Christmas and Easter

I graduated from college many years ago.  Apparently I've forgotten more than I realized.  For example, I didn't know that Freedom of Speech means we have the right to say positive things about our government and to say we agree with the leaders.  Something to be proud of, right?!

I love making Christmas cards year round, so took a break from Easter cards to make a couple.  First up is my entry for Woodblock Wednesday.  

One of my favorite companies when I started stamping was Magenta.  Can't remember the last time I used this beautiful candle image and I know I didn't white emboss it on kraft cardstock.  Gotta say, I really love the look for a change.  I fussy cut and colored with markers.  The candles were covered with a sparkle pen.  You can see the sparkle and shine in my IG post.  Love the Pinkfresh Diagonal Stitch squares and rectangles.  The Savvy Stamps sentiment was stamped in Versafine Clair Acorn and I finished with kraft cord tied in a bow.  I'm also entering ABC Christmas.  

The current Christmas Kickstart Challenge is to make a card without using red, green or gold.  I decided to stick with kraft and white, but add pink.  

PFS Layered Wreath was die cut twice and the edges were brushed with Altenew Mocha ink.  Then I layered them offset and added pink cardstock berries.  I used vellum for the Classic Holiday Words shadow and white cardstock for 2 layers of the words.  The berries were covered in WOW Peachy Keen Sparkles and the words were covered in Sparkle Pico Embellisher.  You can see the sparkle and shine in my IG post.  I used a dark brown Zig for the splatters.

I do have another Easter card to share, inspired by Color Hues Lemon and Lime.  Unfortunately, I missed the deadline.  It's been awhile since I used my Brilliance ink pads and I remembered that I have Pearlescent Lime.  I used direct to paper on a white cardstock scrap and used it to die cut Alexandra Renke's egg with foliage.  

I decided to add more foliage, so pulled out another Alexandra Renke die and Memory Box Tall Frilly Leaf Stems.  I brushed the diecuts with the Lime ink using a lighter touch.  PFS Blanket Stitch Elongated Oval was brushed with Altenew Fresh Lemon ink--darker on the edge and fading out to white in the center.  After attaching the egg and extra foliage, I stamped the little butterfly from an old TPC Studio set.  

The IO bunny was die cut from my lightest yellow felt attached to lightweight paper for extra stability.  I brushed the edges with the Fresh Lemon ink and used a pink Copic for the center of the ears.  The eye is a tiny clear jewel colored with a black Copic.  Instead of adding cotton to the tail, I covered it with WOW Ice Pop Sparkles--kinda fun!  The very old woodblock sentiment was stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne, edged with Fresh Lemon and raised with a couple cardstock layers.  My favorite Hero Arts translucent enamel dots in yellow were the perfect finishing touch.  Hubby is not a fan of yellow, but he gave this card a good review!  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday and TTTC267 using the center vertical row.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Greta

Spring Mood Board

Squeaking in at the last minute with an entry for JUGS Spring Moodboard challenge.  Lots of options, but I was drawn to the butterfly with green, black and a touch of pink. 

Thought it'd be fun to use Birch Press Eloquent Butterfly Layers A, B and C.  The back layer was inked in Brilliance Graphite, the next in Altenew Rose Quartz and the top in Altenew Firefly.  I added a Hero Arts green translucent enamel dot to the center.  

I brushed the Firefly ink onto a PFS Postage Stamp diecut, focusing on the edges and leaving the center white.  That was added to the largest Postage Stamp diecut, with an extra cardstock layer, after I stamped an IO branch around the edges in Firefly.  I purposely didn't press firmly over the whole image to get an almost first and second generation stamping look.  The branch reminds me of the foliage making up the heart in the mood board.  I decided to just add a sentiment to the inside.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday and WAW.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Time Out Challenge--The Red Carpet

Time Out's Red Carpet Challenge is about to close and my card is finally done--whew!  I don't always watch The Oscar's, but this year we did.  It's the first time I remember seeing so many beautifully elegant gowns that were not completely outrageous or barely covered the woman.  One of my favorites was worn by Selena Gomez.  The write up calls it blush, but it made me think of Rose Gold.  

