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

Fragrant Floral Birthday for PP790

Hello friends!  I hope your summer is off to a good start. Today we have a new challenge at the Paper Players and this time the amazing Christy is hosting our monthly color challenge.  She's chosen a beautiful foursome of colors.

Paper Players

I'm also playing along with the Anything Goes option at Seize the Birthday.

 STB #328

It was not a hard choice for me to go with flowers and one of my most used floral stamp sets worked perfectly with these colors.

The image is from Altenew's Fragrant Floral Craft Your Life set, which includes a large floral and sentiment stamps, a die for the large floral and a layered stencil set.  I opted to use my Copic and Olo markers rather than the stencil to color this.

I'm afraid Gorgeous Grape got a bit short-changed in this image, but it is there on the small berries.  I'd used a stamp positioner to stamp the image and after coloring but before die cutting, I put the panel back in it and stamped with black pigment ink for a nice, crisp image.  

After die cutting I added a second die cut layer then adhered it to the postage edge panel, which was then added to the card base with foam tape.  The sentiment is from an old MFT set and was cut with a label die and popped up with thin foam squares.  The final two steps were to use a white paint pen with a fine tip to color the flower stamen and add three opal gems.

Thanks so much for visiting and it would be wonderful if you'd take a moment to hop over to the challenge blog where the rest of the design team has some fabulous cards to inspire you.  The challenge will remain open until Friday June 19th at 3pm EDT.  I hope you'll join us this week!

Stef

• Altenew Craft Your Life Project Fragrant Florals
• MFT Stylish Sentiments
• Altenew Featured Sentiments Label die
• Simon Says Stamp Postage Edge die
• Posca White 0.7mm paint pen
• SSS Opal Dazzling Gems
• Copics - RV14, 13, 11, BG49 13, 11
• OLOs - YG 1.6, 1.4, 1.2

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

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

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

Good Day for The Flower Challenge

Hello friends!  The fourth of September brings us to a new month for The Flower Challenge.  This time we have a sketch to inspire you!

The Flower Challenge

 

Great sketch with lots of potential, don't you think?  For my card, I pulled out an older favorite floral die and a newer sentiment die. 

I'm also joining in with my friends over at Just Us Girls since it is die week and my card is loaded with them.

JUGS 791

Let's take a look!

After I chose the floral and sentiment dies, I looked through my collection of cardstock and settled on a couple from Concord and 9th for the flower and one from Spellbinders (one of my new favs!).  After die cutting, I ink blended some shading on both the flower petal layers and the leaves, although that's mostly hidden.  The flower was put together then set aside as I worked on the sentiment and background.

An A2 panel of Blue Spruce was die cut with an Altenew frame die, ink blended with a dark blue and a dark teal around the edges, then adhered it to an A2 kraft panel.  After die cutting the sentiment and flower center from matte gold, all the elements were added to the card front.  I found some gold sequins that matched the metallic paper, and that finished things off.

What are you inspired to create with our sketch?  For more inspiration, I encourage you to visit the challenge blog, where my talented teammates have some amazing cards to share.  The challenge remains open until the 25th of the month; I hope to see your card in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

• Honey Bee Stamps Lovely Layers:  Coneflower
• Altenew Timeless Sentiments 2 and Mix & Match Frames dies
• C&9 Sprout and Nectar cardstock and Nectar and Grapefruit ink
• Spellbinders Blue Spruce cardstock
• Altenew Brushed Gold cardstock and gold sequins
• Simon Says Stamp Limelicious, Pearfection, Ocean and Galaxy inks

Flourishing Blooms #2 for The Flower Challenge

Hello friends!  I'm here with my mid-month reminder card for The Flower Challenge.  This month we're asking everyone to use the colors in the prompt, which are orange and aqua/cyan.

As I shared in my post at the first of the month, I used the huge Flourishing Blooms stamp from Altenew and got three panels from a full sheet of cardstock and this card was made from one of the two smaller panels.

I trimmed the stenciled panel down from it's original A2 size, then added a sentiment from the same stamp set. I really like that the sentiments are flourished in some manner as well, to kind of match up with the flourished leaves.  The panel was layered directly onto an orange card base, gems were added and I was done!

You still have 10 days to play along, so what are you waiting for?  The team has more inspiration for you at the challenge blog (linked above) and you'll have until July 25th to join in or add a 2nd card.  

Thanks for stopping by.  Take care!

Stef

• Altenew Flourishing Blooms stamps and stencils
• Altenew Dew Drops, Aqualicious, Galactic Stream, Chamomile, Snapdragon and Mandarin Burst inks
• SSS Surf Dazzling Gems and Creamsicle cardstock

Birthday Gardenia for The Paper Players

Hello friends!  Another Sunday rolls around and it's time for a new challenge with the Paper Players!  This week, the lovely, amazing Ann is hosting and has created a wonderful sketch.

Paper Players

I found myself looking through my numerous patterned paper pads and happened upon a very old one.  It is from BasicGrey, which has been out of business for years, and is from 2008.  I was inspired by the colors for my card.

The pattern is obscured a bit by the flower and sentiment; it is a leafy floral with dragonflies.  I loved the soft palate and was happy to find inks to match.  The flower components and leaves were die cut from white cardstock, then ink blended with the chosen inks.

The paper was trimmed down to A2 size before adhering to the base, then a die cut gold frame was layered on top.  The flower and leaves were  assembled, then added to a scallop circle.  The last thing was to decide on a sentiment, which I found in my foiled sentiment stash.  

