Fusion Challenge - Spring Wreath

Hello there!  I feel like it has been quite a while since I got to participate in any of the Fusion Challenges so today's card was made just for this occasion.

I saw the wreath on this black door and I wanted to play along. I think part of the attraction (other than how pretty this door looks) is because we are having a dark colored door on the house we're building.  It's not black, but it's a very dark Navy called "Dress Blues" from Sherwin Williams.  We're headed back to Texas this weekend to see how everything is coming along so I wanted to play along while I have time.  When I saw the wreath on this door, it made me think of some paper that I have in my stash.

If you know me, then you know I love to have papers that have Gold Foil accents.  On Cyber Monday, I had made a trip to Michaels to check out one of their deals from Black Friday - $5.99 Hot Buy Cardstock Paper Pads. There were plenty to choose from and I couldn't get them all but I was most interested in any that had quite a bit of Gold in them.  I came home with a few of them.  My most impressive find that day was one from Die Cuts With a View that was all Black and Gold.  This is always a great combination for Guys in particular or if you want something very luxurious looking.  This particular pad is 24 sheets of this gorgeous black "kraft" and gold with many Art Deco Inspired patterns.  You know me -- I do love my Art Deco inspired finds so this was a no-brainer for me and I happily picked it up. 

I love all the patterns in this pad so much, but it seems like every paper pad lately has a couple of sheets in it that are pre-printed with foiled sayings that I probably wouldn't use and that don't really work for the size format that I mostly use for card making which is A2.  So I was pretty tickled yesterday when I tried to use one of those for this card and it worked out.  The card started out as a 4 x 6 panel that has an oval in the center of it.  The trick was getting it lined up correctly to be able to die cut it and use it on my card.  Thankfully, I didn't mess it up and was able to get it die cut perfectly.  I used the largest of the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle Dies which cuts at exactly 4 inches wide, so it was critical to get my paper lined up correctly in the die and secure it with a bit of low tack tape so it wouldn't move. Not only did I have to center it from side to side, but also top to bottom. If I messed up, it was no big deal, but I really wanted to find a way to use this panel since it didn't have a saying on it.  Once I had that part done the rest was fairly easy.  I also wanted to use some of my many Prima Flowers and so I grabbed a few of the pink and purple hydrangeas.  Like many of my projects, I wanted this to have some shimmer and shine, so I spritzed them with my shimmer mist and set the aside to dry while I did the rest of my die cutting. 

While I was trying to figure out how I would give it the same feeling as all those springtime tendrils. I didn't have anything that would work for that, so I decided to use a lot of leaves on my project.  The leafy branch from the Papertrey Songbirds Dies would be just the ticket and they would also be easy to snip apart and use each part individually.  So my wreath then became more of a swag.  I cut three of the branches from Gold Foiled Cardstock and then snipped each one into pieces to use as needed for my swag.  I love this branch with the stitched leaves and in fact, I still don't own the stamp set - only the dies.  It's on my wish list, but so far, I have always had something else I wanted more and so it stays on my wish list.  

For the sentiment, I die cut the "hello" 3 times from True Black Cardstock and glued them one on top of the other and then cut the top layer from the same gold foiled cardstock.  I put these together with Ranger Multi Medium Matte to have a thicker embellishment for my sentiment.  The dies is from the Hello Stamp and Cut by Hero Arts and is a favorite for its style and size.  Not to mention the Stamp and Cuts are around $15.00 for the stamps and the die.  It's a smaller stamp set, but that's okay with me. 

I matted the black and gold panel to a gold foiled panel cut with the WPLUS9 Gift Card Layers Die which cuts a full 4.25 x 5.5 inch stitched rectangle panel.  I love the very finished edge of my panels when I use dies and no matter how good my paper trimmer is, I never feel like it cuts as nicely as my dies.  

This card came together pretty quickly since I was able to use the gold foiled paper.  Prima flowers can be difficult to layer so I used some Alene's Jewel it because for whatever reason it dries faster.  Glue dots don't work and Ranger Multi Medium matte isn't very satisfactory either.  It seems as though the Multi Medium stays wetter longer on the Mulberry Paper. There are probably other adhesives that would work well but I have the Alene's already in one of the containers on my desk.

