Color Cue {4} Challenge

Details:
Create a card, scrapbook page, digital layout, tag, whatever...just make sure to use the above colors. Papertrey Ink's Spring Rain, Enchanted Evening, Lemon Tart, and Stamper's Select White or Stampin' Up!'s Bashful Blue, Not Quite Navy, and So Saffron are good equivalents. But anything you have on hand close to the colors will do. As Always, sentiments or outlines in black are fine as well.

Create your project and post it to your blog or online photo gallery such as Flickr or SCS. Add a direct link to your project (not your homepage please) by clicking the "add your link" button below.

Deadline:
You have until June 7th at 11:59 pm EST to play along. You will know the deadline has passed when the link to add your project is no longer available.

Bonus:
If you have Wplus9 stamps in your stash already, now would be the time to bust them out. I will be collecting lucky participants to feature as "On Cue with Color" here on the blog and at The Studio. If you don't have any yet...don't worry I still want to be inspired by you and you will still be featured here on the blog!

I used Wplus9's Kisses & Cuddles, the sentiment from Funky Flowers, and Practicing Creativity's Look Up and Just Dandy for the birds and sun rays in the background to create this playful birthday card.

Maile Belles used Wplus9's Kisses & Cuddles and Design Basics: Backgrounds I to welcome baby with style.

Elise Durenberger put together a very nostalgic scene using the train from Kisses & Cuddles.

Kerrianne Gwin also used bothKisses & Cuddles and Design Basics: Backgrounds I to announce a new little "star".

Now it's your turn! Add your link below.

An Absence of Color

Today's cards feature quite the unconventional color combo. In fact, I'd say they lack color almost completely. But don't let that fool you, they are still gorgeous, and quite sophisticated if you ask me. I originally wanted to create this first card for the Caardvarks monochromatic challenge. But as some things go...I didn't make it in time.

I started by stamping the large leaves from Woodgrain Silhouettes Additions in Versamark onto white cardstock. Then I embossed them using Stampendous' White Pearls translucent embossing powder. I love how this turned out. It added an instant touch of class. I stamped the same large leaf in Stampin' Up!'s Sahara Sand onto white cardstock and trimmed. I added the sentiment in black on Sahara Sand and then added a "fancy bow", a technique that I learned from the amazing Paulina, in white satin ribbon. I finished the card off with some pearls in the center of the leaves.

Here's a detail shot of the embossing.

So while I had these colors and products out, I whipped out another fun card, using my "go-to" layout. If you've frequented my blog you'll no doubt recognize this layout.

Again, I love this card! I used the woodgrain background from Woodgrain Silhouettes stamped in Versamark on Sahara Sand cardstock for the background. I thought this was a perfect backdrop for the dandelion from Practicing Creativity's "You're Dandy". I added the sentiment in black, and done. So quick and easy! Both cards use the sentiments from Papertrey Ink's "Giga Guide Lines" set, I love the sentiments in this set. Truth be told...it's the only reason I bought it. ;o)

So what do you think of this "non-color" color combo? Is it something you could see yourself trying?

Baby Shower

Happy Tuesday all. I've got a quick post for you this evening...I'm not feeling the greatest, I think I'm coming down with a cold. But I took some Airborne and some DayQuil, so hopefully it won't be too bad.

For today's card, I paired the teddy from Wplus9's "Kisses and Cuddles" with the umbrella from Papertrey Ink's "Scattered Showers". I was pleasantly surprised to find that the bear is the perfect size for the umbrellas in that set (wish I could say that was intentional). I'm not completely happy with this card, I wish the teddy bear weren't so high. Maybe I'll make another one and make sure to move it down a bit. This sort of thing probably wouldn't happen if I actually sketched layouts instead of "winging it". LMAO

But I do like the color combo, Melon Mambo, Blush, White and Black and will probably be using it again soon. I also added a little background pattern using Wplus9's "Design Basics: Backgrounds I".

Thanks for stopping by today. I'll be back tomorrow with two of my favorite cards!

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Project Supplies

Paper
Melon Mambo by Stampin' Up!; Vintage Cream and Blush by Papertrey Ink
Stamps
Kisses & Cuddles, Design Basics: Backgrounds I by Wplus9 Design Studio; Scattered Showers by Papertrey Ink
Ink
Black by Colorbox; Pretty in Pink craft ink, Melon Mambo classic ink by Stampin' Up!
Other
Raspberry Fizz buttons by Papertrey Ink; Border punch by Martha Stewart; Pearls generic from Michael's

On Cue With Color {3}

Iwona Palamountain (Chupa)

Wow, you guys don't make it easy! I noticed that a lot of you said you struggled with this combo, but you still managed to pull out a wonderful round of gorgeous inspiration. These are were just a few of our favorites, be sure to check out all of the entries if you haven't already.

