You Are Spell-tacular!

Hello friends!  I had some crafty fun this weekend and made a card for the current challenge at Time Out Challenges, which is The Movies.

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When I first saw the theme, I didn't think I had anything that would work, but then the proverbial light bulb came on, and I remembered a set from Stamping Bella that I bought last year that I thought would work great for this challenge.

These are the Tiny Townie Witch and Wizards in Training stamps.  I became a huge fan of Harry Potter thanks to my grandchildren, and I've read all the books and seen all the movies (multiple times), so I was quite pleased to see Stamping Bella come out with this trio of stamps.

There are no dies for these images, so after the Copic coloring was complete, they were fussy cut.  There is a backdrop stamp by SB that accompanies these three, which I have, but I was running short of the time it would take to color the whole scene, so I opted to put them in front of the Forbidden Forest lol!

I created the background panel by ink blending a dark sky and full moon, then adding a bit of white splatter for "stars".  I then die cut the "forest" using the Simon Says Stamp Arched Forest Die and embossing folder with dark brown card stock.  After embossing, I went over it with both Black Soot and Scorched Timber Distress inks to darken the appearance.  

With those two layers adhered together I added our wizards and witch with layers of thin and thick foam squares.  The sentiment is from the Wicked Words SB set and was white heat embossed and die cut with a small rectangle die.

I hope you like my fun card about one of all-time favorite movies series. I had a blast making this and it even prompted me to open up the first book and start reading it again. 

Thanks for taking time to visit!

Stef

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

Let's Party for PP797

Hello friends!  It's the first Sunday of August and that means a new theme challenge at the Paper Players.  This time the fabulous Jan is hosting and has chosen a delightful theme.

Paper Players

I'm also sharing with Darnell's NBUS challenge as this is the first outing for the main stamp and die set I used in today's card and joining in with the Anything Goes option of the Seize the Birthday challenge.

NBUS

STB #331

The newest little in our family is our great niece, and she is a cutie patootie!  She turned two in mid-July and I had So.Much.Fun. making this card for her birthday!

I started out with Lawn Fawn's stamp and die set that came out last year for Stamptember at Simon Says Stamp.  It has all the kitties and much of the other parts, but I also grabbed two older LF stamps from my collection to add the balloons, the cute bird, the hearts and one of the sentiment bubbles.  

I decided on a color palette (other than the critters) of pink, aqua, yellow and lime green.  I used my Copic markers to color everything, then out came the white gel pen to add some polka dots and stripes on the balloons and some of the packages.

I was trying to decide what type of scene to make with all these critters and thought it would be a fun design to use one of the postage collage A2 dies to create frames for little vignettes.  I went with the A2 size, which is 3 7/8" x 5 1/8" and it was die cut 3 times and stacked for dimension. 

Distress inks were softly blended on a panel of white for the background, which was trimmed down to the same size as the frame before adhering.  Most of the images were popped up on foam squares.  Before adding to the card base, I ink blended pink around the edges. Lastly, I added Glossy Accents to the balloons, Stickles to a couple of the party hat pompoms and lots of sparkle with a shimmer pen to many of the items.  

Thanks so much for visiting!  I encourage you to take a moment and head over to the Paper Players, where my amazing teammates have some super cute cards to inspire you.  The challenge will remain open until Friday, August 7th at 3pm EDT.  I hope to see your card in the gallery!

Stef

• Lawn Fawn/SSS Purrfect Birthday stamps and dies (no longer available but LF has oodles of similarly cute sets available).
• LF Happy Birthday Deer stamps and dies
• LF Hippo Birdie to You stamps and dies
• Waffle Flower Postage Collage A2 Block die
• Kitsch Flamingo, Twisted Citron and Salvaged Patina Distress Inks
• Stardust Stickles, Tonic Shimmer pen and Ranger Glossy Accents
• Copics - BG11, 13, RV 02, 04, Y00, 11, 15, YG05, 01, T1, 2, 3, 4, YR14, 16 18, Black

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

With Sympathy for PP787

Hello friends!  We have a new sketch challenge over at the Paper Players and this week LeAnne is hosting.  She's created a fun one to work with.

Paper Players

I decided to use a die set from Honey Bee Stamps that I bought two, maybe three years ago, and never used it, so I'll be sending it over to Darnell's NBUS challenge as well.

