Finding rainbows and new friends.

 Happy Friday!  I'm sorry I've been  MIA on my blog the last couple of weeks but I've been locked in my craft room, working hard on two very important upcoming events.  I'll be making up for lost time and will be posting like crazy the first week in June so be sure to stop by and join in the fun!

For now though, I thought I'd end this week by sharing a little card I made for a swap going on over at StampNation.   We were challenged to make a themed card to send to a fellow member.  Can you guess what the theme is?

I was very inspired by this man silhouette from Ranger's Essential Silhouettes stamp and stencil set.  It reminds me of Michael Jackson's old Billy Jean video.  You know, the one where he is dancing and with each step of his foot a section of the sidewalk lights up?  I know that sounds a little silly, but for some reason it totally inspired me to stencil a multi-colored sidewalk.   Catherine Pooler Designs Inks blended so nicely over the stencil.   I also stenciled a sunburst in the upper left hand corner.  On a separate piece of cardstock I stamped the silhouette in Midnight black ink and  added clear embossing over the top to make him shine. 

Stamps:  Essential Silhouettes (Ranger), Woodland Beauty (Penny Black), Dream in Color (Reverse Confetti).

Ink:  Rockin' Red, Orange Twist, Tiara, Lime Rickey, Fiesta Blue, Pixie Dust, Midnight (Catherine Pooler Designs).

Paper:  Premium White Cardstock (Catherine Pooler Designs).

Accessories:  Essential Silhouettes coordinating stencil (Ranger), Sunburst Stencil (Studio 45), Blueprints #15 dies (My Favorite Things), clear embossing powder (WOW!).

Before I cut it out I added a cute little bluebird from the Woodland Beauty stamp set, then cut it out as one piece.  This sentiment from Reverse Confetti's Dream in Color stamp set fit perfectly with the whole theme of this card.  Have you guessed the theme yet?

Are you a member of StampNation yet?  Well, what are you waiting for?  Stop on over and check out this awesome community of card makers.  It's a safe, private little part of the internet where you can make a bunch of new crafty friends, share all your own creations, join in swaps and challenges have unlimited access to thousands of tutorials.  I've been a member now for two years it has been such a great experience.  I now share my love of cardmaking with  people from all over the world.  I have friends in Australia, Canada, England and India to name just a few places.   Here are some of the beautiful cards my friends have sent me.

Well that's all for me today.  I hope you all have a beautiful Memorial Day weekend.  Take care!

Growing in Unity - We have winners!

Hi everyone!  It's a rainy Monday morning here in northern IL and I'm popping in to  brighten up the day a little with our WINNERS of the Unity Stamp Company's Growing in Unity week that was here on my blog last week.    Thank you all so much for participating and leaving such beautiful comments on my postings.  I read every one of them and am so happy that I could take part in such an awesome opportunity to spread some Unity love and offer up some fun Unity prizes.  Now, on to the big winners and one more card from my Unity Stamp collection.  I used Random.org to select our two winners.

Day 2:    Whitedoves41

Day 5:    Sharon Salerno

Contratulations!

My card today is a simple design with the focus on this beautiful lady from the the Whatever Comes Next stamp set.  I stamped and colored her with Kuretake real brush markers then masked her over to protect her image while I added a stenciled pattern to the background.  I didn't plan it, but these background colors seem to blend softly into her skin tones.  And because square is not my style, (hehe), I diecut the image into a circle shape.  I have so many coffee related sentiments from other stamp companies that I love to mix and match with my Unity Stamps, so that's what I did here. 

 Stamps:  Whatever Comes Next (Unity Stamp Company), Caffeine Crush, Minor Stripes cling background (The Ton).   Ink:  Tiki Torch, Tiara, Orange Twist (Catherine Pooler Designs), Hampton White Pigment (The Ton), onyx black (Versafine.   Paper:  Bristol watercolor (Strathmore),  Gold Sparkle (My Favorite Things), Premium White cardstock (Catherine Pooler Designs).   Accessories:  Circles dies (Catherine Pooler Designs), Kuretake real brush markers (ZIG), Glorious Petals stencil (Hero Arts), Gold Gellyroll glitter pen.

 Thank you all for stopping by today!

Have a great week and Happy Stamping!! 

The Ton's May Challenge - Tic Tac Toe

Hi everyone!  Happy May Day!  It's time for another monthly challenge over at The Ton.   Join us for some cardmaking fun and the chance to win a  $50 gift certificate to The Ton by entering your card following this month's theme...  
Tic, Tac, Toe!  All you have to do is pick three in a row and start creating!

My choice for three in a row are:

Shaker Card, Embossing and Watercolor

I started out by embossing the beautiful Sunflower Garden Cling Background stamp onto 140 lb watercolor paper with white embossing powder.   I turned on some music and spent the next hour watercoloring these gorgeous pink flowers with my Kuretake watercolor markers and a water brush.  What a wonderful, relaxing way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  I only used two shades of each color to keep it simple and fun:

Petals:  Light Carmine and Carmine Red

Leaves:  Mid Green and Olive Green

Flower Centers:  Yellow and Mustard

 

 Stamps: Sunflower Garden Cling Background, Pragmatic Wreaths, Wildflower Banner (The Ton).

Ink:  Noir (The Ton), clear emboss (Versamark).

Paper:  140 lb white (Neenah), 140 lb watercolor (Canson).

Accessories:  Spring Fawn Mix (The Ton), Kuretake Clean Color Real Brush Watercolor markers (ZIG), white embossing powder (Ranger), dimensional tape (3M), transparency film.

 For my shaker element, I used the center of this large flower.  I just followed along the edge of the white embossing with an exacto knife and it cut fairly easy.   I stamped part of the sentiment on the inside then added the other part to a banner strip on top.  I filled this little shaker with some of The Ton's pretty Spring Fawn Couture Mix and Bright Diamond Seed Beads.

 To tie in the black from the sentiment I added a big black and white bow using bakers twine.

Now it's your turn!   You have until May 31st to create and enter your cards over at The Ton Challenge Blog.  You can enter as many times as you like and you have a whole month to do it!!  Have fun!!

Have a great day and Happy Stamping!