Hi, Love... Happy Birthday

Ok, whew. My last card in these colors. This one took a while to balance, the final piece that I put in is the Happy Birthday. It seemed to finally ground the images. To get all those colors in I just switched them around the images.

Happy Birthday - simple flowers

Here's the second to last card I have made with these colors from the Color Throwdown challenge this week. I opted for a pink that was on the darker redish end of the spectrum. It seemed to work a bit better with the shades of yellow and orange that I chose. The black die with all the circles? Dang that one is a pain. It doesn't cut super well in some areas so I spent a while poking out little circles. It does look pretty cool though set against the white. I'll be adding this to a second challenge - the Birthday Project challenge over at My Favorite things. The theme is birthday bouquets.

Again, details to come when I get home....

I love to get flowers,

Alicia

Treat Yourself!

Lot's of elements here, I can't decide if I like it or not. Experimental to say the least. Again it's made with a leftover or two, the background was meant for another card, but that didn't work out. This is my first use of that stamp set with the little hamster/food set, I think it's darn cute. These colors from the Color Throwdown challenge this week, again perhaps I have overdone it on this color scheme. Bare with me.

Details to come, I'm not at home right now.... :)

I prefer not to have rodents in my cupcakes,

Alicia

Kind Words are Everything

Kind words ARE everything. Even when it's hard to say.

I am almost embarrassed at how many cards I have made with these colors from the Color Throwdown challenge this week. Funny thing is that I don't really like them so much. Perhaps that's where the challenge was for me. This particular card is the last one I did last night and finished this morning. I do like the juxtaposition of the colored flowers and the orange leaves. I've done this on a couple of cards in the color scheme. I had originally placed an orange background behind the arrangement, but it looked so harsh I couldn't stand it. As per my mode of usual operation I opted for a white background piece. It seems to set off the lovely flowers in a striking way.

I have two more challenges to add this card to: Freshly Made Sketches and Fusion, check 'em out to see what the requirements were.

Details to come - I'm not at home while blogging.... :)

Kindness matters,

Alicia

Best Birthday Elephant Style

One more go at these colors again. You know, orange, yellow and pink from the challenge over at The Color Throwdown this week. I love a good pink elephant... and the yellow bunny is so chipper. The layout is inspired by the sketch at Cas(e) This Sketch. I gave the background a subtle ombre with my stamp pads, no special technique. The greeting was already in a 1/2 circle shape, just not an exact fit for this particular circle. With a little fussing after I placed it on my Misit it fit like a charm. The images are colored with Copics, I've decided I need more yellows... this one is a little bright.

Details, details - background stamp is called Herringbone from Concord & 9th; the greeting is from Simon Says Stamp's Best Day Ever; and the animals are from Hello Bluebird and called Elephant Friends.

Birthday's are the best,

Alicia

Bright and Happy Hello

I decided to have another crack at these colors again. You know, orange, yellow and pink from the challenge over at The Color Throwdown this week. This card turned our rather interestingly, don't you think? Unexpected images for those colors, works? Yes. Would I use them together every day? No. The layout is inspired by the sketch at Cas(e) This Sketch. I did reverse sides, but it's right on the money non-the-less. I like to combine more than one challenge, I find it difficult to do sometimes, but  that's the point of it all. Stretching.

Here's the deets - border stamps are from Neat & Tangled and called On the Edge; flowers and hello are from Altenew and called Flower Arrangement. The 1/2 ring is from some scrap stamped card stock, you'll see the piece it came out of in my next post. :) I did add some new to me coolness to this card - Nuvo White Crystal Drops... they are super cool. But one strange thing happened. After they dried I noticed that the drops placed on stamped areas leeched the color. Strange huh? There's a photo at the bottom where you can see it. The drop in the top left corner is all white, while the other two are tinted.

Hello lovely friends,

Alicia

Be a Macaron

Mmmm, macarons. Aren't they delightful? I am so impressed every time I us this stamp set from  Impression Obsession called Macaron. They just look good enough to eat. I've taken a cooking class that taught me how to make macarons... it is difficult to say the least. I am sure it becomes easier if you do it more than once a year though.

The plaid is created with two different stamp sets. The yellow is one larger stamp while I added the pink and orange lines from a plaid builder set called Happy Plaids from Concord and 9th. The macarons are done with two different inks each, building layers on each other.

I have one challenge in mind for this one, The Color Throwdown. The colors this week are pink, yellow and orange.

I've actually made macarons, it's hard.

Alicia

You're the Best

I colored these flower a while ago and just got around to using them. I saw the sketch from Cas(e) this Sketch this week and immediately thought of this layout. While I didn't have the exact stamps in mind to put it together at first, it came together quite quickly after I browsed the stamps I had at my fingertips. It's difficult to see but, the centers of the flowers are colored in with a soft gold pencil and the pinstripes to the far left are embossed in gold. Cool in real life, but just can't be seen on camera. The flowers are colored in and blended with Copic markers in soft corals, a bit on the pink side. The stripes and greeting both come from a stamp set called Happy Plaids from Concord & 9th; the small scallop on the bottom is a background stamp from Carta Bella called Ocean Waves; the flowers are from Papertrey Ink called Peonies on Parade.

You are the best,

Alicia

Happy Birthday Split Card

A second card inspired by the sketch at Cas(e) this Sketch. I played around with it quite a bit this time. I created the side stripes with a negative space and then filled that space with a stripe of wording. Be sure to scroll down to see how it looks. The greeting is emphasized by stamping it in black, this was done with a little post it note masking.

Here are the details - flower stamp set is from Simon Says Stamp and called Beautiful Flowers II; the circle fill-ins are from Tim Holtz and called Brushstrokes; the greeting strip comes from a set called Best Ever also from Simon Says Stamp.

I like big flowers,

Alicia

Gratitude for All You Do

There was a late night session of stamping going on in the Thelin house last night. Too bad I was doing it all alone, right? I need a cohort in crime, someone else to look at my stuff and say "that is awesome" and I can do the same for them. I'll have to work on that. This card was in my head before I made it, that's a change of pace for me, the fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants kinda gal. This super clean beauty is headed off to the Less is More challenge blog, the theme is small images. It also fits in at The Paper Players weekly challenge.

Here are the details - grid patter from Stampin' Up! called Off the Grid (retired); plant image from Concord & 9th named Rooting for You; dots from Stampin' Up! called Dots for Days (retired); greeting from Winnie and Walter named Sending You; small frame die cut from Clearly Besotted and called Small Frames.

Nothing says thanks like a plant,

Alicia