NBUS

Here's what I came up with.

When I was young, my parents planted a beautiful Dogwood tree in our front yard.  It was my mother's favorite, which was enjoyable to think about as I was making this card.  

The branch and leaves were die cut from colored cardstock and the flowers from white.  I added ink blending to all the die cuts, including the extra flower, leaves and the circle. Since the sentiment was gold foiled, the flower centers were die cut from gold as well to bring more gold into the design. 

For the background I used a rectangle die with the same design as the circle to cut a panel of white and attach it to the card base.  The lattice was also cut from white and turned out to be the perfect size for the rectangle in LeAnne's sketch.  There were a few foiled sentiments from the same set already made and the sympathy one seemed to fit best.  Fortunately, I have no immediate need for a sympathy card, but it is always good to have extra on hand.  

Thanks for stopping by and I encourage you to visit the challenge blog, where the other DT members have some wonderful cards to inspire you!  The challenge will remain open until 3pm EDT on Friday May 29th.  I hope you'll join us this week!

Stef

• Honey Bee Stamps Lovely Layers: Dogwood dies
• Spellbinders Woven Lattice Texture die
• Pinkfresh Studio Folk Edge Circle and Rectangle dies
• Spellbinders You Are Everything BetterPress plate and die

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

Wildflower Silhouettes Birthday Card

Hello friends!  Today I'm sharing a card made for the current challenge at Time Out Challenges.  It's a photo challenge and the picture is simply amazing!

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It took me a couple of tries to get the colors I wanted that would come close to the colors of the sky.  My colors aren't an exact duplicate but I was happy how the inks looked blended together.

I recently invested in the A7 version of the Waffle Flower Postage Collage dies and stencil.  I thought the colors from the photo challenge would create a pretty setting for the stamped wildflowers, butterflies and dragonflies. 

I laid down the block stencil and blended the sky with SSS Heather, Guava, Shell and Galaxy inks.  Next I used the Wildflower Flower Silhouette Stamps along with one stamp from the Wild Butterflies Silhouette Stamps to create my little scene, then cut the panel with the A7 PC die.

The sentiment was stamped using the WF Sweet Birthday Sentiment Stamp and Die set.  The collage piece was matted with a piece of light purple cardstock.  The last step was to place a few gems around the sentiment.

Here's my second card.  The wildflower images are pretty much in the same place as the first card, but I altered where the butterflies and dragonflies were stamped.  I also used the PC A7 Block die with the same light purple paper to create the frame around the images.

I like both versions, how about you?  Do you like it with the postage edge or with the block die cut?

Thanks so much for stopping by!  

Stef

• WF Postage Collage A7 die, blocks die and blocks stencil
• PC Wild Butterflies stamp
• PC Wildflowers stamps
• WF Sweet Birthday Sentiment stamp and die
• SSS Galaxy, Shell Guava and Heather inks
• Honey Bee Stamps Gingerbread gems

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

Showers of Love for the Paper Players

Hello friends!  The Paper Players is back with a new challenge.  This week, the lovely LeAnne is hosting and has chosen a timely theme of Spring Showers. 

Paper Players

Lots of cute ideas in that image board!  I used my favorite stamp and die set for this theme.  It's a retired MFT set but the images still remain cute as ever. 

The cute little girl and her duck friend, along with the clouds, sun and sentiment are all part of the MFT Rain or Shine stamp and die set.  They were all colored with Copic markers and then die cut.  I added some white gel pen highlights and polka dots to her coat, just for fun.

I saw a few cards on Pinterest with the rain to sunshine design for the background, so I thought I'd try that too.  A panel of white was ink blended with two colors of blue, then I used a Copic Mulitliner to create the "raindrops" and colored them in with the white gel pen.  The panel was trimmed down and before adhering to the card base, the cobblestone path was colored then added.  The sun and clouds were all glued to the card front.  Everything else was added with foam tape and the card was done.

