Flowers for Mom

Happy May 1st! We've arrived at the "...brings May flowers" part of the saying :)

To open up our Clever Dexter Challenge for the month, I've brought a little flower power.

Distress Inks are literally my favorite blending inks! I used Shaded Lilac and Salty Ocean to match up with our optional color palette this month. I did use a little photo editing (no surprise there LOL) to duplicate and rotate the blossoms.  A little swipe of Wild Honey ink for the centers of the flowers and some Stickles for shine were all this lovely digital stamp from Alex Syberia Design needed :)

This Month's Challenge Theme is:

INK BLENDING

We are so thrilled to have AlexSyberiaDesign as our Sponsor this month and she will be providing the Prize for this challenge. I hope you'll join us again this month and share some of your amazing, wonderful, and beautiful projects.  We love it when you use our sponsor's digital image, however, it's not a must in order to qualify as our Grand Prize Winner.

Clever Dexter Challenge #29

MAY 2022

THEME -  INK BLENDING (whatever that means to you)

OPTIONAL COLOR PALETTE -  Honey Yellow, Ocean Blue, Apricot, Pale Green, Lilac (optional)

SPONSOR - Alex Syberia Design

Thanks for stopping by :)

Deidre

Spring Floral Couture

Thanks for popping in today! I'm sharing a card I made using a fabulous digi stamp from Polkadoodles over at the Clever Dexter Challenge blog. 

Sometimes I know exactly what I want to do with a card...and sometimes I surprise myself LOL. I knew that I wanted to used watercolors (our theme this month) and some of our optional palette colors for the flowers, the rest of it just came together. I'd love to hear in the comments below what your process is like!

This gorgeous digi stamp is from Polkadoodles and is named Primrose, The Darling Buds. When I saw they had provided this beautiful image, I couldn't wait to play up the flowers. All I did was flip the orientation so she faced right. I did copy and resize some of the flowers to use separately on the corner of the card. Then the real magic happened with my Peerless watercolors. If you haven't used these before, they're totally worth it and last forever! And they're portable because they're sheets of paper color instead of tubes or bottles of paint. A few Stickle dots for shine in the center of the flowers and on her dress, and this card was another one for the books :)

TIP: Want to leave something white, but play with just a hint of dimension, use the oh-so-faintest shadowing of light gray. It makes the white look whiter. I used a C1 Copic marker and softened the edge with the Colorless Blender 0. Check it out on my Instagram page.

I hope you want you to join us! 

PRIZE FROM OUR SPONSOR

Polkadoodles

Don't forget to check out the sparkles on my Instagram page. Thanks for stopping by! 

I'm also playing along at The Card Concept.

I was inspired by the colors and the flowers.

xoxo Deidre :)

Supplies

Peerless Watercolors: Robin's Egg Blue, Olive Green, Geranium Pink, Jacqueminot Pink, Daffodil Yellow

Distress Ink: Citron

Dress (Copics): C1, Colorless Blender 0

Hair (Copics): C9, C7, C5

Skin (Copics): E11, E13, E15

Sentiment: Doodlebuds (by WPlus9)

Mile High Cupcakes

Thanks for popping in today! I'm sharing a birthday-perfect card using a digi stamp from Polkadoodles over at the Clever Dexter Challenge blog. You've heard the saying, "April showers...blah blah blah", so we've chosen "USE WATERCOLORS" as a theme this month.

I'll admit, I may have forgotten a birthday or two and needed something special to send. Ohhh the shame. These cupcakes really stack up...see what I did there :) It's called Cherry Cream Cupcake from Polkadoodles. I used my photo editing software to layer and flip the cupcakes to make a tall card. I was inspired by the watercolor dots on the the decorative background cardstock I found and used Copic colors to match.  The real pop of fun was layering sparkly Stickles on the cherries!

I hope you want you to join us! Check out how to play along below and be sure to share in the gallery before April 30th.

