Just Us Girls #665 - Color Week

 The new challenge over at Just Us Girls is our Color Week challenge, and Lisa E. has chosen pink, kraft and white.  

Here I go with stencils again!  I've never tried Distress Oxide inks on darker card stocks before and when I was thinking about this challenge, I knew I wanted to try it.  I chose this Altenew layered stencil and used Kitsch Flamingo for the first layer and Picked Raspberry for the second layer.  (The colors look orchid, but really are pinks.)  I think I should have used a sentiment that was just a die, not a stamped sentiment but this was sitting on my desk and I thought it would make a nice Valentine card.  I stacked that sentiment and added crystals.

You can see more from the JUGs design team and our new guest for February, Karen Walker, on the JUGs blog.  Welcome Karen!  

Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe

Stamps:  Love & Hugs (Taylored Expressions)

Paper:  White, kraft

Ink:  Versafine onyx black, kitsch flamingo and picked raspberry distress oxide

Accessories:  Layered Dahlia stencils (Altenew), Love & Hugs die (TE), stitched rectangle die (MFT), crystals

Just Us Girls #662 - Word Week

Hi everyone!  It's Word Week over at Just Us Girls and Sue has chosen an appropriate word for the upcoming holiday in a few weeks:  HEART. 

I don't know about you, but I love stencils!  I chose to use this layering stencil from Trinity Stamps. I started with the largest heart stencil and the lightest pink and worked my way down to the smallest heart stencil and the darkest pink.  The stencils perfectly layer on top of each other to get this effect.  I die cut it with a stitched rectangle so the heart was coming off the edge.  Then I stamped the sentiment with Versafine onyx black ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder for some shine and die cut it.  I die cut it two more times and layered it for dimension.  I added this panel to a pink panel and added crystals to finish it off.  

You can see more from the JUGs design team and our January guest on the JUGs blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe

Stamps:  Love & Hugs (Taylored Expressions)

Paper:  White and pink

Ink:  Versafine onyx black; ballet slipper, sparkling rose, bubble gum, raspberry bliss

Accessories:  Layered Hearts stencils (Trinity Stamps), Love & Hugs die (TE), stitched rectangles (MFT), clear embossing powder, crystals

Color Hues #34 - Red & Black

 Hi friends!  I'm slowly getting back into joining challenges again.  I used to participate in them quite frequently, and I don't know why I stopped.  Anyway, I made this for the current Color Hues challenge.  The colors are red and black.

I pulled out this triple-step stamp set from Concord & 9th and stamped two of the stamps to create this heart in red and one in black.  I then stamped the flowers separately in red and die cut them so I could add dimension to the heart.  The sentiment is an old one from Verve.  I stamped it on the die cut flagged sentiment strip and added red pearls.  I wanted something other than a plain white mat to adhere the heart to.  I pulled out a thin frame die and die cut the white panel and a black and white piece of pattern paper.  I love the impact these thin frames create.  You really can't see it in the photo, but I spritzed the card with shimmer.  I love the subtlety of it.

Here's the link to the Color Hues challenge blog.  Lots of inspiration there!

Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe

Stamps:  Triple-step Blooming Heart (C&9th), Hearts on Fire (Verve)

Paper:  White, black, Yours Truly (Echo Park)

Ink:  Versafine onyx black, candy apple

Accessories:  Triple-Step Blooming Hearts dies (C&9th), stitched rectangle die (MFT), thin frame die (SSS), pearls, dimensionals, shimmer spray

Just Us Girls #616 - Photo Week

 Hello!  It's Photo Week over at Just Us Girls, and look at this adorable photo Lisa E. chose!  Cute, right?

I was in a Valentines mood when making cards for this challenge.  I was going to use snowmen, but saw this new set that I haven't used yet and thought it was so adorable and perfect for a Valentine card.  I stamped and colored it with copics and fussy cut it because I couldn't find the die for it (found it afterward!).  Then I hot foiled the heart background with red foil.  I die cut the heart and set that aside to use on other cards (see below).  I stamped and die cut the sentiment and set that aside too while I worked on the shaker part.  This is what they are calling a "flat shaker".  I took a piece of dark purple card stock cut to size and the original clear packaging from a stamp set cut to about a 1/4" larger on each side.  I added double-sided adhesive to each side of the clear packaging.  Then I folded it over three of the four sides, adhering it to the card stock.  I left one open to fill it with the shaker bits, then closed that up as well.  I adhered that to the back of the main panel, then put dimensional tape around it to account for the thickness of the shaker packet (even though it's supposed to be flat...it wasn't!).  Before adhering this panel to the card base, I added some coordinating strips of card stock to it for more color.  I saw someone on YouTube do this (I think Nichol Sphor).  I added shimmer to the sentiment and parts of the penguins. 

