TCC32 Pleasant Poppies- Just Because :-)

Hi Stampers!! 

It’s time for the new Card Concept #32 (Coral, Aqua, Green & White) Inspiration Photo Challenge- my Mixed Media card was inspired by the colors as well as the beautiful flowers.

I decided to combine our Card Concept challenge with the Splitcoaststampers Ways to Use It WT524 Tortoise or Hare Challenge (see details here and gallery here) and the Mix-Ability MIX112 First Day of Spring Challenge (see details here and gallery here) and Virginia's View Challenge #14 Layers and Dimension :-)  

I am normally a “tortoise” when it pertains to card making – especially my Mixed Media designs but that is what I love about stamping and creating….you are allowed to go at your own pace and it is so therapeutic:-)

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. 

So pull your supplies together and come join in on the fun!! 

To create this card:

Apply a layer of Gesso to a piece of Whisper White cardstock and allow to dry (I prefer to use my Heat Tool to speed up the process).

On your craft mat, apply Ranger® Tim Holtz® Distress Stains- Peacock Feathers, Faded Jeans and Broken China and lay your prepared piece of Whisper White cardstock over the stains, twist and lift.   

Repeat until you have the desired effect on your background, spritzing with water and allowing to spread over the page and drying as needed between layers with the Heat Tool. 

Ink the retired background stamp, Ex Libré using Bermuda Bay Classic Inkand position the background panel over the image, “finger walk” the panel on parts of the stamp to allow only portions of the stamp to be revealed on the background, re-position the background layer and repeat (again, until the desired effect is achieved).

Once dried, apply Gesso® using the Balzar Designs® Well Rounded stencil- allow this to dry and add a few torn pieces of Graphic 45 Washi Tape. 

Stamp the Notable Notions script stamp with Bermuda Bay Classic Ink over the background and stamp the large splatter stamp from Gorgeous Grunge using Ranger® Tim Holtz® Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

Use the Distressing Tool to distress the edges and mount onto the Calypso Coral card base.   Use a Sponge Dauber to apply Ranger® Tim Holtz® Vintage Photo Distress Ink to the edges.

Open My Digital Studio (MDS) and position the Pleasant Poppies background stamp (enlarge the flowers a bit) as well as the sentiment, Just Because from Notably Ornate (enlarging this a bit as well) and print out onto Whisper White cardstock.

Color the Pleasant Poppies using the Light and Medium Calypso Coral and Old Olive Stampin’ Blendabilities™.  Add a few shadows with the Crumb Cake Stampin’ Write marker and a few highlights with the Faber-Castell White Pitt Pen marker. 

Carefully “fussy-cut” the flowers and add to the card front using Stampin’ Dimensionals®. 

Hand cut the sentiment away from the frame and use a Sponge Dauber with Ranger® Tim Holtz® Vintage Photo Distress Ink to age the paper a bit.   Mount to the card front using Stampin’ Dimensionals®.

Cut a strip of 1 ½” Burlap Ribbon, cut off the binding on both sides and remove a few strands of the Burlap.  Spread the remaining strands apart a bit and adhere the larger strip to the card front.

Weave a few strands of the burlap into the retired Designer Round Ribbon Slide and adhere to the card front to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets:  Pleasant Poppies, Notably Ornate (both MDS Versions), Notable Notions, Gorgeous Grunge, Ex Libré background stamp

Ink: Bermuda Bay, Stampin’ Blendabilities™- Light and Medium Calypso Coral and Old Olive Collections,  Stampin’ Write Marker- Crumb Cake; Ranger® Tim Holtz® Peacock Feathers, Faded Jeans, Broken China Distress Stain, Ranger® Tim Holtz® Vintage Photo Distress Ink, Printer Ink- Black, Faber-Castell White Pitt Pen marker

Paper: Whisper White, Calypso Coral

Accessories: Gesso®, Balzar Designs® Well Rounded Stencil, Graphic45 Washi Tape, Sponge Dauber, Distressing Tool, 1 ½” Burlap Ribbon, retired Designer Round Ribbon Slide

I have some good news to share- those of you who have been following my blog, know that my husband has been undergoing chemo treatments for a rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (short name- Waldenstroms) and we found out yesterday that the bone marrow biopsy results show that the chemo has been effective and he will now be under a 2 year maintenance program- Praise the Lord!!  We are so thrilled to hear these results and wanted to thank all of you for your prayers, cards and support!  The Lord has blessed us so and we are so thankful!!

