Flowerful Friday: Happy Bloom Three Ways

Welcome to another Flowerful Friday.  Maybe you remember I mentioned in an earlier post I was having trouble with my coloring and had made several "duds".  Well, one of the stamps I was having a problem with is Altenew's Happy Bloom.  It's a beautiful set with one large stamp, plus several smaller stamps and a few sentiments.  You can make lots and lots of cards with it and no two alike.  A smart purchase, I thought.  The problem was my own haste or expectations... I'm not sure... but I finally colored one I'm somewhat satisfied with.

For this card I stamped in Memento London Fog on X-Press It Blending Card and colored with Copics.  I masked the two flowers that overlap the sentiment banner and used a stamp positioner to stamp the sentiment.  Popped up the image panel and finished with iridescent sequins.

Inside I stamped a partial image in amethyst ink and a sentiment from another Altenew set -- Wishing You.

Okay... want to see the cards I wasn't happy with?

The card below was stamped in Ranger Antique Linen on Arches 140 lb hot pressed watercolor paper and watercolored with Stampin' Up! Watercolor Wonder Crayons.  Splatters, sequins, stitching, distressing.  It has grown on me and now I think maybe it's not so bad.  In some ways I like it better than the Copic colored card.  The sentiment is minutely off.  I know... picky, picky!

Card #3 is mixed coloring media:  Stamped in SU's River Rock ink -- a water based muted green -- on Neenah 110 lb white.  The coloring is Prismacolor Pencils blended with Gamsol odorless mineral spirits.  The faint blue shading around the image is Copic B21.  Finally, I added blue watercolor splatters.  Some of it I like a lot.  Some of it not so much.  The sentiment is way off.  I know it shouldn't bug me so much, but it does.

Holy cow, that's a lot of coloring!  I wish I could take the things I like best about each card and put them together.  Maybe next time.  I see lots more Happy Bloom coloring in my future.

You all have a nice weekend now and I'll see you again on Monday!

Whatever Wednesday: Wild Horses

I did not know until recently that Stampendous had a line of Laurel Burch stamps.  I went there looking for something else and found Laurel Burch.  Stopped me in my tracks.  I love anything Laurel Burch.  Bookmarked!  Finally, when I was ready to shop, I indulged.

I realize these stamps are not very mainstream, but I guess that's what I love about them.  It was too hard to narrow down my choices, so I ended up with three single stamps, and two full sets.  I'd still like to have more.  I chose to color these Wild Horses first.

I didn't use the vivid colors associated with Laurel Burch.  Instead, I was inspired by a notebook I saw in a shop... similar, but different.  Stamped with Versamark and embossed in copper, watercolored with Twinkling H2Os.  Rich and earthy.

Poor horses... their sparkle and shimmer is tethered by the limitations of my photography.

I used a copper brushed metallic card base, a strip of gold trim.  Inside is a sentiment and sun motif from a different Laurel Burch set.

A small motif from that other set for embellishment on the front.

I'm going to categorize this as a masculine card, but I'm sure I'll send it to a girlfriend.

I'll be back with flowers on Friday.  Enjoy the rest of your week, and I'll hope to see you then!

Stamps:  Wild Horses by Laurel Burch for Stampendous, Fish Wishes (Laurel Burch/Stampendous) for sentiment  Paper:  Arches 140 lb hot pressed watercolor, dark brown card stock, copper brushed metallic card stock  Ink:  Versamark  Coloring:  Watercolor with Twinkling H2Os  Accessories:  Gold self-adhesive trim, copper embossing powder, light gold embossing powder, Spellbinders circle die, 1" circle punch

Monday Fun Day: EGG-citing Easter

Hello there!  Ready for another week to whiz by in a heartbeat?  Let's slow it down for a minute and enjoy our Monday.  It seems like a good day for something cute, fun, whimsical, lighthearted... so I'm going to designate Mondays as a fun day.  Flowerful Friday, Monday Fun Day.  Guess I'll do Whatever Wednesday for the in betweens.  I may miss a day or two when the stamping runs out, but for now it will give me some focus and keep me moving along.

I didn't think I was going to get any Easter cards made, but then I remembered it's one of the reasons I bought this So EGG-citing stamp set.  Birthday, Easter, baby... there's a sentiment for each and more, so I'm good for a while as long as I don't send egg cartons to the same person over and over again.  In fact, I slipped a Post-It Note in with the stamp set so I can list the names of who I send egg cards to.

I think the card is pretty self-explanatory:  A stitched circle frame with a stitched circle patterned paper inset, grass die, Copic coloring.  Very simple and not much time spent on coloring.  Did I mention it was fun?  Yep, it was fun!  See you again on Wednesday!

