Category Archives: cards

Pink Hydrangea

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As always, I need birthday cards. For today’s card I used the CAS-ual Friday challenge – Pretty in Pink (cfc58).

To color the hydrangea, I inked the stamp with Sweet Blush and Chartreuse. Then I went back with Copic markers and darkened up some of the blossoms. I admit when I did the first blossom I thought I had ruined it – but I figured I should finish it up, and once it was done, I liked the result!

I’m not a big pink fan, so I just did the flower in pink – but I felt the yellow card base set off the flower nicely.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Happy Birthday
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Happy Hydrangea; Think Big Favorites #12;
Colors: Lemon Tart, White, Sweet Blush, Chartreuse, Dark Chocolate;
Other: Cane impression plate; markers (Copic);

FYI – Elegant Anniversary

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It is time for another For Your Inspiration challenge. Check out the latest challenge -> FYI32.

Such a serene photo. I love the layers of white trees contrasted with the grey of the bridge. I used the shape of the bridge as an element in my card design.

I had so many ideas for this photo! I finally decided I would make an anniversary card – and that helped me narrow down the composition and pick my elements.

The sentiment was stamped on a Photo Finisher die cut (one that reminded me of the bridge).

The photo is darker on the bottom with the water, so I layered pattern paper on the bottom of my card.

One thing I loved was how the dark tree trunks peeked through the white trees. I chose to use a doily die cut because the holes would allow darker bits to peek out.

Finally a few pearls to help bring the focus to the sentiment.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Make sure you check out the other design team members:
Debbie
Debby
Michelle
Rochelle
Rudlis
Sara
Steph
Sylvia
Vicki

I hope you join us at For Your Inspiration!

A Little About the Challenge: The For Your Inspiration challenge is posted the first and third Thursday of every month; each challenge is open for two weeks. To play, use the photo to inspire you and create a card – very simple! Make sure you tell us in your blog post how you were inspired!

Happy Anniversary
Stamps: Damask Designs (PTI);
Colors: White, Dark Chocolate (PTI); Sahara Sand (SU);
Other: Doily die & Photo Finisher die (PTI); Sand DSP (SU); Pearls;

Clearly a Time for Celebration

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I created this card for the CASual Friday challenge to use vellum (cfc57). The layout is from a 2Peas’ Saturday Card Sketch challenge (June 16).

Of course, now I can’t find it 🙁 but I remember seeing a card done a while back using a Hero Arts(?) flower that was white embossed on vellum and I thought the Mixed Bunch Stampin’Up set would be a great substitute (and hey, I wouldn’t have to cut it out since there is a coordinating punch – bonus!).

Since I was doing vellum flowers, I knew my card base needed to be on the dark side (mwuahahaha). Once I chose the blue, I picked my accent color. The rest is just following the sketch and keeping to StampinUp supplies (look ma – another SUO card 🙂 ).

Thanks for taking a peek!

Here’s to You
All supplies StampinUp! unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Mixed Bunch, Summer Silhouettes;
Colors: Island Indigo, Calypso Coral;
Other: Finishing Touches die, Blossom punch, Vellum; Circle punches (EK, but SU does offer); White embossing powder (Filigree, but SU does offer);

Celebrate with Sugar

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I haven’t had a lot of time to stamp lately, but there are some challenges that I really enjoy playing so when it was time to do some stamping, I made sure I pulled up those challenges first.

I used the Paper Smooches Cool Shades challenge (PBJ) for my colors, and a Retro Sketch (#16) for the layout.

I recently purchased the Paper Smooches Sugar Rush stamp set and thought it would be perfect for these colors. The layout really lended itself to making a cascade of sugary treats with which to celebrate. You can’t tell in the photo, but all the bits have glitter on them.

This is my first time using the Gina K paper for coloring with Copics. My verdict is still out. There seems to be more streaky marks left (like the paper soaks it up before I can do my next stroke). I do like the weight and the brightness of the paper.

Thanks for stopping by!

Celebrate
Stamps: Sugar Rush (Paper Smooches);
Colors: Lavender Moon (PTI); White (Gina K);
Other: markers (Copic); glitter pen (Spica);

Happy Father’s Day

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My hubby loves to play the lottery. When I asked him what he wanted on his father’s day card, he said the winning numbers. I went out to random.org and picked numbers to fill in the spinner openings. Now he can have fun while picking the 6 he needs 🙂

Thanks for taking a peek!

