Retrosketches

This card is for the new Retrosketches #241 challenge.  It's been a LONG time since I've used this Spellbinder ornament die.  I kept it plain and simple and dry embossed with a snowflake folder by Sizzix.  I topped it off with the Holly Confetti Cuts by Reverse Confetti.  The sentiment die is by Papertrey Ink - cut twice with Simply Chartreuse CS (PTI) and once with a silver glitter CS. Patterned papers are from My Mind's Eye 12 Days of Christmas 6x6 pad.  

I started decorating our house for Christmas earlier this week.  I'm about 80% finished with the main tree being the last thing to assemble.  Yup, I'm an artificial tree lover now.  No more needles and sap dropping on everything and no more crooked trunks with a tree crashing to the ground after it's fully decorated.  That was the straw that broke the camel's back in 1993!  It's been non-living trees ever since. The temperatures drastically dropped today...making it feel more like Christmas.  Thanks for stopping by...

Happy Fall

 **Scroll on down for my Color Throwdown card**

It's a welcome time of year for me when the temperatures dip just a

wee bit from the sweltering humid days of summer. I've already gotten some fall decor in the house which I'll share with you below.  This is an exceptionally happy week for me with having our daughter who is a traveling nurse - currently going to start her second contract in Omaha - home for the week!  Our oldest son and his wife just had a baby on 9/12 - just minutes before midnight - and we're so thrilled to welcome Matilda Mary into our lives!  Can't wait until Sunday when we plan to travel to DC to see her! 

Oh, yes...I do have a card to tell you about - lol!  I was inspired by the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge fall floral theme and also used the great sketch for the Retrosketches Challenge.  Nothing says fall like some mums, so I dusted off PTI's Mum's the Word set and found an old PTI Fall Prints and Patterns 8x8 pad and I was ready to roll.  I used Riding Hood Red, Certainly Celery and Old Olive inks by SU.  The coordinating floral dies make it so quick and easy to whip up a quick card!

I'm a huge fan of Pinterest and this centerpiece for my kitchen island is the result of a couple of inspiration photos I came across.

I love hydrangeas and never thought to mix them in with a fall arrangement, but I totally love it!  Here are the pics that inspired me...

Thanks for hanging in there with me on this rather lengthy post!  Happy fall y'all!

Happy Bird-day!

I had fun creating this card for the new Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge, the Retrosketches challenge and Seize the Birthday challenge where anything goes!  I had a piece of watercolored paper in my leftover pile (Spun Sugar with a hint of Picked Raspberry distress inks were used then mottled with splatters of water) which was perfect to diecut the flamingo.  The wing was stamped with Melon Mambo (SU) ink.  I love how the tropical flowers and

foliage in the new Toucan of Friendship stamp set coordinate perfectly with the Fabulous Flamingo set - both by Reverse Confetti!  The florals were popped with varying thicknesses of foam dots/tape and highlighted with Crystal Effects and Yellow Stickles.  I used the following Copic markers:
YG05, RV02, RV06, Y17, YR68.

Thanks so much for stopping by...

Color Throwdown #401

Happy hump day everyone! You know that means another Color Throwdown Challenge is on board and our hostess - Amy Rysavy - has some beautiful colors for us! I typically don't gravitate toward purple, but this ended up being a really fun combination to work with! Here is my take on it (and note that I voted green as a neutral - lol!).

I'm also playing along with the current Retrosketches Challenge #222 and really loved this layout!  I had these frames in my leftover pile (Quadrangle Frames dies by Simon Says Stamp), so adhered them over some watercolor CS that I painted with purple (mixed with white) Gold Mission watercolors.
I used WPlus9 inks for everything except the black sentiment.  The stripes were stamped with Cockleshell ink on MFT's Diagonal Stripes BG stamp using a MISTI.  Florals were triple stamped using Sweet Gelato and Miami Spice.  The leaves were stamped with Mojito.  I love the light gray ink (Fairy Dust) that was used on the sentiment collage stamp over the background.
Once again you see the mini scallop border die by Reverse Confetti.  Some purple twine and some clear sequins were the final touches.  

STAMPS: Watercolored Anemones (WPlus9), Greetings and Salutations (WPlus9), Diagonal Stripes BG (My Favorite Things).

Congrats to Katrina Buffton - our guest star stamper this week!

