SERENITY NOW!!! - HLS CHALLENGE WINNER!

 Hi all...

We've all been there...I'm sure of it.  You're nearly finished with a fabulous creation...then catastrophe...a smudge, or...SOMETHING that ruins it!  That was this one... I was nearly done...then it went wrong...

 

This card was created for the JUGS Challenge, the Flower Challenge and the HLS Watercolor challenge.  I'm also popping this in the Beautiful Blooms challenge, even though I didn't use the optional mood board. I love the color combo and it was an opportunity to do a watercolor paint technique that I needed to make a video about...Fyi, I'm starting a YouTube channel, hope you'll visit and follow...more info on that later...  Tulips are my mom's favorite, so I'm counting that as a toward the FC this week.

After the fabulous background paper was created, I then used Altenew's Grateful Heart stamp set of tulips add to the front. I only used the outline and the #'s 3 & 4 stamps using grey inks.  I used alcohol inks to add the color so I could keep them mostly white.  The coloring....which I am not fabulous at, but working on...was done and I was REALLY happy with it.  Like REALLY HAPPY.  I placed the 2 flowers on the card front with foam tape...so far so good.  Then, I decided it needed a little bit of black.  SO...I pulled out my USUALLY handy and CONSISTANT black enamel dot gel...and in it's defense, it's old and sticky and string-y...I should have foreseen this....

I added black to the stamen of the flowers.  Looks good, and I always like a bit of shine or sparkle.  Then....I placed a dot...it had a tail.  I panicked!  I grabbed a trusty tool and set to correct and remove the tail.  So far so good.  After it was corrected........that's when I saw it... I had placed my FINGER IN THE STAMEN!!!  AAGGGHHH!............It's ok...I'll just make another flower like that one.  I gently pull that flower off.............I HAD STUCK MY FINGER IN THE OTHER FLOWER!!!!!! NNNOOOOOOOOOOO!

Like Kramer from Seinfield...which is my maiden name fyi....SERENITY NOW!!!!!!!!!!  For all things good and holy, I nearly lost my mind!  I stood up, took a stroll around the studio and pet the dogs.  At that point the only thing I could do was re-create the flowers.  Not as good as the original, but at this point, I'll take what I can get.  

I did pull out the enamel gel again...and held my breath while doing it.  They cooporated this time.....thank goodness... I'm glad I finished it and it was a pretty close version of my original plan.

That's it for today, I hope your day is filled with color!!

Trying to keep up!

 Hello all!

Its been crazy around here...healing from shingles, babysitting, helping with my parents, cleaning and organizing the studio, and getting my teenagers to get moving before 10 am.  I am glad its summer and excited to get back to creating in my studio this week!

I've had the links up for multiple challenges on my computer for 2 weeks now, so I decided to get started on them asap! I've combined 2 challenges with this card, Altenew's June Inspiration Challenge, Freshly Made Sketches. and the Beautiful Blooms challenge even though I didn't use the mood board this time...

I loved the colors Deepa chose for this month's Altenew challenge, bright and cheery!  I've been into those colors lately, perhaps because of summer?  I used the Enchanted Garden, Tropical Forest and Rose Petal color family inks, and the flowers from the Hellebore Build a Flower stamp set all from Altenew.  After organizing and cleaning the studio, I've purged some but also committed to using all the sets that haven't seen any ink in a while and this one reminded me of the inspiration picture.

When inspired by the layout, I decided to turn it on it's side, and move the sentiment to fit the change. The Woven stencil is a new purchase and I used Wisteria ink from the Enchanted Garden color family just down the center of the card panel.

This card has a ton of shine, partially due to the Fine Frames Circle die for the background.  I also added some shimmer with gold foil and a glue pen!  Although, I had a hard time waiting for the glue to dry to add the foil, but I made do.  I chose to do the sentiment with Jet Black ink, it felt it looked better than a color...what do you think?

Thanks so much for stopping by, I hope you have a colorful day!

Coloring fun

 Hi all!

Isn't fun when you get a little surprise in a box of product you ordered?  Altenew puts in a discount card for you next order, usually a percentage off and I generally don't look at the other side. WELL.... that has changed!

On the opposite side of the discount card is an image to use for your cards!!  Its a black and white outline for you to color as you see fit.  Such genius people that work there, really.  This month's image was of dogwood blossoms.  Ironic as we have decided to transplant 3 hydrenga bushes in our front yard to put one in.  I've spent the spring admiring trees around town and realized I needed one for myself.

Since the transplant won't happen until the fall, these lovely blossoms will have to do!  I don't have many alcohol markers in my stash, quite honestly I'm intimidated and confused by them.  However, I decided to pull out my limited colors and try them out on this image. Since the limited colors I have match the Inkspiration mood board, I'm sending it over for consideration.  I'm not to disappointed with it...not impressed, but not disappointed either.  I did have to fussy cut it out...which I hate...to add it to my card.

