Hello There!

Hello, hello! Today I'm playing with this gorgeous inspiration image from The Pink Elephant! Oh my goodness - wood, doilies, pink flowers and a dash of green. I love it all!

Here are the DEEtails:

I watercolored my favorite flowers from Secret Garden after inking them in Smoky Slate. For this one, I carefully painted in each petal, being careful not to let the gray ink run. The color turned out a bit more saturated than I would have liked, since I had to be careful with adding water, but I'm still really happy with how they turned out. I inked in the centers with a Crushed Curry marker. Next I stamped the Hello There sentiment onto my patterned paper and embossed it in white. I layered the paper on a pretty pattern from Eastern Elegance and adhered it to a Kraft card. Then I added a piece of wood tied up with some pretty cotton ribbon - I kind of wish I had made the wood piece thinner, now that I'm looking at it... I layered on a die cut doily and then arranged my flowers and some die cut leaves in a Vellum mason jar. Hope you like it!

Paper: Artist Loft 140# Watercolor Paper, Eastern Elegance Designer Series Paper, In Color 2013-2015 Designer Series Paper Stack, Kiwi Kiss Cardstock, Kraft Cardstock, Lucky Limeade Cardstock, Texture Cuts Wood Sheets, White Vellum Cardstock
Stamps: Hello There, Perfectly Preserved, Secret Garden
Ink: Smoky Slate, Strawberry Slush, VersaMark
Embellishments: Pool Party Cotton Ribbon, White Stampin' Emboss
Tools: Cannery Framelits, Doily Details Die Collection (Papertrey Ink), Secret Garden Thinlits, Stampin' Dimmensionals

Watercolor Blooms

Happy Monday! I am so loving my card today, which if kind of interesting because I never use these flowers because I don't really like them... Today I'm playing along with the challenge at Your Next Stamp. This gorgeous image and color combination are fabulous inspiration!

DEEtails:

These flowers are from Secret Garden. The smaller blossom is my usual go to, but I decided to try some watercolors on this daffodil-ish flower. I actually don't really like this image, but am so pleased with the outcome. I found these pearlescent watercolors at the craft store this weekend and was eager to try them out. It's almost a little too pearly, and sometimes gives off a grayish look when adding more color, but overall, it turned out pretty nice. I know you can't tell at all in the photos that they are pearlescent, so you'll just have to trust me. :) I die cut the flowers and layered them over some patterned papers. The ribbon is from Sale-A-Bration last month and I love it how it ties. The Scripty Words die from YNS was a perfect match. Hope you like it!

Paper: Artist's Loft 140# Watercolor Paper, Basic Gray Cardstock, Designer Series Paper Patterns Stack In Color 2011-2013, Sweet Dreams Designer Series Paper
Stamps: Secret Garden
Ink: Versamark
Embellishments: Best Year Ever Accessory Pack
Tools: Pearlescent Watercolor Pan Set (Artist Loft), Scripty Words Die Set (Your Next Stamp), Secret Garden Framelits Dies, Stampin' Dimmensionals

A Fabulous Work of Art

It's back to work today for me, but thanks to a bit of free time this weekend, I was able to create a card to play along with the Inky Paws Challenge at Newton's Nook Designs. The challenge is to use Watercolor - Yay!

DEEtails:

I really wanted to create a piece of art for this challenge and came up with the idea of giant blossoms popping out of a frame, so I started with the frame image from Around the House from Newton's Nook. I splashed on some "watercolors" using a paintbrush with water and some Pistachio Pudding and Coastal Cabana inked on some of my acrylic blocks. After letting it dry, I popped it into the frame. No, no... Just kidding. I trimmed it down and adhered it onto my stamped image. Stamping the sentiment was a bit of an afterthought and a bit tricky! The sentiment is from SU's Work of Art and embossed in gold. Gold on soft watercolor is just the prettiest thing! The flowers from Secret Garden were stamped in Versmark and embossed in clear powder. I finally purchased the matching dies for these flowers and used them for the first time! Then I watercolored them using the same technique as the background, but with Crisp Cantaloupe ink. I love how soft and delicate these flowers turned out. I filled in the centers using my Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blendabilities marker, then added them to my card with some adhesive and Stampin' Dimmensionals. I wanted a bit of extra gold in there, so I rolled up some gold DMC thread and tucked it under my flowers. Oooh. And of course, for some extra sparkle, I added some lovely sequins. Hope you like it!