Stamps:  Your Next Stamp "So EGG-Citing"  Paper:  Neenah 110 lb white, PTI Lemon Tart, Memory Box Granny Smith, Echo Park Happy Summer designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics for coloring  Accessories:  Memory Box Stitched Scalloped Circles and Stitched Circle Layers, Impression Obsession Grass Border

Flowerful Friday: Another Free Digital Stamp

Happy Friday!  I don't know about you, but Friday sure sneaked up on me fast.  It was a busy week and I was not home enough for quality stamping time.  That's when I get in a hurry and nothing turns out worth a darn.  I've taken a notion that I want to reserve Fridays for flower cards.  Well, sheesh, it would be nice if I could actually color some flowers.  So after casting off several duds I thought maybe it was time to share something I colored last month.

This is an extra super simple card.  Well, somewhat simple.  It didn't take much time, but I like it.  As stated in my title, it's a free digi.  You can find it here at the Digital Two for Tuesday blog.  There are two pretty flower images in that post, both embroidery designs.  This one had a vertical orientation, but by flipping it horizontally and dropping it off the side it made the smaller image appear to be in the background.  You'd never know this was a 1953 image.  It looks very current to me.

I added a double row of stitching and some silver cord.  A Stampin' Up sentiment.  Lots of white space.  I printed on Neenah Classic Crest Solar White and colored with Copic markers.  That's all, folks!  Hoping for better stamping times coming up.  I'd like to get ahead on my card needs before summer calls me away.  Have a happy weekend!

Double D Challenge: Just Wing It

Time for another Double D challenge, friends!  We're doing "Just Wing It" for a theme and we'd love to see where your wings take you.  I have golden dragonflies today.

Here's our inspiration board with a variety of winged things:

And a prize for a random winner:

This Elizabeth Craft "Dragonfly" die set has been sitting in my not-yet-used basket far too long.  I thought I'd be using them with flowers, but it somehow never happened, so when this challenge came along I decided to make them my main focus.

I have to show you this photo of the die set so I can 'fess up to what inspired me.  Just keeping it simple with an ink-sponged background, water splatters, circle stamps, and some tiny dragonflies.

I used some favorite older Stampin' Up! inks -- Cool Caribbean and Gable Green.  Old Hero Arts Box of Dots stamps -- inked mostly on the edges by rolling in the stamp pad and then rolling on the paper.  Gold mirrored card stock with Gable Green for the card base.  The inked panel is Strathmore Mixed Media Vellum Surface card stock.  A seriously quick and easy card to make and lots more fun than I expected it to be.

I'll be looking forward to all the things with wings this challenge inspires.  Do check out the wonderful DT cards on the Double D blog, leave some love, and then play along with us.  Have a happy day!

Stamps:  Poppystamps Believe in Magic sentiment, Hero Arts Box of Dots, Hero Arts tiny dragonfly from Printer's Lowercase alphabet set  Paper:  Strathmore Mixed Media Vellum Surface, gold mirrored card stock, SU Gable Green  Ink:  SU Cool Caribbean and Gable Green, Tempting Turquoise for tiny dragonflies, Memento Tuxedo Black for sentiment  Accessories:  Elizabeth Craft Dragonfly die set, Spellbinders Nested Lacy Pennants, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

Blossom Twofer

Hello at last!  I haven't managed much time in my room lately, tsk tsk.  Coloring was happening one petal at a time whenever I could pop in there.  Finally, when I did have a day, I put the coloring aside and made some cards for the Twofer Challenge -- make two different cards for two different purposes, using the same stamp or die.   The theme this time around is "Blossoms".

I used an older Die-namites die called "Daisy Bunch" for a simple "hello" and a "get well".

For the first card (below) I glued wood grain paper to the card front, then embossed with Sizzix Elegant Wreath folder, sanded to bring out the pattern.  Daisies are colored with Copics and layered three times with Neenah 110 lb white.  The "hello" is two layers, colored with Copics.  Couldn't help but add the bow and cute little ladybug dimensional sticker.

Card #2 is a whole garden of daisies and two more ladybugs.  An older Stampin' Up! Curvy Verses sentiment.  One of the daisy dies is trimmed to fit its spot on the right edge of the card.

I used one of the trimmed off daisies for the inside.

These cards were almost too much fun.  Daisies are so cheerful.  Thanks, Darnell and all the Twofer Team, for lots of inspiration!  A full list of ingredients can be found below my signature.  Have a happy day!

