I created a fun design around the heart with some Prism Dazzling Gems from SSS.

I used the same design for both of my grandson's cards.  I found some very old plaid patterned paper (SU Plaid Tidings) in black and white, which worked great with red accents.

Both the plaid paper and the red cardstock were cut with Simon's A2 Postage Rectangle dies and adhered together.  Before adding to the card base, I wrapped red Baker's Twine around it.  

The sentiment is from KW's You Are the Best stamp set, which was die cut with a heart die (same set as above) after white heat embossing.  The little hearts were cut using the KW Essential dies set.

That wraps up Valentine's Day for this year (you can see the card I made for my husband here using Stamping Bella's Oddball Cupid).  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Take care!

Stef

Earthenware Vases for the Paper Players

 Hello friends!  Today's card is for the new challenge at the Paper Players.  The lovely and amazing Ann is hosting our color challenge, choosing a gorgeous combination of colors.

Paper Players

This lovely combination had me thinking spring flowers but I pivoted to using a new die set that I received recently. 

The only Stampin' Up! cardstock I had was a piece of Mossy Meadow, the rest are from my cardstock "collection", trying to get as close as I could to the other colors, along with adding some gray and brown neutrals.

The vases and branches are from the Altenew Earthenware Vases dies set.  The blue vase was embossed using the Altenew Textured Blocks 3D folder that came with the die set.  The background is fog cardstock embossed with the Honey Bee Stamps Rustic Brick Wall 3D folder.  It was a bit too textured for layering all the other die cuts on top, so I ran it through my die cutting machine between the plates, which flattened it just enough.  

The "table" was created with the Tim Holtz Lumber 3D embossing folder and the Altenew Elegant Sayings stamp and die set provided the sentiment.  I did use a couple of Copic markers to color two branches and one set of flowers.  I left the other set of flowers uncolored, so it's more of a lighter version of coral.  The card came together quite quickly, once I settled on which cardstock I was going to use.

I look forward to seeing how you use this beautiful color combination, but before you head off, please pop over to the challenge blog here to see all the amazing cards created by my talented teammates.  The challenge will end on lucky Friday February 13th at 3pm EST.  I hope you'll join us this week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

• Altenew Elegant Sayings Stamp and die set
• Altenew Earthenware Vases die set
• Altenew Textured Blocks ef
• Honey Bee Stamps Rustic Brick Wall ef
• Tim Holtz Lumber ef
• Simon Says Fog, Stampin' Up! Mossy Meadow, Tim Holtz Kraftstock Neutral, Concord & 9th Lakefront, Spellbinders Coral and Chiffon
• Copics E18 and R22