Double D Challenge - BIRDS

Hello friends.  Today I'm playing along with the gals over at the Double D Challenge where they have a fabulous mood board and are looking for BIRDS!

They are all so colorful and beautiful, but I went in a bit of a different direction so I could use Unity's Flock Talk stamp set that Bonnie made enabled me to buy!  I just can't get enough of these crazy birds and used 3 of the 4 that come in the set to make a fun birthday card.  Take a look...

Aren't they a hoot?!  I stamped them in Versafine Black Onyx and then heat set them with clear embossing powder so I could water color them.  The middle one that I water colored with Lovely Lilac (retired SU! ink that I still LOVE!!) reminds me of an actress from back a ways...those of you old enough might remember Phyllis Diller?  I always thought she was a hoot and for some reason this bird just really reminds me of her!  I trimmed around the top of the 3 birds and added it to a plaid panel of Green Parakeet dsp from PTI, and then both layers to a white card base.

I couldn't capture it with my camera, but I did add WOS to Phyllis's hair do...it just seemed to fit her character!  Haha!!  My birthday sentiment comes from The Greetery's Opposites Attract stamp and die set and I finished with a few purple gems from PFS.  Simple but fun and I'm sure it will give the recipient a good chuckle.

There are sooooo many beautiful birds from the talented DT and the players also, so check them all out right HERE and then play along.  This challenge is open till Sunday, March 30th @ 8:00PM.  

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

A Long Awaited Playdate with Michele

Hello friends.  It's been a looooong time since Michele and I had a playdate because of Winter, sickness, car troubles, etc., but we finally got together last week and had a wonderful time playing with each others goodies!  Nothing better than having stamping friends to share with!!  And of course our shared lunch was wonderful too!  I made Taco soup and corn muffins and Michele brought her famous butterscotch cheesecake...yummmmmm!  But anyway, back to cards!  This is a rather picture heavy post, so I'm not going to type everything I used down, but if you have questions, don't hesitate to ask!

This 1st card is the only one that I think Michele and I did together using a PFS set that another sweet friend (Birgit) gifted me for my birthday called Heart of Gold.

 

Don't you just love that sweet little bluebird sitting in the lemon tree?!  Used my Copics to color everything and then die cut and added to a Crimped Rectangle (The Greetery).

My next 3 cards are all Tulips...2 using Waffle Flowers Tulip Dies and one using Penny Black's Tulip Bloom Die.

Frame is PB's frame it and the embossed background is PB's linked embossing folder.  I used the smooshing water color technique to color my tulips. The sentiment on this card and the next are both from PTI's Just Sentiments: Spring Blessings.

More smooshing and a bit of ink blending on this tulip and the background is a retired SU! background stamp called En Francais.  The frame is a larger one of the PB frame it set and the sentiment is from a embossing folder (I think it was Altenew) where after you emboss it, you can cut the sentiments into strips and then color them as you please.  I just added some gray ink with a blender brush to match with the background.

My last card is a PB image called moon & back and I colored the images with my Copics and then die cut them before adding to a panel I die cut with the The Greetery's Postage Stamp Die and then added a stenciled circle lightly in yellow to mimic the moon.  

So there you have it my friends...another fun playdate in the books!  Make sure you check out  Michele's post and see what she came up using lots of my goodies.  And THANK YOU Michele for letting me play with all your fun and beautiful stamps and dies...I haven't had this much fun in a long, long time!  Stamping friends truly are the best!! 

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

Color Huess Challenge #106 - Lemon & Lime

Hello friends.  It's time for a new challenge here at Color Hues and our sweet hostess Julie has chosen LEMON & LIME as the colors to work with for the next two weeks.

Aren't those just the brightest colors as we get closer to welcoming Spring (I hope!!!)?  I went quite literally with the colors as I had a new stencil set from my sweet friend Birgit that sent me a box full of sunshine for my birthday last month!  Here's what I came up with using TCW's Layered Lemon Branch Stencil...

Very simple but I love the way it turned out.  I used yellow and a bit of orange for the lemons and bright green for the leaves.  A bit of light turquoise was used for the flowers.  I used Gina K's ML#4 to die cut the scalloped and stitched layer and added it to a piece of Harvest Gold Bitty Big DSP from PTI and also a strip of Green Parakeet Bitty Big DSP from PTI, and then attached both to a white card base.

  I finished very simply with a bold sentiment from The Greetery's Opposites Attract (die cut 3 times for dimension) and a few lemon slices (Dress My Craft - Lemon Sprinkle Mix) that was also a part of my birthday gift from Birgit.  Now to just get the thank you written and sent off for all the wonderful gifts Birgit included in my birthday box of sunshine!!

The DT and our special GD have some wonderful inspiration to get your juices flowing with this color combo, so check it all out right HERE and play along with us!  This challenge is open till Saturday, March 29th @ 9:00AM.

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

The Flower Challenge Reminder #100 - Add A Circle

Hello friends.  Just a friendly reminder that there's still time to play along with our challenge to add a CIRCLE to your flower card.  Don't forget that this is a celebration challenge also and many of the DT are offering up a prize to anyone who enters the challenge.  

I have another stenciled card to share with you today, and this one uses Altenew's Flower Bunch Stencil.  Take a look...

