Country Wildflowers

Here's a card I made recently for a Ways to Use It Challenge which Cathy (cathymac) gave us at Splitcoaststampers - using the bleach technique - and I managed to get through the whole process without ruining any clothes!

I've used SNSS's Wilflower set on Stampin Up's Cherry Cobbler card stock - as you can see the bleach causes the stamped area to fade to a creamy pink. I find this technique works well with solid stamps like silhouettes rather than stamps with finer lines. Another hint while using this technique is to use your bleach sparingly - I put some on a piece of folded paper towel on a flat plate, just enough to thoroughly moisten it but not enough to make it dripping wet.

My last suggestion would be to try it out on piece of extra card stock first - the result is always different depending on the color and make of the cardstock. For example some hardly showed at all, and with others the result seemed muddy, but there were plenty that ended up pretty and pleasing!

I added the main image oval to an embossed panel of kraft....the color combo said "country" to me so I added a gingham ribbon bow as a finishing touch!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies include:

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Wildflower

Spellbinders Nestabilities Ovals

Stampin Up Cherry Cobbler card stock

Papermania Kraft

Ribbon

Pearls

Twine

Bleach

Button

Sizzix/Stampin Up Square Lattice embossing folder

CAS Noel

 

I made a card for the Less is More challenge this week, which is a Color Challenge Red and Green .
Chrissie and Jen gave us some beautiful inspiration with their samples.
 Couldn't resist that color combo against a crisp creamy white background!

  I was delighted to see that the sponsor this month is My Mum's Craft Shop - I love the selection and personal service that Kitty provides and they stock a great selection of MFT Die-namics - need I say more?!

I used By the Letters Die-namics to cut letters from burgundy RED cardstock and a Cheery Lynn Designs holly die for the GREEN holly.  The bg is embossed and I added some large matching brads for berries! 

Supplies include:

My Favorite Things By the Letters Die-namics

My Favorite Things Fishtail Flags Die-namics

Cheery Lynn Designs holly die

M-bossibilities Elitel embossing folder

Stampin Up Cherry Cobbler, Lucky Limeade cardstock

Brads

Friends of Sweet 'n Sassy stamps Birthday Blog Hop

Hi and welcome to the Friends of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Birthday Blog Hop!

I've had the privilege of working with the fabulous design team at SNSS for the past couple of years, and have loved getting to know many talented and fun stampers among the team and customers along the way!  Korin is a sweet, beautiful friend with integrity and real faith in Jesus.

I'm so glad you get to join us today, and here's some information to keep in mind about the prizes!

 One commenter from four participant blogs will be chosen to receive a $15 store credit at Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.
        To be included in the drawings, comments must be left by midnight EST Friday, November 30th.
        The winners will be announced on the SNSS Blog on December 1st at 8am EST!

All of the participating blogs are linked at the bottom of this post.

Now here's the card I've created for the hop today:

 

I've used four different SNSS sets and two die sets:

Serene Silhouettes to stamp grass allong the bottom of the panel.

Nature Silhouettes for the wildflowers.

New Beginnings for the butterfly which is colored with copics.

Script Sentiments for the "Thinking of You" sentiment.

New Beginnings Butterfly die set to cut and pop up the butterfly.

Lacey Eyelet Border die, using the side of the die with tiny scallops.
 I'd been wishing I had a tiny scallops die and then realized I'd had one on this die the whole time!

The image panel was sponged with various inks and then I spattered black ink across it with a toothbrush.  The sun was masked using post-it-notes and a Nestie circle.

It was such a fun card to make and I've loved showcasing these fabulous SNSS products!

Other supplies include:

Stampin Up Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Orchid Opulence ink

Ranger Distress Dusty Concord ink

Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Button

Twine

Spellbinders Nestabilities Circles Small

Here are all of the bloggers participating today, so have fun hopping!

 

Peaceful Bridge

 

A package from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps came today, just in time for me to use this lovely set, Bridge of Hope, for a card inspired by a piece of art found HERE.  The website GelaSkins was given to us by Steph for today's Inspiration Challenge at Splitcoaststampers. 

