Big Blooms Birthday for CH137

Hello friends!  We have a new challenge over at Color Hues starting today and the lovely Nancy is stepping in as host for Jules, who is still deep in unpacking after a move.  Jules chose a beautiful and dramatic color combination.

Color Hues

I'm also playing along with the Anything Goes portion of the current Seize the Birthday Challenge.

STB #330

For my card, I went with a stamp and stencil combination.  The stamp creates the background and outlines of the flowers and leaves.

I really love the dramatic effect of a dark background, so when I saw Jule's color choices, I knew I would be using this set.  

The first step was to stamp the image.  I used black pigment ink for the best coverage and still had to stamp it at least 3 times to achieve that.  I let it dry overnight and then used the stencils to color the flowers in three shades of red, then a gold gel pen for the top of the stamen.  

The stamped image is 5.5" square but I trimmed it down close to 4.75" square, and then mounted it on a 4.75" x 5.5" card base.  To pull in more gold, I used two skinny strips of matte gold on the top and bottom of the panel, then added the sentiment.   I tried adding some gold confetti sequins but it made it too busy for my taste, so no bling!

Thanks for taking time to visit and please take a moment to visit the challenge blog where my oh, so talented teammates and two guest designer, Joanne James and Julia Aston, have some amazing inspiration for you!  The challenge will remain open until Wednesday July 29th at 9am EDT.  I hope you'll join us!

Stef

• C&9/Kristina Werner Aubrey Blooms Background Stamp and Stencil set
• Spellbinders You Are Everything Betterpress plate and die
• SSS Strips die
• Altenew Gold gel pen
• Barn Door, Lumberjack Plaid and Aged Mahogany Distress Inks

You Rock! for Color Hues

Hello, my friends!  Can you believe half the year is gone by already? I can almost hear the wind whistling in my ears as the year seems to be flying by lol!

Anyway, let's get down to business.  It's time for a new challenge at Color Hues and the amazing Julie is hosting.  She's chosen a lovely color combination.

Color Hues

These colors would work beautifully for a wedding or anniversary card, but I decided to go a different direction.  Take a look!

Once again, I am filling the need of masculine birthday cards.  This one, with the Retro Radio from Concord & 9th went to my nephew Ron a while back. When he was young, he and my sister lived with my parents and me for a time.  My mom had an old cream-colored radio she always listened to during the day, which inspired this card.  He and I both had a good time reminiscing about that memory on his birthday.

The radio components were die cut from glossy black, matte gold and off-white cardstock.  The music notes are also part of the die set.  The You Rock sentiment, heat embossed in gold and off-set layered on black, is from the coordinating stamp set.  

All the components were super easy to put together but I felt like the card needed a little something more. I die cut a frame from both gold and black, and, as you can see the black won out. It seemed to bring it all together better. I know I'll be making at least two more cards with this die set for each of my BILs, so it may make an appearance in a future post.

Thanks for taking time to visit!  I encourage you to visit the challenge blog, where my talent teammates have some beautiful inspiration for you.  The challenge will remain open until Tuesday, July 14th at 9am EDT.  I hope you'll join us!

Stef

• Concord & 9th Retro Radio Stamps and Dies
• Simon Says Stamp A2 Nesting Frames die
• SSS Glossy Black and Matte Gold cardstock
• Neenah Natural White cardstock

Summer Flower for CH135

Hello friends!  My card today is for a new Color Hues challenge and this time the amazing Carol is hosting.  She's chosen a very striking color combination.

Color Hues

 

When I saw this color duo, the obvious choice seemed to be bees, which would be so fun, but then I remembered a NBUS press plate that I knew would work well, so I'm linking up to Darnell's NBUS challenge as well.

NBUS

And here's my card...

Isn't that a gorgeous sunflower design?  It was made using a press plate from Alex Syberia that I bought last summer.  My first attempt at creating the image was to use the Betterpress, inking up the plate with black pigment ink, which encompasses the background and the outline of the sunflower.  The image came out fine but not a sharp as I was hoping, so I went the foiling route, and that turned out better.

