Shades of Pink

I let the color challenge at The Paper Players guide the card I want to share.

 I picked up a stencil by DecoArt so of course I had to use it, mixing it with a variety of pink inks from Distress Stamp Pads on watercolor paper.  After the inks were applied with a blending sponge, I gave them a spritz of water so the inks would slightly run.  

 I gave my stenciled image some extra accents with dots using Liquid Pearls.  To have my card match the CAS(e) this Sketch I added the die cut word from Mama Elephant, "hello" cut from silver glitter paper and other layers of pink cardstock.  

 Here is The Paper Players color challenge.

And here is the CAS(e) this sketch.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Be Still

My card was created around a few online challenges, starting with the soft color combination from the ColorThrowdown Challenge. 

 A The Crafter's Workshop stencil and some Distress Ink on watercolor paper set the stage with the background.  I used a stitched rectangle die from Avery Elle.  

 In order to use the soft kraft color I cut a heart with a Simon Says Stamp die and tried to color the Altenew flower and leave with a soft brown color too.  The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge is to add a sentiment so I used a stamp from them for my sentiment.  

 I made white pearl dots with Liquid Pearls for a little bit of elegance.  

 Here is the Freshly Made sketch.

 Here is the Color Throwdown Color challenge.

Here is the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Red roses....

Not sure what is better then red flowers and then add a watercolor look to that.

 I just received a new set of stamps from Altenew so of course I had to play a bit.  The solid flower shapes are very forgiving when you are after a loose watercolor look.  The stamps come with the possibility of stamping layers of the flowers but I did see that the layers pretty much mingled when I added the water.  The gorgeous word dies that says Happy Birthday is from Penny Black.  The set has a few sentiments in it.  This fits the TEXT challenge at Inkspirational because I used a simple text stamp from Stampers Anonymous to just fill in some of the white space.  I wasn't using it so that you could read the words, I just wanted the typewriter look. 

 Here's a close up of my resulting flowers and leaves.  I used another set of stamps that has an outline stamp in it so that I could further define my flowers.  I use some black Liquid Pearls to give a little highlight and dimension.  

Here's the Inkspirational Challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Succulents and Cactus

My newest passion includes succulents and cactus, plants I tended to ignore before but I have fallen in love with how easy they are to grow.  

 With that said, I knew I needed this new stamp and matching die set from My Favorite Things.  It was fun to make my creation fit in with the Color Throwdown challenge.  

 I used Strathmore watercolor paper for my background and for my plants and pots, pairing that with Zig Clear Color markers and a few Distress Inks.  

Here is the Color Throwdown challenge.

It also fits the Simon Says Wednesday challenge of anything goes and using Ranger Products because I can't hardly create without Ranger products!!!
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)

Congrats to You

Taking a little time to play along with a couple online challenges.

 Altenew stamps has a color challenge and Just Us Girls has a watercolor challenge.  So I reached for my newest Altenew stamp set.  I randomly stamped two of the flowers on my watercolor paper and then did some "messy" coloring by dabbing Distress Stains directly to the paper after spritzing the paper with a little bit of water first.  

 The Distress Stains and water bleed and run for a great watercoloring look.  The dots were created with a Tim Holtz stencil.  

Here's the Alternew November challenge.

Here's the Just Us Girls watercolor challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Single Blue Flower

Altenew is one of my absolute favorite stamp companies right now.  It is so much fun to play with all of the flower stamps that they offer.  

They are hosting a November challenge to use the colors of Navy Blue and Coral.  I pulled out my newest set of stamps that I hadn't even had time to play with yet for my card.  

 I stamped only one flower to be my focal point.  In order to add the coral I used a stencil and some Distress Stain for a "messy" background.  I used my Zig Clean Color pens on the flower and leaf.  These work amazing on the watercolor paper.  It was faster and easier to just dab the ink to the stencil with the Distress Stain.  I did spritz it with water and I love the "messy" result on the watercolor paper.  Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge is "thinking of you" so I thought this great sentiment fit that challenge.

 Here is the Altenew November challenge.

Here is the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

A different watercolor look

I took a workshop using the Zig Clean Color Real Brush and so I needed to give them a try.  Using the CAS(e) this Sketch was good inspiration.

 The sketch is so simple and I thought this set of Paper Smooches stamps was good for the pens and the sketch. 

