Found another challenge site to enter called Make My Monday Challenge​ with the theme "For A Guy -  Any Age."

I'm in a Distress Oxide background phase, so bear with me as this is my third card using the smoosh background technique!  I've always loved backgrounds so I am naturally drawn to this technique.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Framescape Tropical Skies (Gina K)
Paper:  Strathmore Watercolor, Hammermill Color, Copy, Cover
Accessories:  Bluepring Sketch, Mermaid Lagoon, Squeezed Lemonade, Carved Pumpkin (Ranger Distress Oxide), Lawn Cuts Stitched Frame Dies (Lawn Fawn), Foam Mounting Tape (3M), Scotch Advance Tape Glider

Thanks for Stopping By!

XOXO

LYN

Another one card for two challenges!  Woo hoo!  I'm on a roll here!

This one was especially inspiring since I'm living in Florida by the sea for a few months!  The two challenge sites are:

​The Library Challenge - Gifts of the Sea Challenge #38

and

The Male Room - Surf's Up Challenge #116

My card used two classic A Muse Studio stamp sets.  Anyone who is a lover of A Muse will remember these sets.  I especially love the background smoosh using Distress Oxide inks on watercolor paper that remind me of a swirling, moving ocean!

Here's two close ups that show the dimension of the elements:

Adding the two dimensional areas diagonally from each other helped tie in the school of fish.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Sealed with a Fish (Still Available) & You're a Lifesaver (A Muse Studio)
Papers:  Strathmore Watercolor, Hammermill Cover, Copy, Color
Accessories:  Mermaid Lagoon, Blueprint Sketch, Evergreen Bough (Ranger Distress Oxide), Prisma Glitter (Lawn Fawn), Quickie Glue Pen (Sakura), Tombow Markers


Thanks for Stopping By!

XOXO

LYN

Saw the Just Us Girls Challenge first and was happy I have one adorable elephant stamp here in Florida.  Then, I saw the Just Add Ink challenge and thought I could create one card for both challenges!  Simple, right???  Wrong!!!

Ultimately, I'm very happy with the vision I had for this card design.  I'm always talking about the process of designing a card and where the journey takes me.  This one almost threw me for a loop because of the tilted square!  The size of the elephant really posed some interesting challenges, but that's part of participating in challenges that "challenge" me!

After hours of pondering and playing with different ideas for the tilted square, I decided to create a pocket to make it interactive.  The little bow is packaging from a local boutique!

Another challenge I placed upon myself was to use as many papers in the 6x6 Cupid Reverse Confetti paper pad as I could!  Why?  I don't know, just for the fun of it.  I love 6x6 paper pads because every paper goes together!  Here's a photo of the pulled tag.  Maybe I'll fold some cash behind the tag for a gift!

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Ella & Friends Stamps & Dies (Mama Elephant), Framelets w/Stamps (Stephanie Barnard - Sizzix)
Papers:  Cupid 6x6 Paper Pad (Reverse Confetti), Hammermill Color, Copy, Cover, Strathmore Watercolor
Accessories:  Tombows scribbled on acetate and water colored, Deep Iris Crisp Dye Ink (Alt&New), Hearts Die Strip (A Muse Studio), Foam Mounting Squares (Scrapbook Adhesive), ScorTape (ScorPal), Zig Two-Way Glue (Kuretake)


Thanks for Stopping By!

XOXO

LYN

Here's the thing, I don't typically like shaker cards because of all the fuss, but I'm in Florida for a few months and I couldn't resist attempting a card!  My trick is to diecut two circles of fun foam along with the cardstock circle frame. I used dots of Tombow Mono Glue to adhere the frames.  It worked great and there were no sticky edges to deal with.  I think I will be okay creating shaker cards from now on!

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Tickled Pink (Fun Stampers Journey)
Papers:  Strathmore Watercolor, Poodle Skirt (Martha Stewart)
Accessories:  Tombow Markers, Versafine Spanish Moss, Prisma Glitter (Lawn Fawn), Lawn Cuts (Lawn Fawn), Versafine Onyx Black, Sequins (my stash)

Thanks for Stopping By!

XOXO

LYN

Here's my motivation for this first time challenge called "Shopping Our Stash."  There's only a few days left in July for creating Christmas in July themed cards!!!  After that, I'm done 'til December when I prefer to crunch Christmas...!!!

I'm a life-long resident of Upstate New York and absolutely know about the winter season and especially Christmas time.  Skies are dark and dramatic which is what prompted this card design.  I smooshed Distress Oxides onto watercolor paper to begin my card background. 

​I always love where a design takes me.  You can actually see a hill in the background which was completely random.  I'm totally happy with the sentiment ink as I didn't want it to be loud and bold.  This is a quiet wood scene such as we'd find along a snowmobile trail.  I did splatter with silver acrylic paint.  Super happy with this card.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Winter Woods (SU)
Paper:  Strathmore Watercolor
​Accessories:  Hickory Smoke, Tattered Rose, Blueprint Sketch (Distress Oxide), Ultramarine Crisp Dye Ink (Alt&New), VersaMark Ink (Tsukineko), White Embossing Powder (Hero Arts), Bright Silver Acrylic Paint (Craftsmart), Anti Static Pouch (Ranger), Brush for Splatters (Wonder Forest)

Thanks for Stopping By!

