Monster Love - CAS414

Here is my card for the Clean and Simple Challenge at Splitcoast Stampers (CAS414).  The theme for this week is Peek-a-Boo.

"This week we are looking for your CAS take on the theme Peek-a-boo! How will you interpret it?"

I started my card by die cutting the frame from black polka dotted paper and again with Neenah Solar White using an MFT die.  The 2 negative pieces that were left, I blended on some blue and green distress inks for some background color.  The cute, little monsters were water colored using distress inks.  I must have used almost every color!

I stamped the sentiment and added the hearts and finished them off with Glossy Accents.

Supplies Used:
Stitched Cover-Up Companion-Horizontal - MFT
Silly Monsters and Silly Monsters Two - Your Next Stamp
Monster Love - MFT
Holiday Shapes - SSS
Paper - Kraft in Color - Doodlebug, Neenah Solar White
Distress Inks
Glossy Accents

A Tail-Waggin' Day! - F4A362

Today I am playing along with Splitcoast Stampers Free For All Challenge - F4A362.  The theme is Cuddly/Snuggly.

"Design a card that makes you think of cuddling or snuggling...It could be a cuddly animal, kids cuddling something, couples together, a warm sweater/coat/mittens...whatever it means to you, cuddle or snuggle".


Well, for me, it doesn't get much better than snuggling with my dogs. (other than my hubby, of course!)  I have 2 dogs and they love to snuggle too, so it's definitely a win-win!


Here is my card:

I was drinking my coffee this morning while watching some videos on YouTube.  I watched THIS ONE (again) from Jennifer McGuire and wanted to try out this technique.  It involves using a stencil with white pigment ink and then slightly shifting the stencil and then applying a dye ink.  I like the way it gives a shadow, creating just a little bit of a look of dimension.  The rest of the card went along as hers did!  Thank you Jennifer for the inspiration and a great, new technique!

Supplies Used:
Neenah Kraft cardstock, Neenah Solar White cardstock
Brown Cardstock
Vellum
Dog Stencil - Echo Park
Hero Arts Unicorn pigment ink
MFT Milk Chocolate ink
Sentiment - Inky Antics
Paw print - Stamps by Judith
SSS Stitched Circles
Fun Foam
Thread

Thank you for stopping by!  Have a great weekend!

Always and Forever - CC618 and CTD426

Hello!  Today I am sharing my card for the COLOR Challenge at Splitcoast Stampers (CC618) and Color Throwdown #426.  Below are the colors for these challenges.

Basic Gray, Very Vanilla and Rose Red

These colors are definitely out of my comfort zone.  I am always one to gravitate toward intense, bright colors.  That's why I am really liking these challenges, they totally make me think outside the box!

When I say, "out of my comfort zone", I was not kidding.... I don't even own any vanilla cardstock!  So I had to make my own, thanks to Antique Linen distress ink.  I used some watercolor paper and applied the distress ink, then I squirted it with water and blotted it with a paper towel.  When it was dry, I stamped the background using the Bundles of Blossoms stamp from MFT using Gravel Gray ink.  I stamped it twice with my Misti and then heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.  I cut out the hearts with the Tic Tac Toe Hearts die from SSS and then strategically placed some red cardstock onto the card base. The sentiment is stamped on Cement Gray cardstock with a few sequins for a little bling.  I finished off the card front with the twine bow and then popped it up on my card base with foam tape.

Thank you for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

Bundles of Blossoms background stamp - MFT

Sentiment - Lots to Say - Reverse Confetti

Hearts - Tic Tac Toe Hearts - SSS

Cardstock - Neenah Solar White, MFT Cement Gray, Tim Holtz Watercolor Paper

Inks - VersaFine Black Onyx, MFT Gravel Gray, Antique Linen Distress Ink
Sequins - Pretty Pink Posh
Twine

Snowflakes & Friends - CAS412

Here is my card for today's Clean and Simple Challenge at Splitcoast Stampers.   The inspiration is as follows:

"Your CAS challenge this week is to use a product, image, etc. that looks frozen!  Stickles, glitter, ice skating, igloos, etc."

So I opted for snowflakes!

I used a snowflake stamp from Hero Arts for the background and embossed it on the card panel using white embossing powder.  I blended 3 different colors of distress inks randomly over the snowflakes and then cut out the panel using the Snow Drifts Cover Up die from MFT. I kept the white frame and placed the distressed images inside.  I glued the panel on fun foam and then onto a sheet of green polka dot paper.   I embossed the sentiment in white onto black cardstock and popped that up too with foam tape.