You’re a Winner
Stamps: Game Night (MFT);
Colors: Blueberry, Kraft, True Black, White, Enchanted Evening, New Leaf (PTI);
Other: Game Night spinner die, Banner Day die (MFT); toothpicks; Polka Dot impression plate (PTI); Dotti Biscotti pattern paper (PTI); black brad; lots of dimensionals;

Watercolored Poppies

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Hey look, ma – a Stampin’Up Only card 🙂

I received my box of StampinUp goodies recently and now that my house is good and clean, I took some time this morning to play!

This card is for the latest Clean & Simple challenge at SplitCoast (cas174) which is white layers on a white card base. I have been *lovin* the white cardstock lately, so this pulled together quite quickly!

I decided to watercolor the poppies. I’m not sure if it is artistic or sloppy ~hrm. The card didn’t photo well (I need to figure out how to reflect my light better). Anyway, the stems are watercolored in Pear and the flourishes on the tag are stamped in celery.

The poppies are watercolored with Cherry ink, but since watercoloring really dims the color, I had to pick a coordinating color ribbon – and was so very happy when Primrose practically matched!

Birthday Wishes
All supplies StampinUp unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Pleasant Poppies, Bring on the Cake, Kindness Matters (for the flourish);
Colors: White (PTI); Noir (Palette); Cherry, Pear, Celery;
Other: Primrose ribbon, Labels Framelits;

Window Welcome

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I’m trying hard to use the supplies I have – including neglected dies. I bought this window die when it was trending and then never used it. I don’t have the window box die, but I don’t think I needed it…the idea is there.

To add a touch of texture and interest to the card I stamped a few bricks on the card base. When inking the bricks, I chose to stamp off first because the second generation inking of PTI Kraft not only makes for a lighter color, but also adds a bit of splotchiness – which is perfect for bricks.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Welcome to the Neighborhood
Stamps: Home Made (PTI);
Colors: White, Chocolate, Hibiscus, Chartreuse, Kraft (PTI);
Other: Window die (Memory Box/Poppy Stamps); Leaf dies (Memory Box/Poppy Stamps); Flower punch (SU); Lavender Stickles (Ranger);

Glittered Flowers for Your Birthday

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I bought this flower die recently because I thought I could do some fun ‘negative space’ techniques with it. To create this card, first I die cut the flower from my panel. Then I placed another panel under that and made marks to indicate where the different pieces were (i.e., which opening was stem and which was flower head).

Onto the ‘bottom’ panel, I laid down a covering of double-sided tape (wide Be Creative tape). I used a finger-tip knife to carefully trim the liner paper from part of the tape. Then I sprinkled the pink glitter in the parts that would show through the flower head portion of the die opening. Then I pulled the rest of the liner paper and sprinkled the green glitter.

I was stingy with my glitter, so most of the tape was still exposed – that made it easy to adhere the glittered panel to the back of the die cut panel.

I was quite pleased with how it all finished.

Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday Wishes
Stamps: Mega Mixed Messages (PTI);
Colors: White, Hibiscus (PTI);
Other: Glitter (Doodlebug); Wild Blooms die (Memory Box/Poppy Stamps);

Hats off to the Grad

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We had a nephew graduate high school this year. I used the school colors (green, white, and a bit of red) along with their mascot (an apple) to create this card.

The very first Papertrey Ink Make-it-Monday video (mim1) was about creating sentiment collages and it has been on my to-try list ever since. I even pinned a card by Betsy Veldman where she did a collage too. Now, I’m finally trying it myself!

It was fun picking the sentiments – and I could have made many more cards with all the options I came up with. The hardest bit was knowing when to stop with the sentiments – and what color to do them in. In the end, I kept it simple with the amount of sentiments, and kept the red to a minimum because it always gets focus.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Congrats
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: For the Graduate, Congrats All Ways, All Star Team, Teacher’s Apple, School Time Additions (the year), Ad Sense, Happy Trails (the red swirl under the hat);
Colors: White, Black, Poppy, Chartreuse;

Oh the Places You’ll Go

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The book Oh the Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss is one of my favorites. I received it when I graduated high school. I had never read the story before then and I was perplexed by the gift until I read the story – and then I was in tears (because it is nice when someone has such faith in you 🙂 ). My path has certainly taken me places I didn’t think I’d go, but right now – I am very happy.

This card is for my niece who just graduated college.

The final card happened by accident. I had a panel of white onto which I stamped the image so I could color it. When I was done, I thought hey, this looks pretty good all by itself. I like that it really keeps the focus on the verse and sorta makes you think about it.

Any Direction You Choose
Stamps: The Places You’ll Go (Taylored Expressions);
Colors: White (PTI); Black (Memento);
Other: Markers (Copic);