XOXO

LYN

First time entering this challenge site!  Fun times!  I utilized a trick I saw online when stamping multi-layered images.  Of course I now can't find the video I'm referring to but I believe it was from Alt&New using the Misti.  

Here's the gist of the trick.  This particular stamp set has 3 images for the flower and 3 images for the leaves.  Rather than stamp the first image, clean it, pull it off, stamp the 2nd image and repeat with the 3rd image, do this:

Cut cardstock into a square shape (mine was 4-1/4 x 4-1/4).  Stamp the first image in one corner.  Turn the cardstock square one turn, re-ink the same stamp and stamp the first image again.  Repeat turning the cardstock square two more times for a total of 4 images.  You may not need 4 images but you might as well stamp extras.  Clean the stamp and place the 2nd stamp to layer on the Misti.  Do the same steps.  Repeat for the 3rd layer.  This trick is so efficient!

​You may already know this trick, but I swear I sometimes think I live under a rock, so I'm feeling pretty sassy knowing this cool tip!

Below is a close up of the blue watercolor wash background.  I taped off a border using painter's tape.  The color plays well off of the oranges and yellows.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Beautiful Day Stamp & Die Bundle (Alt&New), First Frost Sentiment (SU)
Papers:  Strathmore Watercolor
Accessories:  Inks - Marigold, Orange Cream, Snapdragon, Lime, Fresh Leaf, Parrot, Iceberg (Alt&New Crisp Dye Inks), Gray Flannel (Memento), Fitted Frames (Stampendous), Watercolor (Koi)

Thanks for Stopping By!

XOXO

LYN

Working two challenges in one card!

Simple, sweet, no fuss, no muss...

​Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Dragonfly Dreams (SU), Beautiful You (SU), Bold Stripe (A Muse Studio)
Paper:  Hammermill Cover, Copy, Color Cardstock
Accessories:  Marigold, Fuchsia, Warm Sunshine (Altenew Crisp Dye Ink), Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko)

Thanks for Stopping By!

xoxo

LYN

First time posting to this challenge site!  I was intrigued by the 2" or less sized images.  What a fun challenge!!!!

I used colored pencils and Gamsol mineral spirits to color the frog, it's crown and the little bugs.  The diecut circle was blended with Distress Ink.  So glad I got to play with this stamp set as it's been sitting in my stash for awhile.

Here's a close up of the bits of gold splatters I used to play off of the crown.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  So Hoppy Together (SU)
Papers:  Hammermill Color, Copy, Cover Cardstock
Accessories:  Color Pencils (Tombow), Gamsol Mineral Spirits (Gamblin), Blending Stump (US Art Supply), Circle Die (A Muse Studio), Versafine Onyx Black, Broken China (Ranger Distress), Nuvo Crystal Drops Pale Gold (Tonic Studios)


Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo

LYN

There's a few hours to go before this challenge deadline closes and it looks like I just made it!  Somewhere this past week, I saw a post for a card design (SU) and I liked it so much I sketched it in my notebook.  This design went through a few re-takes but I love how it finally came together!  It's so feminine.

Here's a closeup of the pretty sparkly-ness created with silver tinsel embossing powder.  The diecut sentiment is cut from metallic silver cardstock.  Even the card base has a metallic sheen!

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Everlasting Happiness (Alt&New)
Papers:  Metallics (Recollections), Hammermill Copy, Color, Cover
Accessories:  Swiss Dots Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug), Tombow Markers, Waterbrush (Alt&New), Zig Two-Way Glue (Kuretake)


Thanks for stopping by!!!

XOXO

LYN

I see stuff, I make stuff as inspired by challenges out there and I'm loving the heightened creative design process this invokes.  My list of challenges this week also revealed I could respond to yet another two challenges using one idea, which surprised the heck out of me.

Here are the two challenges I'm responding to:

Let me tell you what inspired me within these two challenges.  The first one I saw was the Inspired By... and the s'mores picture just totally put me at Christmas for some reason.  Then, when I saw the TGIF Challenges post for a Christmas challenge, I couldn't believe how this all worked out for the inspiration I needed to design for both of these challenges.

​Here is my sweet little tag:

We often make tags but this is actually a tag card that has a top fold so there's a little more interest going on.  I actually started the entire project with the checked stencil pattern that I inked with blending brushes.  To construct the tag card, I cut cardstock 11 x 3 and scored at 5-1/2 and folded it in half.  To diecut the tag, the top of the die was placed slightly beyond the fold so that top fold area remained uncut. 

​I love the process of this tag creation!  There's so many little special parts of this tag.  A favorite section is the tiny tags at the top along with the twig button (made by my brother inlaw!), red/white twine and scrap wax string from packaging.

The inside of the tag just needed more red/white check leftover from the inked stencil.

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Forest Friends (A Muse Studio), Crazy Talk (Stampers Anonymous)
Papers:  Oatmeal (Unknown), Hammermill Copy, Cover, Cover, Welcome Home (Carta Bella)
Accessories:  Grid Stencil (Alt&New), Gingham Embossing Folder (Cricut Cuttlebug), Tags (Sizzix), Tree Line Hill (Poppy Stamps), Stitched Tag (MFT Stamps), Love Letter Ink (Memento), Vintage Sepie (Versafine), Vintage Photo (Distress Ink), Blending Brushes (Picket Fence), Prisma Glitter (Lawn Fawn), Quickie Glue Pen (Sakura), Foam Mounting Squares (Scrapbook Adhesives), Tombow Mono Glue

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

LYN