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Color Hues #40

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Hard to believe there have been 40 challenges now at the Color Hues Challenge! Carol has chosen the colors for the next round:

CH #40-Blue and Tan.001 (1)

It's a lovely color combination, but I struggled this time to come up with an idea for a card. I finally settled on a design from an old favorite from Simon Says, "Be Kind," and pulled out my Polychromos colored pencils. I used some Stonehenge paper made for colored pencils for the leaves, and then discovered a pad of colored Stonehenge that had the perfect shade of tan.

BlueTanFlat

The blue card base is actually a lighter blue than it appears in the photo. Try as I might I couldn't get the color quite right; so strange since all the rest of the colors are quite accurate. After coloring the image, I die cut it and the tan mat with Pinkfresh Studio's "Mini Slimline Essentials." The sentiment is from Sugar Peas "Everyday Sentiments" and is die cut with My Favorite Things "Itty Bitty Strips," which is proving to be a very handy set of dies.

BlueTanClose

The Design Team and our Guest Designer, Shawna, have a wide variety of wonderful cards to showcase this color combination, so hop over to take a look. And please join in!

 

 

 

 

Color Hues #39

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Tracey has chose great spring colors for this round of the Color Hues Challenge. 

CH #39 Anim.

The day my Spellbinders "Bouquet of Flowers" arrived, I knew exactly what I wanted to do for this challenge.

PurpleGreen

I started with pre-made Memory Box card in a lovely shade of purple, and pulled out Memory Box's pad "Vibrant Violet Collection." I chose three hues of purple from the pad as well as scraps of New Leaf and Green Parakeet from Papertrey Ink and set about die cutting groups of florals and leaves. The colors in this closer look appear darker than they do in real life.

PurpleGreenClose

I used a heavy piece of vellum for the floral wrap and some metallic gold for the bow. I already had the die cut oval in my stash and arranged the florals in the wrap, added the bow and adhered it to the oval. When I laid the oval on the purple card base, it definitely needed something else, so I pulled out one of Simon Says "A2 Thin Frames" and die cut it with the same gold paper as the bow.

PurpleGreenFlat

Before gluing all the components on the card base, I gold embossed the greeting from The Greeetery's "Sentiment Suite: Birthdays." 

I'm sure you'll find lots of inspiration from the Design Team on the Color Hues blog, so hop on over and please join the card making party!

I'm entering this in the Happy Little Stampers: Dies where the challenge is Anything Goes.

HLS Dies

 

 

Color Hues #38

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Sheri's choice of Pink and Green for the Color Hues Challenge gave me the perfect opportunity to try out one of my stamp and stencil combinations that I won from Pinkfresh Studio.

CH #38 Anim.

The "Darling Dahlias" background stamp is gorgeous, and the five piece stencil makes coloring it so much easier (and faster) than coloring with Copic markers or colored pencils.

PinkGreen

I own quite a few of the mini ink pad sets from Pinkfresh, but almost no full sized pads. For stenciling, the small pads work nicely, and I chose two pinks for the flowers: "Sparkling Rose" and "Bubble Gum." The leaves were stenciled with "Key Lime" and "Grassy Knoll." There's also a stencil for coloring in the background. Initially, I thought I might leave it white, but ended up with a very light gray.

PinkGreenClose

Once the panel was stenciled, I die cut it with one of Hero Arts "Rounded Rectangles," framing it with the next size in green. I used both the stamps and the dies from Papertery Ink's "Sending Hugs" for the sentiment. The green die cut letters seemed a bit lost on the colorful background, but a shadow layer in black really helped and tied in the banner sentiment which had been stamped in black and fussy cut. I put some dimensional tape behind the banner.

PinkGreenFlat

April 1st rarely brings spring to western New York, so creating your own flowers is a great substitute until it finally warms up enough for things to flower in the yard. Wherever you live, I hope you'll find time to create some Pink and Green goodness and send it on to our Color Hues gallery. And don't forget to check in on the blog to see what the DT and our two Guest Designers, Trina and Carol have created. 