There's no special techniques her unless you count no stamping as a technique.  Lately, I've had a few challenge to make a card with so stamping on it.  In fact, there's one of those over at AAA Cards Challenge this week but they want CAS (Clean & Simple) Style cards and this one definitely does not qualify.  I challenge you to use something pre-printed and make a card out of it.  It should be easy but it's harder than you think sometimes.

The supplies I've used are linked below for your convenience (Affiliate Links may be used).

Hero Arts Hello Stamp & Cut Shop at: SSS	Kokuyo Long Dot Runner Adhesive Shop at: SSS	PTI Songbirds Dies Shop at: PTI	PTI Stamper's Select White Cardstock Shop at: PTI
PTI True Black Cardstock Shop at: PTI	Teflon Bone Folder Shop at: SSS	Tsukineko Sheer Sparkle Shimmer Spritz Shop at: SSS	WPLUS9 Gift Card Layers Designer Dies Shop at: SSS

Distressed Elegance

Sweet Blush Cardstock

Today's cards are some I made for the Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge #71, "Favorite Technique".  I would have to say Heat Embossing is my favorite technique and expands into all of the ways it can be used from simple to complex. I love to heat emboss with Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder which is my favorite because it's a warmer tone than regular gold embossing powders. The only part of heat embossing I haven't mastered is combining it with Masking. Those sticky little masks leave residue on your cardstock which embossing powder loves to cling to.  I have yet to get a clean image when attempting to combine these two things. If there's a trick here I am missing, be sure to leave me a comment and tell me what it is because I use heat embossing on almost every single card I make.  It's the look I love.  As long as you are consistent about using your powder tool, you'll get good results.

This card uses heat embossing in it's most simple form which is to stamp and heat emboss a sentiment. I often stamp and heat emboss generic greetings onto the little banners of black and white cardstock so they are ready to go. I send lots of just a note or thinking of you type cards so I can always use these types of greetings.

Sweet Blush Cardstock

For the rest of the card, what started as a make-over for something else became a cool new technique for my cards. My Sister-In-Law, Vickie, has a restored Victorian Era Farmhouse with a formal parlor and dining room. I'm telling you this recollection from memory (so I hope it's correct), but those areas of her house have some textured wallpaper that has had some kind of gold "rubbed" on it in this kind of distressed fashion. While the other project I was working on didn't really work out how I wanted it to, the packaging says it works on wood, metal, paper, etc. .... so you know I had to test it out on some cardstock.  I knew I wanted to try it with an embossing folder and this particular one reminds me of that wallpaper in Vickie's house. Once I had the gold rubbed on there, it reminded me of it even more and I loved the look.  So while this card is simple, I think it is also ultra elegant.

For this second technique I used today, this is how it started:  I have a small bronze Eiffel Tower that I use as a prop in most of my photos for social media such as Instagram and Facebook along with a small, fancy, little pair of scissors with Gold Handles. I am pretty neurotic, so it bugs me that that the gold on the Eiffel Tower and the gold on the scissors is not the same gold.  I went to my local Hobby Lobby in search of an inexpensive way to change this.  I wasn't sure what to try but I had a few things in mind.

This white cardstock was the first test I did for this technique. While it has too much product on it, you can see how opulent and shiny it is.  It's like gilding in a jar - incredible!

Way back in 1996, the company I worked for in Topeka, Kansas built a new national headquarters and my boss and I were in charge of that project. One of the big things for the board room in that building was that Gold Leaf was applied to the ceiling. There was tall scaffolding all the way up to about 2 feet from the ceiling. The workers laid on their backs, working with what was about a 4 inch square piece of gold leaf on some type of substrate that they applied to small sections of the ceiling at a time until the ceiling was completely covered in Gold Leaf.  It was tedious and took several days with two workers.  The end result was quite stunning.

