Fun Colors and a Farewell with The Card Concept

Hello Everybody!

We have a new challenge at The Card Concept; sadly, it will be my last challenge, but my plate was getting a little bit too full.  I hope you all will continue to play with this amazing team of ladies!

Lesley picked out some beautiful colors for us this week in this color challenge~

When I saw these colors, my first thought was a misty morning meadow, so that is what I created- well, sort of!
My background is stamped with a background stamp from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, Leafy Background Flourish and More, using the Faux watercolor technique.  I matted this piece with soft suede and framed it with white cs.  I added a circle element using a doily and a some Pool Party cs.  One of my all time favorite floral images is from a retired SU set, Elements of Style.  I stamped this in black and fussy cut the flowers out- seriously, I find fussy cutting relaxing!  I layered this onto my circles, then added a butterfly from the Sweet 'n Sassy Set, New Beginnings, and cut it out with its matching die.  A sprig of the Cheery Lynn Fanciful Flourish was tucked in behind the butterfly and flowers.
I added a tag sentiment, stamped in Soft Suede.  My sketch inspiration is from last week's Freshly Made Sketches~

Thanks so much for stopping by; I hope you can join us this week!  Check out all of the inspiration here! 

Blessings,

Lee Ann  :)

Supplies Used-
Stamps- Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps- New Beginnings, Leafy Flourish Background and More, SU Elements of Style and
Paper- Neenah Solar White, SU Soft Suede, Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, Mixed media paper
Ink- Lucky Limeade, Memento Tuxedo Black, Soft Suede
Other- MFT Circle Stax and Fish Tail Flag Stax Die-Namics, SU paper doily, Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps New Beginnings Butterfly Dies, Spellbinder Rectangle Dies, Cheery Lynn Fanciful Flourish Die, Wink of Stella Glitter pen

All Things Baby with The Card Concept!

Hi Everyone!
Hope you are enjoying your summer!
 Lesley has some adorable inspiration for us at The Card Concept this week.

 It's all things BABY this week!  Aren't these cookies adorable?! I spotted the buggy and knew right away what image I was going to use.  And as usual, I am designing in the Classy and Elegant style.  My layers, textures, traditional image and bling all lend themselves to that style.

The border punch also lends elegance to the card- I am not sure what you call them-flourishes?  A type of leaf or flower?  Well, whatever they are, I think they are very elegant!   :)

 My stamps are from a retired Crafty Secrets Clear Art Stamps set; the buggy was colored with Copics, fussy cut out, and popped up on dimensionals on my layered ovals. I added a Die~Namites Spring Blossoms Die Cut behind it, then layered up dp from Webster's Pages and a dry embossed background panel, and added that "whatever you call it" border, following this sketch from Jen at The Deconstructed Sketch.

Check out The Card Concept Blog for all of the amazing inspiration shared in all of the designing styles by our awesome team! I hope you will play with us this week!

I peek at our summer vacation~

 Southern Utah

Have a Blessed Day!

Lee Ann  :)

Supplies Used-
Stamps- Crafty Secrets
Paper-SU Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Calypso Coral, Neenah Solar White, dp Webster's Pages
Ink- Memento Tuxedo Black, SU Soft Suede
Other- SU Oval Framelits, MFT Fishtail Flag Staz Die-Namics, Die~Namites Spring Blossoms Die, Verve Vintage Oval Die, SU embossing folder, pearls, dimensionals , Copics

Going Purple with The Card Concept

Hello Everyone!

We have a new challenge up  on The Card Concept Blog and if you are a fan of this year's Pantone Color of the Year, then you are in luck!  The new Card Concept challenge is to make a card in Monochromatic Purple! I hope you play along with us!

I used a Die~Namites Die for the background doily and painted it with two different shades of purple Silks.  It looks much better irl because you can see the gorgeous shimmer of the mica in the paint.  The background panel and circle behind the vellum were stamped with the sweetest little rose image from a Crafty Secrets stamp set.  I think it must be retired as I cannot find it online and I picked it up for a steal at a scrapbook convention. 

The white panel behind the doily is dry embossed; then I inked up the edges of the paper with Versamark ink and dragged the edges of the paper through gold embossing powder.  

The sentiment is embossed in gold on vellum and a small ring of Sahara Sand cs was made to fit around the sentiment to define the vellum panel better.  

The leaves and flowers were made with Heartfelt Creations dies. 

