Foiled Christmas Card

Today I am playing along with the Non-Traditional Christmas challenge over at Mod Squad Challenge.  I used Gina K foil-mate products in Holiday Flora and Joyful Holiday for the background and sentiment respectively.  I layered everything with Gina K Plum Punch and Black Onyx cardstock.  A very simple design but the gorgeous foiling packs a lot of punch though difficult to photograph.

Happy Stamping,

Dana M

Mixed Media Challenge

I am playing along with the September Challenge at Pinkfresh Studios.  You can choose to include the tag line, color palette or both.  I chose to go with the tag line and included mixed media in my card.  I created the background with Distress Oxide inks.  I die cut the Botanical Branch die from Pinkfresh Studios 3 times and layered them for some dimension.  Once I adhered that to my background I trimmed the excess.  I added a simple sentiment from the Pinkfresh Studios Scripted Bold Sentiments 1 stamp set.  Well there you have it, a clean and simple card with a mixed media element.

Happy Stamping,
Dana M

PinkFresh Studios Frame Challenge

Hi All!  Today I am playing along with the April Challenge at PinkFresh Studios.  The challenge this month is frames and shakers and/or a lovely color palette.  I decided to use both on my card.  I began by die cutting the beautiful leaf frame and then aligned and stamped the oval in the center of the frame.  I stamped the sprigs and selectively stamped the dots from one of the sprigs to get the bit of orange splatter.  Finally I stamped the sentiment and mounted to a pink panel.  A pretty straight forward card, the hardest part was getting everything positioned as I wanted it.

Supplies
Stamps
  PinkFresh Studios: Oval Foliage Wreath & Magical Christmas
Dies
  PinkFresh Studios: Oval Foliage Wreath
Ink
  Stampin' Up: Marina Mist, Lost Lagoon, Flirty Flamingo, Primrose Petals & Peekaboo Peach
Paper
  Neenah: Solar White #80 & #110
  Stampin' Up: Flirty Flamingo


Happy Stamping,
Dana M

Simple Love

Hi, today I am playing along the April Theme and Sketch Challenge at Stamplorations.  I decided to follow both the fun sketch and the theme to use stamps and watercolors.  I'm not much of a watercolorist so I opted to watercolor wash a couple of panels.  I was the lucky winner of a super playful and sweet sentiment stamp (Typografia Romantique: I Love You) by Stamplorations and I chose that as my focal image.  On the background panel I stamped & embossed a couple of leaf images from the Awesomely Artistic Stampin' Up set to represent the arrows in the sketch.  I love the movement of the watercolor but in hindsight I would have made the focal panel darker or perhaps embossed in black so it would stand out more.  All in all I am happy with the card and had fun playing with the watercolors.

Happy Stamping,

Dana

CAS Smile

Hello!  I'm playing along with the CAS Mix Up Card Challenge again as I had so much fun with the faux stained glass technique with the card from my last post.  The challenge requires that you make a clean and simple card using the 3 prompts on the badge.  The March challenge is to create a card using a faux stained glass technique, stamping and at least one of the mixed media options listed on the blog.  For my third element, I used an alcohol panel I created on Yupo paper and ink lifted with the Botanical Background stamp by Brutus Monroe/Unity.

I used a bold smile die by My Favorite Things to die cut 4 white panels.  I layered them over the alcohol background and flooded the "SMILE" with Crystal Glaze.  I added a thin strip of the alcohol panel below the sentiment.  I battled over adding a little something more but decided to keep it very CAS.  I hope you can see the subtle but fun effect from the lift ink and the shine from the Crystal Glaze.

Happy Stamping!

Dana M

Art Deco For CAS Mix Up Challenge

Hello!  Today I'm playing along with the CAS Mix Up Card Challenge.  The challenge requires that you make a clean and simple card using the 3 prompts on the badge.  The March challenge is to create a card using a faux stained glass technique, stamping and at least one of the mixed media options listed on the blog.  I added die cutting, heat embossing, alcohol inks and metal (if metallic paper counts).

I started by embossing one of the Divine Deco dies by Spellbinders to create an impression of the image on my cardstock.  I colored it in using brown and teal Copic markers.  I cut a few dies and layered them on top and filled in the spaces with Crystal Glaze to create the faux stained glass effect.  It is wonderfully shiny IRL.  I topped it with another die cut from copper metallic cardstock.  I heat embossed the sentiment from Hero Arts February 2019 My Monthly Hero Kit and used some strong adhesive to attach my Art Deco embellishment.  That was layered on a thin border of the copper metallic cardstock and finally added to a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2" card base.  I have been enjoying playing with Art Deco elements these days and the faux stained glass technique is so fun.

