You Inspire Me

Happy Saturday!  I always enjoy the process of creating with photo inspirations.  This week Stacy is taking us to QiQi gallery.  The gallery is gorgeous and it didn't take me long to find my inspiration!   Splitcoaststampers has daily challenges, tons of inspiration, tutorials, and it's free to play along so I hope you will join us HERE!  

The September Picket Fence Studios release has so much crafty goodness, I couldn't wait to share more!  I am featuring sentiments from Crafty Mail.  It's such a fun set for card fronts, insides and envies!  

I adore this sentiment and it looks great on the back of the envelope!  

Crafty Mail

  Picket Fence Studios has provided a set of the three sizes of Circle Mask/Stencils which I get to give away to one lucky winner.  Leave me a comment by 9/20 at 10:00 pm telling me if you have ever stamped art on an envelope and I will pick a random winner on 9/21. For more chances to win enter each time I share a post with Picket Fence Studios stamps until the deadline!

Here is a look at all the new products in the fabulous September release!

Picket Fence September Release Day & a Giveaway

It's Release Day at Picket Fence Studios and I am super excited to share fabulous new stamps and stencils with you!  

First up is the darling polar bear set, A Bear Kind of Winter.  I created a winter scene with the 3 1/2 Blending Circle Stencil.  The blending circle stencil is such a fun tool it includes the stencil and a circle mask!  I tapped my inky "Life Changing" Blender Brush on the plastic stencil before blending on cardstock to keep from getting a harsh starting point on the cardstock.  The blotted ink on the stencil can be used for more blending.  I think these bears are a hoot and it's fun that they face different directions so there is no need for a mirror image technique.  

For the inside, I stamped this cute bear and a single snowflake from the set. 

"Life Changing" Blender Brush        A Bear Kind of Winter

       

#3 Blending Circle Stencil

Next up is All that Glitters!  Isn't this an amazing stamp?  I used embossing glitter so IRL this card is super sparkly!   For the greeting in the center, I stamped the sentiment from String of Lights since there is enough space between the words it was super easy to mask and create a double lined sentiment out of the single line then I added the bell from the dangling light image included in the same set.

The dangling lights are just too fun not to feature more fully so I created envelope art by stamping the lights on the envie.

All That Glitters                             String of Lights

Now for the prize info!  Picket Fence Studios has provided a set of the three sizes of Circle Mask/Stencils to give away to one lucky winner!!  Leave me a comment by 9/20 at 10:00 pm telling me what is your favorite way to use a circle on your  art projects and I will pick a random winner!  I will announce the winner on 9/21.  Stop by tomorrow as I will share a fun way to use these sweet circle stencils and masks!

Here is a look at all the new products in the fabulous September release!

Where There are Octobers

Fall is just around the corner so it seems like a good time to get creative with the new stamp set Eat Pie by The Project Bin.  The sentiments in this set are bold and chunky to thin and dainty with everything in between!  I decided I was in a dainty mood and wanted to really show off this sentiment without distractions so I went with a single layer card.  I love it when I can combine sets as I did on this card with the leaf from the New Leaf set.

Since this is a single layer card, I colored the leaves with Inktense Pencils so there was no bleed-through of the ink.  

I love the look of cursive and print on this fun sentiment!  

I hope you enjoy the change of season and look forward to October!

New Leaf                                                  Eat Pie

Handmade Hugs

I am this week's hostess for the IC challenge at Splitcoaststampers which means I get to pick the site we visit for our inspiration.  I happened upon a DIY blog with exquisite photos and fun DIY projects.  I always enjoy learning about the sites we visit so I clicked the "about" button and learned that Paper & Stitch is based in Atlanta.  She even has travel pics of  Providence Canyon which is a fascinating park we visit now and then!  The photos on THIS page inspired my design.  

For my layout, I went with Freshly Made Sketch 353.   I stamped and die cut several sweet floral/stem images from My Favorite Things Painted Prints and Die-namics Painted Prints then adhered them on a frame using the Wonky Stitched Square Stax Die_namics. I have been admiring the "Painted" floral sets by MFT for some time so I was excited to create with this set!  I used a sentiment from the Lots Of Hugs set which also has a coordinating Die-namics set, Twice the Hugs but I did not use it on this card.

