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

Thinking of You for The Flower Challenge and Sunday Stamps

Hello friends!  Today I'm sharing a card that I made for the new sketch challenge at Sunday Stamps and also as my reminder card for The Flower Challenge, where it's Anything Goes (with flowers) celebrating our 7th birthday.  It's always nice when I can make one card for two DT challenges!

Sunday Stamps

The Flower Challenge

 

For my card, I used the lovely magnolia stamps from a collaboration set with Memory Box and Simon Says Stamp.

There are three flowers in the set, so I stamped them all over on a white panel to create my own patterned paper.  I colored it with Copic markers then trimmed it down to 3.5" x 4.75" and mounted it on a slightly larger white panel.  

Next, I layered a 4" x 5.25" panel of brown cardstock on the white card base then added the colored panel with foam tape.  The sentiment was stamped and die cut with the matching die and that finished things off!

So what are you inspired to make for these two challenges?  I'd love to see your card in both galleries, but in the meantime, please take a moment to visit the challenge blogs to see the beautiful cards created by my amazingly talented teammates and guest designers Emily Midgett and Loll Thompson!

Also, this is the final challenge for Viv and Aileen, who started The Flower Challenge seven years ago.  They are dear, wonderful people and will be greatly missed as part of the DT.

Thanks for visiting and take care!

Stef

Stamp and die:  Memory Box and SSS So Kind collaboration, Waffle Flower Elegant Sentiments stamp and die

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Concord & 9th Acorn

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

Copics:  RV23, 21, 10, YG09, 07, 05, 02, E59, 55, 53, B000

Apple-solutely Wonderful for Sunday Stamps

Hello crafty friends!  I'm back with a card for the new color challenge at Sunday Stamps.  This time the colors are definitely leaning towards fall.

Sunday Stamps

I'm also playing along with Inkspirational, where the current theme is CAS.

Inkspirational #299

After reviewing their definition of CAS (one main focal point, lots of open space, minimal layers and minimal embellishments), I thought my card worked well within those parameters.

A couple teammates and I were tossing around what colors were close to the color board and came up with More Mustard, Pale Papaya or light peach, Pumpkin Pie, Cherry Cobbler and Basic Gray, which worked for me!

I recently got this cute stamp set, which is a Stamptember collaboration set between Simon Says Stamp and Art Impressions.  If you're not familiar with Stamptember, all month long SSS offers exclusive collaboration stamps with many of the best craft companies and once the sets sell out, they're gone.  It's over now, since today is October 1st but just something to put on your calendar for next year if you're interested.  The other thing is that even if the collab sets sell out, the companies usually have something similar in their lines of stamps and dies. Art Impressions has a large line of fun AI ladies and gents, if you like this style.

Okay, enough about that!  This cute lady was colored up using Copic markers similar to the colors listed above.  I then used my gray marker to give her some ground to stand on, then used two shades of peachy ink to blend the edges of the background, leaving a little halo so I didn't get the ink where I didn't want it.

When the background was complete, I used a Wonky Stitched rectangle die to cut down the panel and mount it onto the white card base with foam tape.  The sentiment was white heat embossed on a scrap of gray cardstock, then I fussy cut it out and added it to the card with foam squares.  The final touch was adding a few highlights with a white gel pen.  I have a friend that absolutely loves puns, so this card will be heading her way soon!

I hope these colors inspire you to join us - the challenge remains open until 6pm EDT Friday, 10/13.  For more inspiration, please head over to the challenge blog where my talented teammates have plenty more inspiration for you!

Thanks for visiting and take care!

Stef

Stamps:  AI/SSS Apple Cider Set

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, SSS Slate Gray

Ink:  SSS Peachy and Grapefruit

Other:  SSS Wonky Stitched Rectangle die, Sakura White Gelly Roll pen

Copics:  T6, 4, 2, 0, W1, 0, R39, 37, 35, 20, Y15, 11, 00, YR17, 24, 23, 21, 18, 16, 14, 02, 01, 00, 000, E59, 42, 41, 21, 11, 09, 00

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

Seas the Day for Sunday Stamps

Hello friends!  Wow, didn't August just blow by?  I can't believe it's time for kids to be back in school and autumn just around the corner. At Sunday Stamps our new color challenge presents a palette that can be used for a summer card if you're not ready for fall!  Either way, I hope you're inspired to join us!