Happy Stamping!

Dana M

Deco Dance

Today I'm playing along with the challenge at A Blog Named Hero.  The prompt is Love is in the Air with an inspiration color challenge.  I immediately fell in love with the Hero Arts February My Monthly Hero.  It has a beautiful Art Deco theme and I have always been drawn to that style. I created a blended Distress Oxide panel and die cut it with the Dancing Music Notes add on die that coordinates with the kit.  I layered that over a black panel on top of the card base.  I die cut a heart from a white panel, added some black splatters, a sentiment (Hero Arts Everyday Sentiments) strip and a scattering of the music notes from the background panel.  Finally,  I stamped the dancers from the kit and remembered AFTER I fussy cut them that the kit has coordinating dies.  The dancers were layered that on top with some foam squares.  I always seem to be short on anniversary cards so I'm glad to add another to my stash.  I usually try to keep anniversary cards fairly gender neutral, but I like the pink and purple colors here.

Happy Stamping,

Dana

STAMPlorations Digi

I'm playing along again in STAMPlorations Hey, Love Linky Party.  Today I played with Copic markers.  I'm still new to Copic coloring and have just a small collection and am doing my best to get some depth to my images.  STAMPlorations is offering 3 free digi stamps in which to play in this linky party and I selected one to practice my coloring.  When I decided to get 2 for one and create spotlight coloring cards.  I layered up the panels with borders and some dimension before adding them to card bases.  I can't decide which one I like better.

Happy Stamping,
Dana M

Altenew and Stamploration Challenges

Today I'm playing along with 2 challenges, Altenew's Inspiration Challenge and Stamplorations Hey, Love Blog Hop & Linky Party.  I had such fun with both!

Altenew's challenge utilized colors that are a bit out of my comfort zone but I totally love the combination.  I stamped the background panel with the Leaf Medallion stamp set in die inks and trimmed it with a slim black border.  The sentiment was heat embossed black on white and white on black.  Initially I only wanted the thin black strip with "kindness" popped up on top but it got lost on the background so I added an orange and black strip to help it stand out.  The sentiment is from the Build-A-Flower Carnation stamp set.

Stamplorations is having a fun blog hop in addition to the linky party and the "Love" theme is so appropriate with Valentine's Day right around the corner.  I started by applying Pearl Texture Luxe to the Bubble Dance stencil.  I stamped, colored and die cut the adorable heart balloons from the Tweet Love stamp set.  I added a couple of pieces of 110 lb cardstock behind the embossed panel for a little bit of dimension, my trick to add dimension that is a little slimmer than foam tape.  The die was popped on top with some dimensional squares and the sentiment (also from the Tweet Love stamp set) was added in black.  I like the clean design and playful feel of this card. 

Happy Stamping,

Dana M

Thistles in Black and White

Today I'm playing along with the "it's all black and white" challenge over at Retro Rubber.  I used an older Stampin' Up set from 2016 for the 2 floral images and a sentiment from a Hero Arts set that I have had for at least 3 or 4 years.  I stamped and heat embossed the floral images multiple times on black card stock with white embossing powder.  I trimmed the panel down and adhered to a standard card base.  I trimmed a couple of very thin strips of black card stock and adhered them as well.  A final stamp of the sentiment and the card was complete!

Happy Stamping,
Dana M

Sunshine for Gina K Designs Challenge

I'm playing along with the Gina K Designs Challenge.  This month the challenge is "My Sentiments Exactly!"

I started by stamping and heat embossing the sentiment around the outside of the card base.  The main panel was also heat embossed in white and then I blended on the yellow.  I topped the card with sentiment on a clipped circle.  All stamps are by Gina K Designs.

Gina K Designs Monthly Challenge

Happy Stamping,
Dana

Season's Greetings

As I am frantically working to complete my Christmas cards I thought I would create another coffee themed card to enter in the 2018 Fall | Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop.  There are so many amazing cards and an incredible amount of talent out there.  So fun to see what everyone is making.