Thanks for visiting and I hope you're inspired to join us! Ann's sketch is certainly wide open for many design choices.  My very talented teammates have created some beautiful examples, so I encourage you to take a moment and visit the challenge blog.  The challenge will remain open until Friday March 28th at 3pm EDT.

Take care!

Stef

• Altenew Gardenia Layering die set
• Pinkfresh Studio Fancy Script Words Foil plates and dies
• Simon Says Stamp A2 Nesting Frame dies
• Hero Arts Infinity Scallop Circle die
• Altenew Water Hyacinth, Alpine Aster, Silver Sage, Jade, Eucalyptus and Forest Fern inks
• BasicGrey Wisteria 6x6 paper pad

Thinking of You for Color Hues

Hello, friends!  Today brings a new challenge at Color Hues and this time the amazing Jules has chosen Mustard and Olive, a great fall combination.

Color Hues

I decided to use a set that's been waiting to be inked up for a while - Brighter Days Gerbera Daisy from Picket Fence.  I know Gerbera daisies come in a plethora of colors so I decided why not mustard yellow? 

This is a lovely, large floral image and so easy to color.  Of course, I used my Copic markers, making sure my yellows were more of a golden color.  I know mustard can be a bright yellow, I guess I was thinking Dijon? ;-)  Anyway, with the coloring complete it and the sentiment (also from the same set) where cut out with coordinating dies.

I really fiddled around to get a background that I liked.  At first the double plaid die was cut from brown cardstock and layered on white, but I didn't like that and finally settled on the white over kraft.  It's very subtle, but before the kraft panel was layered with the cover die, I stamped a text background stamp with white pigment ink, then used a blending tool to ink around the edges.  It adds just a little interest and a nice softness to the kraft.

With everything adhered to the card base, I finished things off with some yellow gems and used a white gel pen for the stamen (anthers?).

I do hope you'll join us and share what you were inspired to make with these two colors!  The challenge remains open until 9am on Tuesday October 29th.  And I encourage you to visit the challenge blog, where fabulous inspiration from my very talented teammates awaits you.

Thanks for visiting and take care!

Stef

• Picket Fence Brighter Days Gerbera Daisy stamps and dies
• Simon Says Stamp Double Plaid Cover Die
• SSS Friendship Text background stamp
• HoneyBee Stamps Vintage Love Gems
• Copics - YR27, 24, 23, Y15, 11, YG99, 97, 95, E37, 35, 33, 31

Birthday Wishes

Hello friends!  Another day, another card!  This time I'm playing along at Seize the Birthday.  Nancy has a fun challenge for us to use green and one other color, and of course make it a birthday card.

STB 281

 

I hadn't made a mini or regular slimline card for a while, so I decided a mini slim would work well with the floral image I wanted to use.

Everything on the card but the frame is from the April 2024 Simon Says Stamp card kit.  I started by coloring up that pretty wild flower in a vibrant pink and of course greens for the leaves.  Next I flipped through the patterned paper selection from the kit and found this pretty green with a subtle floral pattern.  

After it was trimmed down and added to the card base, I decided to frame up the floral using a Pinkfresh Studio mini slimline frame, layering it up twice before adding to the card front.  The flower was partially adhered to the paper with some of the petals and the small but popped up with thin foam squares.  After adding the sentiments, some jewels seemed in order, so I found some pretty pink ones that matched the flower so well.

Thanks for visiting, I appreciate it! Be sure to come back tomorrow for my reminder card for the current Flower Challenge (layers) and on Tuesday when we have a wonderful new challenge with perfect spring colors over at Color Hues.

Take care!

Stef

• Simon Says Stamp Wild and Free Flowers stamps and dies
• Pinkfresh Studio Essentials: Mini Slimline Frame die
• American Crafts Dreamer 6x8" paper pack
• SSS Taffy Dazzling Gems
• Copics - RV19, 06, 04, 02, YG67, 17, 03

Touched Beyond Words

Hello friends!  I hope you're having a great weekend.  Today I'm sharing a card that I made for the current challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.

FMS 631

I love Jen's simple sketch and it was just perfect for using a big floral.  My card ended up being a square 5" x 5".

This large flower image is from Altenew's Vintage Garden and while I've had the stamp set a while, I hadn't inked up and colored this image as of yet.  For the flower petals I used Copics in a part of the RV family I don't typically reach for because they are more on the red side and I'm more inclined to like pinks.  Good to get out of your comfort zone, right?  The leaves were colored with Altenew Artist markers.

For the background, I ink blended a panel with some light greens at an angle starting at the upper right and fading off to white towards the middle.  It was then embossed with a 3D folder but the texture was so pronounced I didn't like it for this particular card, so I ran it through my die cut machine a second time just between the plates to lessen the embossing - it's not totally flat and it worked better for adhering everything.  

The flower was added to the white scallop circle that had been die cut three times, then the sentiment and gems finished things off.

Thanks for taking time to drop by!

Take care!

Stef

• Altenew Vintage Garden Stamp and Die
• Spellbinders Tile Motif 3D embossing folder
• Spellbinders Betterpress You Are Everthing Sentiment press plate
• Hero Arts Scallop Circle die
• HoneyBee Stamps Aurora Borealis Gems
• Copics - RV21, 23, 25, 19
• Artist Markers - Aloe Vera, Matcha Tea, Swamp Green