random reflections

Woodblock Wednesday

I’m flying right under the radar for this challenge. We’ve been on the road for three weeks, and it’s taken me a day or two to get to the crafting table. Then when I got there, it took awhile to get a card I was happy enough with to post. We were still on the road on Wednesday when the Woodblock Wednesday challenge went live.

I love this wooden stamp from Lockhart Stamps. It’s many years old, but I don’t remember where I purchased it. The tulips are one of the earliest signs of spring, so it seemed like a good choice.

Since the image is so small, I decided to get out my colored pencils. It took two tries to get an image I liked, but when I photographed it, I decided it still needed work, and got out the Gambol and a stump to even out the background and the frame. I realized that the tulips needed more contrast, so for the second try I used a white pencil to color all the flowers before adding the red. For the leaves, I started with a yellow pencil and then added the green.

The sentiment is from a very old (but not wooden) stamp set by Papertrey Ink, Delightful Dahlias:  Additions. I used a paper punch to round the corners of the stamped image as well as the red layer.

I’m also sending this to the Seize the Birthday: Things in a Garden and Inkspirational: Easter/Spring.

 

Color Hues #60

It's hard to beat a prettier combination that Blue and Turquoise. There are so many way to go with this set of Color Hues chosen by Marcia.

It will be no surprise to you that I went the Clean and Simple route and chose die cuts once again.

I started by die cutting a stitched square by Simon Says from Paper Source's Royal cardstock. I first discovered this cardstock last fall, and used it for one of my favorite Christmas cards. I then layered two more stitched squares from turquoise paper (from my scrap file) and another from the Royal cardstock. I die cut Poppy Stamps' "Leaf Sprig" from the turquoise and adhered it to the square.

I ink blended a bit of blue ink on some of the leaves, but I'm not sure I really love that. I do like the pretty sentiment from The Greetery's Spring Mix stamp set. 

I hope you'll hop right over to the Color Hues Challenge and check out the great cards created the Design Team. We'd love to see the gallery filled with your pretty Blue and Turquoise creations!

 

 

The Flower Challenge: Die Cuts or Stencils

Or both, I hope. I used a favorite Pinkfresh Studio floral hot foil plate, coordinating coloring stencil, and die to create a card today for the current Flower Challenge.

As much as I like coloring with Copic markers, coloring with stencils is quite a bit quicker, and there's not much room for error.

I chose a very different color palette this time: aqua blue and shades of browns, but I quite like it. I foiled the image in gold, then colored it with stencils before using the die to cut it out. 

It's quite easy to add a bit of dimension with the stencils by using a heavier touch with the color to the base of the leaves or the centers of the flowers. I also added three gold pearls to the centers of three flowers.The florals and sentiment which I gold embossed and die cut to create the banner were arranged on a diamond cover plate, with a thin brown border on a beautiful piece of textured aqua paper that I found in my stash. The sentiment and banner die are by The Greetery.

This is a great challenge, and I'm sure I'll be back with some other entries before it closes.

 

 

 

Crafty Weekend: Part 1

Last weekend I spent two days immersed in card making with Pinkfresh Studio. There were six classes with two hour videos for each, as well as printed instructions for “Make & Takes” for each set of products. I didn't deviate much from the instructors' card designs, but I thought over the next week or so, I’d share some of the cards I created during the event. All the products were created especially for these classes, although many of them will eventually be released for purchase. I definitely had my favorites, but with one possible exception, you'll see lots more of these products.

First off, Nothing But the Best. This set was the focus of a two-hour class on watercolor technique. Before the classes began, I created the Make & Take. All the instructions and sample card designs for the Make & Takes as well as the class instructions were sent ahead of time in a lovely booklet. There were also lists of card bases and die cuts to prepare as homework for each class which enabled you to keep up during the class instruction.

For the Make & Take, I used layering stencils instead of watercoloring. I followed the card design, but my coloring was more vibrant that those suggested. 

All the participants received a packet of pre-foiled sentiments. The one used in the sample covered a large portion of the floral design so I chose a simpler, smaller one knowing it could easily be used for a birthday or another celebration. The lovely Rounded and Braided Rectangle (in three sizes) was used over and over in the card designs, and is one of my favorite products. 

The two-hour class time for this set was spent learning about watercoloring: mixing colors, finding the right water/paint ratio, and layering watercolors. It reminded me of how much I enjoy that medium, but don’t use it often enough. 

There was no assembly of the card as part of the class, and I used the same design I used for the Make & Take which I preferred to the suggested design. For this card, I used a foiled sentiment from Spellbinders.

We completed a second watercolor panel, but I wasn't happy enough with it to create a card. I'll definitely return to this again!

Guest Designer at Tic Tac Toe

In November, my entry into the Tic Tac Toe Challenge was the Designer's Pick, and today is my turn at guesting with them. As soon as I saw the new Tic Tac Toe board, I knew I had a perfect opportunity to create a birthday card for my husband.

Tracy was born on St. Patrick's Day, so the middle row (Die Cut, Green, and Layers) worked perfectly. I had already settled on the die and stamp set I wanted to use before I saw this board, but it worked out perfectly.

I've owned this You're My Type from Sugar Pea Designs for several years. A friend borrowed it once and made a card, but I'd never used it before. I die cut the typewriter in three colors: green, gray, and matte silver. 

After assembling the typewriter and message, I remembered an old Impression Plate, Book Plate, by Papertrey Ink. You can see the typewriter style words embossed on the light gray layer. I opted for a narrow green border before adding the main panel to a darker gray card base. The hearts were added to coordinate with the inside greeting:

The stamp set didn't come with quite the message I wanted so I used the computer to generate the sentiment which I die cut with Hero Arts Infinity Heart dies.

There are lots of ways to play Tic Tac Toe this time, and I hope you'll join it. 

Color Hues #59

Carol has chosen the perfect color combination for our early March Color Hues Challenge: Green and Gold. Typically, I'd jump right in with a St. Patrick's Day card, but this time I had other ideas.

I received a lovely gift certificate to Pinkfresh Studio from my son and his family for Christmas. I ordered just one design (plus the stencil) from the December release, and thought it would be a great one for this color combination.

This Detailed Leaf  is so lovely, and I've seen it stenciled in a wide variety of colors, but I used my trio of green inks from Simon Says Pawsitively Saturated Ink which ink blends beautifully. The leaf was embossed in gold before adding the stenciling, and I fussy cut it since I didn't purchase the die. 

When I went to my file of scrap metallic papers, I found this gold metallic that had already been die cut with Hero Arts Rounded Rectangles which was the perfect size. After layering the leaf on the gold, and then on the bright green card base, I found a perfectly-sized sentiment in the Pinkfresh Studio "Die Cut Sentiments" I purchased last year. So much luck!

I hope you'll join us at Color Hues and fill up the gallery with Green and Gold. Hop over now to see what our Guest Designer and the Design Team have prepared for your inspiration. I love the diversity of the cards that show up month after month on the Color Hues blog!