Same card, different colors, sentiment and image.  Love these penguins!

Did I mention I love these penguins??

So here's what I did with the hearts I die cut from the panels above.  I stenciled, stamped, and die cut the floral image and adhered it to the green panel.  Then I stamped and embossed the sentiment and added pearls.  Love these colors!

I had this floral image already done and sitting on my desk, which gave me the idea to create these additional cards.  

You can see more inspiration from the JUGs design team and our January guest designers on the JUGs blog.

That's it for me!  Thanks for sticking around!

Recipe Penguin Cards

Stamps:  Playful Penguins (Gina K), Love & Hugs (Taylored Expressions)

Paper:  Hammermill, white, dark purple, violet, red, pink

Ink:  Memento tuxedo black, candy apple, copics

Accessories:  Playful Penguins dies (GK), Love & Hugs (TE), Happy Hearts die (Stamp Market), stitched rectangle (MFT), heart grid hot foil plate (Pink Fresh), red hot foil, sequins, confetti, shimmer

Recipe Floral Heart Cards

Stamps:  Choose Hope (Pink Fresh), Hearts on Fire (Verve)

Paper:  Hammermill, white, green, purple

Ink:  Versafine onyx black, Versamark; berrylicious, candy apple, candy violet, lavender, mint, key lime (Pink Fresh)

Accessories:  Stitched rectangle (MFT), Happy Hearts die (Stamp Market), Choose Hope die (PF), heart grid hot foil plate (PF), red hot foil, white embossing powder, crystals, pearls

Color Hues #32 - Red & Purple

 Hello friends!  I saw the recent Color Hues challenge of red and purple and thought it was a great color combination, so I thought I'd play along.

This was my second try at these colors.  I'll share the first one below.  I created the floral swag using a Pink Fresh stencil/stamp/die set.  I used two inks for the flowers and only one ink for the leaves.  After stenciling, I stamped the outline in black ink, then die cut it.  The white panel was impressed with a piercing plate (hard to see).  I added the purple panel die cut with a stitched rectangle and a silver foiled sentiment (it looks black, but it's silver).  I added silver crystals to finish it off.  

This was my first attempt that I was not very crazy about.  I sponged red and purple inks on a white panel then impressed it with a heart pierced die.  I die cut the coordinating panel from white and added it over it.  The globe was die cut from silver cardstock and again from red so that I could add the heart.  I adhered that to a stitched rectangle and embossed the sentiment with silver embossing powder.  I added silver pearls to that panel.  This card was ok, but not my favorite!

Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe Card #1

Stamps:  Choose Hope (Pink Fresh)

Paper:  White, purple

Ink:  Versafine onyx black, berrylicious, candy apple, candy violet

Accessories:  Choose Hope stencils & die (PFS), Detail Ringlet Plate (SSS), stitched rectangle (MFT), foiled sentiment (PFS), silver crystals

Recipe Card #2

Stamps:  Floral Garden (SSS)

Paper:  White, red, silver

Ink:  Candy apple, candy violet, Versamark

Accessories:  Fluttering Hearts die & pierced die (Honey Bee), globe die (Reverse Confetti), stitched rectangle (MFT), silver pearls, silver embossing powder

Just Us Girls #570 - Word Challenge

Hey there!  The new challenge over at Just Us Girls is our Word Challenge.  Vicki has chosen the word

VALENTINE!

 
So I thought I'd mix it up a bit and instead of making a card, I made a home decor diy project.  Have you ever heard of The Little Green Bean Instagram store?  I got hooked on her adorable sweater gnomes.  This year, she swung into diy projects because so many people were looking for projects to do with kiddos and adults since we were spending so much time at home.  She showcased her first set of houses at Christmas time and I was in awe.  I bought the three houses she had and painted and decorated them.  Then she came out with Valentine themed houses.  I of course had to have those too.

