The Challenge #75

Hello and Happy Memorial Day to my US friends!  It's the 5th Monday of the month which means we have a wild card sketch for you this week at The Challenge.

For my card today I used some of my favorite stamps and dies from Concord & 9th.  To make the card base I stamped the flowers and berries from Wildflower on watercolor paper and colored with my Zig Clean Color watercolor pens.  I used a 4" doily (folded in half), as my semi-circle element, and wrapped some gold cord around the card just above that.  I cut the butterfly from Floral & Flutter Die from shiny gold card stock.  I also cut a butterfly from Reverse Confetti's Butterfly Dreams Confetti Cuts from vellum to place underneath the gold butterfly.  The word "beautiful", from the Beautiful You Dies, was also cut from shiny gold card stock.  "Be your own kind of" is from the stamp set Beautiful Words; I stamped it on black card stock and embossed in white.  I added 3 black sequins to finish my card.

I hope that you'll play along with this week's sketch.  This will be the last challenge at The Challenge until September, we're taking a summer vacation :)  Be sure to drop by Lesley's blog to see what the rest of the design team created!

Smile, the sun is out!

Hello from hot and sunny PA!  When I saw that the current Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge was called "Summertime Fun" I decided to pull out an old SSS card kit that I hadn't used yet (June 2015) and play along.  This kit is full of smiles and bright, happy, Doodlebug Design products and I just love it!  I also used the current Freshly Made Sketches sketch to design my card so I'll be entering it there too!

The bicycle/frame was cut from a piece of paper from the kit (Doodlebug Sunkissed Collection).  The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp's Happy & Smile.  The sun and 3 little flower epoxy stickers are also from the Doodlebug Sunkissed Collection.  This card was absolutely FUN to make, and I love how it turned out.  It's a bit more CAS than my usual style, but sometimes my CAS cards turn out to be my favorite cards :)

Thanks for stopping by today, and for my friends in the US, have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Mwah, you shouldn't have!

Hello!  I'm up on the CAS-ual Friday blog today with a very lush and colorful card!

This card was a labor of love!  I wanted to create a very lush, tropical, vibrant feeling, and I think I achieved that.  You can probably tell by my card how much I'm longing for a vacation on a tropical isle lol!

To make my card I started by cutting out the green and blue stems using the CAS-ual Tree Fri-Dies and PTI card stock (New Leaf and Hawaiian Shores).  Next I covered a piece of watercolor paper with a variety of shades of yellow and orange from my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolor set.  After I was done coloring I added some water drops (you can see those on some of the bigger flowers if you look closely, doing this actually removes some of the color), and then when the paper was dry I added some fine, black splatter, just a little bit because I didn't want it to overpower the colors.  Next I used 2 of the flowers from Friendly Flowers Fri-Dies to cut the watercolor paper.  I also used the tiny flower shapes from Fun-Fetti Fri-Dies to make the tiniest flowers, and the white centers for the big flowers.  I assembled everything around the card to "frame" it, adding and taking away to make it look just like I wanted it to, then I glued everything down.  The word "Mwah" is from the stamp set Mwah.  I absolutely LOVE the font in this set!  The "you shouldn't have" is from the stamp set Thanks.  I stamped that on black card stock and embossed in white.

I hope this gives you some new ideas of how to use your CAS-ual Friday stamps and dies.  I have a discount code below for you to use at the CAS-ual Friday store if you want to pick up any of the supplies I used today.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Skating By

 Hello, friends!  I'm here to share my very first card as a design team member for Drive By Crafts!!

My card today uses the adorable Avery Elle: Skating By stamp set, Avery Elle: Skating By Elle-ments Dies, and Elle's Studio: Little Moments 6X6 Paper Stack.  To see the full card and get all the details of how I made it please head over to the Drive By Crafts blog!

Thanks for stopping by!

CardMaker Magazine + Reverse Confetti Blog Hop

Hello, I'm here today hopping along with CardMaker Magazine for Reverse Confetti!  The hop starts at CardMaker Magazine and ends at Reverse Confetti, and there's a giveaway on the Reverse Confetti blog!!  You should have arrived here from Audrey Tokach's blog Pink Ink Originals.

I used the sweet little koala bear from Reverse Confetti's BEAR HUGS to make a baby card.

