Ink to Paper Project: Reach Out {Sending Hugs with Rainbow Cheer}

Hello, my wonderful crafty friends! It's so good to be here today with a new Ink to Paper Project: Reach Out post! I've created 2 cards for today's "Sending Hugs with Rainbow Cheer" theme and I hope you feel inspired to play/craft along! If you join me regularly, then you will know that I have been mailing out MANY cards to friends, neighbors, family, etc. I think we are all thinking of ways to bring happiness and cheer to those around us during these crazy, uncertain times! I'm so grateful for this card making industry/hobby that allows me to use my talents to bless the lives of others! How about you? Are you getting some crafty time to make some cards to pop in the mail? I sure hope so! If not, please take some time to join this week's challenge!

I chose to use a rainbow theme for today's cards because I think rainbows are such a universal symbol of hope and of happiness, especially when paired with hearts and sunshine!

Funny story: My daughter went to get the mail yesterday because she had a package coming that she was excited for. She brought in an extra package and told me that it was "my stamps". I was confused since I hadn't ordered any stamps, nor had any DT packages coming. I told her that I didn't order any stamps so they couldn't be stamps! She rips open the package to reveal my LARGE order of postage stamps! LOL! Oh.....THOSE stamps! Ha ha! My mailing of cards had come to a stand still when I ran out of postage stamps (besides  some Christmas ones that I didn't want to use! LOL! Anyway, I'm back in business and hope to get some popped in the mail TODAY!

My first card uses some simple strips of cardstock scraps in some of my favorite cardstock colors: Raspberry Fizz, Hibiscus Burst, Harvest Gold, Green Parakeet, Aqua Mist, and Lilac Grace; I simply adore a pastel rainbow! All of these strips are adhered to a base of white cardstock using ScorTape for security. I layered that onto a panel of white cardstock that is dry embossed using the fabulous Sunburst Frame Die with Harvest Gold ink blending around the perimeter. 

This set the stage for the rest of the design elements. I stamped the hearts and colored them using Copic markers. All of the images and sentiments are from the Simply Sweet: Sending stamp set. I also stamped the cute little sun and heat embossed the "sunshine and rainbows" portion of the sentiment. 

I die cut a banner using the Banner Builder Basics die collection and then stamped the alphabet blocks in coordinating ink colors as the paper. I used quite a few foam squares for this particular card, but I really wanted to give it the depth and dimension for a nice impact!

One of my favorite accents on my rainbow cards is to use some rainbow gems in matching colors!

My second card is simpler in design, but I was dying to use the cute arms from the new Hats Off stamp set. Ashley had suggested it and I just love how these two arms look like they are wrapped around like a hug! They go perfectly with the "sending handmade hugs" sentiment as well! This card uses the same supplies, but this time I simply dry embossed the panel from a piece of Harvest Gold cardstock. I used the Love to Layer: Notched die collection for the focal layer. The smallest die in the collection was the perfect size for these cute little arms to be hugging!

I added the hearts underneath the focal panel, using two to create a circle. I added some jewels to this design as well! I had so much fun creating these two designs! I hope you get a chance to join us this week to "Send hugs with Rainbow Cheer"! Thanks for fluttering by!

Saturday Showcase {Brighter days are ahead}

We're just finishing up our nice and relaxing Spring Break week! I hope you've all had a nice week as well! I've got a bright and cheery card to share with you today that should bring some sunshine to your day! Today a few of the Papertrey Ink gals are sharing some projects using the Latin Motifs stamp set and coordinating Latin Motifs Dies. We all face difficult times in our life, and what better way to cheer someone up, than with a bright rainbow! The Latin Motifs stamp set is begging to be brought to life with vibrant and colorful stamping!

I knew I wanted to use the die cut that creates the Papel Picado banner pieces and use a lot of vibrant color! So, I created a blended panel using Distress Oxide inks; Festive Berries, Spiced Marmalade, Squeezed Lemonade, Twisted Citron, Salty Ocean, and Wilted Violet! If that doesn't sound like a celebration, I don't know what does! LOL! I die cut as many of the banner pieces as I could from the panel. 

In my original idea, I had planned on stamping all of the flowers separately using the same bright colors, but then I thought,"Why not die cut the flowers from the same blended panel for some multi colored flowers?". I'm so glad I thought to do that! I was able to die cut ALL of the flowers from the same panel. Once they were all cut, I added the black detail image over the top. 

I also stamped the pattern underneath the Papel Picado banner using the same ink as the blended panel. I didn't clean the image as I went from color to color to hopefully bring in some of the blended look. I really like how it turned out.

The sentiment is stamped in black at the bottom. I like having cards like this on hand for when someone could use a pick-me-up! I also added some rainbow gems to the centers of some of the flowers, some of the rainbow pattern underneath the banner and around the sentiment. It really gives the card some added sparkle! I had a lot of fun working on this design. I hope you all might try creating a card using one blended panel and see what you come up with! It was definitely an unexpected result, but I really like it! Thanks for fluttering by!