So here is the first house I did.  The houses come with a backer piece that have all the pieces engraved on them so you know where to place them.  The chimney, heart, windows and door are like puzzle pieces that fit right in the openings.  I painted all the pieces separately and added star dust stickles to parts of it.  On the Christmas ones, I used a brick stencil to create a brick house and a woodgrain stamp to create that look on the cabin house.  I wish I would have done some texture on these as well.

Here's the second one.  A much taller house.  I need to add some flowers to the flower boxes.  I just didn't have tiny flowers on hand when I put these together.  Again, I wish I had added texture to the house.  It looks so flat here.  Oh well!

You can see more from the JUGs design team and our new guest for February, Leslie, on the

JUGs blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

Color Hues Challenge #11

 Hi friends!  I'm participating in the Color Hues challenge with my card.  The colors are appropriately red and pink!

My mom is in a nursing home, and I like to make cards for the residents around the holidays.  I had just gotten The Greetery's Love Is stamp set and was playing around with it.  I liked the pink and red boxwood wreath and it was so simple to create with a MISTI.  I decided that this would be a good one to mass produce (I made 84 of them!).  It's also a one-layer card, something I'm not used to making!  I used Catherine Pooler inks and the sentiment inside the heart is from an older Verve stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe

Stamps:  Love Is (The Greetery)

Paper:  Recollections white

Ink:  rose petals, rouge (C. Pooler), Versa Claire black

Accessories:  MISTI

Just Us Girls #519 - Color Week

Hi friends!  It's Color Week at Just Us Girls and Sue chose purple, pink, and red.  Perfect for this time of year!


I actually made three cards.  I don't know the name of this technique, but basically you put down some color (or you could use pattern paper), stamp an image in versamark and heat emboss it with clear embossing powder, then add another color over it.  The first color you put down is captured under the embossing.  On this one, I put down some pink oxide ink then stamped this pretty floral background stamp with versamark and embossed it with clear embossing powder.  Then I applied some purple ink over that.  I buffed off ink that was sitting on top of the embossing.  I added the red heart with embossed sentiment and the arrow.  Silver sequins completed the card.

 I did the same thing here but added red ink on the panel first, then went over it with purple ink and added a pink heart.

 

This card uses the same background stamp, but in a different way.  I just inked it up with pink, red, and purple inks for a sort of ombre look.  The red heart is inlaid in the panel.  The pink and red inks are a bit splotchy even after stamping it several times.

 

You can see more from our JUGs design team and our January guests on the JUGs blog.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe:  Cards 1 & 2

Stamps:  Floral background (Stamp Market), Hugs & Kisses (Concord & 9th)

Paper:  Recollections white, red, regal rose

Ink:  Versamark, worn lipstick, festive berries, seedless preserves

Accessories:  Stitched rectangle and stitched hearts (MFT), arrow die (RC), sequins, white embossing powder, craft foam

 

Recipe:  Card #3

Stamps:  Floral background (Stamp Market), Feeling Groovy (Verve)

Paper:  Recollections white, red

Ink:  Be mine, rockin' red, flirty fuchsia, Versamark

Accessories:  Stitched rectangle and stitched hearts (MFT), white embossing powder, sequins, craft foam



Time Out #152 - Photo Inspiration

Hi all!  It's time to start our 2020 Time Out challenges!  For this one, we have this pretty fireplace mantel photo to be inspired by.


 We are sponsored by Funky Fossil Designs for this challenge too!

 

I chose the Four Hearts Stencil to use for my card.  (This photo is hideous!  I can't retake it because it has been sent out already!  UGH!)  I die cut the white panel then used the stencil and some Gina K red glitter gel to create the striped heart.  I stamped the sentiment (a free stamp gift from Altenew!) onto kraft cardstock with black ink.  (This matched the LOVE banner in the photo.)  Once the glitter gel was dry, I added craft foam behind the panel then mounted it onto some red cardstock and a white base.