Nancy

Hannelie

Cindy

Carol

Julie

Sheri

Kristie

Lindsey

Tracey

 Once again, I'm sending this card over to Darnell's NBUS Challenge. It's taken me several months to get to this stamp and stencil set, and I still have products I haven't used from my big win.

NBUS

Color Hues #37

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One thing I love about the Color Hues Challenge is the challenge to use colors I would never think to use. Nancy's choice of Yellow and Pale Teal would never occur to me, but as it often turns out, I'm a new fan. In fact, I ended up with two quite different cards.

CH #37.017

The card I started out to make ended up being the second card I created. I just couldn't get the elements to come together, so abandoned the multiple pieces and went on to make my signature CAS card,

YellowTeal1

I started out with the "Shape Shifter Square #4" by Papertrey Ink. The entire design includes another frame with a more intricate design which I eliminated,  using an Ellen Hutson "Essential Squares" die to cut it off for a cleaner look. I die cut it three times: once in white, once in yellow (Papertrey's Harvest Gold), and once in pale teal (Concord & 9th's Sea Glass). I punched out all the die cuts in the white image, and inlaid them with yellow and pale teal. I used a neutral brown on the centers of the four small daisies.

YellowTeal1Close

I left the outermost border empty so the yellow card base would show through. It also adds a bit of dimension to the design. Deciding on the sentiment took while, but I decided on a white embossed greeting on vellum which doesn't detract from the design.

YellowTeal1Flat

When I sat down the next day at my desk, I saw all the pieces for the first card I intended to make. A new day made all the difference. The "Lovely Layers" set from Papertrey Ink has always been a favorite and that's where I had started. Arranging it the second day came pretty easily. Who's to understand the creative process? And in the end, I chose this one to post on the challenge site.

YellowTeal2

Layering the Lovely Layers pieces on a "Crimped Circle" from The Greetery worked well. Then I decided to use my new "Detail Petal Plate" from Simon Says for a subtle background. 

YellowTeal2Close

I used my favorite Gina K Design "Master Layout #1" dies to cut that panel as well as one from the soft teal to create a narrow border. The sentiment also comes from a favorite set from Pink and Main: "Special Day" which I embossed in white and die cut with Papertrey Ink's "Skinny Mini Banners."

YellowTeal2Flat

I hope you'll end up finding this combination inspiring as well, and join us at Color Hues. Be sure to take a look at all the wonderful creations by the Design Team as well as our Guest Designer, Kerry.

Nancy

Hannelie

Cindy

Carol

Julie

Sheri

Kristie

Lindsey

 Tracey

I'm determined to use new products as often as I can, so I'm sending the second card over to Darnell's NBUS Challenge.

NBUS

 

Prayers and Cards for Ukraine & A Double Challenge

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Nancy, the creator of Color Hues, asked the Design Team if we'd like to create a card using the colors of the Ukrainian flag. This week has been so horrific—loss of life, lives scattered as mothers and children flee leaving behind their husbands to take up arms against the unprovoked aggression by Russian forces. There's so little that any of us can do except pray and hope for a quick resolution of the fighting, so I was happy to design a card as one way to show solidarity with the Ukrainian people. The intent is to flood Instagram and FaceBook with cards for the Ukrainians. Our regularly scheduled challenge hosted by Lindsey is just below this new challenge. Cardmakers can enter cards for either challenge during the next two weeks.

Cards For Ukraine! .001

Here's my card:

Coneflower

I had to wait quite awhile before the Honey Bee "Coneflower" die came back into stock. When I finally purchased it, I was in the midst of holiday creating, so this was a wonderful opportunity to pull it out. It's a multi-layered floral, and I used a bit of dimensional tape that added even more dimension to the card.

ConeflowerClose

I also used a new embossing folder, "Plaid Company," from Spellbinders which arrived with a few hot foil plates right after Christmas. Color Hues is a two-color challenge, but neutrals are allowed so I took the liberty of adding a brown center to the coneflower, but chose to die cut the leaves from vellum. The lines in the die are much more apparent when using vellum.