I knew I wanted to use this one for my card inspiration, but took awhile to figure out how to do that.  I began by using direct to paper to color a white panel with Ultimate Metallic Rose Gold.  It's really beautiful in person and I need to use it more often.  Then I went through my embossing folders and decided the old Cuttlebug Modern Wallpaper was the closest I could come to the gown's design. 

I sprayed the embossed panel with Heidi Swapp white Color Shine for extra shimmer.  The beautiful Memory Box metallic paper (very close to the color of the gown) was die cut with a scalloped Elizabeth Craft rectangle.  To bring in Selena's diamond jewelry, I added WOW Celebration Sparkles--a chunky super sparkly glitter.  It makes the IO sentiment diecut a little harder to read, but I love the look.  There's a video in my IG post.  I used very small blending brushes to add the Rose Gold ink to the flower from PTI Into the Blooms II.  You can't see it, but I then clear embossed the edges.  The leaves from the set were brushed with the Color Shine to soften the white of the cardstock.  I started to look for gems, but then I saw the extra silver circles I die cut when making Christmas cards.  They were perfect--didn't clash with the sentiment and are flat for mailing.  Glad I stuck with it and ended up with a card I really like.  I'm also entering TTTC266 using Flowers (hope one is OK), Spring, 3D or Dimension.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Greta

Birthday and Hello

When I saw Kristin's inspiration card for AAA Cards Challenge, it reminded me of the 2 SSS Rustic Sprigs diecuts sitting on my table for weeks.  They're multi-colored because I die cut them from a panel I made using several Lindy's Magicals.  You can see the shimmer in my IG post. 

Decided to make a frame from PFS Nested Hexagons: Double Stitch and inked it with DO rustic wilderness.  The card is PTI Rustic White and the old CAS-ual Fridays sentiment was stamped in Versafine Clair Acorn.  No embellishments, as this is for a male relative.  

Next is my card for the Altenew March Inspiration Challenge using Altenew's Bursting Dahlia stencil, Handwritten Hello die, inks (Coral Berry, Rose Quartz, Fresh Lemon, Just Green, Aqualicious), Jet Black ink spray and Smoky Quartz Gem Sparkles.  

Really happy with the look blending the 2 pink inks on the petals and the green and blue on the leaves.  I tried using a darker yellow ink for the dots in the flower center, but they didn't show nearly enough over the Fresh Lemon.  Then I thought it'd be fun to use gold embossing paste and that looked great.  Plus it added texture and shimmer.  There's a video in my IG post.  

I covered the center before splattering with the black ink.  Love having a variety of "hello" dies in my stash.  I chose this one because I wanted to outline the letters, but not cover up much of the background, like many shadow dies do.  These beautiful Sparkles have a bit of a pink cast in the light, so were the perfect embellishment for this card.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday. 

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Greta

Poppystamps, Pinkfresh and Hero Arts

Here are 3 more Easter cards inspired by challenges.  First is my second entry for Poppystamps March Cute Critters challenge.  I couldn't let the leftover piece of PTI New Leaf printed paper from my first card using Poppystamps Easter Bunny Egg die go to waste.  

This time I colored the flowers with a pink pen and added tiny pearls.  The background is made with an old favorite WP9 die and dark gray cardstock glued on the white card.  Really love the look of Poppystamps Proper Happy Easter die cut from the same printed paper.

I'm really glad the monthly Pinkfresh Studio challenge is now Anything Goes.  I gold embossed the one piece Small Butterflies stamp and used the matching stencils with CN9 inks Nectar, Grapefruit and Buttercup.  Do you agree that it's a pretty combo for Spring?  

I really took my time lining up the one piece die and this is the first time all the butterflies cut great--yay!  I actually used all but one of them.  The background is PFS Lush Vines white embossed with a light inking of Nectar in the center. 

Decided a little foliage was needed, so I die cut a couple Dainty Blossoms stems multiple times and brushed them with Distress Spritz fossilized amber.  You can see the shimmer and shine in my IG post.  The W&W sentiment was already gold embossed in my leftovers from last year. 

