The current challenge at Seize the Birthday is “Anything Goes.” Black and red is one of my favorite color combinations. As part of the #100DayProject, I pulled out a lot of stamps I hadn’t used in awhile, and this poppy stamp from Hero Arts was one of them.

After stamping the image in black, I used my new Polychromos pencils to color the poppies and stems. I cut a piece of New Leaf cardstock to frame the image and adhered it to a square Lasting Impressions card (another item that’s been in my stash for years.) 

I die cut a Spellbinders banner and stamped the sentiment from “Ways to Say: Birthday” by Papertrey Ink.  I added three tiny black pearls to the side of the banner. The Lasting Impressions cards came with polk-dot red envelopes which was just perfect for sending off to a friend.

This week’s challenge from Less is More is to use a bit from your “bits box.” I have multiple envelopes filled with bits that didn’t make it to a card when they were created. For this card, there were actually two:  the card itself where I had die cut a circle in the front of the woodgrain cardbase (Simon Says,) and the beautiful butterfly from Papertrey Ink’s “Butterfly Hope.”

To create the card, I die cut a circular frame from two Simon Says “Stitched Circle” dies from Raspberry Fizz cardstock. The sentiment was stamped inside from the “It’s the Thought” set (PTI), and the butterfly attached to the side.

Here’s a peek at the inside:

I need a few more challenges like this to use up my stash of “bits.”

The monthly Papertrey Ink Blog Hop is one of my favorite card-making activities. It’s probably because I have such a lovely collection of Papertrey products, so coming up with a design usually isn’t too challenging. This month it was really easy. Here’s the inspiration photo:

First off, I’m a huge fan of black and white and gingham, so that combination was a draw. And then there are those gorgeous pink flowers. What’s not to like? I have a gingham background stamp from another company which I’ve never used, so I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to get it out. It was, however, a big disappointment. After five different black ink pads, and five pieces of paper, I still didn’t have a clean image. No black and white gingham in my paper collection either, so I went digital, finding just what I needed at The Lily Pad–a gingham collection by Allison Pennington.

Once I had the gingham paper, the rest of the card came together quickly. The bouquet of flowers was stamped and die cut with the “Mixed Bouquet” set and put in a “Vogue Vase” stamped in black. I arranged the flowers in the vase and added it to a “Mix and Mat Scalloped” die cut on Fresh Snow Linen. I layered that onto the gingham, and then onto a top-folded card cut from Lovely Lady paper. All that was left to do was emboss the greeting from “Birthday Basics” on a vellum banner. It’s a bit hard to tell, but the tiny pink flowers have Nuvo drops in yellow added to the center of each flower for a little dimension.

I think I’m likely to use this design again with different colors of gingham paper and any variety of flowers in a vase. Much more my CAS style than yesterday’s Make It Monday card.

I’m also linking this up to Seize the Birthday. The topping challenge this round is Patterned Paper.

As soon as I watched Lizzie’s Make It Monday video, I knew I had to try it. I left her a comment saying I knew I’d be doing a close case of her card, as the Botanical Bounty stamp set was already laying on my desk. I’d borrowed it from a friend to play with, and have since ordered myself a set with one of my birthday gift certificates. Here’s Lizzie’s fabulous card:

And here’s my very close copy, although I wouldn’t presume to say my flowers were anywhere near as well stamped and blended. It was my first attempt and it was a bit of trial and error. 

I covered a card made from Spring Rain with a piece of striped vellum from the Sheer Basics pack, and used the stripes to guide the placement of the sentiment strip which was stamped with another of the sentiments from “Thank You Kindly” that I used in yesterday’s post. All the flowers and leaves are from the “Botanical Bounty” set. I like them a lot more than I expected I would, and am anxious for mine to arrive so I can play with them without the die cuts. Getting accurate die cuts has definitely been on the technique list for the #100DayProject, and I think I finally have that pretty much under control. 

All the leaves were adhered directly to the vellum, but I used dimensional tape on most of the flowers. The design is a bit of a departure from the clean and simple style I usually produce, but I think I’ll find someone who will appreciate the most elaborate card.

I’ll be back tomorrow with a card for the Papertrey Ink blog hop. Today has turned out to be a lot less busy than anticipated—mainly because I cancelled one commitment due to an unusual allergy attack. Turns out I can make cards even with burning, drippy eyes!

First off, a card for the Color Throwdown Challenge. I’m really getting this in under the wire. I made the card last night, but haven’t had time to write a post until now. The challenge closes in a hour! Talk about cutting it close. Love the colors for this challenge:

I pulled out an old, old embossed card by Lasting Impressions and added a vase of flowers and a banner sentiment to make a birthday card. 

I used some “Simple Stems” and a “Vogue Vase” by Papertrey Ink to pull together the focal point. All the stamped images were an earlier part of my #100DayProject. The sentiment was embossed in white on a vellum banner cut with a Spellbinders die and attached to the card with liquid glue under the two pearls at the ends of the banner. I left the middle of the banner slightly curved.

The Lasting Impressions card came with a lovely red envelope, which worked out perfectly.

It’s also my birthday which we celebrated yesterday with a Mother’s Day brunch. Today has been really busy, but it’s a lovely spring day, and I’ve received many birthday greetings in the mail, on email and via texts. I’m a very lucky lady.

This is the first birthday that’s ever given me pause. This card from a blogging friend might explain it.

But truthfully, I’m very grateful to have had 70 fabulous years, and hope to see many, many more. 

It’s down to the last few days, but I finally have a card for The Card Concept Challenge—Bold Flower.

And since the stamped images are from Concord and 9th, a entry into this month’s challenge: “Floral” at Where Creativity Meets C9.

The main flower in the inspiration photo for The Card Concept is red, but mine are bright yellow. They were stamped with Concord and 9th’s “Wildflower” stamp set on watercolor paper that I had tried the smoosh technique with Distress Oxide ink for the #100DayProject. I really didn’t love them until I added some highlights with Copic markers, and laid them on the Memory Box licorice card. Suddenly, I saw a card!

Just by chance I found the die cut “Celebrate” in my die cut envelope cut in just the right color. I’m pretty sure it’s a Papertrey Ink die cut, but I can’t find the die nor can I identify it by looking online. I have a much larger die in the same font, but not one this small. So strange. . .

The only embellishment were three black Amuse pearls in the center of each flower. One thing I love about Memory Box cards is the white interior which makes it so much easier to add an inside greeting. I’ll wait until I know who the card is going to before adding that.

Mother’s Day in the U.S. is just one week from today. Typically, I would save my Mother’s Day card to share on the actual date, but since it was inspired by the Freshly Made Challenge, and the challenge ends tomorrow, here I am! My mother-in-law does not read my blog to my knowledge, so I think it’s a safe move. It’s a great sketch with lots of possibilities.

It’s the beautiful “Butterfly Blooms” and “A Bit More Butterfly Blooms” by Papertrey Ink again. This time I embossed the butterflies in gold on vellum,  I found the perfect piece of patterned paper in my stash and die cut it with a stitched oval from Papertrey’s “Noted:  Scalloped A2 Vertical” die set.

I used the Simon Says “Reverse Polka Dot Background” stamp to create a subtle, tone on tone background and die cut that with a “Stitched Rectangle,” also from Simon Says. I then layered the pieces onto a Vintage Cream card.

The sentiment from “Delightful Dahlias” (PTI) was embossed in gold and die cut with an old Spellbinders banner die. A few beautiful new-to-me sequins from Simon Says “Sparkle and Shine” collection finished it off. Here’s a closer look:

Off to check out how others have interpreted the sketch.