Water Lilies and Dragonflies

Hello and happy July! Time really does fly!! 

I'm here to share my newest card made for Allsorts challenge. It's my turn to host and I chose the easy theme of "Flora and/or Fauna" with an even easier option of Anything Goes and I'd love for you to join in the fun :) Two fabulous prizes are up for grabs, a die set from  Highlight Crafts and a floral stencil. The challenge is open for one week and all are welcome to join with a new creation and up to three for more chances to win!

Here is what I made using both "Flora and Fauna" on my card - Water Lilies (or are they Lotus blossoms?) and Dragonflies. 

I've had this beautiful digi since I first discovered Power Poppy back in 2020, can't believe this is my first time ever using it! Isn't it gorgeous!! 

I printed on Bristol Vellum paper and colored with my Faber Castell Polychromos pencils. I used the layered blending technique and it it took quite some time to layer up all the different colors.

I had printed the image out twice so I was able to fussy cut one of the flowers and a dragonfly to add a little dimension to the card. 

The sentiment is from a newer Penny Black sentiment set Love Big, thought this one was a perfect match for the beautiful image. The script border was done using an oldie but goodie stamp from Whimsy Stamps and no longer available. After stamping I tore the top edge for an added interest. Some paper piercing along two of the edges and then I mounted it onto SU Eggplant card stock (which appears black on the pictures but is dark purple in real life). A few sticky rhinestones and Stickles glitter finish off the card.

Thanks so much for visiting, hope to see you over at the challenge blog too! 

      >>>>> Christmas In July Sale at Scrapbook.com/Ad

This post may include some affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no cost to you. Thank you so much for supporting this blog!

I will be linking up here:

Four Seasons Challenge - Summer // Colour Crazy Challenge - Coloring // Crafty Catz - Say it with Flowers // As You Like It Challenge - Feminine or Masculine (Feminine as I enjoy crafting more with feminine images and colors) // Krafty Chicks - AG // Crafty Gals Corner - AG // Fab n Funky - Summer Colors // Simon Says Stamp - AG // Digi Choosday Challenge - AG // Make My Monday - Coloring // Pammie's Inky Pinkies Challenges - AG // Use Your Stuff - Plants/Flowers // 

Always Anything Goes:

Taylor Made Cards 4 U // 613 Avenue Create opt. twist watercolor // Creative Moments // Through The Craft Room Door // The Corrosive Challenges // A Bit More Time to Craft // A Perfect Time To Craft // Classic Design  Challenge * // Crafts Galore Encore // DL.Art Linky Challenge // Love to Craft // QKR Stampede // The Creative Crafters // World Wide Open Design Team Challenge // Lil Patch of Crafty Friends //

Dare to Share //  Sunday Showcase - First Sunday with Ada and Mireille  //  Inspire Me Monday //  Link Up Potpourri //  Random-osity Good, Random, Fun // You're The Star Blog Hop Link Party @Stonecottage Adventures // Anything Goes with Your Hosts @ My Random Musings // Jenerally Informed The Happy Now // Spread the Kindness Linkup @ Shelbee on the Edge //  Thursday Favorite Things // Little Things Thursday // Encouraging Heart and Home @ Slices of Life //  

Free Beautiful Sunflower Digi Stamps for a Cause

Hello and welcome! Not a usual day for me to post a card, but I spent some time yesterday using some new stamps I got for a cause and thought I'd share the cards today. I do like to keep my blog a happy place but there is no denying that the happenings in Eastern Europe are constantly on my mind so when I received the newsletter from Power Poppy (you can also read it on Power Poppy's blog) about the free Sunflower digi stamps  and an option to purchase another digi for a fundraiser to help Ukraine I had to get them. 

You can get Power Poppy's sunflower stamps here (there are 4 freebie sets) including the digi for the fundraiser. You do not need to make a purchase to get the free stamps. 

Both were done in a CAS-ish style.

On the first card (above) I used the Sunshine of my Life set. As I usually do with digi stamps, it's been colored with my Faber Castell Polychromos pencils. After coloring, I used one of my favorite stamps, the retired Whimsy Stamps script border on the bottom of the card. The background was a little bit too plain so I decided to add some stenciling. Finally ran this through my big shot machine using Avery Elle's Wonky Stitches die then adhered to the card base.

And here is my second card:

Here I used the Fundraiser Peace Offering digi.

This has also been colored with Faber Castell Polychromos pencils, I used the same border stamp again and this time I simply tore the bottom edge of the image panel then added some paper piercing. Some silver cord I recently found a roll off at a thrift store was tied around the image panel, edges inked with light blue ink, did some old fashioned paper piercing using my old Stampin Up piercing template and then adhered onto a white card base.

Thanks so much for visiting!

