Color Throwdown #556

Back this week with a fun color scheme from Color Throwdown.

I have quite a few family members and friends with birthdays in September. With school starting back up and the boys all playing sports, I have been trying to get a jump on getting birthday cards made before life gets crazy busy again.

This one was a lot of fun, I always think shaker cards are fun, and it is a challenge to try to figure out a quick and easy way to create the shaker part. I am not sure I have ever created two shakers the same way. Maybe one day I will finally come up with a shaker formula I love. 

This card is bigger than what I usually make, measuring 5 x 61/2.  The blue background was created by ink smooshing a combination of Broken China and Salty Ocean Distress Inks. The happy birthday sentiment was stamped & embossed on the blue background, and I added the shaker part over the top of that. Today's shaker formula was a piece of black fun foam with Desert Storm kraft cardstock adhered to it. I ran that through my Big Shot using two stitched rectangle dies taped together to make a frame. Before adding a bunch of different sequins, seed beads, and gems to the shaker, I used my anti-static pouch to cut back on the static that sometimes occurs inside the shaker. I also adhered a few sequins around the sentiment, so that even if the recipient stands the card up, sequins will still be visible. I  then cut down a piece of clear acetate and adhered another kraft frame on top of that. Using Scor-tape on the back of the acetate, I closed up the shaker portion. 

The stamped pieces along the frame are from Tim Holtz and Altenew. I watercolored them using Distress Inks in Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Mustard Seed, Fossilized Amber, Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Gathered Twigs, and Walnut Stain. I always use multiple shades of the same color, and I also add additional layers of color, letting layers dry completely before starting a second layer. I think that multiple shades and multiple layers help add to the depth of the painted images. 

I finished the card with a hemp bow and more sequins. This birthday card is headed to one of my very best friends, who is a former scrapbooker and card maker. She will love it!

Freshly Made Sketches #400

I found a new-to-me card sketch challenge blog. Freshly Made Sketches stretches my creativity because I'm not a "clean" cardmaker. I am a splatter and Distress Ink kind of card maker most of the time. Here is the sketch for this week and then my card:

Since I am a school Library Media Specialist, I decided to create a card that I can give to a colleague when she needs encouragement.  This card was made using patterned paper scraps from my stash. The apple image is from an older Hero Arts woodblock stamp set (LP125: Four Apples) and is watercolored with Distress Inks in Fired Brick, Barn Door, Shabby Shutters, Mowed Lawn, and Vintage Photo. The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp Thank You Teacher stamp set (SSS101749).

(CAS)e This Sketch #334

For this week's Case This Sketch Challenge, I created a horizontal card, which I had not done in a while.  Here is this week's sketch:

I love the simplicity of this sketch.

The background image is the largest floral stamp in Simon Says Stamp's Beautiful Flowers 2 (SSS101884) stamp set. The image is watercolored with Distress Inks in Abandoned Coral, Barn Door, Fired Brick, Fossilized Amber, Shabby Shutters, and Peeled Paint. The "wishing" die is from Simon Says Stamp and is heat embossed in Hero Arts gold embossing powder multiple times. The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp's Sending and Wishing stamp set (SSS101475).  To finish the card I splattered the card with Perfect Pearls in Sunflower Sparkle and added Simon Says Stamp sequins in Summer Gold.

Thanks for stopping by!

Color Throwdown #555

This week I am again playing with colors that aren't in my wheelhouse- Color Throwdown #555. I'm not always comfortable when pink and purple are involved, just because they aren't colors I usually reach for. As usual, I struggled to figure it out, then when I had the card completed, I was pleased with the results.

This color scheme screamed flowers to me, so that was my plan. I had seen a really pretty card that Yoonsun Hur created for Simon Says Stamp.

  

I did not have this particular stamp set & I also had very limited floral image stamps that were small. I ended up using an older floral stamp set from Hero Arts called Color Me Flowers (CG133) along with Simon Says Stamp Big Scripty Greetings (SSS101527). There were no stems or leaves in the floral stamp set, so I used a couple of floral branches from an older Cocoa Daisy stamp set.  The Distress Ink colors I used are: Wilted Violet, Dusty Concord, Worn Lipstick, Picked Raspberry, Mustard Seed, Fossilized Amber, and Mowed Lawn. 

