SSCB#57 Just Add Water - Roses

Thanks for stopping by! Sorry I haven't been around much lately. .. more problems with my choppers.. I mean.. my teeth.   Seems like it's just one thing after another for me lately.  I've got a mouth full of stitches and I'm not done yet.  Fortunately I've got some pain killers, but they make me sleepy!  It's times like these that I really appreciate my crafty hobby.  I can surround myself with beautiful images and colors and escape for a while.  It really helps so much to take my mind off my problems!  Thanks for your kind words and understanding.   I hope I can return the smiles back to you some time soon! 

Are you ready to play?  A new challenge starts at Serendipity Stamps Challenge Blog!  This month we're asking you to "Just Add Water"!  I know for lots of this that's really a challenge.   It's taken me so long - not to mention piles of failed attempts to get comfortable with water coloring!  But here's the good news.. you don't have to watercolor to play along with the challenge - why not ink up a stamp, spritz it and stamp it?   You can also use an image that has a water theme - something nautical or seaside perhaps?   

I chose the Rose image and embossed it on watercolor paper. It was fun splotching on some Peerless Watercolor and watching the image appear!  I used two shades for the flowers - a rose and an orange.  I think using more than one shade of color adds more depth. 

Before adding the "splashes" "spots" not sure what to call them I made sure to cover up the green leaf area.  I didn't want the orange/rose spots mixing in with the green. 

Instead of a sentiment (I didn't want to cover up my coloring) I added a die cut.  The Bloom die seemed a perfect pairing with this beautiful, intricate rose.  The die is so unique with the flower "O"'s and little leaves at the beginning and the end.

Yes, totally embracing the watercolor.   I've colored this image with Copics several times but it never came to life like this before for me! 

Ready for more water inspired creations? Our design team has got you covered! Just click on their names to jump to their blogs! We have two new members joining us today too! Say hello to Patti Kehl and Carol Mayne!

Vickie Zimmer

Jeanne Jachna 

Jenny Gropp

Julie Warner

Karen Amidon

Marybeth Lopez

Miriam Napier

Patti Kehl

Carol Mayne

Want to go shopping? The 50% off Stamp of The Month is this great Sprinkler scene. 

We're also having a sale! 

Buy 3 items and the 4th one will be free (be sure you have at least 4 items in your cart!)

Buy 8 items and 2 will be free – and so on, and so on…

Lowest priced items are free

Clearance, $1 Stamps etc are included (but do you want your freebie to be a $1 stamp?)

Good through Monday July 4th

Mary's having a yard sale too!  Lots of odds and ends at great prices here! 

I hope you'll join us at Serendipity Stamps Challenge Blog!   It's a great place to play! 

Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5"

Stamps | Serendipity Rose
Die | Sterendipity Stamps Bloom Word | Avery Elle Wonky Stitches
Sequins | Pretty Pink Posh

12 Kits Of Occasions Happy Birthday!

It's the last day of the month! Time for the 12 Kits of Occasions! The 12 Kits is a group of friends who all love to paper craft. Every month one of us takes a turn at supplying a kit to the rest of the group. The hostess this month is Joyce from Cards By The Sea!  Joyce is a California girl where it's always summer and the living is easy!  LOL!  She likes things Clean and Simple and knows how to embrace the open spaces! She put together this beautiful kit for us with pretty papers, stamped and die cut images, twine sequins and gems! Our theme this month is "Happy Birthday"!  

I've said it before and I'll say it again.. the only thing better than this group of ladies (you are my support, my sanity and my dear friends)  is all the new products I get to try every month.  We each have our own style, favorite brands and images - we run from cute to elegant, clean to fussy and every month it amazes me how we approach the same products with different eyes.

I always tell you to look out for a trixie element in the kit left in my stash of things that I didn't use - this time the only thing I didn't seem to use in the kit was the framed die cut sentiments.  I think they'd be great for shakers, but I'll be on the lookout for different ways to use them.

I made lots of things so hold on to your hats! 

