Celebrate Stars and Stripes

Can you believe next week will be the 4th of July???  This year has really flown by, and Christmas will be here before you know it!

Let's celebrate the 4th of July with this fun red, white, and blue card that I created.  I used the new Layered Floating Stars stencil set from A Colorful Life Designs for the background on this card.  I placed the tiny circles of stars stencil down first and brushed blue ink over that, then I arranged the stencil with the larger striped stars so they would fit inside the blue star circles.  I brushed some red ink over this second stencil and my card background was done.  I die cut the "celebrate" from some blue cardstock, glued it to some vellum, and then adhered the vellum to the stenciled background.  This whole piece was glued to a white card base.

You don't have to use this red, white, and blue color combo with this stencil.  I created a sepia toned, distressed version with the Layered Floating Stars stencil set.

Please feel free to use this code, HollyFan10, when you shop at A Colorful Life Designs.  You will save 10% off your entire order, so have fun shopping!

 

 

Celebrate Glittery Bubbles

Good morning!  It's Friday!!!  How about some glittery bubbles to celebrate??

To create this sparkly card, I started by smooshing some pink and blue inks onto my glass mat, misting those with water, and then smooshing some watercolor paper into the watery inks.  After this piece dried, I placed the awesome new Bubble Release stencil from A Colorful Life Designs on the paper.  I used some blending brushes to brush the same colors of inks over the stencil, keeping the blue at the bottom and the pink on the top.  While the stencil was still in place, I spread some glitter paste over the whole thing, removed the stencil, and let it dry.

I cut out the sentiment with a die several times from white paper and then again with a piece of white glitter paper.  I glued the white sentiments together stacked on top of each other, and then I glued the glittery sentiment on top but slightly offset.  You can see a tiny bit of the white peeking through on the right side of the glittery letters.  After the stenciled panel was completely dry, I glued this sentiment on and then adhered the whole thing to a white card base.

Please feel free to use this code, HollyFan10, when you shop for stencils at A Colorful Life Designs.  You'll save 10% off your entire order, so grab this wonderful Bubble Release stencil.  You might also think about checking out the Christmas section HERE if you want to start getting your holiday cards ready.  Have a wonderful Friday!

 

Birthday Balloons Shaker Card

Good morning!  I've got a fun birthday shaker card to share with you today.  Isn't that a wild and colorful shaker card?  It's so fun to shake this up and see all the cool pieces in the shaker mix.

I started by pulling out the Marvelous Masks Balloon stencil set from A Colorful Life Designs.  I used the three smaller balloon stencils and inked them up with pink, blue and yellow colors.  I used a Sharpie marker to draw the strings hanging down from each balloon.  Then I taped some clear plastic around this stenciled piece, leaving the top open so I could add some shaker bits.

We are collaborating with Doodles Paper Playground this month to show off their wonderful sequins and sparkles collections.  Doodles Paper Playground makes some really great sequin and sparkle mixes that are perfect for shaker cards.  As you can see in my card above, I used the gorgeous Annie's Music of the Heart mix for the shaker bits.  I love the fun colors and all the different pieces in this mix!  You can check out all their great products HERE.

After I added the shaker mix, I sealed up the plastic top on the back of the stenciled panel and adhered it to a teal card base.  This will be a fun card to give away to someone for their birthday this year.

Please feel free to use this code, HollyFan10, when you shop for stencils at A Colorful Life Designs.  You will save 10% off your entire order, and that will come in handy if you're stocking up on the Marvelous Masks collections.  Check out all the great Marvelous Masks collections HERE.  Have a wonderful day!

 

Dragonfly Wildflower Wonder

Good morning!  Today I'm sharing this card that I created using several Technique Junkies stamps.  I started by stamping the gorgeous Blooming Wildflowers with some aqua ink onto aqua cardstock and I let that dry.  Then I stamped the Dragonfly with a darker blue/teal pigment ink and covered it with a sparkly clear embossing powder.  After I melted the powder, I stamped the "Wonder" from the Dream Hope Wish Wonder set at the bottom of the aqua panel.  I die cut the scalloped frame from white cardstock and used the teal pigment ink pad to color the frame.  Then I glued the frame to the aqua piece and glued that to a white card base.