Thanks again for taking the time to visit, and again, I hope you will find the time to stop by The Card Concept to check out the rest of the Design Team projects as well as create your own to join in on the fun!!  Have a fabulous Easter Week and Resurrection Sunday!!

Whispers of Smoky Wisteria- Pleasant Poppies for a Color and Sketch Challenge :-)

Hi Stampers! 

Here is the another card using the Pleasant Poppies background stamp for the Pals Paper Arts PPA244 Sketch Challenge and the CC522 Splitcoaststampers Color Challenge (Smoky Slate, Wild Wisteria, Whisper White and for “dessert” a touch of green)- see the details here and gallery here .

Sorry about the lighting (the card does look better IRL)- it was a bit difficult to photograph since the Wisteria Wonder has a grey tint and with the Smoky Slate, the Wisteria Wonder tended to wash out a bit in the photo...I color enhanced it a bit for the photo above :-)

Again, if you have not stopped by the challenge sites yet, I hope you will find the time to do so- fantastic inspiration from all!!

To create this card:

Adhere a piece of retired Wisteria Wonder Designer Series Paper (DSP) to a piece of Basic Black cardstock and mount onto a piece of Smoky Slate cardstock. 

Use the Big Shot™ with the retired Lacy Brocade Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder to emboss the layered panel, trim and mount onto the Basic Black card base.

Add the vertical strip of Basic Black cardstock to the center of the card.

Open a blank document in My Digital Studio (MDS), position the Pleasant Poppies background stamp image (re-sizing- this image was reduced a bit) and print out onto Whisper White cardstock.

Color the poppies using Stampin’ Write markers- Wisteria Wonder and Smoky Slate for the petals along with Pear Pizzazz for the stems. 

Carefully cut out the flowers (“fussy-cut”) and add a few white highlights using a White Gel Pen.  I had reduced the image a bit when I initially printed this out months ago to fill up my 8.5 x 11 blank document…if I had to do this over, I would use a larger image :-)

Punch out a piece of Whisper White cardstock using the 2 ½” Circle Punch.   Adhere all of the petals except the last one on the left using adhesive directly to the Whisper White layer. 

Layer the floral image circle onto a Smoky Slate cardstock circle (also punched with the 2 ½” Circle Punch and cut in half) and two Basic Black cardstock circles to create the layered frame for the petals.

Mount the layered circle directly to the card front and add the last floral image using Stampin’ Dimensionals®. 

Ink the sentiment using Memento™ Tuxedo Black Ink and stamp onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock.  Punch out using the Word Window Punch and punch two additional Word Window shapes from Smoky Slate and Basic Black.

Create the banner points in all three punched pieces using the Hexagon Punch and cut the Smoky Slate and Basic Black in half.  Add the layers behind the stamped sentiment and mount the sentiment to the card front using Stampin’ Dimensionals®. 

Add a few Pearls to the sentiment layer to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets:  Pleasant Poppies (MDS version), Moon Lake

Ink: Printer Ink- Black, Memento™ Tuxedo Black Ink, Stampin’ Write Markers- Wisteria Wonder, Smoky Slate, Pear Pizzazz; White Gel Pen

Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Smoky Slate, retired Wisteria Wonder DSP

Accessories: Big Shot™, retired Lacy Brocade Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder, Hexagon Punch, Pearls, Stampin’ Dimensionals®

Thanks again for visiting- I will be posting the new SU-Only Challenge early Tuesday morning so I hope you have a chance to stop by again soon! 

