All about Green

The Addicted to CAS challenge is LUCK or LUCKY and I really had to think about that until I remembered a set of sentiment stamps from Stampers Anonymous that fit.  

 To start off I created a background using a stencil and some Distress Inks.  

 The flower is from a stamp set from Tim Holtz and Stampers Anonymous and by coloring it in greens I was able to also make this card fit the Sundays Stamp color challenge. The top part of the flower is coated with Glossy Accents for some added interest.  

 This is a close up of the result of the inks with the stencil.  

 Here is the Addicted to CAS challenge.

Here is the Sunday Stamps 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)

You are my happy place

I'm sharing a few things I madly love, some hearts and the cutest little puppy dog stamp. 

 The puppy stamp is by Reverse Confetti, a favorite stamp company of mine and another fav on this card is the use of embossing paste. I so love the texture that the paste adds. The tag is a die that is also by Reverse Confetti and how about the watercolor look with the Distress Stains.  

This close up view gives you a better idea of how neat the embossing paste looks, I added it with the use of a dot stencil. My card fits a few online challenges, I love the inspiration that comes from using challenges.  

 This Addicted to CAS Pets challenge.

 The Just Us Girls Dogs challenge.

 This sweet The Card Concept challenge.

Plus the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

It's all about RED

Plus it's the time of year for all things LOVE and the color RED.

 So that's the theme of my card for this post plus that makes the card fit the CAS-ology challenge and the Addicted to CAS challenge.  It all starts with a "messy" background using the newest Distress Stain color, Candied Apple.  I love how something this simple sets the stage for about any kind of other elements.  

 The wreath and the word "love" are die cuts from Simon Says Stamp.  I used a gold metallic paper for the word "love".  The wreath is finished with Liquid Pearls. 

 Here is the Addicted to CAS challenge.

 Plus the CAS-ology challenge.

And the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of Anything Goes.
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)

Play along with Addicted to CAS

I have one last challenge with Addicted to CAS as their guest designer.  I've loved playing along with them.  

 I love how easy it is, just create with blue.  

 Once again, I turned to my Distress Stains to create my background.  I applied the ink directly to an acrylic block, spritzed it with water and then pressed it to the watercolor paper.  Working with the Distress Stains this was is always unpredictable but I always love what happens.   

I used my Lil' Inkers dotted label die and used it to emboss a design into my paper.  LOVE those dots.  The stamps with matching dies I used are from a set by Wplus9 Designs. I wanted my look to be very simple so I didn't color my giraffe except for the bottoms of his little feet.  The big balloon and the sentiment are also from the same set.  I only added some accent to the balloon with a light gray Copic marker.  I hand wrote the string for the balloon. 

Check out what the rest of the Addicted to CAS team created and be sure to play along too.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

School is around the corner

 Another week to play along as a guest with the Addicted to CAS team and the challenge is SCHOOL.  I sure don't want to even have to think this way but the time has arrived for moms and dads and kids to think about back to school.  I don't want summer to end so I pretty much refuse to admit its that time but I do love that theme so it was fun to create a card for the challenge.

 Plus I get to pull out one of my favorite stamp sets by Reverse Confetti.  I so love that  adorable apple.  

I wanted my card to be super quick and very CAS so I went to a favorite technique and that is to use an assortment of Washi or Paper Tapes.  I grabbed three patterns that went together nicely and it took me seconds to add strips of these tapes to my card.  Then the card was finished off with my stamps and I also used the matching dies.  

Be sure to check out what the rest of the Addicted to CAS team created for this challenge and take the time to play along.

My card fits the Freshly Made sketch.  It is a very simple sketch so I added in extra goodies.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Cute Baby Banners and Addicted to CAS

 Guess who gets to play along with the Design Team at Addicted to CAS this month!!!! This will be so fun, can't wait to share my cards with you.  We get to start with this great challenge to use banners on a project. 

 I decided to turn to my PaperTrey, Inc set of tags and make a banner with some of them.  I colored a piece of watercolor paper first with Distress Stain.  Once that was dry, I cut out the tags.  There are a number of tags in this set, I picked out three of them and went with a star theme.  

My background was created with Distress Stains too.  LOVE using a bit of the Brushed Pewter because the metallic silver is such a neat accent.  I thought that the result of the blues and yellows and the stars made for a baby boy theme.  Creating a background like this is so fast and easy and looks more complicated then it is. The hard part is walking away and letting it dry.  I like to let it dry  naturally rather then using my heat gun because I think this allows for a little more character to the splotches of colors.  My little elephant stamp from Avery Elle.  The sentiment is from Paper Smooches.

Be sure to check out the Design Teams cards for this challenge and take the time to play along at Addicted to CAS.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Chevron goodness

Addicted to CAS has a challenge to use Chevron designs and since that is one of my favorites, I had to play along.

 It was hard to decide where to start but I did pick up this little die from Reverse Confetti and it seemed just right.  I had colored the paper first with Distress Stains on watercolor paper. The sentiment is from Paper Smooches.

 On my desk I had this adorable butterfly that I had stamped, cut out and colored earlier and I thought it was just the way to go to keep my card CAS.  The butterfly stamp and matching die is from Clearly Besotted.  I just added color with Distress Stains.  My card base was plain white but I just couldn't go with that so I added some various Distress Stains to that.  The base of my card is not watercolor paper so this paper does take the stain inks a little differently.

Here is the Addicted to CAS challenge.

Plus it fits this challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

AAA Cards Starry Night Challenge

 I was able to pick the theme for this weeks AAA Cards challenge and I think the banner turned out so cute.  I wanted stars but not necessarily patriotic although that is what I am thinking as we just celebrated the Fourth of July. 

 I created my background with Distress Stains on watercolor paper.  I used blue, red and white just because those colors go so nicely with stars.  Plus my sentiment by Tim Holtz has the word Sparkle in it so again not really patriotic and one about celebrating. 

The white dots were created with a Copic white ink in a little bottle.  My stars were punched and I ended up creating a little banner with them by sewing them together.  The dots on the stars were created by Liquid Pearls.  

My card also fits the Addicted to CAS Patriotic challenge although it doesn't have a specific Patriotic theme.  

Be sure to join us at AAA Cards.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

AAA Cards Easter Colors Themed challenge

 I am having so much fun creating Spring or Easter colors themed cards lately.  Who can resist bunnies and chicks and flowers!!! So I am a fan of the newest AAA Cards challenge. 

 I created my background with a Simon Says Stamp stencil, some embossing paste and some Distress Inks.  In order to get the embossing paste yellow, I simply added some Distress Stain ink to the stencil first and then spread the embossing paste over the stencil. This combines the paste and the ink.  

I then gave it a quick spray of some spray inks.  That adorable little chickie and the cute sentiment are stamps from Reverse Confetti.  More coloring with Distress Stains.

Be sure to check out the AAA Cards Design Teams cute creations and take some time to play along. 

This also fits the Fusion challenge because of all of the yellow and the celebration of Easter.

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

A little bit of this - A little bit of that

I love to play and experiment and this finished card is a good example of that.

 I started out adding some Distress Stains to watercolor paper.  When this paper is spritzed with some water first, the inks run and create the best, unexpected look.  When this was dry, I added some embossing ink over the color and sprinkled some clear Ultra Thick embossing powder over it.  I heated that layer and then added some more of the thick clear powder.  

 When this was cooled, I gently made this thick embossed area crack.  It ended up as a great big distressed background.  The butterfly stamp and matching die is from Clearly Besotted and the die cut word is from Mama Elephant.  Both the butterfly and the word are colored with Distress Stains.  

This fits the Addicted to CAS Distress challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)