Purple Haze Card Concept

Hi friends! It's time for a new inspiration challenge at The Card Concept.  This one is purple haze and has some gorgeous purple hues, with a hint of aqua and brown thrown in.  Because I think aqua and just about any other color is crazy delicious, I was inspired by the colors to make this mixed media card.

I started by pulling out some distress paints and distress oxide inks and a few Magicals pigment powders to make a background.  I laid down a layer of gesso, let it dry, then started in with the Magicals and some water to get a good purple layer down.  I then started adding layers of paint with my fingers and finally added some distress oxide inks and water, finishing off with an aqua watercolor crayon blended with my finger to ad back in some of the light aqua. I sprinkled a bit of watered down gesso for the splatters, then embossed the Philippians 4:8 verse from the Potter's Clay set in white.

The pots are stamped using the MISTI alignment tool, first in wilted violet distress oxide ink, then a partial inking of dusty concord for a shaded effect.  I spritzed with water to activated the oxides, then cut with the coordinating  Pottery Die Set .  The sprays are stamped with both vintage photo and walnut stain distress oxides and then spritzed, fussy cut and accented with some crystal Nuvo drops.

The background for the card is stamped with the big flower from Potters Clay, then sponged with various shaded lilac, dusty concord and wilted violet inks.  It was a bit bright, so I toned things down with a soft layer of gesso, then added some of the aqua back in with the broken china distress oxide ink.   I finished off with white mats, a bit of lace and some distressed edges all around.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you've been inspired to give the challenge a go.  For even more inspirations, be sure to stop by The Card Concept to see what the other amazing designers are sharing today.  It's always a treat!

Card Concept 70

Enabler's List
Stamps: Potter's Clay (Verve Stamps)
Paper: white
Ink: wilted violet, broken china, walnut stain, vintage photo (Distress Oxide), dusty concord, shaded lilac (Distress), Versamark, broken china, wilted violet, dusty concord, tumbled glass (Distress Paint), gesso
Accessories: Pottery Die Set (A Cut Abobve by VERVE), lace trim, crystal drops (Nuvo), MISTI

Lovely Mojo

{If you're looking for my Diva Inspirations Blog Hop post, click here.}

Hi friends! It's Monday again and time for a brand new Mojo Monday sketch. I think this might be the first card in a long time I didn't do any distressing on.  Straight edges and crisp black mats with some colorful papers and a pretty verse.

I started with the Philippians 4:8 verse from the Potter's Clay set, stamping it in black on cream card stock, then stamping the big flower around the edges in tangerine tango and melon mambo.  Next I layered a few papers from the Believe collection, matting with black, and then adding a bit of wide striped ribbon.  My only embellishment is the butterfly punch and a couple rhinestones for its body.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a wonderful start to your week.

Mojo Monday 465 Sketch

Enabler's List

Stamps: Potter's Clay (Verve Stamps)

Paper: Believe (Bo Bunny), basic black (SU!), cream (Neenah)

Ink: melon mambo, tangerine tango (SU!), onyx black (Versafine)

Accessories: butterfly punch (Martha Stewart), black rhinestones, wide striped ribbon (CTMH)

Viva la Verve Potted Prayers

Hi friends! It's the first Friday of the month and that means it's my turn to host the sketch challenge over at Viva la Verve. I've got a simple, but fun one for you this time, perfect for dressing up or down to fit your mood.

I started this card by stamping the pots from Potter's Clay.  I used my MISTI again to get the gradient look, first stamping in pool party, then swiping with pacific point and stamping again.  I masked off the first pot, then stamped the other the same way.  I added in some sprays with tiptop taupe ink, then smudged them with a blending pen for a watercolored effect. Next I dipped my hand in some ink on my desk and somehow smudged pink near one of the sprays, so my idea for a crisp white background went out the window.  I mostly hid the smudge with some copic shadowing, then splattering the whole piece with some watered down walnut stain distress ink.  I added in some ground like the pots were sitting in the corner of the room, then shaded with distress inks around the edges and matted with early espresso.

I did more of the same shading around the outer tiptop taupe layer, doing a very subtle corner rounding to each layer and adding more splatters.  The sentiment is stamped onto the stitched circle from the Springtime Stitches Die Set and I've matted it with the smaller flower from the Great Kindness Die Set. Love the look of these two shapes together.  More sponging, a bit of lace and some adhesive rhinestones finish things off!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you have a fabulous Labor Day weekend!

VLV September Sketch 1

Enabler's List
Stamps: Potter's Clay (Verve Stamps)
Paper: tiptop taupe, early espresso (SU!), white
Ink: pool party, pacific point, tiptop taupe (SU!), antique linen, vintage photo, walnut stain (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Great Kindness Die Set, Springtime Stitches Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), lace trim, adhesive rhinestones, MISTI

Kind Mojo

Hi friends! It's Monday again already and time for a brand new Mojo Monday sketch. We haven't done a tall & skinny sketch in a while, so I thought it was time to sketch one out.

I started with this long verse from the Potter's Clay set that just released. I knew it would be perfect for that long panel and picked out some tropical feeling papers that I just loved.  A scrap of yellow was on my desk from a previous project, and so I decided to add a little yellow as accent, stamping one of the floral sprays in so saffron all around the verse to pull in the color a bit more.

