Hello Sunshine for PP791

Hello friends!  Here we are on the first day of summer and it's time for a new challenge with the Paper Players.  The lovely Jan is hosting our CAS week and wants us to reflect weather on our cards.  However you interpret that, just be sure to keep it simple with lots of white space and minimal layers.

Paper Players

I was looking out the window the other day to brilliant blue skies with puffy clouds and that inspired me to create this card...

This card took me about 30 minutes to create. The clouds I left white but added a bit of ink blending to the yellow die cut sun.  I masked off the edges of the scallop panel, lightly added some yellow ink where I wanted the sun to be peeking out from behind the cloud, then used a large blending brush to softly add a light aqua to the rest of the sky.  

The sentiment was stamped then I layered the panel on two more die cut panels for a small amount of dimension on the card base.  The sun was adhered directly to the panel and the clouds with thin foam squares.  I was going to leave it at that, but I felt like it needed a bit of sparkle, so I added a few gems.

Thanks for taking time to stop by!  I encourage you to visit the challenge blog for some amazing inspiration by the rest of the design team.  The challenge will remain open until 3pm EDT on Friday, June 26th.  I hope you'll join us!

Stef

• Spellbinders Sun and Clouds die set
• Hero Arts Nested Circle die (for the sun center)
• Honey Bee Stamps A2 Scallop die
• Simon Says Stamp Wild & Free Flowers sentiment stamp
• SSS Butter, Zest and Seafoam inks

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

Funky Hello for the Paper Players

Hello friends!  Today we have a new color challenge at the Paper Players.  The amazing Jan is hosting and has chosen a wonderful fall palette.

Paper Players

Because this is the first outing for the die set I used for this card, I'll be sending my card to Darnell's NBUS challenge as well.

NBUS

It took me a while to decide what kind of fall/autumn card I wanted to create, but then I remembered my Tim Holtz Funky Foliage that was still waiting to be used after quite a while sitting in my NBUS bin, and it turned out to be perfect for this challenge!

I'll just say up front this card took quite a while to make, but I love how it turned out.  The next time I use the die set, I will start with colored cardstock rather than white to save some time.  I colored each die cut component using my Copic markers, which I'd chosen to closely represent the challenge colors.  The photos do make the "cajun" colors a bit more orange than rust-ish, but IRL they look much closer.

Next I took a background panel of Kraft cardstock, embossed it with the Tim Holtz Cracked folder, then blended dark brown ink over it for more visible texture.  The arch is black and was die cut three times and layered together before adding to the card front.  

I then added all the elements going up the left side, some with glue and others with foam squares, leaving room for the sentiment.  I actually didn't have one in mind, but a search yielded the Hello that had already been stamped and die cut.  Adding that finished things off.  I'm really happy with this funky/grungy look!

What are you inspired to create with these four colors?  I hope you'll share with us this week, we'd love to see your card in the gallery.  In the meantime, I encourage you to visit the challenge blog where my talented teammates are sharing how they used these colors.  The challenge will stay open until 3pm EST on Friday November 14th.

Thanks for visiting!

Stef

• Tim Holtz/Sizzix Funky Foliage dies
• TH/S Cracked embossing folder
• Simon Says Stamped Nested Domed Arch die
• Copics - Cajun-YR07, 18, E19; Early Espresso-E49, 47, 44, 43; Mossy Meadow-G99, 94, 82; Old Olive-YG99, 97, 95, 93; Grays-W5, 3, 1

Cozy Birdhouse for Color Hues

Hello friends!  The summer is sure cruising by and here it is, August 1st! Over at Color Hues we have a new challenge, this time hosted by the amazing Carol.  She has chosen a lovely combo of pink and gray.

Color Hues

Making a bunny with these colors definitely crossed my mind but instead I decided to use a couple of cute die sets to make a fun little scene.  Since the dies are new, I'll be linking up to Darnell's NBUS as well.

NBUS

I started out by inking the background using a cloud stencil and a light pink ink on an A2 panel of white.

Next all the elements were die cut from white, which were colored with a variety of inks in pink, gray and brown.  For the sentiment, I took the inkpad direct to paper, let it dry overnight, then die cut it.  

I started creating the card front with the branch, which I layered on two additional die cuts, then wrapped some hemp twine on it before adding it to the top of the panel.  The twine was pulled taut, then I used a little tape to hold it in place.

