TCC138d Sunset on the Shore

Hi Friends!

Welcome to The Card Concept #138d {Sunset at the Shore} Challenge! 

We have a beautiful inspiration photo for our last summer challenge (we will be back for our Fall/Winter challenge in September) and I was inspired by the overall sunset scene with the pretty seashells as well as the shades of pinkish purple.  I can just imagine sitting on the beach and watching this sunset, can't you?  

For this Mixed Media card, I decided to pull out some of my retired Stampin’ Up! stamps (Stippe Shells, Gorgeous Grunge, Timeless Textures) along with a verse sentiment from a current Divinity Designs LLC set, Scripture Collection 11.

I love this verse from the Scripture Collection 11 and have not stamped this verse in a while (if ever).  I am still focusing on inking up my "unloved" stamp sets and in addittion to my Divinity Designs LLC Scripture Collection stamp sets, the Stampin' Up! sets used for this card will remain in my collection (I love the seashells in the Stipple Shells, they are so realistic).

As those of you who follow my blog know, I am making an effort to complete a card for each of the Splitcoaststampers Sketches (they are at #815 now and I have finished over half so far, woohoo!) :-).  

With that in mind, I thought that the SC17 Sketch  would work well for the layout and will also be linking this card to the Word Art Wednesday #452- #453 “Anything Goes” Challenge (another one of my favorite challenge blogs).

If you have not had a chance to visit us at The Card Concept (or the other challenge sites yet), I encourage you to do so- fabulous inspiration from all! 

To create this card:

Using a stencil brush, apply distress oxide inks onto a piece of white cardstock – first, applying Fossilized Amber for the sun area and reflection, then applying Spiced Marmalade and Picked Raspberry for the sky/water areas.  Keep applying ink as needed and use a water brush to create the horizon line and tapping water (I used my fingers) to blend the ink and create the clouds.

Dry the panel thoroughly with a heat tool before inking the sentiment with Versafine Onyx Black, apply clear embossing powder and heat set with a heat tool. Trim the panel to 4” x 5 ¼”. 

Tear the edge of a piece of Sahara Sand cardstock, stamp the splatter images with Vintage Tea Archival ink as well as inking the torn edge.  Mount onto the sentiment panel and trim the edges.

Use a water brush to water down the pearl texture paste to add shimmer to the embossed “sand”. 

Adhere the entire panel onto black cardstock, trim close to the edge.

Ink the Stipple Shells images onto white cardstock using Versafine Onyx Black ink, apply clear embossing powder and heat set with a heat tool.

Another view of the shells and colors :-)

Watercolor the shells using distress oxide inks along with water-based markers.  Once satisfied with the coloring, fussy cut and adhere to the card front with chipboard or dimensional foam.

Finish off the card by applying shimmer to the seashells with a clear glitter pen.

Stamp Sets: Stipple Shells, Gorgeous Grunge, Timeless Textures (retired Stampin’ Up!), Scripture Collection 11 (Divinity Designs LLC)

Ink/Mediums: Versafine™ Onyx Black, Tim Holtz® Distress Oxide- Fossilized Amber, Spiced Marmalade, Picked Raspberry and Vintage Tea Archival; Stampin’ Write Markers- Crushed Curry, Berry Burst, Crumb Cake, Baked Brown Sugar; Faber-Castell® Texture Luxe™ Pearl, Spectrum Noir™ Clear Glitter Pen

Cardstock/Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Sahara Sand (all Stampin’ Up!)

Tools/Accessories: Gemini, Jr™,  Pretty Print Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder (retired Stampin’ Up!);  Embossing Buddy®, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, AquaPainter™, Claritystamp™  Stencil Brush

Thanks again for taking the time to visit!  I hope I have inspired you to create your own card based on our {Sunset at the Short } photo and link up to our gallery at The Card Concept- we would love to see what inspired you! The challenge is open until August 31^st   at noon EDT.

Monochrome Ladies

Hi Friends!

I am sharing a card this evening that was designed using retired Stampin’ Up! sets, Blessings from Heaven and Timeless Textures along with Crafty Individuals Love Letter Ladies stamp set.

