LLC - Fave Color Combo Challenge

Hi LLC Friends!  The Challenge for July is to create a card using our favorite color combos.  I have many favorites but one of my absolute go-to's are Blues and Greens and that's the one I'll share today:

Can I just rave about the Misti one more time?!  It made it soooo easy to line up these fun stamps from Catherine Pooler's Say It In Diamonds stamp set and make my own DSP.  I also repeated a few of the stamps on the card base and heat embossed with white EP.  Even the sentiments in this set are diamond-shaped which makes it so fun!  I used Catherine Pooler inks in Lime Rickey, Aquatini, and Fiesta Blue for my color combo.

Thanks for stopping by ~ I hope you have a great weekend!  I'll be back in a couple of days for another fun color combo.

Bottom Heavy

Happy Friday, LLC friends!  The latest challenge is not about OUR "bottoms," but to create cards that are "Bottom Heavy."  

I made a card using bits and scraps that were on my desk. I used leftover birdies from a card I made for The Paper Players CAS challenge and a fence die cut (MFT) from woodgrain cardstock hiding in my die cut bowl.  I inked blended a bit of blue sky and added some grass (Memory Box):

The challenge runs through June 30th.  Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Let's Celebrate You

Hi Friends!  I have a card today for the Live Love Cards Sketch Challenge:

I'm a little hooked on the Gina K. Wreath Builder stencils and have made many different floral-type wreaths.  This time around I thought I would use a solid circle stamp and a rainbow of ink colors to accent the circle die cut.

Neenah & Bazzill Cardstock

Gina K. Wreath Builder Stencils

Catherine Pooler Scattered Dots Border Stamp

Catherine Pooler Inks

Catherine Pooler WooHoo Stamp Set

My Favorite Things Essential Elements Stamp Set

Stampin' Up Glitter Enamel Dots

Thanks for stopping by!

The Peeps Are Coming!

Happy Monday!  I was surprised with a package of Peeps yesterday morning from a friend.  Sadly, they are a weakness I have around Easter (plus Canterbury eggs, of course)!  Not only were they delicious but inspiring!  

I'm not sure if it was the sugar high, but I felt a little mojo and made another Easter card...LOL!

With my Misti and the fun SSS 'My Kind of Peep' stamp set, I put together this one layer card using Catherine Pooler Tiara ink.  I'll be linking this card up to the Live Love Card Community Challenge for March and hopefully can squeak in to the Shopping Our Stash #346 Easter Challenge.  

Thanks for stopping by ~ have a great week!

Birds and Butterflies

Happy Friday!  I have a couple of cards today:

The first one is for the current Freshly Made Sketches Challenge:

On an MFT Steel Gray card base, I layered a stitched rectangle that I had stamped with that wonderful butterfly from Catherine Pooler (Faithful Flutterings) using 3 different shades of her purple ink.  I then masked the butterfly and stenciled the background (Tim Holtz) with Hickory Smoke Distress Ink.  The sentiment is from Hero Arts, heat embossed and popped up. I finished it off with 3 silver confetti sequins.

The second card is for the Live Love Cards Community Challenge for February featuring a bird or birds:

 

The card base is SSS Fog and the same Fog ink was used for the wood plank background stamp (MFT).  The postage stamp dies are from Catherine Pooler.  The sentiment from Concord & 9th.  The birds and flowers (SU Petal Palette) were colored with Tombow Markers and a blender pen, die cut, and popped up.  I touched up a few areas with Wink of Stella and called it done! 

Thanks for stopping by ~ I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #32

Hi there!  Another Valentines card today that I'd like to link up to the following challenges:

Live Love Cards Community Challenge - Love

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #32 - Bottom row across: Sparkle (washi), Love (die cut), Free

I stamped the pink hearts down the left on white cardstock.  Then I stamped the dotted border and striped border and added a thin strip of silver glittery washi tape.  I die cut the 'love' die and finished it off with silver confetti sequins.  The white layer was added to a steel gray card base.  Here's a list of the products I used:

Cardstock - Neenah Solar White, MFT Steel Gray, Bazzill Licorice

Ink - Catherine Pooler Be Mine (pink) and Black Jack (dark gray)

Die - Catherine Pooler Love Die

Stamps - Impress Brushed Heart, Stampabilities Scribble Heart, Catherine Pooler borders

Other - Your Washi silver glitter tape, Pretty Pink Posh silver confetti

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you're having a great week!

