Pretty Monochrome Greens Spotlight look - freebies and boo-boo's

Hello, friends! Today I'm playing in some challenges with a stamp set I've long coveted. Some friends picked it up for me at a local show last summer (thank you, Ana and Katrina!).

Because I'm trying to think outside my "normal style" creative box lately, today's card is a bit different for me. It's a spotlight technique in artsy style, using squared corners, a pretty image and philosophical sentiment.

Colored with Copic Markers in a variety of green hues, the image was heat set with clear detail embossing powder, and then surrounded by white Prismacolor Pencil for a halo effect. 

Due to the pearlescent coating on the green cardstock, the shine still seeps through the Copic Markers and allows for the un-spot-lighted areas to still remain semi-transparent, and have color show through.

The sentiment was heat embossed with white detail embossing powder, and die cut using Taylored Expressions Banner Stacklets #1 using only the "fish tail" portion. 

Two extra flowers were fussy cut after being embossed and colored, to be popped up for dimension.

I really, REALLY enjoyed working with this set, and can hardly wait to use it again, with "real" coloring. It's an inspiring set to work with. Finished card is 5.25 x 5.25 inches.

My card uses two freebies on the interior (see below).

Boo Boo Time:

So I placed a frame around the white rectangle, and used the two pop-up flowers to hide the areas where the card did not match up:

Products: Stamps: The Ton Transformation Stamp Set - Papers Bazzil Pearlized Green Textured, Xpress-it White, Inks: VersaFine Clair Green Oasis (main image), VersaMark (sentiment), MISC: White Prismacolor Pencil (for halo around butterfly), Taylored Expressions Banner Stacklets 1 die set, White Detail embossing powder, clear detail embossing powder, Wink of Stella on 3 flowers, Copic Markers

A Gift For You

Use them separately, together or as "innie's and outie's".

Please do not sell these Sentiments. Use on any of your projects, including projects involving any design teams you might be on.

Click on the image to bring it to full size. Because of the changes Google Made with Blogger (June 2020), your image will appear to be solid black. Don’t panic. Right click and do a SAVE AS PNG. Once it is saved on your hard drive, you can open it and it will have a transparent background. I create PNGs instead of JPGs so they can be placed anywhere on a scene or project, and so backgrounds can be made using them. Please let me know if you have any problems. I hope they serve you well!

Enjoy!

I would like to play in the following challenges please:

1. A Perfect Time to Craft Open Challenge #3 AG 4/1 (UE)
2. Classic Design Challenge #3 AG 4/1 (UE)
3. Sisterhood of Crafters (March 8) theme is GREEN 3/19
4. Try It on Tuesday (March 7) GO GREEN 3/21
5. Crafty Gals Corner Challenges #241 Make It GREEN 4/7
6. Inspiration Station (March) Use mood board 3/31 (check 4/3) (Pretty Nature scene "morphing" from one season to another - just like my green flowers and butterfly - both have morphed into their new season).

 

   7. Colorful Options (March) colors of green 3/28

8. Double D Challenges (March 1) theme is GREEN mood board 3/12

9 . *New Challenge* Triple B (Birds, Blooms, Butterflies) (March) Using Green Tones for Spring and hints of change in the butterfly and flowers - thanks for a fun, new challenge! 4/6

Stamping Hugs,

There's a Brand New Challenge in Town! Beautiful Blossoms

Hello, my friends!

How exciting! A Brand New Challenge to begin the New Year!

HERE'S THE LOW-DOWN:

Beautiful Blossoms is a fun "mood-board-inspired" monthly challenge which features Flowers as the main focus. The Mood Board is a starting point. 

You do not have to follow the theme of the Mood Board, but you do need to use it as inspiration.

You may enter up to 8 projects in our challenge. Projects are truly anything goes as long as florals are the main emphasis, including paper crafting, home decor, apparel, etc.

Details are on the blog. Hope to see you there! 

I was inspired by the warmth of earthy brown tones, and the icy-clear blueness of promises to come.

On today's card are several NBUS items - the Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Flowers stamp, the Anna Griffin Die Set, and the "You're Delightful!" sentiment from My Sentiments Exactly.

Stamped with Acorn VersaFine Clair and heat set with clear detail embossing powder, these "beautiful blossoms" were colored with Copic Markers. There are very few pieces to this pretty card, including a dry embossed, slightly distressed die cut:

Because I wanted to use a paper clip embellishment on the sentiment, a little something was needed to help with dimension to keep the tag all one "level":

The image is quite pretty in person because of the heat embossing:

The finished card uses Craftwell's Modern Stripe embossing folder.

Looking forward to seeing your Beautiful Blossoms projects each month in the challenge! 

