Black and White

I wanted something really simple and I wanted to use the Crazy 4 Challenge of opposites.

 I had wanted to use a window on a card and the cut out heart worked just right here. The heart stamp has a matching die and both are from Hero Arts.

 I stamped the heart with black ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder so the black was a little more intense.  The tiny heart and flower finished off the card. It's a mini, 3" square card. 

Here is the Crazy 4 Challenges.

This also fits the Fusion inspiration photo.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Some Love and some Washi Love

What better way to start a card then with some Washi Tape.

 I actually got this tape on clearance after Christmas but since I am such a huge fan of this plaid look, I knew I would use it all year.  I thought it fit pretty cute for Valentines day.  

 After I placed a few torn strips of the tape on my paper, I cut out the heart using a die from Simon Says Stamp.  I also cut out that same heart shape from some silver glitter paper and so I placed the glitter heart in the place of the cut out plaid heart.  That adorable little moose is from Paper Source and the "love" is a die from Lawn Fawn also cut from the silver glitter paper.  

I so love this inspiration photo for the Stampin' Celebrations challenge and thought my card fit in well here.

It also fits the CAS(e) this sketch.

It also fits the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge of Anything Goes.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

It's "Heart" time

Using hearts and anything red makes me so happy so of course I want to create several cards for Valentines Day.

 I wanted to color a piece of watercolor paper and then use this piece to cut out a heart shape.  This helped me create a card to go along with the retro sketch for this week, not to mention the Just Us Girls challenge and the Simon Says "have a heart" challenge.  I colored the piece of paper with a few shades of Distress Stains and the left that to dry. That gray background was created using a stencil from Simon Says Stamp.  

 I then cut out my heart shape.  The sketch gave me the opportunity to once again use my banner die set from My Favorite Things.  I love how these dies stack.  I added the word "love" that is a die from Lawn Fawn.  

 Here is the retro sketch.

 Here is the Just Us Girls challenge.

Here is the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge.
Also the Time Out challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Someone Who Makes Others So Happy

I took some time to do some playing.

 My card is the result, I created it to go along with the CAS(e) this sketch and the Color Throwdown challenge.  

 I started out with the colorful top portion of my card.  I used a piece of tape to divide my card.  I then used a variety of Distress Stains and Distress Stamp Pads on watercolor paper.  By spraying it with water, I let the inks run and mix until I had to look I wanted.  The leaf spray is a stamp with it's matching die from PaperTrey, Inc.  I used a doily from Recollections that I cut and the tiny flowers are from Hobby Lobby.  The cute sentiment is from a set by Alternew stamps.  

 Here is the CAS(e) this sketch.

Here is the Color Throwdown challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Love, Love, Love and some hearts

So I picked up a set of stamps by Tim Holtz, these are the mini version and the set covers several holidays.  I picked out the three that went with Valentines day and sat down to play.

 I stamped each image on a square of watercolor paper. I stamped them in black and embossed with clear embossing powder.  I like to do that because it makes the black lines more intense and I can use any other inks on it and the black won't run.  I created a background piece for my card base with a stencil and various Distress Stains.  

 I turned this closeup on it's side so you could get a good view of my little sequins that I placed in some glitter glue.  It also helps the golds to show up.  I colored my "14" image with Copic markers. It is really fun how these work on watercolor paper.  I then added color by spritzing my piece with water and swiping mini Distress Stamp pads across it.  I could add the browns and pinks were I wanted them and the inks ran because of the water.  I sprayed on some Heidi Swapp gold Color Shine and those wonderful gold chipboard pieces are by Teresa Collins.  I embossed a stitched square into the paper. 

This fits the color combination at Curtain Call. 

 For this one, I cut the little cupid piece with a banner die from My Favorite Things when I was done coloring it.  That background is also created with a stencil and Distress Inks.  The little row of hearts is a die from Reverse Confetti. I used the red negative of the cut and placed the pink cut hearts into that with foam tape.

 After I colored in the little Cupid, I added a coating of glitter glue.  The LOVE die cut word is from My Favorite Things.  

This fits the retro sketch for this week.

 For this one, I did all of my coloring of the candy heart piece and then cut it out with a My Favorite  Things banner. I love this banner set because there are so many choices in size.  You can see I cut it again, slightly larger from gold metallic paper and then again, slightly larger from pink cardstock.  

 The kraft colored doily is from Recollections, I distressed it by wrinkling it and adding inks to it.  The word "LOVE" is cut from the gold metallic cardstock and added to the one banner.  You can see my dotted embossed background on the kraft cardstock base. I embossed a die from My Favorite Things into the paper. 

 This fits the My Favorite Things sketch.

They all fit the Crafty Gals Corner Sweethearts challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Trying something new

It is always so much fun to try a new technique.

