Merry Snowflakes

One last Christmas card to share for this year...

 I used the color combination from Colour Q along with a few snowflake related products.  The banner shapes are die cuts from My Favorite Things.  I love that they are various sizes so that they fit on top of each other.  The word "Merry" is a die from Simon Says Stamp.  

 I ran the white banner piece through the Cuttlebug along with a die cut that I embossed instead of cutting.  The snowflakes are from Wplus9 Designs.  

Here is the Colour Q combo.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Prettiest Snowflakes

I love mixing colors on a card and stamping snowflakes is the perfect time to use that combo.

 I have a thing for snowflake stamps and snowflake dies so I knew I needed this set from Tim Holtz.  Each one is so lacy.  Each snowflake was inked with Distress Stamp pad inks on watercolor paper then I spritzed the images with water so they would end up a little "messy".  

 I stamped the sentiment first and embossed the black ink with clear embossing powder so the ink wouldn't run as I added the other colors.   I added dot accents here and there with Stickles.  

My card fits this Color Throwdown challenge.

Plus I thought it fit the Time Out challenge.  I know they are circles but I thought the way they were scattered reminded me of this photo.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Snowflake time

Well, we won't really get any snowflakes where I live but I sure love using snowflakes for winter anyway.

I first of all I used a snowflake plate from Lil' Inker and embossed the entire piece using watercolor paper.  Next I took one of my Zig Clear Color pens and added some color.  I then used a watercolor brush to "paint" each embossed snowflake.  I loved the resulting soft look.  The sentiment from Simon Says Stamp was stamped on vellum.  I like that I could add the sentiment is a subtle way.  

 I also cut out snowflakes from this set of Lil' Inker dies, I love the stitching marks that are in the dies.  I sprayed the cut out snowflakes with Brushed Pewter Distress Spray.  I placed the die cut snowflakes over some of the embossed snowflakes.  

 The card fits the Inkspirational FLAKE challenge.

 The colors fit the Sunday Stamps challenge.

Plus it fits the Simon Says Wednesday Die Cut challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Fall leaves - Fall colors

I wanted to make a card with a tag as the focal point so I could play with the CAS on Sunday challenge.

 I also wanted it to have fall elements and fall colors with Thanksgiving Day in mind.  My background is "messy" with Distress Stains and a leaf stencil.  

 I used some Paper Smooches products to create my tag.  The tag itself is a die from PS, the big leaf is also a die from them and I added lots of color with Distress Stains.  The smaller sprigs are a new die set for me, again colored with fall colors of Distress Stains.  The sentiment is also from Paper Smooches.  

Here is the CAS on Sunday challenge.

This also fits the AAA Cards challenge for Thanks or Thanksgiving.

Thanks for visiting, (Linda)

Congrats to You

Taking a little time to play along with a couple online challenges.

 Altenew stamps has a color challenge and Just Us Girls has a watercolor challenge.  So I reached for my newest Altenew stamp set.  I randomly stamped two of the flowers on my watercolor paper and then did some "messy" coloring by dabbing Distress Stains directly to the paper after spritzing the paper with a little bit of water first.  

 The Distress Stains and water bleed and run for a great watercoloring look.  The dots were created with a Tim Holtz stencil.  

Here's the Alternew November challenge.

Here's the Just Us Girls watercolor challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Single Blue Flower

Altenew is one of my absolute favorite stamp companies right now.  It is so much fun to play with all of the flower stamps that they offer.  

They are hosting a November challenge to use the colors of Navy Blue and Coral.  I pulled out my newest set of stamps that I hadn't even had time to play with yet for my card.  

 I stamped only one flower to be my focal point.  In order to add the coral I used a stencil and some Distress Stain for a "messy" background.  I used my Zig Clean Color pens on the flower and leaf.  These work amazing on the watercolor paper.  It was faster and easier to just dab the ink to the stencil with the Distress Stain.  I did spritz it with water and I love the "messy" result on the watercolor paper.  Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge is "thinking of you" so I thought this great sentiment fit that challenge.

 Here is the Altenew November challenge.

Here is the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Love White Pumpkins

As I sat down to play with the Card Concept challenge, I knew this would give me to chance to use some white pumpkins.  

 I pulled out a set of stamps with matching dies from My Favorite Things for my two pumpkins.  There were stamped in white and embossed with white on watercolor paper.  I gave these shapes a little bit of color with Tea Dye Distress Stains so they would be defined a little bit.  