ConeflowerFlat

I knew I wanted a sentiment that included the word "peace." This is part of a longer sentiment from one of Simon Says reverse sentiment sets for Christmas. I die cut it with another new product, "Itty Bitty Strips," which is going to see a lot of use! I hope you'll join us in the challenge to support Ukraine, and also in the very apt color challenge chose by Lindsey below.

Lindsey's colors for this round at Color Hues are just perfect for St. Patrick's Day. If that doesn't appeal to you, check out the cards the Design Team and our Guest Designer have created.

CH #36.001

Since my husband's birthday falls on St. Patrick's Day, I've taken the theme but created a birthday card for him.

GoldGreen

Paper Source's Clover cardstock is the perfect St. Patty's Day green, and I combined it with some gold mirror cardstock that I love but is often a challenge to photograph. I used Pinkfresh Studio's "Headliner Alphabet" and die cut them from the green panel. When that panel was adhered to the gold mirror cardstock it shines right through. 

GreenGoldClose

I had to cut apart a sentiment from Pinkfresh Studio's "Simply Sentiments: Thank You" to create the phrase I wanted.

GreenGoldFlat

I don't own a shamrock paper punch but found a set of stickers in my stash and chose the one with a tiny heart on it. I added two other gold hearts from Simon Says "Holiday Shapes that I use frequently to finish the embelllishment.

Although you can find all the DT's cards on the Color Hues Challenge blog, you can find the details for their cards here, as well as that of Julie P. who is our wonderful Guest Designer this round.

Nancy

Hannelie

Cindy

Carol

Julie

Sheri

Kristie

Lindsey

Tracey

I'm posting the first card in Darnell's NBUS Challenge. I outdid myself with using new products—one of my goals for 2022.

NBUS

 

Color Hues #35

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Valentine's Day has come and gone, but Kristie has a great new color combo for you for the 35th Color Hues Challenge.

Color Hues #35-Anim.

My card was inspire by this beautiful design by Betty Wright. If you click through to it, you’ll see how I was inspired.

CH35

Not long ago, Ardyth Percy-Robb had a great post on thinking about how to transform an inspiration piece into a new creation. In my case, I used the same “Border Bling: Tinstitch” die from Papertrey Ink that Betty used and added a circular die cut behind my floral. From there, my card takes a different path.

CH35Close

I chose a dark navy cardstock from Concord & 9th, “Midnight,” for both the card base and the Tinstitch border. I have just one floral, from Altenew’s “Wallpaper Art,” which I watercolored with the Altenew 36 pan watercolors. As some of you know, I recently participated in a wonderful online watercolor class where I was using professional grade watercolors. Although I do love the beautiful pinks in the Altenew set, the watercolors themselves were more difficult to work with. I added some texture and shading with a Polychromos colored pencil as well. 

CH35Flat

The leaves embossed in silver are also from “Wallpaper Art,” and the die cut circle, cut from a piece of white shimmer card stock, is from Pinkfresh Studio’s, “Diagonal Stitched Circles.” The sentiment, also embossed in silver, is from Papertrey Ink’s “Wishes Come True,” a long time favorite of mine. Finally, I added a few rainstones to the die cut circle.

I hope you'll hop over to the Color Hues Challenge and join in the fun, checking out the cards made by my awesome Design Team members, and our Guest Designer, Rosemary.

Nancy

Hannelie

Cindy

Julie

 Sheri

Kristie

Lindsey

Tracey

Color Hues #34

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It's my turn to be the hostess at The Color Hues Challenge. I chose Red and Black.

Color Hues #34-Red and Black.015

Since Red and Pink has already appeared as a challenge, I thought Red and Black would also work for Valentine's Day which isn't all that far away. Valentine's Day was my father's favorite holiday, and I have continued his tradition of sending a gift to the members of my family which means a fair number of valentine cards as well. Much to my surprise, I ended up making an anniversary card since I had not one, but two anniversaries coming up. 