Clean and Layered- Pleasant Poppies Sympathy "Stepped Up" Version

Hi Stampers! 

Here is the “stepped up” version of the previous card posted using the Stampin’ Celebration SC100 Photo for inspiration, the Hand StampedSentiments HSSSC207 Color Challenge and the Splitcoaststampers CAS313 Think Spring Challenge (see details here and gallery here).

 

Again, if you have not stopped by any of the challenge sites yet, I hope you will find the time to do so- wonderful inspiration from all!!

To create the Clean and Layered (CAL) version:

Open a blank document in My Digital Studio (MDS), position the Pleasant Poppies background stamp image (re-sizing if necessary) and print out onto Whisper White cardstock.

Color the poppies using Stampin’ Write markers- Blushing Bride for the petals, Wild Wasabi for the stems and Crumb Cake for shadows. 

Carefully cut out the flowers (“fussy-cut”) and add a few white highlights using a White Gel Pen.

Ink the sentiment using Blackberry Bliss Classic Ink and stamp onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock.  Trim the panel and mount onto a piece of Blackberry Bliss cardstock, trim and mount onto the Blushing Bride card base.

Add the flowers using Stampin’ Dimensionals® to the card front.

Use the Big Shot™ with the Stylish Stripes Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder to emboss the triangular piece of Blackberry Bliss cardstock.

Mount the triangle onto the card front to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets:  Pleasant Poppies (MDS version), Thoughts & Prayers

Ink: Printer Ink- Black, Blackberry Bliss Classic Ink, Stampin’ Write Markers- Blushing Bride, Wild Wasabi, Crumb Cake; White Gel Pen

Paper: Whisper White, Blackberry Bliss, Blushing Bride

Accessories: Big Shot™, Stylish Stripes Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder, Stampin’ Dimensionals®

Thanks again for stopping by-the Clean and Simple version wasin the previous post here….I hope all of you have a terrific Sunday!!

CAS Pleasant Poppies- A Floral Sympathy Card

Hi Stampers! 

As I created this weekend, I wanted to participate in CASOLOGY#138 Blossom Challenge incorporating the Hand Stamped Sentiments HSSSC207 Color Challenge and the Splitcoaststampers CAS313 Think Spring Challenge (see details here and gallery here).    

I decided to create a very Clean and Simple (CAS) card, then “stepped” it up a bit with additional layering and embossing for a Clean and Layered (CAL) card (see the next post here for the “stepped-up” version) :-).

Again, if you have not stopped by any of the above sites yet, I hope you will have time to do so- fabulous Design Team samples and so much inspiration!!

To create the CAS version:

Open a blank document in My Digital Studio (MDS), position the Pleasant Poppies background stamp image (re-sizing if necessary) and print out onto Whisper White cardstock.

Color the poppy image using Stampin’ Write markers- Blushing Bride for the petals, Wild Wasabi for the stems and Crumb Cake for shadows. 

Carefully cut out the flowers (“fussy-cut”) and add a few white highlights using a White Gel Pen.

Ink the sentiment using Blackberry Bliss Classic Ink and stamp onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock.  Trim the panel and mount onto a piece of Blackberry Bliss cardstock, trim and mount onto the Blushing Bride card base.

Add the flowers using Stampin’ Dimensionals® to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets:  Pleasant Po

ppies (MDS version), Thoughts & Prayers

Ink: Printer Ink- Black, Blackberry Bliss Classic Ink, Stampin’ Write Markers- Blushing Bride, Wild Wasabi, Crumb Cake; White Gel Pen

Paper: Whisper White, Blackberry Bliss, Blushing Bride

Accessories: Stampin’ Dimensionals®

Thanks again for stopping by-the next post will show the “stepped up” version :-)  I hope all of you have a wonderful, relaxing Sunday!!

