Color Throwdown #353

Hello friends!  Today's Color Throwdown challenge is otherwise known as "Vickie is TORTURING ME!"  LOLOL  Yeah, I know all the pep talks there are about getting out of your box, but the simple truth is... I DON'T DO PURPLE!  Seriously... she's trying to kill me!

 



OK, OK... enough whining!  Here's what I came up (and as you can see when you visit the CTD blog, several of us were inspired by the sunflowers in the photo!)

 

 

 

I started out partially stamping the BG Fine Chevron background from My Favorite Things, then heat embossing with detail white embossing powder.  Then I did a water color wash on my background using my Zig Clean Color markers, and then die cut the panel with the Blueprints 11 Die-Namics.  Then I used one of MY favorite stamp sets from My Favorite Things, the LJD Splendid Sunflower!  (*gasp!*  I think it's been... *gulp* RETIRED!)  I die-cut my flower with the matching Die-Namics set, then used my MISTI to stamp the sunflower using Lemon Chiffon hybrid ink and added some depth by coloring the petals with my Copic markers.  The leaves were stamped in Jellybean Green hybrid ink, and the flower center was done with Chocolate Brown and Hot Fudge hybrid inks.  I added the sentiment (from LJD Peaceful Wildflowers) in heat-embossed white on a strip of Steel Blue card stock.  Finally, I added some ink spatters to the background with a combination of water and Steel Grey dye ink as well as some MIX-ables Steel Shimmer mist.  The water colored panel was mounted to a piece of Steel Grey card stock, then mounted to a Sweet Tooth card stock base.

 

 

Be sure to stop over at the Color Throwdown blog for all the challenge details, and visit my Throwdown sisters for more inspiration…

Barbara Anders
Broni Holcombe
Joan Ervin
Jodi Collins - off this week
Lori Tecler
Monika Davis
Vickie Zimmer
Wanda Cullen
Valentyna Komisarenko, July Guest Designer
Donna, Guest Star Stamper


As always, thank you so much for stopping by and for your comments!



The Cat’s Pajamas New Release Blog Hop

Howdy everyone!  Have you done your shopping yet at The Cat’s Pajamas, and scooped up all the great new stamps and dies?  If not, what are you waiting for… get on over there!

Today is our new release blog hop, so be sure to check out all the blogs!  If you came here from Jessie Rone’s blog, then you’re right on track!  If not, be sure to head over to Wendy McGaffey’s blog and start from the beginning! 

I’m sharing today two cards I made using the terrific new Lemons stamp set.  The first card also uses the new Country Fair Cut-ups die…


Bun-bun has set up a lemonade stand at the fair, and hopes you’ll stop by!  Isn’t he just the cutest?  I added a sentiment from the Lemons set on the inside, too…




And one more card with the new Lemons stamp set also includes the new Pop-Up Slider Cutables.  Here’s how the card looks in the closed position…



And here’s what happens when you pull on the ribbon at the top!



Now, if you look at samples that the other Cat Pack’ers made, you’ll see that mine is kinda’ backwards!  LOL  But it’s all good!

Now, from here you’ll want to head over to the last stop on this blog hop which is Alma herself over at the TCP blog!

Happy hopping, and thanks for stopping by!

The Cat’s Pajamas Sneaky Peek Week

We’re almost there… today is the last day of Sneaky Peeks for The Cat’s Pajamas, and tonight is the Pajama Party!  Check out info at the end of my post for more details about that!
For today, the Cat Pack is showing off the new Cutables electronic cut files, and the new Cut-ups dies that will be available.  Today I am showing you one of the new stamp sets (this set was peek’d yesterday) and the new Pop-Up Cut-ups die.

Here’s the front of my card, using a sentiment from the new Stoked stamp set, and a good old image of Poochie on his surf board from the Fun in the Sun stamp set…



And here’s what happens on the inside of the card when you use the new Pop-Up Cut-Ups die…



There’s Bun-bun on his surf board, lookin’ for some “tasty waves!”  (Quick 80’s people, what movie is that line from???)  Bun-bun is colored with Copics, and has some great Stitched Clouds Cut-Ups in the sky behind him, and a “tasty wave” below that was cut with the Wavy Stitched Border Cut-Ups.  I colored the “Stoked” ombre style, and love how it turned out!

Want to win one of the new releases before they’re even available to purchase? Of course you do! For a chance to win, just hop along and comment on all of the participating Cat Pack member blogs and the TCP blog today. One randomly selected winner will be posted on the TCP Facebook page tomorrow.

