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

SSS May Card Kit: Illustrated Faith with Animation

Hey y'all!  I'm so late getting this post up.  Its been one of those days...you know, the kind where you try so incredibly hard to get everything on your list done, but instead only accomplish a fraction??  So, I have to be honest here...when I first got this kit, I didn't have a clue where to start!  The papers were so bright and cheerful...the stamp set was extremely cool...the acetate images were super fun!  Why was I having so much trouble getting started??  Did any of you experience something similar?  To this day, I still don't know what was wrong with me.  I eventually woke up one day and just decided to sit with it until "it" came to me.  Then the flood gates opened... and I was groovin'!  I am still thinking of things to do with this kit!  Let's have a look so you can see what I mean.

Hands down, my favorite items in the kit were/are the Suzy's Doodles water color pieces!  I even made a copy or two in case I wanted to do something with them later!  Overall, I used pretty basic techniques for all 10 cards: cut & paste, color & piece, die cut and embellish...same ole' same ole'!  The fun part was the animation.  Once you figure out just how you want the images to appear on your cards, you build your little animation slider element and you're off to the races. :D 

So, here are all 10 cards that I created using the Simon Says Stamp May 2017 Card Kit:

This next card, in particular, was inspired by Nina Marie Trapani's double slider card that was featured on both her YouTube channel and on her blog...such a great technique!

And a few detail shots... because if you're like me, you lean into your computer screen thinking it will make it easier to see! Ha! :D

And that's it for May!  All additional products will be listed below.  I hope you had fun with your kit this month, and if you haven't tried the SSS kits then I highly recommend it!  They really are pretty great! :D

Hugs,

Additional Products used: Tim Holtz Alterations Frameworks - Honeycomb; Big Chat stickers by Tim Holtz Ideology; Stitch Oval Scallop Edge Frame die by My Favorite Things (MFT from here on); Double Stitched Oval STAX by MFT; Chevron Fringe die by MFT; Succulents2Stamp by Stamps of Life; Pierced Heart STAX by MFT; Tons of Hearts clear stamps by Simon Says Stamp; Wonky Stitched Rectangle STAX by MFT; Stitched Rectangles by SSS; Love & Quotes clear stamps by SSS; Heart Parade die by SSS; Stitch Round Rectangle Frames by MFT; Heart Smile die by SSS; Birthday Wishes Frame by SSS; Advent Numbers clear stamps by SSS; Terrace Butterfly die by Memory Box; Blueprints 9 by MFT; Corner Round punch; twine; Pretty Pink Posh sequins; Simon Says Stamp sequins; light pink cardstock; yellow cardstock; various inks; shaker elements; white gel pen

**Some of these cards will be entered into the Simon Says Stamp Monday & Wednesday Challenges**

April Card Chain Challenge featuring SSS Spring Seeds

Hi there!  I hope everyone is enjoying this marvelous weather as much as I am!  I've gotten some much needed gardening time in lately, and it absolutely inspired this card that I created for my recipient, Arlene, in the April edition of the Card Chain Challenge!  If you're new to the Card Chain Challenge, let me tell you, its wonderful!  Ladies from all over the globe get to exchange their beautiful creations and its quite inspiring!  What a fun way to make new friends! 

So, as with any challenge, there are a few rules.  You must stick with any one (or more if you are so inclined) of four different options.  For April, the options were:

1. Color Palette option:

2. Sketch option:

3. Theme option:  Fruits & Vegetables / Rabbits / Friendship

4. Product option: Perfect Pearls / Die Cuts / Stencils & Embossing Paste

So, with those options in mind, I really wanted a card that sang of Spring.  Here's what I came up with...

I went with the Spring Seeds stamp set and coordinating dies from Simon Says Stamp.  I love these stamps and dies!  They are such fun to work with and they are the sweetest images!  The bunny is my favorite. :D  I'll include a list of all other products used below.  Here's a closer look at some details. 

You can really get great depth and dimension with these dies.  Before mailing, I decided to add just a few clear sequins to give a little sparkle!

Also, one last thing that I want to share with you is the card that I received from Denise in CA! 

She used a darling floral image and water colored it.  Isn't this the sweetest card?!  My photo really doesn't do it justice, considering the orange in the flowers is such a bright and pretty orange.  Isn't her technique wonderful?  Thank you so much Denise!!

