In The City for FMS329

It's Sunday Fun day, and that means its time for another Freshly Made Sketches entry. I've been working all weekend on my swaps for Brian's Spring Stamp-Along, but I needed to take a break from repeating the same card 52 times (51 for the event, one as a backup). This week's sketch was a fun way to break up my mental fog!

This week's sketch:

Sometimes when I'm trying to follow a sketch, I will spend hours agonizing over my choice of stamp set. Today, I started to flip through my sets and found In The City and immediately I had an idea fully formed and ready to go. Even if I know what set I want to use, I normally change what I want to do with it a million times. Not today!

My card:

In the City is an exclusive hostess set in the 2017-2018 Annual Catalog. It has 60 (yes, 60!) photopolymer stamps that can make any kind of cityscape you could imagine. Houses, cars, planes...it even has fireworks and Storks making deliveries! This is an amazing set, and you only have 2 more months to add it to your collection if you haven't already.

- Flip it!
I knew I wanted to use the band in the sketch as a road leading to my neighborhood, but in order for the cars to be heading in the right direction, I had to flip the sketch around. Worked out great!
- Sponge it!
I used a roll of masking tape sitting on my craft table to make a template for my city area. Using my sponge daubers to blend Soft Sky ink inside the template made a perfect focal image.
- Stamp it!
  I stamped my buildings and trees on a spare bit of Whisper White and fussy cut with Paper Snips, and added them into the focal area using dimensionals for some depth.

I really like how this neighborhood came out, and that it came together quickly :)

Don't forget to check out the other amazing cards at the Freshly Made Sketches  blog, and come back to visit again soon!

Have a magical day!
Nina

Sunshine Wishes for the InKing Royalty Blog Hop

Welcome to InKing Royalty's March Blog Hop! Today's hop is filled to the brim with projects that celebrate Spring and Summer. With inspiration from Katrina & the Waves' song "Walking on Sunshine," we've created projects that share the joy and excitement that accompany warmer weather. We are excited to share our projects with you. After you read my post, I hope you'll hop over to the next person on the list at the base of this post.

For today's card, my biggest inspiration was my favorite things about spring: flowers and sunshine. Here in NC, it's been rainy/overcast for the past couple weeks. We even had snow! I'm ready for long days of sunshine and cool breezes, the perfect weather to enjoy outside for me. With that thought in mind, today's card:

A simple thinking-of-you card, showcasing the gorgeous Sweet Soiree paper and Sunshine Wishes dies. I love when I can let the DSP do most of the work for me, and this stack of paper does some heavy lifting. It's filled with beautiful flowers and cakes with foil accents, and it's truly gorgeous. The sunshine from the Sunshine Sayings dies is a perfect addition for this ode to spring. I made this card in a 5 1/2 square size to show as much of the paper as possible, like a garden of flowers. A big, cheery garden :) 


Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you'll hop along to the next stop on the blog hop, Shawn de Oliveira at Shawn Stamps. There's lots of inspiration to be found in this group - and you don't want to miss it!

Have a magical (hopefully sunshine-y) day!
Nina


Thank you for hopping along with us. If you get stuck during the Blog Hop, please use this line-up as a guide:

1. Brian King at Stamp with Brian
2. Candy Ford at Stamp Candy
3. Imogene Thomas at MomoMakes.com
4. Lisa Pretto at Ink Big Academy Stamps
5. Robbye Hamilton at Miss Hammie's Crafts
6. Sue Jackson at Just Peachy Stamping
7. Jackie Beers at Blue Line Stamping
8. Robin Myren at Songbird Designs by Robin
9. Nina King at InkPaperSequins
10. Shawn de Oliveira at Shawn Stamps
11. Pam Morris at Tap Tap Stamp
12. Denise Hoepfner at The Mountain Magpie
13. Julie DiMatteo at The Paper Pixie
14. Rachael Shedeed at Bluebonnet Stampin'
15. Jennifer Spiller at Westside Paper Creations
16. Lynn Kolcun at Avery's Owlery

Pals Blog Hop March 2018

Welcome to the Pals March 2018 Blog Hop. Our theme this month is “Spring has Sprung”. The Stampin’ Pretty Pals will inspire you with Spring or Spring-related projects. You may see floral, Easter or other general Spring-inspired designs. You may be just starting or hopped over from another Pal. In either case you’ll find the line-up toward the end of my post to help you move along.