Paper: Artist's Loft 140# Watercolor Paper, Crisp Cantaloupe Cardstock, Watercolor Wonder Designer Series Paper
Stamps: Around the House (Newton's Nook), Secret Garden, Work of Art
Ink: Baked Brown Sugar, Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding, VersaMark; Stampin' Blendabilities Marker - Daffodil Delight
Embellishments: Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder, Gold Metallic Thread (DMC), Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder, Save the Date Sequins (Teresa Collins)
Tools: heat tool, paintbrush, Secret Garden Framelits dies

Thanks

I'm loving the inspiration image over at The Card Concept this week. I made a card to submit just in time!

DEEtails:

As soon as I saw the inspiration image, I knew that I should use the lovely Hardwood background stamp. I stamped it in Soft Suede on some Baked Brown Sugar Cardstock. I stamped a few of my go to flowers from Secret Garden in StazOn ink on some watercolor paper and just lightly watercolored them with some pretty pink colors. I layered them over a corner of a doily and added a few Mellow Moss leaves, die cut from the Bouquet Bigz Die. The sentiment is one of those die cuts that Naki sent to me. And of course, I had to add a bit of sparkle. You know I can't resist! These are from Teresa Collins Save the Date. Hope you like it!

Paper: Baked Brown Sugar Cardstock, Mellow Moss Cardstock, Smoky Slate Cardstock, Soft Suede Cardstock, Watercolor Paper
Stamps: Secret Garden
Ink: StazOn Jet Black, Soft Suede
Embellishments: Doily (Wilton), Save the Date Sequins (Teresa Collins)
Tools: Bouquet Bigz Die, paintbrush, Many Thanks Die-namics (My Favorite Things), Stampin' Write Markers - Blushing Bride, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose

Naki and Nina's Double Dare Challenge

Happy Friday! Naki and I have another Double Dare to share with you today! We hope you'll join in the fun by linking up in the comments.

Here's how it works: For each challenge, Naki and I blindly pick something that we want to work with (a color scheme, tool, sketch, technique, inspiration, whatever!) Then we combine our picks to make a Double Dare Challenge! Here are our picks for this challenge:

Naki's pick for this challenge was to use a Project Life card

My pick was to use Washi Tape

Here are the DEEtails for my card:

I decided layering some fun patterns with the Midnight Edition Project Life Card that I picked out for this challenge. It's a bit hard to see in this photo, but the card has grid lines, which I thought would look cute with a Spiral punch along the edge. Then I layered it over some patterns from the Kaleidoscope DSP and then added on some fun patterned washi tapes. I love the Stached with Love theme from Stampin' Up!, which I paired with some striped washi from 3M. Of course, I added one of my favorite blooms, that I inked in with the Coastal Cabana Stampin' Blendabilities markers. I'm still trying to get the hang of blending the colors...

Paper: Coastal Cabana Cardstock, Kaleidoscope DSP
Stamps: Because You Care, Secret Garden
Ink: Coastal Cabana, Basic Black
Embellishments: Midnight Edition Project Life card, Stacked with Love Washi Tape, striped washi tape (3M)
Tools: Spiral Border Punch, Stampin' Blendabilities Markers - Coastal Cabana Assortment

Now be sure to check out Naki's creation over on her blog. We'd love for you to play along with us! Just create a project with some Project Life and Washi tape and link up in the comments below.

Cupcake Inspirations Challenge 296

Hi there! Ready for a yummy cupcake and some gorgeous color inspiration? Here's this week's challenge at Cupcake Inspirations. 

This week's sponsor is 7 Kids College Fund. They are giving away a $20 gift certificate to their store! 

DEEtails: 

I decided to do some watercoloring for this card, which is a fun and easy technique. First, I stamped my image with VersaMark ink onto some watercolor paper and heat embossed it with some clear powder. Then I got out some Stampin' Write Markers, which are water-based inks. I basically transfer the color from the marker onto a clear stamp block and with a wet paintbrush, use the ink to watercolor my image. So easy to do and it turns out so effortlessly gorgeous.

