Yellow Umbrellas

 Hello All,

Today I am playing along with INKspirational and Double D Challenges. Yellow and gray aren't my favs but that is exactly the reason why I wanted to try this challenge. Here is my card for today, enjoy!

This card is designed with a metal stencil from Spellbinders (I think). I can envision a crowded city street while it's raining. Can you imagine... Crowds!!

The stencil was taped down over a sheet of dark gray cardstock. I used tinted embossing paste that was mixed with shades of yellow. I then added a thin sheet of paste to the stencil to give an ombre look. After it was dry I went back and carved the ribs of the umbrella for more texture and consistency.

After carving, I used a gray ink pad and lightly spread the ink over the paste at an angle to create a sense of rain. You can imagine pools of water washing over umbrellas. I colored between the umbrellas with a lighter shade of gray for contrast.

Challenges Entered:

INKspirational: Challenge 237 - Taxi Picture
Double D Challenges: April Showers

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

All the best,

Spring Blooms

 Hello All,

For today I am playing along with Sunday Stamps. I love color challenges and this is no exception! Here is my card for today, enjoy!

Spring has sprung my friends and what better way to celebrate than a spring card! 
I love the color combination and the Tim Holtz bloom flower die is the centerpiece of the design. 
I must say it is a bit tedious to put the flower together but well worth it!

The sentiment is actually part of a larger die-cut that was trimmed down to fit the card. The angle of the design seems to accentuate the movement of the flower.

If you look closely you will see some white detail stamped on the striped cardstock. That was done by using stamping foam and a stencil. Heat up the stamping foam, while warm press down on the item you want to stamp and it will leave an impression on the foam which you can stamp on your card. It is a subtle detail but it seemed that the blue was too dark so I lightened it up by adding white detailing.

Challenges Entered:

Sunday Stamps: SSC255 Spring Blooms

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

All the best,

Bringing Calm

Hello my CMHCD friends,

For today I am sharing our next challenge at Color My Heart Color Dare. You have a pick of at least three colors for our challenge. I would like to ask you to please identify your color choices in your blog post. Here is my card for today, enjoy!

Calm is the theme for this card. Nature scenes like these always seem to bring the stress level down. I love the challenge colors! To me, they looked very deep and dark but when I started using them I realized they are a kaleidoscope of bright and delightful colors!

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Now for our challenge!

Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge #442

I used all the colors!!!

Shawna Standish

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The wood background is patterned paper with a retired SU Hardwood stamp stamped on top. The original patterned paper didn't seem to have enough visual texture; the hardwood stamp seemed to have solved that problem.

The scene was colored using alcohol markers. The coloring is nothing fancy, it was quick took only ten minutes to complete. It took me longer to choose the marker color than actually coloring it.

Challenges entered:

The Paper Players: Sketch Challenge- PP530 

The Male Room: TMR#149

Well, thank you again for taking the time out of your busy day to visit my corner of the internet. I do hope you will join us at Color My Heart Color Dare and play along.

Lots of good crafting vibes headed your way. I hope you all have a fantastic day and please stay safe and stay healthy. Until then take care and we will see you soon!

Marvelous Mom

 Hello All,

For today I am playing along with Freshly Made Sketches. Here is my card for today, enjoy!

The sentiment came from well...... I don't remember. It has been in my stash for years. Every once in a while I crack open my bits drawer and say: "Dang, I should have used that for a card.". Well, I opened my bits drawer at the right time of year because there it was! 

I added a gray background and stamped it using the Line and Dot background stamp from Hero Arts. I like the movement of the lines. It adds a lot of interest to an otherwise unexciting backdrop.

The M&M's were die-cut in their respective colors. I colored the edges a bit darker than the corresponding cardstock. Stamped the letter 'm' in pigment white ink and add shine using a white colored pencil.

Challenges Entered:

Freshly Made Sketches: FMS481

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

All the best,

Flower Inchies

 Hello All,

For today I have come to play along with Freshly Made Sketches and The Flower Challenge. With Mother's Day right around the corner, I thought it was time to make a nice pastel flower card. Here is my design for today, enjoy!

Challenges Entered:

The Flower Challenge: #55- Pretty Pastels

Freshly Made Sketches: FMS481

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

All the best,

Sunny Sunflower

 Hello my CMHCD friends,

For today I am sharing our next challenge at Color My Heart Color Dare. This fortnight challenge is called Crazy 8. Choose any four blocks to create your design. Lots of possibilities here- I would like to ask you to please identify the four blocks you chose in your blog post. That way we know for sure what colors you chose. Here is my card for today, enjoy!

I have wanted to use this faux stained glass technique for quite some time. I saw it on Jennifer McGuire's YouTube channel (click here for link). You will see in the next few photos why it is called 'faux stained glass'. The colors that I chose reminded me of a sunflower. My mother-in-law love to garden so I thought this would be the perfect card for her this Mother's Day.

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Now for our challenge!

Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge #440

Crazy 8

I chose Sundance, Glacier, New England Ivy, and Neutral

Shawna Standish

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Above: The sunflower was die-cut 3x from 110 lb. cardstock. I layered them on top of each other to create a well for the Multi-Media glaze. The first layer of cardstock was glued to the base then was colored on the inside using alcohol markers. Left/Below: The wells were filled with the Multi-Media glaze by Ranger. I started using another brand of glaze but it didn't level out as well as the Ranger glaze. This card looks fantastic in real life. Its depth is remarkable and so pretty. It is time-consuming and used a lot of glaze, but it was totally worth the time and supplies. I highly recommend this technique. Right/Bottom: The top layer of cardstock was brushed using the colors from the palette. To cover up the glue I made the colored top piece the last addition to the card.

Challenges Entered:

Color Throwdown: ctd638

Well, thank you again for taking the time out of your busy day to visit my corner of the internet. I do hope you will join us at Color My Heart Color Dare and play along.

Lots of good crafting vibes headed your way. I hope you all have a fantastic day and please stay safe and stay healthy. Until then take care and we will see you soon!