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.  

Thanks for Visiting

Guest Designer....CAS Mix Up...Tomorrow is a New Day

 

Hello friends.  I am so happy to be posting today as the Guest Designer for CAS Mix Up this month.

The challenge this month is to make a CAS Watercolored card inspired by the prompt FLIGHT.

I used a stamp from WPlus9 that I have had for ages, and don't think I have ever used before.  I bought it because I thought the images would be perfect for water coloring.  I used PTI reinkers for my water coloring.  After water coloring the image, I surrounded it with a very light wash of Aqua Mist watery ink to match the matting.

Thank you to the nice folks at CAS Mix Up for inviting me to be their Guest Designer.  I hope that you will play along in this fun challenge.

And...I am also entering this card at Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge: Anything Goes.

Thanks for Visiting

My Crafty Round Up

 

Hello friends.  I am posting my creations from the long weekend on a Tuesday because I ran out of time yesterday.  I guess the long weekend was not long enough.

First up is a card for Ink to Paper: What Do I Do With This:  Stencil Blended Background Challenge.  I used the Papertrey Balloon Stencil to blend a rainbow of balloons on to my card front.  It doesn't show in the photo, but I covered all the balloons with a generous layer of Wink of Stella.  I used a die cut and fussy cut sentiment strip to add my sentiment to the background.  I am also entering this card at Inkspirational #240: Hot Air Balloon (rainbow balloon inspiration), and The Rainbow Card Challenge #30: Radically Rainbow.

Next up is another card inspired by an Ink to Paper challenge--this one is the Great Cover Up Challenge to just use white cardstock.  I took a piece of white card stock and completely covered it with Distress Oxide inks--Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness and Shabby Shutters.  I blended until I had a really nice green ombre look, and then I die cut that panel with the In The Woods Cover plate.  I glued that onto a white card base, and stamped a birthday sentiment from Pen and Ink.  I am also entering this card at Addicted to CAS #198: Ombre.

My next card was inspired by the color challenge at Inky Paws #149 and Less is More #444: Favorite Technique (Copic Coloring).  I am such a fan of the Newton's Nook Holding Happiness stamps, and pull them out quite often.  I love how versatile they are.  I have had these stamps for at least 2 years, so am entering this card at Retro Rubber #159: Anything Goes, and Addicted to Stamps and More #406: Make Your Mark.

Last up is a pair of Father's Day cards that I will be entering at Stay Crafty with Hero Arts #23: Fun in the Sun and Cupcake Inspirations #520: Father's Day or Masculine.  I used the My Monthly Hero kit from December 2020 for these cards.  I am also entering this first card at The Male Room #150: Water/Beach.

Thanks for Visiting