I am slowly working my way through the over 800 sketches at Splitcoaststampers (a personal goal) and this card uses the SC123 Sketch for the layout.

I am also participating with the Stinkin’ Inkers August “Monochrome” Challenge along with the INKspirational #219 Word Prompt “Face” Challenge.

I hope you have had the chance to check out the above challenge sites, gorgeous inspiration from all!

To create this card:

De-static a piece of vanilla cardstock with an embossing powder tool, ink the Love Letter Ladies images with a black archival ink, apply clear embossing powder and heat set with a heat tool.

Once the embossing has cooled, use brushed corduroy ink to watercolor and distress the images, allow to dry and trim close to the edges of each image to create four separate squares.

Mount each square onto black cardstock, trim close to the edge.

Using an acetate envelope (slit open on the side so you can open like a book), tap brushed corduroy ink into the center of the envelope (on one side of the flap), lightly spritz, insert a piece of vanilla cardstock (approx. 4 x 5 ¼”) into the envelope, close the inked flap and “smoosh” the ink over the cardstock. 

Dry the panel with a heat tool, ink and stamp the Timeless Textures image with vintage tea archival ink.

De-static the lower part of the card front, ink the sentiment from Blessings from Heaven with archival black ink, apply clear embossing powder and heat set with a heat tool.

Mount onto a piece of black cardstock, add a strip of ½” black seam binding (wrapping the ends behind the panel). 

Mount the entire panel onto a white card base, sponge brushed corduroy ink over the edges.

Add the stamped squares with chipboard (or dimensional foam) and adhere the black seam binding bow to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets: Blessings from Heaven, Timeless Textures (retired Stampin’ Up!), Love Letter Ladies (Crafty Individuals)

Ink/Mediums: Versafine™ Onyx Black; Tim Holtz® Brushed Corduroy Distress and Vintage Tea Archival

Paper/Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Basic Black

Accessories/Tools: Embossing Buddy®, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, AquaPainter™, ½” Black Seam Binding, Acetate Envelope

Thanks again for taking the time to visit- I hope you have a fabulous week!

My Grace is Sufficient

Hi Friends!

I designed this card using a stamp set that I purchased on clearance over a year ago- Everlasting (Kaisercraft) and this is the first time I have had a chance to ink it up.  I decided to pair the birds with a sentiment from another stamp set that has been un-inked lately- The Vine (Unity Stamp Co).   

I am making a dedicated effort to try to use stamps and paper that I already own (although I do still purchase a few)- I find it so difficult to resist those 40-50% off or more sales- don't you? 

I am also challenging myself to work my way through all of the Splitcoaststampers’ Sketch Challenges (now at 800) that I have not used yet so I incorporated the SC160 Sketch layout into the design of this card.  This sketch was from 2009 (the SCS challenges do not expire) and I thought it would be a good layout for the branch image.

I enjoy participating with online challenges as well and will be linking this card to the Simon Says Monday “Spritz and Splatter” Challenge along with the A Bit More Time to Craft #115  “Anything Goes” Challenge.

Since the Simon Says Monday Challenge was "Spritz and Splatter", I decided to create a Shabby Chic/Vintage Mixed Media card.  

To create this card:

Apply distress ink to the inside of a woodgrain embossing folder, insert a piece of white cardstock and emboss the panel.  Spritz the panel to allow the ink to spread a bit and also use a water brush to apply additional brown distress ink as needed (see all of the colors used below).

Trim the panel and mount onto a piece of black cardstock. Adhere the background panel to a white card base.

Ink the background stamp (Chalkboard Vine) with the same brown distress ink (, lightly stamp over the designer paper before cutting the paper into three panels.  Mount onto black cardstock and add directly to the card front.

Ink the birds on the branch image (from Everlasting) with Versafine™ Onyx Black ink, stamp onto a piece of white cardstock,  apply clear embossing powder and heat set with a heat tool.  Once the image has cooled, water color with brown distress ink along with brown and gray water-based markers.

Apply the distress ink directly around the edges of the image and stamp with a texture splatter stamp to achieve additional distressing and “antiquing”.  Die cut the panel with a stitched rectangle die and mount onto black cardstock.

