TCC55 "You Are My Sunshine" - Celebrate Spring!

Hi Friends!!

Woohoo!  Time for the new #55 "You Are My Sunshine" Challenge at The Card Concept!  

Our inspiration photo can be interpreted in so many ways- the colors, polka dots, theme of sunshine, wood block letters, etc.  Remember- there is no right or wrong way when it comes to interpretation and we hope to see your card in our gallery!!

I was inspired by the colors- bright yellow with black remind me of summer and yikes, bees!  Yes, I said bees..... I love bee images but am allergic to bee stings so am a bit afraid of the real thing :-) 

It is ironic since my husband and I love to collect antique honey dishes and one of the main criteria for being added to our collection is that the honey dish needs to have a bee molded into the glass or image on the dish.  There is just something about those little honeybees that we think are so cute!!

I am also linking this card to the Just Us Girls JUGS342 Word Week “Butterfly” Challenge as well as the Monthly Mixed Media MMMC24 “Butterflies and Blooms” Challenge and the Splitcoaststampers’ SC585 Sketch Challenge.

I hope you have a chance to visit us at The Card Concept and check out the rest of our Design Teamsamples as well as the other challenge sites- wonderful inspiration from all!!

To create this card:

On a piece of watercolor paper, apply Gelatos® (Lemon Yellow and Gold Champagne), spritz with water, use your fingers to mix the colors and dry with the Heat Tool.

Apply Ranger® Tim Holtz® Distress Stains- Squeezed Lemonade and Wild Honey)  to a craft mat, spritz with water and lay the panel into the ink, lift up and allow the ink to spread, if needed, add additional water to dilute a bit, continue to tilt to spread the ink and dry with the Heat Tool.

Apply more ink as desired along with Gelatos® until you are satisfied with the colors.

Once the panel was thoroughly dry, stamp the images from Graphic45® French Country III and Secret Garden with Stāz-On® Jet Black Ink (masking some of the images as you stamp and create the background).

Use as Sponge Dauber with Delightful Dijon Classic Ink (Stampin’ Up!) along with the honeycomb portion of the Mini Punchenella Stencil from Balzar® Designs to stencil part of the background and your finger using Gesso® along with the Mini Well Rounded Stencil from the Crafter’s Workshop®. 

Use a paint brush with Ranger® Tim Holtz® Picket Fence Distress Stain to tone down the postcard part of the image.

Cut the panel into thirds, use a Distressing Tool to distress all of the edges, apply Delightful Dijon Classic Ink over the distressed edges with a Sponge Dauber and mount the panels per the sketch onto a distressed piece of Basic Black cardstock.

Using a foam brush, apply Ranger® Tim Holtz® Distress Collage Crazing Medium to all of the panels and allow to dry.

Ink the sentiment from Time to Flourish (Graphic45®) using Stāz-On® Jet Black Ink onto Whisper White cardstock, sponge some of the same inks as the background and add additional texture with the background strip stamp from Secret Garden, Gesso® with the stencil and the Distressing Tool.

Create the banner points with the Hexagon Punch, mount onto Basic Black carstock and distress the edges again with the Distressing Tool.

Add the sentiment to the background panel with dimensional foam.

Add the ivory crochet lace along with a piece of ¼” Basic Black Grosgrain Ribbon and mount the entire panel to the Whisper White card base.

Create the roses using the Big Shot™ with the My Favorite Things™ (MFT) Royal Rose Die and Mini Royal Rose Dies from Very Vanilla, Crushed Curry and So Saffron cardstock.  Roll up the roses and adhere in the center (I used Hot Glue for this step).

With a paintbrush, lightly add Wild Honey Distress Stain, spritz with Imagine Crafts Sheer Shimmer Spritz and allow to the flowers to dry.

Adhere the roses with the black leaves (punched from Basic Black cardstock and the Martha Stewart Leaf Punch) to the card front (I used Hot Glue for this step as well).

Stamp the butterflies from Papillon Potpourri using Stāz-On® Jet Black Ink onto Whisper White cardstock, color with the So Saffron and Delightful Dijon Stampin’ Write Markers, punch out with the Elegant Butterfly Punch and add to the card front (again, with Hot Glue).

