Stenciling with Taylored Expressions!

I spend most of my card-making time coloring images with my Copics.   Thanks to Taylored Expressions, I might be expanding my focus!!  I attended the TE March Stamp Joy Event and some of the cards involved stenciling. I have discovered a new love!!  Lori Craig's class helped with my aversion to the stark lines in stenciled images during her card class.  Heather Nichols (the "queen" of kraft-colored paper) talked about bringing white into the card during her class.  Those were just two fun tips I learned!!

This card set features many TE products.  The flowers are from In the Garden Triple Slim Layering Stencil.  When finished, you have three card fronts!! (Love it!). The "thanks" sentiment is from Mini Slim Botanical Sentiments and the lines are one of the stamps included in Sketchbook Bouquet; Signature Sentiments is where you will find the Mother's Day sentiment; and the "Hey" is a free die with a purchase, and the strip underneath is from Simple Strips in Reverse.  I finished off the three cards with TE's Drip Drops.  While I was stenciling last night, I made a couple other sets of cards with different colors.  They still need to be finished.  I am going back to work on seeing if I can create Christmas cards with this stencil.  I can already see turning this into fall colors!! I love playing like this!!  Thanks for stopping by my blog.  

In kindness, Cathy

Challenges Entered:

Stamping Sensations March Challenge / Something Spring

Tic Tac Toe #154 / Right Column (die cut, flowers, stencil)

Creative Fingers #227 / AG

My Time to Craft #478 / Lots of Layers

Three Rooms Studio #78 /Use a Stencil

BYSHC - Card 2 for Sketch #20

 I am so excited to share my second card using March's Sketch #20 for BYSHC because it is my first-ever slider card!!  The pieces for the card have been sitting on my desk for a couple of weeks because I was going to use them for my initial card this month, but it just didn't come together the way I hoped.  My granddaughter was making a card for her brother's birthday this weekend and she was asking about the Santa image, which started me thinking again.  I realized I had a never-been-used set of slider dies and BAM- ideas gelled and my card got made!
Santa is part of MFT's Joyous Holidays (retired) and "merry" is their Stacked Merry Die-namic.  The flag panel behind "merry" is a snowflake embossing folder and the panel behind Santa is an old SU poinsettia embossing folder which is inked to bring out the flowers.  The red patterned paper isn't really Christmas paper, but it worked well with the green striped paper and the poinsettia panel.

You still have plenty of time to play along with the Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers this month and add your card to the folder on the BYSHC FB group page.  Thanks for stopping by my blog!

In kindness, Cathy

 

PPC&F - Whimsy Stamps

 

Back this week with a card for the Passionate Paper Creations & Friends FB Group and an image from our sponsor, Whimsy Stamps.  This flamingo is from their set, Ahoy Matey and colored with Copics. Whimsy is pairing up with PPC&F for a special 25% discount on digital stamps during the March 10-15th sponsorship for members of PPC&F.

I used a variety of products from my stash as I designed my card including Reverse Confetti's Postal Cover Panel and Papertrey's Border Bling Tin Stitch Die, some sequins, baker's twine, and a computer generated sentiment flag.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

In kindness, Cathy

Challenges Entered:

Paper Funday March #39 - AG w/optional green and gold

Addicted to Stamps & More #424~ - any occasion

Time Out Challenge #209 - cute

My Time to Craft #477 - Animal

 

PPC&F - Lee Holland Dragon with Butterflies

 Lee Holland, one of the sponsors of the PPC&F FB group, gave us the chance to work with some new images this month.  My card features Flower Dragon with Butterflies, which was such a peaceful image to color.  All of Lee Holland's images are 30% off this week in his Etsy shop.  He also has a FB group called the Fuzzy Feelings Crafts Inspiration Group, which is worth checking out!

In addition to Lee's wonderful image, I used  "sending" die from SSS; Concord & 9th's Snail Mail die for the word 'love" and Thinking of You stamp set for "hugs";  and colored some jewels with my Copics to match the image.  Four layers of MFT's Stitched Oval Frame die (retired) are glued together so they pop out of the card.  Patterned papers are old "loves" from my stash and scrap drawers.  The main background was cut from a fresh 12x12 sheet!!  (I am still chipping away at that goal of using, not hoarding my paper!!). Thanks for stopping by my blog.

In kindness, Cathy

Challenges Entered:

As You Like It March 3rd~ - Interactive or NOT!  I think I am in the "not" group.  I do like figuring out how to make them work, but interactives are not my "go-to" card, even for the kids in my life.

Week of 3/12

Tic-Tac-Toe #151~ - Center column (flowers, spring, 3D)

The Flower Challenge #66 - Use scraps

613 Avenue Create March 2022 - AG 

SSS Wednesday Challenge~ - Add a Die Cut

Paper Funday March #39 /AG with option green/gold

PPC&F - The Greeting Farm

 The Greeting Farm is sponsoring the Passionate Paper Creations & Friends FB Group this week and they are offering a generous discount to PPC&F members; I hope you will have a chance to take advantage of the opportunity!   

My card features their stamp Brew It Anya, which was a joy to color!  It comes with both the image and the sentiment.  I thought of a former colleague of mine who had a streak of color in her hair as I colored Anya. (She didn't wear sparkly barrettes, though!) 

I went to my paper stash and found Carta Bella's 6x6 Flora No. 3 for the background of the card. I originally had the papers reversed, but like the light pink behind her.  I pulled out some ribbon, sequins, and left over hearts from the Sizzix Drift Hearts Die on this card.  I have gotten so much mileage out of that die both as a background and using the punched out hearts as accents or confetti on other cards! I highly recommend it.

Pop over to the PPC&F FB group to see what the rest of the DT has in store for you.  Greeting Farm's sponsorship and discount code runs from March 3-6th.  Thanks for stopping by my blog!                                       In kindness, Cathy 

Challenges Entered:

Addicted to Stamps and More #424 - Any Occasion

NBUS #36 - using two dies that have been in my stash (unloved) for years - the arc shaped stitched die and the dome shaped die behind Anya.

BYSHC - March Sketch Challenge 20

 

It's time for a new Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers sketch.  You can find us on the BYSHC blog and join in the FB community.  Crystal has another versatile sketch for us this month.  All of the matted rectangles and the layers are my jam, so I was super excited to see the sketch and look forward to creating a second card with it!

This card features less traditional Christmas colors; I actually started out creating a birthday card, but it wasn't turning out as I planned, so I left it unfinished in my Christmas basket thinking the way I colored the image could be used for a future Christmas card.   My main panel features a sweet image from A Day for Daisies - I treasure the art of Tammy Siemers Thompson and am sad the shop has closed.  Tammy is a thoughtful, gentle, generous artist and I see those qualities reflected in her images.  I fussy cut the fairy and she is mounted on foam tape on an old SU! patterned paper scrap which is die cut with a stitched rectangle die.  The coral patterned paper behind is die cut with Sizzix Drifting Hearts die.  I love this one and use it both for the die and the little hearts that are cut from it as accents!  It's kind of a "two-fer" die.  I added a bow from a spool of Hug Snug seam binding tape (remember when that was the rage on cardmaking?) and finished with some Pinkfresh Studios Sparkling Champagne metallic pearls, and clear sequins. I hope the sketch inspires you to ahead on your Christmas card making and don't forget to share your make on the BYSHC FB page!  Thanks for stopping by my blog!                           In kindness, Cathy

Challenges Entered:

NBUS - Challenge #36 - March; 

Shopping our Stash #465 - Metallics;