Butterflies and Ink Layering

Hello! Happy Thursday!

It's a little gloomy here in Cary today.  I'm hoping the storms that are coming will wash some of the pollen away.  There's been a yellow tint to the air for days and I've stayed tucked inside, protecting my sinuses as much as possible!

Yet, my cards I have to share this morning should brighten up anyone's day.  I finally tried the Negative Layering Technique, a technique shown by Jennifer McGuire a couple years ago.  If you're part of the group, Sharing Handmade Kindness on FB, it was the March Challenge there.  I don't know how I hadn't seen that technique before this month.  I love it!  And I love how my cards turned out!

For these cards I I used colors from the current Sunday Stamps Challenge, which is a color challenge.  Colors used for the backgrounds are all Catherine Pooler Inks: Martini, Glitz,  Party Dress and Cranberry Fizz. 

On the first card, above,  I chose butterfly stamps from Happy Butterflies, (Catherine Pooler Designs), stamped in Midnight ink.  I then masked them off using their coordinating dies and ink blended the background.   After ink blending and drying this one, I stamped the Hero Arts Fancy Script background stamp in Cranberry Fizz over the whole panel (butterflies still masked). I ran a heat tool over it to dry quicker again. Next, I placed a stencil, Flourishes & Wimsy over the whole panel and tapped Unicorn White pigment ink by Hero Arts in places with a small sponge dauber.  The sentiment I stamped in Midnight ink several times and then with WOW embossing ink and embossed with clear embossing powder.

The same technique was done for the card above except after ink blending, I stenciled over the panel using the same colors with a Scribbled Circles stencil (Catherine Pooler).  The butterfly stamps are from the set, Take Flight (Catherine Pooler). Then, I left the stencil on top and stamped through it with the Pine Forest background stamp (Catherine Pooler) with Unicorn White pigment ink by Hero Arts. The sentiment is from two different sets.  The YOU I die cut three times from black cardstock and glued together for dimension.  

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Thanks for visiting my blog! I hope you stop by again soon.

Inky Blessings!

 

Swinging Spring Bunny

Hello.  One more post for tonight...

I just love this swinging bunny die, one of this month's clubs from Spellbinders.  So when it came in the mail this past week I had to play with it!  It comes with all the bunny parts, the swing, a small and large cloud, and three balloon dies as well. Who doesn't love a bunny on a swing?  Better than in the garden for sure! LOL.

 I started out using an ivory cardbase and used the same for the background panel.  I used a cloud embossing folder on the background to add some depth and more interest.  I inked up some cardstock using Rose Petals and Sage dye inks by Catherine Pooler and then cut the bunny, grass and flowers from them.  That bunny as cute as it is, is a little bugger to glue together.  hahaha  The grass die I've had for a very long time and the flowers are a die for a wreath that I cut and then added white gel pen to the middle of each one.  The sentiment is from Stampendous.

For Following Challenges:

Little Red Wagon - #646 - Emboss Everything

NBUS Challenge #36

My NBUS was the bunny, swing and cloud dies.

I'm so glad you stopped by for a visit.  See you again soon!

Swinging Bunny Blessings!🐇

Hoppy Birthday

A "Hoppy" Birthday card this time.  

This panel was in my UFO pile as well, all watercolored and ready! I raised it using postal dies for more interest and layered effect.  I love how it turned out!   

For Following Challenges:

Krafty Chicks Challenge #604- All Occasions

I'm so glad you stopped by for a visit.  Please come back again soon!

"Hoppy" Blessings!

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Frog/lily pads/sentiment-Hoppy Day(Hero Arts)

Paper: White cardstock (Neenah); Watercolor (Strathmore)

Ink: Watercolor pens (Zigs); Midnight Archival ink (Catherine Pooler)

Extras: Postal dies (Catherine Pooler Designs). 

Pawsome Day

Good Evening!

I'm still sharing cards!  Trying to get some cards posted for some challenges closing soon. The Hub is off today and so we've been hanging out --- him reading, me crafting and watching some Disney movies together.  

