HLS Watercolor Challenge May '17

May 1st means a new challenge at HLS Watercolor Challenge!

You may or may not add the optional twist - red to your card.

Here's some inspiration for you,

I love a shaker card, and I have a feeling that the recipient does too!

The shaker element on my card is from My Favorite Things, and

it's called Replenishments. They're plastic cups that let you fill with

the sequins or shaker stuff, and pop right up, or in my case inside a 

die cut hole.

I embossed the butterfly from Especially For You, 4 times

before water coloring them with Kuratake pan watercolors.

Sentiment PTI's Swoosh die and happy from PTI's Happiness in Bloom.

Play along for a Gift Certificate to HLS' shop!

12 Kits of Occasions April '17

Hello! And welcome to 12 Kits of Occasions: April post.

Our hostess this month is Sharron Gregory from On Papillon Wings,

and her kit is titled: Hello Friends.

I couldn't wait to dig into this kit, filled with sweet critters, 

darling dressed for rain kids, and papers and sentiments to match! 

Loved the theme, and love you, Sharron.

You hit my sweet spot with your joyous kit!

On to the cards!

I lead with a favorite, 2 Mama Elephant rain slicker tots sharing an umbrella.

This closeup shows some glossy accents on the umbrella

and the rain wear.

What would you do with a kitty just begging for color? 

I might have gone a bit overboard with the eye makeup, but she didn't complain...

Sharron was very generous with the PTI: Super Succulant pattern paper,

paired perfectly with the Spellbinders pots and succulents.

Honey Bunny just seemed to go with this sentiment!

Background was a PTI Ocean Tides card stock that I put through my emboss

machine with a Spellbinders folder, rolled with ink.

Memory Box Scribble Flower Circle.

Sharron sent along this cloud filled card stock.

 I couldn't resist putting it with this 

sweet pair I colored with pencils. can you see their fuzzy tails?

And finally, another favorite, was this birdhouse duo included in our kit, 

I left white,

and added it to a PTI scallop circle sponge inked, with 3 popped up 

Succulant Garden flowers, I just happened to have.

Otherwise Sharron's kit supplied me with more than 

enough wonders I hadn't seen before or had!

Plenty of cards on hand to send to friends is just what I needed.

Don't forget to check out the other 12 Kits Designers for more

card ideas. And so happy to see Marcia Hill as our Guest Designer this month!

Please go by and give her some love at Marcia Hill's time for Paper.

A Lovely Birthday

What do you do with a crazy busy week, getting ready for

a ladies tea party in your backyard? 

You find a way fit in a card for 

PTI's MIM with Betsy Veldman!

Make It Monday #282: Stenciled Watercolor Backgrounds

I think it's safe to say, 99% of what I've learned to do with 

a card, has come from enjoying the Make It Monday posts.

And so, with Betsy showing us how to use our stencils to 

create watercolor backgrounds, I made this card

Besides, my recent order arrived, with 

Betsy's Make It Market Mini Kit: Lovely Lace,

complete with a fabulous lattice stencil, and wonderfully lacy die,

perfect for framing Dawn's Gran's Garden Florals.

Well, dear friends, it's back to picking up every stray leaf and twig that's

found it's way to my patio, and wash tea cups and saucers

for about 30 ladies.

At least my MIM card is done!

I pretty much used Betsy's colors and stamps that she used.

Just loved her colors and couldn't wait to ink up Gran's Garden!

Fabulous

Hi Card Concept fans! Welcome to a new inspiration.

I'm all about the gorgeous intense blooms in this photo.

Added a bit of blue from the boots, and the green grass,

but my 'Classy Elegant' card is filled with bright Spring flowers.

I love the intensity of watercolors with Kuretake pan colors.

First step was to ink The Ton's Peony Crush Cling Background, with

Versamark onto watercolor card stock, and sprinkle the whole card with

Adirondack Lettuce Embossing Powder.

Watercoloring came next. I started with the lighter, paler pink, and when

dry, worked on adding darker, deeper shades, finally ending with the purple.

This technique works as long as you let each layer dry before

adding the next.

'Fabulous' die cut 3 times, with white and Pure Poppy in the middle,

also from the Ton.

A sprinkling of Pink Diamond sequins, also from the Ton,

to add a bit of sparkle.

Framed with PTI's Royal Velvet, and Sweet Blush card stocks.

So excited to see what you create!

And don't forget to check out more beautiful inspiration 

by the Card Concept Design Team!

PTI April '17 Blog Hop

PTI's April Blog Hop, and a big 'Welcome'!

Megan Carter's strongly graphic print is our inspiration this month,

and as Nichole advised, it became my springboard for a set

of thank you cards.

Happily my order arrived in time, and in it was PTI's 10 Year Anniversary,

 Thank You Set.

It's a beautiful double stamp set, full of florals, and fronds, surrounding either 

a square or a banner, to include a sentiment of my choice.

I set up my misti, and stamped the square image first,

in Hero Arts Wet Cement.

From there its was easy to stamp the flowers on six cards,

in Pale Peony, Orange Zest, Harvest Gold & Summer Sunrise.

Then outlined the frame in copic R0000.

The envelopes were  stamped with Beautiful Berries: Spring.

I used the We R Memory Keepers 1-2-3 Punchboard (Amazon)

to make the envelopes.

Sprinkled on a few sequins (The Ton), otherwise it's a one layer card.

It's an all day Hop, join in the fun on Nichole's blog!