Just a Few More...

Hi there!  Christmas shopping is done, everything is wrapped, and woo hoo...all the cards have been mailed that needed to be.  I still have quite a few to do for the assisted living facility but I'm happy dancin' in the craft room today and would like to link up cards for a few challenges:

Tic Tac Toe Challenge #28 - Middle Row Down: Holiday, Die Cut, Metallic 

I used Canson Watercolor paper for the card base and masked off the center with a mask that I first die cut with a Papertrey Ink rectangle die that has torn-like edges.  I inked it up with Distress Oxide Antique Linen, applied Biscotti Perfect Pearls, and splattered gold shimmer spray from Hero Arts.  I wanted the Elegant Deer die cut from Sizzix to be the star of the show in gold metallic cardstock from MFT.  The sentiment banner was die cut from an Avery Elle die, stamped with the Gina K. sentiment, and heat embossed with Ranger Gold EP. 

I used this week's Freshly Made Sketches Sketch #317 as a jumping off point for the next card.

 

I was able to use scraps of DSP from The Paper Studio and Hero Arts on this card plus an extra mitten I had inked up from Stampin' Up's Smitten Mitten set that was sitting on my desk.  I added a few punched mini snowflakes from white glitter cardstock and called it done!

The last card I did today was for a friend that has a very busy doxie.  I just love this sentiment from Rubbernecker Stamps:

I'll be linking this up over at the Live Love Cards gallery for their December "Stripes" Challenge.

Thanks so much for taking a break from the hustle and bustle and stopping by.  I hope you have a wonderful week!

Hugs,

Annie

Merry Merry Merry

Happy Monday!  I had some rainy crafty time this weekend but almost forgot to post!  The first card was for the latest Tic Tac Toe Challenge:

I went with the diagonal - stripes, ribbon, and layers.  I used Freshly Made Sketches #311 as a jumping off point (but was too late to enter...story of my life!):

Check!  Another Christmas card for the pile!  I stamped the Peppermint Twist background (Catherine Pooler) in Rockin' Red ink, layered on a sweet image from Pink Cat Studios colored with Prismacolor pencils, and added a sentiment (The Stamps of Life) tag with a snippet of gingham ribbon. 

The second card is for the Live Love Cards membership challenge featuring LEAVES.  It also fits for the new Cards in Envy Challenge that started today where the sentiment or words are the focal point.  Come play with us!

The background was stamped with Catherine Pooler's Counting Blessings stamp set and inks.  The sentiment was white heat embossed on one of MFT's tag builder dies.  May Arts green twine was the final touch.

I hope you have a fantastic week and thanks so much for stopping by!

Watercoloring Fun!

Happy Weekend!  I can't believe it's the end of January!  I've spent the past couple of days playing with some new stamps from Rubbernecker.  I think I need an intervention.  I am rapidly becoming addicted to their watercolor stamps!  I'm definitely not the best at coloring.  Copics sometimes scare me.   But...these stamps are so much fun and give you such a free watercolor look ~ and you can color outside the "lines" which makes me happy :).

My first card uses the "Tangerine Trio" stamp set.  I decided to stick with the color sample provided with the set and added a watercolor stripe background (MFT).  I used Distress Inks & water on watercolor cardstock for everything except the sentiment (Stampabilities) which I stamped in VersaFine Onyx Black.    Messy splatters and May Arts natural twine finished this off.  I'd like to link this up to the new Rubbernecker Challenge - Birthday that I just found today!

The second card also uses a Rubbernecker stamp called "Flowers in the Breeze."  I again used Distress Inks & water with an Ellen Hutson's "Many Thanks" word die by Julie.  I added some Nuvo Blue Lagoon Crystal Drops and Spectrum Noir Crystal Clear Sparkle pen on the sentiment for a little shimmer.  I'll be linking this up to the Live Love Cards Community Challenge for January featuring cool colors.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  This post is not sponsored in any way by Rubbernecker...I'm just excited to share my coloring "success."  I can't wait for my next order and those wonderful flamingos!  LOL!

