random reflections

Just Us Girls: Wild Card

It's the fifth Saturday of the month, so it's Wild Card Week at JUGS, and my last week as Guest Designer. Thanks to the DT at JUGS for giving me this honor. I've truly enjoyed it!

They're looking for WORD die cuts, so I turned to one of my all-time favorites from Savvy Stamps. I think I've had this in my Christmas collection for over five years---maybe a lot longer than that. 

As usual, capturing the glitter on a card is difficult. JOY is die cut with some beautiful silver glittery paper, and each of the snowflakes was coated with the Spectrum Noir clear glitter pen. Clicking on the image should enlarge it, so the glitter might be easier to see. 

The beautiful snowflakes are from My Favorite Things "Stylish Snowflakes," and the silver embossed sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's "Sending Joy." Once again I used Gina K's "Master Layout 1" dies to cut the snowflake panel and the narrow silver border. 

Hop on over to the JUGS blog to see what the Design Team has to share!

 

 

 

 

Wish On A Star

The challenge at AAA Cards is Maxi White Space/Optional Stars.

Since I had already started this stenciled star panel, the challenge provided the nudge to finish the card.

Actually, the card is almost totally white! I started by applying Gina K's Glitter paste through the Altenew "Milky Way" stencil. I wanted a subtle, but distinct, glitter embossing powder for the sentiment and tried several, settling on WOW's "Cloud 9." The panel was die cut with one of Hero Art's "Rounded Rectangle Infinity" dies, which has proved to be a good purchase. I added some fun foam to the back before adhering it to the white card base.

I often have difficulty photography the sparkly parts of a card. Not this time, the glitter stood right out! I'm thinking this could be either a birthday card or a Christmas card, depending on the inside sentiment which I almost always wait to include until I know who the card is going to.

Purple Nights

The Fusion Challenge is "Purple Nights."

I loved the purple sky, and that was the source of my inspiration for another Halloween card---this one for my only grandson.

I started with a piece of Amethyst Allure cardstock, ink blending with purple and black inks around the edges, leaving the center lighter. I also added a bit of white in the middle. "Caught in the Web" from Ink to Paper was die cut from True Black cardstock. I randomly added some Spectrum Noir glitter to the web which is, as always, nearly impossible to detect in the photos, but effective IRL. It's interesting that in the original photos, it's visible, but once uploaded to the blog it seems to disappear.

The two ghosts are from Ink to Paper's "Ghosts and Ghoulies. I added the google eyes and attached the ghosts with Wobblies. I had no luck trying to do a short video of the ghosts wobbling  back and forth when you flick them, but it's pretty cute. The sentiment is from "Friendship Jar Fillers: Autumn," one of my all-time favorite sets from Papertrey Ink.

The card went in the mail today with a layer of foam on top and in a 5x7 envelope with extra postage. Hope it gets there intact!

October 5 in 5: Taughannock Falls

Well, I missed the link up for Sandi's meme this month, and I have no one but myself to blame. But I wanted to share the fall photos taken on Friday at Taughannock Falls just outside Ithaca. It was a gorgeous (actually hot) day, and we knew it would be the last one for awhile, if not until next spring sometime. One advantage of being retired is the ability to take a road trip on a week day.

Our first stop was Taughannock Falls just north of Ithaca, New York. Our local meteorologist commented that the leaves had past peak in the Finger Lakes, so we were pleasantly surprised to find some beautiful color. The first five photos represent my 5 in 5 for the month, but since I've missed the link up, I'll add a few more photos from our road trip at the end.

We didn't spend a lot of time in Ithaca, stopping just for a few minutes at another state park, Buttermilk Falls. Not a good time for photos here since the sun was behind the falls.

After a stop to buy some pastries at the Ithaca Bakery, we drove up the east side of Cayuga Lake to Aurora for lunch. The Fargo Inn had closed their patio, so we got take-out and found a much better place to eat---the village park right on the lake.

The Inns of Aurora created a 3 mile nature trail this summer, so after lunch we hiked a portion of it. The beginning of the trail makes it appear like a pretty easy walk, so I was surprised to find it really was a hike, not a walk. 

