random reflections

Color Hues #80

It’s an unusual occurrence, but this is my second post of the day. My post as the Guest Designer for the AAABirthday Challenge went live at 3:00 this morning due to a time difference in England. 

It's February 1st and time for a new Color Hues Challenge. Sheri is our hostess this time and has chosen Red and Pink. Perfect for Valentine's Day if you're so inclined. And check out our new graphic--an awesome design!

My card could easily be a valentine, but I was somewhat surprised to find I had several valentines left over from last year. I'm thinking this is more likely going to be an anniversary card for close friends of ours. I do have to make new valentines for the five grandchildren, but this one doesn't seem quite right for any of them. 

I've kept my New Year's Intention in a big way here. Every product I used was in my To Be Used Box of products purchased, but not used. I'm quite happy with all of them. I started by stenciling Papertrey Ink's Happy Hearts with Kitsch Flamingo and Lumberjack Red Distress Oxide inks, masking off the bottom of the panel for a space for the sentiment. I die cut the panel as well as a slightly larger red panel with dies from Gina K's Master Layout #3. I use her Master Layout #1 all the time, and purchased several more versions during sales over the past year. It's way past time to put them to use.

The sentiment was die cut with a very recent purchase during the after Christmas sale at Waffle Flower. The Print and Script with Love die includes two versions of the words as well as shadows for all of them. I chose the block print ones and die cut them from a scrap piece of paper that I ink blended with the two Distress Oxide inks. 

I hope you'll hop over to the Color Hues blog and check out all the amazing designs by our Guest Designer, Bobby, and the Design Team. We look forward to seeing what you create in the gallery.

If all goes as planned I'll be on Day Four of a Tanzania Safari Tour when this goes live, and most likely will be checking out your creations on my return. Aside from lack of time, my understanding is internet service is hard to come by. Nancy, our fearless leader on Color Hues, has graciously offered to cover for me while I'm gone. It's an incredible offer as she's one of the busiest card makers I know as well as running two challenge blogs. Many thanks, Nancy!

A New Masculine Birthday Card

We're in Wisconsin for a few days. It's always good to be visiting family, but Sunday was a rude awakening--snow, ending up with nearly 2" of the white stuff. Meanwhile, back in Rochester it was 60°+.

The day before we left, I squeezed in a little time to make a birthday card for my brother-in-law. The main foiled pattern, Pinkfresh Studio's Abstract Triangles, had already been foiled, so it was pretty quick and easy once I settled on the design. 

I did manage to put another NBUS die to use: My Favorite Things: Stitched Diamond STAX. Recently, I spent some time hot foiling lots of sentiments, so the Happy Birthday from Spellbinders, You Are Everything, was also ready to add to the diamond die cut. 

I love this design--elegant, but simple, and another great card for a guy. I'm quite sure I'll use the design again. No additional embellishment was needed. 

The card is off to three challenges and Darnell's NBUS site. AAA Birthday Challenge is looking for Masculine Cards, Addicted to Stamps and More: Birthday Cards, and I'll add it to Seize the Birthday's Anything Goes category. 

   

 

 

 

 

 

Lemons and Limes for CH #106

As soon as I saw Julie's pick for the current Color Hues Challenge,

I knew I had exactly the right stamp, stencil and die set. A year ago February, I participated in Pinkfresh Studio's Create & Connect event. As usual, I never finished all the cards but I hadn't forgotten the Citrus Twist set which I never used during the course. This card is a CASE of Anett Gelencsér's Make and Take for that class. 

Her card used a partial die cut technique, but I opted to just cut a diagonal slice from the card front which I was able to use on the inside for the sentiment. I then attached the die cut slices to the front of the card.  Anett used the same coverplate, Stitched Octagons, but she used it on the front of the card, and I opted for the inside.

The stamp was embossed in gold as is the sentiment from Honey Bee's Be Still stamps. I added some of the additional flowers and leaves included in the set that are die cut separately with the same die for the citrus slices. This card turned out to be difficult to photograph and the gold embossing will have to be imagined by the viewer (probably due primarily to the gray days that extend in western New York through March--and sometimes into April.)

I attached the diagonal piece from the card front to the inside of the card so I'd have a good place for the sentiment.

This sentiment and die are also from Be Still by Honey Bee.

This color combo is a great antidote to gloomy days. Regardless of where you live, I hope you'll find yellow and green to be inspirational colors and join us in the gallery at Color Hues! You'll find lots of inspiration from the Design Team and our very special Guest Designer, Michele! 

I'm sending this card to the AAA Colorful Challenge, where the colorboard is yellows and green. Once again, this card is off to NBUS as well as a relatively new challenge Neglected Stuff since I've had the stamps and dies for over a year, and have finally found the perfect use for them!

     

Exotic Blooms

I have two cards to share, both inspired by current challenges which also gave me an opportunity to move one more item out of my NBUS box. The pretty little blooms were perfect for these challenges, all of which are among my favorite challenges. First off was Just Us Girls where it's Die Week and they want a birthday card. Seize the Birthday wants "no stamping," and The Flower Challenge (they're celebrating their 100th challenge!!) wants a circle in the design. Here's my answer to these three challenges. 