Thank you for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Hand Drawn Snowflakes Bold Prints - Hero Arts
Distress Inks:  Mermaid Lagoon, Blueprint Sketch & Twisted Citron
Snow Drifts Cover Up - MFT
Sentiment - Cooler With You - MFT
Green polka dot paper - Kraft in Color - Doodlebug Designs
Snowflake Die - Let it Snowflake - MFT
Snowflake Glitter Paper - Doodlebug Designs 
Snowflake Center - Doodlebug Sprinkles
White embossing powder
Fun foam, Foam tape
Misc Cardstock
 

You Make My Heart Smile

Today, I am playing along with Splitcoast Stampers Inspiration Challenge (IC580.  The challenge for this week was to find inspiration from the listings on the Altered Diaries' Etsy site HERE.

I was drawn to this book cover.

Well, I gotta be honest... I think I was more inspired by this one because I knew that I had a stencil just like the pattern on the book!  But that's okay, because inspiration is inspiration, right?

Here is my card:

I started by taping down my stencil onto a Neenah Solar White card panel.  I used 5 different distress inks over the stencil.  I was pretty pleased with how nicely the colors blended with hardly any effort at all.  Starting from the bottom, I used Festive Berries, Picked Raspberry, Abandoned Coral, Spiced Marmalade and Candied Apple.  I, then, added the red strip on the left side just like the book, but it looked a little too plain, so I added the sequins.  A simple remedy.  (the sequins look silver in the photo, but they are actually clear).

I used Simon Says Stamp's Love Loop die from their latest release and created a die-cut inlay using orange and yellow cardstock.  Finding a sentiment to fit just right in the yellow heart was a little tricky, but with a little patience, I struck the jackpot!  And the sentiment even has the word "heart" in it, like it was just meant to be!  Don't you just love when that happens?

I am pretty new to participating in card-making challenges, but I've found that they definitely help me in creating cards.  I feel like I have some direction and I am not overwhelmed with a ton of supplies at my fingertips to cause me stress!  I know that may seem odd, but it sort of streamlines my thinking having a theme, a sketch or even a color palette to inspire me.

Thank you for stopping by.  Have a great weekend!

To check out the other cards created for this challenge, click HERE.

Supplies Used:
Stencil - Asanoha (Judikins)
Sentiment - Framed out (PTI)
Die - Love Loop (SSS)
Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Inks:Festive Berries, Picked Raspberry, Abandoned Coral, Spiced Marmalade & Candied Apple
Sequins - 4mm & 6mm Sparkling Clear (PPP)
Neenah Solar White 80 and 110 lb.
Yellow, red and orange cardstock

Happy Mail

Good morning!  I was feeling inspired and thought I would do another card for this week's Color Throwdown.  A big thank you to the ever-so-talentented Laura Bassen for the inspiration!

I started by stamping the cute, little envelope randomly on the card panel with Hero Arts Intense Black ink and watercolored over them using the "challenge colors".  Sun a fun way to make a background.  I can see a lot of this technique in my future!  I embossed the sentiment on black cardstock using white embossing powder and popped it up on the card panel using foam tape.  I used a rectangle die from SSS to cut a rectangle out of black cardstock to get a little more black into the card.  I think it needed it to balance with the black background of the sentiment.  For the finishing touch, some PPP Clear Droplets.

You can check out all the other cards for Color Throwdown 425 HERE.

Thank you for stopping by!
Donna


Supplies Used:
Envelope - Hero Arts CL981
Sentiment - Right at Home Happy Mail
Inks - Hero Arts Intense Black, Distress inks: Fossilized Amber, Mermaild Lagoon & Pumice Stone
Pretty Pink Posh 4mm and 6mm Clear Droplets
Rectangle Frame - SSS Frames
Neenah Solar white 80lb and 110 lb.
Black Cardstock - MFT Black Licorice
Foam Tape

Color Throwdown #425

Happy Hump Day!  Here is my card for this week's Color Throwdown #425.  Here is the inspiration...

...and here is my card:

I used an MFT Circle Burst stencil and applied Hero Arts Butter Bar ink with a sponge dauber and then adhered the top panel to a tourquoise card base.  I added the back & white washi tape strip on the left side and still thought it needed a little something, so I also added the teal glitter tape next to it.  Next, I added the sentiment using black ink and then embossed it with clear embossing powder for a little extra shine.  To finish the card, I added the small hearts cut from the same glitter tape.  And voila, there's my card for today!

Supplies Used:

Stencil - MFT Circle Bust
Ink - Hero Arts Butter Bar, Hero Arts Intense Black
Embossing Powder - Hero Arts Ultra Fine Clear
Washi Tape
Glitter Tape - Skotch C514-blu
Sentiments - SSS Sending and Wishing
Hearts - SSS Mini Hearts Set
Turquoise Cardstock - Hobby Lobby

Thank you for stopping by!