I used a variety of products on this card.  The embossing folder is from Stampin' Up, the greeting from My Favorite Things, the coffee mug from Gina K, the sweet little snowflake on the mug is heat embossed and from Catherine Pooler and finally the sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.  The photo isn't great but at least you can see some of the shine from the embossed panel and the sequins.

Happy Stamping,
Dana

Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

I haven't had much time in my craft room so my posts have been pretty scarce these days.  In the spirit of trying to finish up my Christmas cards  and the super fun Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop I made some time to make a Christmas & coffee themed card.

I have been in love with plaid lately and wanted to include that in my design.  This patterned paper is from my stash and I'm afraid I don't know who it is from.  The stamps are a mix of Gina K, Uniko and Hero Arts.  The cup was colored with alcohol markers.  Pretty simple card today but fun to make.

If you haven't already checked out the Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop click the box highlighted text to bring you to the hop.  There is so much fabulous inspiration and prizes as well.

Happy Stamping!

Dana M

The Cat's Pajamas for Send a Smile 4 Kids

I'm excited to be playing along with the 175 challenge for Send a Smile 4 Kids!  Send a Smile 4 Kids is a program that distributes handmade cards to children's hospitals for kids to receive or they can select cards to give to others.  What a great cause!  Hopefully I can find a little mojo to be able to make a number of cards to contribute to the cause.

I used the Bunny Christmas set from The Cat's Pajamas for my card today.  I was fortunate to be a winner of a recent blog hop and purchased this set with my winnings.  Isn't that bunny just the cutest!  They have a number of stamps featuring this funny little fellow and it was not easy narrowing down my choice.  I used Zig Clean Color markers to color my image and a Stampin' Up border die to stamp the red background panel.  I also pulled out a new Stampin' Up embossing folder for the subtle texture on the white panel.

#Sendasmile4kids    #Thecatspajamas

Happy Stamping!

Dana

A Little Colored Pencil Piece

I'm taking the big leap and joining along in Kathy Racoosin's 10th 30 Day Coloring Challenge. 

#thedailymarker30day

I have been struggling with finding my mojo in card making but have so enjoyed all of the fabulous inspiration by so many amazing papercrafters.  I am in awe of the talent out there and would love to be able to create beautifully colored elements for my cards.  I am not a natural artist.  I like straight lines and have a design sense but coloring or painting with abandon is not in my wheel house.  So, I figure practice is what I need to improve my skills and hopefully get those creative juices flowing again.

I played a bit with colored pencils on this gorgeous image from Altenew.  I was going for a cream flower with hints of pink at the center.  My final result isn't what was in my mind but am overall pleased with the result.

Sorry for the picture quality.  I haven't yet set up a photo booth/station since we moved.

Happy Stamping (and Coloring!),
Dana

Sunshine

Today I'm playing along with the sketch challenge (#318) at Try Stampin on Tuesday.  I chose to include the optional theme of A Trio of Words.  As soon as I saw the sketch, I knew what I wanted to do.  Here in Minnesota we are trying really hard to get some spring-like weather so I wanted to bring some sunshine to my paper. I used the sun image from Kinda Eclectic from Stampin' Up.  I used Altenew's Half Tone Circles on top and heat embossed in clear to bring some shine to my sun.  The sentiment is from Hero Arts and I thought it was appropriate for these images.  Pretty clean an simple, but I like it.

I don't think the photo shows the shine on the sun so I'll risk a close-up on my embossing skills (boy did I have to fight the embossing on the sentiment).  Hopefully this shows the shine a bit better.  Sorry for the photo quality, I don't have a photo station set up yet.

And here is the sketch.  It is a really fun one with lots of possibilities.  There is still time to play along.  

Some of you may be wondering where I have been.  Well, life got in the way we had some surprises and some health issues (we are in good shape on that front now).  We had the usual sad and happy times along the way.  From a happy perspective we celebrated my parent's 50th wedding anniversary with a lovely party, we now have a great nephew, our niece was married, our son and his lovely girlfriend are now engaged and we had a lovely vacation in Arizona to celebrate a cousin's wedding.  The biggest change with the most impact was that we unexpectedly bought a new house.  We were not planning on moving, but it was time.  At the old house we had started a remodeling project which eliminated a bedroom so we had to put the bedroom back and get the house ready for market.  Happily, we did sell without being on the market too long.  But it has been a very long road and we are now settled in the new place and loving it.

I sure do miss my time in my craft room and I'll let you know that it's tough to get back into the swing of things, but this challenge sure helped me along.

