Hot, hot, HOT!

 Hi all!

It's my final week with the lovely ladies at the Just Us Girls challenge as their July Guest Designer.    All of the ladies have been incredibly supportive and sweet.  Their challenges are fantastic, different every week, and give the opportunity to stretch my imagination.  I am sad it's over because I've loved every minute of it!

 

This week we are challenged to make a CAS card with three of something...see what I mean about amazing challenges?!?  I could have used a normal image or even a word to repeat 3 times.  Instead...I thought outside the box!

Have you ever seen this set from Altenew called Wonderful Wycinanki? Wycinanki is a Polish art form generally used in embroidery, paper cut outs and even in home decoration.  Since I'm a sucker for bold colors and graphic images...and that my grandfather was Polish....I had to get this set many years ago.  When I saw the images from the set, the leaf shapes inspired me to make it into something else....

Am I right???  It's perfect for a stylized flame!  This was really easy to do, just a few presses from my Misti with the graduating leaf stamp and colors, I had my flame.  I added some red Stickles to the flame to make it eye catching.

Part of the sentiment is from the set, and the rest I die cut using Altenew's Tall Alpha die set from glitter paper.  I added the color to the paper with my blending brushes and a little bit of red Stickles to make it really pop and match the flame!  I also layered it onto 3 layers of black paper to give the letters some lift and a subtle outline.

Thank you for joining us this week at JUGS.  Make sure you play along with us and give some love to those hard working ladies...They're fabulous!!

Stay colorful!

Life changes in an instant...

 Hi all,

It's shocking how quick life can change...the birth of a child...a new job offer....a tragic fall.  Unfortunately ours has changed from the latter.  My 81 yr old mom fell last Saturday on our 9 hr drive home from Lake Norman in SC.  While her prognosis is good, she did break her wrist, her C2 vertebrae and nearly bled out from an arterial cut on her forehead.  We just got her back to northwest Ohio and we are grateful for the angels that crossed our path during the crisis. The next 12 weeks will be ones filled I'm sure with challenges and successes.  I will say I have DEFINATELY earned my paper therapy today!

 

This is my 3rd week with Just Us Girls challenge blog as a guest designer! I love the inspiration photo, but don't have anything raspberries, so I went with the colors.

  

I decided to use up some more of the granite paper I created with this video, and added a raspberry colored panel with it.  I stamped an image over it with Versamark and heat embossed it with gold powder.

I then accented the flower on the raspberry side with some markers, just to make them stand out a bit more.  My mojo is a bit off, but now that we're back at home I'm sure I'll get back into the swing of things.  

  

This week will be a bit crazy as well with appointments with neurosurgeons and orthopedic Drs, so I'm hoping to carve out some time in the studio for my mental health!

If you have a chance, visit my YouTube channel on the 17th for more releases from Altenew!

Have a colorful day!

Seashell JUGS

 Hi all!

Here I am again with another Guest Designer card for the Just Us Girls Challenge (aka JUGS)!  I love this opportunity and am being challenged for sure...I literally only have 1 stamp set in all my collection that has this weeks theme:

 

Yup!  Just 1 stamp set...AND there are only 2 shell stamps....AND they're super tiny.  I don't even have printed papers with shells on them! I think the saving grace is the sentiment really.  I mean it's made for this challenge!

This little stamp set is from Lawn Fawn called Manatee-rific.  Our family's house in Florida was on the mouth of the Manatee river, the Gulf of Mexico and the Tampa Bay.  We had manatees swimming right up to our deck ALL the time!  I'm sure that's what I was thinking of when I bought this set.  I don't normally gravitate towards 'cutsie' sets but this one is adorable!

It has also be AGES since I've made a shaker card. I'm thinking probably 10 years ago at least, so this was a fun card to create.  I also used Altenew's Dotted Waves die and stencil set for the background, and used alcohol makers to color the images from Altenew as well.  I'm just starting to get into alcohol markers, so if you have any tips, I'd love to hear them!

The sequins are ones I use all the time and I added a bit of iridescent glitter to the mix as well.  I think they look like little bubbles....  I guess that's it!  

Have a colorful day!

Today is the day!

 Hi all!

Today is the day!  I'm excited to be a part of Altenew's July Cut, Color and Craft Bundle Release!  Here are all the links to get to the information...

Video Hop - https://youtu.be/GSl5hAG8lhw

My video on the hop - https://youtu.be/PBKu6B54gLQ

Full product bundle release - https://altenew.com/products/july-2023-full-release-bundle

Get hopping and get your products today!!

Have a crafty, colorful day!

Altenew honors and July preview PART 2!

 Happy 4th everyone!

Its time for my SECOND preview of Altenew's July Cut, Color Create release! You can pre-order the entire release for 10% off until midnight tonight...so if you're loving any of these items, go get them now!  They will go quickly and generally sell-out pretty fast...just sayin'.

After yesterday's post featuring all the gorgeous water-themed items...check them out here...today I'm going to focus on the Simply Beautiful Ensemble!  This ensemble has the Sketched Florals stamp set and coordinating die, the AMAZING Versatile Greetings 2 foil plates and dies, and the Dotted Waves die and stencil bundle I featured yesterday as well.

 

Altenew is also releasing new Fresh Dye inks, the Deco Garden collection, Green Fields, and the Golden Sunshine collections as well as the MOST AMAZING SCISSORS EVER!!!

So let me show you what I've done with all these fantastic products!  

