Artsy Leaves for CH142

Hello friends!  Happy October 1st!  I'm doubly happy because October is my favorite month of the year and I am hosting the new challenge at Color Hues.  I've chosen a definite fall-ish color pair of Amber and Burnt Red, and I hope you have fun playing with these colors.  

Color Hues

In addition to challenge colors, you may also use neutrals (e.g. white, ivory, brown, gray, black and metallics).  And unfortunately, green is not a neutral. *wink*

Don't get too hung up on perfectly matching the colors in the prompt. Use what you have to get as close as possible.

For my card I had a great time mixing and blending Distress Spray Stains for my leaf dies.  Take a look...

Aren't those leaves fun?  I started with a couple panels of Distress Watercolor paper and used a mixed of reds and some yellow on one and then two yellows and a yellow mica stain on the other.  I know the photo makes the red look almost rust...I had a heck of a time getting one decent photo.  But in real life, the red really comes through.

The leaves were cut out using Artsy Leaves dies from Tim Holtz.  The veins were cut with Spellbinders Tuscan and Concord & 9th Brickyard. The Alabaster background was embossed with the Whimsical Skies folder, which I thought was perfect for fall.  The gold frame was layered on two additional die cuts then added to the embossed background before adhering the leaves.  

The panel was matted on a slightly larger piece of Vineyard Berry from Altenew, which has more of a brick look than a berry appearance. The final step was to add the gold die cut sentiment, also layered on two additional die cuts.

I hope you'll find time to join us this next fortnight!  I encourage you to head over to the challenge blog to see all the fabulous inspiration by the other DT members and our fabulous guest designer Crystal.  The challenge will remain open until Wednesday, October 14th at 9 am EDT.  Please come play along with us!

Stef

• Tim Holtz/Sizzix Artsy Leaves dies
• Simon Says Stamp Fancy Hello die
• SSS A2 Nesting Frame die
• Spellbinders Whimsical Skies ef
• Fossilized Amber, Rusty Hinge, Lumberjack Plaid and Crackling Campfire Distress Spray Stains
• Flickering Candle Distress Mica Stain

Hugs & Kisses for The Paper Players

Hello friends! It's Sunday and time for a new challenge at The Paper Players.  This week, the lovely Ann has chosen a theme of love to start off the month of February.

The Paper Players

 

The stamp set I used for this card is not new but it was unused until I was reminded of it and inspired by the lovely and talented Donna Mikasa when she posted this card. I initially used the stamp set for my card posted here yesterday and had so much fun making it that I created another with a slightly different layout for this challenge.

I started with the stamp set, which has three stamps that create different designs on nine hearts.  I then used the matching die to cut them all out.  I did this twice, once with the reds and once with the aquas.  

I thought I would layer them on a panel sprayed with Distress Mica spray but it was too busy.  So I searched through my unused embossed panels and decided on one with a wavy pattern, using the debossed side for adding the hearts.  All the layers were added to the card base with foam tape, including the hearts and sentiment, which is from the same stamp set.  Easy peasy (kind of) and I'll be sending this one off to one of my grandsons.  All three of my grands are adults but they still like getting Vday cards from their grandmother. 😍 

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you'll take a moment to visit the challenge blog (linked above) and see all the amazing cards the rest of the DT created.  The challenge remains open until Friday February 7th at 3pm EST and we hope to see your card in the gallery!

Take care!

Stef

• Simon Says Stamp Printmaking Hearts stamps and dies
• Stampin' Up Seaside embossing folder (ret.)
• Spellbinders Postage Edge Rectangle die
• Shiny Bauble Distress Mica Spray
• SSS Guava, Watermelon, Cherry, Seafoam, Surf and Ocean inks

Grateful for You for The Paper Players

Hello friends!  This week at The Paper Players the lovely Joanne has chosen an autumnal color combination for our inspiration.

The Paper Players

I'm also joining the lovelies at Inkspirational with their gorgeous mood board inspiration.  I was inspired by the leafy photo and the fall colors.

