Not Quite My Usual Style....

Hello all you lovely people!  :-). Today I've got a card to share that's not quite my usual style.  While it's still CAS it's a bit more freestyle than I've ever done before.  I was playing around with my embossing folders when the birth of this card began.  I wanted to try inking my embossing folder before putting it through the press but rather than using just ink I thought to myself..."I wonder if using versamark ink, the folder and then embossing powder would work?".  So I tried it.  It works!  Now it wasn't a solid impression but that's okay.  I liked the way the embossing powder looked kind of incomplete.  Take a gander...

The colours of my card were inspired by this weeks CAS(E) Study challenge.

Wida's card is gorgeous!  I didn't follow her design layout but I included many of the lovely colors she had in her card.  And I've got a flower too.  Plus the sequins.  I'm growing very fond of my sequins.  My little stash from Neat and Tangled is growing rather small though.  I'm going to have to rectify that!  Anyway, I used a  glitter gold embossing powder (Stampendous) and a chevron embossing folder (Darice) for my background piece.  I added some little flags using DP (Dear Lizzy Neapolitan collection by American Crafts) and green cardstock (all my cardstock is Recollections).  I stamped my sentiment (Fiskars) and embossed in white (Stampendous) on the green flag.  I added a chipboard flower (Dear Lizzy Neapolitan collection by American Crafts) and some sequins.  Despite all the elements it still feels CAS to me.

I'm also going to link this up to Addicted to CAS where the code word is TEXTURE.

On a different note, I had a good day on Tuesday.  I got my new stove/oven delivered!  It's so pretty!  Take a look...

Glass top, true convection, self cleaning and stainless steel.  Sigh.  LOL!  I also purchased an awesome craft storage unit from someone on Kijiji.  Its fantastic and I can't wait to reorganize!!  I've got a picture of that too.

Well, I think that's all for today.  I will have some more cards to share later.  Thanks for visiting!  :-)

Merry Monday - Christmas Flowers

Just wanted to share a card I made for the challenge going on over at a Merry Monday Christmas Challenge.  This is the inspiration/theme...

Lovely isn't it?  So, I broke out my jumbo poinsettia and my watercolour pencils and came up with this...

I used some paper with Christmas text on it (Recollections) I stamped my poinsettias and coloured it with watercolour pencils.  I matted it on metallic copper and then red cardstock.  I added the brown ribbon and bow then attached to my kraft card base.  I'm really loving my watercolour pencils.  So fun to play with.  :-)

I'm going to keep it short this time and wish you all a good evening.  Thanks for visiting!

Inkspirational Challenge - Bloom

It's a new challenge over at Inkspirational and this time it's a inspiration word.  BLOOM. It's the perfect time of year for this challenge with all the flowers finally in bloom.  My tulips are almost there.  They got a late start this year due to all the snow and cold weather.  Can't wait until they all open up!  Anyway, here's my card.....or should I say cards.

I made a cute trio of cards using some NBUS ( this means never before used schtuff, a term coined by my friend Darnell) stamps by Studio 112.  I picked them up on my last trip to Bangor, ME which was before Christmas last year.  They were an excellent find in the $1 bin.  Anyway, I stamped in black StazOn and then coloured them in with my Statdler watercolour pencils.  Added some water and they get that soft watercolour look.  I stamped my different sentiments (from trendy feathers set by STAMPlorations) in black and called it a day!  These are fairly small.  About 4 1/4" x 4 1/4".

So, please come on over and join in the fun at Inkspirational!  Check out what the DT has created and link up your lovely floral creations while you're there!

Have a fabulous day and thanks for stopping by!

Have a Squirrely Christmas!

Good morning!  At least it is morning where I am.  :-). I'm once again waiting until the last moment to get my card in for Festive Friday.  It was a busy week and I didn't get a lot of time in my crafty spot.  :-). I did get a card done though.  Whew!  I've managed to participate in all the challenges so far I'd hate to miss one!  So its a rather fun inspiration picture this time.

Makes you a little hungry doesn't it?  :-). What I took from the picture is the colours and the candy cane image. Take a look...