Every Year Knowing You- A Clean and Layered Sketch :-)

Hi Again Stampers!

I have one more Clean and Layered (CAL) card to share that I created using the FMS142 Freshly Made Sketches Challenge. 

Again, I hope you will take the time (if you have not done so already) to visit their site to check out all of the other Design Team entries as well as the gallery- great inspiration from all :-)

I decided to use an image from My Digital Studio (MDS) to create this CAL card:

Open a blank 8.5’ x 11” document in MDS, insert the Pleasant Poppies stamp image, enlarge and print out onto Whisper White cardstock.

Color using the Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive Stampin’ Blendabilities™ Collection , adding shadows with the Stampin’ Write Sahara Sand marker and floral centers using the Stampin’ Write Basic Black marker. Add a few highlights to the flower centers using the Chalk Marker.

Round the corner of the colored floral image using the Envelope Punch Board, layer onto a piece of Basic Black cardstock (rounding the corner with the Envelope Punch Board as well).

Mount onto a piece of Old Olive cardstock (stamped with the retired En Francais background stamp using Old Olive Classic Ink) and adhere the entire panel to the Basic Black card base.

Stamp the image from Bloom with Hope using Memento™ Tuxedo Black Ink onto Whisper White cardstock and mount onto a piece of Basic Black cardstock.   Mount onto the card front and add the 5/8” Black Satin Ribbon bow.

Add a few Pearls to the upper left hand and lower right hand corners to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets: Pleasant Poppies, Bloom with Hope, En Francais

Ink:  Memento™ Tuxedo Black Ink, Old Olive, Printer Ink- Black, Stampin’ Blendabilities- Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive Collection, Stampin’ Write markers- Basic Black, Sahara Sand, Chalk Marker

Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Old Olive

Accessories: 5/8” Basic Black Satin Ribbon, Pearls

Thanks again for taking stopping by- I will be posting a few more cards later today.  Have a wonderful Monday! 

PPA204 Together Forever

Hi Stampers!

I wanted to create a Clean and Layered (CAL) card using the Pals Paper Arts PPA204 Sketch Challenge and decided to incorporate My Digital Studio images along with the new Stampin’ Blendabilities™ and traditional card making techniques.

I hope you have a chance to check out the Pals Paper Arts site- so much inspiration from all of the Design Team projects as well as the other entries!!

To create this card:

Open a blank document in My Digital Studio (MDS), position the Pleasant Poppies background stamp (reduced to fit the card sketch) along with the sentiment from Together Forever and print onto an 8 ½ x 11” piece of Whisper White cardstock.

Color the poppies using the Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive Blendabilities™ Collection markers. Use the Sahara Sand Stampin’ Write marker to create shadows.  Trim the panel and mount onto a piece of Basic Black cardstock.

Use the Big Shot™ with the Pretty Prints Impressions™ Embossing Folder to emboss a piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock, trim and mount onto the Basic Black card base.  

Adhere the vertical strip of Old Olive Designer Series Paper (DSP) to a piece of Basic Black cardstock and add to the Cherry Cobbler panel. 

Add the focal image using Stampin’ Dimensionals®.  Create the banner points on the sentiment using the Hexagon Punch and layer onto a piece of Basic Black cardstock (also creating the points with the Hexagon Punch).

Add the Cherry Cobbler button with the retired Black Hemp Twine and Pearls to finish off the card.  

Stamp Sets: Pleasant Poppies, Together Forever (both MDS versions)

Ink: Printer Ink- Black, Stampin’ Blendabilities™- Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive Collections, Sahara Sand Stampin’ Write Marker   

Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black, Whisper White, Old Olive DSP

Accessories: Big Shot™, Pretty PrintTextured Impressions™ Embossing Folder, Hexagon Punch, Pearls, retired Cherry Cobbler button, retired Black Hemp Twine

Thanks again for stopping by- I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend!

True Friend- Poppies, Polka Dots and Gingham :-)

Hi Again Stampers!!