Spring has certainly sprung here in North Carolina! The weather has warmed, the trees have bloomed...and we had snow here on Tuesday right in the middle of it. What a crazy week we've had!

Flowers are in season here on my blog today. When I think Spring, I always think flowers. They go so well with Easter projects, or Mother's Day...or any day really. Flowers are always "in".

 I made a little gift box using the Window Box Thinlits Dies, but I wanted to try something a tad different. I used the new Basket Weave embossing folder on the sides to make this into a basket, and I really love the look! I made the rolled paper flowers (in Pink Pirouette, Whisper White and So Saffron) using the largest Layering Circles die that I cut a spiral into and then rolled.  I added leaves using the leaf punch, and added some Glitter Enamel dots to the center of the flowers for a little sparkle.

But what's a gift box without a card?!

Of course there is a card! It's what we do :)

The coordinating card uses the Blossoming Basket stamp set. I watercolored the flowers in Pink Pirouette and So Saffron , and the leaves in Wild Wasabi to echo the box. The Crumb Cake Basket Weave panel ties it all together.

Thank you so much for hopping with the Stampin’ Pretty Pals today. Please take a minute to mark your calendar for our next hop on April 11, 2018 for our Family First Hop. Now hop along using the Blog Hop Line-up below. Don’t forget to leave us a comment. We really like that.

1. Mary Fish at Stampin' Pretty
2. Rae Harper-Burnet at Wild West Paper Arts
3. Wendy Klein at Doggone Delightful Stampin'
4. Corinne Blake at The Creative Compendium
5. Linda Suarez at All Night Stamping
6. Jackie Beers at Blue Line Stamping
7. Debbie Mageed at Secret Stamper
8. Brian King at Stamp with Brian
9. Stesha Bloodhart at Stampin' Hoot!
10. Su Mohr at Aromas And Art
11. Lori Pinto at LollyPop Paper and Ink
12. Peggy Noe at Pretty Paper Cards
13. Beth McCullough at Stamping Mom
14. Jennifer Spiller at Westside Paper Creations
15. Nina King at Ink Paper Sequins
16. Rosanne Mulhern at Heartfelt Stamping
17. Karen Hallam at Karen's Stampin' Habit!
18. Sara Hicks Stuart at Sentiments by Sara
19. Lisa Ann Bernard at Queen B Creations
20. Pamela Sadler at Stampin Pink Rose

I hope you enjoyed today's project, come back and visit again soon:)

Have a magical day!

Nina

Music and Butterflies for FMS327

Hey Everyone!

I'm playing along with Freshly Made Sketches 327 today, and I just love this sketch!

I really like the jaunty angle of the dividing line near the bottom, and using any shape opens up a lot of possibilities! I have a couple ideas for my OnStage swaps floating around, and for this card I am using a kind of mash-up of a couple of those.

My card:

I tend to forget to use my background stamps, so I really wanted to incorporate the lovely Sheet Music into this card. 

Watercoloring is a trend that has really exploded lately, and I love it so much! I wanted to do a multi color wash in the background, but I had stamped my music panel on regular Whisper White which isn't the optimal paper for adding water to. What's a girl to do? Gesso to rescue!

Awhile back I saw a great tip from Nicole Watt at Pixel Maven's Retreat for watercoloring on any paper using Gesso. It's so easy to do (and fun!) and I knew I needed to try it out for this card! I did experiment on several paper types to see how it would hold up, and it works great for everything but Shimmery White CS- it covers the shimmer right up.

After I did my watercoloring on the panel I glued it down on a panel of black and used my Stampin' Trimmer to trim the black close to the edges of the main panel. With a border this thin, it was the best way for me to keep it straight and tidy.

