You Are The Best

What a neat sentiment to encourage a friend.  It's from a set of stamps with a matching die from Simon Says Stamp.

 And, it just goes with these colorful flowers.  I randomly stamped the flower stamp by Tim Holtz over a piece of watercolor paper using white ink and white embossing powder. 

 Next I took various Distress Stains and added the inks to the flowers.  I did spritz my paper first with water, that helps the inks run and mingle.  I can't get enough of playing with these inks like this.  After I added the inks here and then I walked away from my piece to allow it to dry.  Coming back to look at it is always magical!!! 

 I used the Colour Q combo to determine my colors of inks.

And, I used the retro sketch for my card layout.

And it also fits the Anything Goes Simon Says Stamp challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

The little monkeys have it

Not one, but many monkeys....

 I just like these little guys from a Simon Says Stamp set, Baby Party Animals in their newest release, Falling For You.  So instead of just stamping one, I filled my card front with these cuties.  

 I wanted to go with a very simple kind of coloring so I mostly colored with Tea Dye Distress Stain on watercolor paper.  I did add accents with Copic markers.  The Copic markers work differently on watercolor paper and they are pretty fun to use, you just really can't blend very much.  The little flag is from the same set of stamps, I added it with foam tape.  

This goes with the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge, Anything Goes.  

And the Addicted to Stamp Make Your Mark challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

AAA Cards Challenge - There's a hole in my card

 Another fun challenge at AAA Cards - creating a card with a hole in it. 

 I ended up with many holes in my card, I used a fun die from My Favorite Things.  I did cut it from watercolor paper, then I went to my trusty Distress Stains and added lots of color.  I even used some gold Color Shine from Heidi Swapp.  That added a fun metallic glimmer to it. That adorable "HAPPY" tag is a die from Technique Tuesday.  

 Then I just had to use my new Tim Holtz flower stamps!!! LOVE these.  I added color with Copic markers first and thenDistress Markers.  

This also fits the Colour Me challenge.
Be sure to take some time to play along with the AAA Cards Challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Pinks and Reds

I wanted to play along with the CAS-ology Ombre challenge so I pulled out some of my Distress Stains. 

 I used watercolor paper and started adding various shades of reds and pinks.  When the larger portion of my coloring was dry, I used a dot stencil to add more subtle shades.  That amazing sentiment is from a stamp set by Tim Holtz.

 I used a flower from another set by Tim Holtz.  I embossed it with Platinum Silver and colored it the same with various Distress Stains.  I wanted the flower to perfectly match my ombre background.  

 Here is the CAS-ology challenge.

Here is the Paper Players challenge for a simple watercolor look.

And it fits the Simon Says Wednesday challenge for Clean and Simple and that is also where I purchased my stamps. LOVE their great selection of good supplies. 
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

A Cup of Cheer

I am a huge fan of succulents right now....

 So of course I wanted this adorable set of stamps from Simon Says Stamp.  It contains a few different pots or containers and then a few different succulent kind of plants.  I colored my plant with Copic Markers.  It seems just right to add this adorable little sentiment to it.  

 My card fits the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge to create your own background.  I used a stencil and some Distress Stains to create two different backgrounds.  I used a stitched square dies from My Favorite Things to cut my pieces.  I love the little stitches in the squares.  

Here is the Wednesday Challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

That splash of color

One of my favorite challenges is black/white with a splash of color and that is exactly what the Colour Q challenge is for this week. 

My other goal for the card I created to go along with that color challenge was a look that was very simple.  I recently received a set of flower and leaf dies from Essentials by Ellen and so I cut several leaves from the same white watercolor paper as my background piece.  The leaf dies are in two sizes.  To go along with the black/white part of the challenge, I cut one of the leaves from black paper. 

 Before I placed my leaves on my card, I used a Heidi Swapp spray and some Distress Stain to create an extremely simple splash of the turquoise.  My card was finished with a tiny sentiment stamped with black ink and a black and white enamel dot.  

 Here is the Colour Q challenge.

Plus I created my card around the Freshly Made sketch.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Do I Love These Flowers!

I purchased this set of flower and leaf dies from Ellen Hutson and oh how I love them.  

 I know I could use them in a whole lot of ways and so here is one way.  I started out making a very simple background with Distress Stains.  I wanted green to be my main color for the background and I wanted the watercolor effect to be minimal.  That amazing sentiment is from a new set by Tim Holtz.  The font is so fun. 

 I cut out the two sizes of flowers and the two leaves from watercolor paper and then added various colors with Distress Stains.  I then coated the leaves with gold Distress Stain and some gold paint.  I love how easy it is to created a neat color combo with the dabber top of the stains.  

This fits the CAS on Sunday challenge to use GOLD.

And the Addicted to Stamps challenge by using the Photo Inspiration.  I love all of the whites with the splash of pink in the middle.  I thought my card slightly fit with that with the simple background and the pink flowers. 

It also fits the Paper Players color combination.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)