Twofer Blossoms Challenge

Stamps:  SU Curvy Verses and Love Ya Bunches  Paper:  Neenah 110 lb white, Memory Box Granny Smith (green) card stock, Ms. Sparkle & Co wood grain designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics for coloring  Accessories:  Ribbon, EK Success dimensional ladybug stickers, Sizzix Elegant Wreath embossing folder, Die-namites Daisy Bunch die, Paper Smooches Hello Words die, older JustRite rectangle dies

Blooms Fill In

I'm back again with more new stamps getting inky before they grow moldy oldie.  Today it's my very first Concord and 9th set.  I'll blame this one on Cindy Beach and all the pretty stamping she did with this set.  I bookmarked it immediately and, happily, it wasn't long before I shopped.  Don't you just love receiving those packages of crafty goodies in the mail?

The set is Blooms Fill In.  It's a background stamp with a few sentiments and a whole bunch of flower parts you can use to fill in the blanks.

Clear stamps with a large expanse of solid surface can be tricky, so the right paper and ink makes all the difference.  Cindy had good luck with Distress Oxide inks (which I don't have).  My best results were with Memento ink.  My two favorite papers for solid image stamps are Stampin' Up Whisper White and Copic X-Press It Blending Card.

This is Memento Toffee Crunch on X-Press It Blending Card.  I kept it monotone, using Memento Rich Cocoa for the darker accents.  I stamped an additional partial background, cut out the flower part and layered it with twine and a die cut.

After I made this card (and several more!) I looked at them sitting there on my desk and wondered what is so compelling about this stamp set.  After all, you could easily do this with designer paper, and heaven knows I have plenty of that.  I guess it's just the do-it-yourself aspect of stamping.  Different colors, different degrees of filling in the blooms.  Playing around and seeing what happens.  A stamper gets it.  This set should come with a warning:  Once you start it's hard to stop.

Have a beautiful day!

Stamps:  Concord and 9th Blooms Fill In  Paper:  X-Press It Blending Card, Bazzill tan and dark brown  Ink:  Memento Toffee Crunch, Memento Rich Cocoa  Accessories:  Linen thread, Cottage Cutz Fall Vine

Shopping My Stash for a Dress

All my new stamps fell to the wayside temporarily when I had the strongest urge to color this dress for the National Dress Day challenge at Shopping Our Stash.  National Dress Day was March 6th.  There was a time I would have loved wearing this dress, but it's a little young for me now.  Doesn't stop me from thinking it's just the cutest thing, though.

It's a Stampendous stamp called "Spring Fling".  Sixteen years old.  My, how time flies!  I've used it quite a few times in the past, but not for years.  I hadn't necessarily planned on making a clean and simple card, but it's such a large stamp, and I can't think for the life of me what I did with it in the past.  It probably would have involved ribbon and designer paper and rhinestones as I'm pretty sure clean and simple wasn't even in my vocabulary 16 years ago.

The 2018 version has a border made with a Lil' Inker Silly Stitched die.  The dots on the dress and in the flower centers are sparkled with a Spica Atyou glitter pen, which shows nicely when seen in real life.  It's infinitely easy to mail and will make a fun birthday card for a girly friend.

I colored with Copic markers and used an older SU sentiment from the set, "Absolutely Fabulous".

Well, that was fun, and how nice it was to bring out this older stamp.  Gosh, I still love it as much as ever!  Have a happy day!

Shopping Our Stash #344:  National Dress Day

Stamps:  16 yr old Stampendous Spring Fling, retired SU Absolutely Fabulous  Paper:  X-Press It Blending Card  Ink:  Memento London Fog, Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics for coloring  Accessories:  Lil' Inker Silly Stitched die set, Spica Atyou glitter pen

Candy Cane Christmas

I've been waiting with bated breath for the new CAS Christmas Card Challenge and it's finally here!    It should be great encouragement, not only for getting some Christmas cards done, but for practicing clean and simple simultaneously.  The theme this month is "Holly".

Now, I'll admit I've had these cards in the works for a while, but quickly finished them up so I could play along.  I used one of my new (sort of) stamp sets.  I'll call it new because I've only had it since just before Christmas and hadn't used it yet.  That's new by my way of thinking.  The stamp set is Power Poppy's Berry Sweet Holiday.  I made two cards with this clean and simple design:

Colored with Copics, cut out and popped up.  Glitter on the berries.  All the white is Neenah 110 lb.  The peppermint candies are one of the stamps in the set.  Gloss was added.  I was thinking along the lines of large-ish enamel dots.

