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.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/w0om2rajf59supja12i8e/ACdJv41zzhTJkkqlxLJefNA?rlkey=mfqtpkla08shpzuiphz844fu4&st=qjvm8zow&e=1&dl=0&sca
_ref=11601837.UA4HmLkyLyQ121fs

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.