Here’s where to find all the Sneaky Peeks today…
Nancy Thomas
Wendy McGaffey
Lisa Henke

And don't forget to save the date for the Pajama Party TONIGHT from 8:00-10:00 p.m. Eastern time on the Cat’s Pajamas Facebook page.

Best-est Wishes

A few days ago, I saw this FABULOUS card by Yoonsun from the My Favorite Things design team.  Oh my word, the sweet design and vibrant colors just made me happy!  One thing I loved about it too, were the white ink splatters in the background and I really wondered what product she might have used to do that.  So I set out to try a few things, and then just ended up CASE’ing her wonderful design!

I used the same inks that Yoonsun mentions in her post… Tickled Pink, Wild Cherry, Lemon Drop, Sour Apple and Summer Splash.  These were all dye inks that I just sponged and swirled onto the watercolor card stock with a Ranger mini ink blending tool.  The first thing I tried for the white splatters was some Dylusions White Linen spray.  This didn’t dry as opaque-ly as I wanted.  So then I tried some Copic Opaque White, and found that this mixed with just a little water on my craft sheet was just right!  I used the watercolor card stock for the Die-Namics Birthday Wishes & Balloons, just using some Lush Lagoon, Wild Cherry and Orange Fizz dye inks and an aqua brush.  The balloon strings and sentiment from the Birthday Wishes & Balloons stamp set were stamped with Versamark ink and embossed with Liquid Platinum embossing powder.  (Thank you, Yoonsun for helping me remember that I had that color of embossing powder… completely forgot that I bought some back in the Spring!)  I finished the card by adding some clear sequins and die-cut stars.  The panel was cut with the Blueprints 13 Die-Namics and mounted to a piece of Steel Grey card stock, then applied to a Sweet Tooth card stock base.

Thanks again to Yoonsun for the wonderful inspiration, and thank YOU for stopping by today!

The Cat’s Pajamas New Release Day 5

Hello friends!  Have you been keeping up with all the Sneaky Peeks this week with The Cat’s Pajamas?  The set we’re showing today is one you’re going to love because it is SO versatile!  Everyone needs a stamp set like this in their collection…



Say hello to Simply Stacked Sentiments!  Are they great?  Here is what I created (so far… there’s more in store!) with this stamp set…

 

I went really clean and simple with this Sneaky Peek, using the new Simply Stacked Sentiments with the new free-with-$65 Cut-ups He Said, She Said word bubbles, and I made a quick set of cards for my Mom.  She’s always needing cards, so I thought she could add these to her stash.  On the multi-colored card bases I stamped a little flower from the Aye, Eye, I stamp set, and just embossed it with clear embossing powder.  Then completed the designs with some black enamel dots.

Want to win one of the new releases before they’re even available to purchase? Of course you do! For a chance to win, just hop along and comment on all of the participating Cat Pack member blogs and the TCP blog today. One randomly selected winner will be posted on the TCP Facebook page tomorrow.

Here’s where to find all the Sneaky Peeks today…
Deborah Anton
Lisa Henke
Nancy Thomas
Wendy McGaffey
Jessie Rone

And don't forget to save the date for the Pajama Party Monday, July 27th from 8:00-10:00 p.m. Eastern time on the Cat’s Pajamas Facebook page.

MFT Summer School Secondary Colors

I made one more card for the 8th day of Summer School with My Favorite Things, this time using the secondary colors from the color wheel of orange, green and purple.  As a coincidence, orange, lime green and grape (purple) are some of my favorite flavors of POPSICLES!  :)

I borrowed the LJD You’re the Sweetest set from my friend Kirsty this week, and had some fun.  The popsicles were stamped with Limelight, Lavender Fields and Orange Zest premium dye inks, and then I applied Glossy Accents over each one for a frozen shine.  I also used the dye inks to create my watercolor panel behind the popsicles after I stamped it with the new BG Balloon Strings background stamp.  I stamped in Versarmark, then heat embossed with detail white embossing powder and used a water brush to apply the inks.  This panel was cut with the Pierced Rectangle STAX Die-Namics.  I think the strings look cool sideways like this… kinda’ makes you think of waves of summer heat?  On the Smooth White card stock background panel that was cut with Blueprints 13 Die-Namics I used white embossing paste and the Large Polka Dots stencil.  I stamped the sentiment in Steel Grey hybrid ink on a flag cut with the Blueprints 12 Die-Namics.  The popsicle sticks were die-cut with In the Buff card stock, and I sponged a little Natural hybrid ink on them for definition.
The layout for my card is from the My Favorite Things sketch #238 for this week.
Well, that’s all for me this week for Summer School at My Favorite Things!  I sure wish Summer School had been this fun 30 years ago!  (Yes… had to go once when I didn’t pass Geometry!  And I said back then, and I still say it now… I will never need Geometry in my life!  LOL)
Thanks for stopping by today!