I started my card by making a "stencil" from the BIG STRIPES COVER PANEL Confetti Cuts die from a piece of thin card stock.  I taped the stencil over my card base and used Tumbled Glass and Twisted Citron distress inks and an ink blending tool to color the stripes and center circle.  Next I used DETAILED CIRCLES Confetti Cuts to make the stitched line circle around the center.  I used the large scalloped circle from CIRCLES 'N SCALLOPS Confetti Cuts to die cut a piece of light lime green card stock, and popped that up with foam tape on my card.  I stamped and colored the koala bear from BEAR HUGS using Copic markers, and cut him out with BEAR HUGS Confetti Cuts.  The bow tie is from LIFT ME UP, and the sentiment is from Bear Hugs.  I finished my card by adding a few clear sequins and light blue gems.

Thank you so much for hopping along with us today!  Your next stop on the hop is PAMELA HASKIN!

The Challenge #74

Hello and thanks for stopping by today!  We have a masculine challenge for you this week at The Challenge.

When I saw this picture I realized I have NO farm related stamps whatsoever, YIKES!  What to do, what to do.  I decided I to design a card strictly based on the colors, and of course I used the masculine theme.

I decided to use the Hugs stamp set from Concord & 9th to make a "dad" card.  My husband's birthday is the 19th of June so in addition to Father's Day cards we also need birthday cards at the same time.  The hexagon shapes were cut using MFT dies, and the "dad" die is from Reverse Confetti.  I colored the bear and ground with Copic markers.  The washi tape is from Stampin Up and I made the tie for the bear with washi tape, isn't it cute?!

I hope you'll play along with us this week!  Be sure to visit Lesley's blog to see what all of the design team members and our guests have created to inspire you! 

Essentials by Ellen May Pin-Sights Guest Designer!

Hello there!  I'm super excited to be sharing a card today as a guest designer for this month's Essentials by Ellen Pin-Sights Challenge!  I was shocked but oh so delighted when I was asked to guest design for this, and of course I jumped at the chance.  I LOVE the Essentials by Ellen products!

In case you're not aware of what this challenge is all about, the Essentials by Ellen Pin-Sights challenge is a monthly inspirational challenge based on a Pinterest Inspired photo that is located on the Ellen HutsonCLASSroom blog.  Here is this months beautiful board:

I always love looking for all of the little details contained in these boards.  The first thing my eyes were drawn to on this board were the pretty colors of the medallions and flowers.  Then the gold balls in the upper left jumped out at me.  Here is the card I created based on the inspiration.

To make my card I started by stamping the leaf from Mondo Hydrangea using Versamark ink.  This leaf is easy to stamp in a pattern, end to end, as I did here.  I then embossed the leaves with gold embossing powder.  This made a lovely backdrop for the star of the show, the gorgeous flowers from Mondo Hydrangea!  I stamped the flower 2 times on watercolor paper, along with a few of the individual petals.  Next I used 3 colors of Zig Clean Color watercolor pens to color the individual petals (Dark Pink #027, Pink #025, and Lemon Yellow #051).  I was inspired by the technique used by Julie Ebersole on her balloon card HERE, and used that method for coloring the petals.  It worked beautifully and I love how this turned out!  When the watercolor was dry I die cut all of the pieces with the Mondo Hydrangea Dies.  I stamped the sentiment on black card stock and embossed with white embossing powder.  Then I assembled the card, using some foam dimensional tape, adding a few of the individual petals on the large flowers and around the sentiment.  I added a bit of gold twine around the overlapping stems of the 2 flowers to finish my card.

A random challenge participant will receive a $50 gift certificate to the Ellen Hutson store!  Now how's that for a GREAT prize?!!  To be eligible, you MUST use Essentials by Ellen products and the photo badge as inspiration. There will be an inlinkz on the challenge post where you can submit your work.

I hope you're inspired by my card today, and that you'll play along!  I want to thank Ellen for inviting me to be a guest designer this month, mwah!

Prayers

Hello, friends!  Today I have a card to share that I made for 2 challenges, the Winnie & Walter Rerun No. 10 / In Bloom: Addie's Garden, and CAS(E) this Sketch #172.

To make my card I cut a piece of white card stock using the Sugar Pea Design rectangle zig zag die.  I love the subtle detail it adds to my card!  Next I stamped the hydrangea image from In Bloom: Addie's Garden using Wplus9 Cockleshell ink.  I made a mask of the flower and covered it so I could stamp the leaves using Wplus9 Beanstalk ink.  I used the "prayers" die from Winnie & Walter's The Big, the Bold and Comfort Cutaways and centered it on the flower and cut.  I also cut a piece of thin gold adhesive specialty paper to cut the word prayers a second time.  I laid the first piece that I cut out back in the card front, and laid the gold piece over top of that.  I finished the card with a few gold sequins. 