Deck the Halls

Welcome back!  I'm on a mission to finish my Christmas cards this year within the next week or so.  Between family visits and Thanksgiving, I've missed playing with some of my favorite challenges the last couple of weeks.  Today I spent some crafty time for the newest CASology challenge:

I pulled out my Inktense pencils for this one.  I hadn't used them in a very long time and had forgotten how much I liked them for detail watercoloring.  The image is "Watercolor Candle" from Rubbernecker and the sentiment is from My Favorite Things.  Hard to see in the pic, but I dressed up the candles with Glossy Accents to simulate wax and used Wink of Stella on the flames and on some tips of the evergreen boughs. 

Thanks so much for stopping by ~ have an awesome week!  I'll also be linking this up to the Holiday challenge over at the Live Love Cards community.

Take care,
Annie

Moo-velous!

Hi there!  I needed another birthday card, so I used the latest sketch from Freshly Made Sketches as a jumping off point for my second card today:

Then I shopped my stash for farm animals so I could also play along with Shopping Our Stash's latest challenge (#268) too! 

Here's the stuff I used:

     Cardstock - Bazzill Coconut, Bazzill Licorice

     DSP - The Stamps of Life

     Stamps - Great Impressions

     Dies - My Favorite Things

     Other - Zigs, Judikins white embossing powder

I'll also be linking up to the Live Love Cards September Challenge - Cute Creatures.  Nothing cuter than a big ol' cow holding a balloon!  Thanks for stopping by!

Very Special Red Balloon

Overcast sky this morning so I went to my Happy Place and made a couple of cards.  This was after I chased my favorite deer off of the front porch as she happily munched on a "deer resistant" plant <sigh>.

Anyhoo, this card was put together for The Paper Players Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge #306:

(3rd column down - masculine, red, die-cut)

And, I used the Freshly Made Sketches #248 for the layout:

Here's the stuff I used:
     Cardstock - Memory Box Graphite
     DSP - DCWV Neutrals
     Die Cuts - My Favorite Things Big Balloons
     Stamps - Stamps of Life (sentiment), My Favorite Things (HB Background)
     Ink:  VersaMark, Lawn Fawn Hippo, and Memento Lady Bug
     Other:  White & Clear Detail embossing powder

I'll also be linking this card up to the Live Love Card community challenge for August (Birthday cards).  Thanks much for stopping by!

Live Love Cards Washi Challenge

July's Challenge over at the Live Love Cards community is to use washi tape on a card.  I tend to hoard, I mean "save" Washi tape, so this was an opportunity to pry it out of my hands and actually use some!

I tried to keep the background fairly simple so the focus would be on the great "Hello" washi tape from The Paper Studio.  It was a package deal so it came with complimentary thin gold tape that I also used as a border - woo hoo!  The background was stamped with circles from Lawn Fawn's "Let's Bokeh" set using Gina K. inks.  The gold circles are also embossed with clear embossing powder for a little bit of texture.

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Live Love Cards February Challenge: Masculine

Like so many other folks, masculine cards are always a bit of a challenge for me.  I'm thinking you can't go wrong with a little bit of wood and paint splatters...at least in my family! 

I began by stamping the heart (Impress) and sentiment (MFT) in VersaMark and heat embossed with Judikins white detail embossing powder.  I distressed the red woodplank background (MFT) uing Ground Espresso Distress Ink DTP, let it dry, then rubbed it with a lightly damp tissue.  Next I added LiquiTex Gesso with a foam brush and rubbed it out with a dry tissue.  I added some acrylic white paint splatters and silver metallic dots (Hero Arts) to resemble nails.  The silver dots looked too new so I "aged" them with a bronze Sharpie.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you have a very sweet Valentine's Day!

Dreaming of a White Christmas

Stickles and Stencils...who knew!  When shopping my stash, I found two bottles of Icicle Stickles.  Could I have bought a duplicate?  It happens :-)  Anyway, I had this great snowfall stencil from last year that I don't remember using and, along with the Stickles, created a pretty cool background!