Birthday Mavis

Hi friends!  I’m hitting y’all with two blog posts today… forgive me, please!  It doesn’t happen often!
This is the third card I made for my neighbor who needed a birthday card for her cat-loving sister…

My favorite kitty cat to stamp has always been Mavis, who was created by Christy Croll at Tiddly  Inks.  I just love Mavis, and she’s been sadly neglected in my stamping for quite awhile now, so I just had to use her for this card!  (The Mavis image I used here is actually an old cling stamp from Stamping Bella, but I don’t know if they’re still available there.)  For the card layout, I used the current CASE(E) this Sketch #132.  There’s a wide variety of other products used here… if you have any questions, just drop me an email or a comment and I promise I’ll get back to you!
Keeping it short and sweet… thanks for stopping by!

MFT Summer School – Complementary Colors

I have been trying to participate in some of the Summer School lessons this week from My Favorite Things, and so I created this card for Lesson #7 on Complementary Colors.  It’s no secret that any shade of orange paired with blue (actually an aqua blue is more my preference!) is always a favorite for me!  So this lesson was right up my alley!

Here’s the card I created using the Sweet Sunday Sketch #278 for the layout, and the new CAS-ual Chic Utterly Adorable Layers challenge…



I stamped these gorgeous tulips from the LJD Spring Tulips on watercolor card stock with Versamark ink, then heat embossed with detail white embossing powder, and colored them using my fabulous Zig Clean Color watercolor markers.  The tulips were die-cut with the matching Die-Namics.  On the Berrylicious card stock background panel I stamped the BG Fine Chevron background using Grout Gray hybrid ink.  I added a Peach Bellini die-cut circle behind the tulips that was cut with the Blueprints 24 Die-Namics, and layered the circle under a strip of vellum.  I stamped the sentiment from Totally Happy on a strip of Steel Grey card stock using Sweet Tooth pigment ink that was heat embossed with white embossing powder.  Under the sentiment I added a Sno Cone card stock banner flag that was cut with Blueprints 24.  A few enamel dots completed my design.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Color Throwdown #352

Hello friends!  It’s Wednesday, and time for another Color Throwdown challenge!  This week, I’M the hostess and I hope you will love the colors I’ve chosen as much as I do!
Where I work, we always have to have a bunch of pens on the front desk and I love to check out the little pails in the $1 Spot at Target whenever I go in.  I found this little bucket a few weeks ago, and the more I looked at it sitting there on my desk, the more I thought “hey, those would be some great colors to Throwdown!”  So here you are…

I think you’ll find a lot of options with these colors… masculine, summery, nautical maybe?  Have fun!
Here’s my card…

This is the second of three cards my neighbor asked me to make recently.  She said her daughter loves nature and quilts, and all I could think of was how perfect these One with Nature stamps from Simon Says Stamp would be for the card!  I stamped the leaves in Versamark on Ranger Distress Watercolor card stock, then heat embossed them with detail white embossing powder.  Then over the leaves I applied a watercolor wash of Twisted Citron and Cracked Pistachio distress inks.  After everything dried, I spattered the card stock with some Steel Grey dye ink from My Favorite Things, as well as some Perfect Pearls, and water.  Then I die cut the Wishing die from Simon Says with Steel Blue and Steel Grey card stocks from MFT, and layered them to create a shadow effect.  Under the die-cut I stamped the sentiment with Versafine Onyx Black ink from the Sending and Wishing stamp set.  A few sequins completed my design.
Be sure to stop over at the Color Throwdown blog for all the challenge details, and visit my Throwdown sisters for more inspiration… Barbara Anders
Broni Holcombe
Joan Ervin
Jodi Collins
Lori Tecler
Monika Davis
Vickie Zimmer
Wanda Cullen
Valentyna Komisarenko, July Guest Designer
Dawn Easton, Guest Star Stamper
As always, thank you so much for stopping by and for your comments!

The Cat’s Pajamas New Release Day 1

It’s that time again… time for another new release from The Cat’s Pajamas!  Today, we have sneaky peeks for you in conjunction with the new TCPTuesday #295 challenge which is Anything Goes!

And now, are you ready for the stamp set?  OMGosh… if you LOVE the bunny, you’re going to love…



Baby Bunny!  This is the new Shake, Rattle and Roll stamp set!  I stamped my baby bunny on watercolor card stock, then colored with my Clean Color Watercolor markers.  My card layout is from the current Sweet Sunday Sketch #278.  For the flag at the bottom, I used the Bitty Banner Cut-ups and I embellished with a few enamel dots, and the star cut out of the banner.

