Another Playdate with Michele

Hello friends.  My sweet friend Michele and I had another playdate last Wednesday, and as usual, we hugged, laughed, talked (LOTS of talking!!), played and ate!  We both sure love these playdates and always end inspired and rejuvenated!!  

I started with an Altenew stencil (Charming Delight) that I had asked Michele to bring, and came up with this...

  I think the stenciled layers on this one are so pretty and used Gina K's Light, Medium & Dark Orchid inks on the flowers.  Once my stenciling and splattering was done I used Michele's Organic Linen embossing folder over the panel before attaching a black layer and white card base.  My sentiment strip was hot foiled using Spellbinders Everyday Sentiments II and gold foil.  I finished with a few Disco Ball sequins (Gina K).

These Poppies look blue, don't they?  They're actually purple (Gina K's Light, Medium & Dark Lilac), but no editing on my part could get them to look purple...grrrrr!!  But anyway, we both played with this stencil set from The Ton called Precious Poppies.  After stenciling, I used a green prisma color pencil to add some detail to the leaves, and then added some black splattering too.  I used MB's Pinpoint Leaf Plate to add a bit of interest to my background.

You can see the background detail a bit better in this close up.  I added a black strip to the left side of my stenciled panel and then attached to a white card base.  The sentiment was hot foiled in silver using MB's Posh Hello foil plate and die, and then finished the card with a few silver gems from PFS.

Michele had wanted to play with my Greetery BotaniCuts: Lilac dies, and since I had one cluster already finished from the last time I had played with it, and needed a card for a cousin on my hubby's side who just received a cancer diagnosis, it made this card come together quickly.

I made a frame using a rectangle die on the center of an A2 panel and then embossed it using SSS's Blossom Field embossing folder.  The sentiment is from Penny Black's inspirational sentiments.

We had briefly talked about pulling out a MFT Pure Innocence (Sunny Days Ahead) stamp, and since it feels more like Summer than Spring this past week, I had fun coloring up this cutie with my Copics.  The background is PTI's Pool Water stencil, and I framed her with PFS's Notched Corner Frame Dies.  The sentiment is also from the Sunny Days Ahead set and the little girl and her unicorn floaty have an action wobbler attached behind her.  My pool water background was also sprayed with Sheer Shimmer Sparkle Spray and also added a few iridescent gems from PFS to mimic water droplets.

Well, that's it from me today, but I'm sure Michele has oodles and oodles to share with you as she was quite the busy beaver while here!  You can find all her cards right  HERE.  Thanks so much for sharing your toys Michele and also for the yummy broccoli salad and DELISCIOUS butterscotch cheesecake...they were both soooooo good!  And of course your friendship...I sure do treasure our playdates together!! 

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Color Hues #87 - Coral & Teal

Hello friends.  Time for another challenge here at Color Hues and our sweet hostess Jules is looking for Coral and Teal this time around.

I loved playing with this color combo and used Concord & 9th's Folkart Flower Turnabout stamp set to come up with this card...

(My coral color photographed pretty well, but my teal looks more blue and in real life it's more of a greenish blue, so just pretend that there's a little more green than blue in my teal color.)  I started by stamping my turnabout with Tropical Teal and Coral Reef inks (Gina K) and then die cutting the image with PFS's Diagonal Stitched Circles.  I added my circle to a panel of Tropical Teal cs than I ran through with SU!'s Subtle embossing folder, and then attached both to a top folding white card base.  

  I die cut my hello sentiment from black cs 3 times for some dimension and then stamped a sentiment strip using Gina K's A Little Hello stamp and die set.  I finished with some silver glitter dots that my sweet friend TK shared with me from Trinity Stamps.

We have lots of beautiful inspiration for you from the DT and our Special GD using this color combination, so check it all out right HERE and then play along with us.  This challenge is open till Wednesday, May 29th @ 9:00AM. 

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

The Flower Challenge Reminder #91 - Color Your Flower

Hello friends.  Just a friendly reminder that there's still time to play along with us this month at The Flower Challenge where we'd like to see you COLOR YOUR FLOWER(S).

I've been on a better press kick lately and had a new plate to try out from LDRS called Whispering Meadow.  Here's what I came up with...

A very CAS card and image, but I love it!  I used my Copics once again to color the image (C1, Y18, BV17, & G14).  I know it's hard to see in the photos but letter press is so cool looking with the image deeply etched into the cotton cardstock, rather than just sitting on the surface of the card like with stamping.  Definitely worth looking into if you've never tried it!

The sentiment also came with the set and is deeply etched into the cs too.  I finished by rounding the top right and bottom corners, adding black & white bakers twine and a few Disco Ball Sequins from Gina K.

The DT has some FABULOUS inspiration to inspire you to color up your flowers this month, and you can check it all out right HERE.  This challenge is open till Saturday, May 25th @ 5:00PM.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Peace On Earth #63

Hello friends.  Playing along with the Peace On Earth Christmas Challenge where they have a fabulous PINK mood board!

I was definitely inspired by all the PINK, but went with a snowman theme instead.  In fact, I have so many snowmen stamps and dies that I ended up with 3 cards because I couldn't decide which one to use!  All 3 cards are basically the same...just the snowman image is different on each card.  Here's the first one I made...

 I started with my backgrounds and used Hero Arts Hand Drawn Snowflakes Bold Prints background stamp and Versamark ink and clear embossing powder, followed by ink blending with residual ink from my pink brush.  I used a Cottage Cutz (Winter Snowman) die and white glitter cardstock (PFS) to create my snowman and used my Copic markers to color her scarf, hat, nose, & buttons.  