For the leaves, I used some patterned paper from Heidi Swapps Favorite Things line and punched out the leaves from the bird punch. I like that the green isn't a solid color, so it keeps with the soft effect from the watercoloring. The background paper is from the same paper pad. I stamped it with a sentiment from Four You, which I embossed with white powder. I layered a bit of gold underneath, die cut with the Tasteful Trim die, with a bit of Bermuda Bay peeking out from underneath. I am so loving this color combination!

Paper: Bermuda Bay Cardstock, Gold Foil Sheets, Heidi Swapp Favorite Things Paper Pad, Watercolor Paper
Stamps: Four You, Secret Garden
Ink: VersaMark
Tools: Bird Punch, Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder, paint brush, Stampin' Dimmensionals, Stampin' Write Markers - Melon Mambo, Rose Red, Strawberry Slush, White Stampin' Emboss Powder, Tasteful Trim Bigz Die

A Quick Hello

Hello! We have a snow day today, so I am enjoying a little time off. I'm just popping in really quickly to share a card I just made... I'm quite enjoying the Fusion Card Challenge that I only just discovered a few weeks ago. When I saw this week's challenge, of course I had to play along again!

I was working on my card for Cupcake Inspirations and had some left over pieces that I made a quick card with. Don't you love when that works out? Anyway, you'll be seeing a couple elements from today's card this weekend...

DEEtails:

I love this wood chevron patterned paper from the Dear Lizzy Neapolitan line from American Crafts. I've had it set aside on my desk, waiting for just the right card and when I saw this week's inspiration photo with all that gorgeous wood, I knew it was time! I made a mini version of the sketch in my little wood polaroid style photo frame with some watercolored flowers from Secret Garden. I added a bit of greenery by using the bird punch on some pretty green paper from Heidi Swapps Favorite Things line. A little Hello die cut with a Technique Tuesday die on some of that fun Irresistibly Yours Specialty DSP adds the final touch. What do you think?

Paper: Basic Gray Cardstock, Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Paper Pad, Heidi Swapp Favorite Things Paper Pad, Irresistibly Yours Specialty DSP, Watercolor Paper
Stamps: Secret Garden
Ink: VersaMark
Embellishments: Recollections wood frame
Tools: Bird Punch, Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder, paint brush, Stampin' Dimmensionals, Stampin' Write Markers - Melon Mambo, Rose Red, Strawberry Slush, Technique Tuesday Say It - Hello die

Blended Thank You

I meant to share this card last week, but time got away from me! Today's card is a fun new one that I created a while back in an attempt to play with my then new Stampin' Blendabilities Markers!

You know that I love to craft cards inspired by yummy food and this one is no different. :)

source

DEEtails:
I started by stamping the Distressed Dots background stamp on some Whisper White card stock with VersaMark ink and embossed it with some black Stampin' Emboss Powder. I love how perfectly imperfect the Distressed Dots are! I layered that on a piece of Calypso Coral card stock to create a background for my single flower from the Secret Garden stamp set. The image was stamped in Basic Black on some Whisper White cardstock and after experimenting a bit with the new Blendabilities markers, I inked it in using the Calypso Corl and Daffodil Delight sets. The leaves were stamped in VersaMark from the Secret Garden set as well and cut out by hand, then layered over a piece of Calypso Coral, stamped with the sentiment from Simply Celebrate. Hope you like it!

Paper: Calypso Coral card stock, Gumball Green card stock, Whisper White card stock
Stamps: Distressed Dots, Secret Garden, Simply Celebrate
Ink: Basic Black, VersaMark, Whisper White
Tools: Black Stampin' Emboss Powder, Stampin' Blendabilities Markers - Calypso Coral & Daffodil Delight

Stampin' Celebration Inspiration Challenge

It's January 1st, and you know what that means...

Yes... a new Stampin' Celebration Challenge! 

DEEtails:
I'm in the mood for a bit of metallic... Can you tell? :)

Paper: Midnight Muse card stock, Print Poetry DSP Stack, Silver Foil Sheets, Whisper White card stock
Stamps: Four You, Secret Garden
Ink: Midnight Muse, VersaMark
Tools: Scallop Trim Border Punch

Embellishments: Rhinestone Jewels, Silver Embossing Powder, Smooch Spritz

Be sure to take a peek at what the rest of the Stampin' Celebration design team has created. 

Erica Cerwin - Pink Buckaroo Designs

Erin Gonzales - Hand Stamped Style

Rochelle Gould - I stamp, I create, I have fun!