Inkspirational #326

 

I had many, many ideas for these colors but in the end, I played around with messy, wonderful mica sprays to create my card.  And yes I did have orange and brown fingers for a day lol!

Right off the bat, I have to say the photos do not do justice to the beautiful colors and shine of the background.  I began with a half sheet of mixed media paper from Vicky Boutin and used two brown and two orange Distress Mica Sprays on the paper, adding water so they would mix a bit then set it aside to dry.

When it was dry the colors had mixed more than I anticipated.  Don't get me wrong, it was really pretty but the browns had dominated the oranges.  I put the panel in my Misti, arranged all the leaf stamps, then used a brown pigment ink to stamp.  That didn't show up well, so ended up gold heat embossing the leaves then used gold metallic paint to add splatters.

Next, I poured a bit of the mica spray onto a palette and used a small brush to paint the lightest orange over some of the leaves and I was so happy with that small step! When everything dried a second time the panel was die cut, wrapped with some gold twine and matted onto a dark brown rectangle before adding to the 5"x 7" ivory card base.  The sentiment was also gold heat embossed, die cut with the matching die and added to the card front along with some copper-ish gems.

We would love to have you share what you create with these colors this week!  The challenge remains open until 3 pm EDT Friday 10/18.  In the meantime, please take a moment to see all the beautiful cards my talented teammates have created for your inspiration over on the challenge blog linked above.

Thanks for visiting and take care!

Stef

• Simon Says Stamp Autumn Leaves and Graceful Florals (sentiment) stamps and die
• Waffle Flower A7 Frames rectangle die
• Spellbinders 5" X 7" Matting Basics A die
• Rangers Jack-O-Lantern, Mulled Cider, Crooked Broomstick and Fallen Acorn Distress Mica Stain Sprays
• SSS Ultra Fine Gold embossing powder
• Altenew Gold Metallic paint
• HoneyBee Stamps Fall Is In the Air gems

Happy Halloween for Sunday Stamps

Hello again!  It's time for a new challenge at Sunday Stamps and this time the lovely Claire has created a wonderful sketch for our crafty inspiration.

Sunday Stamps

I got a little creative with the sketch and essentially flipped it on the side and it worked well for the Halloween scene I created, using clouds for the banners and a pumpkin for the scallop circle.  Take a look!

I adore this fun pumpkin named Edison!  One could make him a bit more spooky looking but I wanted something more playful than scary.  I used my Distress Mica Stain Sprays along with a couple colors of regular Distress Spray Stain.  The pumpkin, the clouds and the back panel were all die cut from Distress Watercolor paper, then I put them all in my "splat" box and sprayed away.  

When the layers dried, the pumpkin was glued together and the back panel embossed with the Tim Holtz Cracked 3D Texture Fade, then all the scene components were adhered to the panel.  The bats are from different die set and were cut from plain black cardstock.  Finally, the sentiment strips were added then the panel adhered directly to the black card base.  Another one completed for my Halloween stash!

So what are you inspired to make with this sketch?  Be sure to pop over to the challenge blog to see how my talented teammates have created and hopefully join us!

Take care!

Stef

Paper:  Distress Watercolor, Hero Arts Pitch Black, Simon Says Stamp Reverse Halloween sentiment strips

Dies:  Tim Holtz Sizzix Edison dies, Memory Box Haunted Entrance bat dies, SSS Sentiment Labels die

Embossing:  Tim Holtz Cracked 3D Texture Fade

Mica Spray Stain Sprays:  Specimen, Frozen Fog, Phantom Mist, Fresh Balsam, Hollybranch, Fallen Acorn, Crooked Broomstick, Jack-O-Lantern, Flickering Candlestick

Distress Mica Stain Sprays:  Fossilized Amber, Rusty Hinge

Autumn Birthday

Hello and welcome!  For my 2nd post today, I'm sharing a card that started as an experiment and it turned out pretty well, so I am sharing it with the challenges below.  (If you're looking for my Sunday Stamps DT card, you can find it here)

STB #225

IB191

FS-Anything Goes Fall

The Four Seasons Challenge is new to me and I love the concept!  Of course it is the brainchild of Diane and Darlene from the Double D Challenge and Peace on Earth Christmas challenge and looks like it is equally as successful.  