Vintage Jadeite Cardstock

I knew that you could get Gold Leaf Sheets at Simon Says Stamp, but I also wanted to see what my other options were.  When I got to Hobby Lobby I went to the area where the spray paints are and figured that would be a good place to start.  To make a long story short, after asking the lady in charge of that department, I decided on a product called Metallic Lustre in the color Gold Rush. This is a wax based product that you rub on and keep rubbing until you get a gold shine. The effect is permanent. While I'm not too keen on how my Eiffel Tower looks now, it was such a cool product and it reminded me of Tonic Nuvo Embellishment Mouse. I think this product is pretty similar but I did order some of the embellishment mousse for a comparison and will let you know the results later.  Nuvo Embellishment Mousse is around $8.00 a jar and contains 2.2 oz. of product. Metallic Lustre contains 1 fluid oz. of product but the jars seem the same size based on photographs.  It costs $7.00 and I used a 40% off coupon for it.  I'll have to let you know later how size, quantity, texture and all of that compares.

Lovely Lady Cardstock

To apply this product, I wore a rubber glove. I buy a box of gloves at my local Sally Beauty Supply for messy jobs such as polishing shoes, hair color or any occasion such as this. I tried a soft cloth first but I didn't have as much control for applying the product and liked the rubber glove better.  As you apply this product, you just keep rubbing until it turns shiny.  It only took seconds for this to happen.

I did find that you have to be very light handed and careful when applying this to paper. It's is very easy to overdo how much product you are using.  There were a few pieces of cardstock I had to trash but I practiced on scraps to begin with so it was no big deal.  I liked so many of the ones I made, that I turned out about 10 cards really fast.  I was sending some cards to Vickie and another friend that had asked for some, so it was nice to include these in there as well.

I cut the background panels with the largest Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle Die and used gold foiled cardstock for the leafy branch (Spellbinder's Romantic Vines) and the Fancy Butterfly (Impression Obsession and my very favorite) butterfly to tie everything in with the background panel and the gold sentiment on the banner. It's hard to capture how pretty this is in photographs, but give it a try and you'll see what I mean.

I tried this technique with a variety of embossing folders but I found that the Victorian Styled Anna Griffin ones were the style I liked best.  The lines of the embossing are very delicate and that particular characteristic seems to work best with this technique. I have a couple of those but you'll just have to try what you have. I cannot stress the importance of a very light touch. Just the barest hint of product on the tip of your finger is all it takes. You can add more, but you cannot take away with this product. I also tried this with a Mini Ink Blending Tool, but there was still not enough control for the light application that's needed. I suggest trying with whatever embossing folders you have in your stash and getting a feel for which ones do and don't work.

I hope you enjoyed this technique and I will be sure to share more information on the Tonic Nuvo Embellishment Mousse as soon as I receive it and can compare the two products.  I was thinking before that those mousses were in the "nice to have" category and now I think I may need a few more colors sometime.

Thanks for sticking with me this long.  If you try this out, I'd love to hear your results! Your sweet comments continue to be an encouragement to me!

Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge #59

I have been enjoying playing in the Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenges since I discovered it earlier this summer.  Heidi and the crew at Simon Says Stamp always have a gift certificate for each of the challenges which run bi-weekly.  I won one of them a few weeks ago.  There's also no limit as to how many times I can enter each challenge as long as I am meeting the other qualifications of a new project and using some of the Simon Says Stamp branded Stamps or Dies. So it's kind of a nice change of pace.  The theme this week is for Christmas/Holiday and heaven knows I've been doing plenty of those, but I have a few more for friends to do.  My family cards have all been done and mailed out, but I still have several friends I want to make one for.  

Today, I needed to make some cards for the men in a friend's life that she wants to give them for Christmas.  For this first group of cards, I used the Simon Says Stamp "Look For the Miracles" Stamp Set.  I know it isn't a Christmas set but, after all, Christmas is all about miracles so I think this sentiment works well for this style.

I started by splattering some gold metallic watercolor and some white pearl watercolor all over a half sheet length of  Night of Navy Cardstock (my last sheet by tapping my brush onto the handle of another one to make the splatter.  I do this in a shallow box lid to contain the mess and set it aside to dry overnight usually.  The size of your brush determines the size of your spatter.  My most commonly used brush is my #8 Silver Black Velvet Brush and my #4 Silver Black Velvet Brush.