This card is going to be featured on a video hop tomorrow with Altenew at 9 am...bookmark the link....so I won't go into too many details on how it was created.    It shows how I achieved the extra details on the solid stamped images from the Sketched Florals stamp set.  It also uses all the new Fresh Dye inks and I have to tell you, they're lovely!  Highly pigmented and super juicy...I love using them and will now need to invest in many more.  I'm sure my hubby will love that...;)

For the background on this, I used the Green Fields Fresh Dye ink collection. Using the pads with a scraper, I dragged it along the top of the ink pad to collect a little bead of ink along the edge.  I then scraped it across the paper to get those blocks of color.  This was a popular technique with my students, although usually with paint, that created fabulous results!  I then used the outline parts of the Sketched Florals stamp set for the flower and accented it with metallic watercolor paint.  It was finished off with some spatters and a foil sentiment from the Versatile Greetings 2 set...which I LOVE... and finished with a little sentiment from the Bold Sentiments set.

  

The couches at our country club inspired this card! This showcases the use of all parts of the stamp set, solid and lined images.  However, instead of inking the solid floral images from Sketched Florals, I gently swiped them with the edge of the ink pad!  I love the effect it created.  I also have to bring up the wonderful gratitude sentiments included with this set, perfect for any card showing thanks!

The process for this card is almost the same as the card that will be showcased in the video hop tomorrow.  Check it out and it will explain everything...  I must say I love the background, it's not from the release. Its the Quilted Circle cover die cut twice, then one of the die cuts are turned upside down.  Who knew?

Sooo...admittedly, I am not much of a scrapbooker.  I used a new stencil from this release called Color Blobs to create the background.  This stencil is not part of the Simply Beautiful collection, but part of the Sweet Foliage ensemble. Its a great stencil for use behind any outlined image, so versatile.  I used it with the Fine Circle Frames die set.  The Sketched Florals were stamped with gray ink and the Jet Black Fresh Dye ink over it.  The Versatile Greetings 2 are used for the titles...

I love watercolor, and it looks like I can actually to it with this card!  Using the same technique I show in the video hop, I spray the stamp before I press it on the paper to create the watercolor look.  I love this technique and use it often!  I also used the edges of the Navy Fresh Dye inkpad for the 2 larger flowers. 

This is my least favorite creation I did for the release.  It didn't come out the way I really wanted to, but I will try it again for sure!  I used Navy, Coral Red, Mid Yellow and Pool Fresh Dye inks, all colors from the Deco Garden Fresh Ink collection along with the Dotted Waves stencil.  My goal was to make it look like a sunset over the water???  I finished it off by using the foil plates of the Versatile Greetings 2 set.

That's it!  I hope I didn't bore you...  Don't forget, TOMORROW is when the release is available for everyone to purchase, but TODAY you could pre-order all the items of the release for 10% off!  Go get them!

Have a colorful, crafty day!

#altenewsketchedflorals #altenewdottedwaves #altenewversatilegreetings2 #altenewdecogardenfreshdyeink #altenewgreenfieldsfreshdyeink #altenewllc #altenew #altenewgoldensunsetfreshdyeink

 

Tic Tac Toe - TEAM FAVORITE!

 Hi all!

My husband is a tic tac toe shark...he used to always win against the girls.  He had some crazy formula to beat them nearly every time...until they caught on....  Now it's a draw every time!

I was honored to have be awarded a Design Team choice recognition last week!  The card was made from scraps and paper I had made.  This week I'm following the prompts down the left side of the board, nature, pink and circles.

This card uses a new Mini stamp set being released by Altenew July 17th.  It's called Watercolor Cluster.  Super tiny little set that packs a big punch!  It comes with dies including the 'friend' die.

I also used a new stencil and Fresh Die colors from Altenew...also to be released on the 17th.  Color Blobs stencil and the color families Green Fields and Golden Sunset.  The dies are so juicy and highly pigmented!  I threw in Blush and Pink Pearl as well for the 2 other circles.

The circles in the background are also from Altenew, they are from Fine Frames Circle die.  One cut makes a ton of circles!

That's it for now!  Have a colorful day!

Scrapbooking Smiles

 Hi all!

A super quick post...

I'm not much of a scrapbooker.  I make junk journals occasionally that are...sassy...(here, here and here are a few)  However, I haven't really done scrapbooking since the girls were little.  When I was invited to be a guest designer for Altenew's July release and saw the amazing Boat Ride ensemble (live on July 5th...save the link), I thought they would be great for a layout!  It helps also that we just got a boat.  

 

I think this ensemble is perfect if you love boating, and the Pond Flowers die set is incredibly versatile outside of  the water sport layouts.  The sentiments with the Boat Adventures stamp and die combinations are great for layouts as well as cards.  With the addition of the Dotted Waves die and stencil, its an amazing combination!  

I also used to be a preschool art teacher for 6 years, and still develop their yearly curriculum.  So when I saw the Lasting Memories layout challenge, based on her son's experience with learning the rainbow colors, I knew I had to participate!

This little Gerber baby is our Goddaughter.  She is the cutest, sweetest little thing I've ever experienced!  Just as sweet as can be!  The boat from the Wooden Boat die set is adorable and I love the colors of the boat can be easily changed...here are more examples... I used the colors from the Deco Garden Fresh Dye Ink collection (also to be released July 5th) for the boat and for the 'smile' part of the title.  The letter dies I used were Bold Alphabet and Tall Alphabet dies sets also from Altenew...those are always available on their site.

Here is a close-up of the boat and title coloring, as well as those adorable flowers from the Pond Flower die set.  

I love how it came out...I may have to do more!

Have a colorful day!

#altenewwoodenboat #altenewpondflowers #altenewboatadventures #altenewdecogardenfreshdyeink #altenewdottedwaves