Sugar Skull

Hello All,
For today I will be playing along with Just Us Girls, Addicted to Stamps and More!, and Cupcake Inspirations. I decided to go with Sugar Skulls for the Halloween challenge. Here is my card for today, enjoy!

This sugar skull die has a ton of tiny leaves, flowers, and sprigs. Seems daunting at first but then (like a lot of you) got inspiration from Jennifer McGuire. Instead of die-cutting each element a different color you should die cut everything all at once white and then color the pieces. Still a bit tedious but much faster than die-cutting each die a different color. I used washi tape to hold all the little pieces together and die-cut them together. Genius!!
Click on the link HERE to view her video showing ways to use your little die-cuts 

Bright and vibrant colors are typical for sugar skull design. 
To learn more about the culture surrounding sugar skulls click HERE.

Lots and lots of layers showing the crown of the sugar skull. Also, notice the holographic paper in the backdrop. That was a failed attempt to foil a negative space image on black CS. I still liked how it turned out and decided to use it for this project. 

Challenges Entered:
Cupcake Inspirations: Challenge #529- ATG
Just Us Girls: #604 - Word WeekAddicted to Stamps and More!: Challenge #415 - Die Cuts and/or Stencils



Halloween is a very interesting holiday. It is the only day of the year where you can dress up as silly as you'd like; go door-to-door and ask for candy. Any other time of year it would be criminal. Strange!

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 are headed your way. I hope you all have a fantastic day and please stay safe and healthy.

All the best,

Pretty Pink Poppies

 Hello All,

Today I will be playing along with Cupcake Inspirations, Shopping Our Stash, Watercooler Wednesday, and Addicted to Stamps and More! Challenges! Here is my card for today, enjoy!

This card has a patterned paper base that was white with embossed areas. I thought it might resist like any heat embossed image you do by hand. And of course, I was correct. Not a huge stretch I know, but I was curious. I am inspired to use more patterned paper. I have a boat ton of it and need to slim down. That is until I see a paper pad I cannot live without. 😏

The poppies are from Altenew- Craft-a-Flower series. The entire design is feminine with shades of coral and mauve. I think the geometric brushed background is what gives it a modern feel.

The sentiment is from a retired SU set. I stamped on a dark, almost black, brown and heat embossed it the color of coral; not the traditional white I usually use.

Challenges Entered:

Cupcake Inspirations: #518- Mother's Day or Feminine Card

Shopping Our Stash: #444 - I Made This For You, Mom!

Addicted to Stamps and More!: Challenge #404- Any Occasion

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge: WWC315- All Things Feminine

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,

Flowers in Vases

 Hello All,

For today I will be playing along with The Card Concept, Shopping our Stash, Watercooler Wednesday, and Addicted to Stamps and More! challenges. Here is my card for today, enjoy!

The vases remind me of a dish pattern my mother-in-law likes to collect. It is called Liberty Blue. It also reminds me of a pattern primarily on fabric called toile. Both have ornate floral, pastoral, or historic scenery. I wanted to depict those elements on my card. 

I stamped a retired SU stamp of florals on the background in graphite gray. This is the same floral pattern I used on the vases. I thought it depicted the toile fabric.

The flowers are from the My Monthly Hero Arts kit, January 2019. Nothing fancy to die-cut the flowers and brush on some color. I think it adds balance to all that is going on with the design. The strip sentiment mimics the same color as the background.

Challenges Entered:

The Card Concept: #154- Happy Mothers Day

Shopping Our Stash: #444 - I Made This For You, Mom!

Addicted to Stamps and More!: Challenge #404- Any Occasion

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge: WWC315- All Things Feminine

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,

Mosaic Rose

 Hello All,

For today I will be playing along with Double D, Shopping Our Stash, and Addicted to Stamps and More Challenges. There was lots of inspiration! So, here is my card for today, enjoy!

This card has a patterned paper base that was white with embossed areas. I thought it might resist like any heat embossed image you do by hand. And of course, I was correct. Not a huge stretch I know, but I was curious. You can see the reflection from the patterned paper on the card. I love the lacy and mosaic look of the resist.

I dry-fit the rose for the placement of the DI ink. I brushed on Barn Door and Peeled Paint for the rose. I then distressed the background with a bit of Tattered Rose and a smidge of Vintage Photo.

I die-cut the retired SU rose 4x and stacked them on each other for dimension. I added a coral heat-embossed Mother's Day sentiment onto wood patterned paper.

Challenges Entered:
Double D Challenges: Flower of the Month Challenge January Thru June- I chose the Rose.

Shopping Our Stash: #444- I Made This For You, Mom!

Addicted to Stamps and More!: #404- Any Occasion

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,

Ridiculously Red

Hello All,

For today I am playing along with Crafty Gals Corner, Creative with Stamps, Watercooler Wednesday Challenge, Tuesday Throwdown and Addicted to Stamps and More. Here is my card for today, enjoy!