I used a cloud die cut to sponge the sky and then colored the image with copics.  The flowers (Wild Orchid Crafts) were just slightly too large for my card so I gently pulled off the back layer of petals and then reattached the leaves layer to the now slightly smaller flower. 

My Mom recently sent me an early Christmas present, a package of many different colors of jute twine, made by American Crafts - love this stuff for it's pretty shades of color but also because it's quite fine and doesn't create a big lump on the card, which is always a big plus when posting!

The sentiment is from a beautiful hymn.  Horatio Spafford lost four daughters in a tragic accident at sea in 1873.  Shortly afterwards he took a journey back across the Atlantic and penned these words as they passed near the spot where his dear daughters had died.  From our standpoint it's hard to see how someone could have that kind of faith - but he continued to believe that God loved him and that his dear daughters were with Jesus, and that he would see them again.  He and his wife went on to have more children and went on to found an amazing work running soup kitchens, orphanages, and hospitals in Jerusalem.

Supplies include:

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Bridge of  Hope

Spellbinders Nestabilities Ovals Petite, Small, Large

Copics

American Crafts Jute

Wild Orchid Crafts roses

Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Pink Roses

 

Here's a card I made for the Sketch Challenge given to us by Taylor at Splitcoaststampers yesterday using Papertrey Inks The Sweet Life stamps and dies.  They're so beautiful to work with - it's a 3 step stamping system so it adds dimension and I've layered them up here on the top panel.  I also masked a circle for the sentiment, which is from Our Daily Bread Designs.  I absolutely love this quote, and many times in my life, I've hung onto this Truth, even when it hasn't felt true.

For those of you in the United States, wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving today, I hope it's a meaningful and special time with your loved ones!

Supplies include:

Papertrey Ink The Sweet Life stamp and die set

Our Daily Bread Designs Quote Collection 1

Stampin Up Lucky Limeade, Certainly Celery, Blushing Bride, Rose Red ink

Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Spellbinders Nestabilities Circles

Pearls

Spellbinders M-bossibilities Elite embossing folder

Sweet Red Apples

Here's a clean and simple card using Apple of My Eye, one of the fun digi's which are on sale this week at Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps at 25% off!  

I used red card stock for the apples and then sponged red ink along the edges for added dimension, popping them up, and finally adding crystal glaze for shine - and all that seems to be lost here in my photo, however!

In keeping with the country apple orchard theme, I added gingham, twine and buttons.  

Sometimes I tell myself "....just step away from the dp....put it down and step away, come on,

 you can do it!" :)  I made a completely dp-free card, and hopefully all the clean, crisp white space makes a great contrast with the deep red and bright green!

Supplies include:

Apple of My Eye digi

Stampin Up Real Red card stock

Twine

Ribbon

Buttons

Copics

Anita's Crystal Gloss

Fiskars Corner Rounder

Christmas Pines

I made this card in honour of today's talented Featured Stamper at Splitcoaststampers, Lee-Anne Cross, aka Shadow's Mom.  

HERE is her beautiful clean and simple card which inspired me.  

I used Dee's Distinctively Snow Covered Stacker Tree Small to make the trees.  

The die set is fantastic because you simply use a different number of the varied sizes to make your tree bigger or smaller and can cut from green, or from white for a snow covered tree - that's my next card! 

Here's a close up of the dies and how they cut so you can see how easy it is to build your trees!

I used a punch for the tiny snowflakes and Cheery Lynn Designs Snowflowers 2 for the larger snowflake, then added pearls.  

The snow bank is hand cut with a craft knife.

I love this verse from the Verve set, Richly Blessed - quoting the angels words at Jesus' birth, it just about sums up Christmas - Jesus came to earth to bring peace and goodwill to people and glory to God Himself!

Supplies include:

Verve Richly Blessed

Dee's Distinctively Snow Covered Stacker Tree Small die

Cheery Lynn Designs Snowflowers 2 die

Kraft, white linen card stock

Sewing machine

Sizzix plaid embossing folder

Pearls

Memento Tuxedo Black ink