Birthday Blooms for the Color Hues Challenge #141

Today is a card I created for the Color Hues Challenge.  The colors were Purple and Artichoke.  The products I used were mostly from The Greetery, as I just got some new toys I wanted to play with.  

I started with 2 6"x9" pieces of Bristol Smooth paper from Strathmore.  I used this because it can handle getting wet and it is super smooth and white.  On one of the pieces I swiped 3 shades of Artichoke Inks, I chose Concord and 9th colors in the shades of Pistachio, Avocado and coincidentally the 3rd color is called Artichoke.  Once I swiped the colors I misted with water to get the colors moving.  I set this piece aside to dry.  The thought was I would get color variant and when I die cut the pieces from the panel.   I did the same with purple colors, I used, also from Concord & 9th, Grape Soda, Lilac and Aster.  I set this piece aside to dry.  

I created a background with Concord & 9th Grape Soda Cardstock.  I started with a 5x7 panel (ish 😊).  I ink blended around the outside first with Astor then Grape Soda and Eggplant.  Then I touched the outside edges with the Concord & 9th Black.  Then I went back from the darkest color back to the lightest to even out my ink blending.  I left the center of the panel untouched, for the most part, which creates a dramatic "glow" in the center.  I have been loving that dramatic dark color with the center glow.  Once the ink dried back I cut the panel with the Cottage Tile Background Die.  

By now the pieces of bristol paper were dry enough I could die cut them.  I ran the foliage pieces from The Greetery BotaniCut Lilacs Set on the green panel and the flower pieces on the purple.  I cut the flower pieces four times so I would have plenty of the blossoms the make four plumes of lilacs.  I glued the blossoms onto the background and set them aside for the glue to set up.  In the meantime I cut the background panel with a die from one of my rectangle stacks to fit an A6 card base.  A6 cards are 4 1/2 by 6 1/4.  It to me a hot minute to figure out how to cut that from an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of cardstock.  Crafting math can be difficult at times.  😁  By the way, that was cut at 9 1/4 x 6 1/4 and scored along the 9 1/4 side at 4 5/8 (so there was a peek of card showing at the end, I just cut it off).  The card base was cut from Neenah Solar White 110#, it is my favorite for card bases.  This way the card will stand up and look professional.  I don't usually use it for layering, I will use an 80# Hammermill for that.

I stamped the sentiment from the Bloom and Grow Sentiment set, the scroll around the sentiment was another stamp included in the set which I stamped in Eggplant.  The Sentiment in Artichoke.  The sentiment is hard to read in this photo but it says, "Sending Birthday Blooms".  These stamps did not have a die set so I set out looking for something that would work in my stash.  I found an old StampinUp! Set called Ornate Frames it was a bundle that was Halloween related if you can imagine.  I did not keep the stamp set but these dies seemed universal to me and I have used them several times.    Two of the frames would fit around the sentiment,  but was a matter of which did I like better so I stamped the sentiment out twice and cut from two different frames to decide which would fit more with my design.   Below is an image of the frames in this set, the 2 outlined in red are the ones that fit the sentiment with the scroll around it.  

I also cut bow pieces from the Regency Bow No 1 set also from The Greetery out of Distress Black Heavystock.  This is my go to black cardstock as it is heavyweight and has an almost velvety feel to it.  I love it, but it is expensive I will warn.  It is sold by Ranger.  I cut the smaller bow in the die set.  

Now that I have my pieces it is time to go about the design.  So I basically dry fit the items on the card front until I found a design I liked.  I opted with the sentiment in the center, 2 of the plumes pointing upward and 2 more at the bottom also point upward.  The 2 at the top are on 1mm foam squares, the 2 at the bottom are glued down directly.  I took some of the extra leaves I cut and tucked them in here and there.  The bow went at the top of the sentiment.  I went with the more elongated die in the frame set, it seemed that it fit the design better.  

Once everything was glued in place I added Liquid Pearls in the color Onyx to the center of each bloom of the lilacs.  Trying to stick with the color challenge rules to stick with the palette unless adding neutrals.   Lastly, I added a gold aura gem sticker in the center of the blossoms of the background that were still visible.

I like how it turned out, and it was fun to play not only with the challenge but also with these products from The Greetery.  

 I am really working on trying to show posts the best for showing Altenew Items.  It seems it has not been consistent.  Here is todays promo.  