With a paint brush, apply Mod Podge® to the butterfly wings and once dried, add the Pearls to the butterfly centers to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets: Papillon Potpourri (Stampin’ Up!), French Country III and Botanicals (Graphic45®)

Ink/Mediums: Stāz-On® Jet Black Ink, Delightful Dijon; Stampin’ Write Marker- So Saffron, Delightful Dijon; Gelatos®- Lemon, Gold Champagne; Ranger® Tim Holtz® Distress Stains- Squeezed Lemonade, Wild Honey, Picket Fence; Gesso® , Sheer Shimmer Spray, Ranger® Tim Holtz® Distress Collage Crazing Medium

Paper: Watercolor, Whisper White, Basic Black

Accessories: Big Shot™, MFT Royal Rose and Mini Royal Rose Dies, SU! Punches- Elegant Butterfly, Hexagon; MS Leaf Punch, Pearls, ¼” Basic Black Grosgrain Ribbon, Ivory Crochet Lace, Mini Punchenella and Mini Well Rounded Stencils, Paintbrush, Sponge Dauber, Distressing Tool

Thanks again for taking the time to stop by- I hope you can gather your supplies and pick a style to create your own card for “You Are My Sunshine” gallery at The Card Concept!

Psalm 31:24 Be Strong and Take Heart

Hi Again Friends!!

Here is my second card I designed using The Card Concept Challenge #52 Inspiration  Photo (please see my first card in this post).

Again, I was inspired by the beautiful purples in the lilacs for my Mixed Media card (lilacs were my Mother’s favorite along with irises).

I am also linking this card to the Mixed Media Monthly MMMC#23 “Dimension” Challenge and the Word Art Wednesday #228/#229 "Family Friendly/Anything Goes" Challenge.

I hope will find the time to visit us at The Card Concept as well as the other challenge sites- wonderful inspiration from all!!

To create this card:

Using a foam brush, apply Gesso® over a piece of cardstock (I used a piece of Designer Series Paper that I did not like the pattern- one way to use up “older” paper).

Once the Gesso® dried, apply Ranger® Tim Holtz® Distress Stains to a craft mat (I used Broken China, Frayed Denim and Mowed Lawn), lay the panel into the ink, lift up and allow the ink to spread, spritz with water to dilute a bit and continue to tilt and spread the ink.

Dry the ink with a Heat Tool, apply more ink as desired along with Gelatos® (I used Aqua Dolce and Cotton Candy- spritzing the Gelatos® with water and allowing the color to run across the panel).

Some of the color was a bit bright for me so I added Ranger® Tim Holtz® Picket Fence Distress Stain to tone down some of the brightness.

Once the panel was thoroughly dry, de-static with the Embossing Buddy®, ink the retired Ex Libris background stamp with Versamark® Ink, stamp onto the prepared panel, apply Stampin’ Emboss® White Embossing Powder and heat set with the Heat Tool.

Repeat the above embossing steps with the sentiment from the Our Daily Bread Designs Scripture Collection 3 using Versamark® Ink, then add Elegant Eggplant Classic Ink followed by Clear Embossing Powder.

Trim the background panel, mount onto the Old Olive card base and sponge additional Elegant Eggplant Classic Ink over the embossing in a few areas (wiping off the excess with a lightly dampened paper towel).

Cut the roses from Elegant Eggplant cardstock with the Big Shot™ and the My Favorite Things® (MFT) Royal Rose and Mini Rose Die, crimp the die cuts with the Crimper Tool before rolling into the flower shape and add Gesso® to the flower petals.

Punch the leaves from Old Olive cardstock with the Martha Stewart® (MS) Leaf Punch, add the roses to the leaves and apply Gesso® to the leaves as well.

Mount the roses and leaves onto the card front (I like to use Hot Glue for this step) and add the Pearls to the corners.

Ink the butterflies from Papillon Potpourri with Versamark™ Ink and stamp onto Whisper White cardstock, apply Stampin’ Emboss® Black Embossing Powder and heat set with the Heat Tool.

Punch the butterflies out with the Elegant Butterfly Punch and color with the So Saffron Stampin’ Write Marker.

