Winter Wonderland

Hello PINspirational Friends,

I am so happy to have you here today. We have a new challenge at PINspirational! But before I get to the challenge here is my card for today, enjoy!

I enlarged the digi and added the blue 'halo' around her head. Printed.
Stamped the snowflakes and sentiment. Colored the digi using polychromo pencils.

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Pinspirational

Challenge #230

The sponsor is

~Lemon Shortbread~

Prize-3 digis

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Above: I wanted to create a fade effect on her cloak. It seemed to go with the rest of the design. Below: Detail shots of coloring and stamping.

 

 Well, thank you again for taking time out of your busy day to visit my corner of the internet. I do hope you will join us at (PIN)spirational and play along. Until then take care and we will see you soon!

Reindeer Ornaments

Hello All,

For today I am sharing my card with Freshly Made Sketches and The Color Throwdown. I have noticed I work frequently with these two challenges. Anyway, here is my card for today, enjoy!

This card was inspired by the die cut deer. Making a card friendly shadowbox wasn't as hard as I thought. What challenged me is what goes around the card to accentuate the deer focal point. I thought the neutral whites were perfect. 

Above: The attention is obviously the deer and its ornaments. So I wanted to keep the rest of the card free from clutter. I chose a geometric white on white patterned paper. It adds interest but not enough to take away from the star of the show. Left/Below: The strings of ornaments were layered up between the layers of the deer. Dimension for sure! It looks like a mini shadowbox.  Right/Bottom: Due to the numerous layers of the deer I had to build up the sentiment on its left side. To do that, I die cut two craft foam pieces and sandwiched them under the sparkly silver die. The result, the sentiment was perfectly level. Phew!

  

Challenges Entered:

The Color Throwdown: ctd519

Freshly Made Sketches: FMS363

Thank you so much for stopping by and do appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to spend time with me. I hope you all have a fantastic day and lots of good crafting vibes headed your way.

Late Fall

Hello Everyone,

I am playing along with The Paper Players and Inkspirational today. Here is my card for today, enjoy!!!

I do enjoy coloring directly on colored CS.
The coloring comes alive, vibrant, and full of pizazz. Plus I sponging the edges of the stamped panel really frames the leaf scene nicely.

Above: I cut the stamped image on the bottom and mounted on a base of the same color. To add a bit of contrast I sponged the edges of the dimensional panel. Left/Below: I colored the stamped image with Prismacolor pencils and smoothed out using Gamsol. Right/Bottom: This picture is shown in the light highlighting the gold accents and glittery enamel dots.

 

Challenges Entered:
The Paper Players: PP418- Color Challenge
Inkspirational:
 

I think The Paper Players color challenge is a good one because it is late fall here in the northern hemisphere. The skies have gone gray and the leaves have all fallen off their parent trees. Yet still, fall color remains on some trees but mostly you have to look down on the floor of the earth. Lots of reds, yellows, and brown paint the floor with the splendor of fall. Look up to the sky and see winter is on its way. You can feel it on your nose and in your bones. We shall see how this season pans out.

Thank you so much for stopping by and do appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to spend time with me. I hope you all have a fantastic day and lots of good crafting vibes headed your way.

Grateful Harvest

Hello All,

This is my second post today! For I have not been busy online but have been busy in my craft room. So much so, I missed challenges where I have made cards. Oh well, I am sure I will use them for another time. 

My weekly search for challenges brought me across a color challenge from Sunday Stamps. I am a sucker for color challenges so I had to jump in the fun. Here is my card for today.

This is a simple one layer CAS card. Lots of white area with minimal focal points.
The scene was stamped using blue and maize color inks with some blending at the horizon line. 

The wheat background was done simply masking the harvest scene and stamping the wheat. Sunday Stamps challenge had such a simple, concise, and almost monotone look. This is what I wanted to convey on my card. 

The scene seemed to be flat. So I added a bit of dark blue color to the top of the scene. I think it made it pop just enough to add some depth and interest.

  Challenges Entered:

Sunday Stamps: SSC191- Fall Whisper

Thank you so much for stopping by and do appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to spend time with me. I hope you all have a fantastic day and lots of good crafting vibes headed your way.

Lantern Waste

Hello All,

Today I am playing along with The Library Challenge. Their theme this last fortnight is one of my favorite books as a child and as an adult; The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. I am also entering Make My Monday which focuses on winter foliage. Here is my card for today, enjoy!

Lantern Waste is a scene in the book where a
lamppost was seeded and then sprouted out of the ground. I am going to spare you the details and send you off to a website that explains the symbolism and reason why a lamppost is randomly sitting in the middle of a forest. So click here to find out more.

First I stamped the lantern using Archival Ink by Ranger. I wanted this image to be crisp, clean, and have no doubt it is in the foreground. As in any snow shower or storm visibility can be hazy or foggy at best. Even when things are close the scene seems to be layered with a hazy film. I wanted to achieve that result with my backdrop. I stamped the large pines using Distress Ink on watercolor paper. I took the aqua pen spreading out the color. I applied white multisurface acrylic paint to the branches and lamp-post to imply snow- making sure some of the color on the tree was visible.

