CardMaker Magazine and Clearsnap blog hop

I don't need any excuse to play with inks and stamps and making cards, etc. but a blog hop using some wonderful Clearsnap products makes playing even more fun.  The blog team for CardMaker Magazine and for Clearsnap are joining in to show off specifically the ColorBox Fluid Chalk stamp pads.  I have loved these inks for years.  The results are so beautiful and interesting and I created two very different cards to try to show off what they inks are about.  You should be coming here from Kim's blog.

 One of my absolute favorite ways to use the Chalk inks is to add color to my surface.  The resulting look and feel is like velvet.  I stamped the flowers and leaves first using some Altenew stamps. I used a white ColorBox pigment stamp pad to stamp the images and then use white embossing powder.  The pigment inks stay wet long enough to add the embossing powder.  Once the images are heat embossed, I then took the Chalk stamp pad in the color Cheeky and rubbed it directly over the entire surface of my paper.  It covers so nicely.  The embossed lines of the images resist the ink.  I added in a little bit of color to portions of the flower and leaves with a Copic marker just to add dimension in the colors.  

 I then used a stencil that I placed on my pink card front.  I used the white Chalk stamp pad and added that ink directly over the stencil.  I loved the soft design that resulted.  

I also wanted to show how these inks stamp, especially with a solid image.  I did use a watercolor paper.  You would get a different result from a smooth finish paper.  I again used a set of stamps from Altenew.  First of all I stamped the outline image of the flower randomly around my card front.  I used a simple black Clearsnap for that.  I used the Splash color ink for the solid flower image and then used the Chive color for the leaves.  I added a little contrast of color by rubbing the Cheeky color pad directly along the edges of my card front.  These pads are just perfect for this and I liked adding that surprise of color.  

I did accent the middles of each flower with some Glossy Accents and the black tag with the white words was stamped with the ColorBox white pigment pad and embossed with Clearsnap white embossing powder on black cardstock.  

From here complete the hop by stopping by the Clearsnap blog to see what they are up to plus there are prizes to be won.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

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Reverse Confetti stamps and CardMaker Magazine blog hop

I sure hope you hopping along and taking in the fun creations that both the Reverse Confetti stamps team and the CardMaker Magazine blog team have created for this joint hop.  You have probably come here to my blog from Lisa's Blog.  

 I picked the Tie-rific stamp set along with the matching die set to create with and I'm going to share two cards created with that set.  I was excited to get a masculine set of stamps since I always find that theme to be a challenge.  I also got the Topped Off Tag die set.  The background for my card was created with Distress Stain.  I used the blue and the orange ink to help set the color combination I wanted to use.  

 Here is a close up of the tie and the word "dad" that I used.  The tie is stamped first and then cut with the matching die and the word "dad" is cut twice from cardstock.  

 I wanted to use a completely different color combination for my second card.  That helps show that the stamps and dies can be versatile.  The background was created with a Clearsnap stencil and a chalk stamp pad from Clearsnap.  

The word "dad" is cut out of the black pocket and then cut again from the kraft colored cardstock and then the word is inlaid in the cut out words.  I created a simple handkerchief to insert in the pocket.

From here, hop on over to Leigh's blog to continue the fun.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Guest Stamper - Color Throwdown

I've been so excited to share this card with you. 

 I was able to be the Featured Stamper at Color Throwdown this week and that allowed me to get to play along with their team with this weeks challenge.

 When I saw the color combo for this week I was so happy and really couldn't wait to start creating a card for it. 

 I wanted to be able to really feature that amazing blue so I turned to a Stephanie Barnard Clearsnap spray ink in Blueberry.  I sprayed it on a piece of watercolor paper. I actually used quite a bit of the ink so I had enough to be able to move it around.  I used an acrylic block to smudge it abit and I also gave it a spritz of water.  The sentiment is a stamp from Printworks Rubber Stamps.

I used some flower stamps from a set by Altenew.  I stamped the flowers with white ink and embossed them with white embossing powder.  In order to get that bright, strong yellow, I sprayed some Stephanie Barnard Clearsnap ink in Banana on my stamped images.  I did this in order to color my paper so I made sure to completely cover the paper and the images.  After this sat a bit I gently wiped off the excess ink and left it to dry.  The middles of the flowers were colored with a Copic marker.  A Martha Stewart paper doily was used to anchor my flowers plus I thought it gave a nice accent of white since that is one of the colors. 

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)

Candy Canes and Santa

My card doesn't really have any candy canes on it but these colors sure make you think of a red and white striped cane.

 This goes along with the Curtain Call challenge.  I created the background with a stencil and some red spray ink and I love the result.  The sentiment is from My Favorite Things stamps, I like the font they used. 

 I used this Santa before, he is a great stamp from Paula Best and she doesn't make stamps anymore.  I am loving the vintage Santa look this year, so he was a fun accent.   

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

More Color Choices - Focus on Yellow

One of my favorite color challenges is black and white with a color.  

 I am working with a "new to me" challenge blog and it is a color challenge adding yellow to the black and white.  I started out by stamping my sentiment from Printworks.  I put a mask over that and gave the white paper some sprays of color.  I used Heidi Swapp Gold and Clearsnap Yellow.  

 That really neat flourish design is from Darcie's, I stamped it and then cut it out.  Some buttons and an enamel dot along with your yellow Liquid Pearls were the finishing touches.  

Here is the CAS Colours & Sketches challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Pops of Color

Hold onto your hats, my card that I want to share is full of COLOR!!!

 I loved the color combination at Colour Q and so of course I had to play along.  First off, they are colors I would probably have never used together. I wanted to take it way over the top. 

