Bluebird Birthday in Stenciled Watercolor

12/2/2015 Update: Top Three Winner in the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #135!






This week's Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #135 had lots of possibilities but I still turned the sketch to make my card. I have a friend who has a birthday coming up on January 6, so this is her card.


A panel of Blackberry Bliss cardstock was texture embossed and adhered to a white card base. A white cardstock die cut rectangle with rounded corners was texture embossed, three brads were added and the panel was adhered to the card front. On a piece of wet water color paper, Dylusions spray inks (pink and blue) were spritzed in several spots and allowed to dry. Then a stencil of small rounded squares was laid on top of the area to be used and lightly spritzed with water to achieve a soft Bokeh appearance.


Once dry again, the water colored piece was die cut and backed with foam to give dimension. A strip was also cut and adhered like a ribbon in keeping with the challenge sketch. A small bird was die cut from the water colored paper and backed with foam. A floral image for the inside of the card was also die cut. Two flowers were die cut from white cardstock and adhered to the card front. The inside was stamped with a birthday sentiment, leaving ample room for a personal note.

I hope you'll take a few minutes to visit the AHSC blog and perhaps join in a challenge soon!


Techniques: Die cutting, dry embossing, water coloring, stenciling
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

Materials are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise indicated:
Stamp: Butterfly Basics (inside sentiment)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (inside), Dylusions Spray Inks
Cardstock: Whisper White, Blackberry Bliss, water color paper
Dies: Paper Smooches Dainty Flowers, Memory Box Nestled Bird, My Favorite Things Stitched Rounded Rectangles
Misc.: Gem brads from stash, Dimensionals, SU! Spring Flowers EF, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots EF

Christmas Dreams

11/25/2015 Update: Christmas Dreams was a Top Three winner in AHSC #134!






Making a card for the sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #134 was tricky this week. I could see plenty of ideas for scrapbooking but it took a while to develop my card. I was shopping and heard the song, "I'll Be Home for Christmas," and that's how the idea developed.

Taking a card base of white cardstock, a panel of Calypso Coral cardstock was adhered. A piece of scrap gold-flaked vellum was die cut. The die gives the look of a cloud and represents the dream in the song. Images from several paper collections were fussy cut and adhered to DSP in Pool Party. All but three images were popped up with Dimensionals.

Close ups:

A few little touches were added such as the rhinestone on the tree, the holly on the "25" and the red bow on the small gift image. The house image was too tall for the space so two rows of windows were cut out and the top of the house reattached. Three dots were added to carry the Pool Party color to the lower left corner.

The sentiment is from the song and was computer generated on white cardstock and shadowed with DSP. The inside of the card was decorated with another fussy-cut house image.

Take a look at the creativity of the AHSC Design Team!

Techniques: Stamping (inside), die cutting, fussy cutting
Size: 5" x 5"
Materials are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted:
Stamps: Computer generated sentiment, Paper Trey "In the Meadow" (inside)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (inside)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Calypso Coral
Paper: MME scraps; vellum (gold flaked) from stash; Nordic Noel & Home for Christmas DSP Collections
Die: Lawn Fawn Puffy Border
Misc.: Enamel dots, Dimensionals, rhinestone

Blessings Shaker in Paisley

This shaker card was made for the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #133. The sketch inspired the card. I used a new set of paisley-like dies and gave them a fall leafy look for a Thanksgiving card and included a shaker section in the lower left corner.

A panel of cardstock was die cut to create four openings. The panel was backed with craft foam after the corner for the shaker portion was cut out with a die. The other spaces were inlaid with die cuts in different colors to fill the squares and rectangle. The paisley-like leaves were cut from foil paper and inlaid with foil and glitter paper.

A panel of acetate was added to the inside of the shaker window. The leaf design was adhered to the card base, sequins in four colors were added and

the top panel was adhered to the base. A die cut scalloped strip was added. The butterfly was punched from foil and the sentiment was stamped, die cut and the edges sponged. The sentiment was popped up with foam. Small pieces of Kool-Tac clear foam were added to the back of the butterfly to pop it up. The inside of the card was lined with cardstock with a scalloped edge and a foil paisley die cut was adhered.

