A Great Pair and A Purple Bird

LeAnn is our hostess this week for the color challenge at Splitcoastampers.  She gave us Gorgeous Grape, Smoky Slate and Crushed Curry with our favorite green for dessert.   I'm one of those people who can never declare a favorite color let alone a favorite shade of a particular color.  So I went with Pear Pizzazz because it plays nicely with the other colors this week.

I call green "Nature's neutral" because EVERY color looks great with some shade of green. For my argument I give you flowers - they come in every color and I challenge anyone to name me a flower that doesn't look beautiful with its green leaves!  Therefore, Nature made green her neutral.

I had fun with this card.  I pulled out a retired set, Animal Outing.  I've used this set numerous times and when I got it out I realized that a few years ago there were some bonus image stamps in a Paper Pumpkin kit!  One is a chameleon that I've never used but I have some ideas for him...

Since I needed to use grey I chose the rhino and bird stamp.  Birds, like flowers, are great for color challenges as they can be any color (unless of course they are a very distinct variety like a cardinal).  I figured this cartoon bird could be whatever color I need him to be - purple and yellow today.

I hope you will find time to join us this week at Splitcoaststampers!

Products used: (all products Stampin' Up! except for markers)

• Stamps: Animal Outing (retired)
  
• Dies: Stampin' Up! Stitched Shapes (retired), Flourish (retired), Basic Borders
• Paper: Expressions in Ink
• Markers: Stampin' Blends Smoky Slate, Daffodil Delight; Copics N0, V15, V17, E30, E000, E0000
• Accessories: Playing with Patterns Resin Dots
  

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Warm Valentine Wishes

My card today is for two challenges - The Card Concept and Watercooler Wednesday.

The Card Concept has the photo prompt below and Watercooler Wednesday's current challenge is "Occasions".  My inspiration from the photo was the Nordic / winter look and the coziness of a hot cup of coffee.  Although the colors reminded me of Christmas I decided they would work for Valentine's Day - my chosen occasion.  I usually don't think of Valentine's as a "winter" holiday since I live in Southern California, but much of the country is covered in snow in February.  I'm sure people in those parts think it's a winter holiday!  My card style here is clean and layered.

I colored the image with Copic markers and used a sweater inspired embossing folder in the background.  I was too lazy to look for "warm" and "wishes" stamps so I used my label maker.  I had intended to heat emboss them in white on black anyway so using the label maker worked out fine.  The medallion with the pig is popped up using three circles of red cardstock.

Products used:

• Stamps: Stampin' Up! Joyful Life
  
• Embossing Folder: Stampin' Up! Winter Knit
• Markers: Stampin' Blends Neutrals (coming soon!) - 1000, 900, 800; Copics - E000, N0, G29, R24, R7, BG000

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Meant to Soar

Today is the first Team O challenge of 2022 at Tic Tac Toe Challenge!  Claire gave us some fun board elements.

I chose the bottom row across: die cuts, blue, bird.

I went all in with the die cuts and blue - I used only blue and white (with a touch of gold) and all die cuts except for the sentiment.  To add texture I embossed the background behind the clouds. 

Please visit the challenge and join in the fun!

Products used: All Stampin' Up!  Right now is Sale-A-Bration.  Earn a FREE product with each $50 you spend!  Click the link for more details.

• Stamp & die bundle: Soaring Swallows
• Dies: Basic Borders
• Card Stock: Misty Moonlight, Night of Navy, Basic White Thick
• Ink: Night of Navy
• Accessories: Gilded Gems, Stripes & Splatters 3D Embossing Folders, Stampin' Cut & Emboss

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Adulting is Hard 2

We have a color challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches this week.  At first I was thinking of a floral card but in looking through my stamps I decided on this one.  I LOVE the "Nothing's Better Than" stamp set; it hits all of my favorites - chocolate, cookies, coffee and cocktails!

Since I couldn't decide what color to make my "cocktails" sentiment I opted for a gradient.  I used blending brushes to color a scrap of card stock and then cut the sentiment.