For accent, I added a Scalloped Trim Trio die cut to my horizontal panel and a row of adhesive bling for a bit of flash. My taffeta ribbon needed a bow in the corner and I finished off with some rounded corners and a few enamel dots.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I had a wonderful weekend filled with lots of art that seemed to revive my weary soul just a bit. Love this little photo of Trevor during our crafternoon watercolor session yesterday. His artist's soul is already shining brightly at a very young age. He often asks if we can "do art" together.

Mojo Monday 463

Enabler's List
Stamps: Potter's Clay (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Happy Place by Dear Lizzy (American Crafts), white
Ink: melon mambo, so saffron (SU!)
Accessories: Scalloped Trim Trio Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), taffeta ribbon (SU!), enamel dots, adhesive rhinestone squares, corner rounder.

Simply On My Heart

Happy Sunday, friends! The boys had a friend's birthday party yesterday with a bounce castle and they jumped their little hearts out.  They had so much fun that I actually got a little time to play in the studio last night, since they fell asleep a little early. Bonus!

I didn't really have a plan to start out, but wanted to make a simple encouragement/sympathy card for my stash. It seems like I'm always needing these and never have anything ready. This came together so quickly, I think I have a go to quickie card design now. Love the amber fields!

I started by stamping the taller leaf spray from the new Potter's Clay stamp set across the bottom edge in tip top taupe. Next I sponged a little tip top taupe across the bottom edge, then moved to the sky.  I used tumbled glass, sponging about 1/3 of the way down, then followed that with broken china, sponging only about the top half of the tumbled glass area.  Next I went in with some scattered straw in the middle section, and blended fossilized amber down from that into the stamped area for a warmer glow.

Next I cut the larger cloud from the Partly Cloudy Die Set and used it as a stencil to sponge broken sky all around the sky area, giving a super easy swirly cloudy effect.  I finished with the sentiment in Early Espresso, a bit of vintage photo all around the edges and a yellow taffeta ribbon.

Facebook Giveaway Alert:  If you're on Facebook, there's a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the Verve shop this weekend. Just visit our Facebook page and leave a comment on the pinnned post and let us know your favorite from the new release (or any Verve product for that matter) and you'll be in the drawing!  Not on Facebook? There's still time to comment on our Anni-VERVE-sary Spotlight Blog Hops.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Have a fabulous rest of the weekend and I'll see you back here tomorrow for Mojo Monday!

Enabler's List
Stamps: Potter's Clay (Verve Stamps)
Paper: white cardstock
Ink: tiptop taupe, early espresso (SU!), fossilized amber, scattered straw, tumbled grass, broken china, vintage photo (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Partly Cloudy Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), taffeta ribbon (SU!)

Potters Clay Spotlight Hop Day 3

Welcome back to  Day 3 of Verve's Anni-VERVE-sary Spotlight Hops! Today, our sneaky little spotlight is shining on the Potter's Clay stamp set and coordinating Pottery Die Set. These lovely little products will be releasing this Friday, August 26, but you can hop along today for a chance to win them! I'm the first stop on today's hop, so let's get to it!

For my card, I started with a piece of white cardstock, stamping the Ephesians 2:10 verse on the right side.  Next I stamped the two vases.  I achieved a shaded look by stamping using my MISTI stamping tool first with pool party, then swiping just part of the stamp with pacific point ink and stamping again.  A couple of repeat stampings really builds up the texture and interest.  Both vases are cut with the coordinating Pottery Die Set.

The floral spray was next, stamped in tiptop taupe, then lightly brushed over with a watercolor brush and some watered down walnut stain ink.  I went over it quickly with a glue pen, then dusted with glitter for a sparkly effect. It's hard to catch that golden shimmer in the photograph, but it does add such a nice effect.

To put it all together, I did a quick quick hand cutting around the edges of the spray with scissors, then tucked it into the vase with a slit I made with an X-acto knife. I added just a hint of a white rim around where I tucked it in with a white gel pen to complete the look. Before I glued my pieces down, I masked off the sentiment and splattered watered down walnut stain and tumbled glass reinker for a fun background.  Then I finished things off with some distressed edges and a bit of seam binding ribbon.

Thanks so much for hopping along with us today! You next morsel of Vervey goodness is waiting for you over at Stacey's blog.  Have fun, and if you get lost along the way, the full hop list is below.


Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win today's featured products! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for the full hop list, a little more about our new products and all the prize info and deadlines!

1. Julee 7. Betty 2. Stacey 8. Charmaine 3. Maureen 9. Laurie 4. Lesley 10. Teresa 5. Marisa 11. Christyne 6. Hillary (Guest) 12. Autumn (Guest)

Enabler's List
Stamps: Potter's Clay (Verve Stamps)
Paper: white
Ink: pool party, pacific point, tiptop taupe (SU!), walnut stain, tumbled glass (Ranger Distress)
Accessories: Pottery Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE), Signature Ribbon Collection (Verve), glue pen, glitter, paper distresserpowder, heavy gesso (Prima)