Sending Hugs for CH139

Hello friends!  It's time for a new challenge at Color Hues and this time the lovely Marcia is hosting.  She's chosen a beautiful combination that can work for many designs.

Color Hues

I'm also joining the current Pick 2 challenge at Time Out Challenges. My picks are CAS and floral.  It's a maybe on monochromatic since I used 2 colors.

 

TOC #319

Originally, I had another card created and posted using these colors with die cuts, but decided to go another route and with some vibrant ink blending.  Take a look.

I was sorting through some older stamps and happened upon this oldie but goodie, and realized a silhouetted sunrise/sunset would look wonderful and it would be an easy make.

A panel of white cardstock was trimmed down to 3" x 4.25", then stamped along the bottom using black pigment ink.  When dry I used several Distress inks to create the background sky.  I thought I might use a black mat beneath and add to a white card base, but the drama of no white was too much to resist.

I think I spend more time trying to find a sentiment with the right words that were also sized appropriately.  Three gems finished things off.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope you'll take a moment to visit the challenge blog where my talented teammates and our wonderful guest designer Priscilla some have beautiful cards to inspire you.  The challenge will remain open until 9 am EDT Saturday August 29th.  I hope you'll join us!

Stef 

This is my second post today.  If you wish to see my first card, you can take a peek here or scroll down. 

• Impression Obsession Garden Silhouette stamp
• Altenew Evergreen Beauty Mini Stamp set
• Fossilized Amber, Mustard Seed, Scattered Straw, Spiced Marmalade, Carved Pumpkin and Wild Honey Distress inks
• Simon Says Stamp Warm Tones Dazzling gems

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

La Dolce Vita Birthday for PP794

Hello friends!  It's time for a new challenge at the Paper Players and this week the amazing Jaydee is hosting.  This is color week and Jaydee has chosen a gorgeous combination.

Paper Players

My card uses products that have been languishing in my unused bin, so I'll be sharing this at Darnell's NBUS challenge.

NBUS

I'm also joining the Anything Goes option at Seize the Birthday and the Summer Vibe challenge at Inkspirational.

STB #330

Inkspirational #371

I had so much fun creating the first card that I ended up making two.

I started by cutting the lemons, flowers and leaves from colored cardstock that coordinated with Jaydee's challenge colors and then enhanced them with some ink blending.  

The embossed background was made using Shortbread cardstock from Concord & 9th.  It appears a lot lighter in the photos - in person it is the yummiest warm color between ivory and light yellow.  It was trimmed down and added to a black matte.

The sentiments are from a coordinating Betterpress set, which I inked up in black then used the coordinating dies to cut them out.  As someone who doesn't speak Italian, I always thought ciao was goodbye, but learned it can also mean hello.  So the greeting reads hello beautiful and I like the versatility of that.  Paired with the sub greeting above, I can use it for a birthday or many other occasions.

For the second card, I kind of when overboard with the flowers lol! 

This time I die cut everything from white cardstock then ink blended them for a slightly different look.  I used the same embossed background but added the arch panel as a landing spot for all the die cuts.  The sentiment is from the same Betterpress set and I finished this off with a few opal gems.  

Do you have a favorite?  I like them both, but I like the look of the ink blending on white for card #2 a bit better.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Be sure to take a moment to visit the challenge blog, my talented teammates have some amazing cards using these colors in a variety of ways.  The challenge will remain open until July 17th at 3pm EDT.  I hope you'll join us!

Stef

Card #1

• Spellbinders Citrus Spritz die set
• SB La Dolce Vita Betterpress plate and die
• SB Lemon Fresco embossing folder
• SB Blush, Tutu and Rainforest cardstock
• C&9 Buttercup and Shortbread cardstock

Card #2 (same die and sentiment sets, and embossing folder)

• SB Essential Arch die
• Simon Says Stamp Shell, Salmon, Coral, Guava, Watermelon, Limelicious and Pearfection inks
• SB Opal gems

Wedding Congratulations for PP793

Hello friends!  For those of you in the US, I hope you enjoyed a wonderful 4th of July celebration.  My husband and I sat in front of our house, along with some neighbors and watched all the fireworks that were being set off around us.  Loud, but pretty chill.

But now, onto the business of a new challenge at the Paper Players!  It's the amazing and lovely Ann's turn to host and she has come up with a wonderful theme to inspire you.

