"Cards from the Coop" Challenge - Aperture Card

 

Rarely do I have the opportunity to play along with challenges just for fun. Being on several Design Teams has drawbacks because those challenges keep me busy making required cards. I am not complaining but it's great just to submit a card for fun.

This is for a challenge hosted by Cards from the Coop owner Tracey Pierce, a cardmaker friend and Stampin' Up Demonstrator who is hosting a challenge on Facebook. (https://tinyurl.com/5n7hw9x8). This challenge is simply to select one color and create a monochromatic card. 

 

The image was stamped once to appear in the aperture of the card but I thought it was too sparse by itself, so I stamped additional flowers onto white cardstock scraps and fussy cut them. I added them to the lone flower with glue, creating three flowers in the window. Another fussy-cut flower was added to the inside of the card.

I dropped my "pokey-tool" onto the face of my card and it left two gouges so I added the brass butterflies. Two of them are covering the holes!

Thank you for visiting my blog!

Melanie

Materials

Stamp set: Stampin' Up! "Spotlight on Nature"

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black & Stampin' Up! Blushing Bride

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Basic White & Blushing Bride

Paper: CP Designs "Color Pop" (Catherine Pooler)

Dies: Hero Arts Infinity (circle) & Honey Bee (deckel edge rectangle)

Misc.: Stampin' Up! Brushed Brass Butterflies; SBC foam tape (2 mm.)

Sweet Almond (CD #611)

Color Dare Challenge #611 is underway. This biweekly challenge runs through Thursday, August 8, 2024. The color board is below. You must select at least three colors from the board to create your project. You may use four or even all five colors from the board but no new colors may be added. However, the challenge permits using Black, White, Neutrals, and Metallics.

I used a recently acquired stamp set and selected Papaya, Peach, and Pine with gold gems. My image is that of a Sweet Almond branch with flowers. The flowers are typically white or very pale pink but in my "card world" they can be any color. 

The image was stamped, colored with alcohol markers, and fussy cut. To the card base, a rectangular die-cut panel was adhered with 1 mm foam tape. Next, again using 1 mm foam tape, another rectangular die-cut panel with dry embossing was added. To finish, the fussy cut image was added.

A few gems were added to the card front. The inside of the card was lined with a panel of white cardstock and decorated with a stamped image of a colored flower and leaves. I elected to omit a sentiment.

The Design Team at Color Dare looks forward to seeing your ideas for using these colors, so visit their CD611 Blog and share your creations.

Thank you for stopping by.

Melanie

Materials

Stamp: Stampin' Up! "Lovely and Sweet"

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black & Copic Alcohol Markers

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Basic White, Peach Parfait, & Pale Papaya

Die: Kokorosa (stitched rectangles)

Embossing Folder: Spellbinders "Loops"

Misc.: Honey Bee (gem stickers) & SBC (1 mm foam tape)

Celebrating with a Friend (DTC #171)

Update: July 28, 2024: Favorite of the Week at Splitcoast Stampers

July 29, 2024 Update: 

Favorite of the Week at Splitcoast Stampers.

It's another biweekly challenge at Double Trouble #171 and the challenge dates have been altered so we can more easily partner with the Jingle Belles Challenge. As is customary, there are three "Things" to our challenge:

Thing 1 (required): Trouble Maker is having fun visiting her favorite drive-thru windows so our projects need to include some sort of window or aperture. My project has three windows.

Thing 2 (optional): Double Dare suggests you create your project so that you are eligible to play along with our partner, Jingle Belles.

Thing 3 (optional): Twisted Sister wants to "Dash Through the Snow" until the end of July by using a theme inspired by our partner, Jingle Belles.

For specific guidelines and details, visit the Double Trouble Challenge #171 Blog.

I created a winter scene with a Polar Bear, including fir trees, ice, and snow. The clouds are window elements but the bear, while dashing through the snow, has decided to explore the round window, where he sees his Christmas present - a delicious fish! I handdrew the fish and colored it with markers. The inside of the card is decorated with a little holographic paper and a fir tree.

After completing the card I did a little research. I found that Polar Bears are more interested in consuming mammals than fish so the Polar Bear and the fish decided to celebrate Christmas in July together.

Thank you for visiting my blog!

Melanie

Materials

Inks: Stampin' Up! Azure Afternoon & Copic Alcohol Markers

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Basic White, Real Red, Coastal Cabana, Garden Green, Mossy Meadow, & Old Olive; CTMH Blue Skies

Paper: SBC Holographic (silver); Stampin' Up! Brushed Metallic (silver)

Dies: SBC "Winter Wishes" (polar bear), Hero Arts Infinity (circles), DzIxY "Sun & Clouds", Kokorosa (bow)

Punch: Stampin' Up! "Pine Tree"

Misc.: SBC foam tape (2 mm.)

Pedaling By... (TSOT #651)

The biweekly challenge at Try a Sketch on Tuesday is now live and open for your projects.  This is Challenge #651 and runs through Sunday, August 4, 2024. 

For guidelines visit the TSOT Blog #651. Here is the sketch:

In making my card, I changed the circle to an oblong shape. Lately, I have been looking at tutorials on creating cards with windows and apertures so I decided to experiment with a window on this card. I have a new stamp and die set that I used. I changed the sentiment from, "We're going to party," to, "We're going to a party." All it took was a black-inked pen.

I did experience difficulty aligning the stamps that work together even though I used the MISTI. I also discovered that the dies did not match the stamped combined images as closely as I thought they should, but I persisted. The resulting image is in the window. The card front was popped up with foam tape to create dimension. This could have been a shaker card but I kept it open.