Sunday Stamps

I'm also joining the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, where this week's theme is Anything Goes.

I fussed around trying to make a mountain scene with these colors, but then decided the coast was calling and ended up with this fun little vignette on my card.

This gull trying to retrieve a sea star cracked me up and the sentiment went so perfectly.  I stamped the gull and starfish on the peer and did some easy Copic coloring.  Next I used Simon Says Stamp Morning ink to blend in the sky and Uncharted Mariner Distress Oxide ink for the ocean, then going over it with my B97 and 93 Copic markers to even out the color.  A white gel pen was the perfect tool to create small waves and ripples in the water.  

Next I used that same Morning ink, blending it all around the edges of a white panel, then cutting it down used a deckled edge die .  It was wrapped with some hemp twine and added to the white card base.  The main image was then popped up with more foam tape to finish off the card.  Pretty simple card but I think using dimension adds more interest.

So what are you inspired to make with these colors?  I hope to see your card in the gallery, but in the meantime, be sure to visit the challenge blog where my talented teammates have some fabulous cards.

Take care!

Stef

Stamps:  Colorado Craft Company Seas The Day

Paper:  Neenah Solar White

Inks:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Clair Nocturne, SSS Morning, Uncharted Mariner DOX

Dies:  Altenew Mix and Match Frames

Other:  Sakura White Gelly Roll pen, Lawn Fawn Hemp Twine

Copics:  E37, 35, 33, 31, Y28, 26, 35, 32, Black100, C6, 4, 2, 0, B97, 93

Just a Note for Sunday Stamps

Hello friends!  It's time again for a new Sunday Stamp Challenge.  This time Heidi has created a wonderful sketch for our inspiration.

Sunday Stamps

For my card I tried to create something CAS (at least by my standards lol!) so I'm also joining the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where the theme is CAS.

I started by creating the flower image, coloring with Copic markers then die cutting with the companion die.  Next I used a rectangle stencil and ink blended a rectangle on the white card base to represent the smaller rectangle in the sketch.  However, I used a pretty light hand with the light aqua ink and the left side was sooo light the camera didn't pick it up.  But I promise you it's there!

I chose to use a foiled and die cut sentiment that I'd made some time back, so I decided to add some gold metallic splatter to bring the gold foiling into the design.  I splattered the card base and the floral image separately before adhering together.  While that dried, I used the companion die to cut two more layers of the floral image, then when everything was ready, added them to the colored image, which was then adhered to the card base, along with the sentiment.

Thanks for taking time to stop by.  Please use the link above to see the lovely cards my fellow DT members created and hopefully are inspired to play along!

Take care!

Stef

Stamps:  Altenew Blossom & Bloom 

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Hammermill

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Clair Nocturne, Salvaged Patina

Foiling:  Spelbinders Everyday Sentiments II Hot Foil plate and Matte Gold Glimmer Hot Foil

Dies:  Blossom & Bloom, Altenew Featured Sentiment die

Other:  Gansi Tambi Starry Colors Gold Metallic paint

Copics:  YR27, 24, 16, Y38, 17, 15, 11, YG67, 17, 03, BG78, 75, 72, 11

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

Glitter Birthday for Sunday Stamps

Hello and welcome back!  It's time for a new challenge at Sunday Stamps and this time Lisa has given us a fabulous sketch to play with.  Be sure to pop over to the challenge blog to see the creative ways the other DT members used it.

Sunday Stamps

To me this design said "use dies" so that's what I did, both for the background and the sentiment.

A week ago I spent the afternoon just playing with Distress Spray Stains and the background panel of this card is one of the results.  Starting with a panel of Distress Watercolor, I sprayed it with Kitsch Flamingo and Wilted Violet, along with squirts of water to get the spray moving.  When I was satisfied with how it looked, I dried it with my heat tool, sprayed it with a shimmer spray, then set it aside to dry while I created the rest of the card components.

