Fall leaves with ALTENEW's Cozy Comfort Retreat!

Hi all!

We are back with another challenge for the Sisterhood of Crafters!  This time around the challenge is LEAVES.  What will you do to incorporate leaves into your creation?  It's that time of year so there is tons of inspiration all around you, and our DT has some gorgeous creations for you to see as well.  Be sure to visit them and give them some love, won't you?

In the meantime, here is something I created during the Altenew Cozy Comfort retreat in a class taught by the AMAZING Jaycee Gaspar!  He is such a talent, is absolutely adorable and I adore him!  I had the chance to meet him a couple time in person and he's just as charming in person as he is in his videos.

I chose to change up the class a bit by using different colors than what he was sharing.  The background is this lovely icy blue color, and against the oranges it really makes the image pop off the card.  The dies used for this card are not quite available, but be on the lookout, because they will be soon!

The inks used for the the ink blending are also new colors.  That's always the bonus of taking these classes, you get the new stuff before anyone else does!  I highly recommend attending them if you can.

That's it for today, I hope you join us for our LEAVES challenge, have a colorful day!

Christmas gift tags for Limoncello with PINKFRESH! 

Hi all!

Have you started your Christmas cards yet?  I've gotten quite a few done over the year.  A little here and there adds up fast and I've developed a full stash of cards ready to get mailed out!  What I don't have prepared are gift tags for our handmade gifts yet.  So I've decided to get cracking on them...using the Pinkfresh Monthly Challenge as my jumping off point and complement it with the Colorful Options challenge for one of my tags.

 

Last year, I made generic tags for our handmade gifts (you can see them here and here).  This year, I'm creating tags based on the gift I've made to make them a bit more special.  My Cello's were a huge hit in last years baskets; limoncello, grapefruitcello and orangecello.  All 3 were delish, but honestly the grapefruit was my favorite, and I don't even like grapefruit!  

The Holiday Spirits set from Pinkfresh I think is a perfect complement to the gift and I love changing the colors to fit the drinks!   I didn't use all 5 colors from their challenge on each of the tags, but I did use all the colors while creating the tags.

The tag base is made from the Rounded and Braided Corner dies then decorated with the citrus slices from Citrus Twist stamp and stencil set.  3 die cuts were used, 2 of them were layered to give the tag stiffness, and the third connected at the top to fold open like a card for us to sign for the recipient.  The die cut holly and branching from their Holiday Foliage set is a great complement to take this to the feel of the holiday.  The leaves for all the tags were ink blended using a mix of Eucalyptus, Spruce Tips, Grassy Knoll, Sweet Mustard and Waterfall.  For the Limoncello tag, the citrus and the beverage were inked using Lemon Whip, Sunshine, Limoncello and Citron.  All elements were layered onto the tag base then embellished with Stickles and sequins.

For the Orangecello tag, the citrus slices and beverage were stamped with Clementine and ink blended with Peach Fuzz, Apricot and Clementine.  I kept the colors all orange for the Colorful Options challenge

Finally for the Grapefruitcello tag, the citrus slices and beverage was stamped using Peony, Limoncello, and Cherry Blossom.

I really love how these turned out!  Now that I have the prototypes completed, I will mass produce them while the cello's are simmering in the buckets waiting to be bottled!

Have a colorful day!

Quick and EASY card with THE TON stencil!

 Hi all!

Super quick post today, Just like my card! For the next challenge with AAA Cards, We have a sketch for you to follow.

I chose to use a stencil from The Ton called Emma Pumpkin.  It is a great stencil for a cute graphic pumpkin. How amazing would this be in pink?

I used Altenew inks for all the layering with the stencil.  The colors coordinate perfectly with each other so there is zero guess work.

I only have one Halloween stamp set, and I used it for the bats in the corner.  It’s from a very old Lawn Fawn set, I don’t even have the name!  Either way, it was perfect for the highlight to follow the sketch.

What will you do for this weeks challenge? Make sure you link it to our gallery so we can stop by and say hi. Have a colorful day!.

'Wicked' SOC post with JIM HOLTZ Products!

 

AAA Cards Challenge with ALTENEW dies!

 

Hi all!

It’s time for another AAA Cards challenge!  This is an anything goes challenge with an Autumn twist.