 

You can see more from the Time Out design team on the Time Out blog.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe

Stamps:  Best Sentiments (Altenew)

Paper:  Recollections white, kraft, red

Ink:  Versafine onyx black

Accessories:  Four hearts stencil (Funky Fossil), outside in stitched rectangle (Lawn Fawn), glitz glitter gel: red velvet, heart sequins, craft foam



Just Us Girls #473 - Word Week

Hello there!  There's a new challenge over at Just Us Girls.  It's Word Week and Ina chose LOVE.  Perfect for this time of year (or any time of year for that matter).

 

I don't know why I chose these colors (after seeing everyone else's cards for this challenge in pinks and reds!), but I love them (no pun intended!).  There are four stamps to this image, and each one was stamped in a different color.  I didn't like all that stark white in the background, so I spattered some of the colors I used on the image.  Not sure how I feel about it afterward, but it's done!  I added star dust stickles to the centers of the flowers and crystals to the panel.

 

I'm joining Freshly Made Sketches with this cool sketch.

 

You can see more from our JUGs design team and our new guest for February, Lisa Elton, on the JUGs blog.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe

Stamps:  Love in Bloom (PTI), All the Hearts (Altenew)

Paper:  Recollections white, orchid opulence, scraps

Ink:  Pixie dust, limoncello, lime rickey, twilight, black jack

Accessories:  Heart die (PTI), stitched rectangle (MFT), crystals, star dust stickles, dimensionals



Tag You're It! #80

I was so happy to see that the Tag You're It! Challenge is back!  I love making tags. I don't use them much, but I love making them!  Their theme is love is in the air, and when I saw their graphic, I thought of this die I have. I first die cut two tags from white card stock.  Then I die cut the heart die from one of them and again from red glitter cardstock.  I covered the one tag with adhesive and adhered the other to it.  Then I just inlaid the red glitter pieces into it.  I stamped the sentiment in black ink.  I decided it needed something.  I saw these little agenda bunnies stamps and chose this one.  I did color him with copics (it's not much, but I did color him with pink, red, and gray markers), so I'm entering this into the 30 Day Coloring Challenge.  You have to start somewhere, right?  I do want to color more, so baby steps!  I added ribbon and these little hearts to finish it off.

 

Here's the link to the Tag You're It! challenge.

 

And here's the link to the 30 Day Coloring Challenge.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe

Stamps:  Little Bunny Agenda (ME), Wonderful Words Love (PTI), All the Hearts (Altenew)

Paper:  Recollections white, red glitter (SSS)

Ink:  Versafine onyx black, Memento tuxedo black, copics

Accessories:  Quote tag die (PS), Hearts Alive (SSS), Little Bunny Agenda die (ME), ribbon, heart sequins, dimensionals 

Time Out #128 - Home Sweet Home challenge

Hi there!  There's a new challenge over on the Time Out blog and this time around it's our Home Sweet Home challenge, using the picture below as inspiration.

 

Stamplorations is our sponsor for this challenge, and I'm using their Romantic Expressions 3 stamp set.  I stamped the heart image onto Bristol cardstock and colored it with Zig markers then fussy cut it out.  I wanted to somehow incorporate the envelope background in the photo and thought this 3-D embossing folder sort of did the trick.  I die cut the word from red cardstock and added it to the piece.  I also die cut a scalloped mat for the main panel.  I added the acrylic hearts as a finishing touch.

 

You can see more from the Time Out design team and our guest for this challenge, Conil, on the Time Out blog.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe

Stamps:  Romantic Expressions 3 (Stamplorations)

Paper:  Recollections white, Bristol white, real red

Ink:  Versafine onxy black, Zig markers

Accessories:  3-D embossing folder (We R Memory Keepers), acrylic hearts, dimensionals





Just Us Girls #426 - Word Week

Hi friends!  It's time for Word Week at Just Us Girls.  It's getting close to Valentine's Day, and Bobby chose "Love" as our word for this week.

 

I've had this stamp set from Pretty Pink Posh for a while.  It's such a cute idea.  I stamped the heart in a light color ink and covered it with red sequins.  Then I die cut the word die for times and stacked it and adhered it below the heart.  Simple card today!

You can see more from the JUGs design team and our guest on the JUGs blog.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe

Stamps:  Sparkle Dot Patterns 1 (Pretty Pink Posh)

Paper: Recollections white, real red

Accessories:  Inside out stitched scallop die (Lawn Fawn), Love die (PTI), sequins, fun foam