Using the Altenew Geo Tiles Cover die, three panels were die cut then adhered together for some girth, and added to the sprayed panel after it dried.  I also die cut a panel of purple glitter paper with the same die, kept the frame for another day, then added the glitter centers to the circles on the card.  The last step was to die cut the sentiment from the same glitter paper and the shadow from vellum and add that to the card front.  All that glitter kind of plays with the camera so the focus isn't as sharp as I'd like but the card is so pretty IRL - lots of purple goodness!

I hope I've given you a bit of inspiration to play along with us - we'd love to see your card in the gallery! 

Take care!

Stef

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Distress Watercolor, Simon Says Stamp Winter Glitter 6x6 pack, Lawn Fawn Pearl Vellum

Dies:  Altenew Geo Tiles Cover and Versatile Greetings 2 dies

Spray:  Kitsch Flamingo and Wilted Violet Distress Spray Stain, Hero Arts White Iridescent Shimmer Spray

Vibrant Florals for Sunday Stamps

Hello friends!  Today is the beginning of a new challenge at Sunday Stamps and this time we bring you a beautiful color combination!

Sunday Stamps

I was inspired by both the colors and the photo, so I decided to recreate using a foiled image of flowers that I imagined were daisies.

As this is quite a large image, I decided to create a 5"x 7" card in order to limit the amount I had to trim down.  It was foiled with matte gold then I used Copic markers to color.  Cool grays were used to created shadows for the white flowers.  I was originally going to just go around the entire image with blue markers but I ended up loving how the bright blue looked, so I colored in the entire background.

I used a rotary trimmer to cut the panel down to 6"x 4" and it enabled me to cut up to the leaf overhanging on the right side, which I then trimmed around with scissors.  It was mounted on a panel of yellow cardstock then adhered directly to the card base.  The foiled sentiment was popped up with thin foam squares and I was done.

What will you make with these colors?  I hope to see your card in the gallery, but in the meantime, be sure to head over to the challenge blog for more inspiration by the other DT members!

Take care!

Stef

Paper:  Hammermill, Stampin' Up Daffodil, Neenah Solar White

Foiling:  Vibrant Florals Hot Foil Plate, Spellbinders Everyday Sentiments II Hot Foil Plate, Spellbinders Matte Gold Glimmer Hot Foil

Dies:  Waffle Flower A7 Frames, Spellbinders Everyday Sentiments II

Copics:  B4, C2, 1, 00, YG67, 17, 05, 03, Y26, 08, 13

Peaceful Birthday for Sunday Stamps

Hello friends!  Well, isn't this month just rolling by?  It's time once again for a new challenge at Sunday Stamps!  This time it's a sketch challenge by yours truly - I hope it inspires you to join us!

Sunday Stamps

It had been a while since I'd made a slimline card and I like all the real estate for creating that it provides. For my card, I did rotate it so it is portrait rather than landscape style. I also apologize with the photo quality of the first shot - I had a heck of a time getting the sentiment to read clearly, even after photo editing.  I'm currently using an older smartphone and I think it's time for an upgrade lol!

The Peaceful Birds stamp and die set from MFT were perfect for making a slimline birthday card.  All the images were stamps, colored with Copics and die cut with the matching dies.  The MFT mini clouds stencil and some light blue ink were used to create the clouds on a 3.25" x 8.25" panel.  I then laid out my scene so I'd know where the grass layer would go and ink blended a couple of green Distress inks on a separate panel of white, then die cut it with a grass border die.

Before adhering the scene panel to the card base I colored a strip of white with the same Copic marker as the one used for the birdhouse, added it to the white card base, then layered the panel on to finish things up.

Do you like making slimline or mini slimline cards?  We'd love to see yours in the gallery, the challenge is open until 4pm MDT Friday 7/7.  In the meantime, please pop over to the challenge blog where the other DT members have created some fabulous cards for your inspiration!

Take care!