(Again, sorry about the picture quality.  My phone camera is pathetic)

Isn't that squirrel kind of hilarious?!  It's a free digi from Paper Smooches.  They've got some great ones, not to mention their awesome stamps.  You should check them out.  :-). I printed the squirrel out , coloured him with my Spectrum Noir markers.  I coloured him grey since that's the colour of the squirrels around here.  I fussy cut him out and separated his fingers from the rest of his hands.  That kind of sounded wrong, didn't it?  Like something in a mafia movie.  LOL!  Anyway, I took a candy cane sticker and attached it to my card then used some glossy accents to adhere my squirrel to look like he was hanging from it.  In the actual digi he's hanging from a line the has the word "hi" in it.  I stamped the sentiment and *poof* I was done!  This card amuses me.  It also, makes me think of my blogger friend, Darnell.  She likes squirrels.  Hi Darnell!

Anyway, I'm going to link up to the following challenges as well:

Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - "anything goes"
Addicted to Stamps and More - "anything goes"

Well, thanks for stopping by!  Hope you have a fantastic day!

Coneflowers

So, I recently had to make a sympathy card which is really no fun to make.  However, I think it turned out really nice so I thought I would share it.

Once again I turned to my favourite coneflower and grass stamps by SU!.  First I sponged three different inks colours on my panel.  Blue Brocade, Ruby Red and Dusty Durango all by SU!.  Then I dropped some water droplets on the panel.  Such a cool effect!  Then I stamped my coneflowers and grass in black.  I matted my panel in black and attached it to my rusty orange card base.  I stamped the sentiment in black as well.  The sentiment is an old All Night Media stamp.  The orange looks brighter in the photo than it really is.  I have to apologize for the quality of my photos for the next while as my camera battery died and I'm forced to use the iPhone or worse, my phone.  It's takes okay photos but not great.  I refuse to buy a new battery here as it cost more than twice the amount than in the US.  We are taking a trip to Maine at the end of the month so I'll get it then.  :-).

I will be linking this up to The Paper Players current challenge which is clean and simple floral challenge.  Also, linking up to Paper Crafting Challenges where the theme is "my faves".  I've used my favourite stamp set (as I mentioned before).

Well, thanks for visiting and hope you all have a wonderful day!

Happy Birthday Sandie!

Today a bunch of us here in blogland are celebrating the birthday of the talented and super nice Sandie of London Days!  Happy Birthday!  She's on quite a few design teams and makes just wonderful CAS cards.  Sandie, I hope you have a fabulous birthday and get lots of crafty goodies!  I'm looking forward to working with you on the Inkspirational DT too.  I've made a card for you today featuring that jumbo peony I so love.  Here it is...

I stamped it three times in three different colours (SU!- sage shadow, mellow moss and ballet blue). I lightly misted the stamp with water after inking it up to get a bit of a softer look.  Then I stamped my sentiment (Inkadinkado).  I layered it on a kraft base and added a lace border sticker.  Hope you like it, Sandie!

If you visit Nonni at Korttikarkuri-Runaway Cards, you'll find the link up for everyone who has made cards for Sandie and feel free to join in if you want to!

I'm going to link this up to Seize the Birthday challenge where it's always a birthday card and there is optional extra toppings of flowers.

Once again, I wish you all the best on your special day!  Thanks everyone for stopping by!  :-)

A Pocket a Full of Posies

Well, I'm scrambling to get this card posted as one of the challenges I'm linking it to is ending soon.  Sigh.  What else is new?!  LOL.  I have to say that this week's CAS(E) This Sketch challenge really spoke to me.  I thought of my idea immediately (it just took some time to get it done).  I just love this sketch!

Isn't it fab?!  So many possibilities!  But what I saw was a little pocket full of flowers.  I love the layout too which is one I don't think I've ever done before.  So take a look...