The framing is from PFS's Notched Corner Frames dies and the card base was embossed with SSS's Ice Snowflakes embossing folder.  (These 2 elements are the same on all 3 cards.)  The sentiment is from Spellbinders Make it Merry Sentiments dies.

This 2nd card uses CCC's Anita Jeram's Sweet Snowman stamp and die and was once again colored with my Copics.  The sentiment is also from the Spellbinders Make it Merry Sentiments dies that I used on the 1st card (there are 3 different sentiments in this set.).  

My last little snowlady is one of my favorites and is from the SSS Warmest Wishes stamp set.  There are 4 different snowmen in this set, but the little gal is my favorite...I think it's her coat/hood!

This one was also colored with my Copics and the sentiment strip is a pre-printed one from SSS.

And here are all 3...YAY for my Christmas stash!!  There is LOTS of wonderful PINK inspiration for you from the DT that you can find HERE, so check it out and play along!  This challenge is open till Thursday, May 16th @ 8:00PM. 

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Double D - Pretty Florals for Mom

Hello friends.  Playing along with the ladies at the Double D Challenge where they're looking for Pretty Florals for Mom.  

 How could I pass up a pretty floral mood board like that?!!  I couldn't, although I did take my inspiration right from my front yard.  I have planted tulip bulbs for many years, but have never had any actual tulips bloom because of the rabbits...they bite off the bud before it even blooms and then don't even eat it, but just leave it laying next to the leaves.  Grrrrr!!  So this year I was very surprised to have not one, but 3 tulips bloom, and one of them one that I don't ever remember planting! But anyway, take a look at this gorgeous yellow & red tulip...

   I was blown away by this lovely 2 colored bloom and had to try my hand at duplicating it on a card!  Here's what I came up with using Spellbinders Wonderful Tulips Hot Foil Plate & Die set...

The colors aren't a perfect match, but I was still pretty pleased with the way they came out!  I started by hot foiling the tulips in gold, and then used the coordinating stencils to color them using shades of yellow, red and green.

Here's a closer up shot so you can see the blending a bit better.  After I finished coloring, I used the coordinating die to cut the tulip bunch out, leaving a border of white on the left hand side and then scoring it so I had a tab to attach it to the 4 x 5 1/4 panel that I used PTI's Cover Plate: Cross Stitched Die on.  

This view lets you see that the stenciled portion can open and close like a card.  I did use the die to cut a 2nd tulip panel to give a bit more sturdiness to this layer.  My "Have A Wonderful Day" sentiment is also hot foiled in gold and came with the tulip set and I put tiny pieces of foam tape behind it to give a bit of dimension to it.

This shot gives you a better idea of how this card really looks, and how I had room for 3 actual sentiments.  I embossed in gold on the inside flap of the tulips, and then also on the actual inside of the card.  I had already made a Mother's Day card for my mom, so this card will be used for a special friends birthday that is coming up at the end of the month and she LOVES tulips.

Not to overload you with photos in this post, but here's one last shot of my actual inspiration!  Don't you just love it when inspiration hits and you can hardly wait to get started making your card?!!  I had so much fun making this one!!  Even more beautiful inspiration from the talented DT that you can find right HERE, so check it out and play along!  This challenge is open till Sunday, May 12th @ 8:00PM.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

The Flower Challenge #91 - Color Your Flower

Hello friends.  Welcome back to The Flower Challenge where this month we'd like for you to Color Your Flower.  Markers, colored pencils, watercolors, stencils, etc. - we'd love to see it all!

I inked up a better press plate from Spellbinders called A Friend Like You Bouquet and came up with this card...

Just a simple bouquet, but I had fun coloring it up with my Copics and then ran the panel through with SU!'s Old World Paper embossing folder to give a bit of texture to my card. 

After attaching my panel to a top folding card base, I added a strip of black cs to the left side and then finished the card with a bit of black & white bakers twine and a few black enamel dots.  The HELLO was a press plate that was included with the set.

We know there's a LOT of you out there with some pretty mad coloring skills, and we can't wait to see what YOU create this month.  There is a lot of inspiration from the DT to get you inspired too, so check it all out right HERE and then play along with us.  This challenge is open till Saturday, May 25th @ 5:00PM.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Rainbow Fun

Hello friends.  Just a fun post today sharing a couple rainbow cards I made from panels my sweet friend Lisa Elton sent me after seeing her sweet card HERE.

Lisa sent me all the die cut pieces from Poppystamps Hearts Shining Arch and Rainbow Arch and on this 1st card I used pastel colors to fill in all the heart and dots.

 My photo makes it look like I pieced all those hearts and dots together when actually I ink blended the die cut arches and then placed them behind the heart and dot die cut panel.  

 I added a little Purple Onion Designs bunny that I colored with my Copics and fussy cut out towards the bottom of the heart panel, and then stamped my sentiment (Gina K) above.  I did add a bit of WOS to all the hearts to give some shimmer to this colorful rainbow card.

My 2nd card was done the same way with coloring the arches first (with Copics in bright primary colors), and then adding acetate and foam strips behind the heart and dot die cut panel to make a shaker card. (Sorry, all the sequins for the shaker are at the bottom of the card because I photographed it standing upright.)

I added a PFS scalloped frame and one of those sweet paper mouses from Anita Jeram and CCC (Be Creative) that I colored once again with Copics.  The sentiment is from The Greetery's All Occasion Script Sentiments.  

Hope I infused some color and smiles into the start of your weekend today, and a BIG thanks to sweet Lisa for sharing these die cuts with me...I had so much fun coloring up these rainbows and creating the two cards!  Stamping friends truly are the best!! :0) 

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!