Then came the birdhouse and fun little birdies.  I put the house together first, added foam tape to the back and positioned it so that the roof hid the taped twine.  The interior panel is also cut from the die but it's hard to get it exactly centered, so next time I think I'll create a slightly larger one.  After adding the birdies, the layered die cut sentiment was centered and I was done.

I encourage you to use the link above to see what my oh, so talented teammates have created with this color combination.  After seeing all that great inspiration, I hope you'll head off to your crafty space and join us!  The challenge will remain open until Thursday, August 14th at 3pm EDT.  

Thanks for visiting and take care!

Stef

• Simon Says Stamp Birdies and Cozy Birdhouse die sets
• MFT Mini Cloud Edges stencil*
• MFT Hello There Dienamic set*
• SSS Mocha Cappucino and Latte inks
• Altenew Baby Pink, Pinkalicious, Rubellite, Idustrial Diamond and Pure Graphite inks

*Sadly, MFT has closed but I am guessing there may be products available online or other retailers.

Birdie Hello for the Paper Players

Hello friends! I have a fun little card to share with you for the new challenge at the Paper Players.  This time, the lovely LeAnne is hosting our CAS challenge with the theme of using things with wheels.  Pretty fun, huh?

Paper Players

As I was combing through potential stamp and die sets, I remembered a favorite Stampin' Up cling rubber stamp set that retired years ago.  It has a fun little scene that includes wheels.  Take a look!

I stamped the image without its accompanying sentiment (in fact, I used my oldie but goodie red rubber scissors to trim it off) on a small panel of white cardstock.  Before coloring, I used a cloud stencil and also added a bit of blue around the sides.  I used a light hand so it's a bit hard to see in the photo.  After the coloring was done, the panel was cut with a square postage die.

I found some cardstock that was close in color to the wagon and used a cover die that added a tulip piercing pattern and die cut little hearts.  It was then cut with a postage rectangle die and added to the card base.  A sentiment was stamped on the image square before mounting it on the card using foam tape.  I thought a little enamel heart would look cute, carrying on the theme from the background, and found a wee yellow one that I added to the upper right corner.  

There are so many possibilities with this theme, I hope you'll play along this week.  Just remember to keep it clean and simple.  My talented teammates have a variety of amazing examples, so I encourage you to use the link above and check it out.  The challenge will remain open until 3pm EDT Friday 7/25.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

• Stampin' Up For the Birds stamp (retired)
• Altenew Happy Eight mini stamp (sentiment)
• Pinkfresh Studio Tulip Love Coverplate die
• MFT Mini Cloud stencil
• Simon Says Stamp Postage Edge dies
• Altenew Eastern Sky ink, Ultramarine cardstock and Citrus Punch enamel heart
• Copics - B28, 26, 24, 23,21, C9, 7. 5, 3, 1, 0, W3, 1, 0, Black 100, Y15, 11, RV 06, 02 YR 09, 04, YG17, 05

Sunny Hello for Color Hues

Hello friends!  Today starts a new challenge at Color Hues.  This time the lovely Bonnie is hosting and she has chosen a wonderful color combination.

For a nanosecond I thought about doing something other than a floral card, but fortunately that thought passed quickly lol!

I dug through all my sunflower stamps and dies, and found this oldie but goodie from Colorado Craft Company.  It's one of their Big and Bold images and it works well with either a 5" square (with a little trimming) or an A7 size, which is what I went with.  I used my Copic and Olo markers for the coloring then die cut it with the matching die.

For the background a panel of Spellbinders Beeswax cardstock was cut down with one of their matting basics dies, then I used a couple of ink colors to blend around the edges.  I admit to getting a little enthusiastic while doing that I didn't leave much of the cardstock color.  The trellis is actually an A7 plaid cover die that I trimmed down to fit on the panel.  Once everything was adhered to the card base, I added the sentiment and a few gems.  Last came the white gel pen and some clear shimmer on the flower petals, but I don't think it's visible in the photos.

This is a great summer color combo - just wait until you see what my talented teammates came up with!  Use the link above to visit the challenge and then I hope you'll head off to your crafty space and play along with us!  The challenge will remain open until 3pm EDT Tuesday, July 29th.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

• CCC Ukraine's Sunflower stamp and die
• Simon Says Stamp Hi There Greetings
• Honey Bee Stamps Plaid A7 Cover die (base)
• Spellbinders 5x7 Matting Basics A die
• SB Beeswax cardstock
• Ink - Altenew Lemonade Stand and SSS Honey
• Copics - YR27, 23, Y15, 11, E59, 37, 39, 33
• Olos - 8.7, 8.5, 8.3

Wildflower Hello for Color Hues

Hello friends!  We have a new challenge at Color Hues and this time I am hosting.  I love this color combo and, as my talented teammates and our wonderful Guest Designer Teresa have demonstrated over at the challenge, it can be used for many different types of designs.