The street lamp is a Memory Box die and I die cut it in black cardstock and again on a gold cardstock scrap so I could inlay the "glow."  The holly leaves and ribbon are Savvy Stamp dies and the snowy hillsides were die cut with Stitched Hillside Borders from Lawn Fawn.  There is stitching there...under the Stickle snow :-)  The sentiment is from The Stamps of Life's "snowman2build" stamp set. 

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Shopping Our Stash #226 - Light My Fire (street lamp)
Live Love Cards November Community Challenge - Snowflake (Stickle Snow)

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Live Love Cards October Challenge: White Space

White space is good space, white space is good space...I'm trying this mantra but having started my cardmaking adventures with lots and lots of layers and embellies, it's a challenge.  This is a perfect challenge from Live Love Cards to play in since I need a support group to tell me to stop sometimes!

Tim Holtz' Carved Halloween pumpkin looked like he was rolling around so, after stamping in Memento ink, coloring with Copics and Wink of Stella, I sat him on some washi tape and added the "Let's Roll" sentiment.  Then I STOPPED.  Woo hoo! 

Thanks for visiting...I'm so happy I joined this little community :-)  Darlene...I learn something new from EVERY video!

Live Love Cards September Challenge: Sparkle & Shine

The Live Love Cards Challenge for September is to create a card with Sparkle & Shine.  Although it doesn't say "holiday," it's a great jumping off point to get going on those Christmas Cards!

This card was fun to make.  Lots of techniques!  The hardest part was stopping when I knew I should :-)  First, the tree line was stamped (Tim Holtz) and heat embossed with white detail embossing powder.  Liquid Frisket was applied in small dots for stars to resist the Distress inks that were applied for the sky (Chipped Sapphire, Faded Jeans, & Salty Ocean).  After the Frisket was rubbed off, the Santa and Reindeer die cut (Die-Versions) was glued on.  The "believe" sentiment was die cut and heat embossed with Black Sparkle embossing powder (Ranger) then glued on.  The panel was popped up on a white card base.  The finishing touch was a mini pearl colored with a Copic marker for Rudolph's nose and Santa was on his way!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Thanks a Melon!

It's definitely a summer day here!  I put together this card this morning when it was much cooler in my craft room for a few challenges:

Live Love Cards:  Masking Challenge
July ODBD Challenge for OWH:  Thank You
The Stamps of Life:  July Gallery Entry

I used the July stamp of the month set from The Stamps of Life, masking the center watermelon slice to add a juicy slice on each side.  The slices are colored with Copics and the seeds are very shiny covered with Glossy Accents.  Very simple CAS card today before it heats up!

The stamp set came with this cute border stamp which I added to the inside of the card, also colored with Copics:

Can you tell I finally got a MISTI??  I think I'm in love!  Thanks for stopping by!

Live Love Cards Vellum Challenge

The challenge over at Live Love Cards this month is to use vellum on a project.  I really like the stained glass look so thought I would try a new technique (new to me anyway :).

 



I stamped heavy weight vellum with VersaMark and heat embossed with white detail embossing powder.  I flipped it over and colored on the back side with SN markers.  Using MFT dies, I die cut a plain circle in the white embossed background layer then die cut the yellow stitched circle to frame the image.  Added a popped up banner and done!

 

I'm definitely going to try this technique again...it's very forgiving!  Thanks for stopping by!

Live Love Cards Challenge #1: Stencils

I'm a huge fan and follower of Darlene DeVries (of darlenedesign.com).  Her videos are awesome, very easy to understand, and always make me feel like "I can do that!"  Live Love Cards is her Cardmaking Community and I'm not regretting becoming a member for one second!  

The first challenge is to use stencils.  Lord knows I have more than I can probably ever (or will) use, so I picked one that was still in the package and went to work.  The first attempt was fun but not photo worthy!  This is my second attempt using a MFT stencil and Ranger embossing paste.  I added a vellum banner with a heat embossed sentiment, lined the edge with washi tape, and added a big Kaisercraft black enamel dot.  When all else fails...I go to black & white!

 

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you're having a great week :-)