Don't you just love that denim pocket?  I didn't have any blue denim so I took a piece of the beige denim paper I had (DCWV - Tradewinds) made a pocket shape and use my Spectrum Noir markers to colour it.  Because it was beige it gives the blue denim a muted, worn look.  I stamped my sentiment (Scrappy Cat) in versamark ink and embossed in white.  Then I added some hand drawn stitches with my white gel pen.  I used my Slice to cut out some leaves and greenery.  I attached my pocket to my card base with some foam dots then arranged and attached my leaves and that.  Lastly, I adhered my pink roses.  They were a $1.50 bin find at Michaels.  I bought several colours too.  I thought they were quite pretty.  :-)

I'm going to play along with the following challenges as well:

Addicted to CAS - Code word is "Off The Edge".
Addicted to Stamps and More - it's an inspiration photo this time and the reason for the pink flowers.

CAS-ual Fridays - "three thirds". I've got my three roses.
Virginia's View Challenge- use stitching.  Once again I used faux stitching.  I'm just not that good at the real thing!  :-)

I think that's it for now.  Hope you all are having a lovely day and thanks for visiting!

PCS Gallery Idol 2014

So, I was thinking that it might be fun to share with you the three cards I made for the current Paper Crafts and Scrapbooking magazine's 2014 Gallery Idol competition.  It's open audition time so it's okay to share.  :-)  Now two of the cards are brand new never before seen.  But one is a previously made one which is okay for the open auditions.  I really loved how this card turned out so wanted to enter it.  I'll start with that one.  :-)

I made this when I was on the Red Carpet Studio Design Team.  In fact, I believe it was my first DT project I had made.  I didn't have a lot of washi tape then but it was a St. Patricks day theme so the green stuff I did have worked out well.  You can see the original post HERE.  Now here's one of the new cards.

For this one I took some washi tape and attached strips of it to computer paper.  Then I use my Slice to die cut the word perfect.  I used computer paper as it's thinner and with the added thickness of the washi tape it would still cut nicely.  Then I splattered some green and blue ink (SU! Mellow Moss and Blue Brocade) and adhered my due cut.  I stamped the We Are (Neat and Tangled, On the corner set) and the Together (Heidi Grace) in black.  Then I attached my panel with some foam dots to my card base.  I'm pleased with the results.

Here's the last card, and my personal favourite.

I folded, twisted and rolled some washi tape and made them into flowers.  I've seen this done with fabric or ribbon and wondered if washi tape would work.  Well, it does!  Although it is a bit finicky to do.  I added some pearls to finish the flowers off and cut some leaf shapes from some washi tape as well.  It's funny that the washi tape I used is actually Christmas themed.  You can't tell at all.  I just liked the colours.  Once the flowers and leaves were attached I stamped the sentiment (Fiskars) in black and adhered my panel with foam dots to my card base.

All in all, I'm pleased with my entries.  I really encourage you all to try out too!  You never know what can happen!  Check out all the entries so far by visiting Flickr HERE.  Maybe add one of your own cards!

Anyway, I hope you all have a lovely day.  Thanks for stopping by!

My First Post for Inkspirational!

This is my first post as a new member of the DT for the challenge blog Inkspirational.  It's a great challenge with an awesome bunch of talented ladies!  I'm very lucky to be a part of it all.  :-). So, it's an inspiration picture this time for the challenge.  It starts today and goes for two weeks. Take a look at this fantastic picture!

So many ideas come to mind!  As much as I loved the balloons, I went with the sunset and silhouette theme.  Although, I did incorporate the colours of the balloons.  Take a look...

I did a variety of masking and sponging to create my sunset and hills.  Then I stamped my coneflowers and grass (my favourite stamp from Stampin' Up!) in black.  I thought the panel was too wide so I trimmed it slightly on both sides and as I was figuring out how to place it on my card base I kept seeing the tiny strips I had cut off.  They appealed to me so I decided to try putting them on the card too leaving some white space in between.  I really liked the effect.  So I adhered everything down and stamped my sentiment (Scrappy Cat).  This was made for my MIL for Mother's Day.  :-)

I really hope you can play along with us over at Inkspirational.  Check out what the other DT members have created too.