Add to the card front along with Pearls for the bodies to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets: Papillon Potpourri, retired Ex Libris (SU!), Scripture Collection 3 (ODBD)

Ink/Mediums: Versamark™, Elegant Eggplant; Stampin’ Write Marker- So Saffron; added Ranger® Tim Holtz® Distress Stains-Broken China, Faded Denim, Mowed Lawn, Picket Fence; Gelatos®- Aqua Dolce, Cotton Candy

Paper: Whisper White, Old Olive, Elegant Eggplant, misc piece of DSP (for Gesso® panel)

Accessories: Gesso®, Big Shot™, MFT Royal Rose and Mini Royal Rose Dies, Elegant Butterfly Punch (SU!), MS Leaf Punch, Embossing Buddy®, Heat Tool, Stampin’ Emboss® Clear, White and Black Embossing Powder, Pearls

Thanks again for taking the time to visit- I hope all of you have a wonderful day!!

The Most Important Shot- The Golf Club and Grunge Elements

Hi Friends!

Today I am sharing my weekly card post on the Artistic Outpost (AO) blog – and this Mixed Media card was created using the new AO Spring 2016 Release stamps, Grunge Elements and The Golf Club.

FYI- I am also linking this card to the Splitcoaststampers’ MIX36 “Anything Goes” Challenge as well as the F4A238“Good Sport” Challenge.

 I hope you have a chance to visit us at the Artistic Outpost blog as well as the other challenge galleries – wonderful inspiration from all!

To create this card:

De-static a piece of Basic Black cardstock with the Embossing Buddy®, stamp the sentiment from The Golf Club with Versamark™ ink onto the prepared cardstock, heat emboss with Stampin’ Emboss® White Embossing Powder and once the embossing powder has cooled, trim and set aside.

For the background panel, add Ranger® Tim Holtz® Distress Stains (Mowed Lawn, Squeezed Lemonade) to a craft mat, lay a piece of watercolor paper face down into the ink, lift from the mat and spritz with water.

Lightly dry the panel with the Heat Tool, stamp the various Grunge Elements images with Stāz-On® Jet Black Ink and apply Ranger® Tim Holtz® Tea Dye Distress Ink to “age” the paper.

Close-Up of Grunge Elements Background

 Use a 1 ¼” Square Punch to punch out the entire background and mount onto 1 ⅜” squares of Basic Black cardstock.

Adhere the layered background squares onto the Whisper White card base and add the stamped advertising images from The Golf Club.

Apply Ranger® Tim Holtz® Distress Crazing Medium over the entire panel and set aside to dry (you can speed up the drying process carefully with the Heat Tool but I have found that the medium crazes better when allowed to air dry).

Ink the woman golfer image from The Golf Club with Stāz-On® Jet Black Ink,  stamp onto Whisper White cardstock and apply Ranger® Tim Holtz® Tea Dye Distress Ink over the image (again, to “age” the paper).

To finish off the card, fussy-cut out the golfer and use dimenstional foam to adhere her to the card front along with the heat embossed sentiment.

Grunge Elements

Stamp Sets: The Golf Club, Grunge Elements (Artistic Outpost)

Ink/Mediums: Stāz-On® Jet Black, Ranger® Tim Holtz® Mowed Lawn and Squeezed Lemonade Distress Stains, Ranger® Tim Holtz® Tea Dye Distress Ink

The Golf Club

Paper: Watercolor, Basic Black, Whisper White

Accessories: Embossing Buddy®, Stampin’ Emboss® White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Square Punches- 1 ¼” and 1 ⅜”

Thanks again for stopping by- hugs and I hope all of you have a fabulous weekend!

TCC53 Blessed to Know You

Hi Friends!!

Woohoo!!  It is time for the new challenge at The Card Concept and I was inspired by the bright, beautiful colors along with the texture for my Mixed Media card.

Just a reminder that The Card Concept is a bi-weekly challenge that has an inspiration photo along with a number of design styles that you can choose from to create your card- Clean and Simple, Clean and Graphic, Clean and Layered, Shabby Chic, Freestyle Collage, Classy and Elegant and Mixed Media.  

I have also linked this card to the Global Design Project #GDP031 "Nature" Theme Challenge along with the Splitcoaststampers’ MIX164 “Celebrate Spring!” Challenge.

