random reflections

Just Us Girls: Wild Card

I'm relatively new to the Just Us Girls Challenge which I found through my new connection with the Color Hues Design Team. (Watch for our first challenge to go live on Tuesday, September 1st!) So far there have been four different types of challenges: Trend (the die cut window card,) Color (I didn't get a card made for that one,) Photo (the espresso card,) and the new challenge Wild Card which is Butterflies. Like the die cut window challenge, butterflies are a favorite subject, so if I have time, you're likely to see more than one entry for this challenge.

This week I got myself into a huge reorganization (and purging) of my craft room again. It's the biggest overhaul I've done in a couple of years, but it's already been transformative. I happened upon a video from Jessica Frost-Ballas of her amazing studio. I have but a fraction of those supplies, but the way she had organized her colored cardstock was the impetus for the overhaul. She also had two links to friends who had inspired her, and I've designed my cardstock storage based on a combination of the techniques they used. I ended up consolidating other several categories of products, and purchasing some new containers which opened up some space on my book shelves. I've always know that organizing was another one of my hobbies, so it's been very satisfying. All that to say, we'll see how many cards I can get made this weekend.

This card was started as part of the #100DayColoringProject. 

After watercoloring the butterfly (Simon Says "Beautiful Butterflies) I did some ink blending on an MFT "Stitched Ovals" die. The sentiment was stamped at the bottom and comes from the same "Beautiful Butterflies" set. I centered the butterfly on the oval with some dimensional tape.

Concord and 9th's new Ballet Slipper cardstock seemed perfect for the card base, but the design still needed something. Three scored lines to the rescue; a technique I learned from Laurie Willison quite some time ago. 

In addition to working on the reorganization project, I have a project to complete for the League of Women Voters, a stack of cards to get in the mail, and reading to do for my Tuesday study group. Sometimes having your social life decimated by the pandemic is not a totally bad thing. 

Have a great weekend!

A New Challenge

A new card challenge is coming on September 1^st, and it represents a new challenge for me as well. An email invitation to join the Design Team for Color Hues came seemingly out of the blue. The creator of the challenge, Nancy Leppeck, also runs the Seize the Birthday challenge, which is a favorite of mine. She liked my entries there, asked if I was interested in being on the DT, and so happily, I agreed to join a wonderful group of cards designers. You may recognize some of their names as they have more experience than I with design teams.

You’ll find links to all the designers on the new blog. Hop on over to take a look, and be sure to come back on September 1^st to play along! It should be a lot of fun.

Espresso Some Thanks!

It's not often that I figure out a way to create a card specifically for two challenges. When I have more than one challenge to enter, it's usually just good luck. Today, however, I sat down to make a card for Just Us Girls and Inspired By . . . and it worked out perfectly.

I knew I had a couple sets of coffee themed stamps, and "Be A Barista" by Reverse Confetti also included the cute sentiment which fit the Inspired By . . . challenge. 

It's been awhile since I used a tag on a card, but this "Stitched Dress Up Tag" by Simon Says was jus the right size. The patterned paper used for the top of the tag was a loose piece in my stash so I have no idea where it came from. I stamped and colored the two lattes and fussy cut them. I like how the stamp came with two different designs for the latte. I'm strictly a black coffee drinker--no sugar, no cream--so I'm not sure what you call those lovely designs the baristas are able to create. 

I've always loved this "Square Grid" embossing folder by Alexandra Renke and it provided just the right contrast for the tag.

A little twine on the tag, and it was done! I'll be back on Tuesday with a fun announcement, so check back then to see what's up!

 

Color Blocked Rainbow

When I came up to my craft room this afternoon, I had a short list of challenges I thought I might create a card for. Instead I saw a color blocked card (totally different from the one you'll see here) and decided instead to enter one last card into the Seize the Birthday: Rainbow Colors challenge. 

I need some masculine birthday cards, and I think a color blocked card would probably work. If not, I know I'll find the perfect recipient eventually. 