This is one of those cards that looks really simple (and it is) but you do need to measure and make sure everything is just right.  Because "clean and simple" really means clean but not necessarily simple!  LOL!

I hope you will find time to join us this week at CAS Colours & Sketches.

Products used: All Stampin' Up!  Right now is Sale-A-Bration.  Earn a FREE product with each $50 you spend!  Click the link for more details.

• Stamps: Nothing's Better Than
• Dies: Love You More Than
• Ink: Mango Melody, Granny Apple Green, Daffodil Delight, Memento Black
  
• Card Stock: Basic White Thick 

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Love Gnomes Color Challenge

I'm the hostess this week at Splitcoaststampers Color Challenge.  I chose some classic Valentine's Day colors - Polished Pink, Poppy Parade, Pear Pizzazz.

When I chose the colors I was thinking floral.  However, when I went to create the card I had just received my My Favorite Things order and in it were these stamps.

I could not resist using them.  Rarely do I purchase a stamp and use it within an hour of receiving it but that's what I did.  I fully admit to CASEing this card from their website/blog.  In fact, it was probably that card that convinced me to buy these stamps.  I'm sure no one else has that "should I get it, do I need it?" dialog in their head!  LOL!

I did change a few things for my card - mainly the color and I used different gnomes from the sets.

I hope you will find time to join us in the color challenge this week and share your Valentines!

Products used: My Favorite Things

• Stamps: Never Ending Love Background
• Stamps / dies: Love You Gnome Matter What, Love to my Gnomies
• Markers: Stampin' Blends Polished Pink Light & Dark, Poppy Parade Light & Dark; Copics RV02, R32,YG61, YG63, E02, E11, T0, T1

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A Celebration Card

This card is cause for celebration as I rarely get to create cards just because.  And this card is just because I wanted to enter some challenges.  As a bonus I can use this as a birthday card - the card I need most.

I love the Pierced Blooms dies from Stampin' Up! They are simple to use and make beautiful bold cards. As an added plus you can just use scraps which is what I did here.  I'm not even sure what colors  I used!  I just went into my scrap boxes and pulled out colors I liked.

The stamp set Create with Friends is a incredibly useful one that has large script words with smaller words that coordinate.

I'm entering this card into these challenges:

I was inspired by the colors and black stripes.  My card is clean and layered.

Also - Watercooler Wednesday's All Things Feminine:

and Splitcoaststampers Sketch Challenge:

Products used: All Stampin' Up!

• Dies: Pierced Blooms
• Stamps: Create with Friends
• Accessories: Stampin' Cut & Emboss
  

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CAS Love

Yesterday's post was rather lengthy so today's post will be short and sweet.  We have our first sketch of the year at CAS Colours & Sketches.  It lends itself to bold cards!

 

I really wanted to make a Valentine's Day card that said "love" in a bold font.  I don't have any that are bold so I made one instead using the Playful Alphabet dies. I cut three layers of each letter in black and one in red so I could have a nice stacked word with "shadow" underneath.

For my background I used a retired die from the die set Be Mine.  As demonstrators we're encouraged to show and use new products but I like to integrate old ones as well.  When I can use something I already own it makes me feel better about my purchases.  I get satisfaction knowing I'll get mileage from a product!   

I hope you'll find time to join us in the challenge this week!

Products used: All Stampin' Up! Right now is Sale-A-Bration.  Earn a FREE product with each $50 you spend!  Click the link for more details.

• Dies: Playful Alphabet, Be Mine (retired)
• Cardstock: Basic White thick, Basic Black, Real Red
• Accessories: Resin Hearts (retired), Stampin' Cut & Emboss
  

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Masculine Valentine's Card

Mary at Splitcoaststampers gave us an interesting color challenge this week, to make a masculine Valentine's Day card.  And the colors she chose - Rich Razzleberry, Pacific Point and Daffodil Delight - aren't exactly the colors of most Valentine cards.  I decided to use "For the Record" from Stampin' Up!'s new Spring Mini catalog to make an interactive card.  