This is the fourth card created based on the wonderful SR199 Stampin’ Royalty Photo Inspiration as well as the Splitcoaststampers SC459 Sketch and the CC449 ColorChallenge. 

Hopefully you will find the time to visit each of the sites/galleries- check out the Design Team samples as well as the other entries (great job by all!)

Again, if you have been following this series of cards inspired by the SR199 photo, you will know that I used very limited supplies along with pre-printed My Digital Studio images (if interested, more details for that decision are here :-))

To create this card:

Using My Digital Studio (MDS) print out the Pleasant Poppies (I re-sized this image) along with the sentiment from Simple Friendship onto Whisper White cardstock.

Using the retired SU! Watercolor Pencils, color the Pleasant Poppies image with the pencil closest to Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive colors. 

Create the shadow using the Sahara Sand Stampin’ Write marker and add more definition and details to the petals using the Cherry Cobbler Stampin’ Write marker.

Use the Big Shot™ with the Finishing Touches Edglelit™ to cut a border on a piece of Basic Black cardstock and adhere the poppy image at the top.

Add the gingham ribbon bow (from my stash) along with a scrap piece of polka dot background paper above the die cut edge and add the sentiment below the ribbon (punched from the retired small oval punch).

Adhere two strips of the retired polka dot background paper to the Basic Black card base, add the darker polka dot layer and mount the focal image using Stampin’ Dimensionals™. 

Of course, add a few Pearls to finish off the card :-).

Stamp Sets:  Pleasant Poppies, Simple Friendship (both MDS)

Ink: Printer Ink- Black, SU! Watercolor Pencils, Stampin’ Write Marker- Crumb Cake and Cherry Cobbler

Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, retired Neutrals background papers

Accessories: Big Shot™, Finishing Touches Edglelit™, retired Small Oval Punch, Pearls, gingham ribbon (from my stash)

Thanks again for taking the time to visit- only two more cards to post…

Hope you are having a great evening!

Happy Birthday- Celebrating with Three Challenges

Hi Stampers! 

This weekend has been a wonderful so far celebrating birthdays in our family (three birthday celebrations this week) :-)).

 

Today we celebrated my twin nieces 18^th birthday (I will be posting their cards later this evening) but wanted to share the card I created for my stepmother- we will be celebrating her later today :-)

I decided to use the ColourQ CQC208 Color Challenge along with the fabulous PPA173 Pals Paper Arts Sketch and the Just Add Ink JAI184 “Just AddBows” Challenge (again, I hope you will take the time to visit each challenge site- amazing Design Team samples as well as other entries!! :-)). 

To create this card:

In My Digital Studio (MDS), open a blank 8.5 x 11 custom page and insert the stamp image Pleasant Poppies and resize.  Print the image using your computer printer and punch out with the 2 ½” Circle Punch.

 

Punch another circle from Basic Black cardstock using the 2 ½” Circle Punch, cut in half. 

Color the image using SU! Watercolor Pencils and adhere the Basic Black pieces to the outside edge to give a frame to the Poppies.  Adhere to a Chalk Talk Frame (created with the Big Shot™ and the Chalk Talk Framelits™ from Basic Black cardstock), add the row of Pearls at the bottom edge of the frame along with the banners from Real Red Designer Series Paper (DSP). 

Add the 5/8”Basic Black Satin Ribbon bow and adhere the sentiment (from Teeny Tiny Wishes stamped in Basic Black Classic Ink onto Whisper White cardstock, punched with the Word Window Punch and adhered to a Basic Black frame punched from the Modern Label Punch).

Use the Big Shot™ along with the Pretty Prints Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder to emboss a piece of Whisper White and adhere it to the Basic Black card base.  

Add the vertical strip of Basic Black cardstock along with the Real Red DSP , adhere the focal image and add the Pearls to the sentiment and at the top of the tag frame to finish off the card. 

