Embossing Paste Goodness

I love playing with embossing paste.

 It can make for such a dramatic background.  I used this piece to create a card around the Freshly Made sketch.  

 I started out with a piece of watercolor paper.  I sprayed it with some Tattered Angels Chalkboard spray in Valencia.  That is such a neat color because it has a metallic gold undertone.  I didn't cover the entire paper.  When that was dry, I added white embossing paste through a Tim Hotlz stencil.  The "hello" is a die from Mama Elephant and the butterfly is by Recollections/Michaels.  

Here is the Freshly Made Sketch.

Plus it fits the Time Out challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Colorful Paper Smooches goodness

I wanted to play along with the Paper Smooches Sparks sketch.  It is always fun to play along with a challenge plus I love Paper Smooches stamps and dies.  

 To go along with the circle element on the sketch, I used the zig zag circle nested dies and embossed that design into my watercolor colored paper.  

 I stamped the flower sprig with white ink and embossed that with white embossing powder and after I cut it out with the matching die, I added color with Distress Stains.  Because the stains come with a dabber top, it is pretty easy to add the colors in the places you want them.  They will run together to go with the watercolor look.  I love that "happy birthday" word die so it was a great finish to my card.

 Here is the Paper Smooches Sparks sketch.

It also fits the Friday Mashup challenge to use watercolor techniques.  I can't seem to get enough of playing with that look.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Window background

I found the newest inspiration photo from Just Us Girls and I knew I needed to play along.

 I loved all of the white in the photo and the splashes of turquoise, the orange and yellow in the rug and the accents of wood so those were the features I tried to put in my card.  That amazing cut background is a die from My Favorite Things.  I just didn't take out all of the triangles that were cut.  I thought that resembled the windows and all of the white in the photo.

 There is a yummy rug in the photo and it has splotches of orange and yellow so my Flowers by Altenew Stamps worked for that.  The little frame is a stamp and die from Lawn Fawn and I colored it with some brown Distress Stains to match the wood accents. The die cut word "thanks" is from Reverse Confetti. 

Here is the Just Us Girls photo inspiration piece. 

My card also goes along with the Stampin' Celebration sketch.

My card also fits the inspiration photo at the Fusion Challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

AAA Cards challenge - For the Guys

 Our theme this for the next AAA Cards challenge is about the guys or a masculine touch and that is normally a difficult challenge for me but fun.

 I reached for a little car stamp I have by Printworks that I just plain love.  It is so easy to use and the red and blue help it fit a masculine look.  In order to make my plain white card fit with my color scheme, I blotched it with some Distress Stain.  

 I used a banner set of tag dies from My Favorite Things. I just love how easy those dies are to use and how any sizes they come in and they stack so easy.  The card was stamped and colored with Copic markers.  The word "zoom" is also from Printworks. 

 I just had to create another card using this super cut little car.  I stamped it, colored it and then cut it out.  My background was super simple with some gray paint stroke stamped images by Avery Elle.  

I used a stitched die from Avery Elle.  It cuts the rectangle and cuts the stitched lines into the paper with one cut.

Be sure to play along at AAA Cards.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Texture and Color

I wanted to play with some online challenges with a stencil background, great colors and a neat sketch. 

 First off, I used the Simon Says Wednesday challenge to use a stencil and I used the featured company, The Crafters Workshop.  I love their stencils so this a pretty easy choice.  I reached for my embossing paste in white.  Once this was dry, I used three main shades of Distress Stains to color the dried paste.  The colors fit the Colour Me challenge. The sentiment is also from Simon Says Stamp. 

 I took this photo at an angle to try to show off the amazing texture of the paste.  Plus I love how the inks colored the stencil designs.  The butterfly is a stamp with a matching die from Clearly Besotted.  I stamped it in white, embossed it with white embossing powder and then added color with Distress Stains.  

 Here is the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge, stencil it. 

Here is the Colour Me challenge.

Here is the Freshly Made sketch.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Black and White with a touch of Silver

An online sketch challenge is always a great reason to create a card so I am playing with CAS(e) this Sketch for the following card. 

 I pulled out several products from Simon Says Stamp to create my card.  The border was created with a border die of stars.  This was just simply added to a gray card.  That "thanks" is also a die from Simon Says Stamp.  

The flower stamps are also from Simon Says Stamp.  The set comes with a solid flower and an outline flower, a quick and fast way to create a black and white look.  This flower also has a matching die.  The leaves are cut from silver glitter cardstock and white cardstock and they are actually a little tree.  

Here is the CAS(e) this sketch.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Happy Balloons

What goes with Happy Birthday greetings better then balloons.