This is a fun theme and I hope you'll find time to play along.  For more inspiration, please head over to the challenge blog where my talented teammates have some amazing cards.  The challenge will remain open until Friday, April 10th at 3pm EDT.  I hope to see your card in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

•  MFT Birdie Brown Rain or Shine stamps and dies
• Simon Says Stamp On the Ground stamp
• SSS Galaxy and Twilight inks
• Copics - YG09, 07, 05, 01, B39, 37, 34,  YR24, 23, Y15, 11, 00, E29, 37, 33, 04, 21, 000, R21

Everything Wonderful for Color Hues

Hello friends!  Well, here we are at the first of March and therefore it is time for a new challenge at Color Hues!  The amazing Karen is hosting this time and has chosen a beautiful color combination!

Color Hues

I think this combo would be perfect for St. Patrick's Day/leprechauns/four leaf clovers, but instead, I had a beautiful leafy image in mind to use.  

This is from the Altenew Arched Foliage Craft-Your-Life bundle.  I mulled over many ways to use this leafy arch, by cutting it  to create various layouts but then I saw this video by Mindy Eggan aka "master ink blender" and knew I had to use her design.

To start, the die was used to cut the leafy arch, then it was stenciled with three greens (Jade, Eucalyptus, and Forest Fern) from Altenew's Frosted Foliage quad.  It's one of my favorite green color combos.  Next the die cut was embossed with the matching folder, then adhered to a second layer for more stability.  

A panel of white was then inked blended with the same colors, fading off to white on the left side, and then added to the card base.  I used foam tape to add the leaf die, cutting off anything hanging off the edge of the card.  For the gold splatter, I used Altenew's Metallic Paint set.

The stamp set has some wonderful greeting stamps, but to be honest, I was being lazy about heat embossing it in gold, so I used one in my stash that I'd previously foiled and die cut.  And, it's a lovely sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by and I encourage you take a moment to visit the challenge blog to see all the gorgeous cards by the other design team members and our wonderful guest designers Donna and Darnell.  The challenge will remain open until 9am EDT on Saturday March 14th.  I hope you'll join us!

Stef

PS - In case you missed my DT post for the Paper Players, you can find it here.   Also, I'd love it if you'd come back by on Thursday, when I have a very special surprise post! 

• Altenew Arched Foliage stencil, die and embossing folder
• Spellbinders Everything Wonderful Sentiments Betterpress plate and die
• Altenew Metallic Gold Paint
• Altenew Frosted Foliage ink quad

Birthday Wishes for Color Hues

Hello friends!  Here we are on the first day of a new month and it's time for a new Color Hues Challenge.  I'm rather shocked how quickly October flew by and the holidays are looming just around the corner.

But, in the meantime, we can have some fun with Sheri's new color duo - orange and brown.  💕 Love these colors (okay, to be fair, I love all fall colors!).

Color Hues

I actually made two cards for this challenge, but I just wasn't happy with the first one.  I found something better in my NBUS - a beautiful stencil and die set that was long neglected, plus a newer sentiment set.

The stencil is Altenew's Strong Oak and it is just magnificent!  It has eight stencils and I used seven, three for the leaves, three for the trunk and branches and one for the ground.  My Distress Inks worked beautifully, although the camera and editing gave the leaves more of a yellow hue than IRL, especially in the photo below.  Trust me, they were all oranges!!  

The image was stenciled on a 6x6" panel, then cut down with an A2 rectangle die.  The sentiment was stamped, the twine wrapped around the panel, then it was added to a card base with very thin foam tape.  I debated on adding some enamel dots but decided the twine was enough.

What are you inspired to create with this color combination?  We would love to see your card in the gallery.  Before heading off to your crafty space, I encourage you to visit the challenge blog linked above and see all the gorgeous creations by my wonderful teammates and our Guest Designer Valerie.  The challenge will remain open until 9 am EST Friday, November 14th.  I hope you'll join us!

Thanks for stopping by.

Stef

• Altenew Stencil Art:  Strong Oak 
• Concord & 9th/Kristinia Werner Sending Trio Stamps
• Lawn Fawn Hemp Twine
• Spiced Marmalade, Carved Pumpkin, Rusty Hinge, Cracklin' Campfire, Frayed Burlap, Walnut Stain and Scorched Timber Distress Inks
• SSS Latte ink

Sketch Manor for Color Hues

Hello friends!  It's time for a new challenge over at Color Hues and this time I am hosting!  The colors I've chosen are a favorite pair of mine for Halloween cards, but you could certainly use them for other styles like florals or geometrics.  Just be sure to use only the challenge colors plus neutrals.

