Freshly Made for You

I'm still recovering from the holidays, but while there are still a few things left to do to put my house back in order, I sorely needed to kick back and create! I followed the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches #270 and created an ombre look using distress inks for the Less Is More #310 - Colour Challenge - for which I JUST missed the deadline. UGH! Oh well, it was fun to do:

I applied the various blue inks through a stencil, then paired the blues with a range of purples for an accent. These are my two favorite colors, I tend to use them often! Added some black foam to the 'You' for shadow and extra dimension. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

Inks: Distress in Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Mermaid Lagoon, Milled Lavender, Wilted Violet and Dusty Concord, Memento Tuxedo Black

Dies: Simon Says Stamp: You, Nestabilities: Rose Creations

Stamps: Simon Says Stamp: You Matter, Heartfelt Creations: Botanical Floral 2

Stencil: Tim Holtz Latticework 

Father's Day Card

Inside:

Still trying to get back in the swing of things after having been away on vacation, so I guess I have a good excuse for waiting until the last minute to make my father-in-law a card for tomorrow. Hoping I will still be able to manage to make one for my dear hubby, too, but I'm sure I won't get around to posting that one by tomorrow! 

I made this one for Sketch Challenge SC597 over at Splitcoast. Thanks for the inspiration, it helped a lot! Masculine cards are the hardest for me, and while I just bought a new Baseball Stamp Set, my father-in-law and hubby are not sports-minded guys. I have a ton of Camping dp, but I've made them so many camping-themed cards I had to try for something different. Luckily I had this stamp set from TSOL which has both great images and sentiments. Whew! 

TFL!

Supplies Used:

Paper: teresa collins Everyday Moments

Stamps: TSOL hot4balloons

Ink: Memento Paris Dusk, TH Distress in Broken China & Faded Jeans, VersaMark

Other: clear EP

Dies: Nestabilities Scalloped Circles & Classic Circles, Card Creator Sets A & B

Embossed Flourishes

Created this lovely panel using the detailed Texture Flourish stencil from memory box. I stamped VersaMark over the stencil, sprinkled it with clear embossing powder, heat embossed it and sponged distress inks over the panel. I love the look of the finished panel! I added some flourishes, flowers and a button to complete the card.  I used TSOL's swirl stamps and a sentiment stamp from Our Daily Bread Designs to decorate the inside of the card. TFL!

SUPPLIES USED:

Stencil: memory box: Texture Flourish

Inks: VersaMark, Distress Evergreen Bough & Tumbled Glass

Stamps: Sizzix Swirls, Our Daily Bread Designs Flourished Verses

Dies: MFT Die-namics: Medium Fancy Flourish, Spellbinders Twisted Metal Tags & Accents

Other: teresa collins Tell Your Story Die Cut Flowers, button, embroidery floss

Paper: Bazzill Frosted Teal textured cardstock

Spring Beauties

Almost identical cards (yay me!) except for two very important details....the first card has sequins, and the second card finally gave me an opportunity to use my air brush gun (that I got last MAY). Since I colored the second card's tulips a bit darker than the first, I wanted the label to match, so I tried out the air gun. A good chance to practice air brushing without worrying about ruining a huge background or anything. One thing I've learned about sequins, is that it isn't as easy as it looks to get them to stick. Luckily I later researched another tip from Jennifer McGuire about applying Ranger's Matte Medium with super-fine brushes and that works very well! TFL! 

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Penny Black Spring Beauties, TSOL sentiments
Inks: Copics, Distress Inks
Other: Tim Holtz Lattice Stencil, Nestabilities Labels One, CM Ovals, Sequins

Happy Summer Cards

 Finally got to use my TSOL stamps: flipflops2stamp. Had the perfect paper to use for this set! First up is a Thank You which follows the SC489 Sketch over at Splitcoaststampers. 

Supplies Used:

Paper: TPS

Stamps: TSOL flipflops2stamp & freebie Thank You

Ink: TH Distress Inks: Picked Raspberry & Salty Ocean

Dies: Spellbinders: Scallop & Classic Circles, Sizzix: Frames, Circle Combo

Other: VersaMark & white embossing powder, Ribbon, Sequins

Next, is a pair of cards all ready to send to my daughters while they are away at camp this summer. (There is much to do to get the girls ready for their week-long stay, but somehow making them at least this one card was the priority at the moment!) These flip flop stamps are so fun! I used my other TSOL stamp sets for the clouds & suns. I did have a bit of a disaster happen though: I'm a very messy stamper and once the creative juices start flowing, I pull out EVERYTHING all AT ONCE - and so I nearly lost one of my clear stamps! I spent nearly an hour going through EVERYTHING but no luck. Then, the next morning, there it was: staring right at me, attached to a laminated card I had propped up on my desk. I need to have a dedicated craft space already. Seriously!!