You can use this code, TJ10Holly, when you shop at Technique Junkies to save 10% off your order.  That means you can grab all of the stamps I used today along with all the other Technique Junkies stamps on your wish list and save money.  The stamps I used today were:

Blooming Wildflowers

Dragonfly

Dream Hope Wish Wonder

Have a wonderful day!

 

BTB64 - Just Two Colors

Good morning!  This week's Beyond the Blue challenge is to use just two colors on your project.  I took that very literally and I only used pink and black for my inks and my cardstocks.  

I stamped the gorgeous Magnolia Branch Border from Technique Junkies with a soft pink ink onto the same soft pink cardstock.  Then I stamped the sentiment (from the In Full Bloom set at Technique Junkies) with black ink right on top of the stamped magnolia branch.  I added a few black pearls to accent the sentiment and then I adhered this pink panel to a black card base.  

Check out the Beyond the Blue challenge HERE and see what my fellow DT ladies have created.  I hope this inspires you to play along with us!

If you'd like to shop at Technique Junkies, please use this code, TJ10Holly, to save 10% off your order.  You can grab these two stamps as well as tons of other beautiful stamps and save some money.  Have a great weekend!

 

Fishy Father's Day

Good morning!  Are you looking for a quick and easy Father's Day card?  This Art Fish stencil from A Colorful Life Designs is perfect for that!

I cut some kraft cardstock 4.25"x11 and folded it in half to make a card base.  Then I placed the Art Fish stencil over the top of the kraft card and randomly blended some green, blue, and brown inks.  Then I moved the stencil over to fill in the areas on the sides.  The sentiment is die cut from a darker brown cardstock with a vellum backer so you can still see the stenciled fish through the sentiment.

Feel free to use this code, HollyFan10, when you shop at A Colorful Life Designs.  You'll save 10% off your entire order, so stock up with this Art Fish stencil and the Mid Century Geometric stencil (one of my faves!) and Organic Doodles (another favorite!).  Take some time to browse around the store.  It's fun to find those unexpected designs that capture your fancy.  Have a wonderful day!

 

Vintage Nautilus

I love the new Nautilus stencil from A Colorful Life Designs.  You might remember that I used it a few days ago on a blue and yellow card that showed half of the shell on the left side.  For today's card, I placed the Nautilus stencil smack dab in the center so you can see as much of this as possible.  Isn't that a gorgeous stencil?

For this card, I started by smooshing some mustard distress ink onto my glass mat.  I misted it with some water and then dipped some watercolor paper into the ink.  After this paper dried, I placed the Nautilus stencil on the paper and brushed some marmalade distress ink all over.  I varied the intensity of the orange ink, a little more here, a little less there.  I removed the stencil and brushed some brown distress ink around the edges to give this a vintage feel.  I also flicked some brown distress ink all over the stenciled paper.  The sentiment was stamped on vellum and then I tore the edges and adhered it to the card.

Please feel free to use this code, HollyFan10, when you shop at A Colorful Life Designs.  You'll save 10% off your entire order, so you can grab this gorgeous Nautilus stencil as well as all the other stencils on your wish list.  Happy Shopping!

FYI - the sentiment is from Technique Junkies.  You will find it in the By the Sea set HERE.  You can save 10% at Technique Junkies with this code, TJ10Holly.  :-)

 

Glittery Rainbow Mermazing Day

Good morning!  How about a glittery rainbow of mermaids to start off this week?  I used the fun Mermaid Crossing stencil from A Colorful Life Designs to create this card today.  

I started by very lightly brushing some distress inks onto some white cardstock, starting with raspberry at the bottom, mustard in the middle, and mermaid blue at the top.  Then I placed the Mermaid Crossing stencil over the inky paper and used the same colors in the same areas in a heavier hand.  After I took the stencil off, I sprayed the entire piece with a gold glitter spray.  I love that sparkly effect!  The sentiment was typed up on the computer and printed onto cardstock, and I used an oval die to cut it out.

