Essential by Ellen Pin Sights Challenge - Mondo Magnolia

This month's EBE Pin Sights challenge inspiration board is so pretty.  I love the colors of the succulents, and since I don't have any succulent stamps, I used the pretty Mondo Magnolia stamp for my card. 

After stamping and heat embossing the stamp on watercolor paper, I used Kuretake watercolors to color the flowers.  I really struggle with watercolors and hadn't touched them for months.   I want to let the color and water move and flow, but the control part of me always tries to rein the colors in and blend them a bit too much.  I'm pretty happy with the way these turned out, but I definitely need more practice. 

A sentiment from the EBE Lovely set, a piece of blue vellum from my stash, and a pretty envelope to match, and that's it.  I might add some sequins later, but for now I just want the flowers to take center stage.

Thank you very much for stopping by.

Inspiration Board

 

Supplies:

Canson Cold Press Watercolor Paper

EBE Mondo Magnoila and Lovely sentiment stamps

Versamark ink and Ranger Liquid Platinum embossing powder
Kuretake Water Colors 50 Pale Aqua, 62 Cobalt Blue and 139 Purple

The Ton Double Stitched Squares dies

Blue Vellum paper

Paper Source Luxe White square fold over note card, envelope and liner paper

MFT Sketch 382 - Youv'e Got Mail

Hello and thanks for stopping by today.

For this week's sketch challenge, I made a matching card and lip balm holder for a girl in a FB  Happy Mail group I belong to.

The sketch resembles the back of an envelope, so a You've Got Mail card was my first thought.  After deciding on a color scheme, I colored and die cut the cute little mail carrier.  A piece of patterned paper cut in a triangle shape mimics the back flap of the envelope, and the the largest Scalloped Frame die was cut and trimmed to fit for a boarder.  Two of the Homespun Stitched Lines dies give the bottom of the envelope some detail, and the tiny heart is meant to resemble an envelope seal.  For the matching lip balm holder, I chose the fishtail bookmark since the bottom of it is the reverse of the envelope flap.

I think this little bit of happy mail will bring a smile to the recipient's face, and that's what my card making journey is all about!

 

MFT Supplies:

You've Got Mail stamp and die

Stitched Rectangle Scallop Frame die

Homespun Stitched Lines dies

Slanted Sentiment Strips die

I'm Owl Yours heart die

Tall Tag Duo die

Lip Balm Window and Rip Strip dies

Interactive Labels stamp

Calm & Cozy Chevron 6x6 Paper Pack

Mail carrier colored with Copic markers

AAA Cards CAS Game #113 - Perfect Day

The prompt for the AAA Cards CAS Game #113 - Perfect Day made me think of my daughter because it makes me happy just to be able to spend some time with her.

She lives across the country from my husband and I, and although we are grateful that she is happy, healthy and doing well there, we miss her very much.  Luckily between my husband's business trips, our "just because" visits, and holidays, we get to see her several times a year.  It's a good day when we can say "hello" in person and be together.

On to my card.  I used kraft, red and white card stock, along with a map I printed off the web, for  the cute heart-shaped Reverse Confetti die cut globe.  A heat embossed sentiment from the Mama Elephant Party Kit set,   and a thin black mat to make the main image pop, and that's it.  A simple card, but certainly true to the "Perfect Day" prompt for me.

Thanks so much for stopping by to take a look at my card.   I hope you have your version of a perfect 

day!

 

 

Supplies:

Card stock:  Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Recollections Black, MFT Kraft and Cherry Crisp

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black, Ranger Clear Embossing Powder

Dies:  Reverse Confetti Globe

Stamp:  Mama Elephant Party Kit

MFT Sketch 381 and Color 91 - Challenges Baby Girl Congrats

Hello, and thanks for stopping by to take a look at my card for MFT's sketch and color  challenges.

The sketch this week is a pretty simple one, and I didn't deviate from it much at all.  I love the color challenge featuring Cotton Candy, Ripe Raspberry, Lemon Chiffon and Lemon Drop.  The colors are perfect for Spring.

I used the Bundle of Baby Clothes dies to make a little dress with a white t-shirt underneath it.  I love the tiny hanger die, it adds the perfect detail to all the clothing dies in the set.  I placed a cute little bird in a nest of flowers using the A Tweet Hello set, and used gray on the leaves as my neutral color.  The bird and flowers are colored with Copic markers.

Thanks again for stopping by, and I hope you have a great day!

 

 

 

MFT Supplies:

Bundle of Baby Clothes dies

A Tweet Hello stamps and dies

A2 Rectangles STAX Set 1 die

Slanted Sentiment Strips die

More Essential Sentiments stamp

Card stock:  Cotton Candy and Razzle Berry

Tiny Check Brights 6x6 Paper Pack

EBE Mondo Peony for IGCC April 2018 Hard Challenge

This month's Instagram Crafty Crew (IGCC) hard challenge featured a sketch and color prompt.  I actually missed the part about the color prompt, oops, but my card coincidentally followed it fairly well. 

I used the pretty Essential by Ellen Mondo Peony stamp for my focal point.  It, along with the Mondo Hydrangea, both designed by Julie Ebersole, are my favorite floral stamps. You can see a few of my favorite cards with those stamps here.   I like to keep my cards featuring the big beautiful flowers  CAS, but this IGCC sketch had a few layers of design, thus the hard challenge, at least for me.  I fiddled with the layout longer than I want to admit!

