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Freshly Made Sketches #596

Freshly Made Sketches #596 published on 5 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #596

A cool new sketch idea at Freshly Made Sketches! Judy has us doing halfsies! Designs only on the top half of the card and the bottom is clean. I found it a bit of a challenge but happy with the final result.

Along with the new set from WPlus9 that I used last week, I ordered another set called Joyful Poinsettias. I like the background style design along with the single flower and sentiments in the set. Again with the watercoloring (because I know Dawn designs like a water colorist). I stamped the image in black then heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I colored the flowers and leaves and tried to keep to a more vintage palette. After it was dry, I added a little Vintage Photo Distress Ink with a light hand to “age” the white spaces.

I waited until I was done coloring to choose the base and I went with Artichoke by Concord and 9th. I stamped and embossed the sentiment, going with a small one to keep it on the top half of the card. Finally I added some champagne colored pearls as accents.

I hope you find a bit of inspiration in this card. I had lots of fun spending a little time on the watercoloring. Thanks so much for stopping in. See you soon!

CASE Me a Christmas Card with Michelle Lupton

CASE Me a Christmas Card with Michelle Lupton published on 3 Comments on CASE Me a Christmas Card with Michelle Lupton

I’m so happy to be back today for a very special post! My friend Michelle Lupton has graciously invited me to join her CASE Me a Christmas Card series again this year. I love all the inspiration that comes from her collaborations each year and, let’s face it, I’ll take any excuse to CASE one of her cards.

Truly the hardest part about this is choosing what to CASE. I mean….just go look at her gallery of work and you’ll understand. I finally settled on a card from May that was full of rainbow goodness (you can see it below). In the rules of CASEing, as I have always done it, you change 3 things but keep the overall feel of the original. Things I kept: the side placement of the focal elements, the big sentiment, the scattered pearls. Things I changed: more monochromatic, stencil plus die cut, no background stamped image.

The products on this card are new from Erin Lee Creative and I love them! I started by inking through the Nordic Tree Stencil with Versamark Ink and then heat embossed with a pearl powder. Much more subtle shimmer in person! Using the Nordic Tree Die, I did an edge cut on the Gold Cardstock (also from Erin Lee). Before layering it on, I blended on Rustic Wilderness and Iced Spruce Distress Oxide Inks. The sentiment is from the new Christmas Greetings stamp set (which has coordinating hot foil plates and dies).

This is the card by Michelle and you can see more HERE about how she made it. Now part of the fun is that she also uses one of my cards to create a Christmas card and her new card is here: Michelle’s New CASE Me a Christmas Card.

Thanks so much for joining us for this fun series! Go follow Michelle to see all of her beautiful work!

Blooming Thanks for SugarPea Designs

Blooming Thanks for SugarPea Designs published on 1 Comment on Blooming Thanks for SugarPea Designs

I’m sharing a card today that I created for the SugarPea Designs company blog today. I am still loving the Winter Release products and am having so much fun using them!

I started with the gorgeous Friendship Blooms Stamp Set. I stamped onto watercolor paper with Versamark Ink and then heat embossed with gold embossing powder. I colored the flowers and leaves with my Daniel Smith watercolor paints then cut them out with the coordinating SugarCut – Friendship Blooms Dies.

Next using the SugarCut – Block Alphabet Dies I chose to cut the word “THANKS” from gold card stock. As I played with the layout, I realized this was the perfect opportunity to make a slimline card. I cut a layering panel from Bristol Smooth paper and inked it with a Catherine Pooler Suede Shoes Ink. I splattered with some water and a bit of gold (Gold Lamé Smooch Ink) to match the letters and embossing. Once dry, I attached the flowers and then the letters. I used a straight edge to line up the letters which makes it tons easier. I love the versatility of the alphabet to expand sentiment choices or just make a bold statement. I hope you like this project! Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Freshly Made Sketches #462

Freshly Made Sketches #462 published on 6 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #462

Happy middle of the week! Here with our weekly challenge from Freshly Made Sketches. Our sketch designer is Narelle Farrugia and this one is really fun. Go read about her inspiration for the sketch too…I love how we can be inspired to create by so many things.

If any of you have ever tried to get good photos of glitter and embossing, you are now feeling my pain! *smile* This card is all about shimmer and shine and my camera just cannot capture it in its full glory. But you get the idea. I used products by Gina K Designs today. The Double Stitched Squares were my logical starting place for the sketch and then I went all in on the Sparkle and Shine Kit. The snowflakes dies come from the kit and I used them on gold Glitter Card Stock. The sentiment is from the Holiday Tapestry set from the kit. I stamped it in Versamark and heat embossed with gold embossing powder.

I hope you will come over and join us this week. It is always such a joy to scroll through the gallery looking at your beautiful creations. Thanks for stopping in today! See you soon.

Freshly Made Sketches #460

Freshly Made Sketches #460 published on 7 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #460

We have a wonderful new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches today from our wonderful designer Judy Rozema. I love the big banner shape and lots of great ideas immediately came to mind.

I fell in love with the Sparkle and Shine Kit from GinaK Designs the moment I saw it. And this particular stamp set was one I could not wait to get my hands on. I opted to use the round ornament image and embossed in silver. Perfect for the sketch and so pretty! I layered on a sentiment from the set and then….. Yes, I added GinaK’s Glitter Card Stock.

This is such a different kind of glitter paper! It has all the sparkle but is almost “sealed” if that makes sense. No shedding of the glitter whatsoever. Perfect from someone like me who likes the looks but can’t stand the mess.

I hope you enjoy this card and will come over to play with our sketch this week. Thanks so much for stopping in. See you tomorrow with a new card for SugarPea Designs.