All but the purple stripe were cut from scraps of cardstock. Knowing I had plenty of bright cardstock scraps was one of the reasons I decided to make the card. I also knew I had a perfect die cut from My Favorite Things for the sentiment.

If you click on this image, I think you'll be able to see the shimmer on the black cardstock I used for the die cut. All the card needed then was a narrow black frame and a few rainstones from Papertrey Ink. These bright colors certainly make me happy!

More Rainbow Colors

I have two more cards with a rainbow theme, one of which I'll link up to the Seize the Birthday Challenge Rainbow Colors.

And these cards also use new products that arrived in the last few weeks. 

I have several dies that create rainbows, but no stamps. I fell in love with this set from Ellen Hutson, "Better Days Ahead." I also used the new Concord & 9th ink cubes and cardstocks.

The blue card is not very traditional, but I love these beautiful colors together: Aqua Sky, Sea Glass, Oceanside, and Midnight. One of the things I particularly liked about this stamp set is the arch of sparkly dots which I embossed in silver. The sentiment was part of the 2018 Hero Arts monthly kit.

The Concord & 9th colors are so gorgeous. Red is one of my favorite colors, and this red is so bright and vibrant! I die cut the rainbow with the "Essential Ellen Ovals" die and bumped it up with some dimensional tape. These colors are much more traditional, and the sparkly arch was embossed in gold this time. 

And another entry into the NBUS Challenge--new stamps, inks, and cardstock!

 

Rainbow Colors

The challenge at Seize the Birthday is Rainbow Colors.

I've made a couple cards in the last two days that I'll be posting for the challenge. The colors in this card say "rainbow" to me, although they aren't the traditional ones.

Everything for this card except the sequin mix came from The Stamp Market. A friend and I together an order for the latest release, and this "Word Window Die" was one of the latest products. The rainbow patterned paper is from a much earlier release called "Color Crush."

The other new product is the sentiment, one of several words in the "Handwritten Hellos." Inside the sentiment says "It's Your Birthday!" Each very thin word has an accompanying shadow die. Love them! The sequins were in my stash, and like most of my sequins, I'm not sure where they came from. 

This is another card for Darnell's NBUS Challenge--two never before used products!

A Gift

A friend of mine is on the design team for a card-making blog called The 12 Kits of Occasions.  A few years ago, she asked me to be a guest designer when it was her turn to provide the kit for the members of the design team. It was a lot of fun, so when she asked me recently if I'd like an extra kit she'd made for the June posts, I was happy to accept. I have three cards to share (so far) made with elements from the kit with a few supplies from my own stash. That is generally how it works for most members of her team. First up is a birthday card.

The beautifully stamped images and the gray/blue card were included in the kit. I added a scalloped oval from Dick Blick and the birthday sentiment.

Next up is another birthday card. The die cut greeting and all the florals were included in the kit. These I recognized from The Greetery's "Birthday Blooms" set which I also own, so I stamped the accompanying sentiment on the card after arranging the elements on a "Crimped Frame," also from The Greetery.

Last is a gorgeous anniversary card. I love the stamped and embossed tree in the kit. My friend also included a variety of stamped and embossed sentiments. They were all for wedding cards. There are no weddings (to my knowledge) coming up, but I always need anniversary cards.

This time I added a paper from my stash already die cut with Simon Says "Diamond Pattern," and backed it with a piece of gold paper from Michael's. The sentiment from Clearly Besotted's "Happy Everything" was embossed in gold.

I still have lots of goodies to play with from the kit!

 

Celebrating You

The Wednesday Challenge at Simon Says this week is Midsummer Blues. It's a bit past mid-summer here, and I'm beginning to feel the blues! I'm definitely not looking forward to the cold weather and having to isolate inside again. I'm trying to make the most of every warm, sunny day---getting out for walks or bike rides, eating our meals on the patio, seeing some friends for patio and porch visits. 

