Clean and simple sponging

I love this technique not only because it is easy to do, but with the right color combination it will really make your cards pop!

I started by masking off a rectangle on a piece of white cardstock – this was easily done by taking a rectangle nestability and taping it on the cardstock with repositionable tape.

Then, just sponge the area – darker in the corners and work your way lighter in the center.  The colors used here are regal rose and apricot.

Remove the mask, then stamp the image over to one side.  This image is from SU, the sentiment from Flourishes.  They were stamped in razzleberry ink and the card was mounted on razzleberry cardstock.

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a pear for all seasons

I just LOVE it when a challenge reminds me of a long forgotten stamp!  This was the case with todays featured stamper challenge at SCS.  While looking through the gallery of the featured stamper  Birgit, I came across her pear card {here}.  It immediately reminded me of a Stamp In The Hand pear set that was purchased ages ago and since forgotten!  So I pulled it out and created this card.

I apologize for the photo  – it’s been raining all day today and this is the best I can do in the limited light!  Now, in keeping with the challenge I kept the card simple and clean.  the pear is watercolored on Flourishes European Watercolor paper.  I used SU inks – Durango and Curry were perfect for the pear, olive and chocolate for the leaves, stems and sentiment.  Durango and  Curry were also used to mat the stamped image.  The ribbons were found in my ribbon stash.

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A little break from christmas!

I’m taking a (very) short break from making holiday cards  – this card was created for two different challenges at SCS this week and  I wanted to use this particular image, so it turned into a thank you card!

Basic Grey Euphoria paper was the color inspiration.  I pulled the bright pink from this designer paper for the dogwood blossoms.  They were stamped in palette noir and colored with copics using the hydrangea and green grass collections, with the background done with the sky collection.  I stamped a few extra blossoms and added them to the original image to make the entire  image larger.

The dogwood blossom is from Stamp Francisco, the sentiment from Flourishes.  A Martha Stewart punch was used for the scalloped with ice blue rhinestones added.

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A bejeweled Christmas card

Todays inspiration challenge was to create something based on one of the designs by Lorelie Kay  The piece I chose is  {here}  – when I first saw it I imediately thought of a turquoise snowflake – but I wanted it to look like a piece of jewelry, so this is what I came up with.

The card came together surprisingly quick – perfect for when you need to make some quick holiday cards.  The snowflake was created by using spray adhesive on cardstock then applying Martha Stewart glitter (turquoise color) and letting it dry, then punch out a snowflake (ms punch).  The background cuttlebug folder of holiday ornaments  is a new one – and it is a larger size – 5 x 6 – so you can make larger cards and have the entire card front embossed!! 

On top of the snowflake is a hatpin with pearls and chrystals and on top of that a flattened bead cap with a turquoise rhinestone.  Clear rhinestones were added at the botton of the scalloped to add even more bling!  Here is a close up of the snowflake.

This was quick and easy and I think I will make more in different colors – red and gold would look especially festive!

Thanks for stopping by!

Release day at Flourishes

I created this card for the limited supplies challenge at SCS and was so happy to come up with a card featuring a stamp from Flourishes Christmas Tea set, to be released tonight.    The image on this card is a little deceiving – it’s actually a set of three stacked tea cups, but I only wanted the bottom cup on this card, so I carefully inked the image then drew in the back of the cup. 

The image was stamped in Palette Noir and colored with copics from the Sky and Fuschia collections.  The blue papers are from SEI’s Winter Song pad, and the red glitter paper is my last sheet of holiday paper from last year.  An EK border punch was used for the scallops. 

This set has some great images – especially for making cards and tags with tea or coffee related gifts.

I hope you like what I have created – please visit the Flourishes Newsletter more more inspiration using this set.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Veteran’s Day!

I’ d like to wish all our veteran’s a Happy Veteran’s Day and express my heartfelt gratitiude for their service.

Now…on to stamping!  Created for the sketch challenge at SCS, this card uses the pretty Memory Box paper – Dewfrost for the background and squares.  I love the pale blue hues paired with winter white and a grey/chocolate neutral.

The image,  from Flourishes The Holly and The Ivy set,  was stamped and embossed in black and colored with the copic collections of Spruce and Flesh Tones 2 with the background airbrushed using colors from the Sky collection.

This is a large card – just over 6 inches tall!   It can be made smaller by using the smaller dove image in the stamp set. 

