The Flower Challenge #109

 

 It was a sad day in blog land when The Flower Challenge announced it will

close its doors at the end of the year. Kudos to Karren for taking over running

the challenges after pioneers Aileen and Vi "retired" and prevented us from 

going through floral withdrawal.

 

I'm entering the last challenge with the theme to Use Christmas Florals.

 

 

I know we think of poinsettias as a Christmas flower and I own a few poinsettia 

stamps and dies but couldn't decide on which one to use. So I went with snowdrops 

after Googling to see if they were considered a winter flower and was quite pleased
to read that they are.

 

 

I own two sets of snowdrops and I'll have to admit that the one by Papertrey Ink 

was much easier and faster to assemble. As luck would have it, I had an inked

and spattered panel that I was probably going to use in landscape format.

I turned the panel and adhered the flowers and leaves on top and spattered

more "snow" over the panel. I finished off the card with the sentiment and

iridescent sequins.

So here's to The Flower Challenge and their design team members, old and

new, for all the inspiration you provided. We'll miss you!

The Flower Challenge #106 -- Use the Sketch

 

This month's cue word at The Flower Challenge #106 is Use the Sketch.

Here's the sketch.

 

 

And here's my take on the sketch. I went rogue and flipped it because 

I wanted to use cherry blossoms and have them fluttering downwards.

Several colors of card stock were die cut and some flowers were inked to give

them dimension. I ran them through the embossing folder for the cherry 

blossom details. I cut a few from green card stock and cut the petals apart 

for leaves. They were adhered to a card base per the sketch.

I added a flower and leaf that appears to be falling from the rest. I stamped

the sentiment and used a corner rounder to round off one corner.

I'll link this and maybe make another card using the sketch the "right" way.

Thanks for stopping by!

The Flower Challenge #105 -- Add Embellishments

 This month's theme over at The Flower Challenge #105 is to Add Embellishments.

 

I'm not as embellishment crazy as I used to be. I'd buy sequins and enamel dots in 

every color and size--not to mention buttons and ribbons. For my card, I went with 

my favorite clear enamel dots that I like to use, especially on florals.

 

I used the new Honeycomb Cover Plate and was inspired by the colors on a card by 

Kelly Lunceford. Flowers and leaves were cut from Altenew's Zero Waste Chocolate

Flowers Cover Plate and arranged over the panel.

I added the gold embossed sentiment and of course, the clear enamel dots that

remind me of water droplets.

Okay I'm off to link up my card. Thanks so much for stopping by!

The Flower Challenge #103

 

With just hours left before the deadline, I'm linking up this card to 

The Flower Challenge #103 which is to add embossing--either heat or dry--to your 

card, and still keep the focus on flowers.

 

It took me a while to decide whether or not to enter the challenge, hence the

under the wire submission. I just found the embossing folder which I'd misplaced after

it arrived and I decided to finally use it.

I planned to do some ink blending over the entire panel, but it would have covered up 

the beautiful embossing so I left it white and focused on the die cut piece. I've always 

admired those who color their embossed images and since this was a small area, I thought 

I'd give it a go with my Copic markers.

Gosh, that was stressful! Between my bad eyesight (with glasses!) and markers

that needed refilling I barely managed to color all the flowers and leaves.

But if you squint, it looks pretty decent.

I finished off with a sentiment from Altenew and popped up the piece and called

 it done. Have you ever colored an embossed panel? Maybe if I had steadier hands 

and wasn't in such a rush to finish I wouldn't have freaked out.

Thanks for stopping by and listening to my angst!

The Flower Challenge #100 -- Add Circles

 

 The Flower Challenge is celebrating its 100th Challenge! The theme for this

milestone is Add Circles and several DT members are generously offering prizes 

to add to the festivities!

 

I was going to make a shaped card but the design was "side heavy' and it was stressful

 trying to balance the card, so I decided to add the element to a card base.

 

I used Altenew's Zero Waste Chocolate Flowers cover plate and cut out all the 

flowers and leaves from white card stock. The inks were applied using the color 

palette inspired by Rachel Arribas (@rachelrdesigns). I didn't have the exact

 Pinkfresh colors that she used but it was close enough and I was happy with it.