 I hope you have a chance to visit us at The Card Concept and check out the rest of our Design Team samples as well as the Global Design Project and Splitcoaststampers challenge sites- fabulous inspiration from all!!

To create this card:

On a piece of Watercolor Paper, apply Gelatos®- Bubblegum, Aqua Dolce, Cotton Candy and Green Tea, spritz with water and use your finger or a sponge dauber to move the Gelatos® around on the paper.

Speed up the drying process with the Heat Tool.

Spritz more water onto the background panel, apply Ranger® Tim Holtz® Worn Lipstick, Broken China, Picked Raspberry and Mowed Lawn Distress Stains onto a craft mat, lay the moistened background panel into the ink, tilt the panel to allow the inks to spread across the page and heat with the Heat Tool.

Originally I inked the Hero Arts® Stamp Your Own Plant leaves with Mowed Grass Distress Stain and inked directly onto the panel.  FYI- While this looked OK, I was not completely satisfied, so I dried the panel with the Heat Tool, used the Embossing Buddy® to prep the page, and stamped the different leaves from Stamp Your Own Plant with Versamark® Ink and heat embossed the leaves with Stampin’ Emboss® White Embossing Powder.

I embossed the leaves in several steps so that they have the appearance of overlapping one another.

Use the Big Shot™ with the My Favorite Things® (MFT) Die-namics™ Stitched Cover-Up Vertical Companion Die and cut the Cover-Up from Basic Black cardstock.

De-static the Cover-Up die cut with the Embossing Buddy®, ink the sentiments from the Blessed (Mama Elephant) stamp set and Absolutely Fabulous (retired Stampin’ Up!) with Versamark™ ink and heat emboss with Stampin’ Emboss® White Embossing Powder.

Mount the embossed Cover-Up onto the embossed watercolor panel and adhere the entire panel to the Melon Mambo card base using dimensional foam.

Stamp Sets: Absolutely Fabulous (retired Stampin’ Up!), Stamp Your Own Plant (Hero Arts), Blessed (Mama Elephant)

Ink: Versamark™, Gelatos®- Bubblegum, Aqua Dolce, Cotton Candy and Green Tea , Ranger® Tim Holtz® Worn Lipstick, Broken China, Picked Raspberry and Mowed Lawn Distress Stains

Paper: Watercolor, Basic Black, Melon Mambo

Accessories: Big Shot™, MFT Die-namics™ Stitched Cover-Up Vertical Companion Die, Embossing Buddy®, Heat Tool, Stampin’ Emboss® White Embossing Powder

Thanks again for taking the time to stop by- I hope you can gather your supplies and pick a style to create your own card for our TCC53 "Bright and Fresh" gallery at The Card Concept!

TCC49 A Friend Loves At All Times

Hi Friends!!

It’s time for new TheCard Concept #TCC49 Floral Radiance Challenge!  I just love this spring inspiration photo with all of the beautiful flowers and glass- I was inspired by the colors, flowers and glass for my Mixed Media card!

Just a reminder that the Card Concept is a bi-weekly challenge that has an inspiration photo along with a number of design styles that you can choose from to create your card- Clean and Simple, Clean and Graphic, Clean and Layered, Shabby Chic, Freestyle Collage, Classy and Elegant and Mixed Media.  

I also linked this card to the Just Us Girls #330 Trend Week (Add a Tag) Challenge :-)

I hope you have a chance to visit us at The Card Concept and check out the rest of our Design Team samples as well as the gallery at Just Us Girls- fabulous inspiration from all!

This background for this card was created by applying Gelatos®, Distress Inks and Brusho® to a piece of Watercolor Paper, drying between layers, add Gesso® with the MB Fishnet Stencil, trim and mount onto Basic Black cardstock, trim and mount onto the Whisper White card base.

On another piece of Watercolor Paper, apply orange, yellow and pink Gelatos®, dry with a Heat Tool, prep the paper with an Embossing Buddy®, stamp the flower with Versamark™ Ink, apply Black Stampin’ Emboss® Embossing Powder, heat set with the Heat Tool and fussy cut the flower.  Add Clear Wink of Stella® to the petals (difficult to see in the photo).

Create the leaves in the same manner using Green Gelatos™ and add to the card front using dimensional foam.