I also found some metallic watercolor online that I am enjoying very much and I wanted to share my find with you.  So last year around this time I invested in a set of Finetec Mica Gold Watercolors.  I love them and I have used them several times but no one seems to carry the little refill pans you need once the pans are empty and two of mine are nearly gone.  The refills are made, but I haven't found them at all my usual places. This means that I don't use them as often as I want because it is not something that's going to be easy to replace and I am hoping I don't have to buy the full set again.

The other day, I ran across some Metallic Gold and Metallic Pearl White Watercolors in 8 ounce bottles. The price point was low (around $8.00), especially for the amount of product you get.  You can mix it with a bit of water or use it straight from the bottle. This means I can use all the Gold Spatter I want on my projects, so be forewarned that I am sure it will be in use often around here.... now that I don't have to hoard it anymore. *Ü* The Brand is Sargent Art and I found mine on Amazon.

Back to my card.  I splattered Gold Watercolor Paint on the navy cardstock, let that dry over night, then splattered it again with the White Watercolor Paint and let that dry all morning.  Next I stamped the sentiment from the "Look for the Miracles" Stamp Set in Ranger Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder and heat set it. Next I got several of the Snowflakes from the Papertrey Ink "What the Doodle Snowflake" Stamp set and stamped them randomly around the rest of the background and heat embossed them using the same Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder.  I did cut the panel with the largest Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle Die and mounted it to a top folding card base made from Papertrey Ink Classic Kraft cardstock.

I made three cards in this style and then I switched it up by creating the same design on a Bazzill Whirlypop panel with Hero Arts White Embossing Powder and only Metallic White Pearl splatter. To stay with the slightly lighter colored theme, I heat embossed the snowflakes in WOW! Metallic Platinum Sparkle Embossing Powder and mounted that to a top folding card base made from Stamper's Select White Cardstock.  

That is it for today!  Thanks so much for stopping by to check out my blog.  I really appreciate all of the kind and encouraging comments you leave.  I have several other projects finished so I will be back very soon!

Simon Says & Inspired

My card today is for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and Inspired By All The Little Things Challenge #34. The theme at Simon's is A Christmas To Die For (using a die) and the Inspired Challenge gave us this picture to use for inspiration.  I love the black and white with pops of red and green.  For my red and green, I decided to use a Poinsettia.

I started my card by cutting a black card base from True Black Cardstock.  I also cut a white inside panel so there would be a place to write a message. Next I cut a base layer from Altenew Spicy Yogurt Cardstock at 5 3/8th x 4 1/8th .  For the next layers I cut the largest Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle Die (4 x 5.5) from Pure Poppy Cardstock.  The music paper was the final scrap I had left and it had already been cut down into a stitched rectangle previously.  Next I die cut the bloom of the poinsettia using the Spellbinders Layered Poinsettia Die with Pure Poppy Cardstock and the leaves from some scraps of cardstock.  The poinsettia cuts 4 layers of the flowers so they are very easy to put together.

Additionally, I cut three of the "Believe" die cuts and one black shadow.  I put the three layers together using a little bit of spray adhesive and then used Ranger Multi Medium Matte to adhere the shadow to the back of the die cuts.  This Simon Says Stamp Exclusive Believe Die is my favorite from this year's release and I know it will be a favorite for many years to come.

That is my card for today!  It was super easy to put together and I love how it turned out.  Also, there was no stamping, just die cutting so it came together really fast.

Thank you so much for stopping by and be sure to stop over at both of the challenge blogs to see if you find some inspiration there. I really appreciate the kind and encouraging comments you leave for me.

I'm also entering this card into the Simon Say Stamp Flickr Challenge #59.

Color Throwdown #412 & the SSS Wednesday Challenge

We have some absolutely gorgeous colors for this week's Color Throwdown Challenge #412. While this has been one of the more tedious cards I've ever made, it was definitely worth the effort I put in to it.

