Less is More - Blue and Green

In our Papercrafting class yesterday, we did the Baby Wipe Technique.  While designing the cards for the class I did this one for the Less is More challenge.

The challenge this week is Colour.... Blue and Green

The colors I used for this were Bashful Blue, Not Quite Navy and Night of Navy.  The stem was inked in Always Artichoke and the sentiment is stamed in Midnight Muse.

I'm not sure if all the others have as much ink on their fingers as I do, but we really had fun making a mess of ourselves.  LOL, I've washed dishes several time since and still wear the ink.

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Because I Care (retired)

Ink:  Midnight Muse, Always Artichoke, SU Re-inkers (Bashful Blue, Not Quite Navy, Night of Navy)

Paper:  Whisper White

Other:   Baby Wipe, Self Stick Rhinestones (non SU)

Wish you could have joined us.

Have I told you how much I enjoy your comments and visiting your blogs?  Well, I do! Thanks so much.

Enjoy!

Mixed Up Hydrangea

When I was trying to decide what stamp set to use for the Color Challenge on SCS (Baja Breeze, Soft Suede & Perfect Plum), I thought of the hydrangea in the Because I Care set.  My blue hydrangeas turned into a blue/purple color.  Kind of like this...

I used Carly's layout from this card.  She's the Featured Stamper at SCS this week.  I reversed the layout, used a different stamp and sentiment and different colors.

I stamped the hydrangea in Perfect Plum then went back with the blender pen and Baja Breeze ink to color some of the petals.  Using the blender pen roughs up the paper some, so I smacked it with the VersaMark ink and clear embossed it, then cut out the flower head and adhered it above the stamped stem.  (The stem was stamped off twice before stamping on the card.)  The embossing brightens up the colors a bit.

This was my sixth try.  After the third mess up, I swore only one more.  Then I would get another idea and try again.  I didn't like this at first, but after looking at it a couple of days, I like it better.  I hope you like it.

Blogger continues to keep me from commenting.  It seems to be stuck on making me sign in when I'm already signed in.  I see on the Internet that others are having the same problem.  I appreciate the ones who have been leaving comments and wonder how you are getting around this mess.  I hate it when they try to "improve" something that works and it just gets worse!  I know my hubby is getting sick of hearing me yell at the computer!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Because I Care, Sincere Salutations

Ink:  Perfect Plum, Baja Breeze, Soft Suede, VersaMark

Paper:  Perfect Plum, Whisper White

Accessories:  Clear EP, Corner Rounder Punch

Thanks for stopping by.

Enjoy!

Bonnie

White on White

The Less is More challenge this week is

WHITE ON WHITE

You will have come across this before, but we want to stress we do mean WHITE on WHITE, no

coloured images or additions, with the exception of outlines!

I'd always admired the white on white cards I'd seen but never tried it.  One thing I learned is that it takes a lot of texture to make it work.

Here's card #1...              

My oldest grandson is being confirmed tomorrow and I wanted to make him a special card to commemorate the occasion.  He's always so sweet and appreciative when I make him a card.  I hope it will help him to always remember how important this day is in his life and how proud we are of him.
 

I used 2 shades of white; Naturals White and Whisper White. I really like the 2 shades of white together and the Naturals gives it a more masculine look I think.

 

The cross is made from the Lattice Bigz die and the background is embossed with my favorite Square Lattice Embossing Folder.

 

White on white seems so perfect for wedding or anniversary cards and the hydrangea seemed a good image in white.  The real challenge came in when I had to figure what to do with the stem.  I stamped the flower from the Because I Care set and let the ink dry.  Then I used a stylus to press the stem, leaves and outline of the flower.  (Actually I used more than one stylus but I don't know what the plural is and I'm too lazy to get the dictionary and look it up right now.)  Then I turned it over and glued flowers, punched with the Itty, Bitty Shapes punch, inside the outline of the flower head.

