Always Thinking of You--#tgifc309

We have a "Designer Take Over" challenge this week at TGIF Challenges.  This month, the designer is Tanya Rees, who designs beautiful and fun cards. I always love her projects!  She challenges us to stamp our own designer series paper.  

I've been feeling a bit "vintage" this last week--my daughter turned 40 years old!  So I pulled out a favorite vintage-look stamp set, Very Versailles (#149275) and used the leaves image to create my designer series paper:

The leaves were stamped in Old Olive ink onto Very Vanilla card stock.  The background was then splattered with Champagne Mist shimmer paint (#147044, this is retiring and is now available only while supplies last).  

The ornate medallion piece was stamped twice using the Stamparatus (#146276).  First it was stamped in Soft Suede, then with Champagne Mist shimmer paint (it was sponged on to the cleaned stamp using a sponge dauber.)  If you look closely, I think you can see the shimmer--it's really pretty in person!  This was layered over a piece of Very vanilla scalloped lace trim (#149593).  

The greeting is also from the Very Versailles stamp set and was stamped in Soft Suede on a 5/8" strip of Very Vanilla card stock.  The ends were punched with the Banners Pick a Punch (#153607).   A layer of Old Olive card stock and a Very Vanilla Thick card base complete the card.

Head over to the TGIF Challenges Blog to see more wonderful stamped designer series paper.

Wishing you a joyful Easter celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

--Sara Nell

  

Butterflies!--tgifc308

There is an inspiration challenge this week over at TGIF Challenges.   I pulled the watercolor background from the inspiration piece and used butterflies instead of flowers on my card:

The watercolor background is Pool Party on Shimmery White card stock, speckled with a bit of Smoky Slate ink.  The two large butterflies (from Butterfly Brilliance stamp set, #155092) were stamped in Smoky Slate on Purple Posy card stock, then die cut using the coordinating Brilliant Wings dies.  The vellum card stock butterfly layers and the three small Purple Posy butterflies were also die cut using these dies.  The small butterflies were topped with Basic Pearl Jewels (#144219).

The foliage was die cut out of Soft Sea Foam, Old Olive and Pool Party card stock using the Forever Flourishing dies (#152714) and the Dandy Wishes dies (#154315). 

The greeting is from the Very Versailles stamp set (#149275).  It was stamped in Smoky Slate onto Shimmery White card stock and die cut using a Stitched Nested Labels die (#149638).  A bow tied with Pool Party Sheer ribbon (#152466) and a Pool Party card base complete the card.

See some lovely projects using this inspiration over at the TGIF Challenges Blog here.

Mother's Day Blossoms--#tgifc307

Lately, I've been pulling out the stamp sets that I love but haven't used in a while.  I had a plan for my TGIF Challenges sketch challenge this week, but it went out the window when I saw the beautiful Forever Blossoms stamp set (#151457) sitting lonely and unused on my shelf.  The cherry blossoms are just so pretty:

The blossoms image was stamped in Basic Gray on Whisper White card stock, then colored with Rococo Rose (#154900) and Soft Sea Foam (#154902) Stampin' Blends.  It was die cut using the coordinating Cherry Blossoms dies (#151456).  The blossoms were layered over two Vellum circles die cut using the Stitched Shapes dies (#152323) and a layer of Balmy Blue card stock embossed with the Parisian Flourish 3D embossing folder (#151474).

The greeting is from the Strong & Beautiful stamp set (#148732).  It was stamped in Basic Gray on a 1/2" strip of Whisper White card stock.  The ends were punched with the Banners Pick a Punch (#153608) to create the banner.

A layer of Rococo Rose card stock, a Rococo Rose card base and some Pearl Basic Jewels (#144219) complete the card.

Find more wonderful projects using this sketch over at the TGIF Challenges Blog here.

Have a wonderful weekend!

--Sara Nell

  

A Floral Bouquet--#tgifc306

Well, the TGIF Challenges team has quite the color challenge for us this week:  Just Jade, Daffodil Delight and Gorgeous Grape.  Talk about bright!!!  Usually when I work with all bright colors like this, I try to tone them down a bit with watercolor techniques or lots of white.  But today, I just embraced the color:

I  picked out the floral bouquet image from the Ornate Style stamp set (#152572) as the focal point for my card.  It was stamped in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink (#132708), colored with Just Jade (#153107), Daffodil Delight (#154883) and Highland Heather (#154887) Stampin' Blends, and fussy cut.  The bouquet was then adhered with Stampin' Dimensionals to a Daffodil Delight frame die cut using the Ornate Layers dies (#152726). 