Cori Kozak - Creative Chat
Allison Ohran - Sweet Impressions
Lauri Ingram - Paperville Crafts

Krista Jensen - Krista's Stamper Room

Anita Krul - My Paper Chronicles

Stampin' Celebration Inspiration Challenge

Pals Paper Arts Color Challenge

Oh my! I can't believe that September is here already! School has started for us and our open house was earlier this week. Today I have a card featuring a fun fall color combination for this week's Pals Paper Arts Color Challenge.

Here are the DEEtails:

I started with strips of card stock in Midnight Muse, Not Quite Navy, and Soft Sky in various sizes and adhered them in a bold chevron pattern onto some card stock. Then I matted it onto a Midnight Muse card. A few quick embellishments and I was done - Some Crushed Curry Chevron Ribbon, layered with the sentiment from For You, a Crushed Curry flower stamped from the Secret Garden set with some Early Espresso Stitched Grosgrain ribbon tucked underneath. I hope you like it.

Don't forget to stop by Pals Paper Arts to check out what the rest of our fabulous Resident Artists have created this week. Then pull out these fun fall colors and create something to link up and share with us!

Stampin' Celebration News!

Today I have some exciting news to share! For the next six months, I will be joining the fabulous Stampin' Celebration design team! I am so excited to be working with such a talented group of ladies and I hope you'll join us on the 1st and 15th of each month to create and celebrate! :)

This month's challenge features the same inspiration used in the Stampin' Celebrations Design Team call, so you'll get a peek at the cards I submitted.

DEEtails:

My first card was inspired by the pretty coral cake on the right, while the second was inspired by the two photos on the left.

Card 1 ~
Paper: Crisp Cantaloupe DSP, Pool Party card stock, Whisper White card stock
Stamps: Chalk Talk, Stippled Blossoms
Ink: Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe, Lucky Limeade
Embellishments: 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Whisper White Baker's Twine, Calypso Coral Chevron Ribbon, Wilton Paper Doily

Card 2 ~
Paper: Pool Party card stock, Whisper white card stock
Stamps: Four You, Morning Meadow, Secret Garden
Ink: Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, VersaMark
Embellishments: Lattice Bigz Die, Coral Sharpie Marker, Pearl Jewels, Crisp Cantaloupe Ruffle Stretch Ribbon, Clear Stampin' Emboss

I do hope you'll join the celebration this month! And be sure to take a peek at the fabulous creations that the rest of the Stampin' Celebration team has made:

Erica Cerwin - Pink Buckaroo Designs

Erin Gonzales - Hand Stamped Style

Rochelle Gould - I stamp, I create, I have fun!

Cori Kozak - Creative Chat
Allison Ohran - Sweet Impressions
Lauri Ingram - Paperville Crafts

Krista Jensen - Krista's Stamper Room

Anita Krul - My Paper Chronicles

Stampin' Celebration Inspiration Challenge

Happy Mother's Day!

I know I posted a Mother's Day card last week, but you didn't think I'd be sending something to my mama that she would have seen in advance, did you? :) Of course not! So here's the real deal...

I ordered the lady a little something from Kate Spade. I loved the packaging, so I created a card to match. :)

DEEtails:

I'm in love with gold embossing right now... Hehe! SU!'s gold embossing powder is a bit deceiving - it looks really dark and dull in the container, but once you add heat, it is just lovely! The Distressed Dots made a perfect background for my card, matted with some Poppy Parade to make it really pop! The purple isn't quite right (Kate Spade's purple is really vibrant), but it'll have to do... I added a strip of Rich Razzleberry along the bottom with the sentiment from one of my old retired favorites, Great Friend. Then I added some flowers from the Secret Garden set, coupled with some die cut Little Leaves. Perfect-o! 

Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful mother! :)

Cupcake Inspirations Color Challenge

I'm here today with another lovely color challenge with the Sweeties from the Cupcake Inspirations Challenge. I do love picking the yummy cupcakes for our challenges each week and this week's inspiration is no exception! Check out these delicious colors!