This card is much more CAS than usual for me.  I think for a card like this though, which could be used as a sympathy card, or a card for someone who is struggling, simple is probably best :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Calling All Sistahs Blog Hop

Hello my sweet crafty friends!  Today I'm participating in the Calling All Sistahs Blog Hop.  This is a blog hop started by Michele, the owner of CAS-ual Friday Stamps, to remind all of the sistahs out there to do their monthly breast self-exams and have their yearly mammograms.  We cherish all of you and wouldn't want to lose a single one of you to this terrible disease!  My mom is a breast cancer survivor so this issue hits close to home for me.

The CAS-ual Friday store has a wonderful line of stamps, the Calling All Sistahs line, to help you get the word out to your friends and family.  50% of the profits from the sales of the Calling All Sistahs line goes to National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. for research & medical help!

For my card today I used Hope Ribbon, Ruffled Ribbon Fri-Die, Calling All Sistahs, and Sistahs Fri-Dies.  The patterned paper is from Stampin Up.

I hope that you'll hop along with us!  There will be a $15.00 gift certificate to the CAS-ual Fridays store given to 3 people who comment along the hop.  Comments close on May 19th @ 11:59 EST.

The next stop on the hop is Jeanne Jachna!

In case you get lost along the way, here is the full list of blog hop participants:

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps

Archana Bhurke

Nora Noll

Susan White

Shona Chambers

Bonnie Sharp

Lori Kobular

Diane Jaquay

Jeanne Jachna

Theresa Knopf

Alanna Moses

Jennifer Ingle

Joanna Harty

Kristie Goulet

Kelly Griglione

Kimberly Rendino

Ceal Pritchett

Lisa Lahiff

Lydia Evans

Lori McAree

Claire Apostoloff

Vicki Dutcher

Channin Pelletier

Lisa Harrolle

Heather North

Sending Hugs Your Way

Hello there!  I have a quick post here with a card I made using the new Concord & 9th Hugs Card Dies and Hugs stamp set.  I'm entering this card in the Fusion Card Challenge.

I'm a complete sap for red, white, and blue, so I just HAD to play along with this challenge!  Years ago when Americana decor was all the rage my whole house was decorated with it.  I don't have much of it in my house these days, but my heart still skips a beat every time I lay eyes on the red, white, and blue, whether it be on something like the graphic above, or our countries flag :)

As I said above I used a new die set from Concord & 9th called Hugs Card Dies.  It creates this card where the "hu" and "gs" interlock to close the card.  So darn COOL I tell ya, and this was really super easy to use.  It literally took me about 20 minutes to put this together from start to finish, and that included watching the video that's on the Concord & 9th website where they explain how to use the die.  The words "sending" and "your way" (which I stamped with PTI Enchanted Evening ink) are from the coordinating stamp set.  There are SO many cute images and sentiments in that stamp set and I can't wait to play around with them.  The striped paper is from Stampin Up and the polka dot paper is from the Pebbles Family Ties 6X6 paper pad.  I finished my card with a few clear sequins.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

The Challenge #73

Hello there!  It's Monday and that means it's time for a new challenge over at The Challenge!  Today we have some beautiful photo inspiration for you.

This photo, although lovely, was a bit of a "challenge" for me.  I always have an easier time working with bold, bright colors than I do earth tones, but if you look closely there certainly are a lot of interesting things you can pull from the photo!  I also used the current sketch from Reverse Confetti to help design my card.

 

To make my card I started with the striped panel which is actually from Reverse Confetti's Party Time Quick Card Panels.  I cut the panel to make it smaller, which is why the strip of ribbon is there, it covers up where I cut, although it's still a design element and works well there.  The rose (from Reverse Confetti Rose Garden) was stamped on pink polka dot paper and embossed in white.  All the leaves were cut from PTI Ripe Avocado card stock using Reverse Confetti Leafy Confetti Cuts.  Do you see the tiny butterfly in the inspiration photo?  I "almost" didn't see it, but when I did I decided to add a few little die cut butterflies to my card.  They were cut from polka dot vellum using Reverse Confetti Butterfly Dreams Confetti Cuts.  The sentiment, stamped with PTI Ripe Avocado ink, is from Rose Garden.  I added more of the ribbon at the top of my card and some clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh for a finishing touch.

I hope you'll play along with us this week.  Whenever I have a harder time coming up with a card I'm always extra excited to see what others do.  I love being inspired by YOU!  Be sure to visit Lesley's blog to see what she and the rest of the design team created this week! 
    

Reverse Confetti SFYTT #36

Hello!  I'm here today with a card I made using the May Reverse Confetti Sketch For You To Try!  I always love using these versatile sketches and I hope that you'll be inspired to play along.  You could win a $20.00 gift certificate to the Reverse Confetti store!