I'm pretty sure I am not the only crafter or card maker out there who has a stash of Prima flowers. While I didn't use a stamp set today, my card was completely inspired by the Simon Says Stamp Stamptember set called Hydrangea Blooms.  When I got mine out to use it this morning,  I realized I had a branch die that was nearly identical in looks but a bit longer and I also have rows of jars sitting on shelves just full of Prima Flowers that I could use for this technique. So, using the stamp set as my guide, I set about creating some 3D Hydrangea branches for my card.

To begin with, I still had some card stock that was misted with some Pine Feather Color Spray I had made and added Gold Shimmer Mist to after the color had a chance to dry.  Those scraps were still on my work surface, just laying there. Since they were made with such a dark green ink, the were the perfect color for my Hydrangea branches.  I also had enough of this same dark green paper to cut out 4 of the leaves from the Simon Says Stamp Hydrangea Blooms Coordinating Dies.  The leaves are such a distinctive shape and I felt it was important to incorporate them.  

Next I gathered some of the Primas in Peach and Pink, using both small and large blooms and misted them in a coordinating color spray for a deeper, richer color. I have several color sprays made up in favorite colors so they are ready to go when I need one. I have a bright Pink, Coral, Sugarplum, Aqua and Dark Green. These are the colors I use most often and I re-purpose Shimmer Mist bottles after I empty the original contents.  Once the color spray was dry, I gave them a spritz with my shimmer mist (of course) and set them aside to dry again.  

While I was waiting for that, I did some ink blending on a piece of Fabriano #140 Watercolor Paper.  I don't care too much for this paper because of it's color (cream vs. white) but it takes a lot of water or moisture very well and if I'm doing ink blending, the original color won't show anyway. I used Salty Ocean and Lucky Clover Distress Inks to do my background panel.  As I usually do, I gave it a healthy dose of Iridescent Gold Shimmer Spritz to help move and blend the colors.  While this panel was just slightly damp, I ran it though my Die Cutting machine with a sandwich in this order from bottom to top:  A Plate, B Plate, Embossing Pad, background panel right side up and an unmarked B Plate over the top. This is an Embossing Sandwich that you will run through your machine. If you use a cutting pad that has cut marks in it for you top layer of the sandwich, those marks will transfer to your paper, so you want to keep an unmarked cutting pad set aside for just this purpose.  This really smooths out the texture in the paper and flattens it to minimize warping.  I discovered this quite by accident last December when I was working on a project for my sister-in-law, Vickie, but I have kept an unmarked cutting pad since that time for this purpose. Some people will not want to remove the texture but this is how I do it. Before I started assembling my card, I cut this panel with the largest Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle.  I used the Simon Says Stamp "Hello" and Bazzill Whirlypop Card Shoppe Cardstock for my card base.  

Then I began putting my layers of blooms onto the branches using the larger Primas on the bottom layer and the smaller ones for the upper layers.  Once I had all of those attached using Glue Dots, I went back to each one and put a little pearl on there. I must say, that was an important finishing touch for this card. 

I was inspired by and used several different Simon Says Stamp products so I will also be linking up to this week's Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge which is "Anything Goes".  I hope I've inspired you to get out some of your crafty stash and use it to see what you can create.  When I first got this idea in my head, I wasn't sure it would work out as I had pictured but I am so glad it did.  Be sure to stop over at The Color Throwdown Blog and be inspired by all the projects from their Design Team and Challenge Participants.  It's always fun to see how many different ways and styles the same color palette can be used.  

Thank you so much for stopping by to see my project today.  I appreciate that you took time to look and for your kind and encouraging comments.  It means the world to me when you take the time to comment.  

Color Throwdown #407

Hey everybody!  I have a quick (hopefully) post today for the Color Throwdown Challenge #407, in the colors Teal, Lime Green and Yellow. What a bright summery combination this is for the challenge.

Once again, I fell in love with Wanda Guess's project this week as the Guest Designer for August over at The Color Throwdown, so I wanted to make something in similar colors. I started by stamping this Pen Pattern Butterfly from Stampendous onto a piece of Canson Bristol Watercolor Paper and heat embossed it using Ranger Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder.   There are coordinating dies for this set but I didn't use them today.  They are really nice and cut right up to the edge without leaving a white border.