The greeting is from the Ornate Thanks stamp set (#149471).  It was stamped in Gorgeous Grape onto a Whisper White banner created with the Banners Pick a  Punch (#153608). This was adhered to the card with Glue Dots and one Stampin' Dimensional on the right-hand end.  

The Gorgeous Grape card base was layered with a 5-3/8" x 4-1/8" piece of Gorgeous Grape card stock embossed with the Tasteful Textile 3D embossing folder (#152718).  The frame piece was layered on this with Stampin' Dimensionals.

Check out some gorgeous projects using this color combo over at the TGIF Challenges Blog here.

Have a great day!

--Sara Nell

  

Creation Station March Blog Hop--Outback-Outwest

Welcome to the March Creation Station Blog Hop!  Whether you have just hopped over from the talented Yvonne's blog or are starting here, I'm glad you are visiting today.  We have a fun and versatile theme this month:  Outback-Outwest.  You are going to see images from the American West, the Australian Outback, cactus, natural pods, earthy elements, and lots of other natural images.  Enjoy all of the inspiration we are sharing with you by clicking on the link at the end of each blog to hop over to the next blog.  It's going to be a fun journey!

For my post, I am featuring the Enjoy the Moment stamp set (#154452).  My projects were inspired by the Spring 2021 Crate & Barrel catalog, which is full of warm neutrals with textures and pops of color. 

 

My neutrals are Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla and Whisper White.  My textures are from watercolor paper (#149612), watercoloring, color spritzing, In Good Taste Elements (#152476), Linen Thread (#104199) and two embossing folders: Subtle 3D (#151775) and Tasteful Textile 3D (#152718). My pops of color are Misty Moonlight, Seaside Spray, Petal Pink, Pretty Peacock and Granny Apple Green.

Both this first card and the next card use labels from the Tasteful Labels Dies (#152886).  The white label in the first card was created with Whisper White card stock and the Banners Pick a Punch (#153608).

A Quick Tip:  If your watercolor background curls as it dries, use Seal+ adhesive (#149699) to adhere the the watercolor paper to the background card stock.  It will keep the watercolor paper and the background flat on your card. 

This last card is a 4-1/4" square card.  I just had to use Granny Apple Green with Early Espresso.  It's nostalgic.  It is a combo used in the Crate & Barrel catalog and a fashion combo from my youth.  As I was shopping with Katharine in the 90s, I saw this color combo returned in patterns from my past.  I told Katharine at the time, "This is ugly deja vu."  The combo doesn't look so bad in ink and paper but you'll never see me wearing it!

I hope I've inspired some new ideas for using your seed pods stamp set.  I know you'll be inspired by Julie's post. She's up next.

 

To Julie's Blog . . .

Have a great day!

--Sara Nell

 

Dandelions Against a Brick Wall--#tgifc305

 

A picture of an ice cream shop is inspiration for this week's TGIF Challenge.  As with any inspiration challenge, you can take anything from the photo to inspire your project: some take the theme, some the sketch, some the colors, some a pattern.  In this photo, I first noticed the pink brick wall and took that idea to create my background:

To create my brick wall, I used a sponge brayer (#141714) to cover the inside of the Brick & Mortar 3D embossing folder (#149643) with Magenta Madness ink.  I colored only the side with the Stampin' Up! logo, then placed a piece of Whisper White card stock over the ink, closed the folder and put it through the Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine (#149653). 

My card features some wildflowers (some may say weeds--a little harsh, I think) peeking out from the space between the brick wall of the ice cream shop and the cement parking lot.  These were created with the Dandy Wishes dies (#154315) and Coastal Cabana, So Saffron and Granny Apple Green card stock.  I pulled these colors from the inspiration piece.  

The greeting is from the Garden Wishes stamp set (#154408; #156220 when bundled with the Dandy Wishes dies for a 10% savings).  It was stamped in Magenta Madness on Whisper White card stock and die cut using a Stitched Rectangles die (#151820). 

Three Magenta Madness enamel dots (#152480, 2020-2022 In Color enamel dots), a layer of Coastal Cabana and a Magenta Madness card base complete the card.

Go see the wonderful variety of projects created with this inspiration piece over at the TGIF Challenges Blog here.

I hope you have a wonderful day full of sunshine!

--Sara Nell