I used the same technique for the smaller trees behind and made sure more white paint was applied to create a foggy effect. According to the story, the lantern was consistently lit- not from their traditional oil but from the fertile ground where the post was planted.

The sentiment was die cut using leftover velvet paper I had in my stash.
It creates such warmth and texture to the card.

 I read this story as a child and was just as captivated then as I was when I was an adult reading it to my daughter. The book is full of magic, an adventure that sucks you into the story. So much so, you don't want to leave. Thank goodness there are seven volumes! If you have not read The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe please take the time to read it. I promise you will not be disappointed.

Challenges Entered:
The Library Challenge: Challenge #19- The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe (Narnia)
Make My Monday Challenge: Challenge #84- Winter Foliage

Thank you so much for stopping by and do appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to spend time with me. I hope you all have a fantastic day and lots of good crafting vibes headed your way.

Good Vibes

Hello PINspirational Friends,

I am so happy to have you here today. We have a new challenge at PINspirational! But before I get to the challenge here is my card for today, enjoy!

This card is shown as two images when in fact it is one digi split in two.
With the help of photo editing software, it made it very easy to get these results.
I have said it before and I'll say it again;
Tinker around with your software. See what it can do. To me, that is the best way to learn.
For this card, layers are the answers to its success.

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Pinspirational

Challenge #228

The sponsor is

~Cute As A Button~

Prize-2 digis

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Above: I have never experienced a drive-thru diner but I can only imagine food and roller skates not being the best idea. I guess that is why they are no longer around. Thoughts? Below/Left; Bottom/Right: Our waitresses lips and sentiment are coated with Wink of Stella. I wanted to add a bit sparkle to an already very colorful card. 

 

Well, thank you again for taking time out of your busy day to visit my corner of the internet. I do hope you will join us at (PIN)spirational and play along. Until then take care and we will see you soon!

Merry Ornament

Hello All, 

This is Shawna's daughter, Iris. I know that this is unusual, but we both thought it would be fun for me to take a shot at this blogging thing for a bit. For this card, Mom is working with CAS(E) this Sketch, Addicted to CAS, The Merry Christmas Challenge, and Double D Challenges. Although it should be a federal crime to post Christmas cards on Halloween, I have to say that my mom's most recent design turned out very well. Enjoy!

Those pretty red stripes were made using fired brick distress oxide ink and stencils. The fading greed around the pine was sponged using crushed olive distress oxide ink and mowed lawn distress ink. The needles themselves were stamped with ranger pesto ink, and only one stamp was actually used, facing in multiple directions for a more natural look. I'm nodding casually because I know what all of that means...

To create balance, the ornament is centered horizontally rather than vertically. The crushed olive fades around the ornament, giving it a sort of glow.

The ornament was colored using Copic Ciao and MEXPY alcohol markers. (I'm not jealous at all... no really...) The shading and light reflection creates a feeling of dimension. The idea was sketched out on paper beforehand, so the final image didn't come out messy.

Challenges Entered:
CAS(E) this Sketch: CTS#295
Addicted to CAS: Game #148- One Layer
The Merry Christmas Challenge: Anything Christmas
Double D Challenges: Stripes & Dots

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Iris's Commentary: What I really love about this card is the contrast that its different elements create. The stripes are clean and uninformed, while the pine is random and its color fades into the background. Both the stripes and the ornament itself appear very crafted and manmade, but the green needles are more natural and free. Not only does this make for a beautiful design, but it also shows of the different ways that we celebrate major events: with a mixture of our own culture and the world that was there before. I believe that subtle things like this help to create a better image of the words printed on the card's face. This post is really becoming cheesier than a stuffed crust pizza, and I've already droned on for what seems like way too long in comparison to what my mom writes, so I should probably stop about now. Stay amazing and never stop being positive! Iris is out!!

Thank you so much for stopping by and do appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to spend time with me. I hope you all have a fantastic day and lots of good crafting vibes headed your way.

With Sympathy...

Hello everyone,

Today I am only submitting this card to Stamplorations. During my weekly search for challenges, I went to AAA Cards only to find a shocking message. A fellow crafter, Melissa Lane, died unexpectedly October 2, 2018. 

I read the family's business FB page and found myself crying for them. I have never known her, nor have I been on any design teams with her. I searched my blog in hopes we had some contact but unfortunately, no communication took place. But still, I grieved for the family losing a mom, wife, and daughter. And for our community losing someone so special to so many people around the world. Her work was amazing, articulate, and full of life. As I read more I could see she lived the way she created, with love, faith, and compassion.  

Here is my card for today.

Melissa's favorite color was red and she loved butterflies.

May you rest in peace Melissa.
With Deepest Sympathy,