So, the first card is my entry in the CAS challenge, but I also made two of these:

CAS gals, turn your heads 'cause there's a lot going on with this design.  Ribbon, layers, designer paper... on a semi-tall card.  Still mailable with one postage stamp, though.

I'm always trying to figure ways to use my massive hoard of ribbon without adding a big, bulky bow.  In the photo below you can see an idea that worked well for this card.  I used an old SU double rectangle punch to create slots through which to thread the ribbon.  I placed an enamel dot over top so it looks like the ribbon is all cinched up in a brad. 

Here's that challenge link again.  The DT has some fantastically inspiring cards:

CAS Christmas Card Challenge:  Holly

I hope to play again before the month is over.  Thanks so much for visiting today.  I'll be back with more "playing with new stuff" later this week.  Stay well!

Stamps:  Power Poppy Berry Sweet Holiday  Paper:  Neenah 110 lb white, textured white, SU Real Red and Polka Dot Parade designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Real Red, Copics  Accessories:  Diamond Glaze, Diamond Stickles, enamel dots, double rectangle punch, Fiskars scallop edge scissors, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

Party at the Hen House

Hello, and welcome to another week of foul weather stamping!

So... I mentioned I have new stamps.  Getting right down to business, I'm starting with a stamp and die combo from Your Next Stamp -- "So EGG-citing".  You know how I like to color, and I'm developing a fondness for clean and simple cards, but, I also still like to goof around with fun, silly stuff, and play with dies and frames and papers and card designs.  Believe it or not, my husband thought this card was just the neatest thing.  I told him that's why I call it "playing in my room".

Perhaps it seems like a whole lot of card for that one little ol' egg carton, but I couldn't stop.  I had to use the chicken wire and wood grain frame.  Needed something for the corner, so along came the grass.  Well, what's a party without a little decoration?  Hence the banner.  Thought about using kraft for the card base, but then remembered this burlap paper which I've had for quite a long while and have never used.  Yes, this card represents a good deal of fun.

I sponged a yellowish glow on the background so there'd be lights on in the hen house.

I used a partial sentiment on the front, and saved the egg-pun sentiment for the inside.

I rarely buy a set's matching dies, but this time it was absolutely essential for putting the eggs and chicks in the carton.

Playing along in two challenges today:

Seize the Birthday:  Anything Goes

Alphabet Challenge:  Y for Your Choice

I'll come back around to this set later.  It's such a simple little thing with bunches of stamps and sentiments for several occasions.  Makes me giggle.  Have a happy day!

Stamps:  Your Next Stamp "So EGG-citing"  Paper:  Neenah 110 lb white, Strathmore Mixed Media Vellum Surface (inside hen house), Neenah Grocer Kraft card base, SU Wild Wasabi and Going Gray, DCWV Burlap Paper, Elizabeth Craft Through the Lens Wood Series designer paper, Simple Stories Snap Color Vibe designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics for coloring  Accessories:  Spellbinders Grand Squares and Classic Squares Large, Cheery Lynn Chicken Wire Frame, Impression Obsession Grass and Grass Border, Memory Box Banner Parade, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

Purple Poppies

Just one last card before the weekend, and I hope it will leave you with pleasant dreams of warm weather and sunshine.

Isn't this a pretty poppies stamp?  Well, you can't buy it, but you can have it for free.  If you like to color and don't mind digital stamps there are all kinds to choose from at Digital Two for Tuesday.  Now, when you first click on the blog you may think it's not your thing, unless you're a very vintage-minded stamper.  I don't do much vintage these days, but many of the images Cora has shared do not appear vintage at all.  This one, for instance, could pass for a brand new stamp.

Colored with Copics and popped up on a sanded Core'dinations card base, some pretty iridescent sequins added... where's the vintage?  In fact, Cora found these poppies in a 1953 Jane Snead embroidery design booklet.  I still say, "where's the vintage?"  Does that mean I'm vintage, too?

If you'd like to have these poppies to color one of these days, you can find them and more right here.  Click to open the image in a light box, then right click and save.  These Jane Snead images are some of my favorites.    To see more of the pretty Jane Snead flower designs, click here and scroll down.  There are many I've colored in the past and many more I'd like to color in the future.

I've been following Cora on Digital Two for Tuesday for years.  It's a hugely selfless thing she does, searching out these images and cleaning them up for us to use.  Picking out one of her many vintage images and giving it a new look is a treat I haven't given myself for a while, but since I've been coloring so much lately...  I plan to do more.

That said, I have some brand new stamps I'll be spending time with, as well, so I'll be back next week if stamping continues to happen.  See you then!