Tutti Frutti Color Blocking

This week at Papertrey Ink, Laurie Schmidlin inspired us to use color blocking on a card for Make it Monday.  She showed us three awesome techniques, and I chose to use color blocking with watercolors.

Here is my card using images and dies cuts  from Still Life: Summer...

I started by clear embossing a plaid background on watercolor paper.  The plaid is created with Betsy's Plaid Builder set.  I then used Tim Holtz Distress inks in Squeezed Lemonade, Abandoned Coral, and Picked Raspberry to created a wash with the emboss resist technique.

Added some die cut fruits, the "enjoy" die cut from the set, and a sentiment from Ways to Say: Birthday.

Some Glossy Accents here and there, and a leftover blossom from a past stamping day. What a fun technique!

Fruit Stand Throwdown

This week at the Color Throwdown Challenge, the colors were so summery!  Aqua, yellow, red, and green!  It made me think of all of the fun, fruity cards I have been seeing, and farmstands all around!

I used PTI's Still Life Summer and Green Thumb for my fruits...

 The leaves are from a Waltzingmouse set and the mini "chalkboard" (Polaroid die!) is cut with a die set from Mama Elephant.

The card base is made with my beloved A Muse Studio gingham paper, love that aqua gingham!  A few Glossy Accents, PTI's Woodgrain impression plate, and some white opal Liquid Pearls to finish it off :)!

Her color is lilac...

I had a friend ask me to make me a wedding card and a gift certificate for a bed & breakfast.  I always get so nervous when I have to make something specific!  She told me to make anything, but I was still anxious.  So I asked what the wedding colors were, and she just said "Lilac...I think!"

WPlus9's Fresh Cut Florals ALWAYS works and is loved by recipients and stampers alike!  So here is what I came up with...

I embossed a piece of PTI's Linen cardstock with the Woodgrain impression plate, then cut a stitched circle with SSS dies.  I stamped and die cut flowers from Fresh Cut Florals and one teeny one from (the yellow) from More Fresh Cuts.  I layered them over a circle that I sponged with Tumbled Glass Distress ink, and splattered with some aqua and black acryllic paint mixed with water.

I used PTI's envelope die and a scalloped die and sentiments from Gift Card It from Waltzingmouse Stamps to make a coordinating certificate set. It took me forever because I was worried about smudges and mistakes, but luckily my friend loved it all!

Surf's Up!

The Jersey Girl in me had to play along with this week's Fusion Challenge!  Can't wait for our NJ trip to Manahawkin/LBI next month!

I chose to use the car from PTI's "Happy Camper" to make a background...

I added my sentiment with PTI's Headline Alphabet and some surfboards from Free Spirit Boy by Claire Brennan.

I embossed my background with PTI's Woodgrain Impression Plate, then added some twine that I braided for an embellishment.  SUCH fun inspiration this week!

Bright Flower Masking

I really wanted to try Betsy Veldman's fun stenciling and masking seen here for Make It Monday, but feeling a bit "rusty" in my stamping, and couldn't get one that I liked in time!  Here is one of my attempts using the beautiful colors from Color Throwdown...red, blue, yellow, and white!

I made my own stencil using a Deckled Edged Rectangle nestie, the Gran's Garden stamps and dies, and a sentiment from Year of the Flowers:  Violets.

Added some Wink of Stella pen, too, which is hard to see.  Probably should have used my MISTI for lining things up, because I was having trouble getting the stamp to impress fully over the stencil.  But I kind of like this artsy look, and will definitely be trying Betsy's awesome technique (and this fun color scheme) again!