Using foil rather than pigment ink also allowed me to color the sunflower with my Copic markers, which I have been neglecting as of late. (having too much fun with dies!)  After coloring, the panel was trimmed down and mounted with foam tape onto a white panel die cut with a crimped edge A2 die, then added to the card base.  

The greeting is from a sentiment press plate set, also from AS and it was foiled in black as well, then cut out with the coordinating die.  I like this particular sentiment because it can be used for multiple occasions.  Keeping things simple, just three opal gems were added as embellishment to finish the card.

Thank you so much for taking time to stop by, I really appreciate it!  If you have another moment, I encourage you to visit the challenge blog for a peek at the fantastic inspiration my fabulous teamies and our guest designers Barbara Campbell and Diana Karlova have to share!  The challenge will remain open until 9 am EDT on Monday, June 29th.  I hope you'll join us!

Stef

• Alex Syberia Summer Flower Press Plate
• AS Essential Sentiments Press Plates and Dies
• Simon Says Stamp Crimped A2 rectangle die
• SSS Dazzling Opal gems
• Copics - YR27, 24, Y19, 15, 11, E29, 27, 25

Kaleidoscope Floral Birthday for CH134

Hello friends!  The first of June has rolled around and it's time for a new challenge at Color Hues.  The lovely Bonnie is hosting this round and has chosen a gorgeous color duo.

Color Hues

This is such a soft and lovely color combination but remember that any hue of these two colors is permitted.  

I was searching through some dies and came upon this fun set that I'd bought a couple years ago (it was the Spellbinders March 2022 Large Die of the Month which I bought on sale).  It's not available anymore but I thought it would be a great design for these colors.  And I always feel better about buying new "schtuff" when I've made an effort to use the older products. I have made other cards with this but not for a team challenge.

I started with the turquoise panel, which was cut using a retired slimline rectangle die, then die cut the white flourished base twice for layering and adhered it to the panel. I inlaid all the white leaf pieces but left the large flowers open.  Next came the all the pink flowers that were layered on top.  It was time consuming but so satisfying when complete.  I chose the gold foiled Happy Birthday and finished up with a few gold pearls.  I hadn't made a slimline card in a while, so it was a fun change-up.  

Thanks so much for stopping by and I encourage you to head over to the challenge blog to see all the gorgeous creations by the other team members and our fabulous guest designer Kim Miller!  The challenge will remain open until 9 am Sunday June 14th. I hope you'll join us!

Stef

• SB Kaleidoscope Floral Slimline Dies (March 2022) retired
• Simon Says Stamp Slimline Nested Rectangle die (retired)
• SB You Are Everything Betterpress Plate and Die
• Honey Bee Stamps Metallic Mix Pearls

Meadow Flower Birthday for CH133

Hello friends!  We have a new Color Hues Challenge and this time the fabulous Tracey is hosting.  She's chosen a gorgeous color combination of Lime Green and Violet.

Color Hues

I'm also joining the lovelies at Just Us Girls, where Lisa has chosen Flowers for their Word Week Challenge and the Anything Goes option at Seize the Birthday.

JUGS

STB #326

I ended up combining mostly some old and new Simon Says Stamp products for my card.

I couldn't help but go with flowers with this color combination and decided I should use one of the older flower dies in my collection.  The dies were cut from white cardstock then inked with both SSS and Altenew inks.  

I was itching to use the new Scalloped Arches dies and thought they would create the perfect landing spot for the flowers.  The smaller die was cut from Spellbinder Fairytale cardstock and the larger with white.  The sentiment was stamped using the EZ Strips Birthday stamp and cut out with the matching die.

For the background, I liked the scalloped look that coordinated well with the arches dies.  The panel was cut from a light green cardstock then layered on the card base. With everything adhered to the card, the final step was to add some sparkle...I may have gotten a tiny bit carried away. 😁

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you'll take a moment to visit the challenge blog, where my amazing teammates have some wonderful inspiration for you.  The challenge will remain open until Friday May 29th at 3pm EDT.  Please come join us, won't you?