RedBlackX2

The card would certainly work for Valentine's Day as well.

RedBlack

This is another of my pre-holiday purchases from My Favorite Things during a site-wide sale. I love this "Heart Tree," and think it has many possibilities. This time I took just the three largest hearts from the die and colored them with Copic markers before inlaying them onto the tree. 

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There are two white mats and a narrow black one, all layered on a red card base.

RedBlackFlat

The sentiment, embossed in white on a scrap of black card stock is from Pink and Main's "Special Day" sentiment set—one I turn to over and over. 

Be sure to check out the fabulous card by the Design Team, and our Guest Designer,  Michal,  and join with a card of your own!

Nancy

Hannelie

Cindy

Carol

Julie

 Sheri

Kristie

Lindsey

Tracey

Color Hues #33

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Julie has a sparkling challenge for you at the Color Hues Challenge this time around.

Color Hues # 33.014

My card evolved during the rush of making holiday cards. I had recently purchased the Simon Says "Triangle Burst" 3-D embossing folder, and embossed this silver paper after seeing two cards, one Instagram and one on a blog, using this embossing folder. Finding just the right focal point to add to it took me longer than I expected, but this snowflake was just right.

SiverWhite

I immediately thought of this upcoming color challenge and abandoned any idea of creating a holiday card. I have several January birthdays and this card will soon be on its way to one of my best friends. 

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The beautiful snowflake is Simon Says' "Marie Snowflake" and is cut from white glitter paper. The sentiment is from one of my oldest Papertrey Ink sets "Vintage Picnic Sentiments." I embossed it in silver on the same silver paper I used for the embossing folder.

SilverWhiteFlat

Although you can see some of the glitter and shine in the photographs, this card is much more beautiful in person. 

I hope this wonderful color combination inspires you to make a card and join us at Color Hues this time around. Check out all the inspiration the Design Team and our Guest Designer, Stephanie, have in store for you.

Nancy

Hannelie

Cindy

Julie

 Sheri

Kristie

Lindsey

 Tracey

Color Hues #32

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Hannelie has chose Red and Purple for the first Color Hues Challenge in 2022.

Color Hues #32.013

I have quite a few stamps and dies that arrived thanks to sales during the last months of 2021, and I am determined to make good use of them. The Simon Says "Geometric Builder: Hearts" came to mind when I saw this color combination. 

RedPurple

I chose three different designs and die cut each from two shades of red (Gina K's Red Hot, Concord & 9th's Poppy) and two shades of purple (Papertrey Ink's Amethyst Allure, Concord & 9th's Eggplant), and then assembled the  hearts on a solid heart shape.

RedPurpleFlat

I knew I wanted a mini slimline design and die cut the scalloped die from Trinity Stamps'"Mini Envelope Builder." Then I cut three hearts from that panel so I could inlaid the red and purple hearts.

RedPurpleClose2

The sentiment is from The Greetery's "Sentiment Suite: Love" which I die cut with one of the "Sentiment Suite Basic Dies." I chose the sentiment thinking this could be an anniversary card, a valentine, or just a thinking of you card.  I added dimensional adhesive to the scalloped panel and adhered it to a white card base, and added a few transparent gems.

I hope you'll hop over to the Color Hues Challenge and join in the fun, checking out the cards made by my awesome Design Team members, and our Guest Designer, Tenia.

Nancy

Hannelie

Cindy

Julie

 Sheri

Kristie

Lindsey

 Tracey

 

 

 

 

Color Hues #31

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There's just one challenge this month leading up to the holiday season. And not surprisingly, Cindy has chosen the traditional colors of Christmas: Red and Green.

Color Hues #31 Anim.

I've had two of Papertrey's Bold Borders: Yuledtide in my stash that I die cut during a crafty session before the pandemic, but never used. They worked perfectly for this challenge. They'd been die cut with PTI's Pinefeather paper which I layered on cards made from Concord & 9th's Cranberry cardstock.

