random reflections

Color Hues #41

Cindy has chosen a unique color combination for this round of the Color Hues Challenge.

Like last month, it took me awhile to come up with an idea.

But when I was looking through my stencils, I came across The Greetery's "Always in Bloom" stencil set and knew it would work perfectly. I ended up stenciling just a portion of the whole design, but I'm quite happy with this very cheery card! 

There is an accompanying stamp set with this that I didn't purchase so I added the details some ink blending and then with colored pencils. I think it came out just fine, and I wouldn't have used the layering stamps in the set. 

Turns out that all the products are from The Greetery. I die cut the panel with the Postal Frame, which I've owned for quite some time and never used before. I love the stitching inside the postal border. The sentiment is from a favorite set, "Birthday Blooms." The die cut for the sentiment is so perfect. I added a some foam behind the main panel and some narrow dimensional tape on the sentiment for a bit of interest. The final touch were a few red AMuse pearls which I've owned for years. I liked them so much I bought several packs of them, and it's proved to be a good purchase.

Hop over to the Color Hues blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our two Guest Designers, Kim and Marcia have come up with . . . and join in the fun!

Color Hues #40

Hard to believe there have been 40 challenges now at the Color Hues Challenge! Carol has chosen the colors for the next round:

It's a lovely color combination, but I struggled this time to come up with an idea for a card. I finally settled on a design from an old favorite from Simon Says, "Be Kind," and pulled out my Polychromos colored pencils. I used some Stonehenge paper made for colored pencils for the leaves, and then discovered a pad of colored Stonehenge that had the perfect shade of tan.

The blue card base is actually a lighter blue than it appears in the photo. Try as I might I couldn't get the color quite right; so strange since all the rest of the colors are quite accurate. After coloring the image, I die cut it and the tan mat with Pinkfresh Studio's "Mini Slimline Essentials." The sentiment is from Sugar Peas "Everyday Sentiments" and is die cut with My Favorite Things "Itty Bitty Strips," which is proving to be a very handy set of dies.

The Design Team and our Guest Designer, Shawna, have a wide variety of wonderful cards to showcase this color combination, so hop over to take a look. And please join in!

 

 

 

 

Color Hues #39

Tracey has chose great spring colors for this round of the Color Hues Challenge. 

The day my Spellbinders "Bouquet of Flowers" arrived, I knew exactly what I wanted to do for this challenge.

I started with pre-made Memory Box card in a lovely shade of purple, and pulled out Memory Box's pad "Vibrant Violet Collection." I chose three hues of purple from the pad as well as scraps of New Leaf and Green Parakeet from Papertrey Ink and set about die cutting groups of florals and leaves. The colors in this closer look appear darker than they do in real life.

I used a heavy piece of vellum for the floral wrap and some metallic gold for the bow. I already had the die cut oval in my stash and arranged the florals in the wrap, added the bow and adhered it to the oval. When I laid the oval on the purple card base, it definitely needed something else, so I pulled out one of Simon Says "A2 Thin Frames" and die cut it with the same gold paper as the bow.

Before gluing all the components on the card base, I gold embossed the greeting from The Greeetery's "Sentiment Suite: Birthdays." 

I'm sure you'll find lots of inspiration from the Design Team on the Color Hues blog, so hop on over and please join the card making party!

I'm entering this in the Happy Little Stampers: Dies where the challenge is Anything Goes.

 

 

Color Hues #38

Sheri's choice of Pink and Green for the Color Hues Challenge gave me the perfect opportunity to try out one of my stamp and stencil combinations that I won from Pinkfresh Studio.

The "Darling Dahlias" background stamp is gorgeous, and the five piece stencil makes coloring it so much easier (and faster) than coloring with Copic markers or colored pencils.