Since I had my Altenew Mushroom Collage die set still out, I went with that along with the same color palette from my previous post.

All the elements were cut from ivory card stock and inked with Altenew’s Fall Harvest color family.  I wanted to keep my card very simple so there are zero embellishments or splatters…just the die with some inks.

The sentiment is from the Mushroom Greetings stamp set, which is a favorite of my daughters.  She is all things ‘cottage core’ if you know what that means…

 I would love to see what CAS card you create for this challenge!  Be sure to visit our site and link your creations!

Have a colorful day!

 CAS on Friday Challenge with ALTENEW's Rustling Leaves!

Hi all!

It's Friday, so you know what that means...it's a new challenge day at CAS on Friday!  This time, we are wanting you to show us you're ready for a change of seasons...create a clean and simple card with LEAVES.  Easy enough right?

I chose to pull out my favorite leaf set from Altenew called Rustling Leaves.  The great thing about Altenew products is they have coordinating products for nearly every item they have.  This is not a stamp set, but actually a betterpress plate.  This plate does have coordinating dies, an embossing folder and stencil set.  I chose to use the stencil and press plate for this project.  

To keep this card in-line with seasonal colors, I choose the Fall Harvest color family of Altenew crisp dye inks.  I last used this set in April and realized I may not have cleaned it well before I put it away!  When the initial inking with Butternut ink was done, there were little flecks of black ink in the press.  It looked pretty cool, so I continued on and did a second press with Yellow Ochre so the leaves would appear to be in the foreground.

The rest of this card was so easy with the coordinating stencil set, I inked the foreground leaves with Pumpkin Pie and Olive inks and that was it!  The sentiment from the stamp set was added with the same Yellow Ochre ink and a few enamel dots to complete the card.

Now, let's see what you will create for our LEAVES challenge!  Have a colorful day!

I'm back in the saddle with ALTENEW and AECP!!

Hi all!

Welp...I'm back at it again!  I'm starting back on the Altenew Educator Certificate Program!  I stopped when COVID hit because I gave my art studio to my daughter as she navigated through the struggles of what was happening.  I figured since I stopped, I needed to re-apply to be a part of the program...but low and behold, I didn't have to!  The great thing about the program is you can work at your own pace.  Who knew my pace was long a tedious...

Today I'm sharing my first class back into the program called In the Mood for Color taught by Stephanie Klauck and Aditi Madajan.  If you know anything about me, I'm all about color, sparkle and shine so this class is a great fit for me.  Color is such an important aspect of art and creating, it helps generate an ambiance or mood for the message you are conveying.  This was an important aspect in my former career as a florist, event and interior designer, a wrong color can make or break the ambiance of the space. This same concept can be said for cards, I mean, we've all experienced when something just isn't 'right' and realize the solution would be a different color?  

For my project, I choose to focus on an earthy yellow color palette.  While yellow generally evokes feelings of cheer and energy...think of a bright sunny day...however, this monochromatic color palette of yellow ochres from the Fall Harvest Crisp Dye Ink color family invokes a feeling of a moody fall afternoon.  

The card started with an ivory card stock base for everything, undertones are important and the soft creamy-ness of ivory blends well with the inks of Fall Harvest.  Although fall officially began a few days ago, we still have warm days here in Ohio, so the Mushroom Collage die set was a perfect match to this color theme.  All the dies from this set were die cut from the ivory card stock.  The mushrooms were kept as pale as possible with just some light ink blending on the recessed areas.  A technique discussed in class 4, Woodless Color Pencils were used to accentuate these areas further.  

The background panel and the stylized leaf dies were ink blended with the same Fall Harvest colors along with Mocha and Espresso from the Coffee Break color group.  Deepening the center of the panel allows the light color of the mushrooms to pop off the background.  The background was splattered with some ink of each of the colors mentioned before to give the panel interest.  All the die cuts were then assembled and adhered to the panel.  More splatters in Butternut, Pumpkin Pie and Espresso inks were added once everything was assembled.  In keeping with moody fall feeling, the 'miss you so mush' sentiment from the Mushroom Greetings stamp set was the perfect complement.  The sentiment was heat embossed with clear embossing powder to keep the ivory color, then ink blended with all of the colors to create the same depth of color on the background.  After looking at this card on the screen, if I were to create it again, I would add some of the Mocha and Espresso to the rocks under the mushrooms to help them recede behind the mushroom bases a bit more...