Color Hues

 

ETA:  I saw that Inkspirational has a current challenge theme of Seasonal, so I thought I'd link up my card for the fall season.

inkspirational #352

I used a new stamp and die set along with a couple others to create my card, so I'll be sending this over to Darnell's NBUS challenge.

NBUS

Since this is one of my favorite color combos for Halloween, was there any question about what I was going to make?

I used the new Sketch Manor stamp set from Tim Holtz and the new accompanying die set made in conjunction with Simon Says Stamp.  The fun part is that the house is stamped four times, then different sections are die cut to layer on the base.  After die cutting, I used Distress inks to watercolor the layers, then set that aside to create the background.

I started by masking off the moon then ink blending two orange Distress inks around the mask, transitioned to purples, then ended with Scorched Timber and Black Soot.  The mask was removed from the moon, then I used a stencil with a light orange Distress ink to color it. The last step for the background was to stamp the tree, the limb, the bats and the fence on other side of where the house would sit.  

I die cut even more additional layers for the house in black for more dimension, then glued them together.  You can see the layers in the photo below. Yeah, I'll probably add additional postage when it gets mailed but is worth it!

The final step before adhering the house to the card front was to add the three ghosts that were die cut from vellum.  I love the one popping out of the front door!  

What are you inspired to create with these colors?  My lovely and talented teammates and our fabulous guest designer Bobby have some amazing cards to give you more design ideas, so please head over to the challenge blog (linked above) and see what they've come up with.  The challenge will remain open until 9 am EDT Wednesday October 29th.  I hope to see your card in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

• Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Sketch Manor stamp set
• TH/SSS Sketch Manor dies
• TH/Sizzix Vault Fright Night dies
• Spellbinders Haunted House ghost die
• Picket Fence Haunted Moon Stencils
• Villainous Potion, Wilted Violet, Carved Pumpkin, Rusty Hinge, Spiced Marmalade, Scorched Timber and Black Soot Distress Inks

Gnome Witch for the Paper Players

Hello friends!  The Paper Players are back with a new challenge and this week the amazing Elizabeth is hosting (with an assist from Christy) our monthly color challenge.  She has chosen a fabulous fall combo of purple and green.

Paper Players

I think these colors are perfect for flowers, but for this time of year, these colors can only mean Halloween to me!

I'm also joining over at Just Us Girls.  It's Word Week and Sue has chosen "Halloween".  How could I resist?

Just Us Girls #796

Here's what I came up with this week:

The colors seemed perfect for this gnome witch and she makes more of a fun Halloween card rather than a scary one.  I colored her skin green because I was thinking of Elphaba from Wizard of Oz and that way I could give her a purple hat and cloak.  

I stamped her on a panel of white, then masked her off so I could ink blend the background with purple, green and black Distress Inks.  Once that was done, I removed the mask and colored her with Olo and Copic markers.

Next came a Gothic style Halloween background text stamp, which was stamped in black on purple cardstock, then black inked was blended around the edges.  When that dried, the panel was die cut with a mirrored arch label die, as was a panel of black with a size smaller so our witch could be framed up.  Both the "boo" letters and bats were cut from black glitter paper, then everything was added to a black card base.  The last thing I did was use a silver gel pen to color the buckle on her hat.  So fun!

How do these colors inspire you?  Remember, neutrals are welcome along with the two challenge colors.  The challenge will remain open until Friday, October 17th at 3pm EDT. I really hope we'll see your card in the gallery, but before you head off to your crafty space, be sure to check out the fabulous inspiration by my talented teammates over on the challenge blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stef

• Whimsy Stamps Gnome Witch stamp
• Simon Says Stamp Gothic Halloween Background stamp
• Spellbinders Mirrored Arch Label dies
• Tim Holtz/Sizzix Vault Coffin Box dies (letters) and Vault Wicked (bats) dies
• Peeled Paint, Twisted Citron, Villanous Potion and Black Soot Distress inks
• Olos - BV1.7, 1.4, 1.2, 1.1
• Copics - YG67, 17, 03, E47, 44, 43, 37, 35, 33, 31, C7, 5, 3