I'm linking up here:

Daring Cardmakers - Cards for Ukraine // Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Feminine // Crafty Gals Corner - Flowers // Fab n Funky - Handcolored Image // Simon Says Stamp - Favorite Things (Script Border Stamp, Faber Castell Pencils and I love flower stamps although these stamps are new) // Digi Choosday Challenge - AG // Everybody-Art-Challenge - B is for...(Blooms, Blue) // Ike's World - AG // A Place To Start - AG // Colouring in Scrapland - AG // Crafting Happiness Challenges - AG // Jan's Digi Stamps Challenge - AG // Pammie's Inky Pinkies Challenges - AG // Path of Positivity - AG // Dare 2B Artzy Challenges - AG // Crafty Friends Challenge - Flowers // Creatalicious Challenges - AG // Happy Little Stampers - Stencils (1st card) // Let's Craft & Create Challenge - AG // Sweet Stampers - CAS (2nd card) // A Gem of a Challenge - AG // Sweet Stampin - Keep it simple (2nd card) // Colour Crazy Challenge - Coloring // 

Always Anything Goes:

Taylor Made Cards 4 U // 613 Avenue Create opt. twist watercolor // Creative Moments // Through The Craft Room Door // The Corrosive Challenges // A Bit More Time to Craft // A Perfect Time To Craft // Classic Design  Challenge * // Crafts Galore Encore // DL.Art Linky Challenge // Love to Craft // QKR Stampede // The Creative Crafters // World Wide Open Design Team Challenge // Lil Patch of Crafty Friends // 

Link Parties:

Dare to Share //  Inspire Me Monday //  Link Up Potpourri //  Random-osity Good, Random, Fun // You're The Star Blog Hop Link Party @Stonecottage Adventures // Anything Goes with Your Hosts @ My Random Musings // Jenerally Informed The Happy Now // Spread the Kindness Linkup @ Shelbee on the Edge //  Thursday Favorite Things // Little Things Thursday // Encouraging Heart and Home @ Slices of Life // 

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday - March Challenge

Hello and happy March! 

Welcome to a new theme for my Crafty Wednesday challenge hosted right here on my blog! I'm so happy you decided to check it out and of course I'd love for you to join in too! You can find last month's top picks at the end of this post, there were so many gorgeous entries!! The linky tool is also at the end as well as a quick summary of the guidelines.

This Month's Theme:

I don't know about you, but I am soooo ready for spring color and spring flowers, so this month I picked the theme of ................................

Spring Colors.

As always, the theme is optional and you may share any of your handmade cards and crafts, and all entries will be considered for my top picks. 

This Month's Sample:

This pretty floral image is another one I had purchased from Power Poppy last year when they  had a sale. I have to admit, pansies might be one of the hardest flowers ever to color!! I really struggled with this image!

Once again, I used my   Faber Castell polychromos pencils on  Neenah 80b card stock. I printed the image twice so I could fussy cut the pansies and adhere them with  foam tape. I used a scallop circle Nestabilities die to cut out the image and then inked the edges using Spun Sugar Distress ink. 

The patterned papers are from my stash and the label sentiments from My Favorite Things. It's a retired set but this set from Altenew would make a good alternative.

Related Products:

I used  Versafine Onyx ink to stamp the label sentiments.

Power Poppy Digital Image // MFT Sentiment (old - options) // Spun Sugar Distress Ink // Versafine Onyx Ink // Faber Castell polychromos pencils //  foam tape // Nestabilities Dies // Cutterbee Scissors // Neenah 80b // Patterned Papers from Stash

Related Products:

This post may include some affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no cost to you. Thank you so much for supporting this blog!

Recent Posts you may have missed:

• Roses and Cheesecloth for a Feminine Birthday Card
• A Baby Card for Twins with a Button and Lace
• A Masculine Birthday Card with Safari Animals

I'm linking up here:

Anything Goes:

Curated by Jennifer // Crafty Sentiment Designs // Digi Choosday Challenge // Lemon Shortbread  // Crafting Happiness Challenges // Pammie's Inky Pinkies Challenges // Lil Patch of Crafty Friends // The Corrosive Challenges // A Bit More Time to Craft // A Perfect Time To Craft // Classic Design  Challenge // Crafts Galore Encore // Createful Heart Digis & Design Challenges // LeAnn’s World 101 // Love to Craft // The Creative Crafters // Crafty Creations // 

Themes:

Everybody-Art-Challenge - Birthday // Unicorn Challenge - Feminine // AAA Birthday - Patterned Papers // Dream Valley Challenges - Hand Colored Image // Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - Patterned Papers // Crafty Friends Challenge - Birthdays // Digi Doodle Studios Challenge Blog - Beginning with F (Flowers) // Pearly Sparkles Challenge - Use a Digi // Simon Says Stamp - Beautiful Blossoms // 

Last Month's Top Picks:

I will continue to add my favorites to the dedicated Pinterest board, but going forward I will once again showcase the top pick's creations with links to their individual blogs, which will be removed at the start of each new month's challenge to remain in compliance with GDPR.