Stef

• Etched Meadow Flower dies
• Scalloped Arches dies
• Altenew Dotted Scales Embossing Cover die
• EZ Strips Birthday Stamp and die
• Honey Bee Stamps Aurora Borealis gems
• SSS Heather, Violet and Iris inks
• Altenew Limeade, Lime and Fresh Leaf inks

Cheers to You for Color Hues

Hello friends!  We have a new challenge for you over at Color Hues and this time I am hosting!  I've chosen one of my favorite color combinations for the challenge.

Color Hues

As a reminder, you may use any hue of the two challenge colors, so lighter, darker, whatever tone, as long as it's a yellow and a blue.  Neutrals are also welcome (black, white, gray, ivory, brown, kraft and metallics).  So sorry, but green is not a neutral lol!

I'm also sharing over at Seize the Birthday for their Anything Goes portion of the challenge.

STB #325

Okay, let's get to my card! 

For a long time I knew precisely what I was going to create for this challenge, but then...Spellbinders released their Just A Cake Birthday Card Kit and I went in a completely different direction.  Take a look!

As I am always in need of masculine birthday cards, I chose to use the Birthday Brew die set from the kit, Confetti Drop embossing folder and the Just Add Cake stamps and dies.  In addition, I used the Essential Arches and the Color Block Accent Arches, which are not part of the kit.

I love that color block look in yellow and blue!  For the beer mug itself, it was die cut from both light blue and vellum.  Between those two layers a piece of acetate was added to give the look of glass with the beer behind it.  

The watch was easy to put together, once I decided on the colors of metallics to be used.  Sandwiched between the face and band of the watch is a die cut circle of gray to make the watch hands visible.  

The background arch was cut from white, embossed with the Confetti Drop folder, then a yellow ink pad was swiped across the raised elements so they would be more visible, plus give more contrast between it and the beer "foam". I used partial die cutting to create a top-folding arched shaped card base.  The final step, after everything was assembled, was to add a few small clear dew drops for an effervescent look.  

Thanks for stopping by!  Please take a moment to visit the challenge blog for more inspiration by my incredibly talented teammates and guest designer Greta.  The challenge will remain open until Thursday, May 14th at 9:00 am EDT.  I hope you'll join us, I'd love to see your card in the gallery!

Stef

Charmed Birthday for Color Hues

Hello friends!  Today the lovely Sheri is hosting our new challenge at Color Hues.  She has chosen some wonderful spring colors.

Color Hues

Remember that you can use any hues of these colors and you'll see that with the gorgeous cards by the other design team members, as well as mine.

I've always found coral to be a bit tricky to create with using inks or alcohol markers.  But then Jennifer McGuire came to my rescue in a video earlier this year, using three shades of Altenew inks (listed below).  So that's what was used to ink blend all the die cut petals on the flower. (If anybody that has suggestions for coral Copic marker combos that don't look too red, I'd appreciate knowing!)

After the ink blending of both the leaves and flower petals was complete, the flower was assembled, all six layers (!) plus the center pieces.  I didn't care for the shape of the top flower center die that was part of the die set so I substituted one from another set.

Both the Betterpress sentiment and the flower center were inked using Altenew Antique Gold pigment ink.  Texture was added to the green background with a cover plate die, then a die cut lattice became the landing spot for the peony.  Other than fussing with the flower center, this card came together very quickly!

The challenge will remain open until Wednesday April 29th at 3:00 pm EDT.  For more inspiration, I encourage you to visit the challenge blog to see all those gorgeous cards created by my amazing teammates and our guest designer Kelly. I hope you'll join us!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

• Altenew Coral Charm Peony dies
• Spellbinders Woven Lattice Texture die
• Pinkfresh Studio Stitched Diamonds Cover die
• Spellbinders A Little Message Sentiments Press Plate and die
• Altenew Pink Pearl, Coral Bliss and Coral Red inks
• SSS Lime, Limelicicous and Pearfection inks

Sweetheart Daisies for Color Hues

Hello friends!  I'm here with my card for the new challenge at Color Hues. This time the amazing Nancy is hosting and has chosen a gorgeous color combination.

