Color Throwdown #444: Guest Star Stamper

Hey y'all!  I hope you're having a fabulous week so far!  Here in Georgia, most of the schools are either in or close to their last week of school and things are crazy busy!  My kiddos' last day of school is actually tomorrow, so we're getting ready for the summer and everyone is going nuts...especially me!  I just cannot believe how fast this year has gone by...it blows my mind!  

Anyhow...I am soooo excited to share this card with you today!  Last week, I was randomly selected as the featured stamper on the Color Throwdown challenge blog with this entry, and its always a treat when you get a nice surprise like that right?!  So, this week I am honored to get to share in the excitement with the design team and hosts of The Color Throwdown with challenge #444.  Let's have a look at this week's challenge, shall we?

So pretty, right?!  I couldn't resist having a little bit of fun with this challenge... 

Several months ago, I purchased an Echo Park paper pack called Jungle Safari and have been dying to use it!  The papers are so fun and lively...and I knew that there would be some great greens!  Is it just me, or does the jungle make you think of summer too??

I started by cutting several rectangle panels using the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle dies from the patterned paper.  To break up the patterns a bit, I decided to add some sparkle with silver washi tape and die cut that into a rectangle panel also.  It also helps to satisfy the "grey" in my color palette.  I then die cut the word "Hugs" into my center panel and backed it with black cardstock before attaching my panels to the card base. 

I stamped my little tigers with VersaMark ink onto white cardstock and heat embossed with Silver embossing powder by ZING! before die cutting them and securing them onto the panels with permanent adhesive and foam squares.  I chose to leave my tigers white, rather than coloring them.  White tigers are my most favorite!! 

I heat embossed the sentiment in white onto a green paper scrap that was leftover from cutting my panels.  To die cut the banner, I used the new MFT Essential Fishtail Sentiment Strips.  To finish it off, I added a few Nuvo Crystal Drops in Gloss White.  A complete list of supplies can be found below. 

I can't wait to see what the design team and everyone else comes up with for this week's challenge... As usual, I'm sure they'll all be amazing!  This card also happens to fit in perfectly with the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge: Little Critters, and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge: Bit of Sparkle, so I'll be entering them there as well!  Yay for double whammies...lol!  Until next time, go get your craft on!

Hugs,  

Supplies Used: Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles; Echo Park Jungle Safari 6x6 paper pad; My Favorite Things Lions & Tigers clear stamps and dies; My Favorite Things Big Hugs Die; My Favorite Things Essential Fishtail Sentiment Strips; Nuvo Crystal Drops in Gloss White; ZING! embossing powder in Metallic Silver; WOW! embossing powder in Opaque White; Black & White cardstock; Silver Glitter Scotch Expressions washi tape

Color Throwdown #442: Thankful Heart

Hey y'all!  Happy hump day!  I'm sharing a card today that I created for the Color Throwdown challenge this week.  So, tonight my husband and I are taking Jackson, our oldest, to his middle school transition night.  I am in complete disbelief that we are here already!  He was just a baby yesterday!  So, in honor of this day, I need to say THANK YOU to so many of our friends, family, neighbors and especially his teachers through the years.  They have all played a part in preparing him for this next step in life.  This card does just that! 

Also, the CTD design team has dedicated this week's challenge to Barbara, the leader of the CTD team, so it works for that as well!  Thanks Barb for all that you do to keep the Color Throwdown Challenge up and running!  We all are grateful to you!

Let's have a look at the inspiration for this week:

    

What a neutral, calming, gracious color scheme!  It's just lovely, don't you think?!  I was totally inspired by this one!

 

I stamped the backgrounds for all panels using the Gingham Background stamp from Simon Says Stamp.  The first is stamped in Simon Says Clear Ink onto kraft cardstock, the second is stamped in  SSS Fog ink onto Fog gray cardstock, and the third is stamped with My Favorite Things In The Buff ink onto white cardstock.  They are die cut with a Hero Arts Rectangle Infinity die and a SSS Stitched Rectangle die.  I really love the soft look that this background stamp gives! 

 

The sentiment comes from the Thankful Heart stamp set that was in the November 2016 card kit from Simon Says.  These sentiments are so versatile and gorgeously written!  I heat embossed it using Vanilla ZING! embossing powder from American Crafts.  The florals are also by Simon Says Stamp and come from the Blooming Day stamp and die set.  The ink colors are Duckling (SSS), Fog (SSS) and Sno Cone (MFT).  Add a ribbon, mount everything up and voila!  Quick, simple, elegant.  My favorite! :D

For any teachers out there that may be reading this, thank you from a mother that is eternally grateful for the endless kindness, patience, and genuine concern that you show to our children.  I wish I could hug each and every one of you! 

