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 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**

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.