Spring Inspiration

Hi friends. It's Barbara Washington with my last posting as April guest designer for the SweetStamps Challenge Blog. I can't believe how fast this month has gone by. I've really enjoyed being here with you sharing cards created with some of my favorite stamps.

This week's challenge is an inspiration challenge. When I saw this image, the word "spring" immediately popped into my head and off I went. I love the SweetStamps flower stamps. I've used parts of  the stamp blossoms in the past, but I've never used the whole stamp before. It fit perfectly with the Sizzix pot die cut. The result made me smile. I colored the flowers with distress markers and fussy cut them so I could plant them in the pot. The background panel is a piece of designer paper which is light gray with white polka dots.Since I wanted to show the happiness spring brings, I added a bow and the sentiment adorned with glitter.

Again, I want to thank SweetStamps for giving me an opportunity to guest design on the blog. It's been so much fun. And thank you for sharing this experience with me.

Sweet

 Hi, it's guest designer Barbara Washington back again with a couple of challenge inspiration cards. This week the challenge is SWEETS.  I thought I'd take a slightly different approach to the theme. I created a "Home Sweet Home" card. How much sweeter can that be?
Using vellum and the house scroll frame stamp, I stamped the image with white ink and embossed the stamp lines (parchment crafting) On the back side I used markers to add color. The border is washi tape and the letters were die cut from the same washi tape. I hope you find this a sweet card!

Last week the monthly technique challenge was introduced -- embossing, dry or wet. Since I had some family issues to deal with, I didn't get a chance to finish my card. I'm sharing it with you this week. I had fun making this card. Using the stamps, Dapper Dan and Horace, I made a masculine friendship card. The sentiment is part of a stamp from the Screech Owl Chicks and Scripture stamp set. I dry embossed the panel around the first and last section of the card and wet or heat embossed the corners on the middle section. These corners are part of the Leighs Flower Arrangement and Corner Duo set.
There's still time to join  both challenges. I can't wait to see what you create.

Friendship

Hi, Barbara Washington here with my Thursday guest designer card. Today, for the anything goes challenge, I took the opportunity to use a set of SweetStamps stamps that I have been wanting to use -- Screech Owl Chicks and Scripture duo. I love these owls. They are so adorable. The sentiment that comes with them is so awesome.
To create my card, I started with a kraft base card. I got the background technique, aged text boards, from Technique Junkies. The text is from an old discarded book. I stamped the owls right on the background and used distress markers to color them. The sentiment was stamped and die cut.
Check out the new weekly and monthly challenges. We'd love you to join in on the fun.

Easter Celebration

Hi! Barbara Washington here to share another card as SweetStamps guest designer for April. This week the SweetStamps challenge is Easter. I chose the SweetStamps image, Girl With Bunny, as my focal image. She is so adorable dressed in her Easter finest. She's even wearing her Easter bonnet. She is holding her little bunny and looks so happy. She was a perfect stamp to paper piece. Even the bunny is paper pieced. I used a soft paper towel for the bunny to give it a soft, furry look. I fussy cut the girl so I could layer her on top of the background. The yellow background panel was dry embossed using an embossing folder. I die cut the basket from wood paper. Then I layered die cut vines and  added the little flowers with Viva Decor centers. The sentiment comes from another SweetStamps set, Black Capped Chickadees & Blessings. I love the fact that you can use this sentiment for more than just one holiday.
There's still time to join in the challenge. Looking forward to seeing your creations!

Pieces of Life

 Hi stamping friends. I'm so excited to be the guest designer for the month of April here at SweetStamps. I'm Barbara Washington and I've been stamping for many years. One Thanksgiving my sister brought over a set of stamps and demonstrated how to heat emboss. I was smitten and the rest is history. Creating with paper and trying new techniques are my passions. I live in Chicago with my two grown daughters, my 7 year old grandson, my 3 year old granddaughter, and four cats.  I enjoy trying many of the blog challenges which are posted each month. This month I look forward to sharing my interpretations of the challenges here at SweetStamps and I hope you will join me. You can learn more about me and see more of my work on my blog, Magic Delights.
This week the challenge at SweetStamps is dies. Here is the card I created.

The base card is white cardstock. The layering panel is a piece of design paper. All of the dies used are Cheery Lynn dies. SweetStamps has a large collection of Cheery Lynn Design Dies for sale. The corners  were die cut from the panel. The center oval was cut and the negative of the die cut was used to frame the lilac bunch (SweetStamps). The lilacs were colored using distress markers. China blue distress ink was stippled around the image to give a little dimension. The dragon flies are also Cheery Lynn Design dies. The card design says spring; hopefully, mother nature gets inspired. I can't wait to see what you design for the dies challenge.