I kept my colors very light with the pale yellows and light plums and went a bit more bold with the leaves.  After I finished with my stenciling I did the hard part and used a circle die to cut out the image (SU!'s Spotlight on Nature Die).  I always kinda cringe at this part as there's no turning back after you've made the cut to an already colored up image!  Luckily it turned out just like I imagined it would look!!  I placed a layer of Barely Banana cs (SU! - retired) underneath the front panel and attached both to a top folding white card base.

I finished with a bold sentiment from Waffleflower's Paper Hugs Sentiments (cut 3 times for dimension) and also added some Lemon Drop Pearls from Trinity Stamps.

Don't forget that this is a celebration for our 100th challenge and that many of us are offering prizes (Mine is for U.S. participants only because of shipping costs) for those that participate in the challenge.  Here is what I'm offering up...

So check out all the inspiration from the DT (and special prizes!) and then play along with us.  You can check it all out right HERE.  This challenge is open till Tuesday, March 25th @ 5:00PM.

 

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

Those First Little Peeks of Spring

Hello friends.  The first signs of Spring for me here in West Michigan are when my Snowdrops first pop up, so getting out my Spring Snowdrops dies from The Greetery seemed like the perfect choice to play along with Double D and the Four Seasons challenges.  Here's what I came up with...

I started with a white card base and then added a panel of Pear Pizzazz that I used PFS's Stitched Diamonds coverplate die on.  Next I die cut 3 Ornate Oval Frames (PFS also) and placed over my Pear Pizzazz layer.  I used one of the inside ovals leftover from die cutting the frames and stamped The Greetery's Windowpane Plaid Background stamp in Pear Pizzazz ink on it before placing it inside the Ornate Oval Frame.

I stamped and die cut the snowdrops with Pear Pizzazz and Old Olive inks and then added foam tape behind the whole bouquet to add even more depth.  I finished with a little bow from PFS's A Bow and then added glitter around the edges of the bow and also on the snowdrops.  Double D asked for mostly GREEN for this challenge, and other than the neutral white I think I've got that covered!

  

I am SOOOO ready for Spring and it felt so good to make a Spring card.  I left a sentiment off mine as I'm not sure what I'll use it for yet, but it will most likely have to be hand delivered because of the bow.  It was a perfect fit though, so I couldn't not add it!!  You can play along with the Double D Challenge until Sunday, March 16th @ 8:00PM and with The Four Seasons Challenge until Tuesday March 25th @ 12:00AM (links for both challenges at top of post.)   

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

The Flower Challenge #100 - ADD CIRCLES

Hello friends.  Welcome to the month of March and another Flower Challenge.  We're looking for you to add CIRCLES to your flower cards this month, so think backgrounds, die cut circles to stamp your florals or sentiments on, etc.

Here's what I came up with...

I started with a panel of Highland Heather cs (SU!) and embossed it with a SB's ef called Geo Screen and then lightly brushed my white pigment ink pad over it to outline the design a bit.  Can you see the circles??  Next I pulled out one of my favorite stencils from The Ton called Precious Poppies and stenciled the 3 flowers separately and then used SU!'s Spotlight on Nature dies to die cut the poppies into the 3 circles.

 I finished with SB's Better Press A Little Message Sentiments and a few PFS Iridescent Gems.  Really happy with the way this one turned out!

Because this is our 100th challenge, we decided a little celebration was in order!  A few of us from the DT are offering up a small prize (U.S. participants ONLY for mine as international postage is just too high!) and it's open to all who enter a card in this CIRCLE challenge. My prize is a trio of snowflake dies from Birch Press Designs that make a simply beautiful snowflake.  We have lots of inspiration from the DT to get you started on this challenge, so check it all out right HERE.  We would LOVE to see YOU in our gallery, so come play along with us!  This challenge is open till Tuesday, March 25th @ 5:00PM. 

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

Color Hues #105 - GREEN & WHITE

Hello friends and Happy March!  Our sweet hostess Carol has chosen the color combo of GREEN & WHITE for us to work with here at Color Hues for the next two weeks.

Two of our 3 daughters have birthdays in March, so this color combo seemed very appropriate for our middle daughter who loves the color green AND gnomes.  Here's what I came up with...

I made a book binding fold (scored at 1 1/2" from the center of card base in the landscape design and glued shut from the inside 1 1/2" section) for this card.  My little gnome is from an older SSS kit called Gnome for the Holidays and I used PTI's Bitty Big Green Parakeet dsp to cut out the gnome's hat and for the background pieces.  Before I sealed the inside piece shut, I added a ribbon piece and then added my die cut "happy" (HB - Bitty Buzzwords Stamps & Dies) that I once again added a piece of packing tape to before die cutting so the "happy" was shiny.  So my gnome would stand out against the plaid background I added a white circle (PFS - Diagonal Stitched Circle Dies) with the inside of the circle stenciled with Gina K's Festive stencil in light gray.  

  To finish, I added a black strip that I embossed "BIRTHDAY" on, and then also added some silver pearls.  I think my daughter will get a kick out of it!

The DT and our Special GD Nance have some awesome cards to share with you using this color combo, so check it all out right HERE and then play along with us...we'd love to see YOU in the gallery!  This challenge is open till Friday, March 14th @ 9:00AM. 
 WHITE

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