Please visit AHSC and join in the weekly challenges!

Techniques: Stamping, sponging, die cutting, punching, inlay, shaker
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

Materials:
Stamps: Sweet 'n Sassy Love Birds (sentiment)
Ink: SU! Old Olive & Crumb Cake
Cardstock: SU! Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Tangelo Twist, DCWV Foil (bronze & aqua), DCWV glittered paper (soft gold)
Paper: Scrap stash
Dies: Simon Says Stamp Double Stitched Squares and Rectangles, My Favorite Things Stitched Rounded Rectangles, Lawn Fawn Stitched Scalloped Borders, Paper Smooches Loopy Leaf & Paisleys
Punch: EK Success Garland Butterfly
Misc.: Craft foam, Pretty Pink Posh sequins, Kool-Tac clear foam

Anniversary Hearts - CAS

This morning my husband reminded me that his son and daughter-in-law will be celebrating a wedding anniversary in two weeks, so we needed a card for the occasion. I kept it clean and simple.

The panel was texturized with an embossing folder and adhered to the card base. The hearts were die cut from glitter paper in rose and sky blue. When they were placed on the card, it was obvious that a third item needed to be added. A ring was cut and adhered to the embossed panel. The two hearts were backed with foam tape to add dimension.



On the inside, a smaller heart in silver glimmer paper was adhered and an anniversary sentiment was stamped in black ink, leaving sufficient space to write a personal note.

Techniques: Stamping, die cutting, dry embossing
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")








Materials:
Stamps: Sweet 'n Sassy "Love Birds" (inside)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (inside)
Paper: Stampin' Up! Whisper White and Silver Glimmer cardstock; DCWV glitter paper stack
Dies: Spellbinders Standard Circles LG, Classic Hearts & Classic Scalloped Hearts
Misc.: Stampin' Up! EF and Dimensionals

Peaceful Poinsettia

11/11/2015 Update: The AHSC Design Team selected Peaceful Poinsettia as a Top Three in this challenge!

The holiday season has arrived if you've been in any of the stores and so I am posting a card that was inspired by the holiday season. The design is from the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #132. I like this sketch so well that I may use it when I make my personal cards to mail. I was also influenced to use the silver glimmer paper and glitter by the Inkspirational Challenge #95.

 

 

Having lived in Florida for many years, my yard was always abloom with huge poinsettias in fall and through much of the winter. At least until a frost. The poinsettia's flower is actually only the yellow center. The leaves turn red as the flower matures and appear to look as if they are the flower. The profusion of color in my winter garden included red, pink, peach, speckled and ivory poinsettias. We trimmed them back in April and August with a dose of plant food and by November they had grown as tall as 8' with huge blooms.

 

In making the card, a panel of green print DSP was adhered to the card base. A panel of cardstock was embossed with a poinsettia design, trimmed in silver glimmer paper, backed with craft foam and adhered. A die was used to cut the frame from silver glimmer paper and then inlaid with a coordinating cardstock frame. This was also popped up with craft foam.

 

The poinsettia was stamped four times, colored, and fussy cut. The entire image included leaves so that was the first layer. Two layers of the poinsettias only were stacked and finally only the center petals were added. I added clear glitter glue but the light reflects both gold and silver tones although I was only going for silver. The sentiment was added and the inside of the card was lined with cardstock and stamped with a border of green.

 

Please visit the AHSC blog and Inkspirationals and join the challenges!

 

Techniques: Stamping, coloring, fussy cutting, die cutting, die-cut inlay, dry embossing

Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

Materials are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted:

Stamps: Reason for the Season & Watercolor Wings (inside border) 

Ink: Stazon Jet Black

Stampin' Write Markers: Watermelon Wonder, Crisp Cantaloupe, Garden Green

Cardstock: Whisper White, Watermelon Wonder, Crisp Cantaloupe

DSP: Silver Glimmer, Green print from stash

Dies: Pretty Pink Posh Decorative Tag No. 1, Spellbinders Labels 8

Misc.: Studio G glitter glue, craft foam, The Paper Studio EF

Thankful Scarecrow

Digital images are not something I use often and I don't know why! The orientation and size are flexible and they take up no shelf space in my tiny room. This image was designed by The Doodle Pantry. I was inspired to make this card by three challenges: Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2 Sketch #230, Can You Case It? Theme Challenge #93, and The Paper Players Theme Challenge #269.