In keeping with the sketch, I added balloons in place of the floral image and then placed a celebratory sentiment as shown in the sketch. The TSOT Design Team has cards on display at the Challenge Blog for inspiration. Thank you for stopping by!

Melanie

Materials

Stamps: Catherine Pooler Designs "Pedaling By" & "Best Birthday Yet"

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black; Stampin' Up! Blueberry Bushel, Crushed Curry, Smoky Slate, Fresh Freesia, Coastal Cabana, & Melon Mambo

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Basic White, Basic Black, Soft Sky, & Crushed Curry

Paper: Catherine Pooler Designs "Color Pop" Collection
Dies: Catherine Pooler Designs "Pedaling By"; DzIxY "Sun & Clouds"; Hero Arts Infinity (circles); Honey Bee (oblongs)
Misc.: SBC foam tape (1 mm & 2 mm), CTMH enamel stickers (hearts)

Life Is Better with Friends - Masculine Card (CD #609)

A biweekly color challenge is up on the Color Dare Blog! This is Challenge #609 and runs through Thursday, July 25, 2024. According to the color board below, using black and beige plus one additional color is required. Metallics are free.

Thinking about a masculine card, I selected a beige color from my stash to use with black and soft green. I used no metallic paper but added silver embossing powder. I used another neutral, vanilla, but only inside the card.

A black-inked frame was added to the focal panel by masking the edges, and then a stencil was applied to add the green background design. A lizard was stamped directly to the panel with black ink and then colored with beige and green alcohol markers. 

The sentiment was stamped with black ink onto a scrap of stenciled cardstock then matted with black cardstock and adhered using foam tape (1 mm). The focal panel was backed with foam tape (2 mm) and adhered to the card base. The inside was lined with a panel of vanilla cardstock, partially stenciled in green. I took the sentiment seriously by stamping part of another lizard on the inside, so now the focus lizard has a friend and his life is better!

Please join the Color Dare Challenge #609. Our challenges begin every Friday and are two weeks in duration. Thank you for looking!

Melanie

Materials

Stamps: Technique Junkies "Lovely Lizards" & Altenew Leaf Canopy (sentiment)

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up! Soft Seafoam, & Copic Alcohol Markers

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Very Vanilla, Basic Black, & Sahara Sand

Stencil: A Colorful Life "Flowing Drops"

Misc.: SBC foam tape (1 mm and 2 mm)

Rock Your Weird (TSOT 650)

This is Try a Sketch on Tuesday Challenge #650, beginning on Tuesday, July 2, 2024, and ending on Sunday, July 14, 2024. 

While looking through my sentiment stamps, I realized I had plenty of the more common greetings, but not much along the lines of humor. So the next time I was browsing products I took an interest in more unusual sentiments and found the stamp set used on this card. I used four stamps from the set on the card front.

To create a fun vibe, several colors of cardstock and inks were selected. The call-out shapes were also stamped and then fussy-cut. The shapes were arranged in keeping with the sketch and popped up with foam tape. The greeting that I thought was the craziest was heat embossed in silver. I have a nerdy relative who will get a kick when he receives the card. I hope you enjoy the silly sayings, too.

The inside of the black card base was decorated with a panel of red cardstock, then white cardstock, and decorated with festive scraps and a sentiment.

Thanks for looking,

Melanie

Materials

Stamps: Photoplay "Good Vibes"

Inks: Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up! Real Red & Garden Green

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Basic White, Basic Black, Wisteria Wonder, Garden Green, Daffodil Delight, Real Red, and blue scrap from my stash.

Embossing powder: Wow (silver)

Misc.: 3M foam tape (2 mm); Love from Lizi Pinstripes 

Beat the Heat - Cool! (DTC #170)

Double Trouble Challenge #170 is open through Sunday evening, July 14, 2024. As is customary, there are three elements to this biweekly challenge. The details and guidelines can be found in the DTC170 Blog.

For Trouble Maker's Thing 1 requirement I used wind and water as my elements to stay cool, using heat embossing as my technique.

Then I took Double Dare's Thing 2 option and linked up with My Happy Place - Park Hopping HERE.

I could not ignore Twisted Sister's Thing 3 option and spent some time thinking it through. I went for a walk down memory lane as I pondered how to create this card to involve a theme park. Having lived in Florida for a long time (1950-1957 and 1967-1999), I have visited many beaches, keys, parks, swamps, and attractions related to the fun, beauty, plants, and wildlife associated with water and staying cool. 

Returning to Florida has always made me happy. What comes to mind is running through a sprinkler in the backyard to beat the heat when I was a child. This was before the days of theme parks. On Sunday afternoons my family enjoyed fishing or sailing in our sloop-rigged daysailor, the "Puffin", which was moored in Tampa Bay. Those were my halcyon days.

My family members have worked at several Florida theme parks over the years, and I have visited all of those parks. My finished card depicts a sailboat on Bay Lake at Disney World - Orlando. The wind and water spray keep boaters cool as they enjoy the sunshine.

Thank you for joining our challenges at Double Trouble and My Happy Place. I hope you also have good memories of your happy times and places.

Melanie

Materials

Inks: Versamark

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Basic White, Basic Black, Real Red, Just Jade & Soft Sky

Paper: SBC "Travel Airplane Collection"

Dies: Stamps of Life words "So Cool" & Kokorosa "Sailboat in a  Frame"

Embossing Powder: Wow Silver Metallic extra fine

Misc.: SBC thin foam tape (1 mm.)