Stamp the sentiment from The Vine (Unity Stamp Co) with embossing ink (I used the Versafine™ Onyx Black since my Versamark™ was not nearby), apply white embossing powder and heat set with a heat tool.  Trim the sentiment (I used a scrap piece of black paper and it was not trimmed evenly so I had to cut into the area where the “M” would be cut-off, therefore, I fussy-cut around the “M”).  Mount the sentiment onto the bird panel.

Adhere the bird panel to the card front using chipboard or dimensional foam (I prefer chipboard for extra stability, plus I have a lot of chipboard on hand, lol!).

To finish the card, use an extra fine white paint pen to add a highlight to each bird’s eye.

Stamp Sets: Everlasting (Kaisercraft), The Vine (Unity Stamp Co), Chalkboard Vine (Divinity Designs, LLC), Timeless Textures (Stampin’ Up!)

Ink/Mediums: Versafine™ Onyx Black, Stampin’ Write Markers-Gray Granite, Soft Suede; Tim Holtz™ Brushed Corduroy Distress;   Extra Fine White Paint Pen

Cardstock/Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Black, Prima Lifetime Collection Designer Paper

Accessories: Gemini, Jr™, My Favorite Things Stitched Rectangle A2 STAX Set 1 Dies, retired Stampin’ Up! Woodgrain Embossing Folder, Embossing Buddy®, Clear and White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, AquaPainter™

I am so thrilled that you took the time to visit my blog- I hope all of you are staying healthy and safe during the worldwide pandemic!

I am planning on posting a few more cards this week and, if you have the time, please stop  by again soon!  Hugs, sweet friends!

TCC128 LOVE

Hi Friends!

Welcome to The Card Concept #128 {Be Mine, Valentine} Challenge!

What a fun inspiration photo! I love all of the colors as well as the theme of Valentine’s Day!  Originally I was going to create a Clean and Graphic card, but since I wanted to use this vintage LOVE stamp, I decided to design a Shabby and Vintage/Mixed Media card.

In addition to the retired Love Is A Great Thing (Stampin’ Up!) (and in my effort to continue to ink up stamps I already own) I also used images from several other Stampin’ Up! retired sets, Botanicals, Timeless Textures and Tiny Tags. 

I used the Splitcoaststampers SC52 Sketch for the layout and am also linking to the Joy of Sets Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge (diagonal love-embossing-die cuts), the Tuesday Throwdown #450 “Create Your Own Background” Challenge and the Stamping Sensations “Feminine” Challenge.

The splattered background of this card was created using an acetate envelope technique (I used clear packaging from a stamp set).  Slice open one end of the envelope, open and tap a bit of Real Red Classic Ink onto one side of the envelope, lightly spritz with water, close the envelope and “smoosh” the ink together through the acetate.  Open the envelope, lightly press the white cardstock into the ink and continue with the process until you are happy with the results.

Use Frost White paint diluted with water to add a bit of sheen and tone down the panel.  Ink the script image from Botanicals with black ink and randomly stamp over the background.

Add a bit of platinum embellishment mousse in certain areas and stamp the small splatter stamp from Texture Tiles with silver metallic ink.

Die cut a stitched rectangle from the center of the background panel (for the center focal image panel) and set aside.

Cut the remaining background panel to approx.. 4” x 5 ¼”, adhere to a piece of white cardstock, trim again, mount onto black cardstock, trim and mount onto a white card base.

Ink the Love Is A Great Thing image with Versafine™ Onyx Black Ink, stamp onto white cardstock, apply Clear Embossing Powder and heat set with a heat tool.  

Color the image with water-based markers, watercolor pencils, silver metallic marker and frost white shimmer paint.  Add white highlights with an extra fine white paint pen.

Mount the focal image onto black cardstock, trim close to the edge and add a strip of lace.

Stamp the sentiments from Tiny Tags with black ink, punch out with the Jewelry Tag Punch, add a hole for hanging and thread through the silver cord.  Wrap around the central panel and add the silver cord bow. 