The hike begins just on the other side of the road that runs along the lake. There's a bit of elevation to reach this pretty overlook.

Later on we came to an overlook built for good views of the lake.

I didn't take a lot of photos of the trail, but this one gives you a feel for the open spaces.

Saturday the temperatures were nearly 40 degrees colder, and it was no warmer today. Getting out was definitely the right thing to do.

 

Photo Inspiration at Just Us Girls

I've become a fan of the rotating challenges at JUGS: colors, trends, words, photos, and occasionally a wild card week. This week is the photo challenge:

I was inspired by the color of the flowers and the wooden tray and table.

The cluster of flowers on Simon Says "Thankful Flowers" seemed to be a good fit. I stamped them on Arches Cold Press watercolor paper and watercolored them with my Daniel Smith watercolors. I decided to fussy cut just around the bottom flower and then carefully cut to the edges with a craft knife. That allowed me to layer the woodgrain paper beneath the flowers.

I added a narrow strip of black cardstock to separate the watercolored flowers from the woodgrain paper.

A sentiment banner from Taylored Expressions "Sentiment Strips" finished it off. I found a bronze metallic envelope from a Simon Says kit which goes well with the card, so the recipient will get a little glitz along with the card. 

Take a look at what the Design Team has created at Just Us Girls this week.

Christmas is Coming

One of my goals for October is to complete five Christmas cards a week. Although making multiples of one design is certainly the most efficient way to meet the goal, today I have two cards that were created for specific challenges. First off is a pink poinsettia for the Christmas Kickstart Challenge whose current theme is PINK!

For several years, I've owned a Hero Arts set, "Color Layering Poinsettia." The first two words of the title tell me exactly why I've never used it. For some reason, color layering is something I always struggle with. One of my good friends who is also a stamper loves layering and hates coloring. I'm the reverse. But I was determined to make this work, and it wasn't quite as frustrating as I anticipated.

In fact, stamping and die cutting the poinsettias went pretty well. It was figuring out a design for the card that took some time. I finally decided on a stenciled background and used Altenew's "Beach Towel Stripe." It may be a summery name, but it worked out well. The inks and papers are all from Concord & 9th.

It's almost impossible to see, but the die cut "merry" from W+9's "Hand Lettered Holiday" is coated with glitter as are the petals of the poinsettias. I added a few pale pink pearls from AMuse which have been in my stash for years.

I'll be adding this card to Darnell's NBUS Challenge since I've never used the Hero Arts set before.

The next card was created specifically for two challenges. First the CAS Colour and Sketch Challenge:

And also for The Flower Challenge where the current challenge is to use a circle.

I had already stamped and embossed this poinsettia cluster from Waffle Flower's "Poinsettia," so it was just a matter of coloring it with Copics and assembling the card according to the sketch.

Metallics are so hard to photograph! The gold circle and thin border are a beautiful gold shimmer paper, and the sentiment is also embossed in gold. It's a little easier to see here:

It's not often that a sketch inspires me, but I loved this one. 

 

 

JUGS: The Color Challenge

It's Color Week at Just Us Girls Challenge:

The colors--purple, black, and orange--seemed custom-made for a Halloween card. This time, the design I envisioned ended up looking exactly as I imagined it. 

I started by stamping and coloring with Copic markers the three sets of witches' feet in purple, black, and orange. The stamps and coordinating die are from a Hero Arts set "Witch Feet." After diecutting the feet, I die cut three circles with Simon Says "Stitched Circle" dies in a piece of orange patterned paper from an old American Crafts 6X6 paper pad. I adhered that to a piece of purple cardstock and trimmed both to leave a narrow border on the black card base.

I arranged all three sets of witches' shoes in front of the die cut circles. 

The sentiment is from a Make-It-Market kit from Papertrey Ink, "Halloween Pin-ups," and couldn't be more perfect! I die cut that with a Pinkfresh Studio, "Worthy Frames."

I haven't decided yet how many Halloween cards I'll be making this year. My three granddaughters seem perfectly happy to share a card, but Caleb and Hannah definitely want cards of their own. Here's the first one, and I have a second one in mind for a challenge that popped up on my radar a couple days ago. We'll see how time and inspiration work out this year! 

