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.

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,

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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."

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.

 

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.

Here's my card:

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.

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.

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.

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

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. 

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

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.

 

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.

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.

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.

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.

 

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

 

 

 

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

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:

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."

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.

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.

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. 

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

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!

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

 

 

 

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.

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:

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.

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:

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. 

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.

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