To get all the details on how to play along with the challenge, please go to the Color Throwdown blog and check out the info on the right sidebar!  You can also check out the rest of the design teams' creations for more inspiration on the CTD blog.. or you can clink on their blog links below.
Amy Rohl
Barbara Anders  
Broni Holcombe   
Joan Ervin
Jodi Collins 
Lisa Henke
Lori Tecler
Lynn Put  
Vickie Zimmer 
Wanda Cullen (you are here) 
Kim Singdahlsen - July Guest Designer    

Retrosketches & CC

A quick post this morning with a card I created for the current Retrosketches Challenge and it's using the lovely beach colors for the Color Challenge on SCS!  Maura has chosen Soft Sky, Pacific Point, Wild Wasabi and Crumb Cake for the colors.  I subbed distress inks so I could watercolor the background (Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Brushed Corduroy, Mowed Lawn).  I used Antique Linen to lightly watercolor this fun new sand dollar die by Reverse Confetti.  The sentiment (Fancy Word Coordinates by Reverse Confetti) was gold embossed on vellum.  The wonky stitched rectangles are by Lil' Inker Designs.

Thanks for stopping by...heading to get ready for work now.

Bird-Day Wishes

A fun 'threefer' card on this marvelous Monday (marvelous because the sun is shining once again!).  Here are the three challenges I'm playing along with...
Tag, You're It!
Retrosketches #215
Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge - Birdhouse. 

I started with a watercolor wash on a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2 " panel of Ranger watercolor CS using Tumbled Glass distress ink. I used an angled brush and scribbled the ink in a diagonal direction. Next step...cutting 6 stitched die strips (Lil' Inker Designs). 
Since they weren't long enough to use only 3, I had to 'piece' them together behind the tag.  I used Reverse Confetti's The Tweet Life stamp set and coordinating dies.  The large tag and the checked flag are also dies by RC.  

PAPER: Quilting Bee by My Mind's Eye; X-Press It Blending Card; Ranger watercolor CS. 

Thanks for stopping by...

Color Throwdown

Hello everyone!  Don't you just love the beautiful colors Amy Rysavy chose for the new Color Throwdown Challenge this week?!  If this doesn't put you into spring and summer mode, I don't know what will!  I went with some bolder shades for each color, but that's totally OK.  It's all about having fun...right?  So, here is my take on it...highly inspired by the vase with florals in the photo.

I stamped a number of flowers and leaves from WPlus9's Fresh Cut Containers stamp set after cutting the coordinating die shapes first. 
The diamond background (Dylusions Basically Square stamp set) was stamped off once then washi tape was added.  I added a tiny zigzag detail using Sticker Stitches.  The sentiment is from WPlus9's Sending, Hoping, Wishing stamp/die set.  I added Wink of Stella clear shimmer brush marker to all the flowers, but it's hard to capture the sparkle in a photo. I'm using the current layout for the Retrosketches Challenge - one of my favorite styles of sketches using an L-shaped corner collage.

It's a new month so that means we're introducing a new guest designer for May.  Congratulations to Jill Hawkins from the Fastest Turtle blog! Welcome!!

We're super thrilled to announce a new member of the CTD design team!  Woohoo and welcome back Amy Rohl (she was our April guestie) and can be found on her blog - Ink About Me!  

INK: Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry (SU); Ocean Drive, Silver Lining (WPlus9); Ripe Persimmon (Ranger distress ink).

To get all the details on how to play along with the challenge, please go to the Color Throwdown blog and check out the info on the right sidebar!  You can also check out the rest of the design teams' creations for more inspiration on the CTD blog... or you can clink on their blog links below.
Amy Rohl
Barbara Anders  
Broni Holcombe   
Joan Ervin
Jodi Collins 
Lisa Henke
Lori Tecler
Lynn Put  
Vickie Zimmer 
Wanda Cullen (you are here) 
Jill Hawkins - May Guest Designer    

Hope to see you in the gallery!

Retrosketches & The Challenge

 I'm needing a ton of birthday cards this month, so this is one more checked off my list. I used the colors in The Challenge #68 - hot pink, green, teal, yellow - and paired it with the layout for the Retrosketches Challenge #210. 

I stamped a couple of washi tape images in Bermuda Bay ink from SU's Tape It stamp set.

The florals are from the Wildflower stamp set by Concord and 9th - stamped in Melon Mambo then fussy cut. Instead of solid coloring, I used a Copic marker (Y06) and stippled the petals.  They were then layered with a matching floral die.  Leaves were punched using the bird punch by SU. The sentiment was stamped twice using my MISTI and I'm loving the bold font from Altenew's Painted Greetings set. It was then die cut using MFT Die-Namics.  Enamel dots were the finishing touch!

While creating this card, I was playing a couple of episodes from the Outlander series (season #1)...SO VERY GOOD!!  I'm not typically a binge show watcher, but this one has me hooked - lol!  Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Hay There!