I know washi builds up in our stash, but it can be used in so many ways.  Try adding it to a piece of cardstock and die cutting it out rather than inking it up.  It is such a different look.  And it is fun once you start it is hard to stop.  

This promo expires 9/14 at 00:01 eastern time.

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Wicked Happy Birthday

 The second Challenge was a Birthday Challenge.  The prompt was "all die cuts, no stamping".  I just started opening my 13 Days of Heroween box and was excited to play with some of the new items so I started thinking about how I could incorporate Halloween items into a birthday card and my brain went a bit crazy.  

So this one was inspired by Nicole Spohr.  I saw a post where she put the ghost from day one from the Heroween Box into the Beep Beep car from a completely different Hero Art set.  I had both, from there I was off and running.  I had already used a full ombre rub-on from Hero Arts on a panel and cut out the spider web which came from my stash, it came from Picket Fence Studios several years ago.  The Haunted House and Bats also came from the Heroween Box, these were from Day 3.  The Wicked Sentiment and the spider was an old StampinUp! Die set and the Happy Birthday banner was Waffle Flower Crafts.  

The story in my mind, is the Ghost and the Cat were running from the spider (in the upper left corner).  They were not afraid at all of the haunted house, the creepy bats or the bushes in the front with the beady little eyes.  This so much reminds me of my sister that will get in an accident trying to get a spider off of her.  

Two short posts for today.  Hope you enjoy. 

You're On My Mind

Well, it has been just about a minute since there was a post from me.  I went to the Spellbinders In-Person Event and I really enjoyed myself.  I met several people and it was a great experience.  Since I have been home I have been creating like crazy, but not taking enough time to post about what I have been doing.  I was invited to participate in a couple of challenges so  I decided to try my hand.  

I will be making a couple of posts today so I can add these 2 cards in separate posts, they are vastly different.  Today is the color challenge.  The prompt is Brown and Dusty Blue.  I think I captured it.  The watercolor background was inspired by Kristina Werner.  As I received the challenge prompt and was considering what I might do she posted a video where she did this technique.  Her colors were different and she did not have the blue element but the idea came from her.  

 The Products I used were as follows:

Mijello Mission Gold Watercolors in the colors Sepia, Van Dyke Brown, and Raw Umber. 

LDRS Watercolor Paper 

Neenah Solar White 110# (stacking the sentiment)

Colored Cardstock was Concord & 9th Midnight, Powder Blue from The Stamp Market, Partly Cloudy from Spellbinders (no longer available), and Misty Moonlight from StampinUp! (also no longer available).  

The sentiment was Concord & 9th Around the Garden.  

The Tree was Altenew Majestic Maple.

Altenew Subscription Plans

 Not posting a card today.  Just a quick set of Links to share something from Altenew.  

Subscribers who sign up before August 27th will get exclusive early access to our brand-new September designs! This is a fantastic incentive for you.  By subscribing you also get a bit of a discount rather than waiting.  Concerned about subscriptions?  No Worries.  You will receive an email well in advanced of shipment to look at the products to see if you want them and then you can go into your account and manage the subscription, skip if you wish or unsubscribe completely.  Hassle free. 

Disclaimer:  My links are affiliate links.  This means if you make a purchase using my links I will receive a commission at no extra cost to you.  

Haven't Posted in a few weeks

 I have been creating, I just have not stopped to post in a bit.  Because of this, I have a few cards to showcase.  Wow, as I look at the pictures I have some catching up to do.  Get your favorite drink and relax this may be a long one.  Some of these I made a while back so I may struggle remembering the colors or exact products, seems they were worthy to share just the same. 

 The first is a set of cards, inspired by the pattern on my clothing.  This one I actually wrote down most of what I used so it should be fairly comprehensive.  Here is the inspiration.  