 

I hope you'll consider joining the Card Chain Challenge...its great fun and a great way to challenge your creativity!  Until next time!

Hugs,

Complete List of Products used:  Large Eyelet Cover Panel die by Reverse Confetti, Spring Seeds stamp and die set by Simon Says Stamp,  Copic markers, Fishtail Banners dies by Sunny Studios, Hemp Cord twine by Hemptique, Sparkling Clear Sequins by Pretty Pink Posh, Tiny Check 6x6 paper pad by My Favorite Things, Fashionably Chic 12x12 paper pad by Recollections, Nina Desert Storm cardstock, Nina Solar White cardstock, and After Midnight cardstock by My Favorite Things

**I will also be entering this card in the Simon Says Stamp Monday and Wednesday Challenges**

Love From Lizi April Kit

Hi there!  It's the week following Easter, so ironically, many of the cards featured in today's post are Easter cards!  I suppose that's the draw-back of having an international kit subscription, but Lizi's April kit was so cute that I just had to make Easter cards, even knowing that this would not go up on the blog until after Easter!  Story of my life!  Luckily, many of them are Spring cards as well. 

This month, I stuck to the traditional 10 cards, but you could easily make so many more from this kit!  I had an abundance of supplies left over.  Let's have a look, shall we??

For this first card, I suppose I was still in the googly-eye mood because I thought that the little eye glasses from the stamp set would look awfully cute with googly-eyes!  What do you think?

For this next card, I really wanted to be able to color some of those eggs!  I used a very fine line pen by Maped to do my coloring, so my eggs turned out pretty bright and bold.  Not exactly the look I was going for to match this pretty pastel paper.  So, when you need to tone down some color, vellum is your friend!

This next card is most definitely one of the brightest and most colorful of the lot!  And, can I just say that the raffia Lizi put in the kit this month is fabulous?!  I just love the way it looks when tied into a bow with long loose tails!

I knew I wanted to do some water coloring with "Easter" image in the stamp set.  I decided to use Distress Inks for two reasons: 1. the colors are bright and oh so pretty, and 2. they are soooo easy to water color with!  These colors seem to coordinate best with the kit: Wild Honey, Fired Brick, Peacock Feathers, Mustard Seed, Broken China, Dusty Concord, and Spun Sugar.

I also stamped the image using the same ink color so that I could use the no-line coloring technique. Some glossy accents over the stickers in the kit gives a nice shine too!  

Since the Distress Inks were already on my table, I thought it would be pretty to do some ink blending to color the eggs.  On a piece of Bristol smooth cardstock, I blended Peacock Feathers, Broken China, Dusty Concord, Mustard Seed and Spun Sugar.  I then distressed it using a Distress Sprayer and blotted with a paper towel.  Next, I heat embossed my egg images in white and fussy cut them out.  I pulled out a few of the wood veneer shapes from the kit, and used my last scrap of the colored Bristol paper to die cut the "Spring" sentiment, also from the kit.  A nice little geometric pattern gives a very clean look to this card. 

A little sentiment sticker from the kit and an action wobble make the perfect pair for this next one!

Cheater alert!  I so badly wanted to use the "Hoppy Easter" sentiment from this Simon Says Stamp clear stamps set along with the bunny die from the LFL kit...aren't they just darling together?!?!  I think this one just might be my favorite!

Here's another one of the little wood veneer shapes and some more of that fabulous raffia!  No sentiment needed for this one since the paper says it all!  Since Lizi is from the UK, I'd really like to ask her if "Blooming Lovely" has a dual meaning...wink, wink! ;)  Brits have a fantastic sense of humor...

With all of the pretty little flowers in the sticker pack, I just had to make a wreath!

Last, but not least, I thought that the stickers and the bunny would make an adorable little window scene.  Pink plaid cottage anyone??  Yes please! :D

It's so very hard to see on camera, but Wink of Stella clear glitter makes these white die cuts really sparkle!

So that's it for the April LFL kit!  I just saw the May LFL kit release last night, so go check it out!  It looks like a wonderful kit for Father's Day!!

If you're curious as to the April kit contents, click here to view them on the Love From Lizi site.  All additional supplies used are listed below.  Thanks for stopping by and see you next time!