Please feel free to use this code, HollyFan10, to save 10% off your entire order when you shop for stencils at A Colorful Life Designs.  You can see this month's great stencils HERE.  You can also browse through all of the stencils by clicking on the SHOP ALL link or by clicking on the CATEGORIES link.  There's so many fun categories to look through, such as Layered stencils and Nature stencils.  Have a mermazing day!!!

 

Just Breathe Nautilus

Good morning!  Have you seen the new Nautilus stencil from A Colorful Life Designs?  It's a gorgeous stencil, larger than an A2 sized card, and it's so fun to move it around to see all the different ways you can use it on a card.  On today's card, you can see I opted to use it on the left side of this watercolored panel.

I started by smooshing some yellow and blue distress inks onto my glass mat.  I spritzed them with water and then smooshed a piece of watercolor paper into the watery ink pools.  After this paper dried, I placed the Nautilus stencil on the left side and brushed the same colors of yellow and blue inks over the stencil.  The sentiment was stamped with a slightly darker color of blue ink and then I glued this panel to a white card base.

If you haven't shopped at A Colorful Life Designs yet, you're in for a treat!  There's hundreds of great stencils just waiting for you to play with them.  Please feel free to use this code, HollyFan10, when you shop so you can save 10% off your order.  You can snag this Nautilus stencil as well as all the other stencils from this month's release HERE.  Happy Friday!!

 

Good Friends on Shells

Hi again!  I'm back with this clean and simple card featuring the new Overall Shells stencil from A Colorful Life Designs.  I did something a little bit different for the background on this card, so let me walk you through that process.

First, I cut some watercolor paper to an A2 size (5.5"x4.25").  I always cut my background pieces bigger than I need them and then cut them down to fit my card later.  I smooshed some yellow and pink inks onto my glass mat, spritzed them with water, and then smooshed the watercolor paper into the inks.  I set this aside to dry, and I cleaned up the glass mat.  When the paper was completely dry, I placed the Overall Shells stencil over the yellow and pink panel. Using some blender brushes, I brushed the same colors of yellow and pink inks through the stencil, trying to match up the colors to what was already on the watercolor panel.  In other words, I brushed yellow ink over the areas at the top where the background was already yellow, and then I repeated the same thing at the bottom for the pink ink.

This is a fun way to use a stencil when you don't want a harsh white area where the stencil covers the paper.  Instead, there is a soft hint of color "behind" the stenciled areas.  I kept this card simple by stamping the large sentiment with black ink and then I added a few rhinestones.  

You can use this code, HollyFan10, when you shop for stencils at A Colorful Life Designs and you'll save 10% off your entire order.  Check out all the new June release stencils HERE and have fun browsing through all the different categories by clicking on the CATEGORIES pull down menu (it has a down arrow next to it) on this page.

 

Bee-utiful Shaker Card

 

Good morning!  I just had to pop in and share this fun shaker card with you today.  I started this card by brushing some yellow ink over the Hexy stencil from A Colorful Life Designs onto some yellow paper.  Then I used some hexagon dies to cut out three different areas for the shaker bits.  

We are collaborating with Doodles Paper Playground this month to show off their wonderful sequins and sparkles collections.  Doodles Paper Playground makes some really great sequin and sparkle mixes that are perfect for shaker cards.  As you can see in my card above, I used the gorgeous Bee-You-Tiful Sparkle Blends for the shaker bits.  There's some tiny little honeycombs and bees along with the sequins and flowers in this great mix.  You can check out all their great products HERE.

After I cut out the hexagon areas, I glued down some clear acetate to the back of the stenciled piece.  I applied foam tape around each of the three hexagons and then sprinkled in some of the Bee-You-Tiful Sparkle Blends into each opening.  Then I carefully removed the liner from the foam tape and adhered this piece to a white card base.  The stamped sentiment and the cute bumblebee are from Hero Arts.

Please feel free to use this code, HollyFan10, when you shop for stencils at A Colorful Life Designs.  You will save 10% on your entire order, so grab this Hexy stencil as well as any of the great new releases you can see HERE.  Come on back tomorrow to see what I created with the new Overall Shells stencil.  Have a wonderful day!