Supplies Used:

Paper: TPS

Stamps: TSOL flipflops2stamp, crazy4daisies, back2basics, happyBday2you

Ink: TH Distress Inks: Mustard Seed, Picked Raspberry & Salty Ocean

Other: CM tearing tool

More Stencilling

I just love stenciling with distress inks! I made this card to enter into the IC441 Challenge at SCS. The inspiration photo I used was this collection of candle holders.  I also tried the DIY enamel dots again, this time with more success. I also kind of created a tricky situation in adhering the twine behind the sentiment - but the three panels behind were adhered right to the card front, so I had to glue the twine to the back of the end panels while also adhering the panels themselves. I made a second card and ditched the twine. For all the effort, it didn't really add much to the card anyway. Live and learn...
TFL!

Closer look at the DIY enamel dots

Second, smaller card without twine

Supplies Used:

TH Latticework Stencil

TH Distress Inks in Barn Door, Mowed Lawn & Mustard Seed

Die: Spellbinders Twisted Metal Tags & Accents

Queen & Co. Green Twine

Stamp: TPC

Masculine Bday Cards

Today, I am posting birthday cards for two of my nephews. It's always hard to make masculine cards, but using navy and olive colors helped set the tone. I used Tim Holtz Distress Inks on both. The first card was made using some photo paper I had lying around, the second one was made with The Good Stuff: Ranger's Speciality Stamping Paper (which is a matte coated cardstock). It was great to work with that special paper!

Supplies: 

Paper: 3bugsinarug, 

Best Creation Inc. Die Cut

Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Inks

Other: Fiskars Bubble Edger Punch, 

The Paper Studio Number Stickers

Inside of Rock and Roll Card

Supplies:

Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Inks

Stamps: Hero Arts Brush Strokes, 

Imaginisce Live Loud, 

Stampabilities Rock Star, 

KI Memories Live Large Verbology

Supplies:

Paper: Olive, Navy, Whirlpool cardstock

Ranger Specialty Stamping Paper (matte coated cardstock)

Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Inks: Peeled Paint, Faded Jeans, and Broken China, 

Memento Paris Dusk

Stamps: Hero Arts Brush Strokes

Other: Sizzix Embossing Folder: Happy Birthday, 

Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Eleven, 

Teresa Collins Enamel Dots

I popped up the sentiment using American Crafts pop dots. I love the way the distress inks reacted on the Specialty Paper. I even inked up the paint splatter stamp with distress ink, sprayed some water on the stamp, then stamped to get a more watered-down image so as not to overpower the sentiment. I ended up using the Memento Paris Dusk ink on the olive card base, though, because I wanted a bolder look there. And I finally got to use some of those cool enamel dots!

Inside stamped with more Paint Splatters from Hero Arts Brush Strokes as well as a sentiment from Stampabilities. Thanks so much for looking!

Lighthouse Card

Made this card for my nephew's recent Confirmation. Used the SC481 Sketch from this wednesday's challenge at Splitcoaststampers. Simple layout, but I liked it. Took longer to photograph, edit and post than to make the card. Looking forward to upgrading my computer soon!! Thanks so much for looking!

Supplies used:
Stamps: ODBD Light of the World
Paper: BasicGrey
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink: Fired Brick
Accessories: Creative Memories Ovals, Ribbon dyed w/Fired Brick Distress Ink

Frosted Swirly Hello

Tried to do the double-embossing I saw over at Sparkle N Sprinkle here: http://sparklensprinkle.com/techniques_detail.php?title_keyword=double_embossed.

I am guessing my versamark ink pad was not juicy enough as I couldn't get it to work when I tried to apply it directly to my embossing folder. Instead, I just inked the design after I embossed and THEN heat embossed. For some subtle background color, I added a bit of Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Spun Sugar. Milled Lavender and Tumbled Glass.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Heartfelt Creations: China Fragments, Hero Arts: Truly Appreciated

Ink: Quick Quotes Powder Puff: Tahiti, 

Tim Holtz Distress Inks: Milled Lavender, Spun Sugar, Tumbled Glass

Dies: Nestabilities Scalloped Circles & Nested Tea Cups

Other: CB EF: D'vine Swirls, Ribbon