Time

I had a couple of challenges to share today.  I was playing around with the cream and black from the City Crafters Challenge this past weekend and finished this card a little bit after  my other CCCB card.

The background is from this really cool stencil from The Crafters Worksop that is made up of large distressed clocks.  I loved it and wanted to create a card around the stencil.  The background was sponged onto cream cardstock.  Then the telegram stamp from Artistic Outpost Ephemeral Backgrounds was stamped randomly in the background.  The other images are from Artistic Outpost Wonderland Collage and Whimsical Melange.
I hope the card applies as the challenge said primarily cream and black. :)

My second card is for the My Minds Eye - Sketch Challenge and Embellish Magazine Buttons Colors Trend Challenge.

The paper is from My Minds Eye - Lost & Found collections. The stamps a combination of Nina B. Crafts Meow and B Line Design Secret Garden.

Hope your week is off to a good start!  We had ton of wind this past weekend but lovely sunny days.  Very crisp and fall like. 

Suzz

Geraniums & Text

I have been wanting to play along in the Simon Says Stamp and Show some bling all week, but it has been a busy week and had to wait until today.  I combined the City Crafter Challenge to use scraps with the colors and flower challenge from Embellish challenge.

 

The image is the Stampendous Jumbo Hydrangea cling CRS5005-R but I colored it as a geranium and I think it looks like a geranium. :) Geraniums are so beautiful and hardy (spoken like a lazy gardener)! 

The circle was my scrap and I stamped on it using the Stampendous Dream Cling CRR015-R in black ink and added a little peachy tan color to the background. 

The flowers are colored using a few shades of glimmer mist with a waterbrush. 

The background paper is some beautiful paper from TPC. It is wedding and anniversary and has a beautiful sheen to it. 

My bling is the accents on the flowers and all the glimmer mist and perfect pearls mister spritzed over the flowers and background.  

I added highlights to my flowers with the white gel pen and realized I hadn't embossed anything on my flowers which was part of the Embellish Challenge. So I decided to try something new for me and add low lights on my flowers using embossing powder. I took out my Versamark marker and added touches of watermark ink to my flowers and then heat embossed using clear embossing powder. I like the effect. It looks like a touch of dew on my flowers. 

Hope your Saturday is wonderful! 

Suzz

Thank You!

Thank you all for leaving sweet comments for my daughter's card yesterday. She kept checking the blog to see the comments from you, and telling me and my DH about them.  I created this card  as a thank you for you all!

The colors were inspired from the Embellish Patterned Paper Color Trends challenge. This is also being submitted to the Simon Says Stamp and Show anything goes.

The paper is from the Bo Bunny  Timepiece Collection and worked beautifully for the colors. The images are from Stampendous Agapanthus Cluster and Friendship Assortment.

Stamp flowers multiple times using Versamark watermark ink. Emboss using Ranger Distress embossing powder Vintage photo.  Here is a close up of the distress powders. They give a nice texture to the solid images.

The flowers were colored with water brush and blue watercolor pencil.

The inspiration photo:

Thank you!

Suzz

Surfs Up!

I combined the colors from the Embellish challenge - Nautical theme with the Wee Memories Summertime and the Lily Pad Cards Challenge to create a patriotic themed card all into one project.

I saw this cute Snorkle Tobie  at Some Odd Girl and envisioned him at the beach with the surfboards done in the patriotic colors! Some Odd Girl is the sponsor at Lily Pad this week.

The surfboards are hand drawn and created using Rocket Boy paper from October Afternoon.  The Sand is sandpaper torn along the edges.  I added a little spanish moss for texture along with the seashells from Hero Arts. The sentiment is also Hero Arts. 

This is my last week with the Lily Pad Blog Challenge.  A truly wonderful team and good friends! 

The fabulous Design Team: Alice Wertz, Deborah Nolan, Lin Brandyberry, Nancy Krueger, Sherri Thompson, Vicki Papaioannou

Have a sunny day! 

Suzz

Embellish - Text Color Trends Challenge

The Embellish Challenge is to use shades of black/grey and text.  The sponsor for this challenge is Hero Arts. (Yeah!)

I had fun playing this morning with the colors and stamps.

I sorted through all my Hero Arts stamps to pick out which ones I wanted to use. I decided to stamp the lovely flowers in a soft grey mixed with a slate blue/gray onto the envelope pattern background.  I added a touch of black to the petals with a watercolor pencil.