 I had seen this one used a few times lately.  It is actually so easy yet ends up looking so neat.  And, of course, it fits for all of the Valentines and heart things we are thinking of this time of year.

 I began by adding a gold section to the bottom of my card with Gold Distress Stain and Heidi Swapp gold Color Shine.  The top of my card was plain white and I didn't really like that so I added interest with some stencils and more Distress Stains.  How yummy did the golds turn out? Once I was done and it was all dry, I cut the word "love" out, cutting along the divide of color.  That great die is from Lawn Fawn.  Next I cut that same word out a couple times from recycled kraft colored packaging.  I wanted the thicker paper of the packaging.  All of the layers were glued together and added back in the opening that was cut out.  Love the resulting dimension.  I also used this amazing heart die from Simon Says Stamp and a few sequins scattered here and there.  The stencils are a dot one from Tim Holtz and a postage style from The Crafters Workshop Stencils.  

This fits the CAS-ology challenge for NBUS - Never before used Schtuff.

Also the Just us Girls Stencil challenge.

And it fits the Crafty Gals Sweetheart challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

A blackboard look

The blackboard look is popular today in basically everything and I love it.

 It is a fun look on a card so I used the inspiration photo at the Fusion challenge to help me create my card. The verse is from a set of stamps from PaperTrey, Inc.  I stamped it in white, embossed it in white and then added some Black Soot Distress Stain.  The embossed design acts as a resist to the ink resulting in a blackboard look.  Mixing that in with lots of pink accents just seemed like the right thing to do. 

 I added a line of sticky adhesive across my card and applied some wrinkled ribbon to that. The little bunch of flowers is from a little set by American Crafts and of course some fun sequins helps finish off my card. A card that is sure to be an encouragement for a friend. 

Here is the Fusion challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Your Special Day

I wanted to play along with the first sketch challenge at MFT Card Challenge (My Favorite Things) so here is my card.

 It of course meant a really good excuse to pull out some of my My Favorite Things toys.  First off, I colored a piece of watercolor paper with some Distress Stains and then left that to dry.  Next I used this background die and embossed the pattern into the colored paper.  

 I love the irregular coloring with the watercolor look.  Next I used a piece of watercolor paper that I had previously colored with some purple shades of Distress Stain and cut the butterfly.  That banner is a stamp with a matching die. I love that the banners in this set stamp black.  They really stand out as a neat accent.  I used Liquid Pearls to add some little bit of glam to the embossed background.

 Here is the MFT sketch.

This also fits the Friday Mashup challenge to use shapes.  I love the shapes in the embossed background.

This also fits the Happy Little Stampers challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Encouragement

Using a scripture verse on a card to a friend is such a neat way to send some encouragement.

 I got an amazing set of stamps from PaperTrey, Inc and I am trying to use these great verses as often as I can.  They mix so well with flower images.  I used the retro sketch for my inspiration on this card.

First off, I used a set of flower stamps from Altenew.  I inked the flower with various Distress Stamp pad inks and stamped them on watercolor paper. I loved the diffused result.  I then stamped the verse image over that with black ink and embossed that with clear embossing powder so the black was a little more intense.  

Here is the retro sketch.
And....

How about a sunset photo.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Simple Goodness

I started out with a very simple background using a stencil and some Distress Stain.

 I gave it some spritzes of Heidi Swapp Color Shine gold and left it all to dry.  I just picked up that medallion stamp on a recent visit to the Paper Source store. I just stamped it twice, both of the images going off of the paper.  I loved the stunning simplicity.  

 That adorable sentiment is from a set by Studio Calico.   It is so simple too and packs a big punch.  I used some Gold Silk that I picked up from Fun Stampers Journey.  It is in a bottle like nail polish.  It was so easy to add the gold accents to the medallion images with the brush end.  

I am adding this to Virginia's View challenge for a Clean Slate.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

While I was at it...

You know that snowflake stamp I said I picked up on clearance after Christmas...

 Well, I just had to put it to use again especially when so many of my friends are finding snow at their doorsteps lately.  I love using snowflakes on crafting projects so it is fun that even though Christmas is over, snowflakes still fit in January.  I add some Broken China Distress Stain to my white cardbase to help that fit in with my stamped image.  

 I stamped and embossed the snowflake with white and then ran some Distress Stain in black all over that but I didn't totally cover my white cardstock.  I then used some Broken China Distress Stain on the exposed areas.  I loved that little accent of the turquoise.  I layered a die cut snowflake over that.  The die is from Wplus9 Designs. 

 This fits this Colour Me challenge.  You could go back over the year and pick a favorite combination.  

They are having a little party over at Colour Me!

Plus, check out the Friday MashUp challenge to use snowflakes, my card fits right in.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)