I added the Circle Quilt Cover die by Altenew for the background and the cut out die fit perfectly on it.  So...that made me hate the fussy cutting less....  I did add some Mountian Mist ink to the background panel before I placed the die cut over it for a little extra.  

I kept the bling to a minimum using only the Versatile Greetings 2 die set with gold foil paper to add the sparkle.  This AMAZING die set is part of Altenew's July launch, so be on the look out for it soon.  I get to give little sneak peeks for the items, and they won't disappoint, so save your pennies!

Have a colorful day!!

CAS Scraps

 Hi all!

It’s been a crazy 2 weeks of guest designer work, traveling for the holiday weekend and now a minor shingles attack.  It’s not as painful as last time and for that I am grateful!

Today was the first day since our return from Petoskey to feel well enough to go into the studio and it's my first challenge in 2 weeks!  I thought I'd play along with JUGS Silhouette challenge since it ends tonight.  I started small and decided to work with what I already had on hand in order to gain momentum…so to the scrap bins I went...I have 4, how many do you have?

I found this black embossed leaf from Altenew’s Leaf Canopy.  It’s perfect for a silhouette card.  I also found the pink die cut I had made from Altenew’s Snowflake Layer die and colored but never used it.  I decided to cut it into pieces for the background behind the leave cluster.

I finished off the card with a splatter of black watercolor paint and again from my sentiment box...this came from Altenew's Its For You stamp and die set.  It's no longer on their site, so I think they've discontinued it.  It has a great telephone stamp though...

SO...the card is CAS in design, but has layers of die cuts....hopefully it 'makes the cut'...😉😉😏😏!

Have a colorful week!

AAAGGGHHH! - JUGS CHIC OF THE WEEK WINNER! - THE COLOR CHALLENGE SHOUT OUT! - THE FLOWER CHALLENGE HONORABLE MENTION!

 Hello all,

I'm working on product projects for Altenew; the die, sentiment and the background panel are all new products being launched on July 1st!   This card is my first sneak peek and I will post a new project each week until the final launch on July 1st.  I am even launching my YouTube channel these next few weeks so stay tuned for the links for those videos!  Its really all very exciting for me....

NOW..to the card on hand...I have made MANY, MANY projects with these items...BUT...for some reason...THIS one...oh lordy be...  Have you ever had one of the cards where you worked hard and then EVERYTHING started going wrong?!?!  I can't be the only one....THIS CARD HAS BEEN THE BANE OF MY EXISTANCE TODAY!!!

  

I CAN NOT blame the lily dies, because they are absolutely lovely and go together perfectly with the layers.  Really, they go together like a dream!  My insistence on attempting to make realistic stargazer lilies...when I am not the glorious Jaycee Gaspar...AND THE FINISHING OF THE CARD???....gave me a run for my money today I'm tellin' ya...  It has made me bring out my southern drawl!

After I did the ink shading for the lilies, I layered them and used the ever handy press and seal paper to get perfect placement.  I wasn't thrilled with my shading but wasn't too disappointed.  I then made 3 different backgrounds, debating which to use and settled for this one.  After that is when it went down hill....FAST!

The flowers were placed on the background panel...crooked, and when I peeled off the press and seal, it peeled off some of the edge of a flower! UGGH, but not the end of the world... Next issue? The splatters from my spray wouldn't splatter, and when they FINALLY did, they went all WACK-A-DOODLE... Ok...it's ok, not great, but...ok.  THEN...the die cut sentiment would NOT go on straight and started bending...damn old lady vision and caffeine shaky fingers...I had to give up on the letter 'r' for my sanity.  Finally, when I stamped the other part of the sentiment, I had to do it 3x because the tail end of it was crooked, then I cut it crooked!!!  I had to just finish it as best I could at that point so I could have a sense of some type of accomplishment!!!

So there it is...the overall image is lovely, but my craftmanship leaves a LOT to be desired.  Although I had issues today, I have been SO INCREDIBLY blessed and honored to be a part of this product launch and am EXCITED to show you all the things I have been working on with these fantastic items!  I am also submitting these to the JUGS #679 Wedding challenge, the Color Throwdown Challenge #743 of pink, lime green and white and The Flower Challenge #80 pastel flowers.

Wedding season

 Hello all!

Did you know I spent over 15 years as a florist/event designer?  Yup.  We did weddings, parties and corporate events, I've even traveled internationally to produce events.  I loved the creating, the coordination and the looks on peoples faces as they entered a room we had completed.  It was an incredibly challenging but rewarding job! 

I have been in pre-release mode for Altenew (more on that at a later date) and decided to set that aside for the day and work on some challenges.  Since wedding season is upon us, and we have a couple to go to this summer, the JUGS Challenge #679 helped me get started on my cards for the showers and wedding.  I adored this one from the design team, and this lovely one reminded me of the technique I used today.

This was a REALLY simple card to create, and I even used some left over shimmer blush paper from my own wedding 8 years ago.  Appropriate for this I felt.