I stamped and heat embossed the Mondo Peony stamp on watercolor paper, then colored it with Zig markers and lots of water. To bring a scalloped edge element to the design, four die cut MFT Scalloped Frames were stacked for dimension with a sheet of blue vellum underneath them.  One end of a die cut Neat and Tangled Doily Envelope added some detail behind the die cut peony that I popped up with foam tape.  The curved banner, lightly shaded with a Copic marker, and the sentiment are from the Avery Elle Mom and Dad stamp and die set.  A few Pretty Pink Posh sequins finished the card.

IGCC April 2018 Hard Challenge - sketch and color inspiration prompt.


I thank you very much for stopping by to take a look at my card.

Supplies:

Paper:  Canson Cold Press Watercolor Paper, Blue Vellum (from my stash)

Card stock:  MFT Pink Lemonade, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White

Ink:  Versamark, and Hero Arts White Satin Pearl Embossing Powder

Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers:  025, 045, 050, 071, 200

Copic marker:  BG70

Pretty Pink Posh:  Pink Blush sequins

Stamps and dies:  

Essentials by Ellen Mondo Peony stamps and dies

MFT Scalloped Frame die

Neat and Tangled Doily Envelope die

AveryElle Mom and Dad stamp and die

MFT Sketch 379 and April Birthday Project Challenges - Good Fortune

I combined two challenges for today's card.  The MFT April Birthday Project Challenge features a gift card, and the sketch this week is all about angles.  I originally intended to have a gift card popping out of the food container, but found that the container is too narrow.  So I'm taking some liberty by using cash instead.

I used the new to me MFT Chinese Take Out dies and Good Fortune stamp set.  Both of the fortune cookies have pull-out birthday messages.
  

The chop sticks are die cut with white birch wood grain veneer paper sheets from my stash.

                                                                          

I made a pocket for the cash to pop out of the food container.   First I die cut four of the food containers.  Next I used the container handle die to cut out an area on three of the containers.  Then I stacked and glued all four container pieces together.  This worked well for folded-up cash, but the container is too narrow to use a similar method for a gift card.

This was a fun project, and I thank you for stopping by to take a look.

MFT Supplies:

Chinese Take Out dies

Good Fortune stamps

Cherry Crisp card stock

Black & White Stripes 6x6 Paper Pack

Fortune cookies colored with Copic marker E50, and E51 to slightly darken the edges

Essentials by Ellen April 2018 Pin Sights Challenge - Thanks Dad

The inspiration board for this month's Essentials by Ellen Pin Sights Challenge is full of deep rich colors.  I was drawn to the gold, eggplant, orange and teal color strips.  I decided those colors would be nice for a Father's Day card to donate to Send A Smile 4 Kids.

Three Essentials by Ellen  sets were used for my card:  Abstract Paint Strokes and Fancy Thanks stamps, and Hinged Alpha dies for DAD.

My Misti really came in handy for this card since I had to stamp the images a few times each to get a clear impression.  The hinge on the letter "A" is pretty small, so I die cut the letters with the eggplant card stock, snipped the hinges, and glued them to the backs of each of the white letters.  It makes them much sturdier and easier to lift.  I made four of these cards in various color combinations to donate.

Thanks for taking a look at my card, and have a great day!

Essentials by Ellen Pin-Sights Challenge Inspiration Board



Essentials by Ellen Supplies:

Abstract Paint Strokes stamps

Fancy Thanks stamps

Hinged Alpha dies

Other Supplies:

Ink 

Memento Tangelo and Sweet Plum

Distress Broken China

Brilliance Galaxy Gold

Versafine Onyx Black

Paper

MFT Eggplant card stock and Black & White Stripes 6x6 paper pack

MFT Sketch 378 and AAA Cards CAS Game 112 - Hero Mom

Today I have a card for two challenges, the weekly MFT Sketch challenge and the AAA Cards "a favorite technique" challenge.

I'm still working on Mother's Day cards to donate to Send a Smile 4 Kids.  The volunteer that I send my cards to forwards them to four hospitals in the Northeast, so I made four of this design in various color combinations, one for each of the pediatric units.  My favorite is the red one below.

It's a simple card, but a big message from a child to their mom.  I masked and stamped tiny letters from one of the MFT Good Fortune sentiment stamps to spell out "Mom" on the chest of the super girl.  To keep it simple, I used MFT patterned paper for the background.

The AAA Cards challenge is "a favorite technique."  I really enjoy coloring with Copic markers.  I find it relaxing yet challenging as I strive to improve my coloring skills.  I also use die cuts a lot, in fact my stamps without matching dies tend to get much less use.  I like the layering and dimension that die cut pieces provide. 

A mom or not, everyone can be a hero to someone special in their life.  Thanks so much for taking a look at my card today!

MFT Supplies:

You're Super stamps and die

Good Fortune sentiment stamp (to mask and stamp letters for "Mom")

In and Out Diagonal Stitched Rectangles STAX die

Double Stitched Squares dies

Cherry Crisp card stock

Black & White Stripes 6x6 paper pack