Papertrey Ink's Farmer's Market Floral Cards

I picked up Papertrey Ink's Farmers Market Florals stamp and die set when it was released.  I combined my purchase to also get the free add on stamp set.  I couldn't wait to use it and the ladies over at City Crafter Challenge Blog obliged by hosting a challenge All You Need Is Love.  The challenge included using hearts or the word love.  Since I could,  I used both and the florals to replicate a similar design to the inspiration that prompted my purchase in the first place.

 

I think I definitely like the red flowers I  this design, but this soft pink is pretty too.  I made a bunch of flowers and can envision some valentines in my near future.

Come check out the fun at City Crafter Challenge Blog.

A Baby Girl Shower Card

I had an inspiration to use some of the same card design from this card and my old Stamps of Life stamp set with baby peas.  This stamp layers color and I decided to go monochromatic using some olive green ink to match the softness of the light pink in the papers and sentiment. 

I ended up making a couple of these cards, thinking that they will be a useful addition to the stash.  I used the same dies and layered the image up in the same way - keeping the assembly line process simple.

On the inside of one I stamped this sentiment and image, coloring the umbrella with my Clean Color Brush Markers.  So simple, but a nice add.  This will help me in the future, but leaving one without a clear sentiment allows it to be assigned for any purpose.

I had so much fun, I decided to die cut some more frames and I'm going shopping in my stash for a third new baby stamp set to see if I can shake up the front design a bit.  More on that to come

A Special Birthday Card

I have so enjoyed having a little more downtime through the holidays.  It made me want to go shopping in the stash for bits and pieces to see if I could put together some cards without much effort.  Both of these cards I'm sharing today were made from die cuts previously made for other cards and left as excessive from those endeavors.  This first one uses some Heartfelt Creations Poppy flower die cuts, Prickly Pear Mini-Butterflies die cuts and a gold flake covered frame.  I paired it with some patterned paper in the stash and am really proud of how delicate those flowers look with their Prill centers.

This next card is an almost exact duplicate of this card made for my SIL's Kentucky Derby inspired birthday celebration.  I figured there was no reason not to make this second card with all the leftover bits and pieces. 

So much fun and now my husband has caught on to the fact that I can "shop" my stash and make something pretty.  Hmmmm, on second thought that might not have been such a bright idea.  Oh well, I'll just have to keep crafting with what I have for a bit.

Watercoloring Peonies Buds

I had previously stamped some of these Peony buds onto Bristol cardstock and kept them in the stash for a fun coloring day.  No masking, just strategic stamping.

Ultimately, I decided to play with my Mission Gold watercolors.  I layered up the colors, eliminating blooms as I went (not all, but some) and intensifying the color.  That means that I spent several hours coloring this image as I let the paint dry between layers.

I'm not as happy with this yellow as I think it ended up being very flat in color and appearance.  Still, I enjoyed the process and learned as I went.

I also am not fully content with the chunky glitter frames on either card - I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and in the end I think they take away from the delicate nature of the flowers and the watercoloring of the image.

Live and learn - I need to take more chances creatively than I usually do.  For that, I'm pleased with how these both turned out.

Some Bunny Is On the Way

I was feeling particularly "pinky" after all those Christmas card and gift projects.  I knew I'd need a couple of baby cards and so I decided to combine an image and sentiment from my Lawn Fawn Hello Baby stamp set with some different layered patterned paper die cuts for simple designed baby cards.

I used my Clean Clear Brush watercolor pens to color the bunny and give him something to sit on.  This was a quick color - nothing fancy because the stamped image is so adorable.

I was a little nervous that I might boof the stamped sentiment or hearts and so I colored two versions.  I decided to use them both so that I could add two cards to the stash.

Super fun and inspiring with a different color palette.  Hoping your New Year started off well.  Mine sure did with this fun crafting time spent on my day off.



I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge Something New
Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge Something New