I love having the Design Team pick their favorites. Can you believe that this was another round where no two people picked the same card?! Just goes to show how different everyone's taste is. You'll notice that Susan's card is the On Cue feature this month as well as being Maile's personal pick. Congratulations Susan, you will have a banner devoted to you in the feature graphics slider on the homepage at the Studio, www.wplus9.com!

Thanks again to everyone who played along, the next Color Cue will be up on the 15th, I hope you find some time to play again!

Introducing the Newest Wplus9 Designer(s)

Yes you read that correctly, "designers", plural. I received so many applications from all of you extremely talented ladies, I had to pick two! So let's get right to it.

Please join me in welcoming our newest designers.

"I am a work-at-home mama, a graphic designer for CARDS
Magazine and an avid craft-lover. You can find me blogging at
sherbetblossom.com; sharing my love for all things pretty. I am passionate about family, design, cooking, and creating. When I'm not designing on my computer or playing with my 3 cute kids, you can
usually find me with a stamp nearby and paper in hand."

In addition to her main blog where you will find tons of information and inspiration, Hannah has also created a blog exclusively for her cards at Sherbet Blossom Cards.

"My name is Heather Pulvirenti, though most people in the blogosphere know me as Heather P. :) I live in Columbia, MD with my husband Jason, and our 5 year old daughter Lindsay.

I was born in England, and have spent most of my life in the US (in Maryland and Virginia), except for the four years we lived in Canberra, Australia (my mom was career Air Force). I am currently a SAHM, and though I had reservations about this transition, I really love the time I get to spend with my daughter and wouldn't do it any differently given the chance.

I started paper crafting about 5 years ago after being invited by my husband's aunt to a Stampin' Up! workshop, and I haven't looked back since. LOL, my style and go-to colors have definitely changed over time, but there's something so enjoyable about creating that never waivers."

You can find Heather blogging at Witty Title Here.

I am truly flattered and so excited to have both of these ladies joining us, as is the rest of the Design Team. Hannah and Heather will be making their official debuts on the Wplus9 Design Team during our June release, and will grace us with their talents through the summer. In the meantime, be sure to stop by their blogs and show them some love.

I also want to again thank everyone who applied. I have enough applications to easily fill the next couple of rotations. I won't need to do another open call for awhile. So, for those of you that were not selected for the summer, you just may get an email from me at the end of the summer for the fall rotation.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great Friday!

So Random: The Swagger Wagon

Just a little comic relief for you. If you haven't seen it, it is hilarious!

Hope you enjoy and have a wonderful Cinco De Mayo.

I Inspire Him

You'll have to bear with me as I am completely enamored with bright colors at the moment, especially after creating so many baby cards. LOL But I wanted to share another card with you that just makes me smile.

What do you think? I used a mix of my favorite stamps, Papertrey Ink (Faux Ribbon), Stampin' Up! (Animal Stories) and Practicing Creativity Designs (You're Dandy). For me, the key to using many bright colors together is simplicity. If I am using bright bold colors I choose a CAS design. When I attempt a more ornate or fussy card, I use more subdued colors. Again, this is not a rule...just what works for me.

I've also opted to "guide the eye" vs. the "visual triangle". You'll notice you're eye naturally starts either at the stripes on the bottom and moves in a straight line to the top of the owl, or at the top of the owl and vertically down to the sentiment and then stripes. This is a good alternative to the visual triangle and works very well for CAS designs. When designing your card, think about the order you want the artwork to be observed and place your elements or embellishments in a way that guides the eye.

Quick story I wanted to share with you that absolutely made my night. My oldest told me he was supposed to read me a series of "Mother" poems and I was supposed to tell him which was my favorite. When he finished reading them, I asked him "Which one most captures how you feel about me?". The one he chose happened to have a verse in it about me inspiring him. So to see if he really understood it, I asked him "How do I inspired you?". His reply was, "Duh, your designs and art. How you've started your own business and kept your career. Seeing people buy your stuff and all of the cool things they make with it. Plus you're in magazines, and that's really cool!".

Ahh...no matter what happens with Wplus9, nothing can ever take that away. It makes it so worth it.