Cards 4 Guys #366

There's a sketch at the Cards 4 Guys Challenge and this is what I did with it.

I have a paper pack with a lot of backgrounds that I bought for masculine cards and used three of them on my card today.  The circles and stars are dies from Sizzix cut with graphite foil from Concord and 9th.  The sentiment from PTI was silver embossed on the same paper used for the strips connecting the center section to the background. 

ETA: Thanks to Lisa for suggesting I send my card to The Paper Players.  They have a similar sketch. 

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Cards 4 Guys #365 and NBUS #71

I was lucky enough to have a top three card at Cards 4 Guys in their last challenge.  I'm going back to my  roots for their CAS challenge this time.

I got this Coastal Escape View die set from Spellbinders back in June and this is the first time using it, hence my entry into the NBUS challenge too.  The porthole is cut from copper looking foil and I colored pearls with a Mahogany Bark Altenew artist marker to add where the die cuts holes.  Some DOX inks for the background and scraps for the palm island fill the view.   The sentiment is an oldie from Technique Tuesday.  

Now that I've made one card with this set, I need to make more with the other images that can be viewed through the porthole. 

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52 Christmas Card Throwdown 36.23

The technique at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown is stenciling and that was an easy one for me although I did change my mind on what I was going to do as I looked through my stencils.

I started with a single layer stencil from Pretty Pink Posh, masking the berries so I could color them red.   The sentiment is from Hero Arts cut in red foil and layered for dimension.  I counted my Christmas cards yesterday and I have 62 done towards my goal of 85.  Not bad for the first week in October and all the Christmas challenges to come.

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Just Us Girls #673 - Word Week

Carol Mc is our host for Word Week at Just Us Girls and she has chosen 

We can all use a little sunshine so I hope you'll add yours to our gallery.  For inspiration please check out what the Design Team and our guest designer Joanne have made. 

To make my card bright as sunshine, I started with Distress Mica Sprays. When dry I embossed with a coverplate from Reverse Confetti (oob).  The sun is a die from MFT, also mica sprayed and the word die from EbyE is cut from orange foil.  The sentiment is from EbyE's Warm Fuzzies set. 

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Inspired By #197

Inspired By is changing things up and having a color challenge this week.  They have a photo but we are to use the colors in the photo to inspire us.  Here's the photo.

And my card.

Can you see what inspired me?  It was the deep red in the glasses of wine.  I hope it's Sangria because that's the color of CP ink I used on my Pretty Pink Posh ornament stencil. I placed the second stencil over them, added Duo Transfer Gel and when it dried I covered it with foil and ran it through my die cutting machine.  I blocked of two of the ornaments so I could stamp the sentiment from Neat and Tangled.

Thanks for dropping by.  How are you coming with your Christmas cards?  

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CAS Christmas March 2021

Happy Birthday to CAS Christmas!  It seems like only yesterday but it's been three years since this wonderful challenge was started by Bonnie and Loll. 

I'm finally back in my art studio so I can make cards for challenges and this is the first one I did.  Here is the prompt:

And here is my card:

I have to get back in the groove of photo taking I see.  This looks rather pink to me but it is definitely white.  I used SSS Chisholm Wreath, adding the bow and berries in red foil and the sentiment from Elizabeth Crafts in Neenah DS.

Thanks for stopping by today.  I'm working on a bunch more cards so you should have plenty to see if you stop by again.

Color Hues #8

Green and blue.  What to do?  This is my card for Color Hues.  I just hope silver is considered a neutral.

I started with the pine boughs from The Greetery and wanted to hang an ornament from SSS.  I cut it from blue foil and added a silver top and star.  It looked a little bare but the Stitched Rays background from Reverse Confetti fell right into place behind the ornament.  A word die from TH in the same foil balanced it out.  

The holidays are getting closer.  I hope you all have things ready to go and aren't stressing out.  It's a time of hope and peace and joy and love.  And that's my wish for you.

Inspired By #149

I was honored to be the winner of the Thankful challenge at Inspired By. I have made it my practice to always make a card for the next challenge following a win and here it is.

I don't know whatever possessed me to want to inlay the sentiment from EbyE.  Glue and foil don't mix well.  I ended up covering the entire Gina Marie ornament with Glossy Accents to cover the smudge spots.  I think it worked quite well. 

Here's the inspiration photo.

Thanks for dropping by.

Happy Little Stampers Christmas - May 2020

The next Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge is up and ready.

I have so many ornament stamps that I had to go with the option.