I added pearls to give it some more texture and depth.  Actually, this card is More is More for me.  I've never used that many pearls on one card!  I'll definitely have to hand it and not mail it!  It just so happens that one of our daughters has an anniversary coming up.  She used hydrangeas in her wedding so I think this will be a perfect card for this occasion.

Looking at it now, I think I might round the bottom corners.  If I don't forget....

If you want to see lots of awesome white on white cards, go on over the the Less is More site and take a look.

Thanks for stopping by.

Enjoy!

Bonnie

Three-of a-Kind Plus One

This week's One Layer Wednesday Challenge was hosted by Jennifer.  The challenge is to make three one-layer cards. Yes, three. Make three cards all using the same image stamp but vary the occasion by changing the sentiment and/or ink colour and/or card stock colour. You must use the same image stamp on each card.

For the first card,  I colored the stem & leaves with Always Artichoke and the flowers with Concord Crush.  To add a bit more color, I finished it off with a strip of Concord Crush ribbon.  The sentiment is from Something to Celebrate.

For the second card, I inked the stems & leaves with Pear Pizzazz and the flowers with Marina Mist.  Then I topped it off with Marina Mist taffeta ribbon.  The sentiment is also from Something to Celebrate.

The third card has stems & leaves of Old Olive and flowers and ribbon of Poppy Parade.  The sentiment is from Because I Care.

I was having so much fun, I had to try one more.  This time I used Soft Suede for the stems & leaves and More Mustard for the flowers.  Since it is a masculine care, I opted for hemp twine to finish it off.  The sentiment is from Something to Celebrate.

The bee from the set is stamped in Basic Black and colored with a Daffodil Delight marker and all are stamped on Naturals White cardstock.

I could have gone on and made a sympathy card and  a get well card and maybe a thinking of you card.  So many cards, so little time! 

This is such a versatile set and tomorrow is the last day to order it. This set is definitely a keeper!

I'm so glad you came to visit today.  I hope you come back soon.

Enjoy!

Bonnie

Hydrangea Framed

This week, Jennifer of Styles Ink is hosting the One Layer Wednesday challenge.  She drew a sketch to work with.  Keep in mind that this needs to be one piece of card stock folded and stamped.  NO LAYERS.

The first thing I thought of for the border was the Perfect Polka Dot Embossing Folder.  I wasn't sure quite how to keep the space in the middle from being embossed.  I remembered that I had bought some chipboard nested squares quite awhile back and decided to give that a try.  It took several tries to get the right amount of pressure, and I doubt I could do it again, but it worked, sort of.  It's not perfect, but it's handmade and not supposed to be perfect, right?

This morning, when I checked SCS to see what the Ways to Use It challenge was, and saw the title Flower Frenzy, I knew what I wanted to put inside the frame.

I laid a sticky note on each side of the unembossed section, inked the stamp with markers and stamped in the center.  By the way, the little single flower works great if your flower head doesn't stamp perfectly.  Mine leaves a little gap in the center.  I just stamp over the light spots with that single flower.

Then I used the blender pen to blend the colors a bit and give it a watercolor feel.  Since it's one layer, and not watercolor paper, I blended lightly so as not to bleed through to the inside.

Used an acrylic block as a guide to draw the lines.  Yeah, I overshot a bit on the bottom and have a row of polka dots inside the frame.  Not bad enough to trash it, I hope.

I thought a bit of bling in the corners would be fun.

This card is 5" square.  It's a bit wider than the EF.  Last week my friend Susan explained, on her blog, how to emboss an area larger than the folder.  Run it through once, then turn it around, match up the embossing and run it through again.  Thanks Susan for the tip.

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Because I Care

Ink:  SU Markers (Pear Pizzazz, Concord Crush)

Paper:  Whisper White

Accessories:  Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots EF, Basic Rhinestones

Since I used a combination of In Colors, I think I'll enter this one in the Jac-Inks Challenge too.

