Moved Nicole

I have found a new obsession....the amazing Waterfront stamp set.  I did lots of looking through Pinterest to see ideas before I gave this set a try.  I was a little intimidated since the set is so abstract.  But let me tell you, I just can't stop now that I've started stamping!  And yes, I have made some horrible looking things and pitched them, but I've also done some beautiful ones as well. This one started out with the Ohio sunset as inspiration.  At night lately I've been noticing the sky has tones of lavender and pink right before the sun goes down.  So I looked to my Stampin' Up! colors and pulled out Wisteria Wonder, Fresh Fig and Powder Pink to try to re-create what I've seen. The left side is a layered with my pinks and purples moving in on the blue sky on the right done in Pool Party.  I took an aqua painter to soften the lines and mellow things out.  Then added the sunset in Pumpkin Pie and the hills in Smokey Slate. I went through my stamps to look ...

For some reason, I just love the starfish in the PICTURE PERFECT stamp set.  Don't get me wrong, I like the hummingbird and the flower too, but the starfish is what sold me!  That and the fantastic sentiments. The beautiful yet simple cards that can be made are just wonderful!  I procrastinated on a birthday card that I needed for today, so right away I knew that a CAS card was what I needed!  And this lovely starfish saved the day! All in all I think I had about ten minutes total in this card.  The front is watercolor paper with a wash of Pool Party across the front.  As that was drying, I stamped a starfish with a combination of Crumb Cake and tip Top Taupe.  I have been using watercolor paper for the starfish, but I don't actually watercolor it.  I like the realism that the texture of the paper gives.  I fussy cut it out and used dimensionals to add it.  The sentiment is heat embossed, love the bold black against the softer colors. I hope you've enjoyed this quick CAS ...

Welcome to another Create with Connie and Mary Saturday Blog Hop!  This month we are featuring the In Colors that will be retiring soon.  Today's color is LOST LAGOON! I've had A NICE CUPPA out on my desk all week working on a project (it's a good one for the next Mini Session!!).  I just  happened to notice that the March My Paper Pumpkin kit would pair up perfectly with it and the color of the week LOST LAGOON. See what I mean!  Isn't this just a beautiful combination of colors and elements!  The card started out with Lost Lagoon for the base to which I added paper from the MPP kit.  I cut down the speckled paper that was intended as the card base and made it the card front. I added three cups in coordinating colors.  A few embellishments added character, my favorite is the tiny tea bag with silver thread on the side of the second cup. For balance I added a silver foil paper spoon and a small flower.  Did you notice how the sentiment from PICTURE PERFECT was litera...

I've been enjoying the inspiration over at the Global Design Project, so this week I did a card for the challenge #GDP028 . I went with a beachy feeling watercolor using PICTURE PERFECT .  I just love the starfish, so I used the layout from the challenge for my inspiration. This week the idea is to selectively edit and do a card with this design from Jessica Williams.  I chose to use a similar layout for mine. I pulled the striped Bermuda Bay paper from the March My Paper Pumpkin Kit.  It was the perfect bright color to contrast the Sahara Sand card base and softly water colored starfish. Over the starfish I added a bit of vellum cardstock with the sentiment stamped in black.  And to keep with the layout, I added a bit of thick white twine to the left side as a finishing touch. I loved this week's challenge so much, that I made a second card with a bit of a different take on the layout that I'll share next!  Bet you can't guess which stamp set I used (hint...you've...

I'm taking a small break from Birthday Blooms to share a PICTURE PERFECT easel card with you.  This card was a challenge from Patty Bennett for our Luv2Stamp facebook meeting. Doesn't this have a great soft beach feel to it!  Pool Party and Crumb Cake are perfect for representing a blue sky and warm sand! I used watercolor paper so I could create a soft background with an aqua painter and Pool Party ink.  The starfish is stamped on watercolor paper as well for the added texture.  I layered Crumb Cake and Tip Top Taupe for a realistic look. The senitments are from two different stamp sets, but they coordinate beautifully!  The one on the card front comes with PICTURE PERFECT and I simply love it.  Such a beautiful statement!  The sentiment added to the strip of Crumb Cake that holds the easel up came from BIG NEWS .  It's part of a wedding stamp in that set so I just masked off the wedding portion and stamped "may all your dreams come true" by itself. I hope you ...