A Dandelion Thank You--#tgifc315

It's color challenge week at TGIF Challenges! We have BRIGHT colors to use this week:  Mango Melody, Daffodil Delight and Magenta Madness.   I started my card for this challenge with one of my favorite background techniques.  I inked up a Clear Block "D" (#118485) with all three color ink pads, spritzed it with water and pressed it into a piece of watercolor paper (#149612):

I love that you never know how these clear block prints will come out!  This one came out with lots of Mango Melody and Magenta Madness and just a bit of Daffodil Delight with some little splatters of Mango Melody on the side. 

To complete the card, I stamped the dandelion bunch image from Garden Wishes stamp set (#154408) in Jet Black StazOn ink (#101406).  I used a masked out greeting image from the Dragonfly Garden stamp set (#154411).  I stamped the "Thank you" in VersaMark ink (#102283) onto watercolor paper and heat embossed it with Black Stampin' emboss powder (Basics set, #155554).  I placed a strip of Mango Melody card stock under the greeting piece and cut it at the same angle as the greeting piece.

I layered my watercolor piece over a piece of Basic Black card stock.  I colored a piece of white baker's twine (Baker's Twine Essentials Pack, #155475) using my Mango Melody Dark Stampin' Blends (now retired--oh no!) and tied it around the layers and under the greeting piece.    Three Matte Black Dots (#154284) and a card base of Mango Melody complete the card.

Check out the wonderful projects using this color combo over at TGIF Challenges here.

Have a wonderful week!

--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

 

Dandelion Wishes--#tgifc299

The TGIF Challenges product spotlight challenge this week is background stamps.  I have only the Birch background stamp (#149256).  As it reminds me of a forest, I paired it with wildflowers:  pretty dandelions from the Garden Wishes stamp set (#154408) and die cuts from the coordinating Dandy Wishes dies (#154315/bundled with the stamp set, #156220).

The inspiration for the colors came from the designer series paper pattern used for the entire front of the card base.  This paper and the next layer are patterns from the Dandy Gardens 6" x 6" designer series paper pack (#154297). I really like Misty Moonlight as a background for the dandelions on the paper, so I used it with the Birch background stamp to create the background for my stamped dandelions.  

Both the Birch background and the dandelions were stamped in Basic Gray.  the dandelions image was colored with So Saffron (#154905) and Mossy Meadow (#154890) Stampin' Blends combo packs. The dandelions were popped over additional leaf stems die cut from Mossy Meadow card stock. The greeting was stamped in Mossy Meadow and die cut using an Ornate Layers die (#152726).  It was manipulated in the Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine to shorten the length of the die cut to fit the greeting.  Three Bumblebee enamel dots (2020-2022 In Color pack, #152480) complete the card.

Check out the other Background stamps used in the other entries on the TGIF Challenges Blog here.  I'm thinking I need some more of these stamps!!!

Hope you have a great week!

--Sara Nell