Plaid Quilted Card

 A few years back I was obsessed with creating paper quilts.  Warning: It is very addictive! I have been yearning to make some again, so I got out my file folder of quilt patterns and went to the library and checked out McCall's Quilting January/February 2022 edition.  I used one of the blocks shown in the Spring Morning quilt designed by Marcie Patch. (pp 79-81)

I usually use small floral prints, but today was wanting to do something a little different and found some bright, spring colored plaid in the scrap stash.  Precision cutting is the only tough thing here, and get the glue everywhere especially corners so they don't lift up when embossed ("quilted").

This is a square 5.5"x5.5" card base.

The 'quilting' was done with a chicken wire embossing folder from Lifestyle Crafts.

The 'binder' edging was creating by cutting tiny strips, embossed with a stitching die from Simon Says Stamp. The sentiment from Gina K Designs Flowering Florals set.

My card is just one block of the full quilt pattern.

I am linking to two challenge blogs:

Can You Handle the Pressure?   - Use an embossing folder w/twist of plaid

and Just Us Girls #623 - Trend Week: Embossing Folders

Birthday Wishes

Sketch #226 at CAS on Friday   ONE LAYER BIRTHDAY challenge.

My card uses all inks and stamps from Gina K Designs Birthday Bash set.   I masked * off a rectangle and ink blended with Applemint, Sea Glass and Lovely Lavender.  I added another sentiment and stamped some 'confetti' inside.

* #593 at Just Add Ink Masking challenge

Play a Tune

 Welcome to the weekend! #696 new at Sketch Saturday.

My design team inspiration for you uses some silver heat embossed music on a matt silver card stock. The stamp is from Kaisercraft that has been in my stash for a while.  My first thought when I saw the sketch was piano keys...so I cut 1/2" strips of white and black. They are popped up on the background.  The sentiment is from some label stickers I got in a kit last year.  Just a fun card that I'll save for a dear friend who composes and teaches piano.

  Hope you will join us!

Spring Freesia two ways

 

My design team card for this week's challenge at Allsorts #667 'Spring is in the Air'. The sponsor for this challenge is Stampers Grove with this beautiful set for a winning entry.

I love spring flowers and freesia have such a marvelous scent as well.  This stamp and die set from Altenew has been a favorite of mine.  Freesia have many color varieties, and I had to do two for this challenge. 

The first card doesn't use typical spring colors, but I have some of this stunning red/orange variety.  The back ground was created by blowing bubbles with ink and dish soap in a small bowl and 'catching' the bubbles on the paper. Great fun to do!  I added some splatter. The flower was colored with alcohol markers.

My second card is of a white freesia, again colored with alcohol markers. The background for this card was embossed on Fog card stock (Simon Says Stamp Exotic Vines) and then I daubed white pigment ink on raised portions and ink blended some grey around the edges. The sentiment is from the same stamp set.

I hope you will join and share your creation here. The team loves visiting to see what you have made.

Prayers for Ukraine

It's new sketch time at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.                My card is inspired by the colors of Ukraine's flag and their national flower.

My design team inspiration for you uses an older sunflower stamp that was colored with alcohol markers, and a number of tiny sentiments from various sets from Simon Says Stamp and one from an Altenew set. I tried to choose sentiments that expressed concern and support for Ukraine.  They were stamped in Whisper ink on the panels I had ink blended with Blue Raspberry, Wild Dandelion, and Sweet Mango from Gina K. I popped the panels with foam tape, and the fussy cut flower was also popped up with foam tape. Some waxed twine was twisted to resemble leaves for that element of the sketch.

I hope you will be inspired to be crafty and link up to the challenge HERE.  The team loves to visit your site to see your creations.

I would also like to link this card to Color Hues Challenge - Cards for Ukraine and to

Mod Squad Challenge - Cards for Ukraine. Ink blended with Gina K.

The crafting community is such a wonderful, kind group.  Wish we could channel that loving support to the whole world.

Fun with Distressing

 The challenge at Allsorts this week Anything Goes with an option to use distressing techniques. I haven't done that for a while and I LOVED making this card!  So much fun getting messy with inks, splatter, tearing paper, roughing edges and sponging.  My work table needs a thorough cleaning up :-)

The card base is Nina Desert Sand sponged around the edges with some desert sand ink. I then roughed the edges of a piece of dark gray card stock with scissors and embossed with a wood grain folder. Next I did some ink to paper drags to highlight the raised parts and adhered it to the card base.

Then things got really messy! I cut some patterned paper down with deckled edge scissors and then stamped it with a speckle stamp, stenciled it with the negative of the big leaf die, sponged it around the edges. I tore the other paper and sponged it too. These were adhered together and I tied a black string and put dimensional foam tape on the back.  The leafy bits were adhered and I splattered with black and white before adhering it to the wood grain panel.

I hope you will give distressing a go or make an A/G card and link up to Allsorts HERE.  The design team looks forward to seeing your creations.

Two sponsors for this challenge: a Tattered Lace die and a £15 store voucher for Stamp Addicts. 

 Today I created this card with Simon Says Stamp World of Love set, inked with Distress Oxide inks.

 It's speaks for itself.  As a retired Social Studies teacher - I taught Eastern European history, World Problems, Civics, U.S. History - my heart is greatly burdened by the current war.