Butterfly Hello

When you have new stamping supplies, you really do need to play with them.

 For this card, I used a few online challenges and I think my most favorite Distress Oxide stamp pad in BluePrint sketch and a new Tim Holtz stencil.  How much do I want to use both of these on everything I create!!!! For this background, I have covered the stencil in ink and I always want to make use of all of the ink I can so I spritzed the inked stencil and pressed that to watercolor paper.  

 A rather newer stamp set for me is a set from Simon Says Stamp.  It's a set with a number of great images and I picked the leaf and two of the butterflies to help me use the colors in the Color Throwdown challenge.  These were stamped in white ink, embossed with white embossing powder and then colored with Distress Stains.  One of the beauties of this set is it has matching dies, making cutting out the images so fast and easy.  
The dotted rectangle die frame is from Lil' Inkers and the "hello" is from Lawn Fawn. 

Here is the Color Throwdown challenge.

The CAS on Friday challenge is to use butterflies.

And the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge is Anything Goes.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

My Heart Smiles

I don't what challenge I loved the most as I created this card.  

 I'll start with the Color Throwdown color challenge because I knew I had to play along with this combo.  The layout of the card was then inspired by the Freshly Made Sketch and the CAS(e) this Sketch.  

The bottom border design is a stamp by Lawn Fawn and then the color was added with Distress Stains.  The flower is from Altenew.  

 Here is the Freshly Made Sketch.

 Here is the CAS(e) this Sketch.

Here is the Color Throwdown 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)

CardMaker Magazine and May Arts Blog Hop

The CardMaker Magazine blog team and May Arts Ribbon team are combining to host a blog hop.  It's a great way to share some fun cards and to feature all of the fun that is involved with May Arts ribbons.  If you are following the hop,  you might have come here from Latrice Murphy's blog.

Find all of the details on either the CardMaker Magazine blog or the May Arts Ribbon blog because there are prizes to be won.

 I started out with a simple background by embossing a design with a Lil' Inker cover up die into a piece of watercolor paper.  

 Next, to let a couple of the ribbons shine that I was given to play with, I tied a bow that included the pink ribbon and the cute white lace ribbon.  The sentiment is a die from Lawn Fawn cut from red glitter paper.  

 I just had to create another card because I completely fell in love with this banner ribbon.  Let me tell you this stuff is genius.  It is SELF ADHESIVE!!!! In no time at all you have it attached to your card or project.  

The background is another embossed piece by using a dot embossing folder.  It is finished off with some snowflake dies, the biggest one is from Simon Says Stamp.  

From my blog hop on over to Lori Williams blog.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Leaves and more Leaves

I am holding onto summer with everything within me but I have a weakness for fall leaves and fall colors. 

 With the yellow and mint I kind of stayed with a slightly summer look but I still used leaves.  That really cute sentiment is from Paper Smooches and of course the background is the result of playing with some Distress Stain and watercolor paper. I used the Friday Mashup sketch for my card as well as the Addicted To CAS challenge to use leaves.  

 These leaves are die cuts from Lawn Fawn.  I feel in love with the great veins that the dies cut.  The leaves were also colored with Distress Stains.  

 Here is the Friday Mashup challenge.

Here is the Addicted to CAS challenge.

Here is the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Hello Beautiful

Who wouldn't want to receive a card with this sentiment!

 I wanted to play along with the CAS(e) this sketch for this week and so I created this card.  I buy my watercolor paper in a tablet that I tear the sheets out of and so there is always this edge that gets cut off when I cut my paper to the sizes I want. I love to use it, especially with the tears in it.  I had cut out the word "hello" from from Lawn Fawn outof this piece of paper and it was just sitting on my desk so I decided to play with it and some Distress Stains.  It just seemed right to become part of a card, I cut the bottom edge with a die from Mama Elephant.  The perfect accent seemed to be this word "beautiful" cut from metallic gold paper.  That die is by Paper Smooches.  

 I decided sewing it onto my card would be a fun look so here is a closeup of my sewing lines and the strings I left hanging off the card.  A tiny little flower completes the look.

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

Succulent Time

Since I am planting what seems like a million succulents in my yard it seemed fitting to pull out my succulent stamp set by Simon Says Stamp and use it for a couple challenges.

 The background was created with a star stencil and some Distress Inks.  The star shapes are pretty subtle but I really like that. 

 I used this super cut little coffee cup and one of the succulent plant stamps plus the matching dies to cut the shapes.  For the cup, I had colored a piece of watercolor paper with some red Distress Stain and then left that to dry.  I then stamped the outline of the cup on my colored paper and cut it out.  The plant was also colored with Distress Stains plus some accents with Copic markers.  I anchored the cup and plant with a punched out circle ring.

 I cut the "hello" by Lawn Fawn from watercolor paper and then added color with various Distress Stains.  Once I had it on my card, I coated it with Glossy Accents.  

 My card fits the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

Plus it fits the Sketch Saturday sketch.
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 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)

A new AAA Cards Challenge

 So happy that it is time again for an AAA Cards challenge, the first for 2015.  And what better challenge then to create something with a heart.

 Here is my card.  This was actually very quick and easy although it might look a little complicated.  I created a background with a Simon Says Stamp stencil and some Distress Stains.

 Once that background was dry, I stamped this adorable Tim Holtz cupid with black ink.  Color was added with Copic markers and then I coated it with Glossy Accents.  The "love" die is from Lawn Fawn and I added a row of little red hearts.

Take a look, this is the adorable prize being offered at AAA Cards and some other good news if there is a Design Team member call.

I sure hope you can play along with us this week.

This also fits the Addicted to CAS challenge.

And the Card Concept challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)