I started by die cutting Simon Says Exotic Blooms from watercolor paper as well as a Simon Says Stitched Circles die. I used finger daubers to color the florals, picking bright and happy hues to celebrate some of the first warm days we've had recently. They just make me happy. It's hard to tell but I very lightly ink blended a pale blue onto the circle before adding the flowers. Since no stamping is allowed, I pulled out my fave Memory Box Black Tab Sentiments. 

I had another set of die cut florals, and remembered that The Paper Players are looking for pastel colors. The flowers are the same, but the design is different.

Once again I used the watercolor paper. I love the texture it gives to CAS cards. This time I die cut two of Pinkfresh Studio's Nested Hexagon Blanket Stitched dies and layered them before adding the florals which I again colored with finger daubers. I thought this card needed a little something so I added three small gold pearls, and another Black Tab birthday greeting in a different font.

This card is also off to Seize the Birthday  and Just Us Girls as well as The Paper Players.

 

 

 

Songbirds

It's unusual for me to post twice in a day, but here is a set of three cards that, once again, came out of my "Work on This" box. This particular set of products have been sitting around for quite some time, but when I saw the As You See It Challenge for Birds, I knew it was time to get a move on. Having been away, I'm just posting these under the wire since the challenge closes in just a few hours.

The project idea began months ago when a friend gifted me with three charming die cut birds all assembled. I put them in a wooden bowl and pulled out Paper Trey Ink's Songbirds stamp and die set, a long-time favorite. The three birds were created with a gradient of blues, so I chose a different card base for each of them.

This was the lightest of the three birds, so I chose Papertrey Ink's Rustic White cardstock for the base. This card has a slightly different design than the other two. When I initially added the die cut branch, I glued it in the wrong place, so had to start all over. I had already put the MISTI away, so had to reposition the stamps. The musical stamp ended up being higher than the others, so I added a second branch to the bottom. I might like this design a bit better, but it was the last one I put together.

For the second card, I chose Papertrey Ink's Soft Stone, another favorite of mine. I added a few musical notes at the top of the card from My Favorite Things, Strike Up the Band.

 This combination of the darkest bird on the kraft cardbase ended up being my favorite. One of the things I like about these cards is that they are pretty generic birthday card. I'd feel comfortable ending them to guys or girls. One close up so you can see how darling these birds are. 

In addition to As You See It, I'm sending this off to A Cut Above challenge as well.

 

 

 

Spring Blossoms

A couple of challenges motivated me to move another project out of my "Work on This" box which utilizes a NBUS product, the Hill Blossoms stencils and dies by Altenew. I don't find using Altenew stencils to be as intuitive as those by Pinkfresh Studio, but once I got them placed correctly, they were very easy to color. I used my new one inch blending brushes from Pinkfresh, and they are truly a game changer. 

I ended up making a mini-slimline card when I found the stitched and scalloped die cut in my box of premade treasures. I must have die cut them at a friend's house, since I don't own any dies quite like this one. 

The sentiment is, once again, a Memory Box black tab. They work well on so many cards! I added some very tiny black pearls to the centers of the flowers, and then some clear drops as a final accent. 

The challenges that inspired me were The Paper Players looking for Spring Flowers, Just Us Girls: Anything Goes: Stencils, and Neglected Stuff (this stencil has been in my box for months!). It's also off to Darnell's NBUS, and will link it up to her I.D.E.A.S. since this is the week for Ink (not a challenge per se.)

Color Hues #105

The new Color Hues Challenge is live, and Carol has chosen another good one:White and Green.

They are perfect colors for St. Patrick's Day, and since it's also my husband's birthday, I wanted to find a design would work for both. I ended up with a two-fer which is always a good thing.

The first card I created is the one on the right. I started with the white die cut from Papertrey Ink, Decorative Circles Coverplate, which has always been a favorite. I layered it on a card base of New Leaf (a very shamrock-like color) and inlayed the black diamonds. 

I also added some black gems to the center of each diamond, but they're almost impossible to see in the photo. The sentiment is from Altenew's One-Go Birthday Greetings embossed in white on black cardstock. 

Having die cut a second panel of the coverplate in black for the diamonds above, I realized I could reverse the colors and ended up with this card:

For the sentiment here, I used a new stamp and die set from Spellbinders (their February Stamp & Die Club pick). After stamping and die cutting the sentiment, I die cut three more to stack for some dimension. This card will go to my husband. The inside birthday sentiment also comes from this set.

The white version is already in an envelope to go to a good friend who's birthday is next week.

Be sure to check out all the inspiration on the Color Hues Blog from the Design Team and our very talented Guest Designer, Nance.

I'm sending this off to Darnell's NBUS March gallery. This is the second time recently when I've used a new stamp and die in a timely manner! 

  

Breezy Blossoms

The night before we left for vacation, I actually found time to put together two cards. After using the Betterpress, the Breezy Blossoms were then colored using the accompanying stencils. This was all done so long ago that I don't remember a thing about it. After die cutting them, I put them in a little plastic bag and stuck them in my "Work on This" box. I had dumped them on my desk, and before cleaning up to leave, I sat down and figured out two ways to use them.