Paper Players

This theme came at a perfect time.  My dear friend recently got married in June and this is the wedding card I created for she and her new husband. 

My friend loves lace so of course I pulled out some of the last remnants of long retired Stampin' Up! lace trim (think 2013!).  I settled on using the beautiful Butterfly Ranunculus Layering die set from Altenew, which includes all three flowers and the leaves on the card.  Originally it was going to be an A7 card, but I settled on 4.5" x 6", which was more proportional.  

The flowers and leaves were cut from white cardstock, then colored with ink blending.  Gold centers looked elegant and coordinated with the foiled congratulations sentiment.  I cut a panel for the background that was a bit on the peachy side, so I lightly ink blended a dark pink around the edges before adhering the embossed panel.  I used glue behind the solid parts of the lace design in order to add it to the embossed section, then added the flowers with foam squares and tucked the leaves underneath.  I did finish things off with a few pearls but that was a last-minute decision which didn't get photographed.  

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by and I encourage you to head over to the challenge blog for some gorgeous inspiration from my talented teammates.  The challenge will remain open until Friday, July 10th at 3pm EDT.  I hope you'll have a chance to play along!

Stef

• Altenew Butterfly Ranunculus Layering Die set
• Spellbinders Petite Tufted embossing folder
• Spellbinders Betterpress Fancy Sentiments plate and die
• Altenew Strawberry, Raspberry Sunset, Matcha Tea and Reindeer Moss ink

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

Garden Party Birthday for PP778

Hello friends!  Can you believe it's the last day of May?  Phew, another month flew by!  But it also means that we have a new Tic Tac Toe challenge over at the Paper Players.  This time, the fabulous Joanne is hosting and created a really fun TTT board.

Paper Players

I chose to go diagonal from the bottom left to top right - happy sentiment, free and die cut.

I thought this was just such a happy card, with those fun floral dies.  The die set is called Garden Party and it is included in Spellbinders Just Add Cake Birthday Card Making Kit.  The kit actually comes with 7 die sets of which I used three on this card (listed below).

I started with four purplish shades of cardstock for the flowers and one for the leaves and stems.  I chose to use gold metallic for the flower centers and stamin to match the die cut Happy Birthday sentiment.  I used the die packaging example as the basis for my card.

For the background a medium blue ink was lightly blended on a white panel, then die cut with the scallop die and adhered to the card base.  After all the flowers were arranged and adhered, the die cut sentiment and the stamped sub-sentiment (also from the kit) were added with foam tape and I was done! With all the gold, I didn't think embellishments were necessary.

Thanks for stopping by!  I encourage you to take a moment and slip over to the challenge blog, where my amazing teammates have a fun variety of cards to inspire you!  The challenge will stay open until Friday June 5th at 3pm EDT.  I hope to see your card in the gallery!

Stef

• SB Garden Party dies
• SB Make It Count Sentiment dies
• SB Just Add Cake Sentiment Stamp and Die
• Kristina Werner Essential Dies Scallop Rectangle
• SB Violet, Mulberry, Orchid, Fairytale, and Rainforest cardstock

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

Petal Path Birthday for the Paper Players #785

Hello friends!  Today at the Paper Players we have our monthly color challenge. The delightful Claire is hosting and she chose a gorgeous color challenge.

Paper Players

I decided to try out a new die set using these colors, so I'll be sharing over at Darnell's Never Before Used Schtuff monthly challenge.

NBUS

I just love this color combination!

 

The Concord & 9th Petal Path die was used to create this card. The die cuts all the pieces in one pass, so I ran it through the die cut machine with each cardstock color and white.  When deciding on the cardstock to use, I was pleased to find I still had a couple of pieces of Stampin' Up Gorgeous Grape.  For the green I used Simon Says Stamp Granny Apple and substituted C&9 Aqua Sky for Coastal Cabana.

Before inlaying all the die cut pieces, I put the aqua panel into my Misti and stamped one of the sentiments from the coordinating stamp set in Aqua Sky ink.  This panel was layered on the white die cut panel for a little dimension then adhered to the card base.  I used two layers for the tulips and some of the flowers.  

For the second layer of the tulips, I first adhered just the stem then added a small piece of foam tape under the leafs. The tulips were glued just at the base then popped up with foam tape.  

I was going to add gems but it seemed to fussy with this playful design, so I added a bit of sparkle on all the flowers with a shimmer pen and called it done.

