letting my scraps inspire me

Continuing with my summer programming...

Still on a roll using up scraps , I let the scraps inspire my card design for these cards.

This first one... pretty funny. Those darn raffia strips were another too-fun-to-toss-but-constantly-being-moved-from-left-to-right-and-back. The lantern halves were leftover pieces from a rainbow die cut many moons ago. I was finally inspired to combine the two, just needed a stenciled BG to pull them together.

STAMPlorations stencil

Studio Calico sentiment die

MFT Magical Rainbow die (negative pieces)

More die cut scrap next. Why not put it over some scrap paper from an inking session and then dress it up a little with washi and Nuvo drops?!?

Ellen Hutson Many Thanks die

Nuvo drops, washi

Another piece of scrap paper from an ink smooshing session ended up peeking out of the slats of a cover plate die cut and topped with a stylistic bloom from my scrap bowl.

MFT Dienamics Stripes cover die

Happy weekend! Have you had a go at your scrap pile yet?

altenew march challenge

I had to join in over at this month's Altenew challenge. Norine is so inspiring, I love the colors she chose and add succulents to the equation... it was a no brainer!

And could I be more predictable? Mega Succulent here I come.

Altenew Mega Succulent stamp

Altenew watercolors
MFT Deepest Sympathy stamp
vellum

white embossing powder

I love how Norine did her BG so I mixed up some green, blue and purple watercolor and had some fun watercoloring the heat embossed image.

I decided to turn it into a sympathy card. Isn't that a great sentiment for those times when you're truly at a loss for words. The inside reads "sharing in your sorrow".

Then I made a totally different version using up the watercolors that were on my palette. I thought the purple in my first card seemed a bit too bright for the inspiration photo. And the blue touches on some of the leaves kinda disappeared. So I pulled out the flowers.

Altenew Engagement Wishes stamp 

Altenew Birthday Builder stamp

Altenew watercolors
white embossing powder

I heat embossed, watercolored and die cut the peony and leaves. For my background I stamped all the happy birthday sentiments as they are on the packaging, heat embossed them and did a light wash of green over them. And added some green splatters. And Nuvo drops. Figured the background did the talking so I skipped an additional sentiment.

Have you played along? Why not give these colors a try?

I'm joining the fun at:
The Daily Marker - 30 Day Coloring Challenge (first day in my craft room since it started)

The Flower Challenge - Anything Goes

Happy Little Stampers - Watercolor

pretty in pink

Not that I intended it, but today's three projects all ended up pink-y.

First off I needed a 50th card for a friend. I CASEd myself (you haven't actually seen the male version yet) and for some reason I chose RV63, RV66 and RV69 for my color scheme. So this happened.

Neat and Tangled Inlaid Squares die

Klartext Herzlichen Gluckwünsch stamp

Waffle Flower Cutaway Numbers die

Copics

 I like how the minimalistic sentiment on vellum doesn't take away too much of that fun geometric design.

Then I had a play for the current Altenew challenge. Have you seen Aga's card? Lovely. As usual.

I should preface these next two by pointing you in the direction of Keren T's whose video I had just watched - mesmerized.

So then I sat down with the new-to-me stamp set and dies and for whatever reason, pulled out my collection of gelatos and gelato-like things. I think it was the video that made me think I needed to use my fingers to smear some color around ?!?

This happened.

 Altenew Engagement Wishes stamp and die

Altenew Deco Wallpaper stencil

Gelatos

Altenew Morning Frost ink

I did not actually smear the gelatos on the bloom on the card. Cuz I had smeared the gelatos on another bloom and it was not a good idea. Just left the haphazardly applied strokes of color and then treated my leaves the same way. Added a hint of stenciling to the kraft cardbase, "happy birthday" to the inside and called it good.

 In an attempt to save the smeared bloom I mentioned, I just added more gelato over the smeary mess. And left it unsmeared. Inked up two more leaves with green ink and made a tag.

Altenew Engagement Wishes stamp and die

MFT Dienamics Radial Stitched Circle die

Cuttlebug With Gratitude die

Gelatos, Nuvo drops

Altenew Morning Frost ink

I'm going over to The Flower Challenge with this too, where it's about adding spots or stripes. Added "stripes" of color to the bloom on the card. And "spots" of Nuvo drops to the tag ;)

hello gorgeous

So there's this "dollar store" in town - I basically go there to get hangers! - and wouldn't you know it, the craft supply aisle is the first one you enter when you enter the store.

Needless to say it takes me 20 minutes to get to the back of the store to the hangers ;)

You may recall my pastel washi tapes that just fell into my basket. So there was this embossing folder too. I'm not really a flamingo girl. BUT. Give me a 3D geometric flamingo and I'm in. Today I had a play with both.

3D embossing folder (Action)

Papertrey Ink Tipped Tops die

 Hero Arts Layering Flamingo stamp

Altenew inks

washi (Action)

Look at this... isn't this cool?

