The Card Concept Challenge:

Hi there! There's a new challenge at the Card Concept: Bright Florals

Such a gorgeous inspiration photo! So many textural elements, beautiful rich

colors, and big bold blooms!

Never have I wanted to duplicate an inspiration photo more!

Colors, textures, and Big Bold Blooms... 

What a powerful statement of a photo.

 Love the Altenew vases, flowers and sentiments! Says it all.

Lots of layer building for my Clean & Layered card.

Supplies

Yellow base: the Greetery: Cozy Cup Coaster Die

Altenew: Garden Treasure (fussy cut),  Versatile Vases

Inks: Altenew

Poppystamps: PP1006 Springtime Bouquet, PP1003 Cottage Meadow

Cuddle bug Embossing folder

Keeping Christmas ~ May

4 Happy Reindeer tags, and a card too ~ It's time for Keeping Christmas, a 

group of friends that are helping to inspire all of us to Keep Christmas in our 

hearts. Making a few cards for our Christmas stash helps to make the season

brighter too!

My card has a family of deer by Stamplorations set against a forest of glittery trees.

Here's a closer look at the glitter paper I used that cuts so beautifully. The snowy background

is a super wide Washi from Poppystamps over a PTI Hawaiian Shores card stock.

4 coordinating tags began their life as Luggage tags from Stamplorations. Lindy's 

Magicals on the tag, and once dry, I copic colored

the reindeer (Christmas Reindeer) and added stickles to the antlers and red Nuvo 

drops to the nose. 

Once upon a Christmas, I purchased the white snowflake sequins from Target,

and gave them love with glitter. 

The sentiments are also from the Christmas Reindeer stamp set.

I made a promise to myself to make matching envelopes for each Christmas card

created. So far so good. This one with Magicals dusting powder.

The other designers have some wonderful creations for you. Be sure to

visit them all!

Kelly Lunceford (Creator)

Vicki Finger

Claire Broadwater

Lori Tecler

Nance Salkeld

Nina Forsyth

Nancy Guse

Marybeth Lopez

Nancy Penir

Carol Hintermeier

Hugs Birthday Wish

Good Morning Poppy friends!

I'm up on the Poppystamps blog today with an Easel Card.

Check out how I made this card. You're going to love the ease of  making

an Easel Card with Poppystamps dies!

A peek at the inside reveals a birthday wish!

Have a lovely crafty day!

Thank You Altenew

A wonderful surprise came in the mail the other day... a stamp set, personalized for me,

from Altenew. A celebration of their 6th anniversary, and we get the gift!

I was really moved by the generous gesture, and set about creating a couple of cards.

It seemed to me a perfect stamp for watercolors.

The stamp has 2 blooms, which I masked on the bottom so I could add a few more

details. My watercolor is done with pencils, Derwent Watercolor pencils, that I darkened a 

bit with added color once the bloom dried.

And of course I had to use my new personalized stamp on the back too!

Background stamp is from Altenew's Dot Art Stamp Set

Sentiment: Majestic Bloom (stamped on vellum and fussy cut)

Thank You, Altenew! 

Hip, Hip, Hooray!

It's not time for July 4th celebrations, but it is time for The Card Concept's 

new inspiration and challenge.

All the symbols and colors of Independence Day. 

Red White and Blue, starts and stripes and our flag inspired

my layered shaker card.

I had the flag paper in my stash. All the rest is PapertreyInk. Even those

sweet little stars in the star shaker. 

Hope you can play along... our challenge lasts 2 weeks, plenty of time for

a card, or 2! 

Have fun! 

The Flower Challenge: Monochrome

Hi! How are you faring with being sheltered? Confession time... I actually made a trip

to my local nursery and almost went bizerk in their floral wonderland! I really needed 

that outing!

Surrounding myself with flowering plants is as essential as breathing.

My house's front and back, each patio, inside and outside are plants.

I love them all! 

I also love flower stamps and dies. And oh, how I love any challenge

that is flower related! The Flower Challenge is at the top of my list.