The text was added last. I inked up the definition cling stamp only along the bottom half of the stamp with a black dye ink. Wipe away with a wet wipe along the top edge of the ink to give it  blurred edges. Stamp over the envelope pattern background.  Wipe clean the stamp and repeat for the top half of the main image.

This works really well as the envelope pattern and friends definition are the same size stamp so positioning it was not a problem.
The butterflies were punched from glimmer misted crepe paper and stamped with the friends definition.
Products: Hero Arts - Envelope Pattern, Friends Definition, Sweet Threads - Thank You, Essential Messages

Hope everyone is having a lovely long weekend.  I am looking forward to using our pool as we are expected to get up in the 80's on Monday.
Suzz

Embellish Tags & City Craft Challenge By the Sea

 I merged the Embellish Tags & Color Challenge with the City Crafter Challenge - By the Sea to create this seafaring card.

I love this old lighthouse from the Artistic Outpost Beyond the Sea plate. It is so fun to color. The sentiment is a new one from Verses Rubber Stamps - QQ1203-E Salt of the Ocean.  The background music is from the Artistic Outpost Ephemeral Backgrounds plate.

I had a lot of fun embossing the kraft cardstock and distressing it with the white acrylic paint. The image is colored using distress / dye inks with a dash of the white paint over top.


I hope you had a wonderful weekend. 

Suzz

New Blog Header

I created my new blog header as I really wanted to put something in anticipation of the spring flowers that we will be seeing in the next few months. The piece I created was inspired by the Stampington Publication Artist's Cafe. There were some beautiful mixed media art in there along with my  inspiration from the other day. This is also for the challenge from Embellish Magazine this month (Music and Colors) and the Hero Arts Monthly Challenge technique of layering.

The process started with a piece of white cardstock. Stamped partially the Antique Brocade Background from Hero Arts using brown pigment ink over entire surface. Paint the surface with a mix of Snow Cap and Cool Peri acrylic paint daubers from Ranger.   Tear vintage sheet music and tape down to surface. Sponge some of the same paint mixture over the surface. Sponge edges of everything with a brown dye ink.

Stamp hydrangea (Hero Arts)  and sentiment (Verses Rubber Stamps - QQ0846-F Mother Teresa Quote)  using Ranger Archival ink. Color Hydrangea using your favorite medium. (Mine is always the watercolor pencils) Sponge a little of the white paint onto the hydrangea to soften the edges.

The butterfly was left over from my cards the other day. All I had to do was change out the button.

Well I hope you enjoyed the new header. I am really happy with it.  Now I am trying to figure out how to re-purpose into a wall hanging. :)

Have a wonderful day!

Suzz

Hydrangeas and Dogwoods

Today's post is a combination of two challenges, inspiration from Jacqueline, and some scraps that have been in my inked backgrounds.  Jacqueline and her beautiful creations is the inspiration for my cards today.   Embellish Magazine Color Trends Challenge is to use music and a set of colors and Hero Arts monthly challenge includes using layering of your stamps.

 

Here is the inspiration photo from Embellish Magazine with the colors: 

The stamps are from Hero Arts and Inkadinkado. The backgrounds were pieces I had created awhile ago for other projects and leftover. They are inked from dye inks and water. 

I will be back tonight to post up my CR84FN card later! Have a wonderful day! 

Suzz

Embellish Challenge - Birds and Colors

I am still playing with the colors and birds challenge from Embellish Challenge.  I was admiring the beautiful cards and tags on  Jacqueline's blog and tried to capture her beautiful style in my cards. 

I first created this card:

and then I shared this card with a friend. She mentioned that my words on my backgrounds and the eggs were going the wrong direction. So I redid my card and rotated the background papers.

So which design do you like?  I ended up liking my first project better even with the words/script going the wrong direction. :) 

I love this paper from 7 Gypsies called Conservatory and used it for the background on the cards. The bird is from Impression Obsession called Chickadee on a Candy Cane.  The sentiment is from Verses QQ-1007D Hope Feathers.    The background is also from Impression Obsession and is Nest Definition stamp. The birdcage is from Hero Arts.

Hope you are having a wonderful week!

Suzz

Chicken Soup?