This set is one of my favorites! It is great for a music lover of any gender or age.  And if you think the younger set won't understand records - my 28 year old daughter just bought a record player and is starting to rummage through thrift stores for classic rock albums (she knows she can't have mine - LOL!)

I started the card by making my own DSP using the Sweet Conversations stamp set.  This ensured that I was meeting my color challenge requirements!  I used three different outline conversation hearts and randomly stamped them in each of the colors.

I then went on to the create the record.

The record looks great when embossed in black on black cardstock but it did take a couple of tries.  First, make sure you have a nice, juicy Versamark pad for your impression.  I used my Stamparatus and needed to stamp the image three times to get enough ink.  I would recommend NOT using an embossing buddy on this image if you're doing black on black embossing.  I used one with my first try and just couldn't get rid of the "haze" from the powder.  And it's really not necessary since this image is not a finely detailed one.

I cut out the record and its center using the largest and smallest of the Layering Circles dies.  The smallest of the dies will cut out a middle hole slightly larger then the inner most circle of the stamp.  For my label I needed just the heart and not any of the record part of the stamp showing.  To do this I used a black marker, colored just the heart and stamped.  The heart is colored using the Daffodil Delight Dark Stampin' Blend.  I cut it out using a circle punch and glued it behind the record.

 Making the record move easily AND be raised off the card took a little engineering.  I created a washer from five circles of cardstock glued together and punched a hole through the center.  Then I punched a hole through the center of my record. Using a small brad I attached the the record to the washer.  You need to make sure not to attach the brad tightly or your record won't move easily.  I then used strong Tear Tape to attach the washer to the card front panel.  By not attaching the brad directly to the card front I could adjust the position of the record and I didn't have to worry about covering up a brad.  Raising the record allows for easier interaction!

I know this post is long but I wanted to provide some direction on how to create the card.  It looks fairly simple (and is) but does require a bit of planning.

Products used: All Stampin' Up!  Right now is Sale-A-Bration.  Earn a FREE product with each $50 you spend!  Click the link above for more details.

• Stamps: For the Record, Sweet Conversations
• Dies: Layering Circles
• Ink: Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point, Rich Razzleberry, Versamark 
• Cardstock: Basic White Thick, Basic Black, Rich Razzleberry
  
• Accessories: Playing with Patterns Resin Dots,  Round & Square Brads, Black Stampin' Write marker, Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blend marker,  Basics Embossing Powders, Stamparatus, Tear & Tape, Stampin' Cut & Emboss

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Yay for Love!

Happy New Year!  I took a bit of time off over the holidays to spend time with my family.  And the challenges I work with all took a break - so things worked out perfectly.  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

Now on to the first CAS Colours & Sketches color challenge of 2022.  Joanne gave us some colors that I felt were perfect for Valentine's Day!  They totally reminded me of the candy conversation hearts from when I was little.  Stampin' Up! just released a stamp and die set featuring these hearts with some updated sayings.

 

I stamped the backgrounds with the solid hearts and then I used the Poppy Parade to stamp the sayings - like the candy.

The die set contains the cutest little envelope.  Just big enough to set a few hearts free!

The sentiment is also from a brand new stamp set - Happy & Heartfelt.  It features wonderful everyday sayings in a pretty contemporary script.

Well, that's my card for today.  My youngest daughter just left after being here for 10 days.  It was a great visit but it will be nice to get back to my normal routine!

Products used: All products Stampin' Up!  Right now is Sale-A-Bration.  Earn a free product with each $50 you spend!  Click the link for more details.

• Stamps: Happy & Heartfelt (2022 Spring Mini Catalog)
  
• Stamp / die Bundle: Sweet Conversations Bundle (2022 Spring Mini Catalog)
• Ink: Highland Heather, Petal Pink, Poppy Parade, Memento Black
• Paper: Basic White Thick, Poppy Parade
  

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