Their latest challenge is to use one color... a monochrome card.

The Greetery's Fresh Floral Background stamp was my starting point.

Together with Blueprint Sketch Distress ink, (Ranger), and a few more

of the Greetery's stamps and dies, I created my monochrome floral card.

I clear embossed my background panel, before inking it, lighter on top,

progressively darker on the bottom.

The light was just perfect outside... couldn't resist shooting the card in the fairy garden.

I used the background stamp again for 2 more cards, not monochrome.

For this one, the background is inked first, blending the Sunray to Snapdragon

(Altenew), with the panel in my Misti. Stamped again over the inking with

embossing ink, and clear powder. That seals the color while I Inked over the

stamped flowers.

the sentiment medallion is PTI's Tagsale 12. Alphabuds Slim and 

Sentiment Starters, with a fussy cut flower from Print Shop: Fresh Floral.

(The Greetery) I didn't have the matching die set at the time. But it came

the other day, in time to make my monochrome card.

My last card was my first made, a simple stamped background, with gradient inking.

Nordic Frames and Budding Beauties Spring (the Greetery).

I'm not ready to put the Fresh Floral Background stamp away just yet...

I have a few more ideas for colors...

Take care my friends, and keep creating! It's a great way to stay safe... and sane!

Thinking of You...

Greetings! I'm up on the Poppystamps blog today, with a stenciled card. 

Come check it out:

poppy stamps.typepad.com

12 Kits of Occasions: April - Happy Birthday

Happy last day of April everyone! And you know what that means? It's time for

the 12 Kits of Occasions. It's my turn to be hostess, and I've chosen birthdays as my

theme for the kit. As you know, a group of us formed a friendship card and project

blog that posts on the last day of each month. We can choose any theme we like

and send our friends a kit of goodies with that theme in mind. 

Birthdays are so special, and don't know about you, but can't have enough on hand. 

So let's get started, hope you enjoy my kit, Happy Birthday!

Leading off with a shaker that says it all.

I sent all the die cuts to create this C9 purse, but in white cardstock, and all

the trimmings in black shimmer. I covered the body of the purse with designer

paper, and painted the trims with bronze metallic watercolor. Simply love 

this die set. I hope the girls loved it too!

I backed the die cut panel with an alcohol inked piece I had in my stash.

C9's cake was stamped and ready to go for each gal. I added it to a card with

a Washi strip. 

Love these 'besties' from MFT

Included in the kit was this embossed birthday card and the sweet cupcake sticker.

I added it to MFT's cake plate and cake.

I stenciled this square panel from Altenew and included it in the kit, along with 

Spellbinders' Hip, hip, hooray in black. I embossed it with blue 

metallic powder twice. A 5 1/2" square, and handmade envelope.

Doubling embossing gives the die cut a metal look.

Can't wait to see what the others did with the kit. They're all so talented!

One sad note, I heard from Tracey McNeely, and she didn't get her kit. 

Might have been held up in customs, I just don't know. Anyway, hopefully

she'll use it and post at a later date. 

I know you've heard this often, but stay safe and well.

All product listed in Monthly Supplies on the blog.

The Card Concept: Blessings

Hi my friends. It's time for a new challenge at the Card Concept.

I don't know about you, but who can resist a photo with a bouquet of

flowers? That and the silver in the photo inspired my Blessings card.

I've had Altenew's gorgeous Open Bloom 3D Die Set sitting on my desk since 

before Christmas. Finally had the chance to play with them!

The background panel is a stencil from Memory Box called Leafy Jumble.

I lightly inked the corners, then stenciled on silver paste. When dry, I added

droplets.

I don't know why it took me so long to use this set. But I don't know if I can

put it away! The final flower is gorgeous, isn't it? Can't wait to try more colors.

 I cut all the pieces from white cardstock and inked them with 

Altenew pinks and greens. 

Play along at the Card Concept blog.

Our challenges are for 2 weeks.

My sentiment, 'Blessings' is for all of you...

Be blessed, and stay safe and well!