Monday, March 13, 2023

The Flower Challenge #78 -- DIE CUTS OR STENCILS

 This month's challenge at The Flower Challenge is to use DIE CUTS or STENCILS with
flowers as the main focus of your card.
 

I've been seeing several rainbow blooms on Instagram. They include Ilda and Aileen's
rainbow cone flower and Caly's gorgeous sunflower.

I thought I'd give rainbow coloring a try with Simon Says Stamp's Sunflower Petals
which Caly mentioned was meant to be made as a colorful bloom.
 

 After die cutting the four petals in the set, I inked them with distress inks and tried
to overlap the colors when transitioning to the next color. The center was cut from
kraft card stock and inked with dark brown ink.
 

 After assembling the sunflower, I splattered on some gold paint and adhered it to an 
embossed card base. I finished off with a foiled sentiment from The Stamp Market
Wouldn't it be fun to see a field of rainbow flowers IRL?

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Monday, March 6, 2023

Inspired by GILDED LEAVES

This week's challenge theme at Inspired by Challenge is GILDED LEAVES.
 Here's the challenge graphic and Laurel's sketch.
 
 
And here's my card which was inspired by both the photo and the sketch.

Since the challenge was posted on National Old Stuff Day, we were challenged to use 
an item that is older than a year. Leaf Fragment Dies by Tim Holtz fit the bill as they
made their debut in August 2021. 
 

I cut them out from light green card stock then added more color with Distress Oxide
inks. Gold paint was added to the tips and spattered on top. After they were completely
dried, I crushed them for a bit of dimension.

I used a really old tree trunk embossing folder by We R Memory Keepers. And that 
foiled sentiment is from The Stamp Market. For those of us who don't own a foiling 
machine but love the shine 😁

I'd better link this up--I'm a little early for once! Thanks for stopping by.



Wednesday, March 1, 2023

Inspired by LEMONS

It's been a week since I've returned from an overseas trip and I think I'm still 
a bit jet lagged. I've been wanting to enter card challenges but I'm two steps behind.

When I saw the current Inspired by Challenge with the theme of lemons, I
couldn't resist.
 

Here's my card. I was inspired by the lemon slice and the color of the truck.


I happened to have some of The Greetery's lemon slices already made so this card
came together rather quickly.

Off to link up this card--I hope I made it! Thanks for stopping by!
 
* * *
 

Edited to add: Honored that my card was chosen as the weekly winner AND
I won the digital prize! Thank you, Inspired By Challenges!
 
 
Supplies:
Paper Smooches Botanicals 3 Dies (discontinued)


Saturday, February 4, 2023

Freshly Made Sketches 571

I thought I'd squeeze in a card for Freshly Made Sketches 571. Here's the sketch.


And here's my card using my all time favorite Altenew washi tape--again. After
adhering a strip of the tape onto a card base, I ran it through an embossing folder
then added the sentiment and some sequins.

I hope you can see the sketch! Thanks for stopping by!
 

Sunday, January 15, 2023

Caffeinated Christmas Card Challenge -- SNOWFLAKES

My card for Caffeinated Christmas Card Challenge 11 was chosen as a Top Pick, 
and I was invited to guest for this month's challenge together with the other Top Picks. 
The theme for the challenge is SNOWFLAKES.
 

Here's my card.
 
 
Two MFT mugs were cut from watercolor card stock. One was inked in green and the other in
pink. After embossing both with a snowflake embossing folder, I used a sanding block over 
the surface to remove the color and make the snowflakes stand out. 
 
The two part sentiment was silver embossed then cut with the matching dies. I tripled up
the sentiment and adhered it under the mugs. Snowflake sequins finished off the card.


Come and join this month's challenge! 
Link up a newly created Christmas themed card with at least one SNOWFLAKE.  
The sponsor is Doodlebugswa and the prize is a $25 gift code to their store. 
You have until Wednesday, January 25th at 11:59pm PST  to enter. 
Hope to see you in the gallery!