PRIZE FROM OUR SPONSOR

Polkadoodles

Don't forget to check out the sparkles on my Instagram page. Thanks for stopping by! 

xoxo Deidre :)

Supplies

Cupcakes: E29 & E59; E21 & E23

Frosting: V15, V06, RV66; E01, E93, YR02; BV02, BV13, BV04; R81, R83, R85; BG11, BG23, BG13

Cherry: R29, Diamond Stickles

Wrapper: C1, C3

Sentiment: Word Salad (by Paper Smooches)

Grow Our Friendship

Hey hey! I have another Stampers Delights awesome digi stamp design. I'm sharing over at the Clever Dexter Challenge blog. We're thinking Spring all month long.

This sweet spring set, called Chibi Friendships Grow, was provided to us for this month's challenge and it's so cute. I wanted to play up the "grow" part of the sentiment, so I used my photo editing software to create a stack of pots and tilted the watering can. The curly hair is always done by hand when I color :)

If you'd like to see videos of my photo editing, please drop a comment below!

We want you to join us! Check out how to play along below and be sure to share in the gallery before March 31st. I can't wait to see what you create!

Don't forget the theme this month is: HELLO SPRING

Cleverly Concocted Challenge Rules

1. The challenge runs from all month
2. Please read the challenge rules for more details.
3. Our mandatory theme for this month is HELLO SPRING.
4. We would love to see you use our OPTIONAL color palette YELLOW, ORANGE, PEACH, LIGHT GREEN, AND PINK, but its not mandatory to qualify for our prize.
5. Have fun creating & use the link up below to enter your creation!!!

PRIZE FROM OUR SPONSOR

Stampers Delights

Thanks for stopping by! 

xoxo Deidre :)

Copics & Inks

Her: E11, E13, E15

Hair:  C9, C5, C3

Dress & Flower: Y08, Y15, Y17, YR18, YR24, YG13, G14, YG67

Leggings: R83, R85

Flower pots: E08, E09, E35

Background: Pineapple Paradise, Luscious Lime, & Drop Dead Gorgeous Green Lindys Stamp Gang sprays

Foxy Spring Kisses

Hey hey! It's the first day of March and a chilly one here in the Tampa Bay area. We're kicking off the month at the Clever Dexter Challenge with a Hello Spring theme and a lovely sponsor, Stampers Delights.

This little foxy spring set, called Kawaii Spring Fox, was provided to us for this month's challenge and it's so adorable. Seriously, check out the digis you get for £2.50 ($3.35 US)!! I knew I wanted more flowers...I mean what girl doesn't :) So you know how I love to use my photo editing software to create something unique with digital stamps...

How I did it:

1. Flipped the fox layer to look left

2. Duplicated the daisy to make another one of a different size

3. Layered the daisies in front of the fence

4. Duplicated the grass to make a 3rd tuft and adjust the size

5. Flipped and duplicated the 1/2 butterfly to make both sets of wings on the fox's nose

6. Offset the wings

I used the design aesthetic of odd numbers a ton here LOL. See if you notice them all. I also did a sprayed background and lots of Copic coloring. I hope you enjoy!

We want you to join us! Check out how to play along below and be sure to share in the gallery before March 31st. I can't wait to see what you create!

Don't forget the theme this month is: HELLO SPRING

Cleverly Concocted Challenge Rules

1. The challenge runs from all month
2. Please read the challenge rules for more details.
3. Our mandatory theme for this month is HELLO SPRING.
4. We would love to see you use our OPTIONAL color palette YELLOW, ORANGE, PEACH, LIGHT GREEN, AND PINK, but its not mandatory to qualify for our prize.
5. Have fun creating & use the link up below to enter your creation!!!

PRIZE FROM OUR SPONSOR

Stampers Delights

Check out my colors below. Thanks for stopping by! 

MY SUPPORT AND PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU UKRAINE 

xoxo Deidre :)

Copics & Inks

Fox: YR24, YR18, E19, C1, R21, R22

Fence:  E23, E25, E27, E29

Flowers & grass: Y00, Y08, YG13, G14, YG67

Butterfly: 00, Y08, R21, R22

Background: Pineapple Paradise, Cosmopolitan Pink, and Fuzzy Navel Peach Lindys Stamp Gang sprays

You Wonderful Sunflower

Hey hey! I'm up today over at the Clever Dexter Challenge blog with my first card for February. All month, we're working with a theme I love: FAVORITE TECHNIQUE.

