Thanks!!

Another card for the My Favorite Things Camp Create.  This card is for the day called Delightful Die Cutting.  This is the badge for it:

SO...I have this thing about throwing perfectly cut paper strips into the trash.  After you've cut the Striped Sentiment Strip die a few times you have a bunch of strips:

Somehow I had an idea to weave these strips into the die cut piece.  If you cut the die three times you'll have plenty of strips to do the top and bottom.  After I had them all woven I turned it over and added a drop of glue at each end of the strips to secure them.  (Wish I'd thought to take a few photos of the steps!)

I just love the basket weave effect of this!

I used the stamps and dies for Beautiful Blooms and Twice the Thanks for the other elements.  For the thanks and the vase I used Hero Arts Ombre Tide Pool to Navy ink and blended the ink onto the paper for the ombre effect.  I used the same on the stems along with Lime to Forever Green.

I had to have some shine and sparkle so I pressed my VersaMark ink pad to the Thanks and the vase and added clear embossing powder.  A few clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh finishes it up.

I always am so appreciative for you taking time to look and to leave a comment!  :)

Happy Thoughts

The link is HERE.

This is the Glitzy Glitter badge.

I have 2 cards for My Favorite Things Camp Create.  I had hoped to do all five days, but oh well!

The first day was called Glitzy Glitter.  Well, I do love glitter and I had just received my order of some of their newest release that included the Striped Sentiment Strip die.  I used Ken Oliver's Stick It on some white card stock before I die cut.  I used some beautiful glitter from Sparkle N Sprinkle in Lemonade to cover it all.

I put the glittered piece on a piece from the 6x6 Plaid Patterns.  I used Tweet Friends stamps and dies and Cheerful Cages dies for the rest.  I had colored a ton of birds a few months ago so I used a couple of them for this card.

Thanks so much for taking a look!  Many thanks for a comment too--so appreciated!

Distress Inks w/Beautiful Day

This is the fifth! and final (for now) card using Altenew's Beautiful Day stamps and dies.  There is something about this set that caught my eye when they first previewed it.  It is one of my most used stamps of all.  The colors are inspired by this photo on their June Inspiration Challenge.

Link to challenge HERE.

As I started this card I realized that my other four ALL were laid out basically the same.  I HAD to make this one a bit different.  My inspiration for the placement is from Amy Gray's card she made for this challenge that you can also see on the link above.

The bottom piece was made by stamping the flowers and leaves in VersaMark onto watercolor paper and heat embossing in white.  I smooshed Twisted Citron and Mowed Lawn Distress Inks onto my craft mat.  I used water and a brush to pick up the inks and randomly wash the two colors over the embossed panel.  The same Distress Inks are used for the die cut leaves.  The yellow flowers are Squeezed Lemonade Distress Ink and Zig Clean Color Real Brush marker in yellow.

I popped up the top flower.  Simon Says Stamp Birthday Flowers sentiment is stamped in Versafine Onyx Black ink.  Pretty Pink Posh sequins and droplets finish it up.  (Gasp!  No Wink of Stella!!!)

Thank you so very much for looking and especially for your comments!

Happy Thoughts

Number four of five using Altenew's Beautiful Day stamps and dies!  Another one to go to the June Inspiration Challenge.

Link to challenge HERE.

Seriously, I almost threw this in the trash after I did the background piece.  For the bottom layer I stamped the flower multiple times with Versa Mark onto watercolor paper and then heat embossed in white.    My thoughts were to use Distress Inks in Mowed Lawn and Twisted Citron for the stripes with a light brown in-between.  I smooshed the inks onto my craft mat and picked up the ink with a flat wet brush to paint the stripes.