I am currently stocking up on my glittered embossing powders (Ranger Gold Tinsel, WOW! Platinum Sparkle and WOW! Neutral Ultra Shimmer) because last year I waited too long before ordering and everything was out of stock when I wanted to make my Christmas Cards. I'm also making sure that I have plenty of Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder because that is my favorite warm gold embossing powder.  I also really like the Simon Says Stamp Gold Embossing Powder but I tend to use the warmer tone more often.  I heat emboss on pretty much every single card I make! It is my favorite technique after stamping, of course.

For my color palette I used Persian Green (Teal) and May Green in Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers with some Papertrey Bright Buttercup Ink smooshed onto an acrylic block and a waterbrush.  I love how Wanda has watercolored her paper and then cut her butterfly out of it and I think the butterfly I am using is actually large enough to do that with.  For some interest in the background, I used the mask that comes with the stamp set to protect my watercolored image and used a stencil brush to put a very soft layer of Aqua Mist Ink over the background.  I left the mask on and then created some spatter with a #4 Silver Black Velvet Round Brush by mixing a drop of Tropical Teal Reinker and a few drops of water then tapping the brush (really, it was more like whacking) against the handle of another brush. Once that dried, I created some additional spatter using my Finetec Gold Metallic Paint in Tibet Gold.  Can you tell I like spatter?  LOL! Once everything was dry, I cut the panel with the largest Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles dies.

I cut a panel of Simon Says Stamp Audrey Blue Cardstock for a narrow mat around the main panel and mounted everything on top of a Top Folding 5.5 x 4.25 inch top folding note card made from Papertrey Ink Kraft Cardstock using my ATG.

I stamped the greeting from the Papertrey Ink "Scripted" Stamp Set onto the "Number the Stars Banner" die cut.  I also cut one from coaster board for the extra thickness and for the finishing touch I added some Gold Sequins from Pretty Pink Posh using Ranger Multi Medium Matte.

Thanks so much for stopping by to look at my project and double thanks if you take the time to comment! I have so many projects on my dersk right now so I will be back very soon!

SSS Flickr Challenge #51 & Muse Challenge #178

Hello and Happy Monday! Today I am participating in the Muse Challenge #178 as well as the Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge #51 with a theme of Embossing. Tracey McNeely is our Muse for this week on the Muse Challenge. Her card reminds me of poppies with the black specks in the center of it so a Poppy Image is what I used for my card!  My image is from Botanical Blocks III by Papertrey Ink. This stamp has quickly become a favorite for me.  It's easy to watercolor and makes a lot of impact.

Queen Alexandra Poppy

I started with a 4.5 x 5.5 inch piece of Canson Bristol Watercolor Paper. I stamped with Versamark & heat embossed two of the Poppy images on that size panel with Simon Says Stamp Ultra Fine Antique Gold Embossing Powder so that I would have an extra all ready to go if I messed up the first one.  That was a few weeks ago during the Papertrey Stamp-A-Faire 2016 and I didn't mess up the first one so I had this second one sitting on my desk for a while ready to color.

Although there are quite a few colors of poppies in the world, my favorite is the Queen Alexandra Poppy seen in this image.  My mom has one in her yard. I'm thinking if I wanted an exact match I should have used Worn Lipstick Distress Ink but since my card is not an actual photograph, I think it is still quite pretty.  I used my favorite water brush, a Kuretake Zig that I buy on Amazon, with Hibiscus Burst Ink from Papertrey Ink. Hibiscus Burst is becoming my "go-to" choice for Pink.  It's not too dark or too pale and I love to use it for watercolor.

This is really simple to color since it is such a small image (approximately 2 x 3.25 inches) but I think it has pretty big impact here.  I really enjoy using Pink and Black together; one is feminine and the other is classic. Together it is a winning combination.

