I love coloring this big floral image from the Simon Says Thankful Flowers kit. Usually I color it with light colors, but for some reason I was inspired to uses these rich reds and I really like it. Copics used: R89, R39, R27, R24, R22, G99, G03. The Cherry Red card base makes the colors pop even more. The sentiment is from an older set by Gina K Designs called Assorted Greetings – it is such a great all-purpose set with sentiments for inside the card as well as outside. I’m entering this in the Mod Squad Challenge and the Simon Says Monday Challenge.
I always struggle with cards for my DH. I made this for our 49th (YIKES has it really been that long?) wedding anniversary. I used the fun My Monthly Hero Kit from[JI1] June 2019. I sponged the Spiral Petal stencil lightly for the background, and added a few leaves from the kit stamped in various shades of green. The images were all colored with Copics and cut with the matching dies. I popped the tiger up to make him look like he was coming out of the tall grass. I’m entering this in the following challenges;
The challenge at Just Us Girls is to make a card with NO stamping. Hmmmm. How do I do that? I’m a stamper. Oh, wait – I just got this gorgeous pattern paper pack called Blossom by Graphic 45, so it made creating cards without stamping a breeze. The problem with these designs is, both sides are so pretty it’s hard to know which one to use. I cut one of the small images of the pink dahlia, then cut the full size sheet for the background. I had several other scraps and used two for mats – the green stripe was the reverse of the dahlia. The Hello die came with my Gemini Jr. This is the first time I’ve used it and it VERY intricate. I got a lot of other cards made today using this pack and I’m glad to have some cards for my stash.
I was stressing over a card to make for a surprise 80th birthday party. My husband said, “Well, you know he used to work on planes. Didn’t you say you had an airplane stamp?” That reminded me that I’d gotten the Fancy Airplane Die that was an add-on for the May 2020 My Monthly Hero Kit. Then I remembered a card Jennifer McGuire did, so I used her card for inspiration. I colored the plane with Copics: R37 and R27 with B0000 for the windshield and N7 for the tire. I used a silver Sharpie for the propeller section. I colored one to see how the colors would work together and that was a little messy. Then I colored what I thought was my final project, but when I tried to fix something, made it worse. Third time’s a charm. I cut two other planes to glue together for dimension – TIP: I was able to cut 3 planes out of a quarter piece of CS, but the last plane had a few tiny edges that ran into the previous cut – that was OK because I sandwiched that between the top and bottom layers. After assembling I used my markers to color the edges of the plane – if I were doing this again, I’d edge the uncolored pieces before gluing together. I used the Fancy Cloud die cut from white, then used the negative piece to use as a stencil to create clouds using Hero Arts Unicorn pigment ink on an Ocean Mist Card base. The sentiment is from Birthday Essentials by Newton’s Nook. It fit perfectly on the cloud and I didn’t have to worry about it being straight. On the inside I used a sentiment from the same set that says “Don’t think of it as being older, think of it as becoming a classic.” I’m entering this in the following challenges:
I love the new Shells Fancy die from Hero Arts. They are so detailed. I experimented with coloring methods and decided I liked using Distress Oxides the best – Antique Linen, Tattered Rose, Frayed Burlap, Fossilized Amber. The Ocean Mist panel was partially embossed with the Forest Branches EF. I swiped a new juicy VersaMark pad across the bottom and added Sand EP from Hero Arts – it really does look like sand. The sentiment was cut with a die from JustRite and was also embossed with the Sand EP. I added some shell PP as a mat layer – unfortunately it doesn’t show well, but it does show parts of a couple of starfish which is the recipient’s favorite sea creature. I added a tiny Kraft twine bow to the starfish. I’m entering this in the As You See It Recipe Challenge – I think I got all the ingredients.
Sometimes the challenge is just getting the card done. I have been in a creative slump for quite a while. The need to create a card to go with a gift to be given tomorrow night and the inspiration photo at the Just Us Girls challenge was just the spark I needed. The flowers are from Bees and Flowers Fancy Dies by Hero Arts, colored with Copics: Y08, G24, C00 and C0. I cut the Vintage Jar die by Sunny Studio from vellum and sponged the bottom with Sea Glass ink by Gina K Designs. I added a bit of burlap ribbon from my stash and frayed it. I found a piece of gold cut with Alison’s Ribbon die in my stash. I recently got some May Arts Kraft Twine from the Stamp Simply Ribbon Store which was perfect for the bow. The sentiment is from Clean Line Faith by Simon Says, cut with the smallest Tim Holtz Tag Die. The pattern paper is from Graphic 45’s Secret Garden collection and is cut with the Master Layouts 2 set from Gina K Designs. This was fun to do, but very time consuming. I’m entering this in the following challenges:
The current challenge at As You See It is a Recipe for Him – a masculine card using an embossing folder, twine, a die cut and earth tones. Grass Green panel is embossed with the Cuttlebug Leafy Branch embossing folder. The leopard, branch and sentiment are from My Monthly Hero Kit for May 2019. The sentiment is embossed in white on Dark Chocolate. The mat is also from Dark Chocolate, on a Kraft card base. The twine was thicker than I wanted and try as I might I couldn’t get the bow to lay just the way I wanted. In all my tying and untying it started to unravel, so I just pulled it apart to get a thinner strand. I finally decided a knot would work better than a bow so that’s what I went with. I’m also entering this in the Just Us Girls Word Week Challenge which is Animals.
I usually have trouble with a Tic Tac Toe challenge – the squares I can do are usually not in a line. The one at Retro Rubber Challenge just seemed to fall in place for me. The birthday sentiment from the Bold and Blooming kit by Gina K Designs released February 2017, is stamped in Wild Lilac on Lovely Lavender card stock. The pattern paper from the Secret Garden collection by Graphic 45 is from several years ago. The strip across the middle is Wild Lilac. The gems are by Pawsitively Pawsome.
I am having a lot of fun with the My Monthly Hero Kit from January 2021. This large floral image is such a lot of fun to color. I used Prismas: 956 Lilac, 952 Violet, 1005 Limepeel, 1006 Kelly Green, 1082 Chocolate. I used the matching die to cut the colored image and cut three more from junque white to add dimension. I embossed a white panel using a 5×7 Honeycomb EF by Cuttlebug, then lightly swiped my Fossilized Amber Distress Oxide ink pad to add color. The sentiment is from Mini Tag Sentiments by Divinity Designs and fit perfectly in the honeycomb. I added a foam square to the bee’s wings for dimension. The card panel is a deep purple from my stash Here are a couple of other cards I made with this kit.