Heat emboss the sentiment using Stampin’ Emboss® White Embossing Powder onto Basic Black cardstock, punch out with the Note Punch and mount onto the card front using dimensional foam to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets: Choose Happiness, Blessed by God

Ink: Ranger® Tim Holtz® broken China, Faded Jeans  Distress Stains; Gelatos®- Metallic Blue, Blueberries, Orange, Lemon, Pink, Brusho® Turquoise; Faber-Castell® Pitt Penn White Marker; Clear Wink of Stella®

Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Watercolor

Accessories: Gesso®, MB Fishnet Stencil, Embossing Buddy®, Heat Tool, Stampin’ Emboss® White and Black Embossing Powder, Water Spritzer

Thanks again for taking the time to visit- I hope you can gather your supplies and pick a style to create your own card for our gallery at The Card Concept!

TCC48 Mixed Media Love You

Hi Friends!!

It’s time for new The Card Concept #TCC48 "Sweet Hearts" Challenge!    Isn’t this a gorgeous collection of heart cookies- too pretty to eat for sure!  

I have also linked this card to the IN{K}SPIRE_Me #234 Color Challenge and the Just Us Girls #328 Wild Card Challenge (Ribbon, Pearls, 3 Layers).   

I hope you have a chance to visit us at The Card Concept and check out the rest of our Design Team samples as well as the other challenge sites- fabulous inspiration from all!

Just a reminder that the Card Concept is a bi-weekly challenge that has an inspiration photo along with a number of design styles that you can choose from to create your card- Clean and Simple, Clean and Graphic, Clean and Layered, Shabby Chic, Freestyle Collage, Classy and Elegant and Mixed Media.  

To create this card:

Apply Clear Gesso® to a piece of Whisper White cardstock (I used a piece of Whisper White cardstock that I had printed some Scripture from Psalms and decided that I was unhappy with my Bible Journaling on that page, so I cut the paper into A2 size panels and used one of those panels for this project).

Once the gesso has dried, apply Titanium White Acrylic Paint over the surface, add a bit of pink and melon Gelatos® along with Ranger® Tim Holtz® Worn Lipstick and Festive Berries Distress Stains, allowing the stains to merge with the Gelatos® and dry with a Heat Tool.

Place the Memory Box™ Pattern Heartwood Stencil over the panel, use a dampened paper towel to remove some of the ink and dry with the Heat Tool.

Ink the splatter stamp from Timeless Textures (Stampin’ Up!) using Rose Red Classic Ink and stamp over the surface.

Trim the panel and mount onto a piece of Crumb Cake cardstock, trim the Crumb Cake layer and mount onto Whisper White cardstock.

Adhere a strip of Whisper White cardstock mounted onto Rose Red cardstock across the upper portion of the panel, add the 5/8” Satin Ribbon  and adhere the ends of the ribbon behind the panel.

Mount the entire panel onto a piece of Rose Red cardstock, trim and mount onto the Whisper White card base.

Use the Big Shot™ with the Bloomin’ Heart Thinlits™ (Stampin’ Up!) to cut a heart from Whisper White cardstock and one from Rose Red cardstock.

Also, from the Bloomin’ Heart Thinlits ™ cut two of the large flowers and three of the smaller flowers from Whisper White cardstock.

Mount the Rose Red Bloomin’ Heart die cut directly to the card front and add the White Bloomin’ Heart die cut with Stampin’ Dimensionals®, offsetting the die cut a bit to show the Rose Red layer.

Add the white flowers to the Bloomin’ Heart die along with Pearls for the centers and a row of Pearls in the center of the Satin Ribbon.

Stamp the sentiment from Short & Sweet (retired Stampin’ Up!) with Early Espresso Classic Ink onto Whisper White cardstock, create the banner using the Hexagon Punch and mount onto Rose Red cardstock (also punching the ends with the Hexagon Punch).

Add the sentiment to the card front (tucking under the flowers) using Stampin’ Dimensionals® to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets: Short & Sweet (retired), Timeless Textures

Ink: Ranger® Tim Holtz® Worn Lipstick, Festive Berries  Distress Stains; Gelatos®, Titanium White Acrylic Paint

Paper: Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Rose Red

Accessories: Clear Gesso®, Matte Gel, Big Shot™,  Bloomin’ Heart Thinlits™, Hexagon Punch, Pattern Heartwood Stencil (MB), Pearls, 5/8” Satin Ribbon

Thanks again for taking the time to visit- I hope you can gather your supplies and pick a style to create your own card for our gallery at The Card Concept!