I used Shabby Shutters Distress Marker for the leaves and stem of the poppy. I'm not too keen on the more yellow greens but it was perfect for this image.  The pink background is a panel I made using a stencil brush with Lovely Lady Ink and then misted with Tsukineko Sparkle Sheer Shimmer Mist. Once it was dry, I cut it using the largest Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle Dies.  I also cut a plain white rectangle in the same size for the inside of my black card base.

Next I cut around the outside of the Botanical Block and matted a very thin layer of black cardstock behind it. It's about 1/16th of a inch wider than the block all the way around. I used Papertrey Ink's True Black Cardstock.  Additionally I used the second from the smallest Stitched Rectangle Die to cut the sentiment out.  I love the stitched detail and these are my absolute favorite dies.  I've gotten very good at using them creatively to make a custom sized stitched rectangle in just about any size I need (except larger).  Anytime I use a dark cardstock for my card base, I cut a stitched rectangle to put on the inside of my card.  For the very center of my flower I used my Zig Clean Color Black Marker to color it in with no water added.  The greeting is from Mums the Word Stamp Set.  One I had the card assembled, I gave the front of the whole card another layer of Tsukineko Sheer Shimmer Spritz.

I have several challenges that I want to play along with this week so I'm going to scoot off here.  If I've left out some detail, be sure to send me an inquiry and I'll come back and edit my post. There's not much new and different here but I enjoy this poppy so much that I already have another color combination in my mind. Thank you so much for spending a few minutes here at my blog today.   I appreciate all the encouraging and uplifting comments!

ETA:  I'll also be linking up this card to the Stampin' Royalty Challenge for their "Anything Goes" Challenge.

A Masculine Birthday Card for Two Challenges

Hello!  I haven't had time in the last several weeks to participate over at The Paper Players Challenge but I was finally able to yesterday evening for a little while. This is for The Paper Players Challenge #306. Although it did take a little time to figure out my design, this is a card that is a super nice choice for any men in your life and came together very fast once I had my design figured out.  The challenge at The Paper Players this week is a Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge. I chose the top row (Enamel Dots, CAS and Masculine) for my card. Masculine cards are always a bit of a struggle for me but I'm very happy with how this one turned out.

I also try to always participate in the challenges over at Simon's — The Monday Challenge and the Wednesday Challenge.  The Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge theme this week is "Celebrate" which fits right in with this birthday card.

To start this card, I selected the papers I wanted to use - True Black, Spicy Yogurt, and Gold Metallic (I use Gold Metallic Poster Board from Hobby Lobby). Black and Gold is always a classic look as is a Clean & Simple (CAS) Card.  For the focal point, I wanted to use this Spellbinders Die called Ritz Decorative Accent.  It is such a bold piece so I switched back and forth between the colors of each piece for a more dramatic look. The die cuts three separate pieces so you can choose what you want each piece to be cut from. I cut the whole thing in Gold Metallic, then used a scrap of black for the center piece and then back to the small diamond piece in Gold Metallic from the original large diecut.  Easy Peasy! I made a vertical and horiontal mark in the center of my Spicy Yogurt Panel so that I could get the first piece of the die cut in the right spot and then the others came easily. I adhered them with Ranger Multi Medium Matte.  I stamped the sentiment from "Mums The Word" on True Black Cardstock from Papertrey Ink and heat set it with Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder.  then mounted that on a scrap of Metallic Gold.  I considered not mounting the sentiment, but by going ahead, it made it a much more cohesive look.  I die cut that panel using a Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle Die in the largest size, taped down with a bit of washi tape so it would move around.  I needed to keep that panel lined up.  I wasn't planning to cut the panel down initially or I would have done it before I started adhering things. *Ü*  I also cut another stitched rectangle for the inside of the card since I ended up using a black card base.  I really like how tied together the entire card is from front to back.  It is perfectly Clean & Simple!

For my Enamel Dots, I used a fairly new product called Nuvo Crystal Drops in Black Gloss.  You totally freehand these dots (its a good idea to practice on a scrap first to get a feel for them) and then once you have them, tap or flick the card on the underside to help them spread out just a little bit. Don't do too much as they need just a tiny bit of dimension to them. Because you are putting them directly onto your card, they won't pop off.  It's like making your own custom enamel dots.  This is a great product!  I love the glossy ones (Black and White) better than the sparkly ones, especially for using on Masculine cards.