I'm so glad you stopped in today.  Enjoy!

Bonnie

CASEing Em

I really tried to get to the Featured Stamper card on SCS yesterday!  When I saw artsy_em's gallery, one time through wasn't enough.  I spent so much time enjoying her gallery, that the day was about gone!  I did get the card done last night.  But it was so late, I didn't take the time to post.  This is the card I CASEd.

 
I used a different stamp and butterfly but kept the colors and layout the same.  I chose not to sponge around the edges and keep it clean & simple.

I bought this stamp, Elizabeth, a while back and had never used it.  I think I will be using it a lot now that I tried it out!  Did you know that you can get this stamp free during Sale-a-bration?  For every $50.00 in merchandise that you purchase from now until March 31st, you can get a free stamp set or even select embellishments.  If you would like a Sale-a-bration Catalog, let me know and I will mail you one.

I stamped it twice, once on a scrap.  I stamped the sentiment in the oval on the scrap and cut it out so it could be popped up!

A little hint for those of you who, like me, can't stamp straight and have to "eyeball" stuff.  I started the main image on a piece of WW a little bit bigger than what I needed so that I could get it centered when I trimmed it up.

My butterfly was in my box of left overs.  I didn't have any twine that would work for the body.  I love the way Emily twisted and tied the twine on hers!  I used some of the black seed beeds left over from my jewelry making days.

If I had the time, I could CASE several more of her cards.  Lots of inspiration in her gallery.

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Elizabeth, Because I Care
Ink:  Black StazOn, Cherry Cobbler
Paper:  Basic Black, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories:  Big Shot, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Black Seed Beads

Enjoy,
Bonnie

In the Pinks

I love the Hydrangea stamp in the Because I Care (Level 1 Hostess gift) and I haven't played with it in quite a while.  So I got it out and played with it a bit today.

I used the sketch from Stamping411's Saturday Sketch Challenge #185

Here's the sketch

When I saw the colors for the Color Challenge on SCS today to use Pretty in Pink, Cherry Cobbler & Melon Mambo with a neutral of choice, this card came together for me.

I inked the flower head with my Pretty in Pink SU Marker and used the Thumping Technique to add Melon Mambo. I inked the stem with my Crumb Cake marker.  It took a few tries before I got an image that I liked.  If you try this, you may want to practice on scratch paper first.

I masked off the top portion of the card and sponged all three colors on the bottom section.

Something I discovered while doing this card.  Sometimes there are areas of the flower head that don't stamp evenly.  There is a single flower stamp in this set and by inking and thumping it I could stamp it in the "weak" places and it filled in perfectly!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Because I Care

Ink:  Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Cherry Cobbler, SU Markers of same colors + Crumb Cake

Paper:  Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler

Accessories:  Corner Rounder Punch, Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding

Enjoy,

Bonnie

Featured Stamper meets CAS

I made it back to show you another card I made today. 

Too bad I've written all my Christmas thank you notes.  This would have been perfect!

Yesterday's Featured Stamper on SCS was Julie aka UKjem.  You can see her gallery here.  She has a lovely, elegant style don't you think?

I chose this card as my inspiration.  I flipped the card and used Baja Breeze instead of gold, a different embossing folder & sentiment and rhinestones instead of a pearl.

Today's CAS challenge on SCS is A Day in the Snow.  As luck would have it, we even saw a bit of snow here today.  We had a few flakes and now it's sleeting.

Saturday, we were sitting in a fast food restaurant having lunch and it snowed.  The wind was blowing every which way and the flakes were swirling and dancing so beautifully.  It was like being in a snowglobe.  Wish I could recreate that beauty!

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Because I Care
Ink:  Baja Breeze
Paper:  Whisper White, Baja Breeze
Accessories:  Big Shot, Petals-a-Plenty EF, Snowflakes Sizzlits, Big Shot Multipurpose Adhesive Sheet, Dazzling Diamonds, Basic Rhinestones

Stay warm and enjoy,
Bonnie

The Chickens Got It!