I own quite a few of the mini ink pad sets from Pinkfresh, but almost no full sized pads. For stenciling, the small pads work nicely, and I chose two pinks for the flowers: "Sparkling Rose" and "Bubble Gum." The leaves were stenciled with "Key Lime" and "Grassy Knoll." There's also a stencil for coloring in the background. Initially, I thought I might leave it white, but ended up with a very light gray.

Once the panel was stenciled, I die cut it with one of Hero Arts "Rounded Rectangles," framing it with the next size in green. I used both the stamps and the dies from Papertery Ink's "Sending Hugs" for the sentiment. The green die cut letters seemed a bit lost on the colorful background, but a shadow layer in black really helped and tied in the banner sentiment which had been stamped in black and fussy cut. I put some dimensional tape behind the banner.

April 1st rarely brings spring to western New York, so creating your own flowers is a great substitute until it finally warms up enough for things to flower in the yard. Wherever you live, I hope you'll find time to create some Pink and Green goodness and send it on to our Color Hues gallery. And don't forget to check in on the blog to see what the DT and our two Guest Designers, Trina and Carol have created. 

Nancy

Hannelie

Cindy

Carol

Julie

Sheri

Kristie

Lindsey

Tracey

 Once again, I'm sending this card over to Darnell's NBUS Challenge. It's taken me several months to get to this stamp and stencil set, and I still have products I haven't used from my big win.

Color Hues #37

One thing I love about the Color Hues Challenge is the challenge to use colors I would never think to use. Nancy's choice of Yellow and Pale Teal would never occur to me, but as it often turns out, I'm a new fan. In fact, I ended up with two quite different cards.

The card I started out to make ended up being the second card I created. I just couldn't get the elements to come together, so abandoned the multiple pieces and went on to make my signature CAS card,

I started out with the "Shape Shifter Square #4" by Papertrey Ink. The entire design includes another frame with a more intricate design which I eliminated,  using an Ellen Hutson "Essential Squares" die to cut it off for a cleaner look. I die cut it three times: once in white, once in yellow (Papertrey's Harvest Gold), and once in pale teal (Concord & 9th's Sea Glass). I punched out all the die cuts in the white image, and inlaid them with yellow and pale teal. I used a neutral brown on the centers of the four small daisies.

I left the outermost border empty so the yellow card base would show through. It also adds a bit of dimension to the design. Deciding on the sentiment took while, but I decided on a white embossed greeting on vellum which doesn't detract from the design.

When I sat down the next day at my desk, I saw all the pieces for the first card I intended to make. A new day made all the difference. The "Lovely Layers" set from Papertrey Ink has always been a favorite and that's where I had started. Arranging it the second day came pretty easily. Who's to understand the creative process? And in the end, I chose this one to post on the challenge site.

Layering the Lovely Layers pieces on a "Crimped Circle" from The Greetery worked well. Then I decided to use my new "Detail Petal Plate" from Simon Says for a subtle background. 

I used my favorite Gina K Design "Master Layout #1" dies to cut that panel as well as one from the soft teal to create a narrow border. The sentiment also comes from a favorite set from Pink and Main: "Special Day" which I embossed in white and die cut with Papertrey Ink's "Skinny Mini Banners."

I hope you'll end up finding this combination inspiring as well, and join us at Color Hues. Be sure to take a look at all the wonderful creations by the Design Team as well as our Guest Designer, Kerry.

Nancy

Hannelie

Cindy

Carol

Julie

Sheri

Kristie

Lindsey

 Tracey

I'm determined to use new products as often as I can, so I'm sending the second card over to Darnell's NBUS Challenge.

 

Prayers and Cards for Ukraine & A Double Challenge

Nancy, the creator of Color Hues, asked the Design Team if we'd like to create a card using the colors of the Ukrainian flag. This week has been so horrific---loss of life, lives scattered as mothers and children flee leaving behind their husbands to take up arms against the unprovoked aggression by Russian forces. There's so little that any of us can do except pray and hope for a quick resolution of the fighting, so I was happy to design a card as one way to show solidarity with the Ukrainian people. The intent is to flood Instagram and FaceBook with cards for the Ukrainians. Our regularly scheduled challenge hosted by Lindsey is just below this new challenge. Cardmakers can enter cards for either challenge during the next two weeks.

