Classic Design Challenge : Santa

 Welcome back again to this month's Classic Design Team Challenge! It's that time of year again where we start thinking about Christmas and making or sending out our Christmas cards. 

I have a great image from Dr. Digi featuring Santa himself, checking the naughty and nice list. Have you checked to see if your name is on his "nice" list? I'm sure it is! Here is a link to his digi store Dr. Digi and here is a link to my Santa image : Naughty or Nice. Dr. Digi has some great quality digi stamps in his store, and I hope you go check them out!

I colored my image in with Copic markers, then used MFT's Double Stitched Rectangles to cut it out with a decorative border around it. I then sponged some Distress Inks around the image to "age" it and tone down the white cardstock, as my design papers and lace panel is off white/cream. After sponging, I matted my image with a red cardstock from Bazzil. I layered a cream lace panel cut from a die by Stampin Up, then matted that under my image, over some design papers from The Paper Studio's "Old World Winter" collection. I completed the matting by adding one more cardstock layer of a reflective gold from Tim Holtz's Metallic Cardstock collection, then I added a few holly diecuts from Tim Holtz's Ideology "Christmas Botanicals" collection. My sentiment is from Fresh Pink's "Foiled Holiday Sentiments".

And there you have it. My take on Dr. Digi's Santa inspired digi stamp. I really love how it turned out. I'm not the greatest at coloring in people, but how can you mess up Santa?! LOL!

Thank you for joining us this month in our Classic Design Challenge! I'll see you here for next month's inspiration! And don't forget! Santa Claus is coming to town .... !

November Beautiful Blossoms Challenge : Fuchsia Postcard

Happy November, Challenge Friends!! Can you believe the year is almost over! We've had so many challenges and inspirations together. I love it!

This month's November inspiration photo is my absolute favorite of the year!! Look at those deep blues, magentas, golds, and purples! So beautiful and what I'd consider quintessentially traditional fall colors. I love, love them!

As you can tell, I was completely inspired by the colors in the photo. But this time, I wanted to try to capture the color intensity in watercolors. So, I found an old postcard with watercolor paper, and decided I was going to go as intense with my shading as I possibly could.

To start my watercoloring, I taped off the edges of the postcard to create a "frame" for interest. I used Distress Inks and Aqua Markers to color my image in. My image is from Heartfelt Creations, called "Fuchsias". After coloring in my image, I sponged in some Antique Linen and Old Paper Distress Inks along the bottom half and around the image, I painted a blue 'haze' with the Distress Ink, then sponged just a little of the Old Paper Distress Ink around the top half of the card.

I love how it turned out! I just have to seal it so that when I want to send it out to someone, if it rains or gets wet, it won't smear. 

I can't wait to see all the creations submitted this month and see how you all used the colors! Until then, happy Crafting!

Best Wishes!

 Welcome back, Friends!

I don't know about you, but I've always loved Altenew's stamps. I've been slowly collecting them over the last year, but I hadn't yet participated in one of their blog challenges, so I decided why not give it a whirl? 

Every month they challenge crafter's with a fun and inspiring photo or challenge. So this month, Altenew's February 2025 challenge is : Blue & Gold w/ Textures 

And here is their inspiration photo.

Gorgeous blues and a nice splash of a posh gold. What's not to love? I love that they decided to feature blues this month instead of pinks, reds, and whites for February. Nothing wrong with those colors, I love them myself, I just love a good challenge :)

I don't have many Altenew sets but I knew right away that I wanted to use the "Enjoy Your Journey" set. I stamped it out and colored it in with Copics, then I stamped out my sentiment from Altenew's "Gracious Peonies" set. Then I cut my image out with MFT's Stitched Rectangles dies, and matted it with Tim Holtz's Metallic Gold Cardstock, cut into a scalloped rectangle using MFT's Scalloped Mini Rectangle dies.

Obviously, I used a lot of Blues and added some gold touches in my image and coloring. For my Textures part of the challenge, I chose to use a shiny, smooth metallic cardstock as my texture for the challenge. It adds a bit of texture and sparkle to the card that I love!

Thank you for joining me and I'll see you next time I post my next project!

Yellow Roses

 There's a certain elegance to roses that I love. I am a lover of roses, and though they aren't my favorite flowers, I can certainly appreciate them. Their fragrance, form, and beauty. There's just nothing that compares to it when you walk through a garden of them.

I found this image of a couple rose stems in a glass vase on Amazon, from an unknown company and vender, but I just had to have it. I colored the image in with Copics and matted it underneath with Tim Holtz's 8x8 Metallic cardstock. Then I found some patterned paper from Paper Studio that had some gold design in it, and placed that under the gold matting cardstock. I matted everything in gold cardstock again and added some very small gold pearls at certain intersections of the gold and deep blue patterned paper.

I didn't add any sentiments on it, intending to use it for any upcoming Wedding or if I'm ever in need of a Sympathy card. I like to keep many of my cards blank on the inside incase I'm need of a card real quick and I can't create one fast enough. I like to have a few on hand for that reason.

Well, I'll see you next week and until then, take care!

Delight in the Unexpected

 I'm back with a new card and a happy surprise.

This month's card is inspired by Power Poppy's challenge this month : Going Sentimental.

I've been playing around with an idea to make a black and gold card for quite sometime, and after I saw this month's challenge, I knew I had to try to combine my idea with it. 