Stamp Sets:  Pleasant Poppies (MDS), Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Printer Ink- Black, Basic Black Classic Ink

Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red DSP

Accessories:  Big Shot™, Chalk Label Framelits™,  Pretty Print Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder, Punches- 2 1/2" Circle, Word Window, Modern Label, 5/8” Basic Black Satin Ribbon (retired), Pearls

 Thanks again for stopping by- have a great Sunday!!  

Cross-hatched Poppies- Three Challenges in One!

Hi Stampers!!

Another week has flown by and I have been able to spend time creating again:-).  I love the spring colors for this week’s CQC176 ColourQ Challenge and decided to create a card using Stampin' Write markers only for the color and  The Friday Mashup! FM97 Markers and TextureChallenge as well as a special fold card (easel card) for this week’s YCDI6 YouCan Do It Challenge at Splitcoaststampers.   

Again, all of these sites have fabulous Design Team examples as well as the other artist’s entries – if you have a chance, check them out!!

To create this card:

Use the Embossing Buddy® to de-static a piece of Whisper White cardstock.  Ink the Pleasant Poppies background stamp using Versamark™ ink, apply Early Espresso Stampin’ Emboss® Embossing Powder and heat with the Heat Gun.

Color the floral images using Stampin’ Write markers- Lucky Limeade for the stems, Calypso Coral and Primrose Petals for the flowers (and use Raspberry Ripple to add the darker highlights to the petals).  

I decided to try to hide a “boo-boo” in the background (we all make them, right?) with the brush tip of the Basic Black Stampin’ Write marker and used vertical strokes to fill in the background.  Since it seemed to leave a bit of a streaked appearance, I used the fine tip of the Basic Black marker to "cross-hatch" the area (first diagonal lines from left to right, then from right to left to help fill in and darken the background)- I have posted a close-up of the cross hatching below :-)    This took a bit of time but I was able to salvage my card:-) 

Punch out the desired area using the 2 ½” Circle Punch and also punch out a 2 ½” Circle from Lucky Limeade cardstock.   Mount the Lucky Limeade circle behind the floral image (first cut the circle in half and position so the cut edges do not show) and adhere to a Tea Lace Doily.

Create the Easel Card (see tutorial here) from Whisper White cardstock. 

Close-up of Cross-Hatched background :-)

With the Big Shot™ and the Lacy Brocade Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder, emboss a piece of Whisper White cardstock and a small piece of Lucky Limeade.  

Mount the embossed Whisper White panel (trimmed to a 4” square) to a 4 ¼” square piece of Lucky Limeade and add the focal image using Mini Glue Dots.  Adhere the Satin Ribbon bow along with the Antique Brad (I trimmed off the “tails” of the brad and used Mini Glue Dots to adhere to the bow) and add the sentiment layer (inked with a Basic Black Stampin’ Write marker).

View of the easel card fold 

Add an additional piece of Lucky Limeade (3 ¾” square) to the back to hide the ends of the ribbon and any punched areas (I always punch out areas on my background pieces to use at a later date and lower the weight of the card for mailing).

Add Sticky Strips to the upper part of the easel and mount the focal panel.  Add the embossed Lucky Limeade cardstock to the lower portion and the sentiment (again inked with markers) mounted onto XL Ovals layered from Calypso Coral cardstock.  I also cut out one of the remaining flowers from the background stamp and added it to the lower layer along with Pearls to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets: Pleasant Poppies (background), Blessings from Heaven, Short & Sweet

Ink:  none- Stampin’ Write markers- Lucky Limeade, Calypso Coral, Primrose Petals, Raspberry Ripple

Paper: Whisper White, Lucky Limeade, Calypso Coral

Accessories:  Big Shot™, Lacy Brocade Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder, Embossing Buddy®, Early Espresso Stampin’ Emboss® Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Punches- 2 ½” Circle, XL Oval, Word Window, Tea Lace Doily, Antique Brad, Pearls, Satin Ribbon from my stash

Thanks again for stopping by- I hope you have a wonderful week!