Crocuses

Hi everyone.  Today I'm dedicating this post to my wonderful, smart, funny sister Dee who passed away yesterday.  She had a short but difficult battle with cancer.  I love you so much Dee!

I bought this lovely crocus die (BontaniCuts - The Greetery) after seeing my sweet friend Marcia use it on a couple of her amazing cards, including this recent one.  I was totally inspired by Marcia's card  and you can see that I CASED it for the design above. :)  Thank you Marcia!

I die-cut the flowers and leaves from mixed media paper and sponged with distress inks (Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Wilted Violet, Poisonious Villian, Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness).  I assembled the flowers and leaves and then added some soft sponged sky for the background (distress ink Salvaged Patina).  I die-cut a circle aperture from my card front and then dry embossed it with Blossom Field Embossing Folder - Simon Says Stamp.

I used my white Posca pen (acrylic ink) to add some splatters to the crocuses and then added the flower bouquet over the sponged background.  I popped up the card front over top and added a white heat embossed black banner with sentiment (Happy Snippets - Penny Black).

Second card ...

I used the leftover die-cut from the above card, which is dry embossed with the same Bloom Field (SSS).  This time I watercoloured the yellow crocuses and leaves, making a small bouquet and attaching to the dry embossed circle.  I made a white heat embossed black banner using another of the Happy Snippets sentiments (Penny Black).

I'm sending the first card over to the Just Us Girls Challenge #631 - Flowers (hosted by Vicki).  I love making flower cards (no surprise to those who know me).

And I'm sending the same card to Can You Handle The Pressure - Anything Goes with a Twist of Pastels.  This will be my second entry! :)  I have the dry embossed card front and have used pastel colours. 

I'm sending the second card over to Let's Squash It! Challenge #20 - Squash those Scraps.  I believe this is the first time I've entered this challenge.

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Card #1 & #2:

Stamps:  Happy Snippets (Penny Black)

Paper:   White card stock (Neenah 110 lb.); Mixed Media paper (Strathmore 140 lb.); Black card stock (SU!)
Ink:  Distress Inks:  Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Wilted Violet, Poisonous Villian, Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness (Tim Holtz); Unicorn White Pigment Ink (Hero Arts) 
Accessories:   BontaniCuts Crocus Die (The Greetery), sponges, paint brushes, White Posca pen, Bloom Field Embossing Folder (Simon Says Stamp), white embossing powder, heat tool

Challenges:
JUGS #631 - Flowers

Can You Handle the Pressure - Anything Goes with Twist of Pastels

Let's Squash It! Challenge #20 - Squash those Scraps

Happy Mother's Day!

Hi everyone.  Happy Mother's Day to all those wonderful mother's that are celebrating today.  I made this card for my mom, who is 93! :)

This was a fairly simple and quick card to make.  That works for me right now as I haven't been feeling well, so I try to take advantage of short periods where I may feel OK.  Life has been challenging this year but I am hopeful that I'll be feeling better soon.

I started with a NBUS Etched Layered Daisy die from Simon Says Stamp.  I die-cut from white and sponged the petals with Abandoned Coral distress ink, sponging darker near the center of the flower and fading out to white at the edge of the petals.  I then sponged the center with Candied Apple distress ink, added a light coating of clear Wink of Stella (shimmer) before coating the center with Crystal Glaze.  

For the background I used a 3-D embossing folder called Layered Leaves (retired by Stampin' Up!) with white card stock.  I sponged lightly with Shabby Shutters distress ink, darker on the edges, fading to light in the center.  I rarely think to use the debossed side ... and it turned out great! 

I stamped my sentiment (Beautiful Mothers by Simon Says Stamp) in white pigment ink onto black cardstock and heat embossed in white.  I was going to add the thin strip over top of the flower but it just seemed lost, so I adhered the thin sentiment strip to a thicker 1" piece of black card stock and attached at the bottom.  Happy with how it looks.

Close-up ...

I'm sending this card to the Can you Handle the Pressure Challenge ... first time playing along. :)  This is an Anything Goes Embossing with Twist option (pastels).  I think by background and daisy petals are pastel, but not sure about the black sentiment banner. :) 

Thanks for coming by!

