Fancy Friday Blog Hop - A Piece of Art

Welcome back to the Fancy Friday Blog Hop!

My fancy friends and I are back!!! We loved working with each other so much that we decided to continue on with an all new blog hop to inspire you in fun new ways! These are a group of past and current Artisans that have become fast friends thru the Artisan journey. Glad to have you here! We have 10 of us this month so don't miss a one!

 
Each month on the last Friday, we will bring to you new challenges of all kinds (color,sketch, stamp focus, etc)! This month we were to create a card WITHOUT adding a greeting or any wording on the front. Shocker I know! The idea is to make it a piece of art!

I first took the Shimmery White Cardstock and ran it thru the Big Shot with the Petal Burst Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. The four ink colors I then watercolored with are Bermuda Bay, Pumpkin Pie, Lemon Lime Twist and Berry Burst. The later two are the BRAND NEW In-Colors coming out June 1st! I can just say very loudly.....

LOVE LOVE LOVE them! The Shimmery White piece becomes pretty saturated so I let it dry completely and then even add it on top of a layer of cardstock for strength before popping it on card base with Stampin' Dimensionals. The Butterflies Thinlits and Bold Butterfly Framelits are still a favorite of mine to use and completes the whimsical feel of this card. 

I stamped the greeting on the inside of the card instead. This one is a sneak peak from a BRAND NEW stamp set called Just Add Text. Love this quote from one of the most famous artist! (I did a huge project on him when going thru college back in the day) 

Today especially, I love this quote as I love all my Artisan friends who join me on this blog hop team! They make my world better with their art!

Would love to have you join us in the Fancy Friday Challenge so make a card or two and let us know in the comments if you did or post on social media somewhere and add the #FANCYFRIDAYBLOGHOP

Thanks for stopping by my post for the Fancy Friday blog hop!

Inspire. Create. Share. That's what I love to do.

Cindy
Now move on to my fun and talented friend Shannon Lane
 by clicking on the next button below! 

A Paper Pumpkin Thing Blog Hop - A Sara Thing Kit

Welcome to the A Paper Pumpkin Thing Blog Hop!

A group of talented and creative Stampin' UP! Demonstrators have come together to showcase some alternative projects of the Paper Pumpkin Monthly Kit program! This month was a kit designed with Stampin' UP CEO Sara Douglass!
I highly recommend watching Sara's video on how to put together the kit if you have it! She demonstrates how to watercolor the pieces with the pencils and gives great tips! 

SARA'S VIDEO

For my first card, I just colored the heart with the Melon Mambo watercolor pencil only and blended the color together with the paint brush. I then cut the envelope open to use the inside liner pattern for a layer on my card. I stamped the greetings on the sticky strip and cut smaller to adhere to the heart shape. I stamped the BEST right on to the embossed heart. I placed all of this on the NEW Lemon Lime Twist cardstock. (by far my favorite new in color ever!)

Here is just one more card...again just using one color - Daffodil Delight watercolor pencil - I colored in the other embossed pattern. I cut it down to 4x4 as well as the Basic Black card base to 4 1/4" x 4 1/4". 

So what did you think about this kit? I am very excited about the direction Stampin' UP is taking to step up the technique side of Paper Pumpkin!  Perfect for that beginner stamper to try watercoloring! 

Want to get a complete "A Sara Thing" Paper Pumpkin Kit for FREE?

BLOG HOP GIVEAWAY: To be entered into a drawing for a FREE "A Sara Thing" Paper Pumpkin Kit, you must leave a comment on EVERY blog. Drawing closes on Saturday, April 29th at 9 PM EST. The winner will be announced on Monday, May 1, 2017. Open to international participates as well which is AWESOME because it is only in US and Canada markets!

Thanks for stopping by!

Inspire. Create. Share. That's what I love to do.

Cindy
Now move on to the super talented Maria
 by clicking on the next button below! 

OR follow the list....