The dry embossing and gold heat embossing, layers, handmade flowers, pearls and vellum all come together as a classy and elegant card.  What style do you prefer?

For more amazing inspiration, check out all of the Design Team samples on the Card Concept Blog. 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Blog Challenge is Anything Goes.   

Thanks for stopping by; have a blessed week!

Lee Ann  :)

Supplies used-

Stamps-Crafty Secrets, Heartfelt Creations Open Leaf Precut Set

Paper-Flourishes white cs, SU vellum, Very Vanilla, Sahara Sand

Ink-Versamark, Crumb Cake, Memento Tuxedo Black

Other- Die~Namites Spring Doily die, Heartfelt Creations Classic Leaf die and Vintage Floret die, MFT Circle Stax Die-Namics, gold ep, SU Polka Dot ef, pearls, Silks paint, Copics

The Card Concept wants Butterflies!

Hello Everyone!

Welcome back to another challenge from The Card Concept.  It is April and that means spring for so many of us.  This week, we are looking for butterflies- a sure sign of spring!

 Once again, I created in the elegant and classy style.  I used lots and lots of layers and texture on my card and added shine with heat embossing and Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint.

One would think using a butterfly on a card would be pretty easy, but I was running low on mojo.  I went looking for some sketch inspiration to get me going, and landed on the Fusion Challenge site where I spotted the inspiration/sketch photo.
 While I liked the sketch (and used it), I fell in love the the inspiration photo with all of its gorgeous texture.  And I loved the colors as well.  More Mustard was always one of my favorite colors, so when it was retired, I was very sad to see it go.

I took the inspiration pretty literally, as I used actual muslin on my card.  I stamped the muslin with a post mark image and the word 'Postcard' as well as script text, mimicking the dress form in the photo.  The butterfly was stamped on More Mustard cs and then shading was added with Copics.
Check out all of the inspiration on The Card Concept Challenge Blog; there is sure to be something for everyone with all of the styles that are represented- CAS, clean and graphic, clean and layered, collage, shabby chic/vintage, and elegant and classy.  

Have a blessed day! 

Lee Ann  :)

Supplies Used-
Stamps- Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Majestic Monarchs, Vintage Postcard and Decorative Frames; Heartfelt Creations Large Elegant Word Background Stamp
Paper- SU Black, Naturals Ivory, Smokey Slate, More Mustard, Really Rust, vellum
Ink-Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine black, Versamark
Other-Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Majestic Monarch Dies, Wood grain ef, SNSS Decorative Plaque Dies,  black ep, burlap, Cheery Lynn Designs Flourish Die, SU butterfly embosslit, Spellbinders Rectangle dies, SU wood butterfly, SU Glimmer Paint in champagne

Spring Green Floral with The Card Concept!

Hello Friends and Welcome to another challenge at The Card Concept! This week we have a color challenge for you and Lesley chose some of my favorites, including this gorgeous green~

I know many of us are truly done with winter, myself included, especially since we are shoveling out from yet another winter storm.  I just adore greens and natural elements and I am anxiously awaiting spring, so that is the direction I went with on my card~

My card is designed in the Elegant and Classy Style, which is defined as-

• polished
• shiny finish
• sparkling embellishments
• rich colour scheme
• sophisticated sentiments
• regal
• sweeping
• dramatic
• monochromatic
• layered textures
• awe
• impress

I started with an A-2 prefolded white card base from CutCardStock.   I added a layer of Moroccan Cocoa cs from the Flavours Gourmet Sample Pack. 
The flower was die cut, assembled and molded, using  the Sno Cone color from the Pop Tones Sample Pack.  This paper gives beautiful results when molding and shaping flowers.

The green leaves were stamped on Curious Metallic Cryogen White cs for a beautiful shimmer!
The white window panel is half of a pre-folded white card base.  
I used the Curious Metallic Cryogen White cs for the stamped and embossed inset panel. This panel was stamped with Stampin' Up's En Francais background stamp.

  Over that I placed a stencil and used Viva Decor Pearl Modeling Cream.  Both the cream and the Cryogen White cardstock have a beautiful shimmer and sheen to them.

I hope you can join is with this week's challenge!  What style will you choose?  Classy and Elegant?  Clean and Simple?  Vintage?  Head over to the blog and check out all of the great inspiration from the Design Team!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a blessed week!