 I wanted to use this "happy birthday" die from Paper Smooches and I knew I wanted the words to be multicolored.  I also wanted some simple balloons for accents so I used a stamp and die cut set of circles by Simon Says Stamp.  This set also includes an outline stamp to match each circle.  I used Distress Stamp pads for the coloring of the balloons and I hand drew the little strings.  

  For my colored words, I took a piece of watercolor paper and made colored stripes with Distress Stains and a stripe stencil from Clearsnap.  With some spritzes of water, the inks ran and created the neatest, soft colored stripes.  I cut the die cut word from my colored piece of paper and I also cut it out of a plain piece of watercolor paper, making sure of my placement of the words.I wanted to use the negative of my word and fill that with my colored set of words.  Because my background piece of cardstock for the card base is turquoise, I let that show through the openings of the letters.  

 This fits the Stampin' Celebration challenge because of the colors and the strings on the balloons. 

It fits the Seize the Birthday Toppings challenge to use the negative. 

It fits the Happy Little Stampers challenge to use die cuts.

Plus the Pals Paper Arts color challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Love these flowers

When it comes to flower stamps, Altenew are some of my most favorite.

 These flowers and leaves are from a new set that I received from them.  I wanted to play with the color combination at Sunday Stamps so this was the perfect start.  I stamped the flower with white ink and embossed them with white embossing powder on watercolor paper.  The embossed lines of the images will now act as a resist to the inks I want to use. The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp. 

 I picked a variety of blues, grays and black Distress Stain.  I also used a Pewter which is actually a metallic silver.  When these were spritzed with water, they ran together just right to color the flowers and to add some color to the background.  In a way it is like painting, adding the colors here and there just where I wanted them. 

Here is the Sunday Stamps challenge. 

Plus it fits the Inkspirational Recipe challenge to use three items.  I used the Distressing, Flowers and Pearls since I used Liquid Pearls as accents. 

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Yellow and Gray Goodness

I wanted to use the current Fusion challenge so of course, I created a card.

 The Fusion challenge includes a sketch and an inspiration photo, you can use one or both and so I went with both.  It was fun to try to get the color gray to be a good portion of my card.  

 Once again, I went with some watercolor paper.  I stamped the flower stamp from Tim Holtz with white ink and embossed it with white embossing powder.  These embossed lines of the image will now act as a resist to the inks I add.  I went with a variety of Distress Stains.  When they are spritzed with water, the colors run and mingle.  To get the gray I used black, brushed pewter and pumice stone.  The sentiment is from Reverse Confetti.

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

AAA Cards Birthday Party and Blog Hop

Everybody loves a party and its time for AAA Cards Challenge blogs 1st birthday.  I think that is pretty exciting not only because this cupcake is completely adorable but because there are prizes, lots of prizes, you just have to play along. Check out the AAA Cards blog for all of the details.  You should have come here from Jane's blog.

 I wanted my card to be very pink to match that adorable party banner.  Of course, I started out by coloring a piece of watercolor paper with some Distress Stains.  There seems to be no way I can get enough of that technique, maybe because it turns out different every time.  

 Next I cut the flowers and leaves by Essentials by Ellen from plain white paper and cut the "happy birthday" by Paper Smooches from plain white paper and then sprayed the words with Heidi Swapps gold Color Shine.  I wanted to keep my card very simple and let my die cut shapes have all of the glory.  

I knew I needed to do another card, maybe because you can't have too many for a party.  Simon Says Stamp has supplied one of the prizes for the celebration and they sent me one set to play with so I wanted to have that be part of my celebration.  The little kitty is from a set from the Falling For You collection. 

That adorable frame is a stamp with a matching die from Lawn Fawn and the super cute sentiment is from Wplus9 Designs.  The balloon is also from the Party Animal set.  Once again, my background is simply Distress Stains and watercolor paper. 

This also fits the Simon Says Wednesday challenge regarding sentiments.

Plus the Lawnscaping watercolor challenge.

This is a birthday hop so you can hop on over to Vicki's blog so see what she created for the party. If you missed any of the blogs along the way, you can always go back to the AAA Cards blog.

Now it's your turn to create.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

It's a Party

All you need is a balloon and a cute banner, and it's a party.

 I started out with this adorable little monkey from Simon Says Stamp from the Falling for You new collection.  The balloon and the banner are part of the same set.

 I paired it with a word background by using a Tim Holtz stencil and some Distress Spray inks.  This makes it fit the Simon Says Wednesday challenge, Let's get sentimental.  The stitched squares are cut with a My Favorite Things die set. 

 Here is the Wednesday Challenge.

It also fits the CAS-ology Shape challenge.

Plus it fits the Freshly Made sketch turned on its side.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)