Moody Blues of all shades

We've been enjoying the lazy days of summer which in the pacific northwest can be heavenly. With the lure to be outside I have not been disciplined enough to write blog posts and thus have accumulated many cards not yet posted. So, today I'm sharing three different cards with a variety of products each with a major emphasis on blue shades. 

Card #1

After ink blending several blue Concord & 9 inks in an ombre progression, I stamped the Pink Fresh Studio hexagon outline. Then I used the hexagon florals and stamped inside each space using the same Cn9 order. I die cut the corresponding hexagon from navy card stock and glued it over the stamped outline. A gold love cut from a gold adhesive sheet was added along with the extra popped up sentiment.  The card was sent to good friends in Washington state who celebrate their 58th anniversary today.                                                           

Card Menu: PFS Pop Out Hexagons stamp & die, SSS Sentiment Strips, love die (a gift from a stamping friend), Concord & 9 inks

Card #2

A cousin celebrates her birthday tomorrow. She mothers 103 orchid plants through out her home, patio and greenhouse. Not having an orchid stamp, I used a watercolored panel to die cut the fabulous Altenew Fantasy Floral 3D rose and leaves from it. Next I loosely painted Altenew metallic watercolors on a die cut panel with additional streaks and splatters of gold watercolors. The gold leaf sprig was added to bolster the rose group. The bloom reminds me of my Chicago Peace rose bush at our former home.

Card Menu: Altenew Fantasy Floral 3D and Leaf Canopy dies and Beautiful Day sentiment, Altenew metallic watercolor pan set, The Greetery Nordic Frames die

Card #3

The final card was inspired by the current Fusion Card challenge. The picture's colors, water pattern, leaves and dragonfly were my inspiration.  I randomly ink blended the various DIs and die cut the panel. Then stamped the leaves with Brilliant Moonlight White ink over the blended panel. A variety of DOs were blended on another panel before stamping the dragonfly and embossing with sparkly powder. It was fussy cut and popped up with foam adhesive tape over the white leaves. 

Card Menu: PTI Palm Prints, The Greetery Sentiment Suite: Thinking of You, SSS Stitched Rectangles, a very old wood American Art Stamps dragonfly

All three cards will be linked to this week's SSSW Challenge: Anything Goes. The second card linked to Virginia's Show & Share challenge. The third card will be linked to the Fusion Card challenge. 

Peace & Joy

It's been months since I last made a Christmas card and here it is, August! I better renew my efforts as this year the cards need to be mailed immediately after Thanksgiving due to our January move. I saw the latest CAS(E) this Sketch and knew that it would work well for mass production. Using the Misti I positioned a holly sprig to stamp in one corner and then rotated the card front to stamp the opposite corner per the sketch. A simple sentiment stamped in gold was added on two cards and the other two used cranberry ink. The single berries were die cut from red glitter paper. The design is mostly one layer to keep mailing expenses down.

Card Menu: PTI Mistletoe & Holly, 'Tis the Season Sentiments

Abstract Card Designs inspired by Kristina

Yesterday Kristina Werner shared an abstract design card complete with video instructions. Instead of using a clear stamp like she did on the square focal image, I used an old (from 2000) wood shadow stamp.  Kristina individually added her colors using her Misti. I directly rubbed the Concord & 9 ink cubes on parts of my stamp, applied more color with daubers, and spritzed it with water before stamping. I left it on the Bristol card stock a few seconds and then stamped a second card front resulting in a lighter imprint. Sentiments and images from The Greetery's Lemon Blossom and Sentiment Suite: Thinking of You complete the designs. The first stamped image was off kilter so I trimmed it, added fun foam, and mounted it on a textured (PTI Linen impression plate) card front.

Card #1

Card #2

Thanks for your visit. My growing pile of quarantine cards need a home. I may contact a nearby care center to share or else get to mailing more. Stay safe please. 

Concord & 9th Trio

I've stamped several card panels using my new Cn9 ink cubes and some of the card stock. I love the juicy firm ink pads but am having a learning curve after many years with other ink types. I used a recent purchase, Wildflower Fields (Cn9), for this three card set. All three cards will be hooked up with the SSSWC "Anything Goes" challenge.

The Greetery Sentiment Suite die 

SSS Stitched Rectangle die,  July SS Card Kit sentiment

I tested the inks blending capabilities on the sentiment banner. 

PTI Note Niblets stamps/die for banner flags

This trio will be part of a gift package.

JUST A LITTLE NOTE

 Nothing like new Concord & 9th inks and card stock to prompt playtime in the craft room. I've been stamping away since they arrived last week and will share more cards later but wanted to get these two cards posted before the CAS(E) this Sketch #382 disappears tonight.

 As I poked through my stamp folders, I found a seldom used old PTI set called Note Niblets. I bought it because of its graphic style which includes many sentiments, florals, and other seasonal objects. My original idea was to stamp and die cut the small envelope, add the appropriate sentiments, and anchor them with one of the linear stamps. After ruining three card fronts with inky mistakes, it occurred to me that washi tape would serve the same purpose as the horizontal line that was failing me. Thus my card using Stardust (which I think of as curry), Mushroom and Eggplant - a complete meal trifecta!! The first card uses PTI Soft Stone paper and the second, Neenah white.

The second card evolved from noticing a roll of music washi tape and combining it with a musical note wood stamp. I have a few music stamps due to my hobby as a pianist, organist, and singer. The same color inks were used but in different spots.

I am also linking this to SSWC - anything goes!

Thanks for your visit. 

It's a good alternative with our present quarantine.

Stay safe and wear a mask!

Butterflies Three

 Today's post shares three cards using the same PTI Butterfly Hope set, two of similar one layer designs and the third card with multiple die cuts and texture. They were created for the July Twofer Card Challenge focusing on butterflies used in two different designs. I have four PTI butterfly stamp sets and chose Butterfly Hope with its carefree, modern look.

First the pair of similar cards:

The fill-in portion of the butterfly wings was stamped with DI. Several of the smaller images were stamped with light gray and saffron HA inks. The panel was finished with a SS Wonky Rectangles die and added to a yellow card front.

Copic and Altenew Artists markers colored the butterflies. I cut a curved edge on a piece of cardstock and used it as a guide for the DI Speckled Egg ink blended for the cloudy sky background. Panel cut with SS Stitched Rectangles.

Card #3

I taped a piece of SSS white woodgrain card stock to a top folding card front. A Shape Shifters: Oval 1 die was cut from gold shimmer paper and centered on the card. The gold embossed butterfly was stamped with Hero Arts inks, die cut, and popped up with foam tape. A small vellum circle was embossed with Rose Gold Wow EP and tucked under the butterfly to hide the adhesive. Both sentiments are from a PTI Simple Stems set.

Hope Your Birthday is the Best!

Several birthdays this month so I've been busy! Now that one card has been received I'll share it. You can create a rainbow card with stamps, dies, paper, paint etc and I chose watercolors, specifically the Altenew 36 watercolors pan set. Using a panel of Ranger water color paper and a wide brush, I painted and blended each new color diagonally across the panel. Between the three color groups I painted a thin strip in silver. The panel was left to dry overnight. Next step: taping a PTI Woodblock Prints stencil over the panel and smearing a thin coat of Nuvo Glimmer paste over it. I carefully removed the stencil, quickly rinsed it, and again left the panel to dry. This was trimmed with a SSS Stitched Rectangle die and taped on a PTI Lavender Moon card front. A small pre-printed SSS sentiment was framed in black and foam mounted over the center area. Voila! I enjoy mixing products from several companies and a bit of glitter never hurts a project either!

I'm adding this card to July's Show & Share challenge.