Lee Ann  :)

Supplies Used-
Stamps-Stampin Up En Francais, Papertrey Ink Leave It Be, Our Daily Bread Designs Happy Spring (sentiment)
Paper-all cardstock is from CutCardStock as referenced above; dsp Stampin' Up
Ink-Early Espresso, Lucky Limeade, Gumball Green
Other-PTI Leave It Be matching Dies, Spellbinders Foliage Dies, Heartfelt Creations Vintage Floret Die, Stampin' Up Deco label Dies,  Stampin' Up Polka Dot ef, MFT Fish Tail Flag Stax Die-Namics, dimensionals, Viva Decor Pearl Modeling Cream, Prima Template

Die~Namite Florals with The Card Concept

Hello Everyone!
It is time for Challenge 4 at The Card Concept.  It is so exciting to see so many of you playing along; we had 140 entries for the last challenge!  You are really going to like this week's challenge, especially if you are a fan of flowers.  I have designed my card in the Elegant and Classy Style, which is defined as:

Classy and Elegant

Definition:

• polished
• shiny finish
• sparkling embellishments
• rich colour scheme
• sophisticated sentiments
• regal
• sweeping
• dramatic
• monochromatic
• layered textures
• awe
• impress

  
 I love the beautiful spring look of the inspiration photo and wanted to get that same springy look on my card.  

 I knew I wanted to use my new Die~Namites Die, Winter Sunflower (I am on the Die~Namites blog today).  I needed a sketch and found this one at Fusion~

Not only did I like the sketch, but I loved the colors in the inspiration photo and used them as well. 
I am also linking this up to the Anything Goes Challenge at 613 Avenue Create, and Great Impressions  Challenge, Use a Floral Image. 
I hope you will join us for this challenge!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Lee Ann :)

Supplies Used-
Stamps-Stampin' Up Everything Eleanor
Paper-Flourishes white cs, SU Old Olive, Calypso Coral, Summer Starfruit, Basic Black, Crisp Cantaloupe, SU dsp and SU vellum
Ink-Versamark
Other-Die~Namites Winter Sunflower Die, Die~Namites Love Arrangement Die,  white ep, cheese cloth, Stampendous Crystal Snow, SU Vintage Faceted Button, SU White Baker's Twine, Ivory ribbon

The Card Concept

Hello Friends!  It is finally here- the first challenge at The Card Concept!
If you have not heard of this challenge, let me share a bit about it.  There are 12 designers, representing 6 different crafting styles-Clean and Simple, Clean and Graphic, Clean and Layered, Free Style Collage, Classy/Elegant, and Shabby and Vintage.  I am representing the Classy/Elegant Style.

You can participate in the challenge, choosing one of the 6 styles represented to design your card in.  This is a wonderful way to explore styles and learn just what it is that makes a style work.
Flourishes are one of those elements that speaks 'elegant'.  This stamp image is full of flourishes!  Layers are another common element of the elegant style, and I personally love fussy cutting and use this often.
This is how I created layers.  I lightly stamped the Off the Grid stamp in Crumb Cake on Very Vanilla cs.  I sponged a bit of pink ink over the grid image.Next, I stamped the Baroque image in Early Espresso, directly on the vanilla cs.  I stamped it a second time on vanilla cs and fussy cut a large portion of the image out,  This was adhered directly over the initial image.  I stamped the image a third time on Crumb Cake cs in Versamark ink and heat embossed the center area with Early Espresso embossing powder.  The central image is fussy cut out and adhered to the second image, using dimensionals.
The final layer is from adding the butterfly.  The reason I chose to do the baroque flourish image in brown was to have a lot of contrast with the pink butterfly, so that the butterfly popped.
The background panel (Crumb Cake cs) has texture from dry embossing.  Scalloped edges, pearl bling, die cut leaves and a seam binding bow finish off the card. 
Please hop on over to the challenge blog and check out the other gorgeous creations from the Design Team.  Pick your style and create! 

Thanks so much for stopping by!  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask!
Have a blessed week,

Lee Ann  :)

Supplies Used (all Stampin' Up)
Stamps- Off the Grid, Beautifully Baroque, Papillon Potpourri
Paper- Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso and retired dsp
Ink- Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Blushing Bride, Versamark
Other- Apothecary Framelits, Large Scalloped Edgelit, Butterfly punch, pearls, Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Early Espresso Embossing Powder, Little Leaves Sizzlit, Tiny Tag Punch, Very Vanilla Seam Binding, Dazzling Details, Copic markers (not SU)