 

Once again, the super sweet sponsor, Alex Syberia Design, sent some absolutely awesome digital stamps for us to use month as inspiration. I couldn't pass up this giant sunflower called Hello Summer...it's my actual favorite flower IRL (in real life)  :) This card has a combination of two techniques I love, I hope that's not cheating lol. First: making my own backgrounds using stencils, spray inks, paints...pretty much all mediums. I used two stencils, a few red, yellow, and orange spray inks, a mica powder, and ink blending to create the brick wall background and to color the sunflower.

Second: layering for dimension. This sunflower has all of these luscious petals that I knew would be great to fussy cut some out, pop up the layer with foam adhesive, and layer a duplicate panel behind it.

Check out all of my supplies and colors below.

There's also a prize!

The WINNER this month will receive a $15 Gift Card to be used at her Etsy Shop.

Grand prize winner of 2 digi stamps from our sponsor's Etsy Shop is chosen randomly, so everyone has an equal chance to win! You should definitely get in on the action.

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see your creation in our gallery this month! 

xoxo Deidre

Supplies:

Stencils: Tiny Circles TCW361S, Bricks TCW191S (The Crafters Workshop)

Spray Inks: Hog Wart's Orange, Mango Mania, Pineapple Paradise, Luscious Lime & Drop Dead Gorgeous Green (Lindy's Stamp Gang)

Ink pads: Mustard Seed & Wild Honey Distress Ink, clear Versamark

Mica powder: Mission Bells Brown (Lindy's Stamp Gang)

Stamps: Hello Summer (digi), Lovely Day Sentiments (Reverse Confetti, polymer)

Dream Catching You

Hey hey! I'm up at the Clever Dexter Challenge today. We're keeping the theme going all month: SOMETHING NEW.

Our awesome sponsor, Joy Clair Deigns, has some truly lovely images to use for your cards and craft projects. This dream catcher was too beautiful to pass up. I knew I would be using some watercolors, so I made sure to use my craft iron to really dry and set the ink. I did use a little photo editing to create the center banner by copying and pasting some of the images from the digital stamp along side the sentiment.

TIP: Use the same markers you're using to color your image and color a strip of paper for a perfect match. That's my secret for the 2 green borders around my sentiment :)

Prize from Our Sponsor:

The WINNER this month will receive your choice of 2 Digital Stamp Sets from Joy Clair Designs.

Cleverly Concocted Challenge Rules

The challenge runs from January 1 to January 31

Please read the challenge rules for more details.

Our mandatory theme for this month is SOMETHING NEW (whatever that means to you)

We would love to see you use our OPTIONAL color palette (shown below) but its not mandatory to qualify for our prize.

White, Blue, Yellow, Orange, and Green

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see your creation in our gallery this month! Don't forget to tag us in your Instagram posts so we can check out your awesomeness! #cleverdexter, #cleverdexterchallenge, @cleverdexter

xoxo Deidre

Supplies:

Digital Stamps: Joy Clair Designs Floral Catcher
Copic markers: YR02, YR04, YR07, B00, B02, Y00, Y02, Y06, Y08, G43, G46, Y13, Y15, Y17
Watercolor: Lindy's Stamp - Gang Blue Hawaiian Blue
Sequins: Simon Says Stamp - Assorted Moonshine

Something New with Clever Dexter

Happy New Year!! Exciting news to kick off 2022... I'm rejoining the crafty team at Clever Dexter Challenge as a DT member. Hold on to your seats for some awesome digi stamp creations and design tips. 

First up is a sweet Valentine's Day design in a different color palette. I want to thank Joy Clair Designs for the digi stamps this month.