Here's my card:

I had to wait quite awhile before the Honey Bee "Coneflower" die came back into stock. When I finally purchased it, I was in the midst of holiday creating, so this was a wonderful opportunity to pull it out. It's a multi-layered floral, and I used a bit of dimensional tape that added even more dimension to the card.

I also used a new embossing folder, "Plaid Company," from Spellbinders which arrived with a few hot foil plates right after Christmas. Color Hues is a two-color challenge, but neutrals are allowed so I took the liberty of adding a brown center to the coneflower, but chose to die cut the leaves from vellum. The lines in the die are much more apparent when using vellum.

I knew I wanted a sentiment that included the word "peace." This is part of a longer sentiment from one of Simon Says reverse sentiment sets for Christmas. I die cut it with another new product, "Itty Bitty Strips," which is going to see a lot of use! I hope you'll join us in the challenge to support Ukraine, and also in the very apt color challenge chose by Lindsey below.

Lindsey's colors for this round at Color Hues are just perfect for St. Patrick's Day. If that doesn't appeal to you, check out the cards the Design Team and our Guest Designer have created.

Since my husband's birthday falls on St. Patrick's Day, I've taken the theme but created a birthday card for him.

Paper Source's Clover cardstock is the perfect St. Patty's Day green, and I combined it with some gold mirror cardstock that I love but is often a challenge to photograph. I used Pinkfresh Studio's "Headliner Alphabet" and die cut them from the green panel. When that panel was adhered to the gold mirror cardstock it shines right through. 

I had to cut apart a sentiment from Pinkfresh Studio's "Simply Sentiments: Thank You" to create the phrase I wanted.

I don't own a shamrock paper punch but found a set of stickers in my stash and chose the one with a tiny heart on it. I added two other gold hearts from Simon Says "Holiday Shapes that I use frequently to finish the embelllishment.

Although you can find all the DT's cards on the Color Hues Challenge blog, you can find the details for their cards here, as well as that of Julie P. who is our wonderful Guest Designer this round.

Nancy

Hannelie

Cindy

Carol

Julie

Sheri

Kristie

Lindsey

Tracey

I'm posting the first card in Darnell's NBUS Challenge. I outdid myself with using new products---one of my goals for 2022.

 

Color Hues #35

Valentine's Day has come and gone, but Kristie has a great new color combo for you for the 35th Color Hues Challenge.

My card was inspire by this beautiful design by Betty Wright. If you click through to it, you’ll see how I was inspired.

Not long ago, Ardyth Percy-Robb had a great post on thinking about how to transform an inspiration piece into a new creation. In my case, I used the same “Border Bling: Tinstitch” die from Papertrey Ink that Betty used and added a circular die cut behind my floral. From there, my card takes a different path.

I chose a dark navy cardstock from Concord & 9th, “Midnight,” for both the card base and the Tinstitch border. I have just one floral, from Altenew’s “Wallpaper Art,” which I watercolored with the Altenew 36 pan watercolors. As some of you know, I recently participated in a wonderful online watercolor class where I was using professional grade watercolors. Although I do love the beautiful pinks in the Altenew set, the watercolors themselves were more difficult to work with. I added some texture and shading with a Polychromos colored pencil as well. 

The leaves embossed in silver are also from “Wallpaper Art,” and the die cut circle, cut from a piece of white shimmer card stock, is from Pinkfresh Studio’s, “Diagonal Stitched Circles.” The sentiment, also embossed in silver, is from Papertrey Ink’s “Wishes Come True,” a long time favorite of mine. Finally, I added a few rainstones to the die cut circle.

