Feel the Rain

When you are on a design team (Color My Heart), you sometimes play around with things and realize--after the fact--that you used the wrong color.  Hmmm.  This was one of those cards.  I don't feel badly posting it even though it is for an upcoming color dare challenge because, well, it's using the WRONG COLOR!  Oi!!

The colors are Buttercup and Twilight; the stamp sets are Springtime and Follow Your Dreams (both retired).  If you know the set Springtime, you will see that the umbrella is a little different.  I've never liked how big that handle was.  I was complaining about it to a friend and she said, "Why don't you cut it off and make it a straight handle instead of a curved one?"  Duh!

I am entering this over at Heart2Heart because it's a Spring card even if it's not an Easter card, per se.

Being from the Pacific Northwest, this saying has always been one of my absolute favorites.  Here in Oklahoma, the Spring temperatures are already hitting the 80's and we are getting very little precipitation.  To me, that's just wrong.  I love the rain.  I love to stand out in it and let it wash over my face (as long as I'm not going anywhere or have time to fix my hair and make-up before heading out!).  And I most particularly love how it nurtures the scenery keeping it ever green.

Wishing you and yours a blessed Resurrection Morning!

Until next time,
Becca

Claire Dare

This week at Color My Heart the dare colors come straight from the paper package Claire.  I don't have it.  So what's a Color Dare Diva to do?  Why, improvise, of course.  I used my Outdoor Denim ink pad and re-inkers for Blush, Hollyhock, and Sunset to bring you this card:

The background was done with a watercolor brush and reinker.  The shoe (Find Your Style, retired) was stamped in a "homemade" stamp pad using baby wipes and reinker.  (The process is explained in more detail in this post).

Confession time.  I wasn't careful enough with my splattering and got little droplets onto the main panel.  It wasn't bad, just a few.  I hid them with the drops of glitter gel.  Ha!!  One of the things I have learned over the years is that there is almost always a way to hide a flub.

The ribbon is old CTMH.  I love the dual sides.  Oh...and I used a paperclip because I couldn't find a stapler.  Ended up liking it.  So, yeah, why not?

My favorite thing about this card is the saying (Scrapbook Sentiments-Women).  I bought the entire set for this one saying.  I know.  I'm addicted.   My CTMH consultant loves me!!

Until next time,
Becca

Baby in a Bag

Just for the fun of it, I decided to see how many CAS challenges I could meet with one card.  Here are the challenges:

Less is More: Use Beads
CAS(E) This Sketch: #20
CASual Fridays: No Stamps

I'm stretching it on the beads, but I think the letters are technically beads.  I think. 

The washi tape is from CTMH; and the BABY beads/buttons were from a garage sale so I can't tell you anything about where to get them now.  The mini bag is from Paper Zone (no longer in business--whine, mope, cry--but Hobby Lobby is selling something similar).

Pretty cute, huh?

Until next time,
Becca

Easter Wishes

Quick post today to participate in a couple challenges:  OWH Sketch #165 and H2H Easter.

I used CTMH Springtime (retired) for the sentiment.  Frame Flair was used to create the swirly border around the center strip.  I cut the inside Outdoor Denim piece at 1.5 inches and it fit perfectly.  The yellow B&T is from Chantilly.

Non-CTMH product is the lace (Hobby Lobby).

Gotta go.  The boy child (who is 26) is coming for a couple weeks and my refrigerator is only half-way to bursting.  I'm going to need a lot more food!!

Until next time,
Becca

Putting CASE to good use!

For those of you who might be new to the papercrafting world, CASE is the single-most useful technique to know...

Copy
And
Steal
Everything

Oh, yeah!!  I use it all the time.  Today's card comes straight from the brilliant mind of Monika, the M.A.D. Stamper.  She does the most amazing things with vellum.  For this week's Color My Heart dare using Sky, Buttercup, and Blush, I completely stole this card idea.

