52 Week Photography Challenge- Weeks 15 and 16

Here I am, playing catch up again. I had a photo for last week's prompt, I just never got around to posting, so here goes.

Week 15's prompt is family. We have spent a lot of time with family this month between a baptism, Easter celebrations, a birthday celebration and my daughter's first communion. This photo is from one of our Easter celebrations and it is of my father-in-law and two of his grandsons.

The week 16 prompt was water. I ended up going back to the beginning of the month because I love how this photo of my nephew being baptized turned out.

Thanks for stopping by to check my photos, Hopefully I'll be back next week with a photo for "In Bloom."

May Calendar Page

Hello! Can you believe it is the end of April already?! It sure doesn't feel like it around here, but it sounds like the weather will take a turn for the better in a few days.

I have completed my calendar layout for May and it really got me thinking about warmer weather! I started with this sketch from Stick it Down:

There wasn't really any spots for patterned paper in this sketch, so the only patterned paper I used was for cutting the title. I started the layout by brushing gesso over the two sheets of cardstock. After that dried, I scribbled some green and blue gelatos on a piece of plastic, sprayed them with water and then smooshed them onto my layout. I splattered and sprayed some pink mist. After all of that dried, I decided to add another layer of the gelatos. I then attached my photos, stamped some journaling lines and added the recap of the month. The die cuts and stickers are all from the Pebbles Fun in the Sun collection. Some washi tape and rub ons completed my page.

I was also inspired by the Pinspired challenge at Paper Issues:

The colors are so bright and fun! I also love the striped lollipop in the center and used a multi color striped paper for my title.

Materials:

Cardstock- American Crafts

Patterned Paper, die cuts, stickers, enamel dots- Pebbles

Rub ons- Basic Grey

Stamp- Stampin Up

Ink- Stampin Up, Heidi Swapp

Gelatos- Faber Castell

Pens- Sharpie, Uniball Signo

Gesso- Liquitex

Tape- Pinkfresh Studios

Font- Quigley Wigley

Birthday card- Fusion

Hello again! I have another card to share today. This time it is a birthday card inspired by the sketch and inspiration photo from Fusion:

I made two cards like this, one for my mom and one to save for later. I started by stamping the roses on vellum. I again used the Vintage Flowers set. After I had stamped everything and the ink was still wet, it didn't look great. I left it alone for several hours and when I came back, the ink was dry and the flowers looked beautiful! Patience pays off! I used grey cardstock for my background. I added some texture to it with a striped embossing folder. I finished off the card front with a stamped and heat embossed sentiment on coordinating cardstock and a couple of stick on pearls.

First Communion Card- Mojo Monday #493

Hello again! We are gearing up today to celebrate my second daughter's First Communion. I made a card for her using the sketch this week at Mojo Monday:

I used my Cricut and the "New Testament" cartridge to cut the chalice.  I heat embossed one layer. For the topmost layer, I used a gold Gelato and a water brush to give it some shimmer. I finished it off with gold Liquid Pearls. The host is simply a circle with a small cross drawn on it. I used some vellum for the background and a strip of velour ribbon. An embossed sentiment finished off the front of the card.

Here is a closer look at the chalice. I am really happy with how the different golds turned out.

Retirement card- Sketch Saturday #459

Hello and happy Friday! I hope you have had a great week! We are gearing up for a big celebration here, but I wanted to share some cards I made earlier this week. I used this sketch from Sketch Saturday:

I made a retirement card and a Father's Day card. We have so many birthdays and anniversaries in our family in June and early July, I decided to get a bit of a head start and make a card with the same design. 

I stamped and heat embossed the image on some cream cardstock. I then watercolored the paper with some yellow ink. To make the clock face glossy, I colored over it with my Versamark pen and heat embossed it with clear powder. I did this two more times to get the desired thickness and shine. I then inked the edges of the piece. For the background, I stamped a plaid stamp in a subtle shade to add some texture. The sentiment was stamped and heat embossed as well. I matted all of the pieces on dark brown and finished off the card with some gold ink splatters.

