Woodblock Floral

Playing along today with Less is More for a black-and-white challenge. I chose a vintage stamp from my stash that I’ve always loved for its drama and simplicity, stamping first in Versamark onyx ink then embossing with black powder. I added just a little interest in the frame by cutting with a dotted rectangle die then embossing with a smaller die inside. 

Thanks for looking!

Get Well Card

Playing along today with the latest AAA challenge "Mood Board," all about medicine. A great chance to make a get well card for my stash!

I used an Altenew stamp for the kitten, yarn ball and sentiment. Starting with watercolor paper, I stamped the kitten and yarn ball with distress oxide inks, then cut out the kitten with a circle smaller than the image, to give the impression of her paws reaching out. I also added a tail to the yarn ball to extend over the edges of the paper layers. I chose a subtle brown color for the kitten, to denote feeling a little less energetic than usual, and a bright yellow for the yarn, to represent starting to feel better. I stamped the sentiment with Versafine onyx ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder to smooth out the ink on the watercolor paper.

Thanks for looking!

Chinese Lanterns

Playing along with the latest challenge over at Less is More, "Vellum." I started by using my watercolor crayons on the Chinese Lantern stamp from Penny Black, then cut a square of vellum paper and an embossed frame, adhering them together. I added a double-layer sentiment, staggering the layers to give a shadow effect, then added some bling with a few jewels.

The vellum softened the stamped image quite nicely, but I added a bit of highlighting on top of the vellum with my glitter pen. I like the sparkle!

Thanks for looking!

Christmas in July

Playing along today with AAA Cards Challenge "Christmas in July (Pets)."

What happens in July? Camping! I chose one of my favorite little pets to roast marshmallows over a campfire, all dressed up as Santa's elf. I mounted it on a red, Christmas paper background.

This card was fun because I was able to use one of my vintage stamp sets from Stamping' Up! along with a Christmas release that Simon Says Stamp put out a couple years ago.

Thanks for looking!

Rainbow Stripes

I’m on a balloon kick lately!

For the latest challenge, Code Word: Stripes over at Addicted to CAS, I started with a pale watercolor in rainbow colors using an Altenew stencil on watercolor paper. I cut out the balloon from a scrap of red card stock, added the highlight with white pen, then popped it up slightly with adhesive squares. I then drew on the string with a gel pen, and added a few gems. 

I used a hot foil die for the sentiment in silver foil, fussy cut it then adhered it to the card with liquid glue. The card was trimmed with a Spellbinders die, then adhered to white card stock.

  

Shaker Card

Shaker cards are always a challenge for me, so I thought it would be fun to try again. My granddaughter wants to travel to “someplace with palm trees” and the color scheme of Game 216 are her colors, giving me inspiration for her birthday card.

With shaker cards I always run into the problem of the tiny jewels and crystals in the shaker window sticking to the adhesive on the sides. This time, instead of using wider foam tape all around to create the shaker, I cut a rectangle from foam, adhered that to the acrylic with liquid glue, then added a very thin line of foam tape to the outside of the acrylic to pop up more room for the crystals. Along with loading up the window with crystals and jewels, it seemed to do the trick. I used heat-resistant acrylic for the window, onto which I embossed the palm tree, and created the “Happy Birthday” banner with vellum card stock.

 

Glam Cat

 

For this card I used an older Altenew set with layers for the whiskers. To add a bit of fun I took a rose stamp from another set for kitty to hold in her teeth. I added a bit of glamour and bling with two layers of silver embossing powder for the cat's fur, with a tiny bit of white on her tail and paws, and some glitter pen on the rose, lettering, and heart background.

Cats are just naturally glamorous but a little help can't hurt!

Supporting Ukraine

Sunflowers and Sky Blue Heart

 The war in Ukraine has become more real to me, as one of the card designers who has inspired me over the past few years is a Ukrainian citizen. Yana Smakula and her husband Oles are not just Ukranian citizens. They are active resistance members who regularly purchase and deliver medical, food, and military supplies to the front in spite of now spending their nights in bunkers. I admire their show of strength and determination in the face of the bully Putin.

I made this card with the only sunflower (Ukraine's national flower) stamp I own, which is vintage Stampin Up. The flowers were done in watercolors and alcohol inks, the heart in Distress Oxides.

Floral Silhouette

It’s really been awhile since I posted to this blog. I’ve nearly forgotten how to do it! And I see I need to practice my card photography skills.

Coming out of a kind of creative slump, I decided the best therapy is to join a card challenge. This one is for the AAA cards challenge “silhouette,” a perfect opportunity to creat a clean and simple card with just three features.

For the sun I made a template from a circle die, then blended Distress Oxides in two shades. For the flower silhouette I dug back into my old Stampin’ Up stash and found a solid stamp. I used Versafine onyx ink for that and for the sentiment, which is from a Simon Says Stamp collection. Then I die cut the picture and adhered it to a card of 110# bond.

Making this card was great therapy!