Fabulous Floral

Hi Friends,
   Today I have a couple of cards that I made with images I colored during The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge Road Show at Hero Arts in Richmond, CA.  It was such a fun day filled with new friends, great tips & tricks, plus lot's of laughter!

My first card was made with a stamp and die that Hero Arts generously gifted to us in our goody bag...Nasturtium's are one of my favorite flowers, so needless to say I was excited🌼

 I stepped out of my comfort zone on this one and used one of Kathy's tips...Plucking...that is where you just pluck several colors to use without planning it out...or really even thinking about it.  I plucked the red and my table mate plucked the purple.  Two colors I would have never put together on my own, but in the end I loved the combo❤

To turn my image into a card.  I embossed white card stock with a chicken wire pattern and heat embossed the hello sentiment on light gray cardstock.  It's bright and cheery and stretched me creatively...which is always a good thing!

The second card is also a floral image, Rose Stem by Hero Arts.  I used copic markers in Prawn and Light Prawn for the coloring and used another one of Kathy's tips...fill in the nooks and cranny's. That's when you add more black detail into select areas to add contrast.  I did this with a black copic multi-liner pen.  I did a soft gray shadow around the image and then fussy cut it.

Another fun little trick was to add color to the clear drops around the hello.  After I decided where the droplets would go, I put a dot of color on the paper and then glued them in place.  The color shows through the clear and you have a perfectly matched dot!

A Big Thanks to Kathy Racoosin for sharing her talent with all of us!  Have a card happy day😎

Inspired by all the little things

I am currently obsessed with challenge blogs and recently stumbled across two new ones that I wanted to share with you...I hope you take a moment to check them out!

The first is from Concord & 9th and is called Where Creativity meets C9 .  They post a new challenge on the 9th of each month.  Their current challenge is floral and you'll find plenty of inspiration in all the designers samples.

The second one is Inspired by All the Little Things and it is a bi-weekly challenge. The current challenge is floral as well.  I love their inspiration photo and look forward to seeing what comes next month!

I found similar inspiration in my own backyard...(and although my photography skills do this gorgeous rose justice)... I think you'll be able to see the color inspiration in the project I'm sharing today.

I used the Wreath Turnabout from Concord & 9th and Catherine Pooler Ink on Desert Storm cardstock.  I added the lines onto the leaves with a fine point green sharpie and then stamped the sentiment on a die cut stitched circle from MFT.  I attached it to the wreath with some Scrapbook Adhesive Foam Squares for a bit of added dimension.

note: After looking a my pictures, I realized my circle was slightly off and have since repositioned that.  All part of the learning process...😁 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you find some inspiration that sparks your creativity today!
Hugs and happy crafting ❥❣❥

Flowers & Smiles for Mother's Day!

Happy Saturday!  Today I created two cards for the MFT Color Challenge #93...just in time for Mother's Day🎕.

I was inspired by the MFT color challenge and used as many MFT products as possible.  I used the Bold Blooms set to stamp the background for one card on Ellen Hutson Oyster cardstock and the dies to cut flowers from the Tiny Check Brights 6x6 paper pad on Ellen Hutson Black cardstock for the second. The 100 lb. weight of these cardstocks is awesome!

I used the Smile dienamics for the sentiment.  I cut the word smile from both the grass cardstock and the tiny checks lavender paper and then swapped them in the negative space...It's a Two For...love that!

These are versatile products that I can see myself using over and over again in so many ways...  which is something I always take into consideration when purchasing stamps (especially if I'm investing in the dies as well).  I want my crafting dollar to stretch as far as it can 😛😳!

 I hope these projects brought a smile to your face and that you enjoy a wonderful Mothers Day full of Smiles, Love and Hugs!

Black, White, and Beautiful!

Hi all! 

Today I am mixing up some of my favorite things💟... Patterned Paper (polka dots, stripes and hounds tooth) plus Black and White❤❤👀! I started out with the Rustic Botanicals stamp and die set by Julie Ebersole for Ellen Hutson (I adore this set!!) and stamped them on Neenah white cardstock using Hero Arts Black Ink. 

For added impact I heat embossed them with Wow Clear Embossing Powder and cut them out with the matching die cuts. I love the gloss and slight dimension that embossing adds.  I have been borrowing a heat gun from my husbands work bench, but I think he was tired of having to search for it every time he wanted to use it so I ordered my own...and am so happy I did!

I picked a selection of black and white papers that spoke to me and then went about the business of planning out how I was going to put it all together.  I also cut out Brushstroke Hello by Julie Ebersole in black and white glossy cardstock.

 In the end, I was able to turn this collection of components into three cards using a strong black and white patterned paper as the background and a coordinating paper as an accent.  The sentiments and botanicals pop off the backgrounds and are fresh and fun!

The first one I left strictly black and white and just added 3 little enamel dots as a finishing touch...well, HELLO lovely!

On the second one I added just a hint of color by filling in some of the circles above the stripe with a
Ranger Distress Marker in cracked pistachio.  I think it added that little something that was missing.

 And on the final card, I decided to add the hint of color to the floral component by using Ranger Distress markers in Cracked pistachio on the leaves and Barn Door on the flower.  The final touch was an enamel dot in the center of the flower and the word Thanks.

I hope you will try using your favorite color combination to create some cards with a monochromatic feel...You may even surprise yourself with what you come up with!  HUGS!!

Grocery Store Inspiration

Inspiration can come from anywhere!  Recently, on a trip to the grocery store, I was inspired by the color combination in this bouquet.  Something about it just spoke to me...the green, purple and lavender just seemed to sing💖.  I thought it would make a great color combo for a card... and so this photo inspired my latest project and more to come I'm sure.