Birthday Card- Rainbow Challenge

Hello and Happy Easter! He is Risen! I have a fun spring birthday card to share today. I used the Altenew Painted Butterflies stamps for this card. I pulled three shades of each color to stamp the butterflies. I then blended Faded Jeans Distress Oxide ink onto the card. I splattered a little water onto the ink for some added interest and texture. I finished it off with a heat embossed sentiment.

I was inspired by the current challenge from CAS-ual Fridays: Rainbows.  Thanks for stopping by!

First Birthday Card- Stick it Down

Hello! Welcome back! I have another card to share today that I made for my niece who turns 1 today! I started with this inspiration photo from The Card Concept:

I coupled that with this sketch from Stick it Down:

And I came up with this. When I saw the different shades of purple, my mind immediately went to Alcohol Inks. I cut the balloons here from some acetate with gold foil polka dots. I then used purple alcohol ink and blending solution to color them. I used Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide ink to stamp the background. I hit that with a mist of water and splattered some turquoise ink on the background. I then attached two of the balloons directly to the card and two I popped up with some white craft foam cut into the same shape. Some twine strings finished off the card.

Shower Card- Altenew Inspiration Challenge

Hello all! I have a card to share today that was inspired by a new (to me) challenge. This month Altenew has an inspiration challenge:

The colors for this challenge are beautiful and I need to make a shower card for a wedding where the colors are navy and gold so I felt they worked pretty well. I used the Vintage Flowers stamp set. I found three shades of blue and two of green. I used Versamark and gold embossing powder for the outlines to add some elegance. I finished off the card with a stamped and heat embossed sentiment and a couple of strips of ribbon across the top of my card. 

52 Week Photography Challenge- Weeks 12-14

Happy (holy) Good Friday to all of you! I've fallen a few weeks behind on the photography challenge, but I've finally put together the photos for this post.

First up is Week 12, which was Far Away. My kids decided to play a little soccer at the park with another kid who was there.

The Week 13 prompt was Black and White. This one is from a newborn shoot that I did a couple of weekends ago.

Week 14 (which I am a few weeks early on) is Light. This shot is from the same night at the park as the one above, but I tried shooting into the sun and I thought this one turned out pretty cool.

And, for my own reference, the list:

April Calendar Page

Hello all! I am (finally!) here with my April calendar page. I, once again, didn't plan ahead very well and ended up scrambling into the new month to complete it. I started with last month's sketch from Stick it Down:

I had planned to follow the sketch closer, but when I edited and printed my photos, I didn't double check my sizes and orientations, so I ended up with different sized and shaped photos than what the sketch called for. I went with it and made what I had work with the sketch. I splattered some spray ink on my background for interest. I used some Distress Stains and water to color my pieces for the "Just Add Watercolor" collection. A few patterened paper scraps and some acetate die cuts were scattered around the page. I cut my title with my Cricut. 

I was also inspired by the Take 5 challenge at Paper Issues:

I used yellow, numbers (on my photos for the dates), stars, cardstock, and buttons.

Two Cards- CAS(E) this Sketch #215

 Hello! Welcome to a new week and a new month! I am so excited that it is April! The days are getting longer and warmer and the world is starting to green up!

I have two cards to share today, both inspired by this week's sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch:

First up is a Baptism card I made for my nephew. I started with a mask and used Faded Jeans Distress Oxide ink and an ink blending tool. I then spritzed the ink with a bit of water to add some more textures. I cut the cross with my Cricut and the New Testament cartridge. I pressed each piece into Versamark ink and then heat embossed it with silver powder before attaching it to my card. I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment and finished off the card with a piece of silver rick rack.

Next up is a springy birthday card. I stamped a script background stamp on my card base with pale blue ink for some texture. I then stamped the stems and flowers. When I first stamped the yellow flower on the card, I wasn't happy with how it looked, so I stamped it on some scrap cardstock and fussy cut it and attached it with some foam tape. I did the same for the flower center for the pink flower. I finished off the card with a stamped and heat embossed sentiment.