But I do have a pretty card for the Midsummer Blues challenge created almost entirely with products from The Greetery.

After ink blending a panel, I die cut it with one of the Nordic Frames and adhered it to a card base made with woodgrain paper from Simon Says. Then I stamped a group of images from Signed and Sealed with a Kiss. Betsy Veldman's layering stamps are among the easiest to use. It's a technique I've yet to master.

I die cut the images and arranged them on the frame, adding a banner with a sentiment from The Greetery's Sentiment Suite: Birthday. The banner die is also from the Sentiment Suite series.

The final touch was to add a few Papertrey Ink clear rainstones.

 

Just Us Girls: Another Die Cut Window

Here's another card using an image I colored for the #100DayProject. I love this "Folk Hummingbird" stamp by Pinkfresh Studio, and it's been in my collection for a long time. I don't know if I was intimidated by it or what, but once I got it out and colored it, I was very glad to have it in my collection.

The "Braided Circle" die from Pinkfresh is also a favorite of mine. After die cutting it I backed it with some subtly ink blended paper and then adhered ti to a card base with dimensional tape. 

Fortunately, I purchased the dies for these images so I didn't have to fussy cut them! 

A simple sentiment strip seemed to work best. Not sure which stamp set I used for it. I keep a supply of already embossed greeting in a little basket, and found this one there.

In addition to the Just Us Girls Challenge, this is another card for Darnell's NBUS Challenge. So glad to be adding it to the collection of used stamps, and I'm sure you'll see it again!

 

MFT Summer School: Take Three

I'm back with the last two assignments from the My Favorite Things Summer School: Day 3: Symmetry and Day 5: White Space. The first card for the Symmetry lesson turned out to be difficult to photograph---far too much shiny metallic, but I'm guessing it will go over well with my granddaughter when she turns nine next month.

I knew I wanted a star as the focal point so started with two nested heart dies and cut a frame from some gold metallic 12x12 paper that's been in my stash for a long time. Then I found the metallic gold patterned paper in an old Christmas paper pack by My Mind's Eye and die cut the larger star from the center of the patterned paper after die cutting it with the smaller Gina K Master Layout die. I laid the frame inside and taped it securely from the back before adding a piece of acetate for the shaker portion of the card.

I filled the shaker with a variety of sequins and tiny stars from at least three different collections. After backing the shaker, I die cut the larger of the frames from the Gina K set in gold and layered the two together.

Finally I die cut a banner and silver embossed the greeting from Papertrey Ink's "Ways to Say: Birthday." That proved to be a challenge. The heat from the heat gun melted the gold paper at the same time it melted the embossing powder. The next try worked just fine---need to be very quick.

My card for the White Space lesson is a riff on the piece created for the lesson. I recently purchased the "You Have My Heart" stamp from My Favorite Things on a sale day. The little girl reminds me of Hannah, and she's a dog lover so that made it even better. I'm on a wait list for another set with the same little girl image which can be colored to work with any one of my four granddaughers.

I colored the image with Copic markers and fussy cut it out. Then I die cut the window with the "Rectangle Peek-a-Boo" die---one of my favorites! I backed it with a piece of patterned paper from an older paper pack of MFT's "Watercolor Wash: Brights" and added two die cut clouds from Papertrey Ink.

The pattern in the little girl's dress was added by overlaying a small dotted stencil by Simon Says. The Copics bled through the stencil so the polka dots aren't as even as I would have liked them to be. Too late at that point to start all over! This is clearly a summery setting, but the sentiment came from MFT's "Polar Bear Pals" which seemed just perfect for the card. And this is another card for Darnell's NBUS blog. My goal is to use something new as often as possible this month. So far, I'm doing pretty well.

Making these cards was a great way to spend a quiet Sunday. And now, I can claim the Graduation Badge:

 

After all that sitting, however, it didn't take much for my husband to talk me into a long bike ride along the Erie Canal.