A few washi strips. A few stamped grasses along the bottom and the sentiment on a leftover. The bird. And three teensy Nuvo drops. Me likey.

Happy Sunday. I'm joining the fun at:

A Blog Named Hero - Crafter's Choice

A2Z Scrapbooking - January AG

Just Us Girls - Pastels

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - CAS

Addicted to Stamps and More - CAS

pti september blog hop

It's been way too long. But this month I'm joining the Papertrey blog hop fun. Our weather is perfectly aligned with the autumn feel of this inspiration photo so I was totally motivated to play along.

Wanna see?

 PTI Autumn Pattern Pieces stamp

PTI Rosie Posie die

PTI Scripted die

PTI Leave it be stamp

Hero Arts ombre ink

Alexandra Renke Kranz die

Altenew watercolors

Nuvo drops

Pretty much created itself. I'd seen this card of Betsy's and wanted to give the technique a go. Die cut several of the only PTI leaf die I own. Watercolored them. Stamped them with veins. Spritzed with perfect pearls. Stamped a hint of a plaid pattern down my cardbase and adhered the leaves, catching the vibe of the inspiration photo tablescape. Added a few Nuvo drops for more color and voila!

I'm looking forward to seeing the gallery with all its autumn beauty. Thanks for coming by.

I'm stopping by at:
Cards in Envy - Feels like Fall
The Cat's Pajamas - Fall

 Time Out - #118

spotlight on a bouquet of sunflowers and crystals

I'm over at STAMPlorations today with a tutorial for creating this non-conventional flower arrangement.

STAMPlorations summer release - brave one

Welcome to day 4 of the STAMPlorations Summer Release. Today it's all about Brave One from Shery Russ.

Those single roses had my CAS-loving heart wanting to make a border. So I did. And fussy cut it. And added PP with the heat embossed sentiment to the inside. Then I die cut a window from the front and pepped it all up with a splash of sequins.

Brave One stamp

Succulently die

Wow orange embossing powder

Altenew ink

sequins

For my next card, I finally gave a technique from Yana S. a try and it was love at first pencil stroke. Stamped and heat embossed the vines, keeping the placement of the die cut sentiment in mind. Colored a few parts of the images with Prismacolors. Added the die cut, stacked and heat embossed sentiment and finally Nuvo drops. (The colors in the second photo are truer!)

 Brave One stamp

Wow yellow embossing powder

Prismacolor colored pencils

Nuvo drops

I just love the smoothness of those blended colors though the card is not typical "me" ;)

Have you tried colored pencils on dark cardstock yet? Do you like it?

Shery's offering prizes as always. Leave comments by July 23 on all the release posts this week on the STAMP blog and the DT blogs to be in the running - there's a $25 GC and also your choice of a stamp set and word die from this release up for grabs!  Check out what my teamies created over at the STAMPlorations blog.

I'm joining the fun at:
Allsorts - Flowers all Over (#1, #2)
Penny Black and More - Things with Wings (#2)
Happy Little Stampers - July AG with Dies

Southern Girls - Tic Tac Toe (#1 ink, sequins, yellow)

watercolor background meets simon says die

My leftovers from this rainbow watercoloring session are dwindling, but when I was making these cards I remembered the piece and pulled it out.

And then I pulled out this fun die and made a twofer. First I die cut the image. Pulled out the kids' watercolors I'd used (back in 2015!). Painted some stripes onto my cardbase roughly where the color areas of the die cut would line up, adding orange and yellow too. Cuz rainbow! Splattered some gold paint (from same watercolor set - not pretty) and adhered the die cut. Voila!

Simon Says Stamp Happy Birthday Circle die

watercolors

And cuz I couldn't bear to throw away all the negative pieces with all their watercolored goodness, I made this card too.

Simon Says Stamp Happy Birthday Circle die

watercolors

PP, Nuvo drops

Funny story. The negative pieces were trapped in the die after I'd carefully removed the positive (the first card). It's a closed one. I thought it might look cool if I put them onto a B/W PP circle. So I took a coloring book page, die cut a circle, put adhesive on all those little pieces stuck in the die, pressed the circle onto them and after they'd dried a bit carefully pulled the whole thing up. Great way to get the pieces out intact, but the first time to see what it looked like on the crazy B/W pattern. Imagine just those watercolored negative pieces on a wild and crazy B/W pattern, will you? Not pretty. That's when the positive die cut, cut from black and adhered slightly offset, came to my rescue. Whew. I think this works now.

And in case you're wondering how I got adhesive onto all those little pieces. Multiple times.

Check out Koren W.'s post.

What's your favorite method for getting adhesive onto intricate die cuts?

I'm playing at:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Frame it (I love the black frame around the watercolored bits on card #2)
Cuttlebug Mania - Frame it (same reason as above!)
Happy Little Stampers - June Watercolor (no twist)

Happy Little Stampers - June AG with Dies

spellbinders petal'd poetry - CAS for pinsights challenge

Back today with two CAS cards made with Petal'd Poetry etched die from the Good Vibes Only collection by Stephanie Low. Did you see yesterday's post?