 

I layered two circle dies and made a frame before adding the flowers and leaves.

I stamped the sentiment and ran the card base through a dotty embossing folder 

then popped the circular element on top.

The challenge has just started and if time (and my grand kids!) permits, I may 

enter a second card before the deadline. Thanks for stopping by!

* * *

Edited to add: Honored that my card was chosen as the winner for the challenge!

Thanks so much, The Flower Challenge!

The Flower Challenge #90 -- ADD LAYERS

 

The current challenge theme over at The Flower Challenge is ADD LAYERS.

 

 

We were in Tokyo last month, hoping to see some cherry blossoms but there was a cold spell

which brought temps down to the 30's. We were freezing! And this naturally delayed the

cherry blossoms' appearance which started blooming AFTER we left. Darn climate change!

So I'm paying homage to what we missed with Pinkfresh Studio's Cherry Blossoms Die

and Stencil Set and its many layers.

 

 

The background is Altenew's Organic Linen Embossing Folder which reminds me of

Japanese kanji, or characters with its vertical design.

The flowers alone have several layers and I decided to add a frame for even more

depth and dimension. A sentiment from Papertrey Ink completed the card.

Off to submit this to TFC, Thanks for stopping by!

* * * * *

Edited to add: Honored that my card was chosen as the winner for Challenge #90!

Thanks so much, TFC!

The Flower Challenge #89 -- Make a Square Card

 

This month's challenge theme at The Flower Challenge is to make a SQUARE card.

 

 Here's my little square number.

 

I  just received my Greetery order of BotaniCuts Lilacs. I thought they'd be a pain to assemble

but I watched Betsy create hers about a dozen times and I was sold on the set.

 

Betsy used daubers to color her lilacs but I took the lazy route and smooshed whatever

purple inks I had and picked up the colors on watercolor card stock, then cut them out.

The leaves were ink blended on white die cuts and I used the residual ink to color the

tops of the clusters. 

I added a frame to a 4.25" card base and sponged in a blue background. I spattered water

and blue ink then added the blooms and leaves when the panel was dry. The sentiment

is from Honeybee Stamps Be Still stamp and die set. Sequins finished off the card.

All in all it was fast and easy to assemble the lilacs and I'd like to try and make some

 white ones that Betsy shared. But that's for another day. 

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

The Flower Challenge #88 -- Add a Heart

 

I'm so happy to see The Flower Challenge back from a well deserved hiatus.

This month's challenge theme is to Add a Heart and it gave me a chance to use

some (two year old) Greetery products that were still in their packaging. Oh my!

 

 

Here's my card and I'm hoping that the heart isn't too overwhelming.

The heart wood slice was assembled and spattered then topped with Forget-Me-Nots that

were colored with Zig markers. I had no idea what color forget-me-nots were until I looked 

it up, so I apologize for these bright pink ones.

 

 

I added the love word and popped up the heart on Altenew's Masonry Wall. At the last 

minute I decided to add the sub sentiment to balance out the design.

I might redeem myself and color these blooms again in their "proper" color.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

* * * 

 

Edited to add: 

Many thanks to The Flower Challenge ladies for choosing my card as the  

winner for Challenge 88! Honored to display this badge.

 

 

The Flower Challenge #85 -- Anything Goes and TFC's 7th Birthday

I couldn't miss the celebration over at The Flower Challenge. It's their 7th Birthday

with the theme of Anything Goes. But sadly, two of the team members, Aileen and Viv,

are stepping down.  

 

 

I've had the honor of guesting at TFC and worked with both ladies via email. They are

both kind and helpful and PATIENT and will surely be missed. Thankfully, Karren 

and the rest of the creative design team will continue with TFC's challenges so we 

won't go through "floral withdrawal".

 

Here's my card assembled with "unfinished" pieces that came together for the

finished project.

 

  I swiped white pigment ink over an embossed panel and topped it with Altenew's

Impressionist Bouquet. I added the sentiment and finished off with some clear

sequins. 

