My Crafty Week

    

Hello and happy Sunday.  I have a big post today, as I am getting back to normal crafting, and did not want to take a pause to write up a blog post.  Here goes...

First up is a pair of slimline cards that I made using some new stamps and stencils from Pink Fresh called Miss Your Smile.  I was playing around with whether to stamp first, then stencil, or the reverse.  The colors were inspired by Color Throwdown #645.  I am also entering these cards at The Flower Challenge #57: Clean and Simple and Addicted to Stamps and More #406: Make Your Mark.

This card is my favorite of the two.  I stenciled the flowers and leaves first, then stamped the outline images in Versafine Black.  This entire image is one stamp, and the card is basically one layer.  The stencil made it so quick to color--I feel like it would have taken ages to color and to arrange these flowers if they were individual stamps.  This card was remarkably quick and easy to make.  I added a sentiment die cut from Altenew Hello and Hugs.

This is what it looks like when I stamped before stenciling.  The colors are so much less bright.  I'm not sure why, as I used the same inks.  Perhaps the black ink spread a little bit.  I did have to restamp the black outline after stenciling, as it had gotten very faint.  Anyway, just to mix things up a little bit, I flipped the image upside down from the first card, and reversed the way the sentiment die cuts were layered.

Next up is a birthday card, using some old favorite supplies from PTI.  I was inspired by the Ink to Paper challenge at The Great Cover Up to create a card using shapes to ground an intricate background.  I used die cuts from Beautiful Berries: Spring and the Quatrefoil impression plate.  A die cut circle grounds my images.  I followed the sketch at Inspired by #177, the colors from CAS Colours and Sketches #422, and am also entering this card at The Flower Challenge #57: Clean and Simple.

Next up is this super CAS card, inspired by the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches #488, the colors from Color Hue #19: Blue & Brown, (and a challenge at Ink to Paper that ended before I could link to it).  It is difficult to see in this photo, but I used a musical impression plate on this card front.

Next up is a trio of summer-themed masculine cards using the Waterfall Heroscape stamps, with a bit of an assist from the Beach Heroscape stamps.  I started by stamping the 4 layering stamps that create the hills, waterfall, and water onto three different card fronts using different color combinations.  Then, I finished each card differently.  I will be entering all three of these cards at the following challenges:  Stay Crafty with Hero #23: Fun in the Sun, Addicted to CAS #199: Beach, Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Masculine, The Paper Players #544: Signs of Summer, The Male Room #151: Dads & Grandads, WWC317: Masculine, and Cupcake Inspirations #520.

This is the simplest of the trio.  Just some leaping fish, a paddleboarder and an outrigger canoe under a bright and warm sun.

I got a little more ambitious with this next card by masking off the bottom of the card and creating a gradient sky.  Night time is coming to our beach paradise, and the parasailers are out in force.  I even added a surfer to the mix.  

This last card is either sunrise or sunset.  I can't decide.  Either way, everyone is having fun in the water.

Last up is a pair of masculine cards where I wanted to use my new Altenew Angled Mosaic 3D Embossing Folder and my new Simon Says Stamp Paper Hugs die.  These cards are so simple and I think they will be perfect to send to the males in my life.  I am entering them into just the masculine challenges above.

I used patterned paper for this first card, and I like how the blues are kind of watery and inconsistent.

This card has a white card front, and the texture and shadows almost make it look like the paper is colored.

That's it for me this week.  

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My Crafty Weekend

Hello friends.  I start off today with a really sweet card using my new MFT Sunny Vibes stamps and the colors at MFT Color Challenge #145.  I am also entering this card at Inkspirational #217: Coloring, Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: For a Child, Use Your Stuff #401: Summer Fun, AAA Birthday #13: 3D, and The Paper Players #500: Celebrate, where they are celebrating the 500 challenges milestone.

My next card uses stamps from that same stamp set, and I will be entering all the same challenges above, but switching the MFT color for the MFT Sketch #498.  I really love how the pool water looks, and I used the MFT Perfect Pool Water stencil for that effect.  Yes, my cool cat is sitting in the pool reading her book, enjoying her summer birthday.  Also, did you notice that her eyes are closed.  I think she is just holding her book while she naps!

 Switching over to Hero Arts, I have three cards that I will be entering into at Stay Crafty with Hero #12: Friendship and A Blog Named Hero: Embossing challenges.  This first card was inspired by one of the cards on this video, showing ways to use the Beach Heroscape stamps and dies.  On this first card, I used a texture plate to add subtle texture to the sunny sky.  The buildings come from the Hero Arts Color Layering Village stamps.

I used an embossing folder to add texture to the kraft card stock I used to create my sunny beach on this card.  I am also entering this card at The Male Room #140: Sport.

Last of my trio of  Hero Arts cards is this card, using one of my very oldest Hero Arts stamps, Dictionary Greetings.  I love a stamp that never goes out of style.  For this card, I embossed the entire card front with a burlap texture plate.  The flower is from PTI Lilies of the Field.  I will also enter this card at AAA Cards #170: Maxi White Space with Flowers.

My last card was inspired by the challenge at Seize the Birthday #195: Non-neutral Card Base, the colors at Just Add Ink #514,  CAS on Friday #184: Anything But White, and AAA Birthday #13: 3D.  I used a cover plate by Serendipity Stamps called Floral Cuts, and it die cuts a floral pattern over an entire card front, but many of the flowers do not completely cut.  I lifted up the petals on many of those partially cut flowers.

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Happy Saturday

Hello and happy Saturday.  When the stars line up and my mojo cooperates, I try to make one card that meets the criteria of all three MFT Challenges.  My first card is inspired by the sketch at MFT Sketch Challenge #497, the colors at MFT Color Challenge #145 and The Birthday Project Challenge Party Hearty.  I am also entering this card at Inkspirational #217: Painting or Coloring, AAA Birthday #15: 3D, and Seize the Birthday #194 (no topping).

While I was looking through my MFT goodies for the first card, I came across this adorable frog that I think I stamped 2 years ago (has it been that long?) when I was visiting Tracey in Canada.  I love how he looks like he is nonchalantly leaning against the wall...what a cool guy, checking out the party scene in his local pond.  I used the same sketch as in the card above.  I created my own patterned paper using a couple of Copic markers, so I could exactly match the colors I used for the frog.  I am also entering this card Inkspirational #217: Painting or Coloring.

Next up is a one layer card inspired by the challenge at Stay Crafty with Hero #11 and the sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch #380.  I am also entering this card at The Male Room #140: Sport (surfing and paragliding) and Seize the Birthday #194 (no topping).

I am entering this next card at Poppystamps #70: Glim & Glam and also AAA Cards #169: Made in Minutes.  I die cut this Thank You background die once out of white cardstock and then cut just the one 'thanks' word out of Pink Glimmer paper, then inlaid that word back into the negative space.  It's hard to see the shimmer on the pink paper, but it is there!  This card was so quick to make.

While I was looking through my Poppystamps stash, I came across this Urban Skyline Collage die, and thought it would also be good for the Poppystamps #70: Glim & Glam challenge.  I used 1/2 inch wide stripes of glitter paper behind the negative space of this die.  I am also entering this card at Perfectly CAS #10: Sparkle.

I used this gorgeous framed deer die cut for my next card, which I am entering at the Memory Box Challenge #63: Framed and AAA Cards #169: Made in Minutes optional twist Christmas.

I was inspired by the colors at this week's Color Throwdown #601 for my next card.

Last but not least is a clean and simple card inspired by the color challenge at Less is More #423 and Cupcakes Inspiration #497: Flowers with Pearls.

That's it for me today.

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