Now here's a little tip I've been doing for years with my embellishments...if you don't have the exact shade of enamel dot, sequin or gem, just add a little alcohol ink to it in the color you want.  Perfect match!

Off to do another class...have a colorful day!

SOC with Paint by Number ALTENEW

 Hi all!

I'm back with the Sisterhood of Crafters and the theme for this challenge is HELLO.  For this card I decided to use Altenew's Paint-by-Number cards with their FABULOUS acrylic markers and gauche paints.

The Paint-by-Number cards have all you come to expect with and Altenew product.  Gorgeous, detailed flowers and products to help make those beautiful blooms shine!  The system coordinates with the numbers on their acrylic markers, so if you want to follow their suggested colors, you can do so...

But if you know me at all...I don't tend to follow the rules...  My daughter and I spent an afternoon painting these cards.  She is a sophmore in high school and adores her art classes.  I think she may want to follow in her mother's footsteps and go to art school after college.  We were discussing how to change up the paint by number system and the inspiration of pop art by Roy Lichtenstein came to mind.

After the panel was painted in punchy complementary colors, dots were added to give the flowers some edge.  What do you think of our idea?  I'd love to hear your thoughts...

Have a colorful day and don't forget to join us in our challenge!  Everyone needs an HELLO card!

An Encouraging Word from HIM Instagram hop!

Hi all!

I have joined a wonderful hop on Instagram this week, called the Encouraging Word.  In this hop, a scripture verse(s) is designated each month to spark a creative response in sentiment or design. Psalm 118:24 is this month’s verse.

I'm very excited about this hop! I’ve always struggled with being vocal about my faith yet I am very passionate about my relationship with God and my journey with Him. I believe he is loving of all, no matter race, creed, sexuality or religion. We walk in our our journey and sin through it. He is there to love us no matter and is patient with each and every one of us. Because of this, each day is a blessing and today is a great day because of Him!

This card started off in a complete different direction using @altenewllc’s Billowing Peonies stamp and stencils, but I realized when I was 95% of the way through my stenciling, I was missing one! I know it’s here, but unfortunately, it was put away with a different stencil set. 

I had to quickly switch gears, and pulled out this set from @altenewllc called Airbrushed Flowers, it had never been used!! I added some vellum springs from their Branches and Berries die set and placed them all on their Garden Trellis cover die on pale gray cardstock which has tiny reflective flecks in it. 

I had already stamped my sentiment from the Billowing Peonies set, so I used that one with it. Finally, enamel dots from Altenew’s Cherry Blossom set and my new iridescent gems, because nothing is finished without some shimmer or shine!

So that's it for today!  I am entering this card in the #95 Flower Challenge-Stamped Flowers as well as the current Tic Tac Toe challenge using the items down the center; Gems, FREE and Die cuts.

Have a colorful day!

Inspired by the fabulous KRISTINA WARNER! - JAI TOP PICK!!

Inspired by the fabulous KRISTINA WERNER!

Hi all!

Have you ever participated in an on-line live class?  I recently participated in the Pinkfresh Studio Create and Connect and absolutely LOVED it!  That was my second one with them and I have another one in October...to say I'm mildly addicted is an understatement.  

 

Werner was one of the instructors in the class and she had this amazing, incredibly simple, 'why didn't I think of that' technique she shared with TONS of punch.  Her card was an A2 card, but I decided to change it up a bit for the challenge at Just Add Ink and Colorful Options this week.  It's been a long time since I've participated in challenges I'm not on a DT for, and I'm excited to get back into the swing of things.

Isn't this fun?!  It's just tape and ink blending for the background...it was a face palm moment for me when she shared this.  Sometimes simple techniques are the ones we take for granted.

This is a large slimline card, 8.5"x3.5".  To start, place 2 pieces of low-tack tape to create a solid panel down the card.  Ink blend using rainbow colors to fill in the space.  Next...this was the fae palm part...move the 2 pieces of tape over 1/4" above and below the ink blended panel.  Using the ink left on the brushes, follow the rainbow and lightly add ink to the new spaces.  Kristina...you are GENIUS!  The card for the class was a square and this technique can obviously work for any shape.