 To go along with the Card Concept photo inspiration piece, I created a distressed background with a honeycomb stencil and more Distress Stains.  The wreath is a stamp and die from Simon Says Stamp, again stamped with white and embossed with white.  I colored this piece with blue Distress Stains so it fits the photo inspiration.  The layout of the entire card was inspired with the Freshly Made sketch for this week.  

 Here is the Freshly Made sketch.

 Here is the Card Concept photo inspiration.

This also fits the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of Thanks or Thanksgiving.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

The colors of Autumn

I was able to attend Scrapbook Expo in Ontario, CA recently and one of my classes was how to use the Zig Clean Color pens.  They are a kind of watercolor pen.

 The teacher represented Krazy Kreations and they offer lots of black outline stickers.  They work so perfectly with the watercolor pens.  

I did use watercolor paper and the paper and the pens really work together nicely for blending the colors.  With that in mind, I was able to use several colors that go along with Fall or Autumn.

The sentiment is from a set by Simon Says Stamp and this also fits the Anything Goes Wednesday challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

A different watercolor look

I took a workshop using the Zig Clean Color Real Brush and so I needed to give them a try.  Using the CAS(e) this Sketch was good inspiration.

 The sketch is so simple and I thought this set of Paper Smooches stamps was good for the pens and the sketch. 

 There wasn't much to add color to but it was fun.  The keep with the sketch I added dots to the card with a Tim Holtz stencil and some Distress Stain.  I couldn't leave all of that white space so I added some design with an embossing folder.  

Here is the CAS(e) this Sketch.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

With a blue flower

I used the CAS(e) this sketch for my card mostly because I just plain loved it.  

 I stamped the word "congratulations" four times on my watercolor paper.  I used white ink and embossed that with white embossing powder because I knew that the embossed words would then resist the Distress Stains that I used.  I spritzed the paper first with a small amount of water and then added the Distress Stains directly to the paper.  When that ink is then spritzed again, it runs.  You then need to just set it aside for the ink to dry.  I love how irregular it dries.  The word is from a set by Avery Elle.  I simply love that font.  

 That wonderful flower and the leaf sprig are stamps from Altenew.  The leaf was colored with Copic markers and the flower was simply colored by adding Distress Stains to it.  Again the white embossed lines resisted the ink. 

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

Autumn Colors

I know it's fall, but we aren't seeing that here where I live but it will come.

 I used the retro sketch for my design.  That piece in the middle is a page torn from my tablet of watercolor paper.  I love using this strip.  

This leaf is a stamp by Tim Holtz.  I did stamp it on watercolor paper and then I did add color with Copic markers.  The finish is a spray of Antique Bronze Distress Spray.  I cut the word out of copper glitter paper and the die is from My Favorite Things.

Here is the retro sketch.

I also used the Fusion challenge for the fall inspiration.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

You Are Awesome

I have lots of awesome friends and they would probably all love this card.

 I wanted to use the great CAS(e) this sketch so I pulled out some of my Altenew stamps.  I just love this set, I love the outline look to the leaves and flowers plus the allowed me to quickly add color with one of my favorite techniques, Distress Stains on watercolor paper.  

 This resulted in one of those one, two, three done kind of cards.  After I stamped all of the images to match the sketch, I embossed the images with clear embossing powder so that when I added a little bit of water and the inks, the black ink wouldn't run.  That neat sentiment is from another set of stamps by Altenew.  Some Liquid Pearl dots finish it off. 

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

Beautiful Day

I wanted to put the Freshly Made sketch to use plus the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of Anything Goes.

 The sketch has three spots, I decided to make circles on watercolor paper with Distress Stains and then to accent them.  

 After my spots of color, I wanted the rest to be very simple with a black and white accent.  The flower is a stamp from Altenew and that neat sentiment is from Wplus9 Designs embossed with silver.  

 Here is the Freshly Made sketch.

Here is the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

A friend is a smile God gives when you need one

Don't you just love that sentiment! Its fits any season.

 I wanted to use the colors from the Colour Q combo and the sketch from My Favorite Things so those challenges set the pace for my card.  That fun background was created with a My Favorite Things background stamp.  I stamped it in white, embossed it in white and then added color with Distress Stain in Hickory Smoke on watercolor paper.  That helped my card fit the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge to not use patterned paper. 

 I'd been wanting to use these adorable pumpkins from My Favorite Things for some time and it just seemed like I could get them to fit the color combination.  I used a MFT's border die, it is actually from a square set but I cut it twice and made it fit the sketch.  The pumpkins have matching dies, my favorite way to stamp and cut shapes out. One pumpkin has Liquid Pearl dots added and another one is coated with Glossy Accents. 

 Here is the Colour Q challenge.

 Here is the My Favorite Things sketch.

Here is the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)