Products: Simon Says Stamp "Beautiful Flowers 2", "You're Delightful!" sentiment from My Sentiments Exactly, VersaFine Clair Acorn & Pinecone inks,  Walnut Distress Ink, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Copic Markers, Anna Griffin Ornate Slimline Concentric Die Set AG-1248H-AS, Taylored Exp Banner Stacklets 1, Craftwell Modern Stripe embossing folder

Supporting these fine challenges:

1. World Wide Open Design Team Challenge #1 AG DT 2/15
2. As You Like It (Jan 12) Favorite Reason to Send a Card (I enjoy sending "thinking of you" type cards because they can be used for sympathy, cheering up, get well, thank you, a reminder someone is thought of, and just because) 2-25
3. A Perfect Time to Craft Open Challenge #1 AG 2/1
4. C.R.A.F.T. Challenge #663 Something New (1st entry) (the Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Flowers stamp, the Anna Griffin Die Set, and the "You're Delightful!" sentiment from My Sentiments Exactly - all new to me) 1/18 (check weekly and monthly)
5. The Outlawz Challenges Twisted Thursday (Jan 12) theme: It's New To Me (the Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Flowers stamp, the Anna Griffin Die Set, and the "You're Delightful!" sentiment from My Sentiments Exactly - all new to me) Feb 1.
6. Classic Design Challenge #1 AG 2/1
7. Sweet Stampin (Jan 7) theme "New" 1/20 (listed week after sep post) (the Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Flowers stamp, the Anna Griffin Die Set, and the "You're Delightful!" sentiment from My Sentiments Exactly - all new to me or NBUS)
8. Allsorts Challenge #711 AG with Winter Blues 1-20 THANK YOU, BRENDA!

Stamping Hugs,

Looking in all the Right Places?

Greetings! And Big Hugs to you each! It took me a month to create these cards, but slowly, if I am persistent, in one-to-five minute increments, I do manage to accomplish things around the house and in my craft room. Hopefully better days are around the corner. Thanks for your kind friendships, endearing thoughts, and for keeping in touch.

Today's cards are silly, inspired first by my husband for our 46th wedding anniversary last month. The other four are "thinking of you" and "birthday" cards. 

Colored simply with Copic Markers and Distress Inks, each card was stamped in a different color VersaFine Clair ink and heat embossed with clear detail EP. All the cards contain the same elements, except the sentiments differ:

Purple Lovers "Thinking of You" (inside "Enough about me - thinking of you and wondering what you have been up to." The front sentiment always makes me laugh:

The Penny Black border actually only cuts on one side. The stitched side needed to be hand cut:

Blue & Tan Birthday card for Color Hues Color Challenge:

Jacky's Anniversary card - he's been such a marvelous person, friend, hubby, lover and caregiver over the decades. Yes, the inside is mushy (giggle):

Green Thinking of You with a different front sentiment. Each card was dry embossed with the same striped folder. This card and the purple one were also inked:

Lastly, the pink birthday card:

Thank you for not giving up on me, and for visiting today! I miss you all!

Products: Images: Bear in Trash Stamps by Judith, Dot Peg Stamps by Judith, Digital Sentiment, 2 fun sentiments by Custer's Last Stamp, Dies: SW Double Pierced Squares CED5509, SW Pierced Flags CED4304, IO Small Grass Die178-C, IO Grass DIE038-J, Penny Black Border Edgers 51-231, Taylored Expressions Banner Stacklets, SU punch, Other: Copic Markers, Distress Inks, VersaFine Clair Inks, Clear Detail EP, Embossing Folder by Tonic "Simple Stripes".

Fine Challenges I'm playing in:

1. DRU Challenge #192 AG with metal die they carry 5/13 (Dies: SW Double Pierced Squares CED5509, SW Pierced Flags CED4304, IO Small Grass Die178-C,  IO Grass DIE038-J, Penny Black Border Edgers 51-231, Taylored Expressions Banner Stacklets) 05/15 (sep post)
2. Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2219 AG 05/16 (sep post)
3. Critter Crazy Challenges #62 AG with a critter 06/01 (sep post)
4. Color Hues Color Challenge #40 Blue and Tan 05/15 (blue and tan card shown)
5. Crafty Animals #61 Anything with an Animal 05/27
6. A Perfect Time to Craft #5 AG 06-01
7. Classic Design Challenge #5 AG 06-01 (2 thinking of you, 2 birthday, 1 anniversary)
8. Crafty Friends #155 Animals 06/01 (scroll down)
9. The Paper FunDay Challenges #41 06/01 (anniversary card for hubby)

Stamping Hugs,

Jan's Digi Stamps Anything Goes #4 Turner Syndrome Key Stamp Set

Last August, Jan Mahew wanted to do something special for the Turner Syndrome Awareness campaign Lori Kobular organizes.