I used the Cherish stamp and die set from Honey Bee Stamps and stamped two large flowers using Shaded Lilac Distress Ink.  When they were completely dry I added the layering stamp using Ranger Soft Granite ink. (I also used soft granite to stamp the sentiment)  I stamped the leaves in Ranger Electric Lime ink.  After I finished stamping all of the components I used an mini ink blending tool to make a soft blended background with shaded lilac and electric lime inks.  I used this background to fill the circle I cut out in the card front and to cut out a second cherish sentiment.  

I pulled all my components together on a piece of green dotted cardstock which I layered on top of a white A2 notecard.  I stacked the soft granite cherish on top of the lavender cherish (slightly offset).

In the picture it appears more like a shadow because I popped it up with foam tape.  In the end I decided to use one flower and a few of the leaves.  A few small enameled dots in the corners and my grocery store inspiration is complete.  The finished project is a bit more muted than the original because I was working with ink colors I already had in my stash...but I think you can still see a nod to the grocery store photo.  I can't wait to see what my next trip to the store inspires me to create!  How about you?

Well hello gorgeous!

Hi friends, on the blog today is a card I created for the MFT Color Challenge.  I'm finding these challenges to be a great source of inspiration when you're just not sure what you want to create (it happens). Sometimes a color palette or a design layout suggestion is all you need to get those creative juices flowing...just sayin😉.   I have to admit, this challenge paired colors I normally would not have put together on my own...but to my surprise I ended up loving the result!  💟💟💟💟

The suggested colors made me think of flowers, so I went in that direction.  I had seen another designer arrange flower stamps inside a heart and used that as my inspiration for filling the inside of a circle.  I took small floral and dot stamps from various stamp sets and stamped them inside a circle that I drew lightly with a pencil.  I kept my pattern somewhat random but semi-symmetrical...if that's a thing...hehe. I colored them with COPIC Sketch Markers and cut the circle out with a stitched circle die cut.

Since black was also a color in the challenge I decided to use black and white patterned paper cut slightly smaller than the size of the card and a dotted circle as a background for the flower circle and black glossy cardstock to die cut the word hello.  I adhered them to a white A2 notecard and added a few finishing touches.   A few clear Nuvo Drops here and there and some Wink of Stella clear glitter on a petal or two and the card was complete...woohoo!

I hope you are inspired to try out the world of challenges.  Lot's of company sponsor them and give away gift cards to their stores...added bonus prize!!  Look for the Pin-Sights Challenge and Mix it Up Challenge at Ellen Hutson.  Mft has a the color challenge and more.  I'm just starting to explore this...so I will continue to fill you in on who has challenges as I find them.  Until next time...I hope you have a Card Happy week!

If at first you don't succeed...

Welcome back!  Today I'm showing you how I saved some supplies from ending up in the trash.  The problem with learning by trial and error is that occasionally there will be error.  Sometimes, not always, that error can turn into something new, creative and even unique.

Yesterday I posted a card made with white pigment ink and what I found out was that even after heat setting (which I obviously didn't do for a long enough time) and letting my pieces dry overnight they still smudged when I adhered them to my cards.  BUMMER!

So with nothing to lose...I took my finger and ran it back and forth over the image.  I was curious to see just how much it would smudge.  The answer, quite a bit😢 I noticed was that I kind of liked the smudged version...so I went and got a clean stiff paint brush and worked it back and forth over the entire card and what I was left with was a card that has an almost worn chalkboard effect.  I did the same to the other 5 I had made.

Not perfect, not what I intended, but in the end unique and usable.  I also stamped the small floral from the same set and some dots on the back of the envelope for fun.  The recipient will never know this was an oops...unless of course they have read this blog post...hehe!

Thank You...clean and simple

Today I've got a clean and simple Thank You card that I just love!  I'm using a few stamps from the set Remember This by Altenew (a hand me down from a crafty friend...SCORE!!).  This is sure to be one I will be using a lot...so many possibilities💜

It is a large stamp set that creates beautiful layered flowers, but for todays project I'm just using the outline stamps.  I stamped the large flower in the corner with Hero Arts white ink on a 3 x 4-1/4 piece of dark blue card stock. Then I added the small flowers to the left, the leaves to the right and balanced it out with a thank you sentiment in the left corner.

A Bunch of Thanks

Thank You cards are something you should never be without, so I thought it was the perfect choice for my next project.  I was gifted the stamp set Floral Frame from a friend and thought it would be really fun to color.  I'm finding that I enjoy coloring a lot!!...it's super relaxing and who doesn't need time to relax?  

I stamped a floral arch with Hero Arts black dye ink on white cardstock and then decided I wanted more, so I turned the stamp around and stamped it again to form a wreath.  If you don't have an arched stamp, you could lightly trace around the bottom of a glass with a pencil and then stamp small floral and leaf elements over it to create your own unique wreath.

Tip:  Manufactures websites are great places to find project examples for their stamp sets.  Also, try typing in the name of the stamp set followed by the word images (example...Avery Elle Floral Frame images) on google and all kinds of inspiration will be right at your finger tips!

Just A Little Note to Make You Happy

Note cards are the perfect way to start...you can use them anytime. Which is also the reason I chose a flower stamp as one of my first purchases.  I knew I wanted to start small (and you can't get much smaller than this set) plus I thought I could use it for many occasions from everyday to celebrations. I think it's important to have versatility when you are just starting out.

Begin with a piece of white card stock big enough for your stamped image and sentiment.  Stamp a single flower from the Altenew You Make Me Happy stamp set using Hero Arts Black Ink and color it with markers or colored pencils.  I have a set of Stamping up twin tip markers that I purchased years ago and rarely used, and have since started to collect Copic Sketch markers...so this is a mix of both. I added a sentiment from the same set.