This card uses a NBUS coverplate, Modern Design Blocks. It came as part of the August 2024 Pinkfresh Create and Connect event. I never seem to get to all the class cards, let alone the Make & Takes, but eventually I get around to using the products. I layered it on a mint card base, and then die cut two Nested Elongated Balnket Stitched Ovals, also by Pinkfresh.

I layered just one stem of the Breezy Blossoms, added a sentiment with a Memory Box Black Tab Birthday greeting, and three enamel dots. 

This card also uses a cover plate that came with a Create and Connect event, the Stitched Octagon Cover Plate. Concord and 9th's Grapefruit cardstock was a great match for one of the inks I used coloring the florals. This card uses a number of different stems grouped together.

I die cut two of the Pinkfresh Notched Corner Frames, bumping the top one up with some dimensional foam. Another Black Tab greeting and some enamel dots.

I'm sending these off to The Neglected Stuff Challenge blog as well as NBUS - these are a perfect fit! I'm also adding them to the February Pinkfresh Challenge where Anything Goes, and Seize the Birthday without the Topping. 

Just a Note

I'm CASEing myself with this card. It's the same general design as my previous cards with an addition of a strip of patterned paper from Papertrey Ink's Three Piece Suit paper pad which has been in my stash for years. I needed a masculine card for a note of encouragement, and luckily, The Paper Players are looking for CAS Masculine cards. 

With the exception of the patterned paper, all the dies used are from The Greetery: The pen (Pen Pal), the postal background (Postal Frames), and the sentiment (Scripted Sentiments.) 

When the Pen Pal dies were introduced, Betsy showcased some of them with patterned and stamped papers, so I gave that a try which I quite like. 

In addition to the Paper Players, this is also off to the Word Power Challenge where the sentiment should take center stage. 

 

Pink Magolia

I recently won a very generous gift card at Pinkfresh Studios. I've been saving the lovely gift certificate I received for Christmas, but I had no trouble spending the money I won! Most of the order were for things that had been on my wish list for quite some time, but I also purchased the stamp and die, Magnificent Magolia, from a recent release. Once I was done making valentines, I was anxious to get it out for a play date. 

The first step was to emboss the image in gold. Then I chose a group of three pink Copic markers and two green markers. I considered two different dies for the background, but settled on the Notched Corner Frames which I die cut in white after die cutting the magnolias. Both were added to a pink card base.

The sentiment came from another, older, Pinkfresh floral set, Nothing But the Best. I had forgotten this lovely birthday sentiment which also included a die. It, too, was gold embossed, and I added three Clear Drops in Blush from Pinkfresh.

Looking out my window it's hard to imagine that magnolias will be blooming in a few months. We've gotten several inches of snow every day for the last several days. Around noon today, the sun came out, but the wind is so cold it feels like -7°. Our snowblower "died" yesterday, so Tracy has had to shovel our long and steep driveway. We cancelled a meeting scheduled meeting here to night, as there is no easy parking on our street if the snow is piled up. Fortunately, if all goes well, we'll be headed toward warmer climes this coming weekend. 

Pinkfresh has changed their monthly challenge so "anything goes," I always think I'll get an entry in, and I should, since I have a very large selection of Pinkfresh products. So this is off to the Pinkfresh February challenge.

I chose pink for the magnolias since The Flower Challenge is looking for pink, and a birthday sentiment so I could play along with Seize the Birthday, without the topping this round. It's also off to Darnell's NBUS, and follows along with her I.D.E.A.S. which this week is embossing. 

       

 

Color Hues #104

Mid-February, and here in Western New York, we're in need of some fresh, bright colors. Bonnie has chosen a perfect combo for the next Color Hues Challenge: Coral and Yellow.

Frequently, I turn to orange in my card making, but I rarely think about coral. I did some searches on the internet to be comfortable with the difference between orange and coral--they are very close! Then I wanted to find an image to watercolor. I thought I could blend the coral and yellow for a floral, so chose Altenew's Magnolia Ballerina. We live just a block away from a fabulous park which has a large collection of magnolias. There are two yellow magnolia trees, but I must admit I took some liberties with the brightness of my hue, and with the coral centers-a bit of creative license!

I stamped the design on Arches 140# watercolor paper, and embossed it with clear embossing powder. I found two watercolors in my collection that worked well: Lemon from Altenew's 36 Pan Watercolor Set. and Coral Reef from The Stamp Market's Color Crush Watercolor Palette Pans. I used two shades of brown watercolor from the Altenew set for the centers. 

The sentiment from The Greetery's Tagged Elegance was stamped on Arches watercolor paper and die cut with the accompanying die. I'm determined to get to all the NBUS dies and stamps in my box, and the dies for this set were purchased during the Christmas release last year but it's the first time I've used them.  A simple black border attached to a card base created with Gina K's Coral Reef cardstock finished the card. I did try some coral and clear embellishments but they all seemed too busy.

I hope you'll join us! As always, you'll find lots of inspiration from the Design Team and our Guest Designer, Teresa. The challenge will be live until February 27th.