Want to win one of the new releases before they’re even available to purchase? Of course you do! For a chance to win, just hop along and comment on all of the participating Cat Pack member blogs and the TCP blog today. One randomly selected winner will be posted on the TCP Facebook page tomorrow.

Here’s where to find all the Sneaky Peeks today…
Deborah Anton
Nancy Thomas
Christine Okken
Wendy McGaffey
Wendy Bond
Lisa Henke
Lori Tecler

And don't forget to save the date for the Pajama Party Monday, July 27th from 8:00-10:00 p.m. Eastern time on the Cat’s Pajamas Facebook page.

Pawsitively Awesome!

My neighbor contacted me the other day and asked if I had some birthday cards she could buy.  She needed one for a dog lover, and I didn’t have one handy but told her I could happily make one.  And of course, the dog stamps I turned to HAD to be Birdie Brown’s You Make My Tail Wag stamp set and matching Die-Namics.

I used the current sketch #237 from My Favorite Things for my card layout, and am also participating in Day 3 of Summer School at MFT by using primary colors for my design.  The sentiment I used here is from the Birdie Brown You Have My Heart stamp set, and was die-cut with Blueprints 24 Die-Namics.  I added a circle that was die-cut from Blueprints 15, and on the background I stamped the BG Small Brick background.  Card stock colors used include Lemon Chiffon, Blueberry and Wild Cherry as well as Copic X-press It Blending card stock.  On the inside (you can see just a tiny peek there on the left) I stamped some paw prints from the set in Steel Grey hybrid ink.
And…. my neighbor loved the card!  :)  Thanks for stopping by today!

Color Throwdown #351

The Color Throwdown team has another challenge for you this week, and Monika is our hostess!  The inspiration photo she chose actually had some sparkly animation to it, which we couldn’t make work in the color swatch this week, but if you look closely you can see.  So for this week, our colors are hot pink, purple and black with sparkle!

I saw this beautiful card about two weeks ago, and just fell in love with that Penny Black All Over Pattern background, so I just had to get it ordered from Simon Says Stamp. 

After stamping the All Over Pattern on watercolor card stock with Versamark, I embossed with white detail embossing powder.  Then I did some ink smooshing with Picked Raspberry and Seedless Preserves distress ink, and spritzed the whole thing with some Perfect Pearls for shimmer.  I added a strip of vellum, and a die-cut Thanks die from Simon Says Stamp, cut from silver glitter card stock.  A few silver sequins, and done!

Be sure to stop over at the Color Throwdown blog for all the challenge details, and visit my Throwdown sisters for more inspiration…

Barbara Anders
Broni Holcombe – on vacation this week!
Joan Ervin
Jodi Collins
Lori Tecler
Monika Davis
Vickie Zimmer
Wanda Cullen
Valentyna Komisarenko, July Guest Designer
Lisa Henke, Guest Star Stamper

As always, thank you so much for stopping by and for your comments!

Color Throwdown #350

Hello friends!  It’s Wednesday and that means it’s time for another Color Throwdown challenge!  Today, Lori is our hostess with this great color combo of orange, pink, green and black….

I guess my monitor is off a little, because I leaned more toward some peach/coral tones for my card…

I saw this gorrrrrrgeous card on the Altenew blog a few weeks ago, and just had to CASE Marika’s beautiful design.  And it gave me a reason to finally ink of those beautiful Altenew Vintage Flowers stamps.  A card this pretty just had to be sent to my wonderful Mom, to thank her for all the help she gave me in preparing for my daughter’s graduation party back in June!  Love you, Mom!

Be sure to stop over at the Color Throwdown blog for all the challenge details, and visit my Throwdown sisters for more inspiration…

Barbara Anders
Broni Holcombe
Joan Ervin
Jodi Collins
Lori Tecler
Monika Davis
Vickie Zimmer
Wanda Cullen
Valentyna Komisarenko, July Guest Designer
Billie Blackwell, Guest Star Stamper

As always, thank you so much for stopping by and for your comments!