This red love card has lots of elements and textures. Examples of this would be glittery 'love' to the layered die-cut and the designer paper in the background.

This monochromatic card has brown as its dividing color. The scallops on the heart would be one example. The shadow from the patterned paper on the background would be another.

I layered the diecut with the outermost die being a reflective red color. I stamped the heart and heat embossed brown. The sentiment is from a scrap piece of red adhesive glitter in which I inlaid a tiny brown die-cut heart.

Challenges Entered:

Crafty Gals Corner: Challenge #204- Add a Heart!
Creative with Stamps: CWS #47: Red
Addicted to Stamps and More!: Challenge #378- Holiday
Watercooler Wednesday Challenge: WWC260- All About Occasions
Tuesday Throwdown: #451- Use Your Favorite Color


  

Thank you so much for stopping by and I 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.

All the best,

Sea Turtle

Hello All,

For today I am playing along with Just Us Girls and Addicted to Stamps and More. Here is my card for today, enjoy!

I think it was the rays of the water that inspired me to create this card. I started with a piece of light blue CS; the color I started with is the same color as the border of this card.
Also, I enjoy the elements on the bottom of the card. It reminds me of an old shallow-water shipwreck with the rusty anchor and lantern.

I sponged the already light blue CS using Salty Ocean, and Faded Jeans DI's. I made sure to leave a spot clean for the spotlight. The spotlight was inked using Hero Arts Unicorn White ink. I used the same color for the sunrays by masking and then sponging on the edge of the scrap paper and working the color out in an ombre effect. 

The sea turtle was colored using Copic markers. I did an image search on Google to make sure the colors were at least close to realistic. I think starting with light blue cardstock creates an ambiance or overlay of being in the water. 

 Challenges Entered:

Just Us Girls: #524 Photo Week
Addicted to Stamps and More!: Challenge #377 - Make your Mark

 

Thank you so much for stopping by and I 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.

All the best,

Steampunk Love

Hello All,

For today I am playing along with The Male Room and Addicted to Stamps and More!.  Here is my card for today, enjoy!

Look at the shine of this card!
The card base was coated with gold metallic paint and removed using an angler motion. I then added aqua metallic paint at the edges, some splatters, and finally a couple of steampunk heart stamps for good measure. 

The steampunk elements came from my stash. All the stickers on this card came from a dollar store! That is what inspired this entire card. I loved the theme and all its metallic goodness. The padlock heart is one example of the steampunk feel.

I really enjoy this little motley of things.
Steampunk seems to put things in strange spots and orientations. I am not really deft with that skill but I tried. For instance, the picture of the fish in the frame. Why? I ask you, why not?

I usually do only one detail picture but in this case, there is so much to focus on that two photos seem to be justified. The gears and clock elements were diecut three times using off white CA and finally brown CS. I lightly painted gold on the top layer of brown using my finger. The arrow and crosshatch element was from the dollar store sticker set.

Challenges Entered:

The Male Room: Challenge #129- I 💗 You!

Addicted to Stamps and More!: Challenge #376- ATG

 

It always seems to amaze me that most of us start out a project with a blank piece of white CS and come up with this! All of us do it, and I think it is a remarkable feat of creativity. Even CAS cards are remarkable. A lot of us know, especially me, that CAS cards are deceptively hard. Fighting off the urge for one gem, one layer can be the most difficult part of the design. I guess my thought of day would be... Keeping crafting on and sharing our work and hopefully inspire others to do the same. Einstein was a genius, right? He said: Creativity is Intelligence having fun! We must all be intellectual geniuses!!! 

Thank you so much for stopping by and I 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.

All the best,

Wicked...

Hello All,

For today I am entering challenges for Addicted to Stamps and More, Color My Heart Color Dare, and CAS(E) this Sketch. Today is Halloween!! I cannot believe I am saying this but the forecasters were correct. It is supposed to snow during trick-or-treating. Now it is certain I will hang back and distribute candy. Anyway, here is my card for today. Enjoy!

I wanted to go about the sketch a bit differently. Instead of using a small sentiment or word many times I wanted to use color layering for the same word. So, I diecut the word 'wicked' many times in multiple colors and layered them on top of each other. I thought this honored the sketch's qualities.  

This shot is done using full light on the card, therefore, showing off all the sparkle this has to offer.
The chevron Halloween paper looks fantastic with the sentiment.

The chalkboard effect on the background panel gives a bit of texture and spookiness. Distressed with HA White Unicorn ink. Distressing is always a good idea for Halloween cards. 

Challenges Entered:

CAS(E) this Sketch: CTS#345

Addicted to Stamps and More!: Challenge #365- Photo
Color My Heart Color Dare: Color Dare #365

Thank you so much for stopping by and I 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.