Happy 7th Birthday, The Flower Challenge! And much love and thanks to Aileen and

Viv for your years of dedication and inspiration! Hopefully you'll now have more time 

to "stop and smell the roses". 

The Flower Challenge #82 -- Clean and Simple

It's a new month--I can't believe we're into JULY!--and a new challenge over at

The Flower Challenge. This month the challenge theme is CAS, Clean and Simple,

one of my favorite card styles.

 

I chose Honeybee Stamps' Lovely Layer Coneflower Honey Cuts as my flower of choice.

The background was made using Altenew's Organic Linen 3D Embossing Folder.

The coneflower petals were colored and assembled and I DIY'd a stem. The bloom was

adhered to the card and finished off with a gold embossed sentiment. I wish you could

see the shiny sentiment. I always struggle with capturing metallic embossing.

 

While the overall design is CAS, I'm wondering if all those layers make this a

"clean and layered" project? Well, either way, I'm off to link this up.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

The Flower Challenge #81 and SSS June Flickr Challenge #212

The Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge for June is Stencil It--use stencils on 

your project. I chose Poppy Field Stencils and went with red as the color choice

for the blooms.

 

 After stenciling the poppies, I die cut the piece with an arch shaped die and adhered it

to a light gray card base. I added a strip of dotted paper on the bottom and the

sentiment was cut from black card stock. Black enamel dots finished off the card.

 

 

I'm also entering the card to The Flower Challenge #81-- Use Your Favourite Flower.

 

While the poppy isn't a favorite flower, per se, I have fond memories of an elderly

neighbor who would pass out a Buddy Poppy at a local shopping center on Veteran's Day.

I would donate a few dollars and sometimes score TWO poppies and attached them 

to my purse straps.

Sadly during the pandemic, Buddy Poppies were no longer passed out and the 

neighbor has since passed away. But he always comes to mind whenever I see the red

poppy and I recall how lucky I was to have a Buddy Poppy. Or two.

Thanks for stopping by!

* * * * *

Edited to add: My poppies were chosen as Honorable Mention for June!

Thank you, The Flower Challenge!

The Flower Challenge -- PRETTY PASTELS

I can't believe we're halfway through the month of May! A cold and flu bug made its

rounds in two households and now we're all slowly recovering. 

 

I finally found the energy to create again and using scrap pieces helped put this card 

together for this month's The Flower Challenge--PRETTY PASTELS.

 

 

 

Here's my card.

I had the dome shape in my scrap pile and embossed the magnolias on them. I used residual

ink on my brushes and applied the color over the piece. Some silver ink was spattered over

and adhered to an embossed card base. A scrap sentiment piece was added together with

some small iridescent drops.

Once again, I'm grateful for my scraps. Thanks so much for stopping by!

The Flower Challenge 79 -- FOCUS ON BACKGROUND STAMPING

 

The challenge theme at The Flower Challenge 79 is Focus on Background Stamping.

 

 

Here's my project. I'm not sure if it will qualify as the background was made by

stenciling and not stamping, per se.

I love Altenew's Blooming Flower Bed Stencil because it covers the whole background

of a card panel and you can use so many different color combos. I chose cheery colors

and after adhering the panel to a card base, I added the sentiment and finished off

with some clear sequins.

 

I have several more weeks to enter another card if this one doesn't qualify as having a

stamped background. Stay tuned to see if it gets a thumbs up or down.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

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!

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!

The Flower Challenge #74 -- Add Embellishments

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

 

 

Here's my project using Altenew's Craft-a-Flower Snowdrops Layering Set and

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! 😜

The Flower Challenge 73 -- Use a Sentiment and 6th Birthday

The Flower Challenge is celebrating their 6th birthday and the current challenge is

to Use a Sentiment.

 

I started stenciling Altenew's Flower Bed Stencil and couldn't stop at one panel.

It's a fun stencil with unlimited color combinations. After working on the stenciling,

I chose three different sentiments from Concord & 9th.

The main sentiment was cut from Concord & 9th's Mushroom card stock and all were

backed with vellum. I went "old school" and used gemstones from my stash to finish off 

all three cards.

Happy 6th Birthday, Flower Challenge. Here's to many more years of floral inspiration!