Jan created a sweet stamp set that can be used not only for fundraising, but for conventional cardmakers as well which includes vintage keys and butterflies. Jan's set also contains another set of keys that have the TS logo on them, just in case you'd like to make cards for Lori's fund raising campaign.

ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of the proceeds for this $2.00 set are donated to the Turner Syndrome Foundation.

It's time for our ANYTHING GOES Challenge at Jan's Digi Stamps where a $10 store credit is given to a winner every challenge!

Facebook - Shopping - Pinterest - Challenges

We hope you will enjoy Jan's TSF Key Stamp Set

First, I arranged the Key on my word processor, creating a background, using Jan's sentiment. With the opacity option of my word processor, the background was faded out:



Colored with Caran d'Ache Luminance 6901 Color Pencils and Gamsol and Distress Inks, more goodies were aded to make a frilly-girly card:


Can you see the "Happiness is the Key to inner Beauty" throughout the background of the Key panel?




The key was then "colored" with VersaMarker and heat set with a pearly semi-transparent embossing powder (I had to get the light just right for you to see the metallic-pearly shine):



All Done!



Please share your inspiration with the rest of us
at our ANYTHING GOES Challenge!

Products Used:

• Stamps: Jan's TSF Key Stamp Set
• Dies: Taylored Expressions Banner Stacklets #1, SB 5x7 Detailed Scalloped Rectangles, MS Doily Lace Trim Deep Edge Punch, Tim Holtz Garden Greens, SB Bitty Blossoms
• Inks: Dye inks for distressing the banner,
• Colored with: Caran d'Ache Luminance 6901 Color Pencils and Gamsol
• Paper: White Express-it, K&Company background, White, Wine
• Misc: Clear embossing powder that has pearlescent mica powder in it.

Challenges I'd like to play in please:

1. World Wide Open DT Challenge #12 AG DT 01/15.
2. Do-A1 (1) Creative Challenges #36 Shabby Chic/Vintage 1/15 (sep post)

Happy Stamping!

Pretty in Pink

Hello, sweet blogging friends!

I have missed you all very much, and hope to resume leaving more comments soon!

Today I'm sharing a little Dies R Us Inspiration,
featuring the same die to create two different style cards!

click below for:
STORE

PINTEREST BOARD
CHALLENGE BLOG
FACEBOOK
INSPIRATION BLOG

The following Dies R Us Products are being used:

Taylored Expressions Banner Stackets #1

Tutti Designs Poppy Edge

Spellbinders Labels Five, Labels Four

Some tips for the square card:

TIP: embossing folders with the same design as the die cuts can be used together to create interesting background, such as the flourishes shown in the first card:

TIP:

I tried a tip that many bloggers have shared - and what a difference! Several blogging friends have suggested wetting the die cuts and papers before trying to shape them. That's what I did with these flowers! Not only is it much easier (and lots of fun), but when the shape dries, it is somewhat hardened into that contour. I'm sorry it took so long to experiment with this technique, because it really does work! The flowers were inked first, and then spritzed with water and shaped. After drying, they retained their shape beautifully!

For a shaped card, choose a shape that will accommodate the pretty flourish of the die:

Not wanting Black for the sentiment, but desiring something bright and dark, I combined Crimson Red VersaFine ink with a semi-transparent Cosmic embossing powder from Sparkle N Sprinkle. The resulting color came out just right, and is bold and creamy in texture. I used it on both cards:

Check out this find from my Mom-and-Great-Aunt-Agnes stash! Do you see the price on it? Too cute!  The pink was a little pale, so I gently inked it with Wild Plum distress ink:

Thanks for visiting today!

Products Used:

• Taylored Expressions Banner Stackets #1
• Tutti Designs Poppy Edge
• Die'sire Embossalicious Regency Swirls embossing folder
• Spellbinders Labels Five, Labels Four
• Cuttlebug Swiss Dot embossing folder
• Craftwell Delicate Dots embossing folder
• WRM Next Level Dots embossing folder (large hearts)
• Life Style Quickutz Hearts
• Sentiment: Hero Arts "You Sparkle" stamp set, American Art Stamp KC6015B
• Sparkle N Sprinkle: Dandy Dandelion Sparkly embossing powder (on brads for flower centers), Strawberry Sherbet Cosmic embossing powder (for sentiment)
• Ink: Pink Sherbet Distress, Wild Plum Distress, Crimson Red VersaFine

Challenges I'd like to support:

1. Cards 4 Galz - #28 Monochrome 8/18
2. Sisters of Craft August Challenge "Anything Goes" 9/1
3. Through the Purple Haze #105 Monochrome 8/10
4. Tinker Dream Bastel-Dream #43 Anything Goes 8/15
5. World Wide Open Design Team Challenge #12  "Anything Goes" 8/15

Stamping Hugs,