Choosing favorites is never easy but something that needs to be done and here are my top picks in the order of entry.

 

No. 22 Maryann Scrap

No. 52 Maria

No. 58 Sheryl Hare 

Congratulations! Your top pick logo is below. Feel free to post it to your own blogs if you like to!

To play along this month simply use the linky tool below.

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

A few things to remember:

• You may follow the theme or anything crafty goes.

• Backlinking is allowed.

• You may combine with any other challenges.
• You may use any brand of stamps/digis/products (no company restriction).
• No more than 3 entries per person please - no worries if you end up with more.
• Please do include a link back here to my blog in your blog post.

Note: Top picks will be selected from the entries shared with the linky tool. The top pick's creations will be displayed the following month along with their blog links until the start of a new challenge. If you do not want to be featured, please do not use the linky tool.

Roses and Cheesecloth for a Feminine Birthday Card

Hello and welcome! 

It's time already for a new theme at Allsorts challenge. I'm hosting this week with the theme of "Feminine". There are two great prizes to give away this week - we have a beautiful Tonic header die as well as an inspirational sentiment stamp set.

I'm currently loving the pretty color "blush" and was inspired by a strip of patterned paper on my desk from last week's card. Yes, I'm often guilty of not cleaning up my craft desk after finishing up a card. And I can't tell you how much I hate setting foot into my craft room to make a new card only to discover I have to clean up first!! I'm blaming it  on my craft room being upstairs and not in the main living area and whenever I make a card I take forever. Meaning by the time it's done I need to get to something more important than cleaning up my desk.

But in this case I'm happy for the inspiration I found from the patterned paper and I really like how this card turned out.

Some affiliate links may be used in this post. This means I may earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links. As always, this is at no cost to you! Thanks so much for supporting this blog!

The image is a digital stamp from Power Poppy I purchased sometime last year when they had a sale. 

I printed the image twice (to use one of the roses a second time) on Neenah 80b card stock and colored with my Faber Castell polychromos pencils. I have the complete set of 120 pencils and there are many blush tone pencils in this set so it was perfect. If you look closely you may see some sparkle on the roses - I used a clear Wink of Stella brush for this.

I really wanted to use a cheesecloth textured stencil, but don't have one (on my wish list), instead I dug out a package of cheesecloth I had stashed away and cut a small piece to add behind the mug using a couple of glue dots. I'm pretty sure I purchased this cheesecloth in the crafting department and not a kitchen supply store, but traditional cheesecloth would give you the same effect. 

Next I adhered the strip of patterned paper and the image which I had fussy cut using my Cutterbee scissors. Foam tape was used to adhere the image. 

The french script is an oldie but goodie by Stampin up and I used a tile textured stencil here and there with Pumice Stone Distress ink. 

Related Products:

The large sentiment is from Penny Black's set Sprinkles and Smiles, stamped with Versafine Onyx ink, and the small "happy birthday" from the set Snippets also by Penny Black. This one I heat embossed in white on black card stock using Versamark ink and ultra fine embossing powder in white. 

Before adhering the card to the white card base I inked the edges using Tattered Rose distress ink.

Power Poppy Image // Penny Black Sprinkles and Smiles // Penny Black Snippets // Cutterbee Scissors // Faber Castell Polychromos Pencils // Neenah 80b card stock // Foam tape // TCW Tile Stencil 6x6 // 

Pumice Stone Distress Ink // Tattered Rose Distress Ink // Versafine Onyx Ink // Versamark Ink // Detail White Embossing Powder

Related Products:

Recent posts you may have missed:

• A Baby Card for Twins
• A Masculine Birthday Card with Safari Animals
• Project 333 and a Pink Sweater for Valentines Day

I'm linking up here:

Anything Goes:

Inspire me Mondays // Spread the Kindness // Curated by Jennifer // Encouraging Hearts and Home //  Crafty Creations // Creative Moments // Simon Says Stamp // Sisterhood of Crafters // Crafty Sentiment Designs // Digi Choosday Challenge // Lemon Shortbread // Through The Craft Room Door // World Wide Open Design Team Challenge // The Creative Crafters // A Gem of a Challenge // Crafter's Castle // Crafty Catz // Creative Fingers // 

Themes

As You Like It Challenge - Fav. Reason to send a card (Birthdays - they are my favorites to make :) // Cardz 4 Galz - For a special lady (my dear sister) // Cute Card Thursday - Feminine // Krafty Chicks - Occasions // TIME OUT Challenges - Birthday // Everybody-Art-Challenge - Birthday // Let's Craft & Create Challenge - Red, Pink or White // Crazy 4 Challenges - Flowers //