Flowery Birthday For Three Challenges

Today I was inspired by three different challenges and out of that came this sweet, and kind of summer-y, card.

First, I went over to Poppystamps (#psc142) to play along with them, and I found that their challenge this month is "Anything Goes." The only thing you have to do is to include at least one of their products. Easy peasy! Then I check in on Time Out Challenges #322 and found that their theme was "Seasonal Colors Where You Live." Since I'm in Florida, it's still very sunny and green here and the flowers are still in bloom in my yard. And the skies are blue, which is why I added blue in the background.  Lastly, I wanted to play along with Retro Rubber#280 (#rrcb280) and found that they have a sketch challenge, which was perfect to tie all of this together. You always have to use a stamp that's older than a year, and my "celebrate" stamp is one that I picked up at a yard sale over 5 years ago. It's part of a set of many birthday greetings, although I don't know the brand.

The whole idea for this card started when I found the two half-circles (green dots and yellow scallop) in my stash. For the shape in Retro Rubber I thought that a split circle would be nice, and it's a great way to use with flowers from Poppystamps.

Here's my supply list:

• Poppystamps Nordic Flower Bunch Die Set
• Stampin' Up! Lemon Lolly Card Stock
• SU! Daffodil Delight Card Stock
• SU! Cucumber Crush Card Stock
• Michaels 60# White Card Stock
• Unknown Red Rubber Stamp (bought 5 years ago)
• Big Box Blue Dotted Paper
• Papertrey Blueberry Sky Card Stock
• Unknown Green Patterned Paper
• Sizzix Scallop Die
• Newton's Nook Green Dotted Paper
• Versamark Ink
• Michaels Yellow Glitter Embossing Powder

This was a bit of a tedious card to make, but it was a lot of fun. Thanks so much to all of the great challenges out there that really inspire me! And thank you for stopping by! I hope you have a wonderful day! 

Stencil Fun With Poppy Stamps

Today's card was made with two very special challenges in mind. I recently purchased some great products from Poppy Stamps and have been having so much fun with them. And this month they've got a great challenge to play along with titled "Things with Wings." I believe they have two winners a month and you can win some free stuff from their store!

And I'm also playing along with Stencil Fun. It really is a fun challenge that requires you to use stencils. I absolutely love the look of stenciling, but I still feel like I'm in my learning phase as I'm fairly new to using them. But what a better way to improve than to just get stenciling! Their optional theme this month is "butterflies" and with this pretty butterfly in the center of the card it will fit right in.

Here's a tiny tip that I learned while using this single stencil. You can get three "rubs" out of one masking. It's real easy to mask off areas of the stencil using washi tape. I also washi taped two edges. I used the stencil three times without having to remask. I simply pulled up the washi tape edges and put them on a fresh sheet of paper. I started with a lighter green and moved on to a darker green (top right). I plan on saving that one for Christmas.

Here are the main products I used:

• Poppy Stamps Nordic Blooms Stencil
• Poppy Stamps Nordic Belle Butterfly Craft Die*
• Poppy Stamps Tender Script Happy Birthday Die
• Various Inks from Stampin' Up!
• Various Card Stock from SU! & Michaels
• White Paper with Gold Dots (Joann)

*this is currently unavailable, but they have several other butterflies that are just as pretty!

Here's a closer look at the detail of the butterfly.  All of their Nordic Designs are so pretty!

Be sure to jump over and play along!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!