RedGreen

The sentiment is a combination of a die cut and a stamp. The Savvy "Joy" die cut has been in my stash for years, and has appeared on many of my Christmas cards. I never tire of it. I added a stamped sentiment from PTI's "Big Hugs" stamp set.

RedGreenClose

I debated for a time about whether to add any embellishments but decided the tiny red pearls from A Muse would work well here. The pearls are another item that I've had in my stash for many years. Years ago, A Muse decided to become an online company, and I was afraid I'd run out of the red pearls. I purchased multiple packs of them, and still have plenty, but no unopened packages are left. I have some other colors as well, but the red ones are my favorite.

 

RedGreenFlatR

Thank goodness classic items don't go out of style! I'd label this a pretty classic Christmas card, and would love to have had enough borders to make a whole set. I hope this color combo inspires you to create a few holiday cards, and I hope you'll share them with us in the gallery at Color Hues. Please check out all the inspiration from my Design Team members and our fabulous Guest Designer, Michele Ferguson.

Nancy

Hannelie

Cindy

Julie

 Sheri

Kristie

Lindsey

   Tracey

 

 

 

Color Hues #30

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Carol picked an elegant combo for our next Color Hues Challenge: Silver and Gold. 

Color Hues #30.011

Last year I acquired several new snowflake dies, so I knew right away what I wanted to use for this challenge. I chose a group of snowflakes from Gina K, "Snowflake Trio," which I believe were part of a kit last year. Recentl,y I've ended up with more than one card for these challenges, and this is no exception. Here's the card I set out to make:

SilverGoldSL

I die cut multiple snowflakes from silver and gold glitter paper and arranged four of them on a black die cut mat (by Pinkfresh Studio). Once I had them carefully glued down, I decided the card base would be best in a shimmer silver (Papertrey Ink). That left just the right space for a circular mat and embossed sentiment from The Greetery's "Speed Tagging Christmas."

SilverGoldSLClose

The final step was to add gold and silver gems by Trinity Stamps.

I still had quite a few snowflakes laying on my desk, and thought I could layer silver and gold snowflakes for an A2 card.

SilverGoldA2

This, of course, appealed to my CAS heart. I die cut a diagonally stitched circle from the Pinkfresh Studio "Slimline Essentials," and layered the snowflakes on top of it and added another gold gem.

SilverGold A2Flat

The gold embossed sentiment here is from Papertrey Ink's "Rustic Wreath," a purchase made many years ago. 

Once I finished the A2 sized card, I realized that really the best size just might be a mini slimline, and luckily, I still had some snowflakes to spare. 

SilverGoldMSL

All the products used here are the same as those used on the A2 card, just in a different format.

SilverGoldMSLFlat

In the end, the mini slimline is my favorite. I definitely prefer CAS cards, although I do like the multiple snowflakes on the slimline. Since it's a larger card, it can carry the weight of four varied sized snowflakes. I'd be curious to know which one is your favorite.

The new Just Us Girls Challenge was posted on Saturday. It's Trend Week, and the challenge is for mini slimlines. Perfect timing!

JUGS

But, most importantly, go check out the gorgeous creations made by the Design Team and our Guest Designers, Carol and Hilary, and join in the fun. 

Nancy

Hannelie

Cindy

Julie

 Sheri

Kristie

Lindsey

  Tracey

 

 

 

Color Hues #29

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October flew by for me, and here it is—November 1st! The good news is it's time for a new Color Hues Challenge. Sheri's choice this round is Brown and Orange, and I had quite a good time with it.

Color Hues #29 Anim.

I find it interesting how frequently I end up creating two cards for the Color Hues challenges. The first card I made was CAS on steroids, and I was was pretty happy with it. It didn't end up being the one I posted on the Color Hues Challenge site, however. Here's Card #1:

BrownOrange

There are a couple of fall anniversaries to celebrate and I thought this did the trick. I started with the Papertrey Ink "Leaf Silhouette" die and cut it from a piece of Bristol that I had watercolored in shades of orange. I die cut the white rectange and cut two rectangles, one from a scrap of orange cardstock and one from a piece of Ellen Hutson's Woodgrain paper that I darkened with Distress ink.