Mount the entire center panel onto the card front, die cut a few flourishes from white cardstock and add to the corners.  Use a clear glitter pen to add shimmer to the die cuts as well as the letters and finish off the card with a few rhinestones.

Stamp Sets:  Love Is A Great Thing, Botanicals, Timeless Textures, Tiny Tags (all retired Stampin’ Up!)

Ink/Mediums: Versafine™ Onyx Black,  Real Red Classic Ink, Encore™ Silver Ultimate Metallic Ink, Stampin’ Up! Watercolor Pencils- Real Red, Old Olive, Arteza ™ Trimarkers- Poppy Red, Watermelon, Bright Pink; Silver Metallic Marker, Nuvo™ Pure Platinum Embellishment Mousse, Frost White Shimmer Paint, Wink of Stella™ Clear Glitter Pen, White Paint Pen

Cardstock/Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black

Tools/Accessories: Gemini, Jr™, MFT Stitched Rectangle STAX A2 Set 1 Dies, Flourish Corner Dies, Embossing Buddy®, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, 3/8” White Crochet Lace, Silver Cord, Jewelry Tag Punch, Rhinestones, Acetate Envelope

Thanks again for taking the time to visit!  I hope I have inspired you to create your own card based on our {Be Mine, Valentine} photo and link up to our gallery at The Card Concept- we would love to see what inspired you! The challenge is open until Monday, February 17^th  at noon EST.

TCC100 Elegant Fall

Hi Friends!

Woohoo! We are celebrating the 100^th challenge at The Card Concept with a gorgeous inspiration photo and a special surprise!  To help us celebrate, all of our designers invited a special guest designer so we have 24 different cards to inspire you!!

I love this beautiful inspiration photo that Lesley found and was inspired by the colors, the roses as well as the gold to create a Shabby Chic/Mixed Media card! These colors worked perfect for my niece’s wedding this past weekend (her colors were burgundy, light pink, white/ivory and gold). 

I am also participating with the Word Art Wednesday #356-#357 “Anything Goes” Challenge.

Just a reminder that the Card Concept is a bi-weekly challenge that has an inspiration photo along with a suggestion 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 (or you can combine several styles for your own style).

If you have not had a chance to visit us at The Card Concept or the Word Art Wednesday site yet, I hope you will find time to do so- gorgeous inspiration from all!

To create this card:

1). Apply clear gesso to a 5 ½” square piece of white cardstock, use a heat tool if necessary to speed up the drying process.

2). Once the panel has dried, use Tim Holtz® Distress Oxide Inks, Alcohol Inks along with acrylic paint until you achieve the color that you desire (see colors used below).  Add TH Picket Fence Distress Stain to tone down the color in areas and add a bit of crackle texture paste with a honeycomb stencil.

3). Once the crackle paste has dried, stamp the background with the retired En Francais background stamp (SU!) using Staz-On™ Stone Gray ink, add a bit of distressing with the small splatter stamp from Timeless Textures (SU!) and Stone Gray ink, distress the edges of the panel and mount onto a 5 ½” square white card base.

4). Create the rolled flowers using MFT Mini Royal and Royal Rose Dies from Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White and Pretty in Pink cardstock.  Use a crimper tool to soften the paper before rolling the flowers (I use hot glue to adhere the base).  Die cut the leaves from Wild Wasabi cardstock using ODBD Bitty Blossoms Dies and the scrolls from gold foil using ODBD Fancy Foliage Dies.

5). De-static a piece of white cardstock with an embossing powder tool, stamp the sentiment from Occasional Quotes (retired SU! hostess set)  with Versamark™ Ink, apply gold embossing powder and heat set with a heat tool.  Once the embossing has cooled, die cut with an ornate rectangle die and add a bit of gold mousse over the edges.

6). Mount the sentiment onto the card front using dimensional foam,  Add the rolled roses along with the leaves and scrolls around the sentiment (I used hot glue to adhere the floral elements).

7). Add a few pearls to the corner of the sentiment and upper left corner of the card.  Use a clear glitter pen to add shimmer to the roses to finish off the card.