Here's one of the framed sentiments that I did use!  Must have been because it was cut from Pink paper!

I added some watercolor to this sentiment to look like the light around the candle!

 I was a little worried about coloring these cupcakes - the stamped image is very detailed and I didn't want to color outside the lines so I shaded them very lightly with Copic Markers

 I colored the Happy Birthday die cut black with a Sharpie - it was originally cut from polka dot paper.. funny how it's still on a dotted background!

I layered this die cut on a watercolor panel so all the prtty colors show through.

Ready to see what the rest of the team made with the same kit? Just click on their names below or hop on over to our blog - the 12 Kits of Occasions to see a sample from each of the design team members so you can get an idea of their style.

Joyce - Cards By The Sea (Our Hostess this month!)
Kim - Cupcakes Cards & Kim
Marybeth - It's Time For Paper
Jessica - The Paper Parade
Sharron - On Papillon Wings
Tracey McNeely - In My Creative Opinion
Lindsey Larsen - Occasional Crafting
Michele Ferguson - I Card Everyone
Lisa Elton - My Paper Tales
Michelle Leone - Pretty Periwinkles
Nancy Penir - Artful Notions

 Thanks for stopping by and  have a great day! 
 

All cards are 4.25 x 5.5"  A list of ingredients can be found at the 12 Kits blog!

CASual Fridays - Truth Is

Hi and thanks for stopping by!  I'm playing with CASual Fridays stamps today ! I'm playing with teh "Truth Is" stamp set.  I thought it would be fun to do two versions of the same card - one totally CAS and the other - all dressed up!   The set comes with these fun loopy flowers, a few solid images, and some pretty great sentiments in mixed fonts!  There is a matching Truth Is Fri-Die that makes cutting out the flowers really easy. 

I started with a water color panel in orange and yellow.  Citrus colors are always my favorite for summer - so bright and cheerful.   My favorite watercolors are from Peerless.  I love how they blend together, and I'm finally feeling comfortable water coloring!

When my panel was dry I stamped the images and sentiment with Versafine Onyx Black ink.

I splashed the background with a more concentrated orange (not as watered down as the background orange - but the very same shade), and the finishing touch was a few clear sequins. 

For my fussy card I created a panel - stamping the background from the "Lovely" stamp set.  I used my Misti so everything stayed nice and straight as I stamped the border in different shades of teal ink.

Next I stamped the flowers in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored the flowers with Copic Markers.

If you look close you'll notice I did a very light shade of yellow around the outer edges of the flowers.  

The little dots in the background are from the Wallflower Stamp Set - you can see them in the image of the stamp set below.

I chose a background of greys (neutral) so the colors would pop.  I repeated the teal in the Twinery Caribbean twine that wraps around the card, and the bit of washi in the upper left corner. 

The Lovely Friend sentiment is from the Lovely stamps set. A few clear sequins to add some sparkle always makes me happy!

I appreciate you visiting my blog!  If you see anything you like please use my special code to save 15% off your order at CASual Fridays !

Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5"

Stamps | CASual Fridays Truth Is

Peerless Watercolors

Sequins | Pretty Pink Posh

Stamps |CASual Fridays Truth Is, Lovely, Wallflower

Pattern Paper | Pebbles Everyday DIY Home 6"

Die | MFT Fishtail Flags

Washi | MT Japan

The Twinery | Caribbean Twine

Peerless Watercolor

Sequins | Pretty Pink Posh

SPDMIX5 - Spring Wishes

Just a small note to add to my post today..  This is my last post with Sugar Pea Designs Challenge.   I've enjoyed working with Wendy's products and being a member of the Challenge team!  The products are beautiful and fun to work with and I will continue to be a fan and play along with the challenges when I can! 

Are you playing the NEW weekly Mix It Up Challenge at SugarPea Designs??

You have all month to play along with us! You are welcome to play along with all the challenges or just one but remember the more times you play along during the month, the better chance you have of winning a $50 gift certificate to our store!!!

Here is the Mix it Up Challenge! 