Long story short--I DID. NOT. LIKE. it.  So since I wanted to trash it, I thought I might as well try other things with it.  (After all, what harm is it if I was going to trash it anyway?!!)   Started by sponging Walnut Stain ink around the edges.  Still not good.  So I just sponged the ink all over it.  Wiped it with a dry paper towel to clean the white embossing.  Hmm, do I like it, I wondered?  I wanted the flowers to stand out more.  Somehow Jennifer McGuire's video of her doing a technique she called Distress Ink Lifting came to my mind (her blog link for this technique is HERE.  She is truly a genius!)

I used clean water and a small brush to wet certain areas of the flowers.  After the water sat on it for a few seconds, I blotted it with a dry towel, and tadaahh!  The Distress Ink lifted and left the white areas you see on the background.

I just always seem to NEED some sparkle and shine!  Wink of Stella and Pretty Pink Posh sequins satisfy that need!  :)

For the flower I used Squeezed Lemonade Distress Ink and 2 Momento inks in Dandelion and Cantaloupe.  The leaves are Twisted Citron and Mowed Lawn.

I do love it when I can salvage something that I didn't like into something I like a lot!  Thanks so much for taking a look!  Comments are much appreciated!

Happy Birthday with Altenew Beautiful Day

Here is the third of FIVE cards I've made this week using this awesome stamp and die set from Altenew called Beautiful Day.  I saw their June Inspiration Challenge and wanted to give it a try as I just LOVE green and yellow used together!!

The link to this challenge is HERE.

I used nothing but Distress Inks and a few Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers on this card.  I'll list the colors below.  I heat embossed the florals on watercolor paper in white embossing powder before watercoloring them.  The sentiment is from Simon Say Stamp's Birthday Flowers set.  (Oh, I did stamp this in Wendy Vecchi's Potting Soil ink.)   Some Wink of Stella and Pretty Pink Posh sequins finish it up!

Here's a closeup of the pretty shimmer---love the Wink of Stellas!!

Thank you so much for looking and hugs for any comments too!

Distress Inks: Walnut Stain, Squeezed Lemonade, Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn
Zig Clean Color: Yellow, Red

Wedding Wishes

Get ready for it---this is the first two of FIVE cards I've made using Altenew's Beautiful Day stamp and die set!!!  Yes, I just LOVE this one!  Thankfully, my order of their new Spring Daisy came today, so I'll be giving Beautiful Day a rest!  Haha!

Why is it that when I'm "up against the wall" for a card that it comes together much more quickly that when I have plenty of time to ponder it?  We had a wedding to go to last Saturday and I had a couple hours to make a card.  I thought, "Oh, that's plenty of time for this card I had in mind."  LOL!  Seriously, what was I thinking???  I had to take the photo on the kitchen counter on the way out the door!!  Literally finished the last bit in the car!

I used part of the ribbon that was on her invitation which helped me choose the color for the rest of the card.  I love those We R Memory Keepers Next Level embossing folders--the hearts are perfect!  The sentiment is from the Stamp Simply Ribbon Store.  I used Distress Stain in Tarnished Brass and a gold acrylic paint for the splatters.  The brown stamping on the florals is Wendy Vecchi Archival Ink in Potting Soil.

Then I decided to make another card to have on hand in a different color.  I used Simon Says Stamp inks in Lake Shores, Mint Candy and High Dive for this card.

I added some Wink of Stella and used Pretty Pink Posh clear sequins and droplets for some sparkle and shine!

Thank you so much for looking!  :)

Did you know I have a grand total of TWO followers (thank you Darnell & TK!!) and would love it if you would join them.  I'll be happy to give you a follow back!

Thinking of You

This is another card I made from a lesson in Altenew Academy's Seasonal Scene Building online class.  The instructor, Nichol Magouirk, talked about how to use larger images on a card.  I pretty much CASE'd her card.  My differences are that I used different flower stamps and dies and a Spellbinder's embossing folder for the brick background.  The flower stamps are from one of my older favorites:  JustRite's Multi-Step Lilac Bouquet.  I still love this one!

Thank you for taking a look!  Hugs for taking time to leave a comment as they are so appreciated!