April 2017 Blog Hop

Hello Sweet Baby

It's time for a new challenge at Tag You're It,

and just look at our inspiration from Kim Heggins,

Love her sweet bear in the woods!

Have to admit, have very few bears in my stash,

but did find this sweet guy from Papertrey Ink.

Started with a tag from Pretty Pink Posh: Stitched Duo 1.

Love the sweet windows!

Just right for baby shower, or maybe for a baby boy's homecoming...

Inspired by Kim's adorable scene, her colors and tree dies.

I surrounded my little guy with leaves.

Come play along with Kim and see how the rest of

the talented team was inspired!

Grateful for You

Good Monday Morning!

Make it Monday has Dawn McVey on board this morning,

showing us how lovely creating patterns are behind

die-cut windows.

This is my card, using Dawn's Vintage Linen set.

I created a frame or window with Mix & Mat: Flourishes,

and stencil pattern from Woodblock Prints.

Added a bit of depth to the blooms with pencils.

Celebrating the day after Easter in pjs, in the craft room, 

and eating left overs! 

Family left early this morning, and my girls and daughters in laws

helped clean my house before going! Love them!!!

6 of the 11. Antsy to start the hunt.

Noelle went into the pool after one egg.

Eli is so happy with his find.

We had good weather until 6 pm, and then rain. In sheets!

A perfect day! 

Ron and I went out this morning, and look what we found...

No doubt many more out there.

Do you do a Easter Egg Hunt?

It's a Penir tradition!

Make It Monday #281: Patterns Behind Die-cut Windows

Sending Easter Blessings

Made an Easter card and entering it with Color Throwdown, and 

this inspiration:

My card features the new Flower Mandalas Die by Kay Miller.

The ombre stripes were a leftover from cutting a sponge inked panel.

Mix & Mat: Flourishes was the cut that produced the stripes.

Sentiment: Etched Easter Eggs

the Card Concept #77

Hello everyone!

One of my favorite challenges, The Card Concept, has asked me to join them.

Couldn't be happier to say 'YES'!

Do you play at the Card Concept?

You can pick your styles from their selection, or 

combine your own. 

Just explain what style you used, and how you were inspired.

Here's our inspiration photo for the 2 week challenge:

Well, doesn't this just scream, SPRING?

My card is a literal interpretation of what inspired me,

the jar, blooms (turned the blooms into butterflies),

and the dreamy faded bg. 

Style: Classy Elegant, with a touch of Mixed Media.

PTI: Friendship Jar die, Bitty Butterflies Cover Plate and stamp set.

Tiny Tags heart die & stamps, Gathered Garden bow die.

Modern Background Stencil

Wendy Vechi embossing paste.

The jar is cut from PTI's: Sea Shimmer and then inked.

 Stamper's Select White Cardstock, Classic Kraft (bow).

Neat & Tangled Sequins

Be sure to stop by & give some love to all the Card Concept's designers.

CC#71-April 12th- {Fresh Flutters}

He Is Risen!

Create Along With Us is PapertreyInk's Challenge

during release week. Wonderful excuse to case

the 'masters' and their wonderful projects!

Always, the hardest part is choosing between them!

Betsy Veldman's use of the new lace set, and it's 

stencils, inspired me to case some of her brilliance.

Betsy used a brayer to apply ink to her stencil,

 and then onto her card with herdie cut machine. 

I intend to try this, but did my card the old fashioned way.

I inked my paper with the stencil in place.

I used a couple of stencils from Make It Market: Garden Gate.

I cased her application of flowers, 

(Make It Market Mini: Bloom and Grow),

and her centered sentiment (Easter Alleluias),

over the stenciling.

You can see Betsy's card here:

Introducing the Make it Market Lovely Lace Mini Kit...

Play along here, on Nichole's blog:

Create Along With Us: April 2017

Easter Blessings

Happy Saturday everyone!

Hope you're enjoying your weekend.

We've had rain the last few day, over 2", a blessing for all of us

in the Central Valley. Today has some sun peeking through,

just enough to take a photo of a card.

I don't usually do things this way, but this card came before 

the challenge. 

I googled and found an Easter Challenge blog, Crafting with Dragonflies,

and am playing along.

My PTI order took a long time to arrive, and couldn't wait to play 

with a couple of beautiful dies, Cutaway Tags: Spring

and Mix & Mat: Flourishes.

I cut the tag from black card stock, and colored with Finetec Pearls.

The Finetec Pearls let you watercolor on black, or any color,

giving the image intense vibrant color with a pearl finish.

The sentiment was stamped with Versamark, then 

heat embossed with copper.

The Mat frame was first sponge inked, then sprayed with 

Mr. Huey's Shine Mist.

#78 : Easter Cards

Birthday Card

Hi! And hoping your day is as beautiful as mine.

Clear, sunny, and perfect for gardening! 

Before I step out, I wanted to post this card done

for MIM with Lexi Daly

and Stamping Outside the Box.

Used the tile stamp from Latin Motifs to create my 'box'.

Sentiment and wing stretched bird also from the set.

PTI Inks: Summer Sunrise, Berry Sorbet, Hawaiian Shores, Tropical Teal.

Watch Lexi's video here, on Nichole's blog:

Make It Monday #280: Stamping Outside of the Box

My goal is to create a matching envelope with each card.

Very easy with my We R Memory Keepers 1-2-3 Punchboard. (Amazon)