Happy Little Stampers ~ August Watercolour Challenge

August? Already? It's crazy! I guess time really does fly when you're having fun! I'm having fun, especially when I make time to play with paper. Well, with the start of a new month, comes a new challenge at Happy Little Stampers ~ Watercolour Challenge. Our August challenge is

Here's my "Happy" card

I started with an A2 panel of 96 lb bristol. I added color, roughly in sections with distress inks - Worn Lipstick, Spiced Marmalade, Salty Ocean, ensuring that there was a bit of color mixing where two colors came together. I stamped with one stamp from Stampin' Up's Simple Stems stamp set. Instead of stamping with ink, I spritzed the stamp and applied it to the ink blended panel, repeatedly. When I stamped "enough", I also spritzed the panel with water and used paper towel to pick up any extra water droplets. There was some color transfer as I didn't clean the stamp between impressions. I may try this again one day, cleaning off the stamp between impressions. I die cut the word using a Simon Says STAMP's Happy Holidays die from some black cardstock. I stamped the word "birthday" using Clearly Besotted's A Little Sentimental stamp set on some orange cardstock, which I trimmed into a rectangle. I adhered the panel to a white A2 card base to complete my card.

We'd love to see your watercolor cards in our gallery this month. 

Thanks for stopping by

sue

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Die Cut Divas ~ Happy Happy Happy Birthday with My Favorite Things

It's the last day of our July Challenge at Die Cut Divas. The challenge is

BIRTHDAYS

We selected the Birthday theme as it's the birthday month of our July sponsor, My Favorite Things who will be giving our winner a $25 prize.

Here's my card

So, one of the things that's hard to do is to keep a current inventory of stamp sets and dies of our sponsors. There are just so many awesome companies that I just can't keep up. My card makes use of a retired My Favorite Things' stamp set, Celebrate You. I stamped the row of gifts using several inks - Lawn Fawn's Sugarplum, PinkFresh Studio's Bubble Gum, Gina K Designs' Lipstick, PinkFresh Studio's Apricot, Sunshine, Key Lime, Aquamarine and Blue Jay. I masked off the gifts using scraps of paper. I stamped the sentiment from the same stamp set using Concord & 9's Dove ink. I die cut the white panel using a My Favorite Things I & O Stched Rec STAX die-namics die. I matted the white panel with yellow cardstock, die cut with a Waffle Flower Additional A2 Layers die. I glued the panels to a light gray A2 card base to complete my card. 

We'd love to see your Birthday card creations in our gallery. It's the last day of our July challenge.

Thanks for stopping by

sue

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Addicted to CAS ~ Challenge #243

For me, there is nothing better than listening to great music and playing with paper, ink, glue. I find there is something so soothing about getting lost in my paper-crafting. I especially love the clean and simple look to cards. Simplicity - I like that! If you're like me, we have a new challenge at Addicted to CAS for you. For the next fortnight, our challenge is

Here's my card

I chose circles as my "shape". I used one of Simon Says STAMP's Simple Patterns Trio stencils. When you see certain colors, do they remind you of someone? I know that these colors I used on my card, distress inks - abandoned coral, festive berries, picked raspberry remind me of my favorite Aunt, Florence. She loved bright colors, especially in the pink/red family. I added these distress inks with oval ink blending brushes. I stamped the sentiment using Simon Says STAMP's Happy stamp set and Versafine Onyx Black ink. I realized after I finished my card, that this could have been a one-layer card if I had started on a white A2 card base. Instead, I started with a white A2 panel, which in my case, I adhered to a white A2 card base with double-sided tape. 

What shape will you incorporate onto your clean and simple card? We'd love to see your creations in our gallery.

Thanks for stopping by

sue

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Addicted to Stamps and More! Challenge #451

How's summer going for you? It seems to be flying by for me. I'm looking forward to a crafting retreat at the end of the week. Can't wait to hang out with crafty girlfriends for the weekend. 