BrownOrangeFlat

The sentiment from Pink and Main's "Special Day" was embossed in gold and I used a very old punch to cut a heart from metallic gold paper. I glued it to three additional hearts cut from cardstock to give it some dimension. I also added dimension to the white rectangle with dimensional tape.

And then I was lucky enough to spend a crafty afternoon with two friends, one of whom had the Papertrey Ink "Bold Borders: Foliage." I die cut a couple of them from white cardstock. Once I was home, I wondered what would happen if I tried to ink blend the entire frame. It worked quite well, and here is Card #2:

BrownOrange2

I used the Distress Oxide inks Spiced Marmalade and  Carved Pumpkin for the leaves with a bit of Catherine Pooler's Orange Twist toward the bottom. The branches and the frame were ink blended with Vintage Photo Distress Oxide ink. 

BrownOrange2Close

After carefully gluing the frame to a piece of Papertrey's Rustic White cardstock, I gold embossed one of the sentiments from The Greetery's "Everyday Labels." The open space in the frame was just the perfect size.

BrownOrange2Flat

It took some time to get the frame and leaves ink blended, but I think it was time well-spent, and I'd do it again. The only embellishment are three gold gems from Paper Studio.

I hope you'll hop over to the Color Hues blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our Guest Designer, Åsa, have come up with . . . and join in the fun!

Nancy

Hannelie

Cindy

Julie

 Sheri

Kristie

Lindsey

Tracey

 

 

 

Color Hues #27

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We have the perfect color combo for the first of October's Color Hues Challenge:  Orange and Green. There's still a lot of green on the trees here, but each day we see a bit more color. I know there are lots of folks who are not a fan of orange, but it ranks up there in my top five color choices.

Color Hues #27-Anim_

 I recently acquired The Greetery's "Botanic-cut: Ginkgo" dies, and couldn't wait to put them to use. I also used the new Greetery sentiment set: "Everyday Labels." I love the font and the art-deco appeal of these sentiments. 

OrangeGreen2

After die cutting the Gingko leaves, I used Spiced Marmalade, Carved Pumpkin, and Bundled Sage Distress Oxide inks to blend color onto the stems and leaves. I followed up with some Polychromos colored pencils for some detail.

OrangeGreen2Close

I die cut the largest of the "Crimped Frames" (also The Greetery) from black cardstock, embossed the sentiment in gold, and added the Ginkgo leaves.

OrangeGreen2Flat

I added three small gold pearls as a final accent after adding the framed piece with dimensional adhesive to a black card base.

I hope you'll hop over to the Color Hues Challenge and join in the fun, checking out the cards made by my awesome Design Team members and the two Guest Designers, Jacinda and Marcia – the winners of the birthday challenge.

Nancy

Hannelie

Cindy

Julie

 Sheri

Kristie

Lindsey

Tracey

 

Color Hues #26: Purple and Pink

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Time is flying by and it's already the middle of September! I need it to slow down a bit, or find a way to add a few more hours to my day! Before we get to the new challenge, be sure to stop by the Color Hues Challenge site to see the winners of the first birthday party challenge! We had a wonderful gallery of cards, and it was not an easy task to choose the winners and runners-up.

The new Color Hues Challenge is Purple and Pink!

Color Hues26.001

Purple and pink go together so well, I thought I'd have no trouble getting a card created. I first did a watercolored floral, but in the end, I decided the colors blended together so much it was hard to separate them. Then I acquired a couple of the Spellbinders "Large Die of the Month" dies, and found that they took care of the problem nicely. I ended up making two cards, one a CAS card (and the one I posted on the Color Hues site) and a more elaborate one which you'll see here. 