I hope you are enjoying this time of year – I’m working on more holiday cards and scoping out all the holiday magazines looking for inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by!

Clean and Simple and a sneak peek!

I’m always on the lookout for holiday images that can be used to create clean and simple cards and this latest offering from  Flourishes hits the mark.  This card was created for the clean and simple challenge at SCS – the challenge was to use white plus one other color.  The beautiful image is from Flourishes Christmas Bouquet set, to be released on Friday,  is designed by the talented Marcella Hawley.  The set contains the image shown here in two sizes – I’ve used the smaller of the two.  The detail on the bouquet is wonderful and looks lovely stamped in a single color, or you can really go all out and color in the image.

 

To keep with the clean and simple challenge I stamped the image in Memento Cocoa ink – it gives it  a nice vintage look.  The sentiment is from Flourishes Holiday Greetings set.  You can’t tell from the photo but I edged the white panel, the sentiment and the  chocolate scalloped edge with a stardust gel pen to add a little sparkle.    A Martha Stewart punch was used for the scalloped edge with white pearls added for accents.  The embossed white panel was created using a new cuttlebug folder which has swirls and snowflakes on it  Everything was mounted on a chocolate card.  Here is a close up look at how I added the sparkle with the stardust gel pen.  I apologize for the poor photo quality – we’re expecting Hurricane/Tropical Storm Ida to hit here later tonight and there just is no good light today!!

This card came together so quickly I think I will do several versions  using different color schemes!  The size of this image is perfect for making holiday tags as well.

 Thanks for stopping by!!!

Holiday card with SEI paper

I mentioned previously that I love the look of red and blue for Christmas and I am seeing alot of this color combo this year.  I was absolutely THRILLED to get the new SEI holiday  12 x 12 paper pack called Winter Song.   It contains some very pretty red and blue holiday papers, some embossed, some glittered and some textured.  The card below is made with these papers, with the exception of the white cardstock for the main panel.

This card is for the featured stamper challenge at SCS.  I kept the general design, but changed everything else.  The cuttlebug embossed panel is one of the new CB folders (at least new to me) , and you can’t tell but I brushed a glue pad over the embossed areas and added a little glitter to make it sparkle.  The dotted background paper has a little glitter on it.  The snowflake punch is a Martha Stewart punch.  When I finished the card I realized there was no stamping!!!  Yikes – I can’t remember the last time I did a no stamping card!!!  Anyway, I think this SEI paper pad will get used up very quickly this season!!!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your holiday card making is going well!

A triple duty card!

Everyone is busy with holiday cards these days – I admit I am behind in mind, but I needed to make a Veteran’s Day card for my DH and this card takes care of that, as well as two challenges – a sketch challenge and ways to use it challenge over at SCS!

Since this is a Veteran’s Day card its all about the red, white and blue!  The Ways To Use It challenge calls for using stickers  – this card was put together quick and easy using patriotic K  & Company stickers that I picked up on a visit to Washington DC over the summer.  The only stamped image is the sentiment which is from Flourishes Patriotism on Parade Set.  The red and blue paper are from The Paper Company, picked up at Michaels on sale!  The ivory is from Flourishes.

So, it is a bit early – but here is a send out to all the Veteran’s – Happy Veteran’s day – thank you!!

A few recent challenges

I’ve been able to participate in more of the challenges at SCS and I’d like to share with you these cards that were made specifically for the challenge.

First is a sketch challenge…this particular sketch provided an opportunity to dip into my stash of designer paper.  It’s a personal goal of mine to actually use my supplies and not hoard them and doing challenges is a great way to achieve this goal!!

Basic Grey was used for the background (Perhaps on the top, Indian Summer on the bottom).  The image (stamp francisco) was stamped in Palette Charcoal on Flourishes Classic White Cardstock.  A variety of markers, pens and inks were used to color the image, including Ancient Page, copics and SU.  The blossom of the flower was stamped and popped up to give a little more dimension.  Chocolate pearls were added at the corners and bottom.

Next is a card made for a “clean and simple” challenge, which required the use of brads or eyelets and I was able to use both!

The image (Savvy Stamps) was stamped in Palette Burnt Umber and colored with prisma pencils and odorless mineral spirits.  The eyelets are used as a way to “hange” the picture.  the background paper is from Basic Grey  – Urban Prairie and the sentiment is from Flourishes Summer Blossoms set.

Thanks for stopping by!