I started with Altenew's Engraved Motifs embossing folder and inked the negative side with some gold pigment ink.  After the paper was embossed, using an ink blending brush, I added some Pink Pearl to the centers of the flowers.

The sentiment from Altenew's Leaf Canopy was stamped and embossed with gold on vellum to keep the over all look soft and pretty.  The gems have been sitting in my gem box for eons and had to see the light of day.

Thanks for visiting and have a colorful day!!

Struggle bus part 2...

 Hi all,

Here is that other card I struggled with for the Color Throwdown challenge this week, orange, aqua, lilac and black.  This did NOT work for me but I thought I'd share it anyway.  I'm also entering this into the Happy Little Stampers Die Challenge as well as the Addicted to Stamps and More challenge this week, dies or stencils.

The dies I used were Altenew's Layered Snowflake A and Script Words dies.  The result is....eye crossing... to say the least!

Since I really don't like it, I won't go into details.  I'm sure I'll find someone to give it to!

Ridin' the Struggle Bus - CTD SHOUT OUT & AYST TOP PICK!

 Hi all!

Have you ever had a project you just can't see to get your head around?  That was today and my attempt to complete a few challenges.  I guess that's why the call them challenges, eh?  If they weren't difficult they's be called cake walks....

I decided to join the Color Throwdown this week and their crazy color story of orange, aqua, lilac and black.  Not at ALL inside my comfort zone, so I thought I'd give it a try.  I TRIED to make 3 different cards for this challenge.  I was able to complete 2, and scrapped the third. This is the last card I made for this challenge.

After my first 2 attempts this morning, I spent the day thinking how to go about it and came up with the Altenew's Starlight Die Set. This is a new die so I'm also entering this card in the As You See It Challenge 'My most recent addition to my craft stash...', as well as the Happy Little Stampers Die Challenge and another for the Addicted to Stamps and More die cuts and stencils challenge This is a labor intensive card, LOADS of die cuts and paper piecing.  It takes a ton of patience for this type of card.

I started by die cutting the shape 6 times out of black, black glitter, white, aqua, lilac and orange cardstocks.  For the white and black papers, I removed the negative pieces and set them aside.  The colored die cuts, I immediately place a piece of Press n Seal wrap on the die cuts to keep them organized to the future placing.

  

I started with the white die cut on the black card base and attached the negative colored pieces in the white die cut.  I then layered all the remaining die cuts by using spray adhesive (way easier than with a glue pen) and put them together.  The assembled stack was then placed on the card base to cover the white die cut.  The star cut from the black cardstock was placed to frame the intricate work and a sentiment from Altenew Sentiment Strips was stamped and embossed with white detail powder and added to the center.

Do I like it?  Well...not really my aesthetic, but I appreciate the time and effort that went into it.

Have a colorful day!

Greenbrier Duo - FMS 585 DESIGN TEAM SHOUT OUT

  Hi all!

Just a quick card using the inspiration from the Freshly Made Sketches and the Flower Challenge.  The sketch was the launching point, and the pastel colors were inspired by The Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia.  One of our ALL TIME favorite places to go to!

The room that inspired this card it called the Trellis Room.  Its filled with mint green, hot pink, lavender and dark green. Sounds scary eh?  Dorthy Draper was a GENIUS when it came to color combos and decor, so I look to her for inspiration not only for my creations but even in my own home!  (My children refer to our decor as circus chic).

I started with the background color for this card, just like the Trellis room, I had to use Altenew's Minty Mint ink for the color to match the wall color. Next, I used the background die cut came from Altenew's Circle Quilt Cover die to correlate with the Freshly Made Sketches design for this week. I trimmed the circles into a strip for the panels in the sketch.  

The beautiful flowers come from Altenew's Wildy Loved mini stamp set.  Who knew so much detail and fun could come from a mini set??  It's amazing what they do...

I made the flower in both pink and purple using Altenew Shade of Purple , Cherry Blossom  and Green Meadows ink sets.  The layers are wonderful and such an easy and impactful set for being a mini set! The die cut 'loved' also comes from this set and is cut from an old SU! color, Perfectly Plum if I remember correctly?

I guess that's it!

Have a colorful week!

Hibiscus Birthday - CHALLENGE WINNER!

 Hello all!

I've been blessed to have been able to spend part of the day in the studio.  I love lazy days....tomorrow I will be focusing on yard work...boo...

I decided to create this card for the Beautiful Blossoms Challenge blog with this image as the inspiration.  THe image has tropical flowers, so I grabbed my Altenew Hibisucs 3D die set to create this card. 

I used watercolor paints from Altenew with Puffy heart and Midnight Iris and mixed them together to create a verigated swatch of color.  I die cut my 2 flower pieces from that then repeated the same thing with Evergreen, Forest Glades and Bamboo paints.

For the background I painted Lagoon and splattered some on as well, then covered it with the Altenew Plaid Builders B die trimmed down to a small square.

Its been finished off with the Altenew Label Love stamp set for the Happy Birthday sentiment.