Now tell me, who wouldn't want to party with this crew? Haha I made this card for our dog to give to someone pretty special who has a birthday in a couple weeks. Who else makes cards for your fur family to give?  I know you're out there! LOL

I just love these pups from Tim Holtz.  I masked and stamped this quite a while ago and colored it with Zig watercolor pens but then it got stuck in my UFO pile until about a week ago.  I finished the background, added a sentiment and some party paraphernalia.  The glasses are from Spellbinders. Party hats and balloons - Catherine Pooler Designs.  Bone and ball - Tom Holtz.    

Thanks for stopping by to visit my and I hope you come back again soon!

Pawsome Birthday Blessings!

 

 

Sweet 16

 Hello again.

I'm so glad you've stopped by.

Check out this card I've created...

A special celebratory card for this post...a birthday card.  Since it is a special card, I made a very bright and sparkly background.  The background was created with the Scribbled Hearts stencil by Catherine Pooler and lots of ink blending to create a rainbow of hearts.  After ink blending the stencil, I cleaned off the stencil and then applied Bo Bunny Sugar Glitter to make the rainbow hearts sparkly.  I wanted this background to stand out the most so I die cut balloon dies out of vellum and just added die cut numbers cut from gold foil cardstock. All products I used are by Catherine Pooler Designs except for the sugar glitter.

For Following Challenges:

I chose Balloons, Sparkle, Bright Colours, Layers

Thank you for the visit.  Please come back soon!

Special Birthday Blessings!

Easter Bunny Wishes

Hello Monday!

Hope you had a nice weekend.   

It's a pollen-apocalypse now here in central North Carolina.  For the next month everything outside will be covered in a yellow powder/film as well as the air.  Springtime in NC! 🤧 A good excuse to stay in my craft room.😀

Ok by me, as I have a list of cards to blog and a longer list to still make. This one I used the sketch at CAS Colour & Sketches to create a clean and simple Easter card.  I've been sorting through already made backgrounds again and took a few to cut out the egg and bunnies.  I love those stitched bunnies by Lil' Inker Designs (no longer in business, sadly).  So so cute!  The egg die is a new one from Catherine Pooler Designs and the sentiment is from Stamping Bella.

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Thank you for stopping by for a visit to my blog.  I hope you come again soon!

Easter Blessings!

Card Supplies:

Stamps: Sentiment - Easter Sentiments (Stamping Bella)

Paper: Watercolor paper (Strathmore); White cardstock (Neenah Solar White).

Ink: Minted, Samba, Chiffon (Catherine Pooler Inks)

Extras: Egg Hunt egg die (Catherine Pooler); Scalloped stitched slimline die (Catherine Pooler); Bunny dies (Lil' Inker Designs).

Wonderful Bouquet

 Good Afternoon!

It's been a couple weeks since I shared anything.  It's been warm off and on here and so I've been taking advantage of it by getting out for some small hikes or sitting on the patio.  So the cats have been watching the craft room for me. LOL

I have been cleaning out in the craft room a little bit more.  In so doing, I've been going through the piles of backgrounds, unfinished images, unfinished cards trying to use them up finally in finished cards.  This post is one of them and I'm playing it in The Paper Players challenge and The Flower Challenge.  Both challenges are ending today so I'm squeezing it in.

In going through some piles, I found this bouquet, by Studio Katia, that I had made a long while back, using the bleach technique.  It's original background behind it had some goofs on it from the bleach so I had tossed it aside.  So, I decided to fussy cut the bouquet out to finally make it into a card.  I also had the shiplap stamped background in my stash I had discarded from another project. All added was the sentiment from the same stamp set as the flowers, Blooming Bunch, by Studio Katia.

For some glimmer and bling I had added some sparkle in the middle of the flowers but it has been too long for me to remember whether it's Wink of Stella or embossed powder or similar.

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Thanks for stopping by and visiting my blog today.  Please come again soon!

Bouquet Blessings!

Blue Leaf Thanks

TGIF!