Color Hues

I decided to use some Distress products that I have long neglected for my card.  I watched a Tim Holtz Live video and was soooo inspired.  Although I only used a very simple technique with sprays for my card, the video gave me many more ideas I hope to use in the future.  I based my card layout on one by a Sizzix maker that Tim shared during the live.

I started with two A2 panels of Distress watercolor paper, textured side up.  On one I used Saltwater Taffy Distress Spray Stain, which is a nice pinky peach, and on the other used Salty Ocean.  I did the spray, water and dry method on both then repeated it a couple more times with the Salty Ocean, also smooshing color from my glass board mat.  To finish the Salty Ocean panel, I added splatter using the Distress spray along with water and white paint.  

When the panels were dry, the cobalt one was trimmed down then I used a distressing tool all around the edges.  I found a strip of white woodgrain cardstock to anchor the die cut wildflowers and then wrapped hemp twine all around before adhering everything to the card base.  The sentiment was layered three time the added to the card front.  

Thank you for visiting today and I do hope you'll join us for this challenge.  For further ideas and inspiration, I encourage you to visit the blog.  The challenge will remain open until Sunday, June 29th at 3pm EDT.  Hope to see you there!

Stef

• Tim Holtz/Sizzix Wildflowers #1 dies
• Altenew Versatile Greetings die
• Ellen Hutson Woodgrain cardstock
• Spellbinders Splatter White paint

Hello for The Flower Challenge

Hello friends!  I'm back with my reminder post for The Flower Challenge.  This month the theme is to use spring colors.

The Flower Challenge

At the first of the month I used purple and green here so this time I went with more peachy/orange colors.  

I started by coloring the flowers with Copic markers and the leaves with Olo markers.  I was trying to achieve a peachy color for the flowers but in the end it appears to lean more toward orange, and I was fine with that.  After die cutting, I used a black glaze pen to color in the stamen.

For the background I used the SSS Whirl Diamond Plate in white on a piece of Spellbinders Bellini cardstock, which I though complimented the color of the flowers without competing with it.  I placed the floral image up a little higher on the panel than I wanted, so I found a large die cut hello that helped balance things out.  Black enamel dots finished things off.

Can you believe it's mid-April already?  Time flies, that's for sure, but if you haven't joined us yet this month, or you have another floral with spring colors, there's still time to share.  The challenge will be open until Friday, April 25th. Please take a moment to visit the challenge blog, my amazing teammates have some more inspiration for you.  

Thanks for visiting and take care!

Stef

PS - come on back tomorrow when I'll be sharing my DT card for our new Color Hues challenge!

• Simon Says Stamp/Alex Syberia Close at Heart stamp and die (Stamptember 2024)
• SSS Whirl Diamond Plate
• Altenew Timeless Sentiment dies
• Altenew Essential Black Enamel Dots
• Sakura Black Glaze pen
• Copics - YR68, 02, 00
• Olos - YG 1.6, 1.4, 1.2

Hello for The Flower Challenge

Hello friends!  Today begins a new challenge at The Flower Challenge and this month we're adding stencils to our floral cards.  Easy peasy!

TFC 96

I have many, many floral images with stencils, including stamps and embossing folders, but this time I decided to use a previously foiled BetterPress floral image that had a coordinating stencil.

The stencils include two for the petals, two for the leaves and one for the flower centers, so it's not a true "layering" stencil in the sense there are more than one for shading purposes.  So I decided to use a set of pink and green inks from Altenew that has four colors per color family, and used the lightest and medium for one petal or leaf, then the 2nd lightest and darkest for the others.

I used Altenew mini, detailed and micro mini blending brushes to blend on the ink to achieve some shading, although you can see the lightest flower petals don't have much contrast.  I love the muted colors for fall.  

With the stenciling complete, I messed around trying to find a sentiment that I liked.  I knew I wanted gold, and finally landed on die cutting the large hello out of gold cardstock and matting both the sentiment and the trimmed down stenciled image on dark green cardstock.  I decided not to add any embellishments because the background already had lots of foiled gold dots in-between the floral images.

