Flower with Burgundy and Pink

Bright pinks with burgundy.  Dots, banners, and a layered flower.  I used Natasha's layout #251 from Clean and Simple Stamping.  I enjoy her blog's weekly sketches and inspiration.  Thank you, Natasha! 

Card details:

• Card stock is Paper Source blossom (light pink),  Papertrey Ink (PTI) scarlet jewel (burgundy), raspberry fizz (dark pink), hibiscus burst (medium pink), polka dot print from PTI scarlet jewel pattern pack, and bitty dot print from PTI sweet blush (light pink) pattern pack.
• Embroidery floss is DMC #806.
• Embossing folder is Sizzix Swiss dots.
• Dies are WPlus9 scalloped border, My Favorite Things layered rose (large and medium sizes), PTI polka dot parade #2 (medium size), and PTI sketched shapes (large wide banner.)
• I also used a 1/4" hole punch for the flower center.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (303)

Shimmer Heart on Gold and Cream

Simply elegant with gold, cream, and scarlet shimmer card stock.   Several embossing textures and metallic thread give visual interest to a very plain layout.  The soft shimmer is beautiful in real life. 

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) shimmer - gold, cream, and scarlet. 
• Die is from PTI limitless layers - hearts.
• Thread is DMC metallic "or" (gold).
• Embossing folders are The Paper Studio script, Stampin Up! square lattice, and Sizzix retro cirque.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (301)

Buttons and Gingham - Dark Green with Yellow and White

Simple and crisp.  A clean layout,  a variety of straight and curved lines, and strong colors. 

When I chose the font for my sentiment, I started with something heavy and blocky.  It just looked blah, with too much dark green.  This lighter, more elegant font is what it needed.  I see it now as my third "curved" element along with the buttons and embossed dots, to balance the straight lines of the banner, gingham print, and diamond pattern. 

Card details:

• Card stock is Neenah solar white,  Papertrey Ink (PTI) harvest gold (yellow), pinefeather (dark green), and the gingham print from PTI pinefeather pattern pack.
• Dies are Impression Obsession buttons (embossed button - yellow), PTI buttoned up #1 (large button - green), and sketched shapes (long wide banner).
• Embroidery floss is DMC #500.
• Embossing folder is Lifestyle Crafts diamonds and dots, a pattern which seems to be retired now. 
• Sentiment "Thank you" is computer-printed in green with Lucida Calligraphy font.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (300)

Bird with Heart Frame on Blue - Before and After

Three cards with almost the same ingredients.  The two "before" cards (below) are also nice, but my final card (above) is my favorite.  I'll try to explain why:

• Design: The butterfly version (below right) has the same colors as above, but a different design.  I like the interplay of the leafy branch (above) with the heart frame and bird, better than the butterflies, which leave the frame more empty.
• Colors: The "blue bird" version (below left) has the same design as above, but with different colors.  In the card above, I really like the bright touch of yellow, and the bird has more impact in terra cotta than in blue.

Card details:

• Card stock is Ellen Hutson white linen, Hero Arts latte (brown), Papertrey Ink (PTI) blueberry sky (medium blue), terra cotta tile (rust), summer sunrise (deep yellow), harvest gold (medium yellow for one butterfly), and the bitty dots print from PTI spring rain (light blue) pattern pack.
• The bird's eye is a dot of Copic 0.5 cobalt multiliner. 
• Embossing folder is Cuttlebug d'vine swirls.
• Dies are PTI sketched shapes (wide long banner), PTI framed out #11 (heart frame), Impression Obsession birds, and Poppystamps Dies meadow leaf.
• Punch is EK Success small butterfly.
• Sentiment "love you" is computer-printed in blue ink, with a darker blue outline, in Brush Script Std font. 

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (294)

Tan with Orange, Yellow, and Burgundy

Something different for me.  My layout was inspired by Michelle's card here, though mine took a very different direction as I played with a mix of leftover die cuts.  The orange, yellow, and burgundy colors unite my various banners and embellishments.

Card details:

• Card stock is Creative Imaginations real wood cherry paper (for the bird) and Papertrey Ink (PTI) fine linen (tan), scarlet jewel (burgundy), orange zest (orange), and summer sunrise (yellow).
• The yellow and orange banners are edged with Copic R56 marker. 
• Embossing folder is Sizzix Texture Fades stripes.
• Dies are Memory Box fancy blossoms (medium), PTI trendy treetops (heart cutout), WPlus9 folk art florals (large bird), PTI double-ended banners for the orange banner, PTI sketched shapes for the yellow banner, and PTI pinking shears border for the end of the burgundy banner. 
• Punches are EK Success small butterfly and McGill 1/8" and 1/16" hole punches for the burgundy dots.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (299)

Blue with Bright Yellows and Red

After struggling with the color combination for my Saturday card, I had these "rejected" die cuts on my work table.  I decided to try them together, adding some solid blue and blue gingham.  A great use of leftovers! 

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) pure poppy (red), harvest gold (medium yellow), summer sunrise (deep yellow-orange), enchanted evening (blue), and the gingham print from PTI enchanted evening pattern pack.
• I used Glossy Accents to add shine to the gingham heart, which is layered under the yellow heart circle.  It's not obvious in the picture, but it's a very nice touch in real life.  The heart cutout contains the pool of Glossy Accents while it's drying.
• Dies are Spellbinders standard circles small (#4 of 7) and PTI trendy tree tops (heart circle), and ad sense.  Note: the longer, deeper yellow banner is the ad sense shape, cut in half and spread apart by approx. 3/4", and then layered under the lighter yellow banner. 
• Embossing folder is Cuttlebug swiss dots.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (297)

Bright Star with Gingham

Like yesterday, my card today has a bold design with bright colors on gray.  I especially like the two gingham prints together, the bright layered star, the dark gray card base, and the offset placement of the yellow-green gingham. 