We have a new challenge for you at Addicted to Stamps and More! For the next fortnight, our challenge will be

Our "Make Your Mark" challenges mean use markers, paints, inks, colored pencils to make marks! Here's my card

For my card, I inked up some white cardstock, roughly 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" with distress inks - worn lipstick, salty ocean, dusty concord applied on the diagonal using oval ink blending brushes. I then stamped the balloons using Brutus Monroe's Birthday Tags stamp set from the Crop & Create Delivered Spetember 2022 event with Versafine Onyx Black ink. I trimmed the panel to 3 1/4" x 3 1/4" square and added a black mat. I stamped the sentiment using Papertrey Ink's Keep It Simple - Birthday stamp set on a purple A2 card panel. I added some Wink of Stella to the balloons for some subtle shimmer. Here's a close-up.

To complete the card, I adhered the panel to a white A2 card base with double sided tape.

We'd love to see how you make your mark. Please add your creations to our gallery.

Thanks for stopping by

sue

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Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #535

We got some welcomed rain today in the Pacific Northwest. It's not enough to put out wildfires or to prevent wildfires. However, it just felt great. I'm sure the plants, trees and grass loved it! It's been really dry and hot. It would have been a great day to spend at my craft table. Alas, I had to go to work! Ugh, I have to fund my crafting somehow - right?

We have a new challenge which we hope will inspire you at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.

Here's my card

For my 8 1/2" x 3 1/2" slimline card, I started with Memory Box's Large Olive Branch die. I die cut two branches and placed one up and one down on my card. I added flowers die cut using Paper Smooches Flowers 2 dies and various scraps of pink and purple cardstock. For the sentiment, I stamped using Concord & 9's Dove ink and Papertrey Ink's Keep It Simple - Birthday Stamp set on a scrap of white cardstock. I trimmed the sentiment into a double sided fish-tail banner. To make the banner stand out, I matted with the darker pink cardstock. I glued all the pieces down and adhered the panel to a white slimline card base with double-sided tape. 

We'd love to see how you're inspired by our sketch.

Thanks for stopping by

sue

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Try Stampin' On Tuesday ~ Challenge #616

It's Tuesday. You know what that means. It's time for a new challenge at Try Stampin' On Tuesday. Here's our sketch, which we hope will inspire you. The challenge will run two weeks.

Optional Theme: Summer Drinks

I changed up the sketch. Instead of using a circle for the focal point, I used a square piece of cardstock with a circular design. While I don't have a summer drink on my card, it does contain a phrase that is often used by friends of Bill W's - one day at a time. Here's my card

I started by making the background which would become the central square. I started with some 96 lb bristol. I smooshed some distress inks (salvaged patina, worn lipstick, wilted violet) on a plastic place mat and picked up the ink with a slightly wet paint brush. I added color randomly on the bristol and used extra water to help the colors blend. When I was happy, I put the bristol aside to dry. When it was dry, I stamped the focal image using Unity Stamp's One Day at a Time with Versafine Onyx Black ink. I looked through my stash of patterned papers for some that went with the distress inks I used. I made the strips 0.5" x 4.25". I adhered them to a white A2 card base. I also stamped the sentiment, from the same Unity Stamp's set with PinkFresh Studio's Sky Blue ink. I used a My Favorite Things Stitched Square STAX die-namics die to trim the bristol panel. I adhered this bristol panel to the card base using double-sided tape to complete my card.

We'd love to see your creations in our gallery this fortnight.

Thanks for stopping by

sue

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Addicted to CAS ~ Challenge #242

It's time for a new challenge at Addicted to CAS. For the next fortnight, our challenge is

Here's my card

I love making clean and simple cards. There is something about all the white space that I feel is calming and relaxing for me. For this card, I used (for the first time) Candles 4 Birthdays stamp set by The Stamps of Life. I stamped the row of candles and sentiment with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on a white A2 card base. I added color to the candles, in rainbow order, of course, with Copic markers - B29, BG05, R22, R29, V15, Y06, Y15, YG03, YG09, YR02, YR04. 

We'd love to see how the code word of "WISH" inspires you. Please add your cards to our gallery.

Thanks for stopping by

sue

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