How will you use these colors?  Before you head off to your crafty space, take a moment to visit the challenge blog where the other DT members have some gorgeous inspiration for you.  The challenge will remain open until Friday, May 17th at 3pm EDT.  I hope you'll join us!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

Handpicked Birthday

Hello friends!  Today I'm sharing a birthday card over at Seize the Birthday, where my dear friend, Nancy is hosting the current challenge.  She chose a "toppings" theme I couldn't resist.  Pink?  Yes, please!

STB 325

I also wanted to try out a new die set and create a fun-fold card with it.

The floral die set is from Concord & 9th, and what drew me to it is that there are dies for the florals along with dies to create a pinpoint impression for arranging without cutting into the panel, one to cut out the entire arrangement and two dies to cut either side of the florals, allowing a shaped card front as my card does or to the other direction.

I began by cutting my white card base with one of the edge dies along with the impression die.  After cutting out and adhering all the flowers, leaves and stems with various C&9 cardstocks, a panel of pink was cut at 5.5" x 4.50" and scored to create an A2 panel with a quarter inch on the right to be adhered to the back of the white card base, allowing the pink panel to swing open on the right side of the card after lifting the die cut edge. I hope that makes sense!

Before adhering the pink panel, I used my Misti to position the sentiment so it would be visible beside the florals with the left side of the card closed. After assembling the entire card, both the left and right sides swing open to the interior of the card, where I'll add a personal greeting.  I apologize for not including a photo of that.

I finished things off by adding a few tiny white flowers from another C&9 die set on the pink panel, then using sparkly gems for all the flower centers. 

Thanks for visiting, I appreciate it!  And if you have another moment, take a peek at my Paper Players DT card for our new challenge that went live earlier today.

Take care!

Stef

• C&9 Handpicked dies and Briar & Bloom dies
• Waffle Flower Sweet Birthday Sentiments Stamps

With Thanks for the Paper Players

Hello friends!  It's the first Sunday of the month of May (wow are the weeks rolling by!) and the lovely Jaydee is hosting our theme challenge to create a feminine card.  

Paper Players

For my card, I used some components of the Simon Says Stamp March card kit. Take a look!

While flowers don't necessarily have to be used solely on feminine cards, that's the way it usually ends up on my cards.  I also used a paper doily to "wrap" the flowers and a scallop border die to trim the background panel for lots of feminine detail.  

The flowers, doily, twine and sentiment strip were all from the kit and those things are still available separately at SSS.  I normally use a stamp positioner for stamping but for the technique I used for the flowers, leaves and dies, I pulled out some acrylic blocks.  The stamps were inked up, then I used a sprayer to add a mist of water before stamping on watercolor paper.  I found I had to aim carefully to use just one spray, because more than that caused the images to be blurry, and that wasn't the look I was going for. 

After drying, the stamped images were cut out with the coordinating dies. After adhering them together in the design I wanted, they were tucked into the doily, which was then glued shut and added to the pink background panel.  Next came the sentiment strip and a jute twine bow, with the final touch being the addition of a few sparkling gems.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you'll take a moment to visit the challenge blog, where my talented teammates have some gorgeous inspiration for you!  The challenge will remain open until Friday, May 7th at 3pm.  We'd love to have you join us this week!

Stef

• Simon Says Stamp Watercolor Bouquet Stamps and Dies
• SSS Eyelet Layer Frame Die
• SSS XL EZ Strips sentiment and banner die
• Honey Bee Stamps Aurora Borealis gems

Beautiful Day for the Paper Players

Hello friends!  It's the fourth Sunday of the month and that means a sketch challenge over at the Paper Players.  I'm hosting this week and I've created a sketch that should give you lots of options for your card.

Paper Players

I'm also sharing my card over at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where they are looking for feminine cards.

I really love wreaths and thought the wide-open space on the right side of the sketch would work well for one.

The wreath is from Concord & 9th's Briar & Blooms die set and the banner sentiment is from the matching stamp set.  The wreath, along with the layering leaves and flowers, was die cut from colored cardstock, then I did some ink blending to give them more depth and dimension.

I took my color inspiration from the strip of plaid paper, which was part of an old paper pack from MFT.  The light purple paper was embossed with a floral design, then both pieces were adhered to the card base, with a strip of white to cover the seam.