 

Color Hues #4

It's time for the fourth Color Hues Challenge, and the colors this week are:

This is a favorite color combination for me, and I actually made two cards. The first one is the one you'll find on the Color Hues Challenge blog.

I started by ink blending two pieces of cardstock with Distress Inks---Salty Ocean and Blueprint---for the blues, and Carved Pumpkin and Spiced Marmalade for the oranges. I used the darker colors toward the center. Then I die cut both pieces with Pinkfresh Studio's "Pop-out Sunburst" die, and pieced the card together.

I did a bit of ombré ink blending on a scrap of cardstock, and die cut the greeting from Simon Says "Bold Hello," adding it to a circle of orange die cut with the Pinkfresh Studio die. A few Rainstones from Papertrey Ink finished off the card.

The card above was not the card I started to make. Originally, I planned for a floral image but after coloring it with Copic markers I couldn't decide on a design for the card. That came somewhat later.

In the end, I liked this card as well, so decided I'd share it as an alternative. It also points out that you may choose any number of hues of a given color for the challenge. The image is from Altenew's "Needlework Motifs" which I colored with Copic markers. 

I finally wondered what it would look like if I added a thin frame over the focal image, and die cut one from Orange Peel cardstock (Simon Says) with the Simon Says A2 Thin Frames. It wasn't as difficult to adhere as I thought it might be, and I'm quite happy with the overall look. The sentiment is one from Taylored Expressions "Sentiment Strips."

Lucie is our fabulous guest designer this week. Hop over to the Color Hues blog to see what she and the rest of the Design Team have come up with . . . and join in the fun!

Birthday Blessings

In September, I purchased two dies from The Greetery's new collection: "Botanic Cuts: Mighty Oak," and the "Shiplap Builder." I recently had time to make a fall birthday card (soon to go in the mail) and used the challenge from the Paper Players for my color scheme.

There are over 18 names on my October and November birthday and anniversary list. Many of the cards in my stash are too summery, so I'm back to needing some new cards. This one fits the bill.

The card had a rocky start. I had finished it, and decided it needed a few ink splatters. I'm always a bit apprehensive when I start that process, and there's good reason why. The splatters were too big and too many, so I carefully disassembled the card and started over! This time I splattered first and with a much smaller paintbrush. Lesson learned, I hope!

The sentiment is also from The Greetery: "Blessed Blooms," which has the same font as an earlier set which I like so much. The dies are awesome, too! The beautiful copper envelope was part of a Simon Says kit. 

It's another beautiful fall day here! Off to enjoy it.

Just Under the Wire

The Pinkfresh Studio's World Card Making Day Challenges close in just a few hours. Luckily, I had time this afternoon to make two more cards. One for the Sympathy Card Challenge, and one for the Thank You Card Challenge. Both use Never Before Used Stuff again so I'll be linking up to Darnell's NBUS October Challenge. 

First off, the sympathy card. I like CAS cards with neutral colors for sympathy cards and this definitely fills the bill.

Although I've owned the Botanical Circle die for quite some time, I'd never used it before. I had, however, die cut it in several colors, one of them being white. I thought there was just enough contrast with the Soft Stone background, and then layered both on a top-folded card base made from Smoky Shadow. Both cardstocks are from Papertrey Ink.

One thing I've discovered during these challenges is despite my very lovely collection of Pinkfresh Studio products, I don't have a lot of sentiments to choose from. This one, however, is perfect and is from their Oval Foliage Wreath stamp set.

Next up is the first of the Christmas thank you notes. I just purchased the beautiful Winterberry Background stamp, and embossed it in gold on Asparagus cardstock (Gina K).

The sentiment is also a product I've owned for some time and never used before. I love it, and I'm sure you'll be seeing it again. It's the Simon Says "Thankful 2" die.

I die cut the shadow with vellum, and the main sentiment from the same gold cardstock (Michael's) that I used as a narrow layer on the card. 

It's a beautiful fall day here, 20° cooler than yesterday, but a lot less wind, and no threat of rain. Here's hoping for a couple more weeks of decent weather before winter weather appears!