The card base was stamped to achieve the wood grain look. The image was printed on cardstock, colored with Spectrum Noir Markers and the sentiment stamped. I purposely colored the birds to be bluebirds rather than crows. The image was die cut in a stitched oblong shape rather than an oval in order to balance the image, and the edges were sponged with ink. The oblong was backed with craft foam for dimension. The SSW2 sketch has three horizontal strips so I interpreted the fence in the image to represent those strips. The inside of the card was lined with cardstock and decorated with stamped pumpkins.

Please take a few minutes to visit the Doodle Pantry,  SSW2#230, CYCI#93, and PP269 for creative ideas and join the challenges!

Techniques: Stamping, coloring, die cutting, sponging
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

Materials are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted:
Stamps: Hardwood, Simon Says Stamp Petal Pieces (sentiment)
Inks: Baked Brown Sugar, Pumpkin Pie, Spectrum Noir markers
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Baked Brown Sugar
Die: My Favorite Things "Stitched Rounded Rectangles"
Misc.: craft foam

Grendon Wreath

This new Grendon Wreath die is becoming a favorite. This is the second time I have used it but the first time I have inlaid the leaves. The design was inspired by the Hand Stamped Sentiments Sketch Challenge #223.

Because the wreath is the focal point, I decided to keep the other elements free of additional embellishments and applied everything directly to the card base. I also prefer to have the card open to the side when it is oriented as landscape because it will stand more easily.

The wreath was die cut in black cardstock and the leaves were inlaid and then covered in clear Wink of Stella. Sometimes the Wink coating does not photo well and I found that it makes the card look messy in photos. The chevrons were punched in two colors and the stars were die cut.

The inside of the card was lined with a panel of cardstock that was punched along the right edge with the chevrons.

Visit HSS Challenge #223 for creative ideas and fun!

Techniques: Die cutting, punching, inlaid die cuts
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

Materials are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted:
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black
Dies: Memory Box "Grendon Wreath" and SU! Stars Framelits
Punch: SU! Chevron Border
Misc.: Wink of Stella (clear)

Cheers for Santa

11/4/2015 Update: Cheers for Santa placed in the Top Three!

With the Christmas holidays rapidly approaching, I decided to make my first card to celebrate the holidays. My design was inspired by the weekly Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #131.

Green and red cardstock panels were adhered to a white card base. Then a white panel with a die cut scallop was added. Onto that, a piece of designer paper was sponged with Pool Party ink and adhered. Next, a piece of designer paper depicting a village, sponged with Real Red ink, along with a piece of red cardstock, were added along with a strip of candy stripe paper.

A piece of green cardstock was die cut with large scallops. A Santa Claus image was cut from a piece of designer paper, sponged with Pool Party ink and adhered to the green scalloped piece. This was popped up and adhered with Dimensionals. In keeping with the sketch, three embellishments were added using mother of pearl sequins and red adhesive gems. Gems were also added along the scalloped edge of the white cardstock.

The sentiment was die cut three times - from craft foam, green cardstock and designer paper. The foam provided dimension, the green provided a shadow effect and the top layer was in the coordinating designer paper. This was adhered to the card. The inside was decorated with a strip of candy stripe paper.

Please visit the AHSC blog for creative designs and fun challenges!

Techniques: Die cutting, fussy cutting, sponging
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")
Materials are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted:
Inks: Pool Party, Real Red
Cardstock: Whisper White, Shimmery White, Mossy Meadow, Real Red
DSP: Home for Christmas Collection
Dies: SU! Greetings Thinlits, Lawn Fawn Stitched Scalloped Borders
Misc.: Craft foam, sequins, self-adhesive red gems