It's chilly outside

At least that is what my card looks like - here in Southern California we really are not all that cold even with a little bit of welcome rain.

 I used one of my newest Tim Holtz stamps for the main image on my card.  A snowman doesn't usually take a whole lot of coloring so that is good.  The most fun part of my card is the background.  I blended on color with a few shades of Distress Ink.  That was then splattered with a little bit of water and some dots using a stencil and some Soft Gesso. 

 I cut the snowman out and added him with foam tape for dimension.  His black hat was given a coat of Glossy Accents so it was shiny.  

I used the wonderful colors from Color Throwdown for my inspiration.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

AAA Cards and a Happy Holidays card

 The theme for AAA Cards this week is using blue for a Christmas card.

 I love creating winter or Christmas cards in unexpected colors and using this chilly aqua blue just seems to fit with a big white snowflake. 

My card uses several different strips of washi or paper tape making for a very fast and fun creation.  That really neat and dainty snowflake uses a Simon Says Stamp die with a couple buttons for the center.  The sentiment is a Printworks stamp.  

Be sure to play along at AAA Cards.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

The soft pinks of winter

I am happy that our Thanksgiving meal is still ahead of us but I am also having so much fun creating winter or Christmas cards.

 It was so fun to use soft pinks for this card along with the CAS(e) this Sketch for this week and the Fusion challenge.  This also includes bunches of stencil fun. That sweater looking background was created with a Tim Holtz stencil and some Distress Spray ink.  I also used one of his stencils for my word, "snowflake". Then I just cut out the one word that I wanted to use for this card.  

 My snowflake was actually an experiment.  I added several different washi or paper tapes to cardstock and then cut out the Simon Says Stamp snowflake.  It ended up with a very subtle design and then of course, the feel of the tapes.  

Here is the CAS(e) this Sketch.

Here is the Fusion challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Some seriously cute snowmen!

I love these snowmen stamps from Paper Smooches.

 Since this weeks Paper Smooches Sparks challenge is Anything Goes, this was the perfect time to put these guys to use again.  I had created this funky background in one of my craft "play" sessions.  I was using a stencil, embossing paste and some inks.  I have bunches of these all ready to go and this one just seemed to fit my little guy perfectly. The sentiment is from Paper Smooches too.

Because snowmen are white, I love how simple it is to make them cute.  I used a green Copic marker to outline him so that he matched my background paper better.  That really neat wreath is a stamp and matching die from Simon Says Stamp.  

Here is the Anything Goes challenge.

 I had created this little gem previously but thought I would share it again.  Kim's snow people are so cute it is fun to use them. 

I stamped a dot border stamp making for a fast and fun little background piece.  

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

It's Thanksgiving and time to Make Christmas cards

I love when it's time to pull out my Christmas and Holiday stamps. 

 My first card goes pretty much way outside-the-box for Holiday colors but I did want to use the Colour Q challenge.  I kind of like my little Toy Soldier in these interesting colors and who uses orange snowflakes!!!

 I wanted a simple background to go with him so I simply sprayed some spritzes of water on a piece of watercolor paper and ran matching Distress Stains across the card.  I always love how they run and mingle.  That great sentiment is from a set by Simon Says Stamp, the Toy Soldier is a stamp from Tim Holtz, the tiny snowflakes are from Stampendous.  

Here is the Colour Q combo.

 My next card fits Thanksgiving, a holiday that is closer then I want to think.  How on earth does time fly?  I am stretching things a bit but I am adding it to the CAS-ology challenge to use a FLAG. My banner is a flag shape!  That is a shape I love used on cards but I don't often think to use it.

That amazing, ornate piece is a die by Spellbinders.  It is pretty much hard to believe that one die can cut something so pretty.  The leaf is from Hero Arts.  

Here is the CAS-ology challenge.

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

AAA Cards challenge time

I love using fall colors on a card so this AAA Cards challenge is fun plus this also goes with The Paper Players challenge.

 I got to use one of my newest Tim Holtz stamps. Since I love fall leaves, etc., I knew this was a set I would use. 

