Yellow is such a Happy color

I wanted to use the CAS(e) this sketch for this week and since I picked this "happy" die from PaperTrey Inc, I just had to pick yellow for my main color. 

 I learned today that "smooching" is evidently a crafting term and that is what I did to create my simple background.  I tapped a few shades of Distress Stain directly to an acrylic block, spritzed that with water and then "smooched" the block onto my watercolor paper.  I love that it is really such a random way to add color and that so works especially with these inks and watercolor paper. 

 The flower is a multi step flower from Altenew stamps.  Again, another stamp that I really love and you can create your flower from any number of color combinations.  

 See the little specks of gold because one of the Distress Stains that I used is tarnished brass, a metallic ink.  

Here is the CAS(e) this sketch that I used.

It also fits the Addicted to Stamps and More Anything Goes challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Purple Butterfly

I found a fun bunch of online challenges and created a card. 

The colors are a result of the Color Throwdown and I used a layout for the card to match the Freshly Made Sketch. For the side element, I used a hole die from My Favorite Things and accented it with browns using Distress Inks.  

I placed my sentiment slightly different from the sketch but I thought this fit my card better.  The sentiment stamp is from Stampers Anonymous.  

I used a set of butterfly dies from My Favorite Things.  In order to use the colors in the challenge, I cut the top layer from watercolor paper and colored that butterfly from a variety of Distress Inks.  I like the resulting distressed look.  

 Here is the Color Throwdown challenge. 

And the Freshly Made sketch.

And even though my butterfly is purple and not pink I thought my card fit in with the Addicted to Stamps and More challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Creating a background

I love so many things about crafting and this beautiful flower stamp from Altenew Stamps and a stencil for creating a background are definitely two of those things. 

 The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge is to create your own background and so I reached for this writing stencil, a foam blending tool and some Distress Ink pads.  I love the antique look some old writing adds and the inks create a soft look.  

 I wanted to do minimal coloring on these flowers using some Copic markers.  

 I sprayed the finished flower and background with a Heidi Swapp spray that gave everything a pearl look. 

Here is the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Teal Butterfly

With a color challenge of "teal" by CASology and another challenge to use butterflies, I had to play along. 

 I did want to keep it slightly on the simple side so I created a soft background with some Distress Stains on watercolor paper. That sweet little sentiment is a stamp from Alternew.

 This gives a closer glimpse of the background and my soft vellum heart stamped with a fun Hero Arts stamp.  The little butterfly is from a stamp set by The Greeting Farm. 

 This side view shows a little bit of the layers, I love using foam tape for dimension.  

 Here is the CASology Butterfly challenge.

And the Addicted to CAS Teal challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Dreamy Pink and Gold

The softest pinks and amazing metallic golds make up this card. I thought it was a good representation of The Card Concept challenge.

 So often Red is associated with hearts and "love" but this pink is so perfect and soft. 

 The word "love" and the heart are both dies from Simon Says Stamp.  

 The mixed media background is created from a mix of stencils and Distress inks.  

 Here is The Card Concept inspiration photo.

This also fits the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.
This also fits the Simon Says Stamp flickr challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

All the Golden LOVE

Valentine's Day has to be one of the easiest and most fun holidays to create cards for, who doesn't love hearts of any color? 

 My card is actually very simple and good thing is it goes along with a few online challenges. 

 My current love is to work with watercolor paper and watercolor techniques.  This background is just plain some simple shades of red Distress Stain.  That sweet little wreath is a stamp and matching die from Simon Says Stamp and that gorgeous gold word is also a die from Simon Says Stamp cut from gold metallic paper.  

 How about these colors, Color Throwdown.

 My card also fits the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge of It Must Be Love.

It also fits the Simon Says Stamp Flickr challenge.

And the Just Us Girls, LOVE challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Golden "love"

I found a few online challenges that I simply needed to play along with.

 The color combination came from the photo inspiration with Time Out Challenge.  I wanted black and white stripes so I created my own with a black watercolor pen and a Copic black pen.  Once I drew my lines with a ruler, I used a waterbrush to make the watercolor black ink run.  In the photo this ended up looking like it has a lavender cast but it is actually more black and white in real life making it go along with the photo.  The layout of the card went along with the Freshly Made sketch.

 I made sure my card was really on the simple side by adding black and gold glitter.  

 Here is the Time Out Challenge Photo. 

 Here is the Freshly Made sketch I used. 

This also fits the CASology challenge.

 This CAS on Friday challenge is to use markers or pens. 

And the Simon Says Wednesday challenge is Anything Goes.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)