Andrea Tracy-Tucker 

Pam Staples  

Dena Rekow  

Melissa Davies  

Kim Smith  

Kimberley Morris  

Sara Levin  

Cindy Schuster  

Maria Willis  

Jennifer Hill  

Rick Adkins  

Lori Mueller  

Carolynn Sander  

Cathy Caines  

Monika Davis  

Sue Plote  

Megan Thompson  

Tina Riddle  

Cindee Wilkinson  

Rachel Tessman  

Lydia Fiedler  

Crafty Carrot Blog Hop with Nailed It

Welcome to The Crafty Carrot Collective Blog Hop! A selection of former Stampin' UP! Artisans from all over the world got together to form this interactive rewards program where you can learn and participate with us each month! Today we are bringing you some sneak peaks into what our April month will bring in advance so you can purchase the stamp set called Nailed It or a similar masculine stamp set just in time for the men in our lives.

 This was the perfect time to create some cards for Father's Day and get ahead! I love quick and easy cards so I think this stamp set mixed with some recently retired DSP from the Annual Catalog is a great combination for just that.

The first card is stamped in Crumb Cake. You can use the Build it Framelits to cut out the hexagon greeting or wing it yourself and hand cut it. I popped the layered DSP with Dimensionals. The Calypso Coral Thick Baker's Twine adds a pop of color while the Urban Underground embellishments finish it off. 

Same layout completely but used Bermuda Bay Ink and used a different wood pattern from the Serene Scenery DSP Pack. 

Do not forget to do the inside of your card!

Also stamp the envelope! The tool images scattered across the envelope is fun!

Here is how our program works... during the month of April you purchase the Nailed It stamp set (OR product of equal or greater value) from a participating Crafty Carrot Collective demonstrator using the host code shown below. Then, in May, you will receive the program completely FREE!

  This program brings video tutorials and written instructions by 5 very talented global Stampin' UP! demonstrators into your own home so you can stamp in your own time. 
What is not to love about that? 

PLACE YOUR ORDER TODAY!

Inspire. Create. Share. That's what I love to do.

Cindy

The uber talented Jennifer Frost over in Australia is next! Hop on over there and say hello!

Nurture Nature with the Creation Station Blog Hop

Welcome back this month with the Creation Station Design Blog Hop! I was beyond thrilled to join this group of talented women that inspires me! We plan to inspire you each month with Stampin' UP! creative top of the line projects with a theme from all around the globe! We hope that you hop thru each blog and leave comments as we all love to hear praise about our creations!

This month our theme was Nurture Nature or Flowers to Showers. 
Well.....a cactus count as nature, right? I was at my friend Monika's Stamp, Scrap and Create Retreat last weekend and one of the lady there had the Birthday Fiesta Photopolymer Bundle which I have been on the fence about getting myself. I mean I bought the bright and fun Festive Birthday Designer Series Paper so what is the hold up?

I love a good shaker card but making them is time consuming. This was super easy to create with the Fringe Scissors, cardstock and the Clear Envelopes. I just slide a piece of Whisper White in one half of the envelope, added the cut pieces of cardstock and folded the envelope in half. I secured it with washi tape and use my bone folder to make the folded edge crisp. I stamped the cactus in Emerald Envy on Emerald Envy cardstock. The greeting comes from Sunshine Sayings Stamp Set.

Why not make a matching gift box too? This is a 3.25 x 3.25 x 2.5 size box made with the Gift Box Punch Board. I have a whole spool of this Melon Mambo 1/8" Stitched Ribbon and it is stiff enough to make a large bow with it. 

Thanks for stopping by my post for the Creations Station Blog Hop!

Inspire. Create. Share. That's what I love to do.

Cindy

You saw Dena's awesome project before me and now move on to 
Denita's incredible project by clicking on the next button below! 

Dena Rekow

Denita Wright

Come join us in May to get free tutorials, live video classes and more!