The layout and color scheme were CASEd from this card by Paula S.  I made a number of changes, but it's easy to see how I followed her ideas.  Thank you, Paula!  

Card details:

• Card stock is Ellen Hutson white linen, Papertrey Ink (PTI) raspberry fizz (bright pink), limeade ice (bright yellow-green), smokey shadow (dark gray), and the gingham print from PTI soft stone (light gray) and limeade ice pattern packs.
• Dies are PTI seeing stars (medium die for pink star), My Favorite Things stacking stars (large outline die for yellow-green star), PTI sketched shapes (narrow banner with sentiment), and PTI double-ended banner (dark gray layer under sentiment.)
• I used a 1/4" Fiskars star punch for the white star.
• Sentiment "miss you..." is computer-printed in pink ink with Footlight MT Light font, bold, expanded character spacing.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (298)

Dark Gray with Bright Circles

This arrangement of shapes came together easily.  But then I really struggled to find the right color combination.  Yes, it's very bright! and I love it.

I like how the dotted embossing on the yellow and red picks up the dotted gray background.  And the three red elements emphasize the "love" theme, even standing out from the bright turquoise and yellow colors.  I'm also happy with the mix of centered and off-center placement of the shapes. 

Card details:

• Card stock is Ellen Hutson white linen, Papertrey Ink (PTI) pure poppy (red), Hawaiian shores (turquoise), summer sunrise (yellow), smokey shadow (dark gray), and the bittty dots print from PTI smokey shadow pattern pack.
• Dies are Spellbinders standard circles small (#4 of 7) and PTI double-ended banner, trendy tree tops (heart circle), and ad sense.  
• Embossing folder is Cuttlebug swiss dots.
• Sentiment "Love you" is computer-printed in red ink with Harrington font, bold, expanded spacing.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (297)

Daisies with Purple, Yellow, and Green

A simple layout to showcase the daisy image, which is one of my line drawings from 2009.  It's a favorite of mine for coloring with Copic markers, and I've tried many different color combinations for it.  I like this one very much.

You can click on the image for a larger and clearer view.  For the same drawing with different colors, click on the "daisy drawing" label at the bottom of this post, or in the labels list to the right. 

Card details:

• Card stock is Neenah solar white (image),  Papertrey Ink (PTI) lemon tart (light yellow), new leaf (green), royal velvet (deep purple), and the bitty dots print from PTI royal velvet pattern pack.
• Embossing folder is Darice honeycomb.
• Copic marker colors:  Flower centers Y21, Y28; flower petals BV31 base color, FV2, FV25*, V12, Y21; stems and leaves YG61 base color, G14, a few touches of G46, YG63, V12; sky B2000*; and ground E81 with a bit of E84 around the base of the stems.  The sky and ground were mottled by coloring over them with a "0" colorless blender. 
    * = custom color, as explained here.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (295)

Green Stars with Tan

It seemed like time for a bright green card ... and with some dark green and tan, that's what I made.  Lots of texture and contrast.  I like the stars with the wood grain background and the old-fashioned sentiment font.  

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) new leaf (bright green), pinefeather (dark green), fine linen (tan),  and the stripes print from PTI fine linen pattern pack.
• Dies are My Favorite Things western star border duo (star circle in dark green, with plain circle backing in tan stripes) and PTI sketched shapes (short wide banner.)  I used a 3/4" EK Success circle punch to neatly trim off the bottom circle of the shorter strip. 
• Embroidery floss is DMC 500 (dark green), 738 (medium tan), and 3047 (light tan.)
• Embossing folder is The Paper Studio woodgrain.
• Sentiment "Miss You" is computer-printed in dark green ink with Rosewood font. It's an all-caps font, so I increased the size of the "M" and "Y" to make them look like capital letters. 
• The tan color of the sentiment is darkened with E43 Copic marker.
• I drew a border on the banner with a ruler and Copic 0.5 olive multiliner. 

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (293)

Red, White, and Blue, Kraft, and Dots

The current mid-week challenge on Operation Write Home's Stars and Stamps blog is a color challenge to use red, white, and blue with kraft.  

My card is based on a green monochromatic card that I made last fall.  Other than the colors, I made only a couple of changes: I made the punched dots a bit smaller and added a red line. 

Card details:

• Card stock is Paper Source lake (blue), Papertrey Ink (PTI) pure poppy (red), kraft, rustic white, and the bitty dots print from PTI kraft pattern pack.
• Dies are My Favorite Things layered label die set (3 die shapes).   
• Line is drawn with red Uni-Ball gel impact pen. 
• The two red dots to right and left of sentiment are punched with a 3/16" circle punch. 
• Embossing folder is Darice dot point, from my local craft store.
• Sentiment "Thinking of you today" is computer-printed in blue ink using Wide Latin font. 

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (199)

Pink Layered Flower on Green and Yellow

Simple, happy, and bright.  I like the layered pink flower in the green and yellow setting. 

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) sweet blush (light pink), hibiscus burst (medium pink), raspberry fizz (deep pink), lemon tart (yellow), simply chartreuse (medium green),  and the damask print from PTI limeade ice (bright green) pattern pack.
• Dies are My Favorite Things layered rose (largest, medium, and smallest dies), WPlus9 folk art florals (large leaflet), PTI double ended banners (shorter die), and the flower center is PTI polka dot parade #2 (smallest die).  
• Dots in flower center are drawn with Copic 0.5 pink multiliner. 
• Sentiment "Hello" is computer-printed in green ink with Brush Script Std font, expanded character spacing.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (290)