Then, using a coordinating stamp, stencil and die set from the class, assorted flowers were stamped in black and the blooms were inked lightly with gray ink.  The leaves were then inked with a light green.  To finish off the card...and because no card is complete without it...clear gems were added to give the card a little shine!

I hope you all have a colorful day!

 

CAS card for AAA Cards Challenge with PINKFRESH Stencil!

Hi all!

It's time for another challenge from AAA Cards!  This time we have a sketch to inspire you...

Here is my take on the sketch.  it was inspired my my recent class with PinkFresh studios in the Create & Connect event.  It is SO much fun...I love participating in these events!  I am actually on my way home right now from the Altenew IN PERSON event in Syracuse NY.  It's my first time going to one of these in person, I'll let you know how it goes!

 This card uses a set called Framed Art.  It stencils with contemporary 'paint swishes'...for lack of a better term...and a floral and fruit stamp images as well.  In keeping with the sketch, I opted for the swishes.  

The swishes were ink blended using the colors from the class, Pinkfresh's Cherry blossom, Candy Violet, Sunkissed and Opulence.  I NEVER would have put those colors together, but I love how it came out!

The final swish was added with gold embossing powder as well as the sentiment from the class from the Love and Gratitude set.

I want to see your interpretation of our sketch, be sure to add it to our gallery and have a colorful day!

 Suicide Prevention Card Hop using SIMON SAYS STAMP's STAMPtember die!

Hi all!

Welcome to the 2nd Annual Suicide Prevention Card Hop. During Suicide Prevention Week, we aim to spread messages of hope and support. We encourage friends, co-workers, and loved ones to use the resources shared this week to help those in need. If you're struggling, please contact #988 for 24/7 support via call or text.  Together, we can help #StopSuicide.  Active listening is an important and powerful step in having an honest conversation about mental health. Everyone deserves to feel heard and supported! #realconvo .  If you think someone is struggling, trust your gut. Ask directly and listen.

For today’s card, I opted to remind people to talk to someone that you feel ‘safe’ with.  Whether it’s someone at home or just makes you feel at home in their presence, being with that person can help anyone struggling with mental health issues.

This card was kep pretty simple.  Using Altenew's Mocha Crisp Die Ink with Pinkfresh's Around the Shape Arches stamp set for the center panel for the outline and sentiment, it was then die cut using the coordinating dies and mounted onto kraft cardstock.

A piece of blush cardstock from Papertrey Ink was die cut, then Pinkfresh's Stitched Octagons coverplate was used to add texture.  

Finally, using Simon Says Stamp's STAMPtember die Elegant Blossom Branch to die cut white cardstock, Altenew's Blushberry Bliss and Jade Dreams Fresh Dye Ink Sets were used to ink blend color.  The die cuts were assembled and added to the front with a few pink sequins to finish it off.

A special “Thank you” to our special guests! Today, Simeen @simeen.creates and Justin @justanotebyjustin  are joining us to share their voices and creativity to support our mission.

Please visit the other designers in our Instagram Hop to see more messages of encouragement!

 

Hi all!

Welcome to the 2nd Annual Suicide Prevention Card Hop. During Suicide Prevention Week, we aim to spread messages of hope and support. We encourage friends, co-workers, and loved ones to use the resources shared this week to help those in need. If you're struggling, please contact #988 for 24/7 support via call or text.  Together, we can help #StopSuicide.  Active listening is an important and powerful step in having an honest conversation about mental health. Everyone deserves to feel heard and supported! #realconvo .  If you think someone is struggling, trust your gut. Ask directly and listen.

Active listening is an important and powerful step in having an honest conversation about mental health. Everyone deserves to feel heard and supported! #realconvo .  If you think someone is struggling, trust your gut. Ask directly and listen.

Today's theme is to have patience with yourself.  I chose to use the Altenew Craft your Life Blossoms of Encouragement set.

This set is very pretty...very elegant...very demure....and the sentiments are perfect for reaching out to someone in need of support.  The image was stamped and stenciled using Altenew's Botanical Brilliance Fresh Dye Ink set.  Using all the pieces from the CYL kit and the inks made this come together very quickly!

A special “Thank you” to our special guests! Today, Kerryn Murnain @kanddmurnain and Ceal Pritchett @cealp are joining us to share their voices and creativity to support our mission.

Please visit the other designers on our Instagram Hop to see more messages of encouragement!