Color Hues

 

I have to say, I love this pair of colors so much!  I should have titled this post "Oldies but Goodies" because much of what is used to create this are things I've had for years.  And I'm so happy I pulled out the Sweetheart Daisies stamp from Kitchen Sink Stamps (sadly closed in 2024), because it is a stunner.

The stamp is a layering stamp, which was one of the big things Kitchen Sink Stamps was known for.  I have always found layering stamps rather intimidating, so I only have two of the KSS stamp sets in my collection. I bought this stamp in 2021, used it once in 2022 here and it's just been waiting for this occasion.

The Altenew trio of Magenta, Fuchsia and Baby Pink was used to color the flower, along with Tanzanite for the navy color.  It almost looks like a photo IRL.  Once the stamping was done, the panel was cut with an arch die.

I found one sole piece of Navy patterned paper from a 2017 Simon Says Stamp card kit in my stash.  It was just 3" x 5.5", so I trimmed off a small amount on the side, then added a strip of matte gold cardstock on each side to finish it off nicely on the card front.

The search for a sentiment to fit the space at the bottom of the heart yielded another older product, this time a SSS thanks die from 2017. It was cut once from gold and layered on a second die cut in white, then adhered to the arch panel.  The panel was then added to the card front with foam tape and a few gold sequins finished things off.

How do these colors inspire you?  For more ideas, please take a couple of minutes to visit the challenge blog to see the gorgeous cards created by my talented teammates! The challenge will remain open until Tuesday April 14th at 9am EDT.  I hope you'll join us!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

• Kitchen Sink Stamps Sweetheart Daisies layering stamps
• SSS A2 Arches die
• SSS Strips die
• SSS Script Thanks die
• Altenew Magenta, Fuchsia, Baby Pink and Tanzanite inks
• SSS Stay Gold confetti sequins

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

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

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

You're Mine for the Paper Players and Color Hues

Hello friends!  It's time for new challenges at both the Paper Players and Color Hues, so I've created one card for both challenges.  At the Paper Players, the lovely Claire chosen a timely theme and at Color Hues, the amazing Julie has chosen a perfectly complementary color combo.  Check it out!

Paper Players

Color Hues

The obvious choice was to use this opportunity to get one of my Valentine's Day cards completed.  I used a fabulous Oddball stamp set from Stamping Bella for my husband's card.  It's pretty quirky with the Oddball image, but I know he'll like it.

I used a stencil to create pink clouds around the Oddball Cupid, then colored her with Copic markers.  I used red, of course, and also used a combination of markers to color her wings, bow and the arrow feathers gold.  As always, the stamp packaging provided great guidance for shading. These images always humor me because they are so, um, odd. I especially like her boots with wings.

I did give her a landing spot amongst the clouds and since she has wings, of course she can stay above ground. I thought that was a fun way to use Claire's theme of love is in the air... 😉

The panel was cut with a postage rectangle die, matted with a red panel and added to the card base with foam tape.  The sentiment was also added with foam squares and the card was complete!

What are you inspired to create with these two challenges?  I encourage you to visit both challenges for the amazing inspiration by the respective design teams and our CH guest designer JoAnne.  The Paper Players challenge ends Friday February 6th at 3pm EST and the Color Hues challenge stays open until Saturday February 14th at 9 am EST.  Hope to see you there!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

• Stamping Bella Oddball Cupid Stamps
• MFT Cloud stencil
• Simon Says Stamp A2 Postage Rectangle die
• Altenew Baby Pink and Vineyard Berry inks
• Copics - R59, 39, 37, 35, E79, 57, 35, 33, 04, 21, 00, C0, 1, 3, 5, YR24, 23 Y15, 11, T2, 0

Holiday Knits Noel for Color Hues

Hello friends!  We're back with a new challenge at Color Hues and this time the amazing Carol is hosting.  She has chosen a lovely winter combo of blue and white.