This is such an easy challenge, I do hope you'll join us at least once this month!  In the meantime, take a moment to visit the challenge blog and see what my amazingly talented teammates have created to inspire you!  The challenge will remain open until Friday, October 25th.

Thanks for visiting and take care!

Stef

• Spellbinders Cosmos Backdrop BetterPress and Stencil Combo
• Simon Says Stamps Fancy Hello dies
• Altenew Pink Crystal, Mauve, Berrylicious, Acai Berry, Rhodolite, Silver Sage, Jade, Eucalyptus and Forest Fern Fresh die inks
• Concord and 9th Evergreen cardstock

Sulfur Cosmos for The Flower Challenge

Hello friends!  I'm here with my mid-month reminder card for The Flower Challenge.  This month we are using the beautiful mood board colors, of which you need to use at least three with your floral card.

 

TFC 94 reminder    

Last time I used the pink, coral and sage, so for this card I went with peach, sage and gray.

I fell in love with these Sulfur Cosmos blooms and stencils from Altenew.  Along with stencils to color the flowers, it also included the pattern in the background of my card, which I created using paste on a gray panel.  The flowers were stenciled with soft peach and sage inks, then die cut with the coordinating die.  I did fussy cut the space between the upper and lower flowers because I didn't care for the big section of white against the gray panel.  I also went in with a few Copic markers to enhance the shading and create more dimension.  

After adding the floral image to the gray panel, the overhanging parts were trimmed off then it was adhered directly to the front of a white cardbase.  The sentiment, also from the same stamp set, was stamped, die cut and added to the card front.  To complete things, I added three iridescent drops around the sentiment.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I encourage you to use the link above to be inspired by the beautiful cards by my amazing teammates and hopefully join us!  There's still plenty of time; the challenge will remain open until Sunday, August 25th.

Take care!

Stef

• Altenew Sulfur Cosmos Stamps, Stencils and Dies
• Hero Arts White Pearl paste
• Altenew Orange Sorbet, Pastel Sunrise, Canyon Clay, Peachy Glow, Golden Honeycomb, Silver Sage, Jade and Eucalyptus dye inks
• Copic markers
• Pinkfresh Studio Iridescent Clear Drops

 

Hello for Color Throwdown

Hello friends!  Recently I was chosen as the Featured Stamper for Color Throwdown #769 with my fun little Caroling Owls card here, and now I am so pleased to be joining the CDT team as Guest Star Stamper for their latest challenge.

Color Throwdown

I love these muted colors and tried to match them as best as possible using my Copics and a blended background.

For the flowers I used one of the two floral images from Altenew's In the Woodland.  After coloring with my Copic markers, I used a white gel pen to accentuate the anthers at the end of the stamen, then die cut the image with the matching die.

Next came the ink blended panel, using Simon Says Stamp Morining ink on the smooth side of a panel of Distress Watercolor paper, which was then die cut with one of the Mix and Match Frames, also from Altenew.  Before adhering to the white card base, the flowers and panel were separately splattered with White Gouache and gold metallic paint.  I used foam tape under both the panel, the floral image and the foiled sentiment and I was done!  

Thanks for dropping by to take a peek!

Take care!

Stef

Stamps:  Altenew Into the Woodland

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Distress Watercolor

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Clair Nocturne, SSS Morning

Foiling:  SSS Elegantly Modern Greetings Hot Foil Plate, Spellbinders Gold Glimmer Hot Foil

Dies:  Altenew Mix and Match Frames and Into the Woodland, SSS Elegantly Modern Greetings

Copic markers:  E97, YR18, 02, 01, 00, 000, YG99, 97, 95, 93, C9, 7, 6

Cosmos for The Flower Challenge

Hello friends!  I'm back with my mid-month reminder card for The Flower Challenge.  This month, we're using the colors black, yellow and white.

The Flower Challenge

 

I ended up using a long-neglected background stamp for my card this time.

For my second card in this color combination (you can find my first one here) I color the background and flower centers yellow and left the flowers white using gray Copic markers to add gentle shading to the flower interior and edges.  Since the stamp is a 6" x 6" background stamp, I die cut the desired section first, then colored it.

The black layering panel was die cut with the next larger die in the set, then after adhering to the colored panel, I decided to wrap it with some black Baker's Twine and add my sentiment using a small tag.  Once that was done, the final step was to pop it up on the white card base with some foam tape.  Super easy and simple.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you'll take a moment to visit the challenge blog - as always, my wonderful teammates have created some gorgeous cards for our reminder post!  And I do hope you're inspired to join us this month!

