Just Us Girls #321 PHOTO Challenge

Challenge 321 is a photo challenge and Vicki has picked a great holiday photo-full or sparkle and color!  I knew right away that I wanted to use this Hero Arts die that came with some word stamps to fit across the middle of the ornament.  Please check the JUGS BLOG for tons of pink inspiration!

 The rest I had to figure out as I went along! It was a fun process though! I cut the ornament die from white cardstock and used a round ink blending tool to add color in Picked Raspberry (Distress Ink), Purely Pomegranate (SU) and Scarlet Jewel ( PTI) to get an ombre look to the pinks. My card base is Grout Grey (MFT), then a layer of Raspberry Fizz (PTI) with the edge sponged in Purely Pomegranate, then a layer of silver glittter paper (SU, I think)

 I die cut 3 of the Impression Obsession pine bought (I love it and have used it often!!). I applied Evergreen Bough distress ink.  Then I added some brown with a copic marker and then some BG99 to the needles nearest the branch for more depth. I thought about adding snow, but decided the card didn't need it .

Behind the ornament die is a Spellbinders' circle die cut from a shiny silver heavy card stock.  That made the card a bit difficult to photograph!  the ornament is on dimensionals and is tied to the bough with some silver thread,
Please visit the blog (linked above) for inspiration and if you add your card with Mr. Linky by Thursday Dec. 3 at 9 pm ET you may have a chance to be our Gurest Designer for January!
Thanks for coming by!  Cheryl

Just Us Girls #320 Color challenge!

Hello!  I love Saturdays, don't you?!! One reason is because it's a new challenge at Just Us Girls!  This week our host is Sharon and she has a very timely color challenge for us: Red, Green and Gold!
We hope you'll join in this week!  Please visit our BLOG for inspiration!! 

                               
And now to my card for this week! I used My Favorite Things materials-Stamp set Birdie Brown's Santa's Elves and the Diagonal Cover-Up.

My card base is white, the gold paper is SUs gold glitter paper! It has the best sparkle! Almost a platinum golk, I think! I love, love it! The red card stock is from PTI-Poppy Red.

I colored the elf with my copics. I've been away from them for awhile and have been coloring with my Zig water color pens.  It was fun to use my copics again!! My crafty buddy, Lisa, put me on to Sandy Allnock a few weeks ago and I just watched the video of her coloring these elves. It's not terribly productive, but it is, oh so relaxing to watch someone else talk and color! Ahhhh! Anyway, I used the colors that Sandy did to color my elf.

This card will definitely go to a (lucky) retired teacher friend. She used to copy and color elf bodies, then she would take staff "headshots" to put on the elf bodies and post them in the faculty room during the holidays.  Each elf would have a speech balloon saying something hysterical and specific to their personality.  A new elf or two would appear each day and everyone would be laughing about them as it was all in good fun.  This friend is a very creative and talented writer!  She'll love the card, I'm sure!

Okay, better get going. Off to the pharmacy for some meds. to cure my sinus infection (diagnosed yesterday after work in an emergency dr. appt) and then to get some housework done while my morning energy lasts! Book club is here Monday night and I'm in a panic about that!

Please find the time to join in the fun challenge this week! We'd love to see your work!

Have a great weekend!

Cheryl

Just Us Girls-Challenge #319

Hello and welcome!  I'm so glad you stopped by today!  The Just Us Girls team has our weekly challenge ready to go! Maria is our hostess this week and she has a TRENDY challenge for you-Watercoloring! Use watercoloring somewhere and somehow on your card!  Watercoloring is everywhere these days! Check our our BLOG for tons of inspiration!

I adore all the washy watercolor backgrounds that I see areound the internet and on my favorite place,Pinterest.  They make it look so easy, but I don't find it to be so and I need lots more practice. My forte is the more controlled watercoloring with reinkers and a paintbrush and water.  That's what I've done here. I stamped this country cabin from Northwoods Rubber Stamps in Archival Black ink. Then I use my little palette ($.59 at JoAnn's, or so) and drip drops of color from my bottles of reinkers (usually SU colors) and color away with a brush and a little dish of wate nearby. along with a piece of paper towel. It's great therapy!

Once the painting was done, I added Stardust stickles pretty much everywhere I thought I could get away with! and cut coordinating cardstock to 'frame' my painting. The dies are from MFT.  I stamped the SU Flannel Plaid bg stamp in Scarlet Jewel onto Scarlet Jewel cardstock (PTI). The card base is Grout Grey (MFT) and is a top fold card.  The sentiment is from an old SU set and is heat embossed with silver embossing powder.
I hope I haven't ramble on too much and that somehow you are inspired to WATERCOLOR with us this week and show us your stuff!  You have until Thursday, Nov 18 at 9 ET to link your project on our site! WE hope you will!!

Just Us Girls #318 Word Week challenge!

Hi !  It's Saturday again and that means a new Just Us Girls challenge!  Sue has a fun one for us this week! You can pull out that paper, background stamps or whatever else has sparked in your creative imagination when you hear (READ) her word~ STRIPES! Pretty great, huh?

                              

I thought of my background stamps right away.  I'm waiting for my order of new 'stuff' from MFT which will contain bold diagonal stripes, but I already own the thin diagonal stripes so that's what I went to for my card base.

 I stamped the striped background stamp in Versamark ink on Sahara Sand card stock and heat embossed with clearn embossing powder. The edges of the card are sponged with Sahara Sand.  My Snowman image (Whipper Snapper Designs-Baymont #MY648) is stamped in Archival Black on watercolor paper and colored/watercolored with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens. I cut it out with dies from MFT.  The Watercolored panel is mounted on foam tape.  I used MFT's Handwritten Holidays for my sentiment-stamped in Archival black on Vellum and then clear embossed. I used some glossy accents behind the words so it didn't show when I glued the vellum, but...

the glue showed on the left edge of the card so I white embossed some MFT snowflakes on vellum to cover that up.  I couldn't leave well enough alone and tried to move my main image panel a bit (not centered!!) and stuck my fingers RIGHT INTO WET stickles!! Smeared red all over!! So, I had to use a 2nd snowflake in an effort to cover that boo boo up! You can still see a bit of the mess, so don't look too close, K?

Please check the JUGS BLOG for tons of inspiration!! And join in the challenge by Thursday, Nov. 12 at 9 pm ET! We'd love to see what you create! And, welcome to Louise our Guest DT member for the month!

Warm wishes to you today! Cheryl