I had to chuckle because this is my sketch and I almost forgot the shape at the lower right.  I wanted something small, which I found in an older Mama Elephant sentiment set.  The smallest die from a Hexagon die set worked beautifully to die cut the sentiment.  

After gluing the wreath to the card front, a bit of foam tape was added beneath the large purple flowers and also the center of the banner.  The happy birthday was also popped up with foam tape. Then, to finish things off, tiny little gems were added to the tiny little flowers for some pretty sparkle.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Be sure to take a moment to visit the challenge blog for some wonderful inspiration by my talented teammates!  The challenge will remain open until Friday, May 1st at 3pm EDT.  I hope you'll join us this week!

Stef

• Concord & 9th Briar & Blooms stamp and die sets
• Mama Elephant Mini Everyday Messages stamp set
• Simon Says Stamp Tiny Flora embossing folder
• SSS Strips die
• Pinkfresh Studio Nested Hexagon die
• MFT Plaid Patterns Paper Pack
• Spellbinders Fairy Tale, Lavender, Beeswax and Saffron cardstock
• C&9 Sprout and Parsley cardstock
• Inks - SSS Honey and Iris; Altenew Fresh Leaf and Mountain Pine; Versafine Clair Mountain Mist

Buttercup Bunch for the Paper Players

Hello friends!  Today the Paper Players is back with our monthly color challenge.  This time, the lovely Jan is hosting and has chosen a great color combination.

Paper Players

I really love black and yellow together but I have to admit the gray threw me for a bit, but after some trial and error, a satisfactory card emerged lol!

I knew I was going to use my Altenew Buttercup Bunch die set, because, well, buttercups are yellow lol!  It's a rather modern style so I tried different graphic designs for the background, but nothing worked.  Then I realized I was using too dark of a gray so I went searching around and found the stenciled background I ended up using.  It was in with some Stampin' Up neutral scraps and was one of my last pieces of Smoky Slate (which I didn't even know I still had!).  

The panel was stenciled using Versamark ink. I trimmed it down to have a white border on each side, then added the black strip.  The flowers were arranged with the stems glued down and the flowers popped up using thin foam squares.  The stacked sentiment was adhered, then a few Onyx gems finished things off.

What are you inspired to create with this color trio?  I think it would work equally well for a more "masculine" card. The rest of the design team has fabulous inspiration with a variety of designs over at the challenge blog, so I encourage you to head over and take a peek.  The challenge will remain open until Friday April 17th at 3pm EDT.  I hope to see you there!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

• Altenew Buttercup Bunch Layering die set
• Simon Says Stamp Hibiscus Bloom sentiment stamp and die
• Tim Holtz Bubble stencil
• Spellbinders Onyx gems

Flourish for the Paper Players

Hello friends!  It's time for a new challenge at the Paper Players and since it's the fifth Sunday of the month, that means Tic-Tac-Toe.  The amazing Ann is hosting and has given us a great board from which to draw inspiration.  

Paper Players

 

For my card, I went diagonal from top left to bottom right - die cut, flowers, layers.

I'm also joining in at Just Us Girls for their Anything Goes Stencil Week challenge.

JUGS #816

This card was pretty quick and easy to create because I used stenciling for both the floral image and the background. 

 

The pinks are from the Altenew Blushberry Bliss quad - Strawberry, Dusty Pink, Blush Rose and Raspberry Sunset.  The flowers were colored with Strawberry, Blush Rose and Rasberry, and then I used a light application of Dusty Pink on the stenciled background panel.  

The floral image was die cut then layered on two additional die cuts. It was added to the stenciled panel after it had been cut with a diagonal stitch rectangle die.  I trimmed off the overhanging parts of the floral image after adhering it to the panel, which was then added to the card front.  The sentiment is from the same stamp set.  The final touch was to add several sequins.  

It'll be fun to see which column or row everyone chooses to use.  For more inspiration, I encourage you to visit the challenge blog, where my wonderful teammates have some gorgeous inspiration for you.  The challenge will remain open until Friday, April 3rd at 3pm EDT.  I hope to see you there!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

• Altenew Scripted in Bloom stamps, stencils and dies
• Altenew Elegant Swirls Stencil
• Altenew Featured Sentiments die
• Pinkfresh Studio Diagonal Stitched Rectangle die
• SSS Moonlit Snow Embellishments
• Altenew inks other than the pinks - Redwood, Mossy Meadow and Reindeer Moss