Shabby Chic Dots - Beyond the Blue #63

Good morning!  This week's Beyond the Blue challenge is to use Flowers, so I pulled out my flower stash and had some fun playing.  I started by pulling out an older stencil from A Colorful Life Designs called Dots and I spread some pink distress stickles over that stencil onto some pale pink cardstock.  While that was drying, I cut out the sentiment, picked out some flowers, and cut down some burlap.  

I glued the burlap piece onto a vintage cream card base and then I glued my stenciled panel so that some of the burlap would show through.  Then I glued down the sentiment and flowers and added some pearls to the centers of the three smaller flowers.  I love this shabby chic look!!

Please feel free to use this code, HollyFan10, when you shop at A Colorful Life Designs.  You'll save 10% off your order, so grab this classic Dots stencil and check out all the great new releases.  Have a great Saturday!

 

Glittery Bubble Dreams

Good morning!  Today's card is all about glitter and dreams and bubbles.  I started by brushing various colors of ink onto some white cardstock, and then I placed the new Bubble Release stencil from A Colorful Life over this colorful background.  I spread some glitter paste through the stencil, lifted off the stencil, and let the piece dry.  While the background was drying, I embossed the sentiment onto some black cardstock with some glittery white embossing powder.  After I melted the powder and let it cool, I cut it out with a circle die.  This was glued to the background after the glitter paste was completely dry.

You are welcome to use this code, HollyFan10, when you shop at A Colorful Life Designs.  You'll save 10% off your entire order with this code.  That means you can grab this awesome Bubble Release stencil for 10% off.  You can see all of the great new stencils released this month by clicking HERE, and you can always browse the different categories by clicking on the CATEGORIES button.  Have a great day!

 

Magical Aquatic Birthday

Good morning!  There's some great new stencils at A Colorful Life Designs this month, and I used the new Aquatic Floor stencil for this fun shaker card.  I brushed some blue and raspberry ink very lightly over the background first, and then I placed the stencil over that and applied the same colors in the same areas over the stencil.  I turned this into a shaker card and used some Sparkle Blends from Doodles Paper Playground for the shaker bits.

We are collaborating with Doodles Paper Playground this month to show off their wonderful sequins and sparkles collections.  Doodles Paper Playground makes some really great sequin and sparkle mixes that are perfect for shaker cards.  I used the Jeweltone Sky Sparkle Blends for the shaker bits.  These richly colored sequins also have some silver stars and silver striped sequins to bring that extra sparkle to this shaker card.  You can check out all their great products HERE.

There is a new Master Creator Bundle available at A Colorful Life Designs if you want to buy all of this month's stencils with one click.  You can get all 19 new stencils for $111.05.  This month features lots of beachy, aquatic, and patriotic stencils that will be a fantastic addition to your crafting arsenal.

Please feel free to use this code, HollyFan10, when you shop at A Colorful Life Designs.  Come on back tomorrow and I'll share a glittery bubbles creation with the new Bubble Release stencil.  Have a great day!

 

 

Mermaid Kisses Shaker Card

Good morning!  Can you believe it's June??  That means there's new stencils for release day at A Colorful Life Designs.  I used the new Mermaid Crossing stencil as the background for this fun shaker card.  Isn't that cute??  I brushed some blue ink very lightly over the background first, and then I stenciled the mermaids with the same ink.  I turned this into a shaker card and used some Sparkle Blends from Doodles Paper Playground for the shaker bits.

We are collaborating with Doodles Paper Playground this month to show off their wonderful sequins and sparkles collections.  Doodles Paper Playground makes some really great sequin and sparkle mixes that are perfect for shaker cards.  As you can see in my card above, I used the gorgeous Cool Starburst Rhinestones Sparkle Blend for the shaker bits.  I love the colors of these shiny rhinestones in this mix!  You can check out all their great products HERE.

There is a new Master Creator Bundle available at A Colorful Life Designs if you want to buy all of this month's stencils with one click.  You can get all 19 new stencils for $111.05.  This month features lots of beachy, aquatic, and patriotic stencils that will be a fantastic addition to your crafting arsenal.

Please feel free to use this code, HollyFan10, when you shop at A Colorful Life Designs.  Come on back tomorrow and I'll share another fun shaker card using the new Aquatic Floor stencil and some more yummy Sparkle Blends!