Reverse Confetti Blog Hop: A year to remember!

Welcome to the December Reverse Confetti Blog Hop! This month we're celebrating with the theme "a year to remember" and boy, has it been! If you told me last year at this time that I would be where I am today, I wouldn't believe you! Many of you have been on this creative journey with me from the very beginning and it hasn't always been a smooth ride! I feel so blessed to be here and I hope that feeling is communicated through today's bright and cheerful card! Today the team will share with you their new creation as well as three of their favorites from the year! Isn't that fun? Before I dive into today's card and my 3 favorites, let me give you the blog roll so that you can hop along to the other designer's blogs!

Reverse Confetti Blog

Amy Kolling

Melissa Phillips

Amy Sheffer
Tricia Barber

Kelly Lunceford

Lisa Henke
Leanne West

Amy Rohl

Heather Hoffman

Amy Tsuruta

Kathy Schweinfurth
Audrey Tokach

Melissa Bickford
Jeanne Jachna

Olga Moss
Deanne Kuntz

My card is 100 % inspired by the paper cone Christmas trees that Meg made for the Whatever Craft House on the fireplace mantel! She did such a great job and I knew that the Triangle Trees stamp set and the Christmas Circles sentiments would make a fitting design! I'm thrilled with how it turned out!

I didn't use any colored ink for the trees, but opted to do some heat embossing over the top of cardstock instead. I love the tone on tone effect! The Christmas Circles are stamped onto white cardstock and then die cut using the Bags and Tags Creator: Scallops. 

The sentiment is also from the Triangle Trees stamp set and is heat embossed in silver. I also did some ink blending on a think panel of cardstock and then used my paper crimper to add the texture. I spritzed it with Shimmer Spray for some sparkle. I added some nuvo glaze to some of the trees to mimic ornaments and then I added some rainbow sparkle gems from Lucy's Cards above the trees for some extra detail and shine! And now...on to my top three favorite projects from the year!

This is a card I made just recently, but it is one of my favorites! I love the bright red and green! You can read all about it HERE!Another one of my favorites is from the latest release! I just love how these mug rugs and coordinating tags turned out! You can see the entire post HERE. 

My final "favorite" is a sweet gnome ensemble I made for the Fall-idays celebration from October. You can see the post  HERE. It definitely has been a year to remember and I'm glad you have been a part of it! Thanks for fluttering by!

Precious Remembrance Shop New Release Blog Hop!

I just love new release days! Inking up fresh, new stamps and getting the creative juices flowing is always so thrilling! Don't you agree? Today the Precious Remembrance Shop is putting on a fun blog hop to to celebrate the release of the fabulous new stamp set called Everyday! It has tons of sentiments that makes it perfect for, well...everyday! LOL! 

Would you like to win this set? Simply hop along to all of the designer's blogs {linked below} like and follow Precious Remembrance shop on Instagram and Facebook! The giveaway is open until October 30th, 2018. Winner will be drawn randomly! Good Luck and have fun!

Precious Remembrance Shop

Kelly Lunceford (you are here)

Lisa Elton

Greta Hess

Helen Gullett

Rosemary Dennis

I have three projects to share with you today, the first one is this rainbow birthday ensemble. I had so much fun creating a repeated black and white background using the oblong circle image included in the set. It also has a triangle and a square which are all perfect for creating interesting backgrounds. I did end up by covering most of it up {lol}, but it won't be the last time I give it a try! 

The pillow box is tied up with a tag created using the emboss/resist technique and some rainbow ink blending. I used Distress Ink over the top for a pastel rainbow look, which I love! The "Happy Birthday" sentiment is heat embossed in white onto a black strip of cardstock and adhered to the tag using foam squares. It's all tied up with black and white Baker's twine.

I used the scattered heart image as the focal image of the card front. It is stamped in black on the lined rainbow paper and then the "Happy Birthday" sentiment is stamped below the hearts. I also added some crystal glaze to three of the hearts for some added detail. The finishing touch is a rainbow paper bow!

My second card is CAS with more emboss/resist rainbow blending. Once I had it blended, I used the same ink to add some ink splatters for an artistic look. I also stamped the "brushstroke" image in black onto a piece of white cardstock.

The "sending hugs" sentiment is stamped in black onto a white strip of cardstock and added using foam squares. I also added a thin strip of black cardstock tucked slightly underneath the sentiment strip for some added contrast. It needed something to "ground" it, and this was an easy addition.

I spritzed it with Shimmer Spray for sparkle and added a trio of Rainbow Sparkle Gems from Lucy's cards for some additional color and shine.