My last card is for Stay Crafty with a Blog Named Hero.  The 2011 Large Blossom cling was stamped in Versafine Clair Grass Green.  

I used gold metallic cardstock for the mat and added Stickles to the stamens.  The embossed background was done with SSS Leaf Tumble folder.  

I love this old sentiment from The Craft's Meow which was also gold embossed and with my leftovers from last year.  I'm thinking this would be beautiful done in any spring colors and would be lovely for any occasion.  

Edited to add:  Just remembered that I meant to add this card to the gallery at Just Us Girls Word Week: Green.  Luckily I have just enough time before the gallery closes!

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Memory Box and Poppystamps

I'm having so much fun making Easter cards this year.  For the Memory Box March challenge, I used MB Textured Distressed Grid Stencil, Magnolia Blossom and Wayfarer Leaves dies and Poppystamps Proper Happy Easter.  

I spread light molding paste through the stencil and lightly sprayed with Weathered Wood Distress Spritz.  You can see the shimmer in my IG post.  I colored the blossoms, leaves and sentiment shadow with Altenew Caribbean Sky and Persian Blue and PTI Weathervane.  I splattered white gouache and added light and medium blue gems.  So happy with how this card turned out.  I'm also entering WAW.

Next is another Easter card I'm entering in the Poppystamps March challenge.  I die cut Poppystamps Easter Bunny Egg from white cardstock and PTI New Leaf dotted paper.  

The bunny was lightly colored with Memento Desert Sand marker with a bit of pink in the ears and dark yellow on the nose.  I backed behind the eyes with MB glossy black cardstock and added Stickles to the flowers.  For the background, I blended Distress Oxide speckled egg in the center of the MFT rectangle.

Poppystamps Double Diamond Lattice Plate diecut was glued to a PTI New Leaf panel.  The very old TPC Studio sentiment was stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne and die cut with an Altenew oval.  I'm also entering SSS Mon, SSS Wed and Die Cut Divas.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Floral Birthday Cards

Mass firings with the employee notices stating the firing was due to poor performance when the real reason was to decrease costs is not fighting abuse.  It IS abuse.   

I needed some cards for March birthdays, so made a couple that will work for challenges.  First up is my entry for Time Out Challenges 11th Birthday!  Couldn't miss the chance to join in the celebration with my former teammates.  We're to case the beautiful card made by Donna Mikasa, a previous Time Out winner.  

She used stencils and an embossing folder, which happen to be 2 of my favorite products for cardmaking.  I used a similar, but different layout and different colors.  I also debossed instead of  embossing.

SSS Layered Flowers stencil set was used with CN9 Oceanside, Tidepool, Clover and Sea Glass plus Altenew Jet Black and Memento London Fog for the flower centers.  I die cut the panel with SSS A2 Curved Edge and debossed it and a white panel with SSS Dibble Tile.  I die cut a thin white strip to match the curved edge and inked it in Oceanside.  SSS Happy Birthday Brush Script was die cut a couple times from white scraps and the shadow from vellum.  I found blue and green gems to match in my stash and added quite a few.  This card is going to my sweet sister-in-law.  I'm also entering SSS Flickr, Just Us Girls and SSS Monday.

Next is my second card for Altenew's Crafting with the Seasons contest.  This time I was inspired by a few days of beautiful sunny weather to make another Spring birthday card.  

The images are from Botanical Wreath Builder, the word diecut is from Floral Acanthus and the sub-sentiment is from Sweet Bouquet.  The Altenew inks are Wisteria, Hydrangea, Rose Quartz, Puffy Heart, Firefly, Grass Field and Jet Black.  I really liked the look of the panel with just the solid images, but decided to add the outlines offset using ink one shade darker.  That gave a whole different look and I really like it.  I splattered Grass Field and spritzed with Heidi Swapp white Color Shine for a gorgeous shimmer.  You can see it in my IG video.  Hugs was covered with Shimmer Pico Embellisher and glued to the vellum shadow.  I inked the card front edges in Firefly and tied on crochet thread.  This one goes to a cardmaking friend.  

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.