The Embellish Challenge is to use earthy colors and a bird on your project. I have the cutest Cat's Pajamas get well set and this funny little chicken sitting in a soup bowl. So I thought it would be funny to create a card using the chicken.

I had this tiny little charm that says aspirin for a long time and decided to add that to the card. Now I have a card on hand to send to a friend who might not be feeling too well. : )

The image is stamped with brown StazOn ink and colored with markers. The background is stamped with the Memory Box Alpha stamps using Hero Arts Shadow Ink Soft Sand.

Here is the inspiration photo

Hope your day is filled with sunshine!

Suzz

Christmas Gifts

I saw the beautiful colors over at the Embellish Challenge and thought of using the 2S4Y Kazan's Sketch 65 and combining the challenges together and creating a Christmas gift bag. This also works for Hero Arts monthly theme of Gifts / Gift tags.

Here is what I created:

 Here is the Embellish inspirational photo

 and the sketch:

The pink in my picture looks a little darker than the inspiration but it is due to me trying to showcase the vellum bag.

I didn't have any good bags in the house to stamp on and I wanted to showcase my cute little snowman, so I decided to create a vellum bag.  Here is the recipe for the bag:

1. Cut two pieces of vellum 5" x 10". Score at 8 1/2" on both pieces. Gentle on the scoring. (Mine cut through. :) I made my bag so the bottom doesn't fold up. If you need it to fold up you would create a bottom piece similar to the sides. Put double sided tacky tape along bottom flap on outside on one piece and on inside on the outside flap on the other piece.
2. Cut two side pieces 5" x 8". Score at 1", 2 1/2", 4" across the 5" span on both pieces. Fold the side pieces in half and fold outer scores the opposite direction. Put double sided tacky tape on the outside facing pieces. One on each side.
3. Punch a border edge across the top if desired.
4. Stamp on vellum using StaZon . Let dry as needed.
5. Put side piece flush with front and back edge and attach. Repeat.
6. Attach the bottom flaps together.
7. Cut slit in front edge on bottom and run ribbon through slit.

Hope that was helpful. I would tape my bag better and run the ribbon around the entire bag after putting in my gift with tissue paper for my next gift bag.

The image is from Art Impressions and part of a new line they have called Jingle Tots. I tried to limit myself so I bought the adorable snowmen and a stamp with the little kids. They are so cute.

The image was stamped two times and pieced together. (Sloppy coloring on my part using my copics) The tassels are Flower Soft and the lights and snow are accented using Stickles.  Little black gems as accents for eyes and buttons. The background snowflakes and stars are Hero Arts.   The stars are stamped using Versamark and embossed using Judikins Kaleidescope embossing powder.

Thanks for stopping by. Sorry about the double post. :) I am going to share my Oz stair step card tomorrow and wanted to enter the 2S4Y before the challenge ended.

Hope you have fun plans for the weekend!

Suzz

Embellish Challenge - Yellow, Black, Grey and White

I saw some beautiful cards using these colors out in blogland and they are from the Embellish Challenge to use the colors yellow, black, grey and white and to stamp a background or a pattern. 

Love the colors and the fun pictures!

I created two cards.  The first one is very me... The second one is... Well... you will see.. 

I pulled out my Damask stamp and created a pattern on the grey paper using a Judikins Damask and a new Cover All stamp from Impression Obsession which I love it looks like paint splatters.  So this card I think is very me. 

Here's my second card for the challenge:

So much empty space. Very hard for me to not add any more details. I tried to add gems and do other things to detail it up!:)  But ended up leaving the clean lines. Same splatter background with an overlaid stamp from Stampin up. The sentiment is from Cornish Heritage Farms.

There is a little frost on the berries but you cant see it in the pictures.

Hope you have a wonderful Monday!

Suzz

Embellish Challenge

The Embellish Challenge is a color and piecing challenge.  Here is the beautiful picture:

This week's sponsor is My Favorites Things, that inspired me to pull out my Pure Innocence image from My Favorite Things.

The pants, shirt and chalkboard are all pieced using various papers. I decided to create a 5 1/2" x 51/2" card with a diagonal fold on the front.

The sentiment on the chalkboard is from Memory Box and purchased especially for my middle daughter as she is really smart and I thought it would be cute to get the sentiment for when she does well on her grades. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz