One seed can start a garden, one candle can light a room, one step can begin a journey, one conversation can start a friendship, one smile from a handmade card can lift one's SPIRIT!

Sunday, April 28, 2013

ColourQ Challenge # 186





Fun colors at the Colour Q Challenge this week...go check it out...
I used Papertrey ink...so my colors were:  raspberry fizz, orange zest, and limeade ice.  My hello definition in the background is stamped with kraft ink...that is a Hero Arts stamp.  The larger flowers are also Hero Arts, the smaller ones are from PTI Birds & Bloom.  I cut a strip of white paper and swiped the three primary colors on the sheet, then I used the "hello" die from PTI Wonderful Words:  hello to die cut the word, I used dimensional tape to adhere it to the card base.  I added a twinery twine in the hot pink color.

This was a fun color combo to play with!  I hope you will go give it a try too!

Fusion Card Challenge and Addicted to CAS..



PROCEDURES: For the Fusion Challenge which can be accessed HERE and to see the inspiration from the DT!!  Then head to Addicted to CAS where the code word is "FLOWER"

1. Play with just Jackie's sketch challenge.
2. Play with just Lesley's inspiration photo challenge.
3. Or you can create FUSION by combining BOTH challenges into one card.
4. Use the challenge graphic and link back to Fusion in your post.

Details about my card...I really liked both challenges, so I thought I would try to combine them, and even though my card is NOT totally covered with flowers, I do have a few and I chose the colors from Lesley's challenge.  And since Addicted to CAS is all about "flowers" I thought I would submit it to that challenge also.  It is a one layer card, I had drew the frame lines around the stamped images.  Flowers are from Happiness in Bloom as is the sentiment.  Lots of ink on this one:  simply chartreuse, ripe avocado, summer sunrise, zesty orange, spring rain, berry sorbet, pure poppy, scarlet jewel, blueberry sky...wow, that was alot, but it is fun to layer these colors on the flowers!  I stamped the largest flower first, then made a mask and stamped the others around it!

Thanks for taking a peek!  I hope you try one of these challenges!

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Combining Retro Sketches with the theme Birds...

Today I am going to use the Sketch # 61 from Retro Sketches and the Element Challenge from Festive Friday which is to include a "bird" in our projects.
This sketch allows for a really CAS card, which I am really enjoying making...keeping things clean and simple! 
This is what I used:  all products Papertrey!
stamps:  Peace be Still
ink:  autumn rose, ripe avocado
paper:  white, autumn rose
twine and button from PTI
IP:  linen
dimensionals:  Dots from here look at her sidebar to go to her etsy and purchase a bag of 1,000!!

Thursday, April 25, 2013

April Blog Hop for Papertrey!

Another card for the Blog Hop today only!  I used Happy Hexagon and a sentiment from Heart 2 Heart # 5...I kept with the slanted angle and then made a couple of score lines above and below!
It only takes a little *something* to take a project from ho-hum to amazing!  Even something as small as tilting your images or sentiments at an angle can have a huge impact.  This month we are challenging you to create a project that features something tilted.  Position a frame at an angle, tilt your text, add a background strip diagonally, create a border that has an incline, slant a sentiment block, the sky is truly the limit!   Go Here to to access the HOP!
Blog-hop-inspiration

April Blog Hop for Papertrey, Ink

My cards are all about the slanted angle!  This time I die cut the heart border die with raspberry fizz, berry sorbet, and ripe avocado....my sentiment is from a Hero Arts pack...I liked it because it was going vertical and I thought this needed it...everything else is Papertrey.

Blog-hop-inspirationHere is the inspiration photo and here is what Nichole said about this month's blog hop:  It only takes a little *something* to take a project from ho-hum to amazing!  Even something as small as tilting your images or sentiments at an angle can have a huge impact.  This month we are challenging you to create a project that features something tilted.  Position a frame at an angle, tilt your text, add a background strip diagonally, create a border that has an incline, slant a sentiment block, the sky is truly the limit!  We look forward to seeing your projects!  Go Here to Nichole's blog to access the HOP!

April Blog Hop

Blog-hop-inspirationIt only takes a little *something* to take a project from ho-hum to amazing!  Even something as small as tilting your images or sentiments at an angle can have a huge impact.  This month we are challenging you to create a project that features something tilted.  Position a frame at an angle, tilt your text, add a background strip diagonally, create a border that has an incline, slant a sentiment block, the sky is truly the limit!  You have to submit the card today for the Papertrey April Blog Hop...go Here to look closer at all the inspiration. and join in the fun of this blog hop!

I made this in about 20 seconds!  I used washi tape and the sentiment just came today in the mail ...Happiness in Bloom!  Yahoo!!

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Colour Q # 186

Here is the picture with the colors for this week's Colour Q Challenge..go
Here to check out the challenge and all the inspiration from the team.

All products PTI
paper:  stampers select white, kraft
ink:  raspberry fizz, simply chartreuse, orange zest, kraft
stamps:  Up, Up and Away, and additions

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Make It Monday # 113 - Perfect Pearls

Perfect Pearls from Ranger is a pigment powder that has a metallic sheen to it, so in real life, this looks shiny and oh so pretty.  Nichole demonstrated how to apply this pigment powder to cards.  Go HERE and watch the video and see the three cards she makes to demonstrate the different ways of applying this powder.
I selected the Happy Hydrangea flower and stamped it with versamark onto black PTI paper.  Then using the smallest brush that comes with the perfect pearls, I applied forever green, berry twist (in the center), and finally blush to the flowers.  Now I practiced this stamp with other colors and it did blow me away how the bright hot pink of berry twist ends up looking blue (note the center of the flower) and the very very pale blush ends up being much darker....now this works perfectly for hydrangeas because as we all know, the hydrangea changes colors like this depending on the acidity of the soil...so this was PERFECT!  My sentiment was done with the perfect pearls that looks white.  I used spring rain for the framing of the image and then mounted it onto Winter Wisteria...it pulls in all the colors so nicely. 

Thanks for taking a look and I hope you can try this stunning technique!

Monday, April 22, 2013

Retro Sketches # 60

Back again with a card for the Retro Sketches...I have a grandson who will be 4 on May day!  This card is for him.
How lucky that the cake from Tremendous Treats:  birthday has 4 candles on it!  I added some rock candy stickles to the icing to add some dimension and yumminess to the cake...looks good enough to eat in real life...well, not really, nothing is better than the REAL THING!  Do you want to play along?  Go HERE to get inspired by Deanna Dean from Kloset Kreations who gave us this great sketch...

Products of Papertrey Ink except where noted
Paper: PTI white, blueberry sky and pattern paper
dies:  nestabilities circles, By the Numbers
stamps:  Think Big Favorites # 12, Tremendous Treats: birthday
copics for coloring cake, twine from the Twinery

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Retro Sketches and ColourQ Challenges

We have a great sketch from a fellow Oregonian...none other than Deanna Dean at Kloset Kreations!  Love her style and love her Dimensional Dots...go check them out on her sidebar!  Here is the sketch for the Retro Sketches:
And you can access the challenge HERE  at the Retro Sketches:  a challenge blog...isn't that a fun scketch?  I decided to combine the ColourQ challenge using this sketch.  these are the colors for this challenge:
Go HERE to access the ColourQ challenge and see what all the DT made for their cards.  This is what I came up with:
All products Papertrey except the twine
paper:  white, hawaiian shores pp, berry sorbet pp
stamps:  Tremendous Treats:  birthday, make a wish
ink:  memento grape jelly
copics:  red, mint green, violet
twine:  Twinery purple
 

Friday, April 19, 2013

Fusion # 3 and Casual Fridays # 99

cfc99 
Okay folks, I am giving a try to TWO challenges...let's see how I did.  First up is CAS-ual Friday's Birthday Bash...no problem,I can handle that.
Next up is this FUSION challenge where you can take one challenge on the left, or take from  the challenge on the right...OR you can FUSE them together and use both challenges.

This is what I came up with:
What I saw for the FUSION challenge was something that looked like a flower, but I didn't want to use a flower, so I looked at the other challenge and I saw black, white, some gray and of course the bright fuschia color...which I used raspberry fizz, the brightest hot pink I had.  I decided to combine the two and used my pinwheel stamp from Stamps of Life.  You can see I managed to get some black and white stripes on the card, then the pinwheel in place of the flower...AND the sentiment of course lends itself to the CAS-ual Fridays Birthday Bash Challenge.  BTW, can I just make a comment about CAS-ual Friday stamp set that several people used?  I don't get the "amazeballs"...can someone explain it to me?

 

CAS(E) this Sketch #24

 
A new sketch this week ...I pulled out a stamp that has never seen ink...imagine that!!  I got it almost three years ago at the summer CHA.  It is a Unity Itty Bitty Stamp called Dream.Big
The first thing I did was die cut a piece of masking paper from a Spellbinders Label 2 die and attached it to my paper.  Using some Distress Ink (peeled paint, broken china, and wild honey) I applied the ink to the negative part of the die cut.  I then stamped the set of three butterflies with versamark and embossed with black zing powder.  The sentiment is from a Hero Arts sentiment set which is also black embossed.

Nasty day here today in Oregon...lots of wind and rain...HOWEVER, if the weather man is to be believed, it should get into the high 70s by next week!! 
Check out the sketch and the other inspiration cards HERE and then go make a card!!
Thanks for taking a look!

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Embossed Alpha Die Cuts MIM # 112 and CASology

The new Make It Monday is all about embossing your alphabet dies or your numbers...go HERE to check out the video on Nichole's blog to watch Ashley demonstrate some tricks for embossing.  I took the Wonderful Words:  Birthday die and cut two, glued them together to give me some dimension, then I put the whole word into the versamark ink and afterwards applies the Zing Aqua embossing powder.

The other challenge I am entering this card into is the CASology: Week 40: WORD....I think this is perfect...a die cut "birthday" word!  thanks for taking a look!

All products Papertrey
paper:  white stampers select
ink:  orange zest, summer sunrise
stamps:  Tremendous Treats:  Birthday, Heart 2 Heart # 1
copics

Monday, April 15, 2013

Muse # 13

"Another floral card this week - CAS and lots of white space, and with a big punch of drama from bold colours and shaded images.

  We are free to draw inspiration from any of the elements of this week's Muse card. For example, design/layout, color combination, pattern, texture, image, style, embellishment and technique. Be creative and make a card that reflects your own personal style and flair."

I really liked her group of three flowers and also her bright colors.  I chose to use the Simple Sunflowers and I used a bit of copics to give some highlights to the flowers and leaves.
     Here is the inspiration card that we can use.  Go check out the Muse Blog and then remember to vote for your favorites on Saturday and Sunday!

Festive Friday # 06..."Retro" Theme Challenge

This challenge is all about "RETRO"...creating a Christmas project was not easy for me...again, my mojo is in Central Oregon!!  When I did a "Pinterest" google for retro Christmas there was a lot of inspiration, and one theme that was predominate for me was the "ornaments"...shiny and bright.  I pulled out my vintage ornament and cut a mask and then used Distress Ink:  Evergreen Bough to color the ornament.  I wanted some shine to this so I next added some perfect pearls and GOLD!  YES!  It looks so shiny and pretty!  Rather than embossing the sentiment with gold embossing powder, I decided to try the perfect pearls again and oh my it is so nice, just gives it a nice shine, yet keeps it so soft and smooth on the paper.  I added a vintage strip of paper from some Graphic 45 that I had and swiped a piece of white paper with the evergreen bough distress ink and added a narrow strip to the top and bottom of my red stripe paper.  I mounted the rustic cream paper onto an ocean tides paper.  I like it!  Hope you do too!
Go HERE to access this challenge...you have until Wednesday, April 24!  Go give it a try!

Merry Monday # 58

Merry Monday has another sketch go HERE to see all the wonderful inspiration from the design team.  I think my mojo is still over in Bend Oregon where I was for the last four days...wow, did I ever struggle.  You should see my desk, I have paper pieces every where, nothing was working for me!  But it is done now and it is okay.  I added some rock candy stickles to the lavendar snowflake and it looks really sparkly in real life!

All products Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted
paper: white, sugar plum, plum pudding, pure poppy
ink: SU orchid opulance, versamark,
misc:  white embossing powder
stamps:  2010 Holiday Tags, Tremendous Treats:  Christmas
 

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Colour Q # 184

Pretty colors at the Colour Q Challenge this week...go check it out HERE ....
don't you like those colors together?  I love gray and pink together and just a touch of the others really looks nice.

Paper:  PTI white select, true black pattern paper
stamps:  Birds & Blooms
ink:  memento london fog, memento angel pink, HA latte
twine:  Twinery

Make It Monday Watercoloring embossed images # 111

Over on Nichole Heady's blog for Papertrey, Ink, there is a new video by Heather Nichols showing how to emboss a card and then using reinkers to color the areas.  I kept it pretty simple using the largest flower from Friends till the End.  I embossed the flower using zing "blush" embossing powder and then used both Berry Sorbet and Hibiscus burst reinkers for coloring the flower.  I used a water pen very carefully, still had some warping, but I heat set it and put it under some weight for a bit of time.  The leaves I embossed with white filigree powder and used simply chartreuse and ripe avocado reinkers to color.  The sentiment is also from the same stamp set.  I finished with a strip of berry sorbet scallop and a little bling in the center of the flower.

Thanks for taking a look!

My older daughter stopped over and before I had taken a picture of this card, she spotted it and asked if she could have it for a special friend who is having a birthday.  Of course!!  So I grabbed my camera and took a quick shot.. and now that card is going to a good person.  That is the reason I make these cards, right?  Love getting snail mail!!

Monday, April 8, 2013

Muse # 12

MUSE  blog:  "You're free to draw your inspiration from any of the elements of this week's Muse card. For example, design/layout, color combination, pattern, texture, image, style, embellishment and technique. Be creative and make a card that reflects your own personal style and flair."  This is the inspiration card by Therese Calvird.  I really liked the flowing greenery, so thought my stem should follow suite...and I loved her colors, but didn't have anything real close, so I did a little rock and roll method to at least get some highlights on the flower.  I forgot to add the link to the Muse blog, go HERE to access it and look at the other participants cards...then YOU vote for your favorite three...that is how a winner is selected!

All products are Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted
paper:  rustic cream
stamps:  Birds and Blooms, Daydreamer
ink:  raspberry fizz,, SU orchid opulence, simply chartreuse

Merry Monday # 57

We have another fun sketch for the Merry Monday Challenge.  Go HERE to access the blog and see all the fantastic cards made by the DT...and get a jump start on your Christmas cards for 2013!
Here is the sketch and these are the products I used:
 All Papertrey products
paper:  white, avocado green, pure poppy, holiday flourishes and swirls pattern paper
ink:  avocado green, versamark, pure poppy
dies:  Bells & boughs
stamps:  Bells & Boughs, Happiest of Holidays, Peaceful Poinsettias
misc:  holly impression plate, white filigree embossing powder 
 Thank you for selecting my card to win the "honourable mention".  I am truly honoured to receive it.

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Dynamic Duos # 47

The colors this challenge are Aqua and Red...nice colors together!
So here is my card...I am thinking this will be one that I will send to one of my aunts for the month of April!
Go HERE  to access the blog and see all the cards made by the DT!  They are fabulous!
After looking at all the cards made by the DT, I decided that Pool Party must be close to aqua mist color...so that is what I used..along with pure poppy.

All porducts are Papertrey Ink
paper:  stampers select white, aqua mist
stamps:  Mat Stack 3 collection, With all my Heart
ink:  pure poppy, aqua mist
ribbon from stash
dies:  Mat Stack 3, Martha Stewart butterfly punch

Friday, April 5, 2013

CASology Week 38 ~ UP

Things are looking UP...that is what it is all about at the CASology challenge  this week.  I went with a BIRD...because we all know they like to fly UP!...and I seem to have an abundance of birds!
I kept it pretty "CAS" as you can see.


                                                                                                                            
All products PTI
stamps:  Bird Watching, Happy Trails
paper:  blueberry sky, white, black
die:  happy Trails

CAS(e) this Sketch # 22

There is a new designer on the CAS(e) this Sketch challenge and Brandi gave us the sketch this week...go check out her blog.  To access the sketch and to see all the other DT's cards go HERE.


All products PTI except the twine!
paper:  rustic white, sweet blush, dark chocolate, raspberry fizz pattern paper
stamps:  Background Basics: Inspiration, Happy for You, Rosie Posie
die:  tag # 5, heart border, limitless layers, Rosie Posie 
copics

FUSION! A New Challenge in Town + CAS-ual Fridays

Did you see there is a NEW Challenge called :  FUSION?  Go HERE to check it out!
  This is how it works:  Two teams, two different challenges...or combine the two and get FUSION 
PROCEDURES:
1. Play with just Jackie's sketch challenge.
2. Play with just Lesley's inspiration photo challenge.
3. Or you can create FUSION by combining BOTH challenges into one card.
4. Use the challenge graphic and link back to Fusion in your post.
5. Please read the other considerations on the Experiment Page before playing along.
 So here is my card...and yes I used both the chevron sketch from Jackie's challenge  and the flowers from Lesley's challenge...here is what they gave us:

Doesn't this look like it will be fun to play along  each week?  Now, I don't normally do this because I am not that organized, but it just so happens that the challenge on CAS-ual Fridays is chevrons and flowers!  WOW, score for me!!  Two challenges with one card....YEAH!
Go HERE  to access this challenge and see all the great cards the DT made for your inspiration!!

Paper:  PTI white and raspberry fizz
stamps:  Flower Fusion # 12, Flower Fusion # 7, chevron
ink:  harvest gold lemon tart, raspberry fizz