I used a bunch of different stamp sets, all CTMH, but I'm guessing that little Blush star with the flower center is throwing even the most saavy CTMH addict right now.  I'll tell you in a second, but first the more obvious ones:  Perfect Fit Frames (the first one introduced in the Fall/Winter 2012-2013 catalogue) is the Buttercup on Buttercup and the white embossing on the vellum; Sky on Sky is the Herringbone pattern from Distressed Backgrounds; and the sentiment is from the coordinating Art Philosophy Cricut set.  The Buttercup frame was cut with Art Philosophy.  Love that coordination!!

I also used the watercolor brush to splatter Sky ink in the background.  Just squeeze your ink pad and lid together, open it up, and dab a wet brush into the lid.  Flick the wet ink over the paper for that spatter.

The Blush banner is cut from old B&T paper, but you could get a similar effect by using the small pattern from Distressed Backgrounds over Blush cardstock.

The non-CTMH things were the pearl accents (Hobby Lobby) and the Baker's Twine (Stampin' Up).  I went with a whole separate color because I didn't have anything that matched and I didn't want the Baker's Twine to fight with the pastel colors.  It is held on with a thin line of Liquid Glass (CTMH).  I also used Copic E04 to color the pearls.

Okay...do you have your guess for the little star?

 

It's the same set I as the sentiment.  I stamped the whole star in Blush and fussy cut out the center.  Since I was already using three sets, I didn't want to pull out a whole other set just for a little star.

I love this card.  I love how pretty it is.  I love that it makes me look brilliant even though I flat out stole the entire idea.  And I love that I can pass it along to you (with credit to the original designer, of course...we want to always play nice in the Blog-o-sphere).

Until next time,
Becca

Looking Good!

Mustaches!  The hot new trend.  Who decides these things??  I don't know, and I really don't care.

My husband shaved his off when he joined the Army.  After twenty-five years of kissing him with the 'stache it still feels wrong.  (For the first year, I literally had to remind myself I was kissing the right man not some stranger!)  So...if you can't have the real thing, here's the second best:

This card is being entered in the Heart2Heart: We "Mustache" You to Join and Less is More: Frames challenges.

I used Puns of Praise and Perfect Fit: Dad from CTMH along with black pigment ink to get solid coverage.  I hand cut the mustache down from its normal size by cutting one side, folding it in half, then cutting the second side to match.

I think I'm in love with my mustache man.  My poor DH better watch out!

Until next time,
Becca

Color Dare Goldrush, Olive, and Sweet Leaf

Do you ever purchase a stamp set with only a vague notion of what you are going to do with it?  Or maybe no idea at all, you just really like it and are sure something will come to mind once you have it in your hot little hands?  Well, after purchasing Adventure USA, I went searching for ideas and saw this post.  It was the perfect inspiration for using a new set and this week's Color My Heart dare colors: Goldrush, Olive, and Sweet Leaf.

I used old B&T papers in the Goldrush, cut them to create the sun rays, and then sponged them with more Goldrush ink to mute the white parts.  The grass is Sweet Leaf cardstock sanded to expose a bit of the white core and sponged with more Goldrush.  The patterns were stamped with Olive ink using In the Background.  The sun was cut with Goldrush cardstock and then dabbed with stickles glitter get.  I didn't want it too heavy, so I smeared it with my finger to spread it around.

The car and camper were stamped in my new favorite color, Saddle.  Because it was going over patterned paper, I used pigment ink to achieve a denser coverage.  I used a white gel pen to highlight the windows and camper door.

This is a 5x7 card because there wasn't enough white space around the central image on a 5.5x4.25 card.  I don't know why I'm reluctant to go up to the 5x7 size more often.  It's not like it costs more to mail.

Because of the green, I'm entering this in the Heart2Heart: Go Green challenge.  I think this is my fourth entry for this week.  (Hey...I got a huge order on Monday and have been playing pretty much non-stop every since.)

Anyway, I'm finding more and more ideas with this stamp set, so don't be surprised if you see it in the future.

Until next time,
Becca