new product adventures

OK, I know you've seen these products before, including here (assuming you've been here before) but my Stampin' Blends and Brusho Colour Crystals are still new enough to me that I feel I need a lot more practice.  I loved this card of Amy O'Neill's, but couldn't bring myself to make any more blue cards; for some reason, half of the cards I've made and added to my display stand recently have been mainly blue!  I changed the colors and also changed the layout a bit, using the new one from Sketch Saturday:

stamp sets - Flying Home, Yay You (hostess); ink - Memento Tuxedo Black; Soft Suede; Stampin' Blends; card stock - Whisper White, Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight, Soft Suede; designer series paper - Wood Textures; Big Shot with Stitched Circles and Layering Circles framelits  

Looking at it now in the photograph, it seems like it just needs a little something more - maybe a spray of leaves tucked under the right side of the circles?  I'll try that...

Before I go, though, I also wanted to share this card, which I made with my favorite color of purple for Tuesday Throwdown:

stamp sets - Beautiful Day, Yay You (hostess); ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Melon Mambo; stampin' emboss powder - Clear (I think, maybe White?); Brusho Crystal Colours - Brilliant Red, Prussian Blue; card stock - Watercolor, Very Vanilla, Dapper Denim, Perfect Plum  

I'm pretty pleased with it, other than having inadvertently shortened the butterfly's body.  The Stampin' Up! set of Brushos doesn't include purple (whaaaat!?), so I mixed my own by combining blue and red crystals on a palette and mixing them together with water.  I used an Aquabrush to painting the watercolor onto the butterfly, which is stamped and embossed on watercolor paper.  I used the same two colors for the background by simply sprinkling them onto dry Very Vanilla card stock and spraying water at an angle across them.  I've found that I can use the less expensive plain card stock without an issue if I don't try to "work" the colors.  The red spread and lightened more than the blue, so to give it more definition, I stamped the flower image over it using stamped-off Melon Mambo.

6-4-2 adventures

Did you miss me?  After my last post in May, I spent 6 weeks preparing to retire, 4 weeks on the road to Dallas and Denver to spend time with the cutest grandsons in the known world, and 2 weeks catching up on chores at home - more adventures than I can tell about!  Included in the catching up was 200+ blog posts.  OK, really I skipped some of the older challenges.  I made this card last week, using a beautiful new stamp set and thinlits bundle, for the retired Peace on Earth challenge at Jingle Belles:

stamp set - Carols of Christmas; ink - Versamark, Craft White; Stampin' emboss powder - Silver; card stock - Silver Foil, Dapper Denim; Big Shot and Card Front builder thinlets

(I would like to say that I can't believe I forgot to post it, but unfortunately, it's all too much like me to forget to post) Then the new Jingle Belles challenge came out - Spirits of Christmas Past - and I pulled out retired supplies for this card:

stamp set - Seasonal Bells; ink - Crumb Cake, Encore Gold (retired); card stock - Very Vanilla regular and thick; punch - Bell; Big Shot with Holiday Frame embossing folder (retired)

(So perverse of me to use new for old and old for new, and then to think it sounded like a rally cry for the Three Musketeers)  In an effort to redeem myself, I used supplies you're still able to purchase for the not-yet-retired challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments, and created a card suitable for the current season:

stamp set - Rose Wonder; ink - Pool Party, Lemon Lime Twist, Flirty Flamingo; card stock - Pool Party, Flirty Flamingo, Whisper White, Watercolor; Big Shot with Rose Garden thinlits; Aquabrush

This card is a CASE from a card I thought I had pinned, using a technique the original artist described - watercoloring through the die-cut negative.  Now, I can't seem to find the original post anywhere (aaugh!) - if anyone can point me to it, I'd love to link it here to give her credit!

last-minute adventures

Two weeks ago, when the challenge at the Watercooler was announced - a silhouette on a watercolor background - I thought that would be pretty easy, so I didn't do it.  Wait - what?  Well, I put off doing it because it was easy, you know?  Oops - the challenge closes tomorrow morning!

stamp sets - Serene Silhouettes, Mosaic Madness, Teeny Tiny Wishes; ink - Daffodil Delight, Tangelo Twist, Strawberry Slush, Memento Tuxedo Black; card stock - Watercolor, Basic Black, Daffodil Delight; Aquapainter (whoa - no punches, Big Shot or accessories! what is up with me?) 

I chose this particular silhouette for the birds, and the challenge at The Male Room.  Since birds, branch, black, and birthday all start with B, I may as well join the "B"lieve It! challenge at Little Red Wagon.  Speaking of birthdays, the toppings option at Seize the Birthday is make your own background.  Although I flipped it sideways, the sketch is from Tuesday Morning Sketches.

It's not the last minute at the other challenges - you should join in, too!

It is the last minute at Addicted to CAS where the code word is black, white & gold, but it doesn't close until tomorrow evening, so you can join in there, if you hurry.  Some of my card buffet stampers requested wedding cards this spring, I hope they like this one:

stamp set - This Day Forward (retired); ink - Encore Gold; card stock - Shimmer White, Brushed Gold, Whisper White; designer series paper - Back to Black; washi tape - Watercolor Wonder; punch - Sweetheart 

I think it would work as an anniversary card, too, with another sentiment.  If the layout looks familiar, it should - it's from Sketch Frenzy Friday - I mentioned yesterday that you might see it again soon.

everyday CASE adventure

Other stampers have an answer for the question of what is their favorite technique, but I've always had trouble choosing "favorites" (we may have had that conversation in a blog hop not long ago).  If CASE*ing qualifies as a technique, then that would be my favorite!  I've been feeling unmotivated recently and tonight I set myself a goal of CASE*ing one card, thinking I'd start with those fancy, time-intensive ideas I've "pinned."

Before I started browsing Pinterest, I started with the Occasions catalog, remembering that CASE-ing the Catty had directed us to the Everyday section this week.  There are a lot of fabulous cards in that section, maybe too many to choose from, because there aren't many entries this week - how can that be?  Maybe I'm not the only unmotivated stamper around.  Here's one of my favorite cards:

stamp set -  Moon Lake; ink - Chocolate Chip, Cajun Craze, Hello Honey, Mossy Meadow, Lost Lagoon, Baked Brown Sugar; card stock - Baked Brown Sugar, Lost Lagoon, Watercolor; Aquapainter

Coincidentally, one of the design team members at CASE-ing the Catty is also a Goddess at Stampin' Royalty - Stasia - and for her Featured Goddess Challenge, she chose watercolor! 

I wasn't going to do the distressing, but wouldn't you know, the prompt at Addicted to CAS this week is "Distress" - I pretty much had to try it.  Although I was a little baffled about how distressed and clean and simple could be combined, I think it's got enough "white space" to be considered CAS. If I'd used Very Vanilla for the mat the way it was done in the catalog, it would be more CAS, so I changed from the stitched, distressed sentiment to just a stamped one in order to clean it up a bit.

I haven't decided whether this is a sympathy card, a birthday card, or just a note card, but it is a card I'll send to a man eventually, and qualifies at Just Us Girls where the word this week is masculine. Since some of the men I know enjoy an afternoon of fishing or just spending time on the water, I'll submit this for the hobbies/pastimes challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz, too.

*CASE = Copy And Share Everything