DEEtails:
Our sponsor this week is Downtown Tape and they were generous to send over samples for our team. I've used these tapes before (on this card) - Skinny in the City and Blissful Bel-Air. I added the tape over some Whisper White card stock that I embossed with the Vine Street embossing plate. Then I added some pretty blooms from Secret Garden (Regal Rose), Fabulous Florets (Poppy Parade), and Perfectly Preserved (Elegant Eggplant). I added the sentiment from Oh, Hello, matted with some Poppy Parade card stock. I'm loving the bold colors against the crisp white!

Now be sure to pop over to Cupcake Inspirations and check out the other lovely washi tape cards from the rest of the Sweeties! Happy Sunday! :)

Pals Paper Arts Color Challenge

Hello! Today I've got a card to share for the Pals Paper Arts Color Challenge... And what a challenge this color combination is! It's a lovely color combo, don't get me wrong, but it was quite a struggle for me to figure out just what I wanted to do! I hope you'll play along though! It's always fun to play with friends :)

DEEtails:

I got to work with my chevron stripes, using various DSP in the challenge colors. The cutting and pasting is tedious, but I love how it turned out. I'm still not sure that I'd do it again though! A ruffly flower using filter paper and a large white brad was a perfect compliment to balance all the color. I flanked it with some greenery from the Secret Garden stamp sent and the sentiment from Oh, Hello. I'm loving the crisp white against the bold color!

Now be sure to stop by the Pals Paper Arts site to check out the lovely creations that the other Resident Artists have made. Then link up your creation with this fabulous color combo!

Pals Paper Arts Color Challenge

Hi there! Today, the Pals Paper Arts Resident Artists have created some fun cards using a cheerful color combination inspired by all the lovely Valentine goodies in the new Stampin' Up! Spring Catalog!

Here are the DEEtails:

I wanted to pull out the new Vine Street embossing plate for this card and thought it paired nicely with some flowers from Secret Garden. I used Pool party for the emboosing and matted it with some Real Red to make it pop. Then I pulled out a flower from the Secret Garden stamp set. I stamped the same image twice on some Real Red DSP and cut out the inner petals for the small flower and the whole image for the larger flower. Of course, we needed some leaves, which I created with some Pool Party DSP. For my sentiment, I layered several stamps. First, the chevron oval from Oh, Hello onto some Primrose Petals DSP. Then the sentiment, from the same set, which you know I love in Real Red ink. Then I stamped "friend" from a portion of a sentiment from the retired, Hello, You set. I used the Labels Collection to die cut my sentiment and layered everything onto my card. Of course, a touch of Primrose Petals stitched satin ribbon was a must!

Aren't these colors just gorgeous together?! I hope you'll play along with us this week! And be sure to stop over at Pals Paper Arts to see all the other fabulous inspiration from our Resident Artists!

Pals Paper Arts Sketch Challenge

Hello lovelies! It's time for another Pals Paper Arts challenge. This week, we have a beautiful sketch from our Resident Artist, Miss Margaret Moody. Won't you play along? :)

DEEtails:

I played around with this sketch for a while, and finally decided that turning it upside down looked best with my flowers and bold colors. I used the Secret Garden and Oh, Hello stamp sets here. I know... I've been using them a ton lately. You're not tired of them yet, are you? I stamped the flowers on Rich Razzleberry and Calypso Coral, cut them out and layered the petals with some Stampin' Dimensionals. I  layered everything on Island Indigo card stock and Sycamore Street DSP. Love! The sentiment was tucked under the DSP. I love how it ever so slightly hangs over the edge of the matted cardstock. What do you think?

Hope you'll play along with our challenge this week! I can't wait to see what you create. I wonder if you'll be flipping this sketch too, or playing with it as it is...? 

Naki and Nina's Double Dare Challenge 19

Hi friends! We're back again with another great Double Dare Challenge! 

Naki's pick this week is to use the Print Poetry DSP.

My pick was to use a border punch.




And here's my creation:

Here are the DEEtails:

It was really difficult for me to decide which DSP to use from the Print Poetry pack! I decided on this Crumb Cake doily print and and matted it with some Very Vanilla card stock. I added some Midnight Muse, punched with the scallop border punch and added the Oh Hello sentiment stamped on some Very Vanilla die cut with the Labels Collection. I added some leaves stamped from the Secret Garden set and added a flower made with the Pop-up Posies set and a button tied up with Linen Thread. What do you think?

Don't forget to stop by Naki's blog to check out her creation. And then come play along! Just link up your card by next Saturday to play along!