The weekend is very close at hand!  It's a cool 58 degrees today, a far cry from 81 of yesterday!  That's central NC for you - a ping pong match of weather.

Back in the fall I played around with my Gel plate and real leaves.  Finally getting around to making them into cards.  This one I found had the right colors for the current Sunday Stamps challenge.  I'm skirting in in the final hours of the challenge.

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"Gelly" Blessings!

 

Balloons & Rainbows

Hello! It's me again!

More birthday cards!

These are slimline cards I made for my nieces.  They're two years a part but sometimes they like having things a like and even with their birthdays four months apart, April and August. So, I figured I'd make them both at the same time and similar.  

I used stamps from Lawn Fawn and Ellen Hutson for Kate's card and just the Lawn Fawn for Sophia's card.  I die cut their names using alpha dies by Trinity Stamps and inlaid them in rainbow stripes. I had a lot of fun making these cards.  

 

These are for the AAA Birthday Card Challenge as well as the Timeout Challenge.

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Card Supplies:

Stamps: Really High Five (Lawn Fawn) and Sock Monkey Surprise (Ellen Hutson).

Paper: Solar White cardstock (Neenah); Various colored cardstock from stash.

Ink: Midnight (Catherine Pooler); Copics.

Extras: Coordinating dies for Really High Five and Sock Monkey; Alpha Dies (Trinity Stamps); Slimline Diagonal Stitched die (PinkFresh Studio).

Rainbow Birthday Blessings!

Floral Birthday

 Good Afternoon!

It's a gorgeous Carolina blue day here in Cary, NC!  Hope it's just a gorgeous wherever you are.  I have been sitting outside enjoying the nice weather and trying to get some blogging done while listening to an audiobook.  Got to love multi-tasking! LOL

I have another birthday card to share at Timeout Challenges during their 8th Birthday challenge these next two weeks.  

The flowers on this card are Altenew's Wallpaper Art flowers.  I actually watercolored them a long time ago, I think back in 2019 during a trip to Sedona.  Yes, they've been stuck in my stash.  I'm still trying to use up things in my stash (will it ever empty?)!  I cut the Petal Connection Cover Plate by Catherine Pooler Designs from black cardstock and slipped gold foil cardstock by Lawn Fawn behind it.  I also cut the Leaf Canopy dies by Altenew in the same gold foil to set behind the flowers.  I finished the card off by adding a gold embossed sentiment (Catherine Pooler) on black cardstock.

For Following Challenges:

Happy Birthday Time Out Challenges!

Floral Birthday Blessings!

Happy Birth-They

 Hello again!

Here I am piling on the blogging again.  I still have several cards I have not shared.  I try to wait to post in the evenings when the Hubs is at work but lately the evenings have been either busy or I've fallen asleep in mid-sentence. It's very late again so I fear the latter may happen again!

We had a milestone birthday this past weekend.  Our oldest, Arrow(dead name -Patrick), turned 30!  How do I have a 30 year old I don't know because I don't feel much older than that myself!  Anyhoo it's reality.  This is the birthday card I made for them.  I know many people are not very familiar with all the gender pronouns and such.  Our oldest, birth name Patrick, has been a member of the LGBTQIA2s+ community for several years now and this past summer announced their preference for nonbinary gender identification publicly.  Thus they chose to change their name to a non-gender bias name, Arrow.  So, long story short, they identify as nonbinary using "they/their/them".  And with embracing that with them, I created their birthday card using the nonbinary colors, which are yellow, white, purple and black.  They loved it.

I used stamp sets, Birthday Cake Remix, Milestone Birthday number dies, and Hey Mister stamp set by Catherine Pooler Designs along with Limoncello, Grape Crush and Midnight CP inks.  It did take a little creativity to make the "birth-they" as I don't have a "they" stamp.  It was a collaboration using a "hey" stamp and a single "birth" stamp that is part of the Hey Mister set with a small "arrow" in between.

I'm still trying to get used to the fact they're 30 so I guess I can no longer claim I'm still 30! LOL

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Birth-They Blessings!