Stef

Stamps:  MFT Peaceful Birds

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Black

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Simon Says Stamp Marine, Mowed Lawn and Rustic Wilderness Distress

Dies:  Peaceful Birds, Lawn Fawn Grassy Borders, MFT Skinny Strips

Stencil:  MFT Mini Cloud Edge

Copics:  B28, 26, 23, YG45, 41, G28, 17, 03, Y26, 08, 13, R20, C3, 000, YR16, E49, 47, 44, 43, 41

Fisherman for Sunday Stamps

Hello and welcome!  It's time for a new challenge at Sunday Stamps and this time we have some muted colors that I found to work well for my husband's birthday card.  I used red, gray and steel blue.

Sunday Stamps

I'm also playing along with Seize the Birthday's Anything Goes Challenge.

STB #263

My husband is a fly fisherman and I have found when crafting companies create stamp sets with fishing images, they are mostly for bait fishing.  So I was pleased when I found this stamp from Whimsy Stamps.

I started by stamping the image on white cardstock, then ink blended Simon Says Stamp Morning ink in the background for the sky.  I used Copic markers to color the water, his waders, jeans, vest, shirt and hat and was going to call it good but the background looked to vacant.  I used very light gray copic markers to faintly draw in the trees on the other side of the water.  I am not much of a sketch artist but these are easy trees - draw a line for the trunk and add random squiggly lines for the limbs and it gives the impression of tall fir trees without having to get too detailed.

The main panel was die cut with a deckled rectangle and added with foam tape to a gray panel that was die cut with a larger deckled rectangle, then embossed with a retired Stampin' Up embossing folder.  The sentiment was stamped and die cut with an extra layer to give it a bit of dimension. The final step was to add the fishing line coming off the end of his rod; the stamp didn't have that so I just drew one with a ruler and a black Copic Fineliner pen.

Be sure to pop over to the challenge blog to check out the wonderful cards by the other DT members and hopefully be inspired to join us!

Take care!

Stef

Stamps:  Whimsy Stamps Fisherman, Honey Bee Stamps Pickup Lines

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Simon Says Stamp Slate

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Altenew Obsidian, SSS Morning

Dies:  Pickup Lines coordinating sentiment die, Altenew Mix and Match Frames, Waffle Flower Deckled Frames

Embossing folder:  ret. SU Bark

Copics:  E35, 34, 30, 21, 11, 00, 000, T0, 2, C6, 4, 2, B99, 97, 93, 91, R59, 39, 37

Happy Birthday for Sunday Stamps

Hello, friends!  It's time for a new challenge at Sunday Stamps and this time we have a terrific sketch created by Heather.

Sunday Stamps

As you'll see if you pop over to the challenge blog, there are a variety of interpretations of this sketch.  I opted to go with a rectangle rather than a square card, as it worked best for my design.

I was totally smitten by the Hero Arts release a while back and just had to have this cute Fancy Die kite set!  For the three background elements on the sketch, I used a cloud stencil with Concord & 9th's Aqua Sky ink to create three sets of clouds. The panel was trimmed down and added directly to the card base.

The kite elements were die cut from Stampin' Up Real Red, Black and Daffodil Delight cardstock.  After adding the frame to the kite, it was popped up on the panel with foam tape.  The tail was aligned below then I added the four bows and topped them with mini pearls from my stash.  The sentiment is from a long retired SU Sale-A-Bration stamp set.  I was planning on stamping it directly on card front, but it's a cling stamp and I was afraid I wouldn't get it straight, so I opted for stamping on a separate piece of cardstock, die cut it with an oval then added it with foam tape.  I thought I was finished but the sky seemed a bit empty, so the birds were added after die cutting using a different HA Fancy die set and that was it!

Thanks for visiting! I hope you'll take a moment to visit the challenge blog and see the wonderful inspireation the other DT members have to share, and hopefully be inpsired to play along with us.

Take care!

Stef

Stamps:  Ret. SU Sky is the Limit

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, SU Real Red, Black, Daffodil Delight

Ink:  Concord & 9th Aqua Sky, Versafine Clair Nocturne

Dies:  Hero Arts Fancy Kite and Fancy Cloudy Sky Scene dies, Ellen Hutson Essential Ovals

Stencil:  MFT Mini Cloud Edges