TCC45- Christmas Blessings

Hi Friends!!

It is time for The Card Concept #45 "Let It Snow" Inspiration Challenge- I love this color combination for Christmas and I chose to use the colors as well as the snowflakes for my Mixed Media card design.

I am also going to link this card to the Fusion “Blue Christmas” Challenge and the Paper Players PP273 “Tic-Tac-Toe” Challenge (snowflake, blue, ribbon).

Just a reminder that the Card Concept is a bi-weekly challenge that has an inspiration photo along with a number of design styles that you can choose from to create your card- Clean and Simple, Clean and Graphic, Clean and Layered, Shabby Chic, Freestyle Collage, Classy and Elegant and Mixed Media.   

I hope you can find some time to gather your supplies together and come join in on the fun- this will be our last challenge before Christmas :-)

To create this card:

Using a foam brush, apply Gesso® to a piece of designer paper (this is a great way to use up the patterns that you are not fond of) and once dry, apply a combination of Ranger® Tim Holtz® Chipped Sapphire Distress Stain along with Faber-Castell® Gelatos® (not sure of the color- I think it is Blueberry).

This process is a bit difficult to describe and basically you keep building up the background color until you are pleased with the results.

Use the large splatter stamp from Gorgeous Grunge with White Craft Ink to add a bit of splatter to the background (difficult to see in the photo).

Once the color had dried, de-static with the Embossing Buddy® and stamp the retired Festive Flurry snowflake image using Versamark™ ink, apply Stampin’ Emboss® Winter White Embossing Powder and heat set with the Heat Tool.

Close up of the easel closed :-)

When the embossing has cooled, ink the Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps (SNSS) Winter Blessings stamp using Night of Navy Classic Ink and stamp over the snowflake and background.

Trim the panel and hand cut the V-shape per the sketch.

Mount the lower panel onto a card front using Night of Navy cardstock.

Mount the upper panel onto a piece of Night of Navy cardstock (trimming to a “V”), add the ½ White Tea Lace Paper Doily behind the upper panel along with the 3/8” Denim Ribbon and mount onto the card front with dimensional foam.

Ink the sentiment from the retired Stampin’ Up! More Merry Messages using Versamark™ ink, apply Stampin’ Emboss® Winter White Embossing Powder and heat set with the Heat Tool.

Create the easel card from Extra Thick Whisper White cardstock (I used the Splitcoaststampers Tutorial here), stamp the sentiment from the retired Our Daily Bread Designs (ODBD) His Gift stamp set using Night of Navy Classic Ink , add the strip of Night of Navy cardstock with dimensional foam (cut the strip with the My Favorite Things (MFT) Horizontal Stitched Strip Die, edge with the MFT Die-namics Faux Crochet Die from Whisper White cardstock along with the 3/8” Denim Ribbon and stamp snowflakes from the Winter Blessings set (SNSS)  with White Craft Ink).

Adhere the card front to the easel and finish off the card with the retired Frosted Finishes Embellishment and Rhinestones.

Stamp Sets:  Festive Flurry, More Merry Messages (retired Stampin’ Up!); Gorgeous Grunge (Stampin’ Up- current), Winter Blessings (current SNSS), His Gift (retired ODBD)

Ink: Versamark™, White Craft;  Ranger® Tim Holtz® Chipped Sapphire Distress Stain along with Faber-Castell® Gelatos® (Blueberry),

Paper: Extra Thick Whisper White, Night of Navy; retired DSP (cannot see this since covered with Gesso®).

Accessories: Gesso®, Big Shot™, MFT Stitched Horizontal Strip Dies, MFT Die-namics Faux Crochet Die, Embossing Buddy®, Stampin’ Emboss® Winter White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, 3/8” Denim Ribbon, Frosted Finishes Embellishments, Rhinestones

Thanks again for stopping by- I hope you have a wonderful week and come play along with us at The CardConcept!