I'm playing along with the SCS Ways to Use It challenge to celebrate National Pet Sitters Week by including a pet on our card. The layout uses the current Retrosketches Challenge. 

For years, when our 3 children were young, we had a pet miniature goat!  There are countless stories of the times Smoky got himself into trouble!
He was a salt and pepper color - gray/white and black - and extremely smart!  So, he is the inspiration for my card today. 

STAMPS: The Whole Herd (MFT); Timeless Textures (SU).
PAPER: Crushed Curry, White.
INK: Crushed Curry, Memento Tuxedo Black.
ACCESSORIES: Stitched Fishtail Flags, Stitched Rounded Rectangles, The Whole Herd and Traditional Tags STAX Die-Namics by MFT; Burlap ribbon and jute twine; Gold glitter enamel dots; Copics.

Retrosketches

It's been a long time since I've played along with the Retrosketches Challenge, but my need to create a birthday card was made easy with this great layout!  I started with using a Provocraft embossing folder on some white linen paper.  The stars and seriously sentiment are dies by Lil' Inker Designs.  I didn't have a large silver button in my stash, so the MFT button die set came to the rescue (stacking 3 on top of each other make it look more realistic)!  The stitched banner die is also by MFT.  I just can't seem to finish up a card anymore without using some sequins, so silver was the choice here.  The sentiment is from Lil' Inker Designs' Snarky Sentiment stamp set.

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

One Layer Christmas

I really need to kick it up a few notches and get more Christmas cards made! I love the current Retrosketches Challenge and used that as my starting point.  Reverse Confetti had an awesome Christmas release about a week ago, so had to try out the new Holly and Winter Words Confetti Cuts along with their Winter Word Coordinates stamp set!  This set gives you a gazillion options for sentiments!  Amy Tsuruto inspired me when she posted she is making 3 of the same card with each Christmas creation she completes.  I'm not quite as industrious and have made my goal to make two of every design.  This was an easy peasy one layer card to put together.  Papers are from Echo Park's "Tis the Season" 6x6 pad.  Stitched circle die is by Lil' Inker Designs and the flags are MFT's Stitched Fishtail Flags STAX Die-Namics.

 On an oily side note...
One of my favorite fall blends of essential oils to diffuse uses 4 drops cinnamon, 4 drops orange and 3 drops nutmeg.  Here's a chart that will give you even more "recipe" ideas for fall and winter!

Color Throwdown

Hi, everyone! Check out these fun summery colors that Joan - our talented hostess with the mostess - has for us this week on the Color Throwdown challenge blog!  I decided to also carry out the nautical theme of the photo  and paper pieced the sails of the ship and colored the rest with Copics.  I added a bit of fine glitter to the

waves for some extra pizzazz!  I'm using the basic sketch for the current Retrosketches Challenge - tweaking it by adding the circle element.  If you're needing a refresher course like I did with the sailor knot steps, the YouTube tutorial link by Barbara Anders is HERE.  My finished card is 5 1/2" square.  I used my corner chomper  and added a die cut flag using Verve's Flag It Die Set and topped it off with a silver pearl.  An easy, clean layered card design!

STAMPS: Learning to Sail (Verve)
PAPER: Miss Caroline "Dilly Dally" by MME, Real Red, White.

We hate to say goodbye to Nancy Thomas who has been such a fabulous guest designer during June! Thanks Nancy!  Stay tuned next week to see who our new guestie will be!

For more inspiration and for details on how you can play along, please visit the Color Throwdown blog...or...you can go to each of the design team blog links below to see what they've created:

Barbara Anders  
Broni Holcombe   
Joan Ervin  
  Jodi Collins 
  Lori Tecler   
Monika Davis
Tammy Hershberger
Vickie Zimmer 

 Wanda Cullen (you are here)

Nancy Thomas - Guest Designer for June

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Hope to see you in the CTD gallery!

Just Chillin'

I really loved the current Retro Sketches Challenge this week and couldn't resist playing with this "cool" set by Reverse Confetti! A simple, clean and layered card using a mixture of dies.

Here's what I used...
STAMPS: Let's Chill (Reverse Confetti).
PAPER: Sunkissed 6x6 pad by Doodlebug Design, Gumball Green and Daffodil Delight by SU.
INK: Versafine Onyx Black (sentiment stamped twice using a MISTI for a more vivid black).
ACCESSORIES: Stitched rounded rectangle STAX Die-Namics and Stitched Fishtail Flags STAX Die-Namics by My Favorite Things, Let' Chill popsicle die by Reverse Confetti, Stitched Tag Trio by Reverse Confetti, Corner chomper, Button.