Marina

Shauna

Sandie

Nonni

Pia

Carol

Have fun!!  :-)

I'm going to link this card up to the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Spring Flowers

CAS-ual Fridays - "Three Thirds", using elements in threes. I've got my three strips of paper as well as three coneflowers.
STAMPlorations- the monthly challenge for May is Stamps and Flowers.

Well, that's all for now!  Have a lovely day and thanks for stopping by!

HB2U

Today I've got a funky and simple (would that be FAS?  LOL!) card.  My inspiration came a lot from the newest challenge over at Runway Inspired Challenge.  Here's the challenge photo...

Isn't that dress awesome?!  Digging the colour and the black accents.  Those colours and the top part of the dress are what I ran with.

So, I cut my green cardstock in the shape I wanted and attached it to my white card base.  Then I added my small strips of black cardstock in a design I had previously sketched out.  Lastly I attached my black glitter letter stickers.  I think it would be a good card for a teenager.  :-).

Going to keep it short and sweet today.  Thanks for stopping by!  :-)

Joyful Stars

Today I'm sharing a card I made that gave me some difficulty.  It just didn't want to come together for me.  I had to leave it alone and come back to it the next day.  Sometimes things just work out that way.  Other times a card comes together in a flash.  In any case, it did finally work out and I'm able to share it with you.

So, this card came about because of a couple of challenges.  First was Festive Friday.  They have another lovely inspiration photo.  Check it out...

I also kept in mind CAS-ual Fridays challenge which is "three thirds", which is to have three of something.  I've got three stars and the word joy is three letters.  Also, it's Addicted to Stamps and More's "Holiday" challenge right now so this fits in nicely!  And over at Virginia's View it's all about stitching.  You can do real stitches or faux ones.  Mine are faux.  :-)

So how I made this was I cut out my stars and Joy using my Slice.  I put a strip of green glitter tape down on my white panel then attached my wood grain stars.  Next I used my white gel pen to make my faux stitches on my joy then using some foam dots I attached it to my panel.  I added some blingy stars on the smaller wood grain stars.  Then I attached my panel with more foam dots to my card base.

I'd like to take some time to welcome a new follower!  Welcome Cathy of Cathy's Card Spot!  She's been blogging since 2012 and has some truly lovely creations!  Be sure to stop by and visit.  You won't be sorry!  :-)

So, is anyone else all excited and pumped about PaperCrafts Gallery Idol 2014?!  I am!  I was lucky and honored enough to make the top 20 last year.  I was among some super talented designers and often wondered how I got there.  LOL!  I'm trying out again this year too.  Open auditions started yesterday and go until May 19th.  The theme is to use decorative tape.  I don't use it much so this gives me a chance to really experiment.  If you're interested in knowing more look HERE.  :-)

Well, that's all I have for today.  Thanks for visiting and have a good one!

Beautiful Bloom

Well, Mother's Day is just around the corner so I've been making some cards for my Mom and my MIL.  Have to make sure they don't look at my blog before they get their cards!  :-). So, I was playing with my big peony stamp again by Stampendous.  I love their jumbo stamps!  I need more!  LOL.  Anyway, here's my card.

I stamped the peony in black then used my Spectrum Noir markers to colour it in. (CT1, CT3, CT5, GB5, TB1, blender). I matted it on blue then put it on a white card base.  I used my Slice to die cut the word mother from some yellow card stock and adhered it to the card.  I'm loving how this turned out.  I haven't decided yet who going to receive this card yet.  I'm thinking it might suit my Mom better.  I've got another card that's just as nice that should be just right for the MIL.  I'll be sharing that one later.

I will be linking this card up to the following challenges:

Spectrum Noir monthly challenge - it's all about flowers this month!
STAMPlorations - the monthly challenge for May is Stamps and Flowers.
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - anything goes

I also have some exciting news to share!  I'm now on the Design Team for the challenge blog, Inkspirational!  I'm very excited to join the talented ladies of this team.  :-D.  I hope you'll play along with us for our debut challenge happening next Saturday.

Well, I've got to run.  We are thinking of going to the little antique shop not far from where we live today.  Haven't been there in a while.  We love browsing antique stores!  Never know what you may find.  :-). Have a wonderful day and thanks for visiting!