 

Friday, December 9, 2022

The Flower Challenge #75 -- CHRISTMAS

The challenge theme for The Flower Challenge for December is CHRISTMAS.
And it's a short month, too, because of the busy holiday season. 
 

 Here's my card, using a traditional Christmastime plant--the poinsettia.


I assembled a Pretty Pink Posh poinsettia and spattered it with white paint.
A piece of gray and white gingham was adhered to a card base, cut at an angle
for a bit of interest. I stamped the sentiment at an angle, then adhered
the poinsettia to the card. Done!

Off to enter this or I'll have missed another challenge deadline!
Thanks for stopping by!


Wednesday, December 7, 2022

Caffeinated Christmas Card Challenge -- SNOWMAN

I've become a fan of Caffeinated Christmas Card Challenges because I'm using coffee themed
stamps and dies that I've accumulated over the years. And I'm a fan of creator Amy Tsuruta
who I've had the pleasure of meeting when she came down to Honolulu years ago.

Here is this month's theme -- SNOWMAN/SNOWMEN.

 

And here's my card.


MFT's Snow Buddy reminded me of a juggling snowman which is what I made him do--
happily juggle some coffee mugs. Empty, of course!

I stamped the sentiment, then ran the panel through a snowflake embossing folder.
I colored the pieces of the snowman then assembled him on the panel. Four mugs
were cut and colored and adhered above the snowman.
 

 This card turned out differently from what I originally had in mind but I'm pleased
with my juggling Snow Buddy!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, December 4, 2022

Final Fusion Card Challenge -- Christmas Chalkboard

I'm sure I wasn't the only one who was saddened to hear that another card challenge is
closing their doors. Fusion Card Challenge was the brainchild of Lesley Croghan and 
Jackie Rockwell and I liked the concept of playing with either the sketch or photo, or both. 

I didn't play as often as I could, but here are some of my cards from past challenges.
 
 

 
Here's the graphic for the last challenge--Christmas Chalkboard.
 

I played with the sketch and used inspiration from the photo. 
 


I cheated and used some Catherine Pooler patterned paper which had the perfect
chalkboard design. It's not Christmasy but I found a holiday sentiment from Hero Arts
that hopefully pulled it all together.

Thank you, Fusion Card Challenge, for the years of inspiration from the DT and 
participants and know that you will be missed 💗

* * * 
 
Edited to add: My card was chosen as the winner for the last challenge! Honored to be
the Zen Master and display this badge.




Friday, November 25, 2022

The Flower Challenge #74 -- Add Embellishments

Hello, hello! I'm back with a card for The Flower Challenge #74 to add embellishments.
 
 

my embellishment of choice--sequins.
 

I started with navy card stock and cut two panels using Reverse Wonky Rectangles then 
the front piece was embossed with a bit of snowfall. All the floral pieces were die cut with
white card stock and colored then assembled on the front panel between hand cut snow drifts.
 
I adhered the PTI sentiment and iridescent sequins then joined the panels together 
with a hinge. I added another embellishment--glitter--but it was difficult to photograph.
Trust me, it's there on the top layer of snow.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

..........

Edited to add: Oops! I thought I had more time to enter but I see that the linky is closed.
I guess I shouldn't have done so much Black Friday shopping! 😜


Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Caffeinated Christmas Card Challenge #11 -- HOLLY

Here is my card.
 

I inked a Lil' Inker Designs mug in red ink then colored and added a bit of holly.
 
 
A strip of Catherine Pooler patterned paper was adhered to a card base then topped off 
with the mug and greenery. I added some red enamel dots as holly berries and stamped


I'm also linking up this card to the 2022 Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop since
the card has all that holly.

Thanks for stopping by!
 
* * * * *

Edited to add: My CCCC card was chosen as a Top Pick! So honored! This means I will be 
guesting with them come January. Thanks so much, Amy, and to Kathy who made the pick!