This card is total proof that you don't need fancy or expensive craft supplies to have fun creating cards! I made this card while traveling and using only a handful of supplies. After digging through my mom's supplies, I found some burlap, a yellow colored pencil,  and some Crayola markers (which were partially dried out by the way LOL). I did get a chance to take a quick shopping trip to the https://www.facebook.com/enchantedcottagencEnchanted Cottage- A Papercrafting Boutique in Lewisville, NC and meet the lovely owner and shell out some moolah on some new supplies and this black Valentine's and yellow polka dot decorative paper :) PSA- Support Small Businesses ❤

Ok, now it's your turn! See the deets below and join us!

Cleverly Concocted Challenge Rules 

WHEN: The challenge runs from January 1 to January 31

WHERE: Use the link-up at the bottom of our January 1st post to upload your entries

WHAT: Our theme for January is SOMETHING NEW

Our OPTIONAL color palette is White, Blue,  Yellow, Orange, and Green

Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo Deidre :)

Zero Stamping Christmas Card with Polkadoodles and Clever Dexter

I've had the chance to be a guest designer this month over at the Clever Dexter Challenge blog. It's been awesome using some of Polkadoodles winter and holiday digital stamps! For this card, I did ZERO, yep ZERO stamping :) Check it out below.

I used a technique called "paper piecing" where you use different decorative papers (or plain) for different parts of your images and glue them down.

I picked out the little girl's hat, the mistletoe and berries, and the bear's scarf as my focal points. I printed the image 4 times, twice on white paper - one for the actual design and the other to color for the mistletoe and berries, and then two more times on the decorative paper I was using. After doing all of my coloring, I glued those fussy-cut pieces into place. 

With lots of coloring, tracing with a fine tip black pen to make the lines pop, and fussy cutting, I created a card I'm really happy to gift this Christmas. 

Craft Design Tips: Don't be overwhelmed with lots of small images. Pick out some focal points and give lots of color and interest to those. And don't be afraid to add some personality! I believe representation matters, so my little fairy is curly-haired and brown-skinned :)

You can join the fun and maybe win a prize at the challenge blog!

This Month's Theme Challenge is:

EVERYTHING HOLIDAY

  With our Optional Color Palette:

Red, Green, White, Blue, Gold

Thanks for stopping by!

 xoxo Deidre

Out of This World with Clever Dexter

Hey Clever Dexter crafties! I'm wrapping up my month of designs today at Clever Dexter Challenge using that fun little astronaut and rocketship. You have to be a lunar-tic to not like these digital images from our amazing sponsor - La Casetta Di Chicca! Did you get the pun there LOL; a friend helped me with it :)

The trio of stencils I used along with the color combo (some I snagged directly from our optional color palette this month) made a crazy cool background! It kind of reminds me of the Matrix, just not in black and green :)

Don't forget the theme this month is: Use a Stencil

We want you to join us! Check out how to play along below and be sure to share in the gallery before August 31st. I can't wait to see what you create!

Cleverly Concocted Challenge Rules

1. The challenge runs from August 1st to August 31st
2. Please read the challenge rules for more details.
3. Our mandatory theme for this month is USE A STENCIL.
4. We would love to see you use our OPTIONAL color palette White, Navy, Dusty Blue, Fuchsia, Sand, but its not mandatory to qualify for our prize.
5. Have fun creating & use the link up below to enter your creation!!!

PRIZE FROM OUR SPONSOR

2 Digital Stamps from La Casetta Di Chicca

Check out the stencils, Copic markers, and ink colors I used for this card below and swing by my Instagram page for closer looks. Thanks for stopping by! 

Deidre :)

Copics & Inks

Spaceship: C9, C7, C5, C3, C1, R17, R29, R59, BG000, B00, B02

Astronaut:  C5, C3, C1, R29, R59, B93, B95, B97, B99

Background: Blueprint Sketch, Fired Brick, Mustard Seed Distress Inks

Stamps & Stencils

Hero Arts: CL773 Shoot for the Moon

Crafters Workshop stencil: TCW259S Chicken Wire Reversed, TCW486S Labyrinth

Alexndra Renke stencil: Bubbles