I finished the card with a splatter of Perfect Pearls and sequins from Lucy's Cards. 

(CAS)E this Sketch #333

Back today, sharing a card I made for a "new to me" Sketch Challenge blog- (CAS)E this Sketch #333. I was drawn in by the sketch because I love to use sketches to guide and push my creativity.

August for us means back to school, and as a school librarian, that means that I am working on getting lesson plans made and getting the library back together to welcome students. I have many teacher friends in my building and also around the state, so I made quite a few cards to encourage and uplift them as we start a new year.

Here is one that I am sending to one of my very best friends who lives in the town where I grew up. She teaches Kindergarten, KINDERGARTEN! I can't wrap my brain around the patience and energy that it requires to teach Kindergarten, but she does it so well! 

I started this card by stamping Tim Holtz's Mini Schoolhouse Blueprint Stamps onto watercolor cardstock and water coloring the image with Candied Apple, Fired Brick, Spun Sugar, and Pine Needles Distress Ink.  The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp Thank You Teacher stamp set, and it is stamped on a piece of patterned paper from my stash. The red and green patterned pieces are from my stash of paper scraps as well. I used the largest Stitched Rectangle Die from Simon Says Stamp to cut the black cardstock background piece. It is the perfect size to fit on an A2 card base.

I adhered the pieces together and popped up the apple image with foam tape. I finished the card with a few Summer Gold sequins from Simon Says Stamp and a splattering of Perfect Pearls in Sunflower Sparkle.

I enjoyed this sketch challenge and look forward to trying it again in the future.

Color Throwdown #554

 I loved the color scheme for this week's Color Throwdown.

I wanted to use the same basic materials and try two different techniques for the cards this week. 

Both cards were created using Neenah white 80lb cardstock to create the card bases. I also cut down Desert Storm cardstock and embossed it with older Sizzix embossing folders to create the backgrounds. 

All the stamped pieces are from Altenew's Beautiful Day stamp & die set. The card on the left was stamped in black ink and watercolored using Tim Holtz Distress Inks- Barn Door, Twisted Citron, Lucky Clover, and Peeled Paint. The card on the right was stamped in Altenew mini ink cubes in Red Sunset and Green Fields. Both cards have tan elements stamped in Vintage Photo Distress ink. 

The black pieces are cardstock from my stash and the green, and black and white pieces are washi tape that adhered to white cardstock and layered under the black cardstock. 

I used Hero Arts Gold Embossing powder along the edges of the sentiment strip and the background piece. I also sprinkled loose embossing powder and heated it from underneath on the completed cards to add texture and interest. 

Each card was finished with Gold Stickles and sequins from my stash.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Color Throwdown #553

I loved this week's Color Throwdown combination! Very fun and summery!

Here is my card using this color scheme. 

I used an older background stamp from Hero Arts that coordinated with the Hello Luscious paper line from Basic Grey:

I really miss the Basic Grey paper lines & stamps. I wish I spent more time sewing to justify purchasing some of their beautiful fabric.

I stamped the Luscious Floral Background stamp (Hero Arts CG301) onto Strathmore Watercolor paper that I had cut down to 4 x 5 1/4 and embossed in Hero Arts white embossing powder.  I then ink blended the background using Distress Inks in Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Picked Raspberry. Using those same colors, I watercolored them into some of the open flowers to give the background more depth and interest. I finished the background with flicks of water that I dried with a heat gun. 

The sentiment is from the Bring on the Sun stamp set from Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday.

This stamp set is from 2012, but one I still reach for summer projects. Stamps are so versatile and

timeless. 

I stamped the sentiment with Distress Oxide Ink in Picked Rasberry onto shimmery vellum from my stash & then heat embossed it. Adhering vellum is always tricky because you don't want the adhesive to show through the vellum. To combat this, I used DMC cross stitch thread to sew the sentiment strip on. 

To finish the card, I used sequins from my stash and Crystal Stickles to fill in the flower centers.

Hope your week is great! Check the Color Throwdown website on Wednesday to see the next challenge and play along! It is a great way to stretch your creativity and use your supplies!