 That circle is a stamp from Neat and Tangled. It is so much fun to use.  The banner is from My Favorite Things and the flower and leaves is from Wplus9 Designs.  My stamps have matching die cuts making them so easy to use.

 Here is the color combination at Colour Q.
And for a fun photo:

A cute sign in my backyard.  I found it at Joann's.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Garland of flowers

My card for today uses the Fusion Challenge.  I like that you can either use the sketch or the inspiration photo of both.  I decided that I would go with the inspiration photo.

 I saw that that pretty golden yellow scarf around the neck could be translated as a flower wreath or garland and I knew that this stamp and matching die from Wplus9 Designs would fit my vision just right.   

 I kept the wreath very simple by stamping it in just one color and then added a tiny bit of contrast with the little stamped flowers.  So I could get the look of that brick wall, I took out a new stencil I have from Wendi Vecchi and created a brick looking background.  I sponged two colors over the stencil and then also stamped a "writing" stamp here and there to look like the writing on the mannequin body.

Here is the Fusion challenge.

Plus by using the stencil I could add my card to Virginia's View to use stencils.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Happy Wishes day

Happy Wishes can be for all kinds of occasions so this is a pretty all purpose card.  

 Lawn Fawn has such cute stamps and this border stamp is so one of my favs.  It comes in a set with some other pretty cool border stamps.  PLUS, I love this set with the cool lanterns. I pulled these out so I could create a card for the Lawnscaping challenge of Clean and Simple. 

 After I stamped the border, I quickly colored it with three colors.  Some of the blocks I then coated with a glitter glue, some with Glossy Accents.  I did this just to "bling" up the border a little.  The one lantern was simply colored with Copic markers and accented with some enamel dots, one of my '"go to" accents these days.  I gave the card a final spritz of yellow spray ink by Clearsnap.

Here is the Clean and Simple challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Did I say I love stencils!

Yep, I just keep playing with these wonderful inventions.

 I created this card to go along with the retro sketch.  I started out with a Clearsnap stencil.  I placed it on white cardstock and sprayed it with red spray ink.  Whenever you do this, the stencil is pretty full of ink so I never want to waste that.  I picked it up and put it down on another piece of white cardstock.  I am in love with the way this worked.  

 I used a sentiment stamp from Avery Elle, a banner die from Paper Smooches and a doily die from My Favorite Things.  To add a little more interest I coated the sentiment with Glossy Accents after I colored it with matching Distress Stain. 

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

Sunny red and yellow

When I saw the color combination for the Color Throwdown, I knew I had to play. 

 This is the result.  What inspired my from the inspiration photo were the striped pillows.  I recreated that look with a Clearsnap stencil and some red Stephanie Barnard spray.  

 When I cut the doily die, I didn't punch out all of the little pieces.  I liked the mix of some punched out and some not.  The leaves are Lawn Fawn stamps and the matching die. I colored the paper first with two colors of Distress Stain.  The button is from American Crafts a the sentiment word is a Paper Smooches stamp that I cut out.  

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

Love and Roses

I want to share a fun card not just for Valentines Day but just to send some LOVE!

 I used some great Printworks stamps to create my card, the roses and the word "LOVE".

I first created the background by sponging some color over a dot stencil.  The stencil is by Tim Holtz.  I just made sure that I didn't add color to the entire background.  The gold blotches are from a spray by Heidi Swapp.  This stuff is the best gold.  After I stamped the roses, I added some real soft color.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Simply Amazing

What a perfect sentiment for a card for a friend - "You are simply amazing"!!!

 I pulled together the sketch from CAS(e) this sketch and a color combo for Colour Q for my card.  The Colour Q combo is an older one but one that was different and fun to use. 

 These wonderful leaf die cuts are from PaperTrey, Inc.  For the rectangle block, I added color to an acrylic block and "stamped" that directly to the paper.  I love the distressed look that gives.  The sentiment is from Wplus9 Designs. 

Here is the CAS(e) this sketch.
And some photos from my yard today...

I know that some of you might be getting snow, we have a different story here!!!
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Eight Things!

The CAS-ual Friday challenge is to use eight of something.  At first, I wasn't even going to give it a try, not knowing what I had eight of.

 I had just received this little stamp set from PaperTrey, Inc that features the word "congrats" and eight little sentiments to go along with it.  What a perfect fit.  The card base was embossed with an embossing folder.

 The set comes with the word "congrats" as a stamp but there is also a matching die for the word so that was what I used for my card. I LOVE die cut words.  The label shape is also from PaperTrey, Inc.  I took a new stencil from Tim Holtz and added color to the label shape by rubbing it with some inks.  I put all eight of the little sentiments on an acrylic block and stamped them at once.  The sentiments are divided with black dots of Liquid Pearls. The recipient of the card gets to choose which sentiment fits best. 

 Here is the CAS-ual Fridays challenge. 

 To add the color to the label shape, I actually colored a piece of white cardstock first and then cut the label out of that piece.  The result is that I also had the negative of that cut and I knew I needed to use it.  I just backed it with green cardstock. 

I used a die cut word "Happy" from PaperTrey, Inc for the main part of my sentiment and a Paper Smooches stamp for the rest of the sentiment.  What is funny is this card actually uses eight elements on it.  The die cut label, the die cut word, the stencil, the ink, the corner rounder punch, the Paper Smooches stamp, the sequins and the Liquid Pearl dots. 

This is a photo of the Yield signs at a new shopping center near our house.  We live by the beach! This just cracks me up. 

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)