Floral Celebrate You--#tgifc434

There's an inspiration challenge over at TGIF Challenges this week.  The inspiration piece includes a double hexagon shaped wreath with a floral swag (not a florist so not sure what it is called even though I come from a long line of florists on my mother's side!).  I saw the flowers and the geometric shape and created my own floral arrangement on a shape formed by layering two squares:

The geometric shape was created using two square dies from the Stylish Shapes dies (#159183) and retired silver foil sheets.  The resulting shape was adhered two a piece of Bubble Bath card stock embossed with the Exposed Brick 3D Embossing folder (#161600).  The embossing folder was sponged with Gray Granite ink on the inside of the folder to give the embossed image a bit more detail.  

The floral images were all die cut using the Dainty Delights Dies (#160674).  Card stock colors used include:  Soft Sea Foam, Lost Lagoon, Lemon Lolly, Basic White, Balmy Blue, Highland Heather and Calypso Coral.  The greeting is from the Dainty Delight stamp set (#161078).  It was stamped in Lost Lagoon on Basic White and die cut using a banner die from the Stylish Shapes dies.  

Petal Pink sequins from the Pastel Adhesive-Backed Sequins pack (#160387), a bow of silver Simply Elegant Trim (#155766) and a Bubble Bath card base complete the card.

Here is the inspiration image:

Hope you have a great weekend!

--Sara Nell

Seaside Hello--#tgifc433

Back with another TGIF Challenges sketch challenge this week.  I'm still in Summer mode (the HEAT!), so I pulled out my Seaside Bay stamp set (#160436) and coordinating Seaside Bay dies (#160444) to create my card:

The background is an Azure Afternoon pattern from the Bright & Beautiful designer series paper pack (#161449) layered on a piece of Azure Afternoon card stock.  It reminds me of the ocean rolling toward the beach.  I created the sandy beach using layers of Crumb Cake and Pebbled Path designer series paper using the the edge die from the die set.  Then, I splattered it using a Pebbled Path Stampin' Write Marker and the  Wink of Stella glitter brush (#141897).  I used both to splatter the ocean a bit, too.  It's a windy day and sand and water are spraying into the air.  The little sand piper (stamped in Gray Granite and glittered up) has found her lunch, which was stamped and colored with Moody Mauve, Boho Blue and Crumb Cake Blends and also glittered up.   The beach grasses were die cut using Old Olive and Gray Granite card stock.  

The greeting is from the Gorgeously Made stamp set (#161193).  It was stamped in Pebbled Path on Crumb Cake.  A flag was created with the Banners Pick a Punch (#153608).

Hope you have a great week!

--Sara Nell

 

Creation Station August Blog Hop--Ombre Blending

 Welcome!  It is the first Sunday of the month and time for another Blog Hop from the Creation Station Design Team.  

We are an international group of Stampin' Up! Demonstrators who love to share projects and ideas with you based upon a monthly theme.  Our theme this month is Ombre Blending. Be sure and click on the "Next" link at the end of each blog post to get plenty of inspiration for your next project.

Ombre Blending is a great and fun way to create a background.  All you need to get started is Basic White card stock (#159276), Blending Brushes (#153611) and/or Small Blending Brushes (#160518), and, of course, ink pads in your choice of colors. Usually, I pick three distinct colors and blend them in relatively straight rows up my piece of card stock, but for my projects today, I blended colors a bit differently:

I used only shades of blue on each of my cards.  I blended my inks on the ocean card in uneven rows from light to dark to mimic the moving tides in the ocean.  For my space card, I started from two opposite corners and blended from dark to light to the center to form a galaxy.

The ocean card background is blended with Boho Blue, Misty Moonlight, Starry Sky and Night of Navy. The speckled images were stamped randomly on the background with Night of Navy ink.  The background was die cut using the largest Deckled Rectangles die (#159173). This was layered over a piece of Night of Navy card stock and then over the Basic White thick card stock base.

The stamped and die cut images, except the greeting, are from the Beauty of the Deep Bundle (#161237; includes the stamp set, #161233, and the die set, #161236).  The tall leafy plant was stamped in Misty Moonlight and colored with Misty Moonlight light and Boho Blue light Stampin' Blends.  The lacy coral was stamped in VersaMark on Night of Navy and embossed with White Stampin' Emboss powder.  The small wide coral was stamped in Calypso Coral, with the shaded parts colored with the Lemon Lolly dark Stampin' Blends.  The branch coral was die cut out of Pecan Pie card stock.  The fish was stamped in Starry Sky and colored with Calypso Coral Stampin' Blends. 

The greeting is from the Translucent Florals stamp set (#162243, coming in the September to December 2023 Mini Catalog).  It was stamped in Night of Navy on Basic White and die cut using a label die in the Gorgeously Made die set (#161202).  Six Boho Blue 2023-2025 In Color dots (#161620) complete the card. 

The galaxy card was inspired by the galaxy patterned paper in the Stargazing designer series paper pack (#161175).  The center of the galaxy is Boho Blue, with Night of Navy, Misty Moonlight and Azure Afternoon inks blended to the center from the opposite corners of the card stock.  The images from the Reach for the Stars stamp set (#161176) were stamped in Boho Blue and White Craft inks then dotted with a Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Brush (#141897).  The background was splattered with both the Night of Navy Stampin' Write Marker and the Wink of Stella glitter brush.  I attempted to get some photos showing how beautiful this card is with all of that glitter.   They don't do it justice, but here are a couple with a glimpse:

The greeting is from the Reach for the Stars stamp set.  It was stamped in Night of Navy on Basic White and die cut using a die from the Tailor Made Tags dies (#155563).  A bow of Starry Sky metallic woven ribbon (#159198) completes the card.  This card is now off to my 4-year old grandson, who already knows all of the planets.  Grandma can't wait until he is patient enough to learn to find favorite constellations in the night sky. 

Now let's head over to Rachel Traudt's blog, Naptime is Stamptime, to see her sure to be gorgeous ombre blending projects.

To Rachel's Blog . . .

Have a great August!

--Sara Nell

Bold Thanks--#tgifc431

For the TGIF Challenges inspiration challenge this week, I picked out the colors, the stripes and the bold greeting from the inspiration piece to create this bold thanks card:

The stripes are 1/4" inch strips from Azure Afternoon, Berry Burst and Daffodil Delight card stock arranged on the Basic White card stock with 1/4" spacing.  The Berry Burst Branch was die cut using a die from the new Gorgeously Made dies (#161202).  The "Thanks" was stamped in Tuxedo Black Memento ink twice, then VersaMark ink and then heat embossed with Clear Stampin' Emboss powder to get a really bold look.  (You have to use a Stamparatus to get easy placement for the two layers of black and one of VersaMark.)  The greeting is from the Biggest Wish stamp set (#155052.

A Basic White thick card base, layer of Basic Black, and three black Classic Matte Dots (#158146) complete the card.

Have a great week!

--Sara Nell