Believe me this looks more beautiful IRL.  It's so difficult to photograph foil.  I was lucky because the red and glitter sections of the Elizabeth Crafts die were leftovers from a previous ornament.  I added a silver foil background and green foil branch along with red and glitter strips along the side.  The PB sentiment is silver sparkle embossed. 

Will you pull out an ornament stamp and/or die for the challenge or go with something else?  We'd love to see your Christmas card in our gallery.

Happy Little Stampers Christmas - January 20

It's a new year and a new chance to get started on your Christmas cards for 2020.  Happy Little Stampers Christmas wants to help you on your way with this challenge.

I saw a couple of cards from Kreative Kristie using the CP Ornamental Background that I haven't used in a long time.  I pulled it out and CASED Kristie's card with a little embellishment added to go with the option.

The die cut ornament is from SSS,  the holly from Poppystamps and the heat embossed sentiment from PB.  I also added Nuvo drops in White Blizzard to the centers of each of the ornaments.

What will you make for the challenge?  Will you use the option?  The Design Team and I look forward to seeing your Christmas cards in our gallery.

CAS(E) This Sketch #299

It was a tricky sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch this week but I suddenly had an inspiration and here it is.

I gold heat embossed texture paste through a Hero Arts stencil then decorated it with dies cut from foil.  Want a better look at the shine?

It was based on this sketch.

This card may be the start of next year's stash.  😉

Thanks for dropping by.

Just Us Girls #464 - Photo Week

Ready for photo week at Just Us Girls?  Vicki has a bright colored one to inspire you.

I thought it looked like Christmas and that's the way I went with my card.

I cut the ornament from Elizabeth Crafts from silver mirror, red foil and white glitter paper and inserted the red and white into the silver outline.  The TH sentiment is also out of the red foil and the Poppystamps chain from silver.  It's so hard to photograph foil but here's another view.

Our guest designer Linda and the rest of the Design Team have cards inspired by the photo over on the JUGS blog.  Check them out and then enter your card in the gallery.  If you are chosen Chic of the Week you could be a future guest designer.

CAS Christmas, Watercolor and Mix-Up

I thought I'd make it easy for the gals who run the CAS challenges and show all three of my cards on one post.  No going from post to post to comment. 

First up is CAS Christmas where the prompt is tree.

I started with three layers of UTEE embossing powder on a scrap of cs and added glitter.  The paper was too thick to cut with the SSS tree so I trimmed the edges and just cut the outline from green and glued it on.  I found the star brad among my embellishments and have no idea where it came from. The SSS sentiment is cut from red foil, layered on white for stability.  Here's a close up.

The prompt at CAS Watercolor is sunflower and I used the PTI botanical block.

The image and sentiment from Verve are embossed with copper and the flower is colored with Zigs.

My favorite is for CAS Mix-Up.  We were to do stencil monoprints, and they have several videos listed on the blog to give you ideas on how to proceed.  I played around with a couple ideas before I ended up with something I liked.

I made my own tattersall plaid by inking up the SSS grid stencil with Distress Inks in Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo.  When it was dry I reinked with Blueprint Sketch and aligned the stencil between the first stamping.  The little dog from Gerda Steiner was laying on my desk and the colors worked beautifully with the plaid so I popped him up and added the sentiments from the same set. My choice is watercoloring and die cut.

It's been fun and I hope you like them.

Just Us Girls #444 - Trend Week

Alcohol inks have been all the rage lately and since I'm the host at Just Us Girls that's what I picked for the Trend Week challenge.

I have three cards to show you using alcohol inks.  The first one is a background done with three colors of ink and blending solution on Yupo paper.

Although you can't see it, the dark spots are gold foil that I pressed on when areas of the ink were sticky.  I got this idea from Kristina Werner here.  I added a frame and sentiment cut from gold foil cs.

For my second card, I tried to plan the ink so I could stamp flowers over it.  It started like this.

I actually did this twice, once on Yupo paper and once on glossy cardstock and only used 91% alcohol to blend.  This is the one on glossy paper.  It comes out  little lighter than on Yupo paper.

This is the same stamp set from EbyE stamped in Archival Ink on Yupo Paper.

I used Enamel Accents on the stamens and popped up the flowers with purple fun foam.

We'd love for you to join us in this challenge.  The Design Team and our guest Designer Hannelie Bester have some fantastic cards to inspire you.  If you are chosen Chic of the Week, you will be eligible to be our guest in August.