 Stamp Sets: Occasional Quotes, En Francais (both retired Stampin’ Up!), Timeless Textures (current SU!)

Ink/Mediums: Versamark™, Staz-On™ Stone Gray,  TH Distress Oxide- Antique Linen, Picket Fence, Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick, Vintage Photo; Adirondack™ Alcohol Inks- Cranberry and Gold Mixatives™, Ken Oliver™ Metallic Rose Liquid Metals, Liquidtex™ Clear Gesso, Wendy Vecchi™ Crackled Texture Paste, Nuvo™ Indian Gold Embellishment Mousse, Spectrum Noir™ Glitter Pen

Cardstock/Paper: Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Pretty in Pink, Wild Wasabi, Gold Foil (all SU!), misc. HD white cardstock from my stash (for base and panel)

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot™, MFT Royal and Mini Royal Rose Dies;  Our Daily Bread Dies- Fancy Foliage, Bitty Blossoms; Embossing Buddy®, Gold Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Distressing Tool, Crafters Workshop Punchinella 6x6 Stencil, Palette Knife

Thanks again for taking the time to visit! I hope you will find the time to check out all of the wonderful cards at The Card Concept and if you have a chance, create a card based on our {Elegant Fall} photo- we would love to see your interpretation!!

Created to Create

Hi Friends!

I hope all of you enjoyed the final day of August- where has the summer gone?  It sure seems to fly by faster with each passing year- at least for me :-) My mom used to say that time flies faster as you get older, now I know she was right....

Today I am sharing a  quick and simple Mixed Media card designed with the Created to Create digital stamp from Power Poppy by Marcella Hawley.  I wanted to participate with the Power Poppy August Power & Spark “Home Sweet Home”Challenge (getting this link at the last moment :-)). 

I love this image by Marcella and it reminds me that God created us in His image and He is the Ultimate Creator!!  Just look around at His Imagination with all of the created things in the universe- the universe itself, trees, plants, birds, animals, clouds, people- you name it and He created it!!  It is so amazing and I love to just look out at His creation ,don't you?

The challenge was to create a card that was inspired by your home- a color combination, sytle, etc. so I was inspired by my craft room (which is where I tend to spend most of my time).  I love to watercolor and have not had a chance recently to create a painting but do watercolor quite a bit on my cards. 

I am also linking this card to the Simon Says Wednesday “Anything Goes”Challenge and the Addicted to Stamps and More #307 "Make Your Mark" Challenge.

If you have not had a chance to visit the above challenge galleries yet, I encourage you to do so- fabulous ideas and projects by all!

To create this card:

1). Using a Word Processing or Photo Editing program (I am still using the retired My Digital Studio™ from Stampin’ Up!), import the Power Poppy “Created to Create” digital image and re-size to fit the front of a 4 ¼” x 5 ½” card front.  Print out onto Whisper White cardstock and watercolor with watercolor pencils and markers (see supplies used below in the card recipe).

2). Add a bit of splatter with the small splatter stamp from Timeless Textures (SU!) using Rich Razzleberry ink and a few white highlights to the center of the daffodil with an Extra Fine White Sharpie® Paint Pen.

3). Die cut the panel with MFT Stitched Rectangle A2 STAX Set 2 Die, mount onto a piece of Sahara Sand cardstock, trim and mount onto a piece of Garden Green cardstock trim and mount onto the white card base.

4). Finish off the card by adding shimmer to the flowers with a clear glitter pen.

Stamp Sets: Created to Create (digital stamp- Power Poppy), Timeless Textures (Stampin’ Up!)

Ink: Printer Ink- Black; Rich Razzleberry, Derwent® Watercolor Pencils and Water Soluble Graphite Pencil (for shadows), Stampin' Write Markers- Daffodil Delight, Rich Razzleberry; Sharpie® Extra Fine White Paint Pen, Spectrum Noir™ Clear Glitter Pen

Paper: Whisper White, Sahara Sand, Garden Green, Extra Thick Whisper White

Accessories: Printer, My Digital Studio™, AquaPainter™

Thanks again for taking the time to stop by- hugs and I hope you have a great weekend and stop by again soon, my friends!