Happy Stamping,

Dana

Popping in for Darnell's NBUS Challenge

Wow!  I've been gone much too long but I had to pop in for a quick post to play along with Darnell's NBUS challenge.  Darnell is such a generous and fun lady and has been so kind to me.   I have so missed making cards, playing along with challenges and most of all the fabulous people I have virtually met along the way.  I hope to be back again soon on a regular basis and will fill you in on my absence.

The challenge is to use never before used stuff with an optional theme to use bubble wrap.  I remembered a technique I used a while back with Perfect Pearls and plastic wrap to create a faux pearl background so I decided to try it with bubble wrap. I had to laugh when I saw that I used that technique on the last post before my long absence - seems like a lifetime ago.

I made 4 background panels, some were more successful in my mind.  I like the pink and orange combo of distress inks.

I ended up selecting the background with the softest color, love the shimmery bubble effect.  I used a couple of sets from Unity.  The butterfly is from "Only You" and the sentiment from "...May Hope Sustain You".  I added some Wink of Stella to the butterfly and a few borders, tough to get the mojo back though.  I'll admit that I happen to have a lot of NBUS as I haven't had much time in the craft room and my rate of acquiring new stuff has slowed only marginally.

Happy 5 Year Blogaversary Darnell!

Happy Stamping,
Dana

Faux Mother of Pearl

I really wanted to play along with the CAS Challenge at Happy Little Stampers this month.  It took me a while to get there but I finally made not one, but two cards.  The challenge this month is to create a project with the Faux Mother of Pearl technique.  The technique involves using bunched up plastic wrap to apply Liquid Pearls to your paper and then sponge color over the top.  I didn't have Liquid Pearls but I thought I would try some Radiant Pearls.  As you can see below my first attempt was a complete failure.  The purple and green were muddy and completely eradicated the Radiant Pearls.  I tried again with a heavier application of the Radiant Pearls and 2 shades of pink.  The result was pretty but not the desired outcome.  I caved, I went and bought some Liquid Pearls.  I held my breath as I started sponging and like magic a beautiful result.  See, we really DO need all of those supplies we have (grin).

The first card is for my Niece who is participating in her first Communion.  I die cut the filigree portion of the cross from a portion of the Faux Mother of Pearl Panel.  I die cut the full cross cut-out from 3 sheets of heavy cardstock and dry embossed the top layer.  They were glued up to add a little depth.  A computer generated sentiment inside and out completes the card.

Since the supplies were still out on my table, I decided to make an Easter card as well.  I went very CAS with this one too.  The Easter sentiment was heat embossed on the Faux Mother of Pearl panel.  I die cut the cross cut-out from another panel of white and then dry embossed the border along the bottom.  Layered it all up and the card was complete.  I hope you enjoy a lovely Easter!

Happy Stamping,
Dana

Just For You

Hi all, today I'm playing along with a new challenge - CAS Mix Up Card Challenge.  What a fun concept to combine a Clean and Simple card with Mixed Media!  This month the challenge is to include watercoloring, stamping and your choice of another mixed media selection.  I chose to use heat embossing.

I started by wetting a panel of watercolor paper and added ink from the lid of my stamp pads and let it pool and move on the paper.  I loved the bold result of the watercoloring but knew I would need a bold element to stand up to the strong color and pattern.  I selected a bold sentiment and heat embossed it in black.  I added a few turns of black twine as a simple embellishment, to add interest but not be too fussy.  A couple of borders in black and teal finish up the card.

Happy Stamping,

Dana

Feels Like Spring

Today I'm sharing 2 cards.  The first is based on a sketch at Retro Rubber Challenge.  I pulled out a sweet little flower image that I picked up some time back and is dated 2001.  I stamped it 3 times, colored and cut in ovals and added a few brushes of Wink of Stella.  They were layered over a diamond die cut as a nod to the sketch.  The Happy Easter sentiment is an old unmarked wood mount stamp and has been in my stash for more than ten years.  It was heat embossed in white on the main green panel.  A couple of borders and the card is complete.

The second card I'm sharing is based on the sketch at Retro Sketches, the colors from Color Throwdown and the theme at Less is More.  I stamped the sentiment in orange on a white card base.  a few panels of cardstock were added in orange, green and yellow.  I heat embossed the floral image in black and colored the image with markers adding a rhinestone to the butterfly.  It was added to the card with dimensions.

CITRUS

Happy Stamping,
Dana