Instead of using a banner to make a the divided area at the bottom, I cut a 3/4" wide piece out of the main panel at an angle, which made a great space to stamp my sentiment in Whisper White Craft ink. I then used dimensionals to adhere the panels to the Berry Burst card base to add some depth and dimension. I used the medium butterfly from the Butterflies Thinlits to make the black butterfly, and I added some rhinestones for a little sparkle.

I really love how this card turned out, and it would work in so many different colors! I think I may try it in some blues and greens next :)

Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to check out the Freshly Made Sketches site for more inspiration.

Have a magical day!

Nina

Honey Bear for GDP#128

Hey there!

Today I'm playing along with Global Design Project, and this week is CASE the Designer - Steffi Helmschrott. For GDP, to CASE means Copy and Selectively Edit. You can find inspiration in the shape of the card, the design elements, colors - you choose what you want to incorporate in your project to make it your own.

Steffi's lovely card:

What a beautiful, crisp card!

My card today:

I liked the look of the long, skinny card and thought it would make a great base. I used a piece of Crumb Cake CS measuring 6"x7", scored at 3". I really liked how the focal image was off to the side, leaving a large white space at the other end.  I used the cute little bear from the A Little Wild set, and  I used the coordinating Little Loves dies to cut him out (with a little extra trim). I colored all the pieces with my Stampin' Blends, and adhered them to a panel (2 1/4"x 6 1/4") of Whisper White with a  watercolor wash of Soft Sky on one side. The grass and sentiment are stamped in Wild Wasabi, a beautiful lighter green. I used my Tombow Multi glue to adhere the focal panel to a piece of (2 1/2"x 6 1/2") Daffodil Delight, to add a little brightness. I used Stampin' Dimensionals to attach it to the card base.

Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope you'll go to the GDP site and check out all the wonderful artists taking inspiration from Steffi this week!

Have a magical day!

Nina

Thank You for FF0002

It's time for another challenge at Festive Friday, which is a fun new challenge blog. They have two ways to play...and you can earn points for free goodies! How fun is that?!


This week's challenge:

I decided to make a quick Thank You card using One Big Meaning that just came in my most recent order. I don't have a lot of thank you stamps, and I really wanted to get some options. Thank you cards are an absolute must to have on hand!

My card:

I have turned into such a fangirl for Pool Party lately. I just want to use it for everything! For this card I wanted to really let the DSP shine, and Whole Lot of Lovely is a beautiful collection of papers. I used a strip of Tranquil Tide behind the sentiment, and to fancy it up a bit I used the Ticket Tear punch to give it some extra texture. A little Crushed Curry bakers twine, and it's ready to go.

Thanks for stopping by!
Nina

Sweet and simple for FabFri131

Today I'm sharing a card I made for Fab Friday 131. I've been trying to participate in challenges to help get my creative juices flowing when I sit down in my craft room. I'm blessed to have a lot of options to choose from...but sometimes that makes it harder! I want to use all of it, all of the time but challenges help to focus me on something particular and makes it easier to create.
 When I saw the sketch this week I immediately thought of my favorite punch...the Triple Banner punch. I can't believe I waited so long to get this one, I use it all of the time!
Today's card:

I tried to keep this one super simple and quick, and I did that by using our Whisper White notecards. Pre-scored with an envelope included, these are great when you need a last minute card or just to make a lot of cards quickly.
The Petal Passion DSP is gorgeous in all its original black and white glory, but its a perfect paper to add color to. I love our new Stampin' Blends, and I have been using them often. For this card, I colored random white dots with the Dark Pink Pirouette (thanks, Brian King!)
The flowers I used are from the Better Together set, a very versatile set with greetings for several occasions, and several images. I made these flowers by using the single flower stamp and the masking technique to make them a cluster. So easy and fun! I colored them with a combination of the Pink Pirouette and Rich Razzleberry blends, and used Old Olive for the leaves.
FabFrid131 sketch I used as inspiration:

Thank you for stopping by today. I hope you'll check out all the wonderful projects using this sketch as inspiration at the Fab Friday challenge blog.

Have a magical day!

Nina