an indigo mood board

The goddess of layers, Kate L, put together a fabulous moodboard, rich in layers and indigo hues. Have you seen it over on IG? I was quick on the take with a technique idea but slow with a design.

My self-imposed constraints for my crafting session were: two anniversary cards (needed) incorporating die cut die cuts (to play at Seven Hills Crafts June challenge). 

What catches your eye amidst that beauty? My eye was drawn to that gown. I saw die cut waste, gold embossing and distress inking! This is what I made.

The couple whose wedding I stood up to in a peach gown way back when gets a piece of peachy PP behind the die cut die cuts (one inked with Tea Dye and Festive Berries) and various bloom die cuts in navy on the smaller heart.

I stood up to this recipient couple's wedding in teal - couldn't make that happen here ;) Brought in more lines in a nod to that cool pant suit in the form of PP and washi. Used feathers on the smaller heart. And added some tiny red hearts to mimic a tab on the left. Hearts = love = anniversary.

Thanks for the inspiration Kate! And thanks for stopping by today.

heart dies

triangle die cuts

geometric stamp

blooms die

long leaf die

leafy branch die

tall numbers die

tiny heart/scallop die

feathers die

small numbers die

STAMPlorations inspiration #139

Welcome to Tuesday inspiration from the STAMPlorations inspiration team. Today we're showcasing Deepti's Artsy Impression stamps.

I've kept it one layer, black and white with a pop of color.

Best Mom Ever, One Cool Chick

I stamped and masked the gal then inked the flower spray with three colors of pigment ink before stamping it. Makes a great corner-filler-floral, doesn't it?

Today we're using Deepti's Dee's Artsy Impressions stamps. And in honor of STAMPlorations 4th Birthday, from now until July 3rd all stamps, stencils and dies are 15% off in the STAMPlorations store! Use the code STAMPGIRLMARIA for an extra 20% off too!

And don't forget to leave comments on the June inspiration posts. One random commenter will be chosen each month to win a $10 GC to the store. Here's the lineup.

when cardmaking is like pulling teeth...

... take the time to find your good wire snippers! Yep, that's how my dilemma started.

I've a story for you today. Actually it all started when I wanted to play with my new Distress Oxides AND play along with the Ellen Hutson Mix It Up challenge with Concord and 9th products. They were still out on my workspace.

I got the idea to create some DO backgrounds and then cut one with my new heart dies. It's been awhile since I'd used my wire snippers to cut new dies apart and the ones I grabbed out of my tool drawer were old ones. Actually, I didn't realize that I had better ones! The darn things were too thick to get between the hearts to snip the wires. And because of the way the hearts were wired together, there was no way to wiggle them back and forth to break the connection - if you know what I mean. So frustration took over and I die cut my DO piece with the hearts just as they were in the package.

And I gathered my EH and C9 products and set out to make several cards for the challenge. Hmmm. No ideas. Sometimes it's nice to create with limitations. Not this time. Having read about B/W with pops of bright colors in this post, I was able to come up with this card.

Two die cut hearts down. Two to go. And then a day passed.

And then... story of my life.... the Mix It Up challenge ended. Ha! Serves me right.

But a Pin-Sights Challenge went up and lucky me - my DO piece was pink, orange and yellow - the colors in the inspiration! I conveniently continued plugging on, pretending I'd had this planned all along ;)

Like pulling teeth, it was, let me tell you. Stuck with my two die cut hearts. What to do with them? Since you listened to my story I'm going to share my creations with you. Not that they're my best work but I bet you've all had one of those crafting sessions where you back yourself into a corner and even with a craft room full of supplies you can't get yourself out of that corner!

The least daunting, I started with the negative to use as a card front. Filled the heart area with a large sentiment surrounded by a few water-softened DI blooms. Still two hearts left...

Having seen Time Out Challenge's graphic, and keeping Pantone's Greenery in mind, I added a fabric-y flower BG and a tropical leaf to one heart. Notice the hexagon in a nod to the invitation in the inspiration photo? Did you know you can make one easily from a circle? And the gold embossed edges in a nod to that scrummy cake. I'm also taking this flower-laden card to The Flower Challenge.

Couldn't bear any more pink. The last little heart with its yellow/orange tones got lots of black to parther with. Simple. And done, finally. Whew. Like pulling teeth it was. BTW, I've since found my good wire snippers and the dies have been freed ;)

heart die

dot stamp

love stamp (absolutely love this sentiment font)

super lucky sentiment stamp

flower stamp

you die

leaf die

happy birthday sentiment

Thanks for bearing with me today. Happy weekend.

spotlight on markers as watercolor medium

I'm over at the STAMPlorations blog today with a tutorial for coloring stamps with your kids' markers. If you're interested, check it out!

STAMPlorations inspiration #138

And welcome to Tuesday's inspiration from the STAMPlorations inspiration team! As you know, we're all featuring stamps from one of our talented stamp designers.

Today we're using Becca's Big Grins stamps. From now until June 19 you can get Big Grins stamps at 10% off in the STAMPlorations store, A Snarky Birthday and A Cuppa Love are 20% off!

Ready for some snark?

A Snarky Birthday, Balloons and Banners

Pretty simple stuff. Until it came to Copic coloring - aarrgh! I was OK with the shading. Then had the brilliant idea to use the colorless blender to add a highlight. Well that blending solution blobbed right outta that marker so I had to go with the flow and add more blobs to make polka dot balloons. Whatever.

If you're interested, here is another card using A Snarky Birthday.

Feeling a snark attack coming on? With the STAMPGIRLMARIA discount on top, now is definitely the time to pick up any of Becca's stamps on your wish list, don't you agree?

a happy day - rainbowed

I've always loved me a rainbow. And then Laura Jane's daughter proclaimed that everything looks better "rainbowtized". I agree completely!

You might remember this cake card. So when I pulled out my second new stamp from Concord and 9th, it got rainbowed with Distress Inks and a paintbrush.

I actually intended to play with Where Creativity meets C9 Floral challenge, but alas it's over! The new challenge is about Layers so I'm going to claim that these cake layers fit the theme ;) And I'm playing over at The Flower Challenge too.

And then, because the layers of the cake image reminded me of the Altenew June challenge photo, I watercolored the layers with mauve and purple tones and the blooms with a bit of white and Wink of Stella.

The XXL heat embossed sentiment gives this simple one-layer design a little kick.

I'm taking both these cards over to Happy Little Stampers Watercolour...

cake/HB stamp

sentiment stamp

And because Sunday's sky was just so darn gorgeous, I'll leave you with this...

bold and graphic father's day

Did you see yesterday's card inspired by this photo? Bold. Graphic. Pink.

Well I combined that idea with the Winnie and Walter Rerun - Scenery Stripes to make a Father's Day card for my Dad. CASEd the oh-so-talented Keren B.'s card.

Keren's elements are all there - background stripes, frame, hugs, animal. Just in a slightly different format!

And still inspired by Card Concept #75 I used a cream cardbase with white embossed stripes like the blinds - which as an aside are like my Dad's blinds through which the deer peek in the winter! Thus the deer! The hot pink heart is a nod to the pink in the photo as is the washi with gold.

deer/sentiment stamp

frame die

line stamp

sentiment die

I'm playing at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday and at Bastel-Traum - where it's about the men and boys this week.

Hope you're having a great weekend! There's a Riesling Lounge planned for ours ;)