WFC2104W1 - Waffle Flower Challenge: Pastels

 

Today, I am thrilled to share a special card for a challenge with Waffle Flower Crafts. I was fortunate enough to take part in this challenge as a guest designer, and had an absolute blast creating my card.

The theme for the challenge is pastels - which is just perfect for me. I often use pastel colors and I love how they make any project feel dreamy and magical. For my card, I was inspired by the beginnings of spring all around me, so I decided to make a magical fairy card.

A little ink blending with white splatters and a spray of flowers and leaves pairs perfectly with two lovely fairies. I am so happy with how it turned out and please do expect to see me play with this fun stamp set a lot more in the future.

- Little Fairies Stamp Set

- Classic Sentiments Stamp Set

- Dots & Lines Sampler Paper Pad (Unicorn stripe)

- Enamel Dots - Up & Running

- Enamel Dots - Clearly Enough

Grazie

 

Re-discovering ephemera in my crafty stash is always a joyous moment - even more so when it's something that still inspires me to create. I remember buying several set of resin flowers on Etsy because I fell in love with resin flowers that came in a card kit years ago. I bought several options and colors, but (surprisingly!) didn't go overboard.

I'd forgotten about these resin flowers for a while, as they add significant bulk and most of my cards were made for easy mailing. But they are absolutely lovely and make a card look really special. So, I've pulled a few to use on a card or two. I think they will be an interesting element to use on a few hand-given cards.

Kindness and appreciation

 

Today is another card practice day - keeping things simple and testing out some pattern and color combinations. I'm a visual person and the first thing that I'm drawn to is color. I prefer colors that are vivid and saturated, or warm and rich. I like pastels quite a bit too. I think I'm at my happiest and most inspired when I see photos and images with interesting color combinations.

Sometimes this visual inspiration translates into a card. Sometimes it just becomes an image in my head that inspires creative writing or even a creative solution to a problem I might be facing. The way our minds work is mysterious, but I'm always on the lookout for something new that will push me to keep trying.

Thank you

 

Lately, I've been going through some of my supplies and reorganizing them for easier use. I like to periodically reorganize some of my supplies because it reminds me of all that I already have. As an added bonus, I often find bits and pieces that inspire me to create a new card (or two).

I'm not up to tackling any challenges and large goals quite yet, but I can focus on using my supplies more. I've found that brings me a lot of joy, lately, and is less overwhelming than trying to shop and use only the new goodies.

Missing You

Following winter is another spring card. I think I'm getting more comfortable with using flower stamps.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Hello Flowers

I'm also working through my stash of stickers, hoping to use them up on some cards. Bold scripty words with stripes and florals just work!

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

More Floral Thanks

Another floral creation, simple and sweet.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Lotus Thanks

It's been a busy time around here, and with the holidays just around the corner, it might stay busy for a few weeks. I've been working on a few cards in my spare time, but it's just about time to get started on Christmas projects.

I've scheduled a few blog posts in advance with cards I've made but did not have a chance to share. There might not be much of a description under each card, but I'm hoping the activity will motivate me to keep sharing as we get through the winter season.

Thank you for reading!
~Elle~

Flower Wishes

I'm still not overly confident in my watercolor painting, but I loved this gorgeous watercolor flower from a patterned paper collection. So, I fussy-cut it and added to a simple card with lots of embellishment.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Blue Flower Note

I'm sharing a card with a touch of elegance and sophistication. I love the ephemera flower - the blue with dark gray makes for a very interesting palette. I kept this card very simple, with the main focus on the flower and the sentiment.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Floral Thanks

Today seems like a flower kind of day. It could be that Mother's Day is just around the corner, or maybe I'm just falling in love with my stash flowers and flower stamps lately. Whatever it is, I give in and look forward to many floral cards in the future.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Watercolor Cup

Since I did 3 seasons already, I wanted to round things off with a summer card - except, I wasn't really feeling the summer/beach mood. So, I did the next best thing and made a watercolor card. It is entirely too messy and my watercoloring needs heck of a lot more practice, but it's a finished card.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Simply Succulent

There are a lot of techniques out there I really want to try, but I rarely seem to find the time and the patience to do so. But the only way to grow is to keep pushing boundaries and wiggling out of that familiar comfort zone.

For today's card, I tried a no-line coloring technique using my Copics and some colored pencils for fine detail. I kept the card very clean and simple otherwise and added just a few bubbles for some extra sparkle.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Rose of Thanks

I'm definitely pushing outside my comfort zone again, this time with a chic floral card. I used a layering stamp set from Altenew that intimidates me a little, but I do like the colors I chose for the layers. I think it turned out pretty and I like the color palette on this card.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Tulip Birthday

A quick birthday card share today with some tulips. I used some very quick Copic flat coloring, then added details with my Prismacolor pencils. It's a technique I enjoy, but have not done for some time. I'll have to pull out my pencils more often!

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

More succulent thanks

A very girly succulent thanks today. I am still loving the pastel colors and the addition of lace from the doily, but I may try more bold and graphic colors next time. The really fun thing about succulents is that they come in many shades, so it will be very fun to experiment with different palettes.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Succulent Thanks

I'm working on a set of desert-themed cards lately, and I couldn't resist a sweet succulent in a cup. I've had Simon Says Stamp's Cups and Succulents stamp set for some time now, but I certainly have not used it enough. One thing that's great about this set is that the cup and the succulent are separate - meaning you can mix and match the tops and bottoms. I'm looking forward to using it again sometime.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

More Flowers

More flowers today, this time with a fun spring palette. I liked using pink and aqua along with the yellow to add a touch of brightness. I kept the grey tones in, as they add a great neutral element and added a few enamel dots.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Happy Yellow Flowers

As part of my project to use my stash as much as possible in 2019, I am planning to use each stamp set I own a few times to create some interesting projects.

I'm starting with a stamp set from Simon Says Stamp called Favorite Flowers. This stamp set was a part of a card kit, and while I did use a couple of the stamps from it in a card or two, I definitely didn't stamp everything out.

I opted for a simple creation, adding some of the lovely flowers and some foliage die-cuts. I like the palette of gold, yellow, gray and brown - I think it's both cheerful and bright without being too sweet.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Hello 2019!

Happy 2019, everyone!

After a very busy holiday, I'm ready to jump back into creating and sharing my projects. I've also got a crafty goals list for the year that I'm really excited about. I thought I'd share it along with today's project- a quick and easy card I made with some bits and pieces of paper and stickers that were floating around on my desk. I added a couple die-cuts to compose the sentiment and a few enamel dots as embellishment.

For 2019, I only have a few goals:
1) Make great use of my crafty stash.
I've only got one crafty order for 2019 and it's already been placed as an early birthday gift. I'm going to try and use what I've already got and see just how long it takes to stamp every stamp and use every pretty bit of paper  (probably years!). As with 2018, I want to focus on making instead of buying, and that kind of focus makes me very happy.
2) Do a purge/destash.
Like a lot of us, I've got a ton of things that I should pass on to someone else. Some of it is supplies I've outgrown, some is just supplies I bought on clearance that don't fit my style at all. So, I'm planning on paring down my stash to only include things I love and things I use. I'm ready to part with a lot of it, and I've just got to figure out where to give them off to.
3) Make a card every day.
I really enjoyed my resolution in 2018 of making a card every day. I made and shared quite a few and it was a wonderful motivator to keep creating. I'm going to keep the goal going in 2019 and continue sharing my projects.
4) Send out cards.
I make a lot of cards, but I rarely mail them out. So, in 2019, I will try to do better and mail those cards out whenever I can.

Do you have any goals for 2019?

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~