First of all, I want to clarify, I am not an artist! But this card was so much fun! It's for the Teapot Tuesday Challenge on SCS. Cindy always has a zany story to go with the teapot and this week was no different. The Destination Station this week is for a young girl who has had disk surgery and has suffered through a long and difficult recovery. She loves Molly Brown of the Unsinkable Molly Brown.

I love Molly Brown too. I have watched that movie The Unsinkable Molly Brown many times. Molly loved big hats, so I thought of a card I saw in a magazine a couple of years ago that used flowers for hats with a doodled face. I used punches instead of flowers for the hat and doodled the face. Remember, I am not an artist!
Mothermark's story involved chickens. Evidently Molly's husband raised chickens and we are supposed to help get rid of those chickens on the way to the tea party.

All I can say is that we had a wonderful chicken casserole last night and Molly is sporting feathers on her hat! Pfoof! Guess I can go in the tea party through the front door!

Card Recipe
Stamps: Because I Care, Sincere Salutations
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Paper: Naturals White, Pear Pizzazz, Pretty in Pink Textured, Pretty in Pink DSP
Acc.: Scallop Border Punch, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch, Big Shot, Ovals dies, Graphite Paper, SU Markers, Pearls, White Taffeta Ribbon, Feathers

The hat is the small and large oval from the Ovals die cut with the BIG GUY. I cut the large one in a crescent shape for the brim of the hat.

Read up on Molly Brown. She was a really interesting person!

Hope you get a chuckle out of this card.
Bonnie

Salvage

I've got to confess. This card was salvaged. Just about to hit the trash can. But I just couldn't throw that beautiful embossing away. Besides, it's yellow and Daffodil Delight yellow to boot.

Let me tell you how it happened. I was about to stamp the sentiment, in Basic Black, when the stamp just jumped out of my hand and landed on my card. It would have been ok if it landed where I wanted it. But no, it had a mind of it's own and just added black smears where no black smears ought to be! Ugggh!

However, today's CAS Challenge is Gardens. Garden pickin' was the challenge for the Free 4 All Challenge last Friday too. So, you know from the previous post that I don't have a garden. Not even a flower bed really. I had one lonely daisy beside the front step.

I have a BIG GUY and a Daisy die...hmmm! I had a cover up for those nasty black smears!

I love it when trash becomes treasure.

Card Recipe
Stamps: Because I care
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Daffodil Delight, Whisper White
Acc.: Big Shot, Flower Daisies #2 Bigz die, Elegant Line Embossing Folder, Antique Brad

Hope you had a treasure of a day. If not, don't give up. Your treasure could be right around the corner or in the very next challenge!

Hugs,
Bonnie

My Garden

I'm teaching a class next week on doing embossed butterflies. This was left over from the dry run.


He's going to go in the Free For All challenge today to do a card based on your garden. My garden in non-existent. There are a few daisies by the front steps. One blossomed. I didn't plant any flowers because we were going to be moving from here this month. Plans have changed. We'll be staying here a while longer, but still no flowers to speak of. I have seen several butterflies though.

So my card has embossed flowers to represent the lone daisy. I used the whacked Finial Press Embossing folder to do the embossing. (You can let Sandi show you how to whack it here.) I embossed one side of the 3" x 4" piece of Whisper White, then put it back through with the embossing folder on the adjacent side.


The butterfly is stamped with Black StazOn, colored with Su Markers, smacked with VersaMark and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.

The mat is 3 1/8" x 4 1/8" Night of Navy. The sentiment is stamped with Night of Navy.


All of this sits on a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" Daffodil Delight base card.


I guess the butterfly is leaving because he didn't find any flowers. Maybe next year I can plant some flowers.