TCP Tuesday #294

Hello friends!  I hope you all had a happy 4th of July holiday (and for all of you outside the U.S. I hope you had a great weekend!)  It’s Tuesday again, but not just any Tuesday… TCPTuesday!  C’mon over to the TCP blog and join us for the sketch challenge today, being hosted by ME!  Here we go…

The sketch shows a square card, but it’s OK if you do an A2 card instead… just be inspired by the sketch!  When I do square cards anymore, I keep them 4 1/2” square, so they’ll still fit in an A2 envelope.  Here’s my card…

I recently got my hands on some fabulous new Zig Clean Color watercolor markers, and oh my are they fabulous!  So I just had to color up this image from the Constellation Prize stamp set, which was stamped on watercolor cardstock.  I added some sparkle in the night sky with a clear Wink of Stella pen, and some glitter card stock stars.  Plus I added a few stars that were die-cut with the 3x3 Star Cutups.  On the light blue card stock panel, I embossed with the Chevron Plate Cutups.
I really hope you’ll join us this week, because you could win some Cat Cash just by playing along!  Find all the details on the TCP blog along with a lot more inspiration from The Cat Pack!
Thanks for stopping by today!

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge – Celebrate!

 Oooh, I've got some fun news to share today!  A few weeks ago, I entered this card in the Curtain Call beach ball challenge, and I was chosen as the Lead for that challenge!  And that gives me the wonderful privilege of joining the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge team today as their Guest Designer!  I'm so thrilled, especially because this challenge marks a very special occasion!

Here are the details...

 To celebrate the Curtain Call's third anniversary, the Celebrate challenge will run the entire month of July!  The LEAD of this challenge will be invited as a Guest Designer in a future challenge! So, with that great inspiration photo, I knew I was going to want to use balloons and gold glitter in my design.

 And here's my card!

I pulled out the Drop In stamp set from The Cat's Pajamas and used my Copics to color, and then fussy cut the image.  I added the sentiment from the stamp set on the lower right side of my Sno Cone card stock panel, and sponged some chevrons onto the panel with Sno Cone hybrid ink.  Now, for the glitter.... well, I've always said that I am glitter challenged and I was really dreading trying to somehow add some gold glitter to this design without completely ruining it!  But, my BFF Barbara Anders came to the rescue and suggested gold glitter card stock stars!  PERFECT, right?  I used Blueprints 11 and Blueprints 24 Die-Namics from My Favorite Things for those little stars.  I also added a few Stitched Clouds Cut-Ups to the panel, and a gold glitter card stock Fishtail Flags STAX Die-Namics behind the panel.

On the inside, I added a birthday sentiment, and a Die-Namics Party Balloon...

 Make sure you visit each of the designers' blogs for more inspiration!

Celebrate Designers
Tammy Hershberger, Guest Designer (yay, that’s me!)
Amy Kolling
Amy Sheffer
Amy Tsuruta
Gayatri Murali
Kim Singdahlsen
Laurie Willison
Lisa Henke
Marisa Ritzen
Maureen Plut
Monika Davis
Sheri Gilson
Stacey Schafer
Tenia Nelson
Tracey McNeely

Follow us!
Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge Facebook Page
Curtain Call Pinterest Boards

Stop by the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge:  Celebrate for the challenge details and to play along with us!

MANY, many thanks to Stacey and the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge team for having me as their Guest Designer today!  I’m so happy to have the chance to join you in this celebration!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Color Throwdown #349

Hello friends!  It's Wednesday again, and that means it's time for another Color Throwdown challenge!  Sweet Jodi is our hostess today, and she's got a color combo for you to try that's high on my list of favorites!  I love me some aqua and orange together, for sure!  Check out her inspiration photo below...

For my card, I pulled out some squeeee-inducing new stamps from Simon Says Stamp!  This is the new Wplus9-inspired Many Thanks stamp set, and I took a lot of inspiration for my card from this beauty by Shari Carroll at Simon Says...

​I stamped the flowers with Tumbled Glass and Dried Marigold distress inks, and the leaves with Shabby Shutters on Ranger watercolor card stock.  Then I used a water brush and just swirled some water around on the flowers to give them a watery, blurred look.  I also splattered my card stock with some of the same color inks from a Mini-Mister along with a spritz of Perfect Pearls.  The Simon Says "thanks" die was cut three times with Kraft card stock and layered for dimension, then I cut again with Berrylicious card stock, and I added some sparkle to that Berrylicious layer with a clear Wink of Stella pen.  I added a scattering of sequins, copied from Shari's beautiful card (because I stink at sequin placement!)  Peeking out on the left side, I added a Kraft card stock panel that was stamped with Black Licorice hybrid ink using the BG On the Diagonal background stamp.​

Be sure to stop over at the Color Throwdown blog for all the challenge details, and visit my Throwdown sisters for more inspiration…

Barbara Anders
Broni Holcombe
Joan Ervin
Jodi Collins
Lori Tecler
Monika Davis
Vickie Zimmer
Wanda Cullen
Valentyna Komisarenko, July Guest Designer
Lee Erwee, Guest Star Stamper

I hope you’ll join us this week for the Throwdown!  Thanks for stopping by!