Take care!

Stef

Stamps:  Simon Says Stamp Cosmos Background, Waffle Flower Special Delivery Sentiments

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, SU Black

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Clair Nocturne

Dies:  Altenew Ornate Nesting, Waffle Flower Special Delivery

Other:  Retired SU Black Baker's Twine

Copics:  W3, 1, YR27, 24, Y19, 15, 13

Fall Hello for Sunday Stamps

Welcome back friends!  It's time for a new challenge at Sunday Stamps and this time we have some beautiful colors that just made my heart happy!  I hope you like them too!

Sunday Stamps

I'm also sharing my card at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge for their Anything Goes theme.

To me these are wonderful colors for making Autumn cards, but honestly I love them any time of year.  Please excuse the photo quality - my camera definitely was not a fan of the foiled sentiment.

For starters, the pretty Forest Builder Frame was die cut from Distress Watercolor, then I used the ink smooshing technique to color them with Distress inks.  To get the frame a consistently darker color, I dipped a small paintbrush in Crackling Campfire Distress Spray Stain and painted the frame.  While that dried, a panel of Aqua Sky cardstock was embossed using the Tim Holtz Bark 3D folder, trimmed down then added to a Peacock panel layered on the white card base.

Next, I used a bit of Hero Arts gold wax on my finger to gently swipe over parts of the now dried leaves and branches on the frame.  While hard to see in the photos, I also swiped the gold wax on parts of the embossed panel to bring out the texture.  While that dried, I used my Spellbinders Hot Foiling system to create the sentiment, then adhered everything to the card front.  

So what are you inspired to create with these colors?  For more inspiration, head over to the challenge blog where my wonderful teammates have some beautiful cards to share, and hopefully you will join us!

On a personal note, this will be my final post as part of the Sunday Stamps design team. I've decided to take a step back and reevaluate my crafting priorities. The women on this team have been nothing less than fabulous to work with, and I will miss creating with them very much, and of course they will continue to bring you wonderful inspiration with each challenge. 

Take care!

Stef

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Hammermill, Distress Watercolor, Concord and 9th Peacock and Aqua Sky

Ink:  Crackling Campfire, Wild Honey and Carved Pumpkin Distress Inks

Dies:  Simon Says Stamp Forest Builder Frame and Elegantly Modern Greetings die

Foiling:  Simon Says Stamp Elegantly Modern Hot Foil Plate, Spellbinders Gold Glimmer Hot Foil

Other:  Tim Holtz Bark 3D embossing folder, Crackling Campfire Distress Spray Stain, Hero Arts Gold Wax

Ocean Silhouettes for Sunday Stamps

Hello, friends!  We have a new challenge for you over at Sunday Stamps and this time we bring you a colorful palette to spark your creativity!

Sunday Stamps

I'm also joining the current challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where the theme is Summer.  

After thinking a bit about the colors, I felt they would work well for a tropical sky just after sunset, using the turquoise, yellow, orange and a little bit of purple. So here's what I came up with.

I started with an A2 sized panel of Ranger Distress Heavystock, which is wonderful for ink blending, and masked off where I wanted the horizon line to start and inked up the sky.  I began with a light yellow ink and went from up about 2/3rds of the way, then came down with the orange, and blending back and forth so I had a thin line of light yellow up to the dark orange.  I then blended some purple into the very top of the orange to add a bit more depth to the color.  Next, I reversed the masking and used a beautiful turquoise color for the ocean.

The panel was then place in my Misti and I used black pigment ink to stamp the lovely scene and sentiment with Gina K's Ocean Silhouettes stamp set.  When the ink dried, I used a white gel pen to create some waves in the water, minimally trimmed down the panel, then adhered directly to a black card base.  Ta da!  All done!  I love this silhouette stamp set - I used it for a couple other cards that I hope to share in the future.

I hope this has given you a bit of inspiration and for even more, please head over to the blog where my talented teammates have a bevy of beautiful creations to share with you!

Take care.

Stef

Stamps:  Gina K Ocean Silhouettes

Paper:  Hero Arts Pitch Black, Distress Heavystock

Ink:  Simon Says Stamp Surf and Orchid, Altenew Lemon Ice, Citrus Burst and Mandarin, Versafine Clair Nocturne

Other:  Sakura Gelly Roll White Gel pen