Thanks for stopping by today!  Until next time, go get your craft on!

Hugs,

SSS Wednesday Challenge: Best Mom Ever

Hey y'all!  I hope you had a fabulous weekend!  Its Monday, and time to get some projects that I've had in the works finished up...what have you got planned for the week??  I thought I'd start out with a few Mother's Day cards that I've been working on, and it just so happens that the challenge this week over on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog is A Hint of Pink!  How perfect for some Mother's Day cards!

I'm a sucker for a good technique, so when I started these cards, I had every intention of doing the same technique for each one, just with a slightly different color palette.  Well....things went as they normally do in my life and I got distracted!  I ended up with two techniques, but equally lovely results!

In these first two cards, I chose to use a combination of distress inks blended through stencils.  These two Tim Holtz stencils are some of my favorite because they can be so versatile!

The inspiration for the pink, aqua, lavender color scheme came from this past week's Color Throwdown challenge and I'm always up for a good monochromatic card, so I decided to use blues on the other.  I wanted these to be ultra feminine, so I applied Delicata ink in White Shimmer (still through the stencil) once the distress ink had dried. 

As with many shimmery and glittered effects, its hard to see in the photos, but the sheen is so pretty in person!  For the glittered pieces, I adhered some of my favorite glitter washi tapes over white cardstock before running the pieces through my die cutting machine.  Its a simple trick that I use all the time and I'm never disappointed with the results.  

For the next two cards, I stamped a background stamp from Simon Says Stamp onto watercolor cardstock and heat embossed the image so that I wouldn't have to worry about my water coloring running together.

Using this technique is a real time saver!  To color the images, I used Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers and a water brush.  I LOVE the results that you can get using this technique! 

For the pink and gold card, I used the same washi tape die cut technique as in the first two cards.  For the black, white and bright card, I die cut the "mom" from black cardstock and used a Spectrum Noir Sparkle pen in Onyx Black to add some sparkle.  I will be entering this particular one in the Lawn Fawnatics challenge #4.   

Add some sequins to all 4 of them (because you can never have too much sparkle for mom!) and call it a day!

I hope you've found a bit of inspiration from today's post, and I hope that you'll experiment with these techniques on your own.  They are so much fun and the results are almost fail safe!  A complete list of supplies can be found below.  Until next time, go get your craft on!

Hugs,



Products used:  Scripty Mom die by Lawn Fawn; Mom + Me clear stamp set by Lawn Fawn; Tim Holtz Layering Stencils - Gothic and Doily; Distress Inks - Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Salty Ocean, Spun Sugar, Shaded Lilac; Delicata White Shimmer Ink pad; Bristol Smooth Cardstock; 110 lb. black cardstock; 120 lb. white cardstock; Vellum; VersaMark Ink; Opaque Bright White embossing powder by WOW!; Ultra Fine Gold embossing powder by Simon Says Stamp; Liquid Platinum embossing powder by Ranger; Circle Doodle background stamp by Simon Says Stamp; Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers; MISTI stamping tool; Spectrum Noir Sparkle pen in Onyx Black; Glitter Washi Tapes by Scotch Expressions - Gold, Silver, White; Sparkling Clear Sequin Mix by Pretty Pink Posh; Sweet 16 sequin mix by Simon Says Stamp; Zig 2 Way Glue pen.

Color Throwdown #439: Magical Birthday

Hi there!  Today I'm sharing a card that I created with a few challenges in mind.  The Color Throwdown Challenge this week is full of gorgeous colors!  They are some of my favorites. 

This is also a special post dedicated to my daughter, Madeline Belle!  We call her Maddie.  Yesterday was her 9th birthday!  If anyone had told me how fast time flies when you have children, I'd have never believed them.  Let me tell you folks, I'm a believer now!  With each year, the time seems to pass more quickly than the year before.  They grow in so many ways...Maddie is our second born, although at times you'd swear she is the oldest.  She is wise beyond her years, and one of the most compassionate and patient little ladies I've ever known.  I am so lucky to be her mother!  I made this card because it reminds me of her...she is definitely magical!  So, Maddie Belle, this one is for you sweet girl! :D

For this card, I used the Once Upon A Time stamp set by My Favorite Things...its a favorite!  Papers are by My Favorite Things and Doodlebug.  A little close up of the sparkle in the images...why is glitter so hard to capture in photos??