I love the muted color palette and the way the flowers were laid out.  I liked that the flowers were coral colored and yellow and also a purple/pink.  I set out to find a stamp/stencil set that would foot the bill.  I used the Hello Beautiful Craft Your Life Project Set from Altenew.  This is an older set but is still available.  I thought I was going to need several flowers so I blended several panels with different flower configurations and cut them out with the dies.  I used the Jade Dreams, Martian Terrain, Pocketful of Sunshine and Rose Petal Ink families from Altenew.  For my background I started with the Natures Wonders, Marshland cardstock from Altenew.  I put a quarter sheet of the cardstock on my Stampwheel platform, and with my large blending brushes from lightest to darkest I blended around the outside of the panel to create a glow in the center of the pane. On a couple of quarter panels of Hammermill 100# cardstock I blended several clusters of the flowers.  I cut them out using the matching dies.  I had many more flowers so I ended up with four cards.  I used the Serene Archways for one card and some printed acetate I had in my stash to make a see-through card for another.  I did primarily use Altenew products for these cards as you see, I was having fun with the process.  I stamped the images in a tone on tone on the background panel and dotted Nuvo Drops in the flower centers in the color Bottle Green.  The sentiment was from the Altenew set and the gems were from the Let's Party Set from Honeybee Stamps.  I learned how to create 5x7 top folding cards from Yana Smakula in a card making event I participated in and I used that process to make this into a 5x7 top folding card for something different.  The inside has a spray of the matching flowers.  

A few of the pictures show the inside of the card, so there are multiple of the same card. 

Card Front

Card inside

See Through Card

Flat Shaker with Vellum

Serene Arches Panel

Next, Birthday Fishes using The Greetery.  I am a sucker for anything related to the sea, especially in the summer so when I saw the Crab Honeycomb Die from The Greetery I was unable to resist.  I busted it out as soon as I got it to make this cute interactive card.  The card stays flat for mailing, but it tells the recipient what to do to pop out the belly in the cute ball of honeycomb paper.  I also popped it up on an action wobbler.  This crab is so cute!

How it is mailed.

 

Honeycomb expanded.

for my background I sued the Under the Sea stencil set form Waffle Flower, I used Ink from Altenew, Marine Life Family.  The cardstock for the crab was from my stash, the colors were Real Red, Night of Navy from StampinUp!, Basil, Powder from Concord & 9th.  Inside I lightly stamped a scene of fishes swimming in some coral, these stamps were from Exquisite Ocean My Favorite Things Stamps (no longer in business sadly).  I used some lighter colors so a person could write their message to the recipient over the top if they wished. 

Next is another set from Altenew.  This one is from the Creative Cuts Subscription.  This set is called Lemon Tree 

I apologize as I have no idea what colors I used here I did not write them down.  The lemon shadows were done with a matching alcohol ink marker, I dotted the sides with a fine liner.  The squeeze the day sentiment came from the set.  The pot for the tree was cut from a scrap piece that I had stenciled some time ago with a silver paste, I just thought it would be cute for the pot when I was going through my scraps.  When you make panels you don't end up using, save them you can always use them for things later.  The tree itself was cut from the green and I colored the branch parts and the "dirt" with the darkest brown marker I had.  The background was from a 3D embossing folder I had received in a Spellbinders Weekender Kit from last fall. (2025), it seemed to fit.  I did not color it at all just left it white.  

I have found several other cards I had not posted but for today I am going to call this it.  Hope you enjoy.  

 

OCC Brighter Days

Today I am posting 3 cards I created Inspired by a post I saw from Brenda Jennings on the Online Card Classes Brighter Days Facebook Group. I have not actually completed the cards from the classes yet so I was just going by her picture and some techniques I wanted to try. Coincidently, there was a swap in a group I belong to that the jump off point was Rainbows. This fit in perfectly. I had also been seeing an advertisement for Ranger Ink (I believe it was) where they were using sprays to drip and blend down a page. I kept thinking I wanted to try this again. All of these things were my jumping off point. 

I started with 3 panels of Tim Holtz white watercolor cardstock. I was going with a rainbow on white look so the white cardstock watercolor cardstock seemed fitting. I do not own the oxide sprays and I wanted a more "pastel" tone so I pulled out my Distress Oxide re-inkers in Kitsch Flamingo, Saltwater Taffy, Dried Marigold, Scattered Straw, Peacock Feathers, and Salty Ocean.