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Stamps:  Beautiful Mothers (Simon Says Stamp)

Paper:   White card stock (Neenah 110 lb.); black card stock (SU!)
Ink:   Distress Inks:  Abandoned Coral, Candied Apple, Shabby Shutters (Tim Holtz); Unicorn (Hero Arts
Accessories:   Etched Layered Daisy die (Simon Says Stamp), sponges, Clear Wink of Stella, Crystal Glaze (Nuvo), 

Challenges:

Can you Handle the Pressure? - Anything Goes Embossing

Guest Designing at PBSC

Hi everyone.  I'm happy to be Guest Designing at Penny Black Saturday Challenge for May.  This is an Anything Goes challenge with an option this month of "Nature".  Thank you to Helen and the team for having me.

I rarely seem to use my DOX inks, so I pulled them out and made a couple of smooshed backgrounds (two because I put a lot of ink on my work surface). :)  The cards are the same with the exception of the die-cut flowers and the sentiment.

Both are made with DOX inks (Squeezed Lemonade, Ripe Persimmon, Picked Raspberry).  I pressed one ink pad at a time onto my mat and spritzed with water.  I smooshed a piece of mixed media paper, using my heat tool to dry and then went onto the second and third colours, drying in-between each addition.  I repeated the process with a second piece of card.  I love the way these inks layer colours.  I finished the background by splattering with gold acrylic paint ... I love this yellow gold colour from Lumiere.  I used the same paint to add colour to the sweet scalloped frames (Penny Black - Sewing Stackers frames). 

For the card above I used the Flower Flourish die (Penny Black), die-cutting from white card stock and adding a small gold center to each of the flowers.  The sentiment (Banner Sentiments - Penny Black) is stamped in white pigment ink and heat embossed in white.  

Second card ...

Using the second piece of smooshed background, I added a second gold frame and then a Cherry Blossom (Penny Black) die-cut from white card stock.  Again, I added small gold centers to the flowers.  The sentiment (Trust Me Builder - Penny Black) is heat embossed in white.  It doesn't stand out very well against the colourful background, so I tried to make it more obvious by underlining with a white acrylic pen.  

These are simple cards to make and it was fun to create with my favourite colour combination. :)  I hope you'll make a card using Penny Black products and join in the challenge.

I'm sending the second card to Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Feminine.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Thank you.

Stamps:  Banner Sentiments, Trust Me Builder (both Penny Black)

Paper:   White card stock (Neenah 110 lb.); Mixed Media paper (Strathmore 140 lb.)
Ink:   Distress Oxide Inks:  Squeezed Lemonade, Ripe Persimmon, Picked Raspberry (Tim Holtz); Unicorn white pigment ink (Hero Arts)
Accessories:   water mister, heat tool, Gold acrylic paint (Lumiere), paint brush; Sewing Stacker dies, Flower Flourish die, Cherry Blossom die (all from Penny Black); gold pearls (Studio Katia), white embossing powder (Ranger)

Challenges:
PB Saturday Challenge May - Anything Goes with Optional "Nature"

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Feminine

Penny Black - Soaring

Hi everyone.  I'm back with a card today using part of the new Soaring die (51-731).  I love this layers circle die and have used it to make a faux grapevine wreath.  There are also butterflies that come with the die, but I will use them another time.

I die-cut two of the layered circles, sponging them with different shades of brown distress inks (Brushed Corduroy, Gathered Twigs, Walnut Stain, Ground Espresso).  I layered them over top of each other to create a fuller wreath, gluing them down at the top and bottom, but leaving the rest of the circles loose.

I die-cut another Penny Black die called Nestled (51-722), using just the bird, watercolouring with more distress inks (Brushed Corduroy, Faded Jeans).  To finish, I added two more die-cuts; Frosted Greens (51-710) - watercoloured with Mowed Lawn distress ink; and Berry Branch (51-373) - watercoloured with Mowed Lawn and Rustic Wilderness.

I finished the card by adding a sentiment (Gratitude 30-105) stamped in Walnut Stain distress ink.

I'm sending this card over to the Snippets Playground Challenge #427.  Sarn is hosting this time and I think there's some dancing around a Maypole.  I'm in! :)

Penny Black Products

Soaring

Nestled

Frosted Greens

Berry Branch

Gratitude

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Stamps:  Gratitude (Penny Black)

Paper:   White card stock (Neenah 110 lb.); Mixed Media paper (Strathmore 140 lb.)
Ink:  Distress Inks:  Brushed Corduroy, Gathered Twigs, Walnut Stain, Ground Espresso, Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness (Tim Holtz)
Accessories:   Penny Black dies:  Soaring, Nestled, Frosted Greens, Berry Branch; sponges, paint brushes

Challenges:

Snippets Playground Challenge #427