To play along, make a project using just the inspiration, or just the sketch or Mix it Up and use both! It is totally up to you!

The rules are very simple…

• Create a new card or project using the challenge provided.
• SugarPea Designs stamps are NOT required to play along or to win but would be appreciated
• You may rotate/flip the sketch & replace shapes – so long as the original sketch layout is recognizable.
• Upload to your blog or other Online Gallery using Keyword: SPDMIX3 so that we may check out your beautiful work.
• Add your name and link to your project in the InLinkz shown below.
• One randomly selected winner will receive a $25 Gift Certificate to the SugarPea Designs store. However, if the winning entry features a SugarPea Designs stamp we will increase the prize to $50!
• We will announce our Sweet Picks and our Main Winner at the end of each month.
• The more times you play along during the month, the better chance you have of winning!

Here's my take on the sketch...

This one is pure CAS - practically a one layer card for me.  I stamped the twig wreath, bird, leaves and berries on a card panel before attaching it to the card base. 

I die cut flowers and adhered them with adhesive foam tape so they have more dimension.  I added a few pearl centers to the flowers too! 

Click through our designer’s blogs listed below for even more crafty inspiration using this Mix it Up Challenge and then it’s YOUR turn to come back and link up your creation for a chance to win a Gift Certificate up to $50! We can’t wait to see what you create!!

Kerin Sylvester

Claire Broadwater

Deanne Kay

Karren Johnson

Laura Jane

Lee Ann Barrett

Lesley Croghan

Mackie Robertson

Ready to play? Click here to jump to the blog - you can always find the challenge by clicking the badge in the right column. You have until July 4th to enter any of our June Challenges. Our June winner will be announced on July 5th.

Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5"
Stamps | Sugar Pea Designs  Funky Wreath All Seasons, Funky Wreath Spring Addition
Dies | Sugar Pea Designs  Funky Wreath All Seasons, Funky Wreath Spring Addition

The Heart Desires - Inking About You

I''m running tight on this post! I just found a brand new challenge - it's their very first challenge and I had to play along!!  Here's how it works....,
Each month they will provide an inspiration picture and identify at least 3 elements to choose from for your project.  You can use one, two, or all of the elements.  This month you're able to choose from a luscious color palette, sea creatures or geometric shapes.  Whatever you choose, we know you'll wow us!

Sound interesting?  There's only one more day to play but you know there will be another challenge for us before we know it!  You can get all the details here at The Heart Desires.  Just click on the challenge tab at the top of the page! 

Well I know what this heart desires!  I loved the color palate and the fun sea creatures in the inspiration photo.  Not too many geometric shapes here unless you count the repeated fish scales on the pretty Scalloped Tag Layer on my tag.

The cute little octopus and sentiment are from the Reverse Confetti Seaside Stamp Set!  The sentiment is so punny!  LOL!  All the dies are from Reverse Confetti including the tag topper and scalloped circle the sentiment is on.

I stamped the octopus in bright orange to compliment the colors in the Basic Grey pattern paper - these are from the Adrift collection.

The Double Edge Scallop Border from Reverse Confetti is one of my favorites.  I think it's so clever that it's double sided - there is a small scallop pattern on one side, and a large scallop pattern on the other. 

Sometimes I think elements look like they're floating - to make them look more grounded I use twine tied to the base of the card.   For this project I used Twinery Mandarin Twine.

Ok .. .that's all folks!  Off to enter the challenge before it closes!  So fun to be part of something new!  I'm so glad I saw this on Kate Lorenzini's blog.   Wait til you check out their design team - I can about guarantee you'll know one of the ladies - they're all rock stars!

 

Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5"

Stamps | Reverse Confetti Seaside

Dies | Reverse Confetti Seaside, Scalloped Tag Layer, | Topped Off Tag, Circles N Scallops, Double Edge Scallop Border, Hang Ups |  Memory Box Open Studio Stitched Circle Layers 

Pattern Paper | Basic Grey Adrift 12"

Twinery Twine | Mandarin

Enamel Dots