Dandelions, Catcus and Sunflowers

 Hello and welcome.  Today I'd like to share a few cards I've made in the last week using stamps that have never been used before (NBUS).  With all that's still going on in the world, and my health, I'm finding my coloring and crafting is giving me some peace of mind.  I'm still not happy with all that's going on in Ukraine.  Somebody needs to stop that madman before he bombs all of Europe.  Hopefully, something will come out of the NATO talks this week but I'm not going to hold my breath.  However, I digress.

My first card is made using all scraps and turned out to be a cute little note card using Lawn Fawn's set Dandy Day Flip Flop along with the matching dies.  Now where I live, the calendar says it's officially spring, however, someone forgot to tell Mother Nature.  We are jumping from the 60's to almost the 90's this week then dropping 20+ degrees next week.  I've got dandelions growing all over the place in my front yard and this card reminds me of them.  I started out by stamping everything twice on scrap Neenah white card stock before coloring using Castle Arts colored pencils before die cutting the second set of images.  Once everything was colored, and die cut, I layered the main image panel onto black scrap card stock then onto a small turquoise piece for the card.  I then popped up the die cut images (even those little itty bitty pieces) before adding a small scrap of bakers twine.  As an afterthought, I took a black artist pen and added some hand drawn birds (don't laugh), faux brads and faux stitching around the edges.

Challenges entered:

 

Pixies Snippets Playground #424 - Use Those Snippets 

Hero Arts March - Send A Hug 

Daring Cardmakers - Hello Spring 

Dream Valley #266 - Springtime 

 

My second card uses a set from Newton's Nook that I've been dying to use called Cuppa Cactus and the matching dies.  I started out stamping my images twice onto some scrap Neenah white card stock to make into a one layer card before coloring using the Castle Arts pencils.  Once my coloring was finished, I die cut the images before popping them up using dimensionals and stippling some Tim Holtz distress inks around them using my Picket Fence blending brushes.  As an afterthought, I'm good for those, I took my one layer card and adhered it onto scrap green card stock before adding the faux stitching/faux brads using a black artist pen.  I kind of like how it turned out doing that.

Challenges entered:

Never Before Used Schtuff #36 - Use Your NBUS 

Splitcoaststampers F4A630 - Hello Spring (I went with Spring in the desert)

Inspiration Station #26 - Rainbow (inspired by colors of inspiration pic)

Newton's Nook Inky Paws #169 - Think Spring (I went with Spring in the desert)

 

Inspiration Station

Newton's Nook Inky Paws Challenge

My third card uses the Sunflower Power digital image from Power Poppy as part of their Sunflowers For Ukraine images.  I started out by combining the sunflower, and saying, in a watermark program before printing onto Hammermill white card stock.  I then colored the image using Castle Arts colored pencils before softly blending Tim Holtz stormy sky distress ink around the edges using Picket Fence blending brushes.  I then layered my colored image before adding some vintage brads then adding to a summer sun card.  I wanted to keep my sunflower card as simple as possible so the image and saying stood out on their own.

Challenges entered:

 

Word Art Wednesday #535 to 536 - Anything Goes Uplifting 

Jan's Digital Stamps March - Anything Goes 

Colour Crazy Craft Wk 11 - Anything Goes Coloring 

CD Sunday Plus #81 - Anything Goes Digital 

 

Thanks for stopping by today.  Have a great week.

Dandelion Card

Stamps: Lawn Fawn

Ink: Memento Black; Tim Holtz Tumbled Glass Distress

Card Stock: Scraps

Accessories: Twine, Micro Pop Dots, Castle Art Pencils, Black Artist Pen, PFS Blending Brushes

Coffee Cactus Card

Stamps: Newton's Nook

Ink: Memento Black; Tim Holtz Tumbled Glass, Tea Dye; Adirondack Caramel

Card Stock: Scraps

Accessories: Castle Arts Pencils, Dimensionals, PFS Blending Brushes

Sunflower Card

Stamps: Power Poppy

Ink: Tim Holtz Stormy Sky

Card Stock: Hammermill White; Stampin Up; Scraps

Accessories: Computer, Printer, Castle Arts Pencils, Brads, Glue Dots