P&P1

This card is a mini-slimline and uses dies from both Spellbinder sets: "Slimline Card Creator" and "Hex Kaleidoscope. To create the beautiful hexagon designs, I die cut each of three dies from three colors of card stock – two shades of purple and one pink. Once you line up the hexagons, you get this gorgeous design.

P&P1Close

The "Slimline Card Creator" comes with a set of dies in different sizes and in two designs–one simple stitched rectangle, and the scalloped border I used here. I added a simple gold gem to the centers. 

P&P1Flat

Once again, I found the perfect sentiment in The Ton's "Easy Expressions: Birthday" set. There's a bit of dimensional tape in the center to balance the dimension of the three die cuts.

My second card is a true slimline card and I used the more ornate background die from the "Hex Kaleidoscope" set.

P&P2

Again, I chose the same design for the hexagon embellishments, but instead of using three of them, I used the center hexagon for my sentiment.

P&P2Close

The sentiment from The Greetery's "Opposites Attract" was gold embossed on white card and adhered with dimensional tape. I tucked three large gold gems around the sentiment, and small ones in the center of the hexagons.

P&P2Flat

One thing I like about the "Just a Note" sentiment is that it can serve as a lead-in to many inside sentiments from "Thinking of You" to "Wishing You a Happy Birthday" as does the sentiment "Just for You" on the first card. It's good to have some flexibility for the cards in my stash.

As always, I hope you'll join in the fun, and take a look at the wonderful creations from the Design Team and Guest Designer, Janet. 

Nancy

Hannelie

Cindy

Julie

 Sheri

Kristie

Lindsey

Tracey

I'm throwing one of these cards in the ring at Happy Little Stampers-Dies: Anything Goes, and in the gallery at Darnell's NBUS gallery.

HLSDies NBUS

Happy 1st Anniversary to the Color Hues Challenge

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Despite the many challenges of 2021, the year is flying by, and here we are at the first anniversary of the Color Hues Challenge! To celebrate there are prizes this month—see below! The other great news is an addition to our Design Team: Tracey McNeely. Some of you may already be familiar with her beautiful work on her blog and for a variety of companies. We're so lucky to add her to DT. Welcome, Tracey!

I was the lucky DT member who got to choose this month's colors and my choices were Yellow and Orange–a good combination of a summer vibe (yellow) and the coming autumn (orange) for those of us where the seasons change. 

CH #25 Anim.

My card design is one I created quite some time ago. I never posted the card, and when I found it recently, I was amazed at how much my ink blending had improved since I'd created the first one. There's no way I'd post the original card now, but I'm much happier with the ink blending this time around. I'm quite sure that in addition to practice, some new tools contributed to the improvement as well. I really like the Taylored Expressions ink blending brushes as well as the Altenew brushes—particularly the larger one. It took me awhile to invest in both brushes as they are more expensive than the ones I purchased originally.

YellowOrange2

I used a combination of Distress Oxide Inks for the background: Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed, Carved Pumpkin, and Spiced Marmalade. I added a touch of Concord & 9th's Marmalade ink which is a bit deeper to the very bottom of the panel. 

YellowOrangeFlat

I die cut the ink blended panel with the smaller of Gina K's Master Layout dies, and stamped the floral silhouette is Obsidian Black (Altenew) from Gina K's "Natural Silhouettes" set. Next was to use the larger of the dies in the layout set to cut a narrow frame of black. The sentiment is from Pink & Main's "Special Day" set. Finally, it was all assembled and added to a card base of Orange Zest (Papertrey Ink.)

Since I had ink blended a couple of panels, I made a second card–it's always good to have a stash of birthday cards!

2YellowOrange

To celebrate the Color Hues anniversary, there will be TWO winners chosen for this challenge both of whom will receive a $25 gift certificate to Simon Says! Hope you'll join in the fun, and be sure to check out the DT and Guest Designer, Angie's, card right here. And at each individual blog here:

 Nancy

Hannelie

Cindy

Julie

 Sheri

Kristie

Lindsey

Tracey