My third project uses the single brushstroke image in rainbow order with the hearts stamped in black over the top. 

I love how the gift card has an artistic feel, just like the images in this set. Usually gift cards are hidden inside a card, but in this case, it helps accent the design and brings in another visual element. 

I stamped the "thank you so much" sentiment above and below the gift card for balance. I love unexpected designs like this. I had so much fun using this new set! It is definitely one of those "all around" sets that is perfect for so many occasions! Thanks for fluttering by!

Mix it Up Challenge #48-It's your Birthday!

It's always a good day when I am getting my SugarPea Designs stamps inky! This month's challenge is so bright, fun, and inspiring! I hope you get a chance to play along! I have included all of the details below! To be perfectly honest, I probably would have used the amazing Cuddly Cacti set regardless of what the challenge was! LOL! I haven't had a chance to play with it since the Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember event! You can see the two projects I made with it HERE. I didn't have the die cuts for those projects, but I ended up buying them so I could use them in the future!

As you can see, I didn't use the sketch provided, but opted to just use the photo inspiration side as the one I picked to use on today's card! I thought a long card would work nicely so that I could use many of the adorable images from the set that I have fallen in love with! To begin, I stamped and colored all of the images I was going to use and then die cut them.

 I added some Crystal Glaze to a few of the pots to give them that glazed ceramic look. I also did some color spritzing to the  glazed pots to give them that little extra details that glazed ceramic pots get from the variation in the glazing process.  I also heat embossed the "It's your birthday sentiment" onto a strip of black cardstock using white powder. I used shimmer spray so that is why it looks so speckled. It is really tough to photograph anything made with shimmer spray, but in real life, it is amazing! 

I did some rainbow ink blending onto a piece of Bristol paper using an assortment of Distress Oxide inks. I tried to use the ones that matched the inspiration photo as closely as possible. I used the ZIg Zag Stitched circles to die cut the individual circles from the blended piece. I also did a long strip of ink blending to add the corrugated piece at the bottom. It is becoming one of the those details that I am really liking to add to my designs, so watch out! LOL!I tried it on THIS card the other day and LOVED it!  Each pot is attached to the circles using foam squares. I also added a few rainbow gems from Lucy's Cards for some added sparkle and detail. I hope you get a chance to play along this month! Thanks for fluttering by!

SugarPea Designs Mix it Up Challenge #45

I have two cards to share with you today using this month's SugarPea Designs Mix It Up Challenge!I've included the rules for the challenge below,  but you can read all about it HERE. 

 I had so much fun creating this card and the second one is a quick and easy design! I LOVE the inspiration photo for this month's challenge and it lends itself perfectly for a fun red, white, and blue card!

 

I love the Lantern SugarCut and thought it would be a fun starting point for this card. Usually I have some sort of an idea in mind before I begin a design, but for this card, I just decided to sit down and have fun seeing where it took me. I die cut the lantern four times from red paper and glued it together using liquid glue. I like how sturdy it makes the piece and gives it extra dimension. The grey pieces are only die cut once and just glued to the top layer. 

The "so happy for you" sentiment is stamped in the middle of the white rectangle using both black and grey ink. I love the Sweet Sentiments: You stamp set because of all of the versatile sentiments. The stars are also included and I stamped each of the three sizes in either red or blue.

I also added in a few sparkling clear sequins for some added sparkle and shine. I layered this entire piece onto a grey piece of cardstock that has been cut using the Postage Stamp SugarCut. 

I used this awesome striped paper from the Sugar and Spice paper pad. It actually had a row of men's neckties in the center, but the lantern piece covered that up nicely and left me with the perfect backdrop for my card. I also added some machine stitching around the edge of the card for some extra detail.

This second card is simple and fun using just a few supplies.

As usual, I like to use both sides of the challenge, but I think you could say I took a liberal approach this month. I actually didn't even try using the sketch for the first card...I just had fun seeing where it took me. I really love the colors in the inspiration photo, as well as many of the little details such as the bowl and the sprinkles. I thought that by using the Large Striped Coverplate I could mimic the look of the bowl. I die cut it using red cardstock and layered it onto a Rustic White cardstock base using liquid glue.

The sentiment, which is from the Parisian Holiday stamp set, is heat embossed in white onto a black sentiment strip.  I just adore this little croissant and have used him quite a bit. His trio of balloons were beckoning me because I knew that I could make them red, white, and blue, just like the french flag. This little guy is from the Ooh La La stamp set and is colored using Copic Markers. It is die cut using the coordinating Ooh La La sugarcuts. The balloons have a coating of crystal glaze and just a few sprinkles of iridescent chunky glitter, because I just can't  help myself!

As I mentioned earlier, this card is VERY simple, but adding in all of the rainbow sparkle gems really makes is sparkle and shine and adds in some of those fun sprinkle colors. Thanks for fluttering by!