Maddie, you will forever be our magical little princess...grow in grace and beauty my love! 

It just so happens that the My Favorite Things Color Challenge and the Wednesday Sketch Challenge were a perfect fit for this card!  If you'd like to check them out, and I highly suggest that you do, just follow these links!

My Favorite Things Wednesday Sketch Challenge #329

My Favorite Things Color Challenge 67

Thanks so much for stopping by today! 

Hugs, 

Supplies used: My Favorite Things Blueprints 1, My Favorite Things Tag Builder Blueprints 5, MFT Once Upon a Time clear stamps and dies, MFT Radiating Rays stencil, Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside Borders, MFT Dots & Stripes Confection 6x6 paper pad, Doodlebug Kraft in Color 6x6 paper pad, Copic markers, WOW! Opaque white embossing powder, Simon Says Stamp A2 Side Folding card base, Distress Ink in Mustard Seed, Wink of Stella clear glitter pen, Pretty Pink Posh sparkling clear sequins, ribbon

Color Throwdown #437: It's Your Special Day

Hi there! Today I'm sharing a card that I created for Color Throwdown #437 featuring a lovely Sunflower image by Stampendous.  So, for the  inspiration this week, Lori chose a pretty vase of tulips.  So perfect for spring don't you think?! 

I don't own any tulip stamps, or I might have chosen to do tulips, but I'm glad I didn't because I'm very pleased with the way that this turned out! 

First of all, I love this stamp!  It's so bright and happy, and that little ladybug is so sweet!  It just puts a smile on my face!  Secondly, sunflowers are my favorite flower.  I've never seen a sunflower that I didn't love!  I started out by heat embossing the image with black embossing powder onto watercolor cardstock.  I colored the image using a water brush and Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers.  The background is just a wash of mixed blues and greens from a Koi palette.  I used Simon Says Stamp stitched rectangle dies to cut out the panel and also the red gingham, which is from the My Favorite Things Tiny Check paper pad. 

The sentiment comes from the MFT Jungle Friends stamp set.  I think this one in particular works great for a birthday card!  I heat embossed it with Wow! Opaque Bright White embossing powder onto black cardstock, and then cut it out using one of the stitched label dies, also by My Favorite Things.  To finish it off, I adhered my panel onto a Nina Desert Storm card base, added some twine and popped my sentiment up with a bit of foam tape.  I didn't even need to add sequins!  Lol :D

Since the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge is all about Birthdays this week, I'll be entering it there as well.  Now I'm off to work on some Easter cards and goodies for the kiddos!

Hugs!

Color Throwdown #432

Well this is going to be squeaking in under the deadline!  I have had so much fun today working on this card!  These Color Throwdown challenges really are quite fun...the colors are always wonderful!  This week's challenge colors are:

For this week's card, I used the My Favorite Things "No Place Like Home" card kit.  I like to do a card that's almost completely made up of die cuts every now and then!  Here is my take on the challenge:

In addition to the kit, I used four other die sets from My Favorite Things: Rolling Hills for the picket fence and hills, Sunny Skies for the sun, and Trees in the Forest for the trees, and Cloud 9 for the cute little clouds!  Such great dies that all work so well together!  Sometimes you don't realize how tiny those pieces are until you start to work with them either!  All cardstocks used were from a giant paper pack that I have had for ages by Colorbok.  Its super heavy weight and textured on one side so it gives a really nice detail to the die cuts. 

I used a MISTI to stamp both sentiments (inside and out) to be sure that it lined up exactly. 

To bring it all together, I used the Stitched Rectangles die set from Simon Says Stamp so that all of the little stitch marks around the edges would match up.  The one tiny bit of coloring that I did on this card was for the path leading to the front door of my little house.  Using Zig CC markers, I water colored a scrap of water color cardstock using two different grays to give the illusion of uneven dirt...hopefully it looks that way to you too! Lol...

With all of the dimension from the dies, there was no need to foam mount the panel, so I flat mounted it onto some Fog cardstock (also from SSS) and called it a day!  This scene reminds me of a little farm house in the country...all that's missing are some cows!  I hope you have a fantastic week!

Hugs,