Happy Fall Ya'll

Hello!  I was so excited when Lesley asked me to be the October guest designer for The Card Concept!  I'm doing the Freestyle Collage category today.  Here is the inspiration photo.

I'll admit this wasn't an easy photo for me, I'm a "color" girl, and this photo doesn't have much color to it.  I decided to use the wood grain, pumpkins, and the bit of blue in the floor as the springboard for my card.  I found pumpkins of different shapes and sizes from various stamp sets and stamped them with Wplus9 Silver Lining ink on various white and gray patterned papers, then I fussy cut them and added a bit of gray Copic markers to do some rough shading.  To make the blue paper I used Wplus9 Falling For Blue, Ocean Drive, and Silver Lining inks and did some ink blending.  I cut the blue paper with a Simon Says Stamp wavy border die.  I added some black, gray, and white splatters to the blue paper.  I stamped the sentiment, which is from Mark's Finest Paper, on a banner and added a bit of the Falling For Blue ink around the edges.  I finished my card with some bakers twine.  I'm very pleased with how this turned out, it reminds me of pumpkins stacked outside a rustic country barn.

Head on over to the The Card Concept to see what the design team came up with using this inspiration photo, and be sure to play along!

The Challenge #45

Hello and happy Monday!  We have a  fun new sketch for you to try today over at The Challenge!

I used some of the My Minds Eye papers from the Simon Says Stamp October card kit to make my card.  For the sentiment I die cut one of the journaling cards with a circle die, then cut out the portion that says "celebrate today" and added some Brilliance gold ink around the edges and popped it up with foam tape to give it more dimension and make it stand out.  This was a quick and easy card to put together!

Please join us at The Challenge and try your hand at using this sketch, I cannot wait to see what you make!

You Are My Person

I'm back with my second post for today.  I'm entering this card in 4 challenges, the October Mix it Up Challenge with Wplus9 Design Studio at Ellen Hutson, the 30 Day Coloring Challenge at The Daily Marker, Virginia's View Challenge #19 All Things Colored, and CAS(E) this Sketch #143.

I stamped the flowers and leaves from Wplus9's Doodle Buds onto some Canson Mix Media 98lb paper.  I've been finding that when I use my Zig Clean Color watercolor markers to color with that they blend very nicely on this paper.  However it doesn't accept much water without warping, so I try to use this when I know I won't be adding extra water, just using the pens straight.  When I was done coloring I added the white dots with Dina Wakley Media White Gesso.  It's pretty thick gesso and I was able to use the wood end of a slim paint brush to apply the dots.  I need to get to a craft store soon and pick up a good white gel pen because it would be easier, but this technique does the trick in a pinch.  The sentiment is from Essentials by Ellen Mondo Magnolia stamp set.  I sponged some Tumbled Glass distress ink around the edges of the sentiment.

That's all for me today.  I'm excited about World Card Making Day tomorrow, and hope to be able to participate in as many of the festivities as possible :)

Let's Party!

Happy Friday, folks!  I made a card for the current Sparkle & Shine Challenge.  I just loved the graphic for this, I mean who doesn't love polka dots and bright colors?!

This card was super easy to make, yet I think it packs a punch.  All I did was use card stock scraps in various bright colors from which I cut 3/4" circles, and arranged them on a white card base.  The "Let's Party" die is from PTI.  I added some Pretty Pink Posh sequins and the card was done.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today, hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Freshly Made Sketches #206

Hello, back with my last post for the day, I promise lol!  I'm playing along with Freshly Made Sketches with this card.

This is such a versatile sketch!  I used the October Simon Says Stamp card kit to make my card.

I really do love playing with pretty patterned papers, and the papers and journaling cards included in this kit, from My Mind's Eye, are FABULOUS!  The sentiment was stamped using stamps from the kit, the butterfly was fussy cut from a piece of the patterned paper.  I added black sequins and rounded one corner to finish my card.  I love how this came together :) 

That's all from me today, I'll be back with more challenge cards tomorrow (hopefully)!  Thank you so much for stopping by my blog, have a terrific day!

My Favorite Things Wednesday Sketch Challenge #248

Hi, I'm back with my second post for today.  I'm entering this card in MFT's Wednesday Sketch Challenge.

To make this card I first stamped a kraft card base using Wplu9 Warm Wool ink and MFT's On the Diagonal background stamp.  On the white panel I used flower stamps from Fall Florals which I stamped using Wplus9's Pumpkin Spice and Gala Apple inks, and Warm Wool ink for the flowers centers.  Next I used a fine line black marker to loosely sketch over the solid flowers.  I think the trick with this is to work loosely and quickly, not trying to be perfect.  I doodled some black dots in the center of the orange flowers and for the red flowers, since I currently don't have a white pen that works, I used some thick white gesso and the tip of my paint brush to add the white dots.  I added the lines and dots around the flowers to carry through the doodle style.  I stamped the sentiment using the Pumpkin Spice ink.  I added some twine behind my white panel, wrapped around the card.   I had a lot of fun doing the doodling, I'll have to do more of this soon, it's a fun technique and allows you to stretch your stamps by giving them different looks.

I'll be back soon with one last post for the day :)

Giddy Bugs!

Hello!  I've been a busy bee today, making challenge cards and trying to keep myself happy despite the fact that the rain WILL NOT go away!!!  It's been raining here all week, and will be for the next few days.  I've never been officially diagnosed with SAD but I'm certain I have it, because the weather really affects me psychologically.  Sunshine always gets my happy juices flowing, whereas cloudy, rainy days really give me the blues.  Anyway, I pulled out one of my favorite "happy" stamp sets, Giddy Bugs from Paper Smooches, to make a card.  The adorable little bugs in this set never fail to bring a smile to my face :)

I'm playing along with Paper Smooches Designer Drafts Challenge, and today is the first day of Kathy Racoosin's 30 Day Coloring Challenge so I'm adding my card to that too.  I'm also adding it to Virginia's View Challenge #19, All Things Colored.

I used my Zig Clean Color Brush Pens to color the images on my card, and a fine line black marker to make the lines and dots around the sentiment panel.  That's about all, this was a quick and easy card.  I'm still not great at coloring, but the more I do it the more comfortable I become with it and the better I get, as with anything practice makes perfect!

I'll be back today with a couple more cards I made for other challenges, see you then!