Hugs,

Additional Supplies: Darice Wiggly Eyes, Vellum, Maped Graph pens, Copic markers, Pretty Pink Posh sequins, Memory Box Ric Rac Stitches, Distress Inks, Glossy Accents, WOW! White embossing powder, VersaMark ink, Simon Says Stamp Stitched Squares, Rectangles and Circles, Hero Arts Postage Stamp Infinity Dies, Simon Says Stamp floral embossing folder, Reverse Confetti Circles N' Scallops die, Simon Says Stamp Easter Greetings, Sunny Studio Fishtail Banners, MFT Pierced Heart Stax, MFT Classic Window die, MFT Mini Doily Circles, and random pink cardstock

**I will be entering some of the cards featured in this post to the Simon Says Stamp Monday & Wednesday challenges**

SSS April Card Kit featuring Lawn Fawn Rainbow Plaid Papers

Hi and Happy Saturday! The moment I opened my April kit from Simon Says Stamp, I was in love! This kit was definitely my favorite so far! I mean, who doesn't love rainbow colors and cute cuddly wild animals?!?! Here is a quick peek at the kit contents:

Doesn't it just look like a bucket full of fun??? The kit sold out VERY quickly, but you can always order the items individually.  That's one thing that I really appreciate about SSS kits.   

It took me a few days to crank out these cards (its Spring Break so the kiddos are all home!), but I had such a great time! Plus, since the kiddos were home, they got to help! I will list all of the additional products used at the end of this post.  Let's get to it!

The little penguin in the stamp set was a sure fire place to start for me.  And what can be better than penguin lovebirds!? I fussy cut the eyes on a third image and pasted them on to my boy penguin so that they could be looking at one another...then of course my girl needed some eyelashes!

This was the trickiest card of the bunch.  I stamped the images on the inside of my card base and then die cut the circles on the outer cover after attaching the plaid panel.  To get the alignment just right, I used a transparency and traced the circles so that I could line it up before running through the big shot.  Here's a look at the inside of the card.

This little guy is the only one on a wobble! I meant to use more wobbles but really, I just forgot!

I found that these patterned papers go perfectly with distress inked backgrounds! This card is made using up some leftovers from all of the papers I'd cut into.  Waste not want not! Lol...  

This one was a total experiment.  I wanted to see how the critters would look if embossed with clear EP and then water colored.  I'm not crazy about the result, but couldn't bear to throw him away!

These penguins really crack me up!  I did the same thing with the eyes on this one...each ones eyes are slightly different, but the look on the one in front is hysterical! :D

I tried to think of different ways to use the tags in the kit, so this one got another Distress Ink application, but with the smooshing and water spritzing technique! Love how this tag turned out.  And, this little elephant is just the sweetest thing ever! He reminds me of Dumbo...one of my Disney favorites to this day! Here's a closer look...

Another great use for scraps! Make balloons! The sentiment comes from a previous SSS card kit - September 2016, I believe. 

Rather than Distress Inks, this tag was blended using the inks that came in the kit. They blend so nicely! The background is also stamped with the inks from the kit.

Last, but not least, I had to try some no line coloring with pencils on this kraft tag.  I found that the pencils don't blend as smoothly on this kraft as they do on Nina's kraft cardstock, but its still a nice effect, don't ya think? I love the feel of the soft colors, and who doesn't love a blue-eyed baby elephant!?

Thank you so very much for stopping by today! I hope you were able to find some inspiration! Now, go get your craft on... :D

Hugs,

Additional Supplies: SSS Scallop Stitches, MFT Pierced Heart Stax, SSS Stitched Rectangles, SSS Stitched Circles, MFT Concentric Circle Grid stencil, SSS Ring Frame, SSS Tiny Dots and Hearts background stamp, MFT Abstract Art stamp set, SSS It's No Secret stamp set, Lawn Fawn Put A Bow On It, Lawn Fawn Stitched Slopes, Hero Arts Birthday background stamp, Distress Inks, SSS Clear Ink, enamel dots, glossy accents, white embossing powder, Copic Markers, Prismacolor pencils, Pretty Pink Posh sequins, twine, ribbon, and some card bases in Fog Gray and Nina Desert Storm

**I will be entering some cards featured in this post to the Simon Says Stamp Monday and Wednesday Challenges**