Erin Lee Creative – Look on the Bright Side Hop + Giveaway

Erin Lee Creative – Look on the Bright Side Hop + Giveaway published on 14 Comments on Erin Lee Creative – Look on the Bright Side Hop + Giveaway

Happy September! Here’s to hoping that this month decides to play a little nicer than the others this year. What was that?! Yes! Look on the Bright Side! Like what I did there? I super excited to share this new kit from Erin Lee Creative today.

Don’t get me wrong. I love all the rainbows in this kit. Like, really love. But for me the stars of the show are the sentiments. This one practically demanded to be put on a card right away. I’ll be honest, I very much want us to start rising a bit more.

Using some beautiful colored glitter paper, I simply started cutting rainbows. And yes, I have the remnants that I can piece together into more cards like this with different color sequences. I stamped the sentiment in Versamark ink and heat embossed with gold embossing powder. At first I looked to add more color to this but, as usual, I opted for clean with the focus on the sparkle.

GIVEAWAY: We are giving away ONE KIT chosen from comments left across all of the blogs participating in this hop. Please leave a comment on any participating blog by Tuesday, September 8. The winner will be announced that week on the Erin Lee Creative Blog. The more you comment, the more chances to win!

Now on to the rest of the hop. I’m thrilled to send you off to my friend Cheryl Knutti. You will love her project! Here is the list if you get lost along the way.

FMS444 and SPDMix69

FMS444 and SPDMix69 published on 7 Comments on FMS444 and SPDMix69

Hope your week is going well! I cannot believe it is already the middle of July. This whole “groundhog day” effect is messing with my sense of time. But today, I get to share a card that I made for two of my favorite things. First, I am the sketch designer for Freshly Made Sketches and I used the inspiration from SugarPea Designs monthly challenge!

I have been seeing some beautiful cards with dark Copic backgrounds (Yana Smakula is one of the stampers I have seen). I decided that it was time to give it a go. I started by stamping the flower and butterfly from Meadow Motifs with Momento Tuxedo Black on Neenah Solar White paper using my Misti. I colored images with inspiration from the SugarPea Designs challenge.

Once done with the images, I started on the background using a dark Copic marker. It took a bit but ultimately not too hard to do. Then, I slid the whole panel back in the Misti. First I used a static bag to make sure stray powder would not stick. Then I overstamped the image with Versamark Ink and added Wow Gold Rich Superfine Powder, then heat embossed. The effect is stunning! I pulled a sentiment from what is now my “go to” sentiment set, Everyday Sentiments. On my Fog Gray base, I stamped the Handwritten Letter in Versamark for more texture and added a small gold panel for the sketch.

I hope you’ll come over and join me in both challenges! Thank you so much for stopping in today! See you again soon.

Freshly Made Sketches #415

Freshly Made Sketches #415 published on 7 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #415

I’m thrilled to be back today with the latest from Freshly Made Sketches. Our sketch hostess this week is our resident Artisan, Narelle Farrugia. Yep, not even one bit of a surprise to any of us who know her, she has again made the Artisan Design Team for Stampin’ Up and I could not be happier for her or SU. Her sketch this week made me breathe a sigh of relief because I was already set up to go for it from last week. Yeah, I told you I was leaving this background stamp on my Misti!

I do love how this card has a totally different vibe that the one last week with virtually the same elements. I stamped the Holiday Wishes background stamp (Neat and Tangled) onto black card stock using Versamark ink and then heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Superfine Embossing Powder. I used the same little greenery elements as last week from the Classic Christmas stamp set.

I first stamped in Momento Tuxedo Black in my Misti, did the quick Copic coloring and then put it back in the Misti, over-stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with WOW Gold Rich Super Fine powder. I stamped the sentiment (from Classic Christmas but meant to coordinate with Holiday Wishes) in Versamark and embossed it with Gold Rich too.

I hope you enjoy this sketch as much as I did! These little vertical panels lend themselves to images, patterned paper and I’m sure other things you’ll think of. Hope you’ll join us for the challenge! Thanks so much for stopping in today. See you soon!

Crafty Friends Blog Hop – Concord and 9th

Crafty Friends Blog Hop – Concord and 9th published on 10 Comments on Crafty Friends Blog Hop – Concord and 9th

Welcome to something brand new! I am so excited to share with you a new monthly blog hop. We all know that crafty friends are some of the best friends so what better than a Crafty Friends Blog Hop?! Who are these stampers? A group who had similar beginnings in stamping and had the good fortune of becoming friends.

We will feature a different company on the 20th of each month. To start it off this month, I could not be more thrilled to say that our featured company is Concord & 9th. I’ve been a fan of theirs since the beginning and I love that they are celebrating with us this month.

I wanted to create a card for a recently engaged couple in my family and thought this was the perfect time. I started with the wreath and elements from the Furry Friends Stamp Set. Armed with some amazing WOW! embossing powders, I inked up the stamps with Versamark Ink and then embossed in Rose Glintz, Oyster Glintz and Platinum to create this gorgeous color palette.

Let’s fact it, no embossing ever shows its best in a photo but I tried to capture the shine on an angle so you could see more. Using the Rose Glintz again, I chose a sentiment from the Give Thanks Stamp Set for the center of the wreath. I found this older printed paper from Simon Says Stamp in my stash and found it went perfectly with the Rose.

So now on to more fun! As part of the celebration, Concord and 9th has shared a limited time discount for shopping with the Crafty Friends. YES!!! Click on the graphic above and use the code CRAFTYFRIENDS20

Now on to the rest of the hop. Jenny Hall is next in the rotation if you did not start at the beginning. And here is the list in case you get lost along the way.

We hope you are as excited about this new inspiration as we are. Thank so much for joining in today!

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