Isn't that little birdie just the cutest?!!  This is a "new to me" stamp set and my first time using it :)  To make my card I started by making the strip of paper on the left, I glued some wood grain pattern paper to a strip of PTI Mint Julep card stock and then used the zig zag die from Edge Essentials Confetti Cuts to cut it.  Next I cut a piece of PTI Spring Rain card stock with the scallop frame die from Love Note Confetti Cuts.  I used Diagonal Stripe Pretty Panels Confetti Cuts to cut the white piece on the scallop frame.  I stamped and die cut the bird and bird house using The Tweet Life and The Tweet Life Confetti Cuts and then used Copic Markers to color them.  Notice that I stamped the birdhouse with the cute little flower included in The Tweet Life, and added a die cut flower to the center of the birdhouse.  I'd love to have a birdhouse like this in my yard :)  The sentiment is from The Tweet Life, and I added a little piece of black twine to "hang" the bird house.  I know I'm going to be using this "tweet" little stamp set a lot!

You have until noon CST on the 29th of May to play along with this sketch, hope you'll join in the fun!!

Craftin Desert Divas May Release Blog Hop Day 1

Hello there!  I'm delighted to be hoping along with Tara and the rest of the Craftin Desert Diva design team today!

To celebrate the new release, Craftin Desert Divas is picking 3 winners to win their choice of stamp set! Winners will be chosen at random from the comments in the blog hop. 

You have up to 4 chances to qualify to win!

  1. Leave a comment on this blog post

  2. Like/share CDD on Facebook: Craftin Desert Divas

  3. Join us in the CDD Gallery: Craftin Desert Divas Gallery
  4. Follow CDD on Instagram: Craftin Desert Divas IG

Each action qualifies for one entry, max 4 entries per hopper please! Winners will be announced on Monday on the CDD Blog.

Now let's get on with the CDD release hop with our amazing designers!

All stamps are in the CDD Shop and now available for purchase HERE.

 

 

Comet

 

Honeycomb

Skyfall

We also have a special priced May Release Bundle that's only available for this weekend only.

Here's what I've created for you...

To make my card I used the castle from Enchanted Tales and stamped it randomly over a piece of watercolor paper, using Versamark ink, then I embossed with white.  Next I used distress inks to watercolor the piece (Picked Raspberry, Cracked Pistachio, Squeezed Lemonade and Tumbled Glass).  When it was dry I added glue to my card where I wanted the sequins to be (in this case along the lines where the colors meet) and I sprinkled the sequins on liberally and gently pressed them into the glue.  I shook off the excess sequins that didn't stick to the glue.  There were spots that needed more sequins so I glued those down to fill in the gaps.  I stamped the unicorn from Magical Wishes on a piece of watercolor paper and used the same color distress inks as I used for my background to color.  I fussy cut the unicorn and placed it on a scallop panel.  I added some Wink of Stella to parts of the unicorn to add some shimmer.  The sentiment, stamped on black card stock and embossed in white, is also from Magical Wishes.
 

Here are the specials for this release:

1 FREE 3x4 stamp and 1 bag of sequins for orders that are $50 or more
 before taxes & shipping. 
Offer is only good 5/13 thru 5/15 10pm MST. 
Freebies will automatically be added to your order, no special request please.

  New SEQUIN MIXES will be on SALE for $1.00 each!!!

From 5/16 - 5/23 every order will get two bags of sequins. They will automatically be added to your order, no special request please. 

 Enjoy these specials for in stock items only starting 5/13 thru 5/23 at 10pm MST. 

All stamps & Dies are made in the USA.

SVG FREEBIE 

Mindy has designed and used this adorable SVG claw machine spaceship to make her project today and we've added it to the CDD Shop for free during the 2 day hop.

We hope you have enjoyed this release and will join us again tomorrow for more design team inspiration.

Your next stop is the super talented:

 Jeanin

Line up:

Friday

CDD- http://www.craftindesertdivasblog.com/
Diane- http://dmjaquay.blogspot.com/
Jeanin- http://some-bits-and-pieces.blogspot.de/
Jan- http://handcrafthobby.blogspot.com/
Elodie- http://scrapydoo.canalblog.com/
Patricia- http://preybueno.blogspot.com.es/
Mayra- http://mayrasdesigns.blogspot.com/
Lisa M.- http://thecraftingcave.blogspot.com/
Saundra- http://luvscrappingtogether.blogspot.com/
Mindy- http://mindybeverlyartstudio.blogspot.com/