I hope to see you at the Inspiration Challenge Gallery this week!

(compensated affiliate links used where possible at no cost to you. All products personally purchased.)

Beware of the Cat

It's my turn to feature a post on the Picket Fence Studios Blog today and I have two cards to share featuring my favorite subject, the cat!  I simply love cats; each one is unique and completely interesting! Take one look at the fantastic cat in the Wicked Together set and you know this cat has a lot of cattitude!   I just love her so much that one card just wasn't enough to show all of her sides!

For the first card, I went with a clean and simple look and showed off her spooky side. I used the very thin brush from the "Life Changing" Blender Brush set to create a spooky shadow.

For the next card, I created a midnight sky full of color to show off her nocturnal side.  To create the midnight sky I masked off the moon. With the fabulous "Life Changing" Blender Brushes, I added color around the moon starting off with a very light Salty Ocean followed by Picked Raspberry, Seedless Preserves and Blueprint Sketch Distress Inks.  I added die cut tree branches for prime moon bathing then stamped a couple of bats from the set.  I wanted just the last part of the sentiment so I masked off "never mind the witch" and stamped "beware of the cat" on a tiny banner.  Don't you just want to know what she is thinking?

Thanks so much for stopping by, I hope you are inspired to create something cute and maybe a little spooky with something from the Picket Fence Studios Halloween sets!


With my first card, I am playing along with FS605.  Jo Anne has darling cards in her gallery and I found  THIS card with her hippo in the lower right corner.  For my card, I stamped my kitty on the same side of the card as Jo Anne did but I didn't repeat the sentiment on the side.  I am also playing along with:
  Simon Says Stamps Wednesday Challenge to STAMP something on our cards. :)

Life Changing Blender Brushes               Wicked Together

 Picket Fence Studios Halloween

Sweet Friends

 We had such a fun time this weekend with everyone home.  We hung out together, ate yummy food, and laughed a lot.  It was super sad Monday as our family time came to an end but as I gave our son a hug, I said, "Thanksgiving is next"!!  

Speaking of Thanksgiving, The Project Bin has a super cute new stamp set out to celebrate fall called Eat Pie.  The set includes six fun sentiments and two cute images. 

 I just love this pie image!  I sprinkled a bit of cinnamon on the

whipped topping to finish off the coloring. Simple white layers and a few enamel dots allow the sentiment and pie to grab all the attention!

I hope you had a nice weekend and enjoyed an extra day to rest now here's a look at the new set.

Eat Pie

Glitter and Plaid

I have discovered the secret to keeping comfortable despite the weather!  Create winter cards in the summer to cool you down and butterflies and flowers in the winter to keep the gloom away.  We are experiencing some of the most uncomfortable days of the summer right now so I enjoyed staying cool with today's card for the September Fan Club Christmas Challenge. 

The image is the very sweet A La Mode Sparkling Season from MFT.  Sadly she is retired but I think she is adorable!  I am continuing last year's love of plaid for Christmas cards and added a bit of sprkle with glitter paper.  The scallop border was made with one of the fabulous border dies in the Die-namics Stitched Basic Edges set.  

I hope your current season sparkles whether it's back to school or end of summer, enjoy the moment and toss some glitter around!

Die-namics Stitched Basic Edges

Real Simple

Today Julie is taking us to the Real Simple blog for our Inspiration Challenge this week.  In the spirit of Real Simple, I created a card that is just that, a simple one layer card. I masked off the edges of the card base and blended Distress Inks in Seedless Preserves, Fired Brick, Carved Pumpkin and Mustard Seed.  Then I went over the Seedless Preserves with just a hint of Blueprint Sketch to achieve a richer color.  To blend the inks with ease I used the fabulous Life Changing Blender Brushes from Picket Fence Studios.   For my inspiration, I found this photo which made me think of this fun image in the If the Broom Fits set by Picket Fence Studios.  With the MISTI it was a snap to stamp the image twice and add a sentiment.

I hope you enjoy the long weekend if you are in the US and maybe even carve out a little art time.  Yeah, I went there!  Ha!

I am also playing along with Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - Anything Goes.

Life Changing Blender Brushes

If the Broom Fits