I hope you'll hop over to the Color Hues Challenge and join in the fun, checking out the cards made by my awesome Design Team members, and our Guest Designer, Rosemary.

Nancy

Hannelie

Cindy

Julie

 Sheri

Kristie

Lindsey

Tracey

Color Hues #34

It's my turn to be the hostess at The Color Hues Challenge. I chose Red and Black.

Since Red and Pink has already appeared as a challenge, I thought Red and Black would also work for Valentine's Day which isn't all that far away. Valentine's Day was my father's favorite holiday, and I have continued his tradition of sending a gift to the members of my family which means a fair number of valentine cards as well. Much to my surprise, I ended up making an anniversary card since I had not one, but two anniversaries coming up. 

The card would certainly work for Valentine's Day as well.

This is another of my pre-holiday purchases from My Favorite Things during a site-wide sale. I love this "Heart Tree," and think it has many possibilities. This time I took just the three largest hearts from the die and colored them with Copic markers before inlaying them onto the tree. 

There are two white mats and a narrow black one, all layered on a red card base.

The sentiment, embossed in white on a scrap of black card stock is from Pink and Main's "Special Day" sentiment set---one I turn to over and over. 

Be sure to check out the fabulous card by the Design Team, and our Guest Designer,  Michal,  and join with a card of your own!

Nancy

Hannelie

Cindy

Carol

Julie

 Sheri

Kristie

Lindsey

Tracey

Color Hues #33

Julie has a sparkling challenge for you at the Color Hues Challenge this time around.

My card evolved during the rush of making holiday cards. I had recently purchased the Simon Says "Triangle Burst" 3-D embossing folder, and embossed this silver paper after seeing two cards, one Instagram and one on a blog, using this embossing folder. Finding just the right focal point to add to it took me longer than I expected, but this snowflake was just right.

I immediately thought of this upcoming color challenge and abandoned any idea of creating a holiday card. I have several January birthdays and this card will soon be on its way to one of my best friends. 

The beautiful snowflake is Simon Says' "Marie Snowflake" and is cut from white glitter paper. The sentiment is from one of my oldest Papertrey Ink sets "Vintage Picnic Sentiments." I embossed it in silver on the same silver paper I used for the embossing folder.

Although you can see some of the glitter and shine in the photographs, this card is much more beautiful in person. 

I hope this wonderful color combination inspires you to make a card and join us at Color Hues this time around. Check out all the inspiration the Design Team and our Guest Designer, Stephanie, have in store for you.

Nancy

Hannelie

Cindy

Julie

 Sheri

Kristie

Lindsey

 Tracey

Color Hues #32

Hannelie has chose Red and Purple for the first Color Hues Challenge in 2022.

I have quite a few stamps and dies that arrived thanks to sales during the last months of 2021, and I am determined to make good use of them. The Simon Says "Geometric Builder: Hearts" came to mind when I saw this color combination. 

I chose three different designs and die cut each from two shades of red (Gina K's Red Hot, Concord & 9th's Poppy) and two shades of purple (Papertrey Ink's Amethyst Allure, Concord & 9th's Eggplant), and then assembled the  hearts on a solid heart shape.

I knew I wanted a mini slimline design and die cut the scalloped die from Trinity Stamps'"Mini Envelope Builder." Then I cut three hearts from that panel so I could inlaid the red and purple hearts.

The sentiment is from The Greetery's "Sentiment Suite: Love" which I die cut with one of the "Sentiment Suite Basic Dies." I chose the sentiment thinking this could be an anniversary card, a valentine, or just a thinking of you card.  I added dimensional adhesive to the scalloped panel and adhered it to a white card base, and added a few transparent gems.

I hope you'll hop over to the Color Hues Challenge and join in the fun, checking out the cards made by my awesome Design Team members, and our Guest Designer, Tenia.

Nancy

Hannelie

Cindy

Julie

 Sheri

Kristie

Lindsey

 Tracey