Speaking of Power Poppy, I'm both stunned and thrilled to find out that I won last month's Blossom Challenge on their blog! I sincerely can't believe it, they have such beautiful stamps!

I stamped out my card and watercolored it, then matted it with Tim Holtz's Metal Cardstock. I placed some Popdots under the gold cardstock to pop it off the black and gold patterned paper background and give it depth. I added some lace and back striped paper from Simple Stories called "Vintage Lakeside" to the black and gold patterned paper. I matted it all in more black and gold cardstock and placed three small black pearls on the card to complete the look.

Every card is a fantastic journey into learning something new or creating a unique look, and I love the process! There are days I get stuck, but I refuse to re-invent the wheel. Rather, I like to find the beauty in an image and enhance it as best as I can while still making sense. I think many of us feel pressured to create something amazing every time, but there's no need because every card is beautiful.

I hope you all have a great day and I'll see you all next week with another card!

On The Hop

Hi everyone! Are you ready for something a little different today? Well the Flourishes team decided that every Friday, we are all going to create a hop for you to join us as we offer you inspiration, tips, ideas, and virtual card eye candy for you to enjoy as you hop through! I'd say that's a pretty fantastic start your weekends!

So without further ado, here is my card. Our team leader, Vicki Dutcher, challenged us to use Gold on our creations this week, so that's what I did.

I stamped out A Mother's Hug sentiment on Flourishes Classic White cardstock, and heat embossed it in gold. Then I used various Spellbinders to create frames to frame the sentiment beautifully. I added metallic gold pearls in various places to re-emphasize the gold theme. I added the Maya Arts Taupe silk ribbon as an accent, under the sentiment label.

I hope I didn't go too overboard with the gold, but I love how it turned out!! I absolutely love mixing and combining Spellbinders dies to create lovely windows and creations like this.

Take a look to see what the other DT members have created with the challenge to use Gold on their cards and creations.

Amanda Havon - you are here!

Beverly Cole

Linda Lucas

Nancy Nickel

Naomi Gong

Vicki Dutcher

 

 

Happy crafting everyone, I'll see you next Friday on the hop, where the theme is "Add Some Sparkle"!

 

~ Amanda

 

Flourishes Release Week: Harp

Good morning, I hope you are enjoying Flourishes Release Week so far! Just today and tomorrow remaining until all the stamp sets are live in the Flourishes store!

Today am showing you another new set called Harp.

I stamped the Harp image onto Flourishes Classic White cardstock, and colored it in with Copic markers. Then I matted it using a gold foil background paper. I added a piece of ribbon and some gold pearls to accent my card.

What a regal image! There's no mistaking that beautiful image brings on my excitement for the Christmas holidays!

In honor of Flourishes, I am offering another blog prize during this Release Week! I am offering 3 Flourishes stamp sets, 2 yards of Flourishes May Arts Silk Ribbon: Mauve and Burgundy, plus some other laces and ribbons!

All you have to do is subscribe to my blog newsletter and leave a comment on ALL four days of the Flourishes Release Week. I will announce the winner August 14th. Be sure you remember to subscribe to my blog post emails, because you don't want to miss that announcement!


                                              Amanda Havon - you are here

Beverly Cole

Nancy Nickel

Naomi Gong

Vicki Dutcher

I hope you are as inspired by these ladies as I am! I'll see you back here tomorrow for the last day of our Release Week!!

~ Amanda

Flourishes Release Week: Glory to God

Good morning, are you ready for another beautiful image from Flourishes? Here we go!

This stamp image is from the Glory To God set, and it's beautiful!

I stamped out the Glory To God image onto Flourishes Classic White paper and colored it in with Copics.Then I die cut it out into a circle shape, matting it with my Spellbinders die shape. I added some gold ribbon and lace down the side, adding a few pearls and a peach rose button to complete my card.

Doesn't that card just make you want to celebrate Christmas, now? I know I do!

In honor of Flourishes, I am offering another blog prize during this Release Week! I am offering 3 Flourishes stamp sets, 2 yards of Flourishes May Arts Silk Ribbon: Mauve and Burgundy, plus some other laces and ribbons!

All you have to do is subscribe to my blog newsletter and leave a comment on ALL four days of the Flourishes Release Week. I will announce the winner August 14th. Be sure you remember to subscribe to my blog post emails, because you don't want to miss that announcement!

Please check out the other talented ladies here on the Flourishes Design Team, and see what they have created with the Glory To God stamp set!

                        Amanda Havon - you are here

Beverly Cole

Nancy Nickel

Naomi Gong

Vicki Dutcher

I hope you are inspired and ready to come back tomorrow for another new stamp release from Flourishes!

~ Amanda

Timeless Tuesday: Silver or Gold

Good morning Flourishes friends! Did you have a nice Thanksgiving? Are you ready for Christmas? It's right around the corner and to get ready for it, our hostess Cindy is challenging us to create a card with : Silver or Gold! 

I love to decorate with both colors for Christmas, but I decided to use Gold, for my card color focus.

I used Flourishes "Poinsettia and Pine" image with Flourishes "Paperwhites" sentiment, stamped onto Flourishes Classic White cardstock in gold ink. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out the Poinsettia and Pine cut file shape, that I stamped on to and popped up on pop dots. Then I used a punch with a few diecuts, ribbon, a paper doily, and a metallic gold design paper to create and finish my card.

Cindy

Heather
Broni 
Denise
Ally 

Karen Wallace - November's Guest Designer