So, on to my card.  A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to score the Tim Holtz Halloween Distress Mica Stain Sprays trio (unfortunately it was a limited time offer - they are now sold out but the regular Distress Stain and Distress Oxide sprays are still available) and I decided to experiment with them and here's one of the results.

I began with a sheet of Stonehenge Black Watercolor paper and a leaf stencil.  I used 4 different colors of sprays and let them mix a little bit but not too much so one can see the orange, green, yellow and a little bit of the brown.  This is the first time I've used sprays through a stencil and I love the texture and kind of artsy finish.  It's really impossible to capture the sparkle from the sprays on black but it almost has a velvet look to it.  After the panel dried, I trimmed it down to fit on a mini slimline card.

Finishing the card was pretty easy.  The sentiment was die cut three times from black cardstock and once from gold matte cardstock, then layered together and adhered to the vellum shadow.  I also cut two thin strips of the same gold paper and added it to the top and bottom of the leaf panel before adhering to a black card base.  The vellum sentiment shadow had double sided adhesive on the back so it was easy to adhere to the front of the card.  The last little touch was to add some gold satin baubles.  While they are a different shade of gold than the gold cardstock, it seemed to mesh nicely with the background colors.

Thanks for taking the time to visit!  I hope you're having a good weekend.  Take care!

Stef

Stamps:  None

Paper:  Black, Matte Gold (Simon Says Stamp), Stonehenge Black Watercolor, vellum

Ink:  Jack O'Lantern, Flickering Candle, Bubling Cauldron and Crooked Broomstick Distress Mica Stain Sprays

Other:  Tim Holtz Autumn stencil, Big Happy Birthday dies (SSS), Trinity Stamps Gold Satin Baubles

Snowflake Christmas for Sunday Stamps

Hello and welcome!  It's time for a new challenge at Sunday Stamps and this time Heidi has given us this great sketch to work with.

Sunday Stamps

  

I'm also playing along the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and the Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge.

WWC326

POEC #2

When I saw Heidi's sketch, I narrowed my choices to leaves or snowflakes...and snowflakes won out because I wanted to use a couple of the gorgeous new Tim Holtz Mica Stain Sprays.

For starters, I took an oversized piece of multi-media paper that could withstand water and sprays, and had a fun time creating this background.  I used two of the green blue colors (my photos pick up more of the blue shade - IRL it turned out more of a teal shade), sprayed in spots on the panel, sprayed with water to mix it, then heat set it.  I did this a couple of times then set it aside to dry overnight.  The next day, I die cut the panel with a rectangle die, splattered it with white metallic paint, which was a bit too faint, so I went to white gouache for a brighter effect.  As with many shiny applications, the beautiful shimmer of the mica sprays unfortunately isn't discernable in the photos.

For even more sparkle, the snowflakes were die cut from white glitter cardstock.  I used Liquid Platinum to heat emboss the sentiment, trimmed it down, then added more embossing around all the edges.  The sprayed panel was added to the 5" x 7" white card base with foam tape, then the snowflakes were adhered with just a touch of liquid glue at the centers so I could get some lift on the outer portions of the flakes. The sentiment was popped up with thin foam tape and the final touch was to add a few sequins.

Thanks so much for visiting, I really appreciate it!  Be sure to use the link above to check out the fabulous, clever cards by the other DT members and hopefully be inspired to join us!

Stef

Stamps:  Holiday Greetings Mix 1 (Simon Says Stamp)

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Vicki Boutin Multimedia, White Glitter (SSS)

Ink:  Versamark

Other:  A7 Layers Rectangle die (Waffle Flower), Daphne, Lia, Kaydn & Rina Snowflake dies (SSS), Snowflurries and Frosted Juniper Mica Stain Sprays (Tim Holtz), white metallic paint (Altenew), White Gouache, Liquid Platinum Embossing Powder (Ranger), Antique Gold sequins (Altenew)