This was super fast and easy to put together and would be a great style to use for mass production since the only thing that is stamped is the greeting.  I love the bold graphics.

I very much appreciate you stopping at my blog to take a look and I hope you'll continue to come back and visit.  You can also like and follow Twinkling Paper Studio's Facebook Page.

Inspired By All The Little Things #18

Hello everyone!  I have a really fun card to share today.  I love this photo that was shared as our inspirational image on Inspired By All The Little Things for the #18 Challenge.  While I did struggle a little to find something that I felt worked for this, I liked it so much that I made three cards in the same design, one with a different color.

I also really love it when I can use multiple items from different manufacturers and pull them together on one card as is the case with this card.

I started by die cutting a few of the tulips from Stamper's Select White Cardstock for my previous project.  If I am going to the trouble of doing one set, I always make an extra few sets while I am at it and then I have some ready to go for another project.  I used my MISTI Tool for stamping all of them; three layers for the blooms and two for the stems.  For this particular set I used Papertrey Ink Perfect Match Inks in Lovely Lady, Hibiscus Burst and Raspberry Fizz.  For the leaves I used Papertrey's Vintage Jadeite with Mowed Lawn Distress Ink.

I love adding a touch (or more) of gold to my projects and I remembered I had this Navy and Gold Foil striped paper and felt it would be the perfect elegant touch to go with the inspiration image which is clearly from a wedding.  I created a top folding A2 notecard from SU! Night of Navy Cardstock.  The outer ring on the greeting is from Papertrey Ink's Stamp-A-Faire - Rennasiance Kit. This is a no longer available item but you can watch for it on the For Sale or Trade Board at the Papertrey Forum which is where I got mine.  I didn't have any idea that Papertrey Ink existed in 2014. I only discovered them in 2015.  I love the detail in this die and when I realized I could pair it with the Smile Circle Die from Simon Says Stamp, I actually squeeled outloud!  Since I wanted to add a bit of dimension to my card, I also cut a circle of the navy cardstock to go behind the Smile Circle.

My card assembly was super easy.  I wanted my flowers to frame the sentiment so I adhered the outer ring die cut from the Rennasiance Kit directly to the striped panel using Ranger Multi Medium Matte.  I adhered the circle smile die to the blue cardstock using the same glue.  To pop up the sentiment a little, I used Thin 3D Foam Squares and centered it over the background ring. After that I arranged my tulips how I wanted them on top of the panel then applied Thin 3D Foam Squares on the back of them and placed them onto my card front.  This is such an elegant looking card and I loved combining my supplies to get these results.

I adhered the background panel to my card base using Scor-Tape (Sookwang Paper Tape) in a ⅛th inch width.  It's available in several widths and it's a very strong adhesive.  Sometimes I grab what is at my fingertips so right now I have the scor-tape on my desk.  It's also nice because you can just tear it and don't have to sit and measure each strip of adhesive out.  It is a very strong dry adhesive.

I also made a second card with this same design using cardstock in Berry Sorbet, Gold Metallic Poster Board and Kraft.  The tulip blooms are stamped in Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet and Scarlet Jewel Inks. For the butterfly, I like to put a narrow strip of foam adhesive down the body until it thins out and then put a bit of adhesive at the bottom of each wing to make it appear as if it could take flight at any moment.  This butterfly is from Impression Obsession and is my favorite.  I have two or three others but I reach for this one over and over.  In fact, it has a special place on my table and never gets put away. If I'm going to use a butterfly, I want this one called "Fancy Butterfly". It is a two layered image but I often use only the top layer like you see here.  The other part of it is the solid image.

I'm entering this second card over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge for their theme of Summer Garden.  Yes, I do know Tulips are more of a springtime flower, but the are gorgeous and can be enjoyed anytime!

You can see lots more inspiration over at Inspired By All The Little Things. Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I'll be back with a new project very soon!