Color Hues

I'm also sharing this card with my friends over at Time Out Challenges, where this fortnight the theme is All That Glitters, and I do have glittery stuff on my card!

TOC #304

When initially thinking about this color combo, my first thought was to use navy or a dark blue.  But when I saw the prompt, the blue color made me think of one of my favorite cardstock colors, so I opted to go lighter.

And of course, you are welcome to use any hue of blue for your project.

I started with a panel of the dreamy Island Blue cardstock from Simon. Isn't it amazing that it's nearly the same color as the prompt?  The stamp is from a package of 2 red rubber stamps called Holiday Knits from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous.  Love the crisp detail one gets with red rubber.  The image was inked up in white pigment ink and then white heat embossed.  The stamp measures 4" x 6" and after embossing, I trimmed it down to that size, then used foam tape to add it to a 4.5" x 6.5" card base.

The sentiment and snowflakes are from the Tim Holtz Sizzix Big Tidings die set and were cut from Altenew Moonstone glitter cardstock along with scraps of Island blue for the shadow and to layer beneath the snowflakes.  I added two additional white shadow die cuts to the sentiment for more dimension, then everything was adhered to the card front.  I knew it needed a little something more, so I searched my embellishments and found an almost perfect match in the Altenew Deep Sea Sapphire Gem Sparkles pack.  

This design was inspired by the blog post here from Kath Stewart, which I found on Pinterest.  She used the embossing folder rather than the stamp and darker blues with ink blending for her gorgeous card.  I think this card is a good candidate for making multiples, it came together so quickly. 

Won't you come join us and show how you choose to use this color combo?  For more inspiration, my oh, so talented teammates and our wonderful guest designer Bobby have some beautiful cards to share over at the challenge blog here.  The challenge will last until 9 am EST on Thursday January 29th.  Hope you'll play along!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

Warm Wishes for Color Hues

Hello friends and Happy New Year!  I hope your holidays were wonderful.  We're back with a new year of challenges at Color Hues and starting off 2026, the lovely Bonnie is hosting and has chosen a wonderful winter pairing.  

Color Hues

I'd been wanting to use an older stamp set from Stamping Bella and these colors couldn't have been more perfect to use with it.

This is Quinn.  She looks very stylish and cozy in her cute coat and warm boots!  I used Copic markers in cool grays to color her coat, stockings and to add shading, including on the ground so she didn't look like she was floating in air lol!  The red markers are more of a tomato red mix and worked well with the poppy cardstock used for the layering arch. A white gel pen was used to add polka dots to her scarf, but it looked so bright white that I chose to lessen the effect by coloring over them with a light red marker.

I used a piece of gray snowflake patterned paper from the Honey Bee Stamps North Pole paper pad (it came out last year but it's still available), cut it with an arch die, then layered that over the poppy cardstock cut with the next smaller arch die.  Two additional layers were added under that for a bit of dimension before adhering to the card base.  

The sentiment is from the same stamp set and was die cut with a small circle die.  The final touches were to add Star Dust Stickles to the hat pompom and head band, along with the tops of her boots, plus a few HBS Aurora Borealis gems.  In person, the sparkle is amazing but of course, it is difficult to capture in a photo. 

I hope you'll have an opportunity to play along with us this round.  These colors provide a wide range of options, as shown here by my talented teammates and our wonderful Guest Designers Lisa and Barb.  The challenge will stay open until 9 am Wednesday, January 14th.  I hope to see your card in the gallery!

Thanks for visiting!

Stef

• Stamping Bella Uptown Quinn and her Boots stamps
• Simon Says Stamp A2 Arches dies
• Hero Arts Nested Circle die
• Star Dust Stickles
• HBS Aurora Borealis gems
• HBA North Pole paper pad
• Copics - R59, 46, 27, 17, C7, 5, 3, 1, 0, E47, 44, 43, 41, 04, 21, 00