Dried Marigold

Kitsch Flamingo

Peacock Feathers

Saltwater Taffy

Salty Ocean

Scattered Straw

I moistened the cardstock with a spray bottle of water, dripped the ink down the cardstock in rainbow order in a landscape (on the 5 1/2 side) fashion.  I wet the cardstock again until I got the blend I was wanting.  I set this panel aside to dry.  Next, I grabbed some matching bottles of Distress Mica Stains.  If you know this product, they do not exactly match the distress colors.  The Mica Stains have a tinted liquid and, as I understand the same color of mica for the shimmer.  I was able to find a few of the colors I have that closely matched with the Oxide colors I used.  I used the same process for spraying the page, rainbow order on wet cardstock and keeping the paper wet until I achieved the look I was after.  Lastly, I pulled some Dina Wakely Gloss Sprays in roughly these same colors and followed the same process.  All of these were set aside to dry.  Once dry the first piece I created with the Oxides I sprayed with Sheer Shimmer in the color Sparkle by Imagine.  I love this stuff, it make the most beautiful shimmer every time.  

Each of these panels were very different when dry.  The first, was very shimmery after I sprayed with the Sheer Shimmer with the Oxide colors.  The 2nd with the Mica Sprays was shimmery but not quite as much and a bit brighter in tone.  The 3rd, although it was a Gloss Spray, was not glossy after it was sprayed with water in the original technique, but I was going to go with it.  

The sentiments for all 3 cards came from the OCC (Online Card Classes) Brighter Days Die Bundle called Easier and Brighter.  All 3 cards also used the umbrella from the Weather Together Bundle also from the OCC Brighter Days classes.  I also pulled in a few other items from my stash.  The Taylored Expressions Die called Rainbow Bright, the Simon Says Stamp Birthday Blitz and the OCC Celebrate Bundle called Sparkle Waves.  I added raindrops with the Altenew White Relief Paste .  I also pulled in some Confetti from Honey Bee Stamps called Blizzard. 

Starting with the panel with the Mica Sprays.  I used the Taylored Expressions Rainbow Bright die and cut a panel of white cardstock 4 1/4"x 5 1/2" just for the 2 outside pieces.  I saved the fall out pieces for a later project.  I used Hammermill 80lb cardstock in white.  I was planning on several stacked layers and I did not want to add additional bulk.  I adhered my cardstock to the colored panel.  I cut the umbrella pieces 3 times from the same white cardstock and stacked them, setting aside for the glue to set up.  I cut the backer of the umbrella out of a lightweight vellum.  I did the same for the script word Brighter (cut 3 times and stacked it, and the outline from the same vellum).  Once the glue was set up I adhered the umbrella pieces together added to its backer and put the Brighter on its backer.  I stamped You Make Life, from the Easier and Brighter stamp set on the same Hammermill White Cardstock and then cut it with a sentiment strip.  I cut the same strip out 3 times and stacked those as well. I arranged the umbrella and sentiments on my card front and added those confetti from Honey Bee Stamps. 

The second card I used the panel with the Gloss Sprays.  This time using the Sparkle Waves Dies from OCC Celebrate.  These dies took me forever to figure out how to line them up so they fit together, but now that I have it down I have it down.  I adhered the strips from the Sparkle Waves to the front of the white panel  This time I added the sun and the clouds to my composition these were from the Weather Together Dies.  The Wishing You and Days ahead are from the Easier and Brighter stamp set.  I did not layer these, seemed that I had plenty of stacked elements on my card.  I added a black panel to my card front that was slightly larger than my panel to make the white and the rainbow colors pop.  

Lastly I used the 3rd panel with the Oxide Inks and the Sparkle Sprays I cut this one from the Birthday Blitz die from Simon Says Stamp.  It was intended to cut a stamped rainbow from the stamp set of the same name.  I cut the shape out from the shimmery cardstock piece I had left, conserving as much as possible for use in another project.  I mounted it to the card panel in a landscape fashion on a 4 1/4"x5 1/2" card base with Foam Tape.   I did not do all of the stacking this time I only stacked the umbrella, Since the umbrella was partially glued to the rainbow piece I added foam dots the the left edge to make it one level. I added raindrops using the stencil from the Weather Together Bundle and the Altenew White Relief Paste.  I had done this first and let it dry while I was working on the rest of the card.    I stamped Keep Looking For and Tomorrows from the Easier and Brighter stamp set and cut the strips out with a banner die.  Mounted the word Brighter to its outline vellum backer and arranged on the card front.  Again I added the Honey Bee Stamps confetti in Blizzard. 

I don't believe these cards were exactly what was posted in the OCC Class or by Brenda Jennings.  As I previously noted, I have not yet taken the class, I was simply using the photo as inspiration.  Thank you Brenda!

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