 There wasn't much to add color to but it was fun.  The keep with the sketch I added dots to the card with a Tim Holtz stencil and some Distress Stain.  I couldn't leave all of that white space so I added some design with an embossing folder.  

Here is the CAS(e) this Sketch.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

You Are Awesome

I have lots of awesome friends and they would probably all love this card.

 I wanted to use the great CAS(e) this sketch so I pulled out some of my Altenew stamps.  I just love this set, I love the outline look to the leaves and flowers plus the allowed me to quickly add color with one of my favorite techniques, Distress Stains on watercolor paper.  

 This resulted in one of those one, two, three done kind of cards.  After I stamped all of the images to match the sketch, I embossed the images with clear embossing powder so that when I added a little bit of water and the inks, the black ink wouldn't run.  That neat sentiment is from another set of stamps by Altenew.  Some Liquid Pearl dots finish it off. 

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

A friend is a smile God gives when you need one

Don't you just love that sentiment! Its fits any season.

 I wanted to use the colors from the Colour Q combo and the sketch from My Favorite Things so those challenges set the pace for my card.  That fun background was created with a My Favorite Things background stamp.  I stamped it in white, embossed it in white and then added color with Distress Stain in Hickory Smoke on watercolor paper.  That helped my card fit the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge to not use patterned paper. 

 I'd been wanting to use these adorable pumpkins from My Favorite Things for some time and it just seemed like I could get them to fit the color combination.  I used a MFT's border die, it is actually from a square set but I cut it twice and made it fit the sketch.  The pumpkins have matching dies, my favorite way to stamp and cut shapes out. One pumpkin has Liquid Pearl dots added and another one is coated with Glossy Accents. 

 Here is the Colour Q challenge.

 Here is the My Favorite Things sketch.

Here is the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

You're Brag Worthy

I needed a baby card so I turned to some online challenges for my starting point. 

 I used the color combination from The Paper Players.  I thought they were just made for a baby theme.  My card needed to be for a new little boy so how could I go wrong with this adorable little airplane from Reverse Confetti.  That cute sentiment is from Paper Smooches.

 I used the matching die set to cut out the airplane and the propeller making my card fit the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.  Isn't that little background the cutest using a circle set of stamps from Simon Says Stamp.  The set has the outline circles and the solid circles.  By using the circles I made it fit the Cas(e) this sketch for this week.  All of the inks are Distress Stamp pads and I coated the airplane with Glossy Accents to make it a little more standout.  

 Here is The Paper Players challenge. 

 The Cas(e) this sketch.

Here is the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Keeping white space

Why does it seem so hard to create a card and still keep lots of white space?

 The challenge at CAS-ology this week is Precious, meaning that white space is precious.  I of course had to give it a try.  

 I started out by mixing a little bit of orange and purple Distress Inks onto a piece of watercolor paper. I spritzed these inks with water and created the little burst of color that I wanted.  I stamped this great sentiment on the ink once it was dry.  Then stamped the flower with white ink and embossed it with white embossing powder.  I added color with Distress Stain ink.  The flower and sentiment are stamps by Wplus9 Designs and the flower has a matching die.  I added Glossy Accents to the middle of the flower and then added some white pearls with Liquid Pearls.  

Here is the CAS-ology Precious challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Some wings and a sketch

Yes, another card inspired with some online challenges.

 Parts of my card are pieces that I had previously worked with and they were just waiting to be used.  Always fun.  I was playing one day with a stencil and some embossing paste so that is my background piece.  The butterfly that is a stamp by Clearly Besotted was also created during a play session and the little cut tag was sitting on my desk.  

 The background is watercolor paper that had been colored with Distress Stain.  When it was dry, I took a Memory Box stencil and added some white embossing paste. To go along with the sketch, I cut the little banner with a My Favorite Things banner die and helped it fit in with the rest of the card by adding white embossing paste with the same stencil.  The "forever" tag is cut with a Technique Tuesday die.  The die cuts several tags and this one was just waiting to be use.  I didn't take out the cut letters.  I was using so much white on my card I thought it fitted in just like it was.  To make the white even more yummy, I added pearl dots with some Liquid Pearls.  

 Here is the CAS-ology Wings challenge.

And here is the Freshly Made sketch that I followed.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)