Here is the die. Again I've used the flower with leaves (outline and shadow).

I was inspired by the current Pinsights Challenge at Ellen Hutson. (BTW, I used black on yesterday's creations because I hadn't read the fine print at EH to know that that top color is actually navy!)

So for today's cards I went with PP from my stash with a navy, pink and green color scheme, although I chose bolder colors since I was pairing the PP with lotsa white.

Spellbinders Petal'd Poetry Etched die

Essentials by Ellen Up the Happy stamp
American Crafts PP
Nuvo drops

I die cut the shadow from the white panel and backed the hole with polka dot PP. Die cut the intricate die from white and adhered it. Filled in the negative spaces with bits and pieces from one I'd cut from a bold floral print. And since portions of the die cuts were left over, it became a twofer.

 Spellbinders Petal'd Poetry Etched die

Hero Arts Everyday Occasion Messages stamp
American Crafts PP

Super easy. Just a bit time consuming to adhere all the tiny pieces ;) But isn't this a fun way to use intricate dies? Especially ones that have a shadow die too.

Starting tomorrow I'll be working with Heart like a Wildflower. Hope you'll come back. Thanks Team Spellbinders for this lovely die to create with.

happy 5th birthday STAMPlorations!

Summer birthdays are such fun, aren't they? Five years ago Shery R. started a little company called STAMPlorations. It's grown incredibly since then and this month we are celebrating big time. Check out that graphic above, or the STAMPlorations blog, to see how you can celebrate with us and maybe win yourself some awesome prizes!

In honor of the birthday, Shery has released some birthday stamps (think revamped wonky cake) and some beautiful phrase dies (wait til you see the font!) Here are the two I used.

 Birthday Bash, Celebrate Big

Because our challenge this month (there is only one) is for you to CASE the STAMPgirls, I thought I'd CASE some cards with the new products for my post today. Here we go. It's a long one.

Remember this card of mine with the wonky cake? Today I used the leftover die cut from DD's birthday card and gave it a drop shadow with rose gold foil CS. For my cardbase I smooshed some Picked Raspberry, Dried Marigold and Cracked Pistachio (thought they matched the colors on the die cut best) on my mat, spritzed with water and "inked" up my stamp with the various colors before stamping the random BG. Did my best to keep the colors separate to prevent muddiness.

 STAMPlorations Celebrate Big

STAMPlorations Make a Wish die

See that rose gold peeking out? Yum.

I think it's cool how the phrases are in the stamp sets too, in that cool font and with a retro feel. I decided to pair the two on this card, which is somewhat a case of this card by Emily L. Heat embossed the sentiment three times down the left edge of a PP panel. Applied Tea Dye through a brick wall stencil (thanks, Loll!). Stitched the panel to my card and added the die cut from PP and white craft foam.

 STAMPlorations Celebrate Big

STAMPlorations Celebrate Big die

patterned paper

clear embossing powder

stencil

distress ink

Might need your sunglasses for this next one. I'm actually going to use it as a graduation card for a young man. Know who I CASEd on this one - sun rays, yellow, black and white? My teamie Monica T. Wasn't going to use sequins, but there was an ink smudge mishap... Can you tell which of the three was necessary to cover the smudge? (If not, good ;)

 STAMPlorations Celebrate Big

STAMPlorations Balloons and Banners

Mustard Seed distress ink

white embossing powder

circle die

stencil

sequins

Even added a touch of B/W in the form of washi along the bottom (on the inside however) cuz I loved that element of Monica's design so much.

I love this next one. It was such fun to create. Getting a comic book vibe? The first person to leave a comment with the answer to who/what I was CASEing on this one will get this card! As is, to use...

 STAMPlorations Celebrate Big

STAMPlorations Birthday Bash

STAMPlorations Mixed Media Grunge

STAMPlorations Celebrate Big die

distress inks

black Sharpie 

Thought the bold nature of the design could use a sentiment in glossy white CS - better known as recycled sticker packaging ;) Also popped this one up on a die-cut layer of yellow craft foam.

This last card  came about cuz I wanted to try stacking these phrase die cuts. I chose blue for a masculine card. Then I remembered this card. Took the "happy" stamp and stamped it from dark to light red to support the "birthday wishes".  Added splatters and Nuvo dots. Then a strip of B/W. One of those "don't know when to stop" creations, you know the kind! And now I cannot get a photo of it without it looking all blurry. It's not that bad IRL...

 STAMPlorations Celebrate Big

STAMPlorations Birthday Bash die

Altenew inks

patterned paper

Nuvo drops

Well if you stuck it out to the end, thank you!!!  There is a lot more inspiration over at STAMPlorations today and there will be all throughout the month as the DT members present their fave STAMP projects. I'd love to see you CASE a card of mine. I'll keep an eye on the gallery! Have a great day.