My card was super fast and easy.  I stamped the acorn image on watercolor paper.  I did emboss it with clear embossing powder so the black ink was stable.  I then used some Copic markers to add color. This was interesting because a normal thought might be that Copics don't work with watercolor paper but they were actually fun. Just a few quick brush strokes, this paper doesn't really allow for blending.  My quick background is a dot stencil with a little bit of Distress Stain added here and there. That sentiment is from Hero Arts.

Be sure to play along with the challenge at AAA Cards.

Here is the Paper Players challenge too.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

O Christmas Tree

Pulling out the Holiday stamps and supplies is so much fun.

 I wanted to make another tag for the CAS-ology Festive challenge so I actually went to one of my newest purchases, a set of Tim Holtz stamps.  I picked up the mini set at our recent stamp convention.  

 First of all I created a background on a manila tag.  I used a stencil and some Distress Stains.  The tree was stamped on a separate piece of cardstock.  I colored it in with Copic markers.  I stamped that same tree again so I could cut out portions and add them over the original tree with foam tape.  The red strips under the tree piece are pieces of paper tape.  

 Here is the CAS-ology Festive challenge.

This also fits the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of Seeing Stars.
AND....

This is what I made for dinner tonight, Simple Chicken Tortilla Cassorole.  Go here for the recipe.  Let me tell you, make it TONIGHT!!!! You will want to drink the sauce.  The recipe does call for canned chicken.  I used chicken tenders for mine.  I cut them in thin strips and fried them, then added them to the mix. I could also see this spooned over rice or mashed potatoes.  

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Silver Snowflakes

No getting around it, that time of year is quickly approaching!

 By no means do I want all of the hustle and bustle of Christmas yet but I sure do like pulling out my winter related stamps to work on fun projects.  I used the CAS-ology challenge for a tag that is Festive.  

 I used my new Distress Spray in Broken China with a Tim Holtz sweater look stencil.  I wanted it to be messy with just a little bit of the stencil design showing.  I also used some Distress Spray in Brushed Pewter.  This has to be the best silver spray ever!!!! I sprayed paper and then cut out the Simon Says Stamp snowflake.  A cute, metallic puffy star finishes off the snowflake.  The star makes it fit the Wednesday Simon Says Stamp challenge. That sentiment is from a set by Wplus9 Designs.  I liked the red contrast for that. 

 Here is the CAS-ology challenge.

Here is the Wednesday Simon Says Challenge "seeing stars".
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Some splatter and watercolor fun

I so love to play with inks and then wait to see what happens.

 This card started out with me trying out my first Distress Spray in Spiced Marmalade.  When I first saw that they released these sprays, I just knew they were going to be very important to my craft playing.  This is something that you do spray and then walk away while it dries.  I did use watercolor paper.  

 I then reached for some new stamps from Simon Says Stamp.  The flower was stamped in a rather defused style by inking the solid flower stamp with a few colors of Distress Stain.  The flower has a matching die.  That amazing sentiment is also new from Simon Says Stamp.  

 I used the CAS(e) this sketch for my layout inspiration.  

And, I used the "Thinking of You" challenge at Simon Says stamp Wednesday challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Silvery snowflake

A snowflake on a card can be several colors but it just seems that metallic silver is just right plus that fits the Virginia View's challenge.

 The snowflake is a die from Simon Says Stamp. I love how dainty it is.  And that sentiment is from a set by My Favorite Things. 

 I started out with a very simple background.  Just a few colors of Distress Stain applied to some watercolor paper.  I did add a few drops of Heidi Swapp gold Color Shine.  I love the subtle way the inks mingle.  I used two layers for the snowflake, thinking that made it stand out a little bit more. 

Here is the Virginia's View challenge, All Things Metallic.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Playing with Watercolors and the AAA Cards challenge

I could play around with different watercolor techniques all day so a the watercolor challenge at AAA Cards is just made for me.  

 I wanted to stay with a fall look since I am so in love with those colors.  Those leaves are a stamp set from My Favorite Things with a matching die set.  The die cut word is a die from Clearly Besotted and I used a copper metallic paper for it. 

I created a simple background on a stitched label with some inks that were dropped on the paper with spritzes of water.  One of the leaves is cut from paper that was also colored this way, the other leaf was stamped with Distress Stains and this stamp set has separate vein stamps to complete them.

Be sure to play along at AAA Cards.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)