Have a great weekend.
Bonnie

Emboss, Emboss

Hello Stampin' Friends. First off I want to share a blog with you today. A lovely stampin' friend from the UK has started her own blog. It's called Cards for all Reasons. She does the most beautiful cards and pretty much sticks to the CAS style. I will put her blog on the side bar so you can access her readily.

Today's Ways to Use It challenge was to use heat embossing.

Embossing has never been my favorite technique, probably because I've not done it much and hate to drag all that stuff out. Now I keep my heat tool handy and it's not so bad. I still make a mess with the powder and seem to have it all over my work table when I'm finished. I'll have to work on that.
First card here is from a piece from the UFO (UnFinished Objects) box. I did have to break bad and ink up a stamp to do the background and the sentiment.

The tree was stamped in Handsome Hunter and I had used the Chocolate Chip marker to color the trunk. I used the VersaMark Pen on the branches and sprinkled the white Embossing Powder, heat set and voila! I had a snowy tree! The tree is matted on Handsome Hunter. The punching is a little funky because I used the punch in the corners and didn't like it. I cut off the corner & outside scallop. It gives it a little different look and I liked it.

I created a snow storm on the card by inking the little snowflake from the Short & Sweet set with VersaMark and embossing all those snowflakes. I used the soon to retire, Sage Shadow, for the card base. The sentiment is part of a stamp from an old Christmas set, To You & Yours. Snowy trees always make me feel peaceful.

While I was working on the tree card, I kept thinking Emboss Resist. I had seen so many beautiful cards done with this technique and had always thought I would try it but didn't. I have a goal to only use stuff from the UFO box and I had these flowers stamped from the Eastern Blooms stamp set. Since I needed a card base for them, I figured it would be ok to ink up the branch from the same set and do an emboss resist with it. Boy am I glad I did. I really love how it turned out.

I inked the branch with VersaMark and stamped it randomly on a white card. I sprinkled a good coat of White Embossing Powder on the card (and on the table, oh my!) then heat set it. The hardest part of heat setting such a large area is to make sure all of it is set before you stop. I let it cool a bit then sponged Certainly Celery and Baja Breeze (new color) ink all over the card. When I was finished, I took a paper towel and wiped off the branches. The ink doesn't stick to the embossing!

I found this darling center for the big flower in my gem box. I have no idea where it came from. A big pearl would do too. By the way, the large flower is punched with the 5-Petal Flower Punch. I used textured Pacific Point (new color) & Certainly Celery behind the flowers. The sentiment is from the Level 1 Hostess gift I showed you a couple of posts back. It's called Because I Care.

I'm glad I tried this technique. It was really fun to see the colors emerging and I love the effect. I'll surely do it again.

Don't forget to check out Sally's blog.

Hugs to all,
Bonnie

Sneak Peek Because I Care

I'm so excited!!!!!

This is a set that I got free for ordering the new color kit. It's gonna be a Level 1 Hostess gift come July 1. If you would like to host a workshop, you can earn this free...after July 1. That's only a couple weeks away!

This is a sneak peek at some of the new colors too. The card is an In Color called PearPizzazz. It's a little darker than Certainly Celery and perfect with the new core color, Marina Mist that I used with it. Aren't they pretty together?

I inked the hydrangea with markers, stamped then used the blender pen to pull the color a bit. I used the Color Spritzer Tool with the Pear Pizzazz & Poppy Parade (another In Color) markers to put the speckles on the background.

I am really loving the new colors. I can see that this stamp set is going to be one of my favorites too.

By the way, the layout is for the Sketch Challenge on SCS this week. It was perfect for this set since it has the single bloom too.

Card Recipe

Stamps: Because I Care

Paper: Pear Pizzazz, Marina Mist, Whisper White

Ink: Marina Mist

Acc.: Marina Mist, Pear Pizzazz, & Poppy Parade SU Markers, Color Spritzer Tool, Big Shot, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Scallop Trim Border Punch

Just wait til you see the other colors! It's going to be a great year!

Enjoy,

Bonnie