CAS(E) This Sketch #266 and Inspired By All the Little Things #83

My card today was made for CAS(E) This Sketch but it also fits into the Inspired By All the Little Things challenge.

I started by stamping and masking the bottles from W&W on Bristol.  I masked off the top of the card to ink the bottom in Hickory Smoke and went over it again through a SSS stencil.  The bottles were colored with Zigs and the branches stamped and Perfect Pearls dotted on.  Not exactly a Springtime look but I like it. 

Thanks for dropping by.  I hope your weekend went well and that you have a wonderful week ahead.

January CAS Watercolor and The Flower Challenge #16

Here I am.  Late to the party again.  Two days left before both the CAS Watercolor Challenge and The Flower Challenge close.  I've had both cards made or partially made for days but got busy and haven't posted.  I'll remedy that right now.

For CAS Watercolor:

I spent one evening stamping and masking a bouquet of Altenew flowers on Bristol so I could color with my Zigs.  The next day while searching for a sentiment I looked at the card and thought "Oh no.  It's supposed to be CAS." In order to keep it that way I opted for a tiny sentiment from PB.  I hope that's enough white space.

For The Flower Challenge:

I hope this uses enough of the spotlight technique.  Only small portions of the Altenew flowers are outside the die cut circles and uncolored but I hadn't used these flowers in a long time and wanted to make a card with them.  Not quite the look I was going for but I'm happy.

Thanks for dropping by.  I love it when you do.

Just Us Girls #116

It's Color Week at Just Us Girls and Vicki wants us to use black, green and purple.  That said Halloween to me and that's the way I went.

I stamped this cute little mummy while Michele was here - it's her stamp - not knowing what I'd do with it.  I ended up covering him with masking fluid so I could ink up the background in the requisite colors using Distress Inks. The Black Soot almost obliterated the sentiment so I went over it with a black pen. 

How do you see using these colors?  Check out the Design Team and guest designer Karola to see what they have done for your inspiration.  Make a card for the gallery and you may be chosen Chic of the Week and be eligible for a guest designer spot in January.

We hope to see you there.

NBUS Challenge #12

Well those 10 11 days went fast.  The 11 days that Darnell had open for her NBUS challenge.  I was waiting for a new order but it's not going to be here in time so I'm using my backup card - one I made the first day of the challenge but didn't post just in case.  Well, just in case time is here.  The challenge ends tomorrow and I'll be gone most of the day so I'm posting now.

I taped off a border on Fog cardstock, then stamped and heat embossed the flowers from CP/SOA in white.  Once they were cool, I inked the background with Fog, removed the mask and stamped the HA sentiment in the same ink.  I can see doing this in other colors and for other occasions.

Glad you dropped by again.

Inkspirational #138

When I saw Inkspirational's word prompt this week I knew exactly what stamp set I'd use.  I only needed to figure out how.  I started with the sentiment and this is what happened.

MFT's The Whole Herd

I know just who this is going to, too.

Thanks for dropping by.

CAS(E) This Sketch #220

The sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch gave me a chance to get out my NBUS Altenew Garden Treasures. With a little masking I came up with this.

Zig coloring on Bristol Board; Sentiment from MSE

That's all for now.  Thanks for dropping by.

The Flower Challenge - Blue and Yellow

I've had this card for The Flower Challenge done for over a week.  Why oh why do I wait until the last minute to post?

This little card took a couple of turns before I was satisfied with it. On screen the oval looks much darker than the card base but it really isn't.  The lily is a PB stamp that I masked to stamp the other PB flowers on Bristol, colored with Zigs and splattered with DI. Then to the age old question, where to put the SSS sentiment.

I'm so glad you dropped by and hope your week is off to a great start.

Muse Christmas Visions #46

I did't think I was going to be able to do a card for Muse Christmas Visions this week because I didn't have a deer to use on my card like Stephanie's inspiration card.  Whoa!  Wait!  It's inspiration, right?  So I took the masked and inked background and the silhouette and came up with this.

Using a couple of dies from SPD, I cut a white panel and a red glitter one. The white one was masked and inked with Mowed Lawn and Twisted Citron and then splattered with a little water.  The wreath is from PTI and the sentiment from HLS.

Here's Stephanie's card:

I have my parents house cleaned up as best as I can and it's going on the market tomorrow.  I'm hoping prospective buyers don't look in the closets where I have stashed stuff out of sight. ;)  I'm also hoping for a quick sale although that means finding buyers for a lot of furniture and cleaning out all those closets and cupboards.  Wish me luck.

Thanks for dropping by.  I hope your week is off to a good start.

Make It Monday, #250

Just a quick post for Make It Monday.  Laurie Willison has a video on masked backgrounds and because I sometimes use this technique, I had to play along.

I taped off the edges and inked the background with Distress Inks.  Wild Honey DI was used to stamp the PTI Harvest Berries die cut, with a little water added to color in more of the leaves.  PTI's Keep It Simple sentiment is stamped in Altenew Dusk.  QACAS as Darnell would say - although I do have blue fingers now.

Glad you dropped by.

Less is More #241

The challenge at Less is More is two-fold.  First it is to be a one layer card.  Second, the theme is wishing.  I have the right stamp set so the wishing part is easy.  It's the one layer thing that I have trouble with.

Stamps: SSS Sending Happy Thoughts, SSS Leaves Background

Ink: HA Green Hills, Delicata Gold

Other:  Perfect Pearls, Masking paper

Too bad you can't see the shimmer in the photo.  It looks so much better IRL.

AAA #46 and HLS CAS Challenge

Masking can really make a card great and give it dimension but it's not always easy to do.  Cutting little masks and figuring out which image to stamp first takes a little forethought.  I practiced on scrap paper before finalizing this card for AAA - Maskerade and Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge - Masking.

The flowers and vase are from W & W's Lola's Bouquet with hand drawn stems.  The flowers are colored with Zigs and the vase negative masked and stamped with a small print stamp from My Craft Spot (no longer in business).  A little background and shadow, some splatters and a sentiment from PB finish it off.

So glad you stopped by.

MIM #221 and PIC #1

I combined two challenges today and I'm not sure I did either one of them justice.  I loved this picture from the brand new Pinterest Inspired Challenge -

and thought I could combine it with the Make it Monday challenge (Masking Sentiments).

Some of you out there in blogland do a fantastic job of making patterned backgrounds.  I've never been happy with mine but I keep trying.  Here I used PTI's Beautiful Blooms, with a little help from Beautiful Brushstrokes, and some HA inks.  I can see a redo coming for this card.  It's funny how the computer screen makes you look at your cards in a whole different way.

Less is More #232 and Time Out #35

Less is More = one layer masculine card.  I'm not one to usually do a one layer card but masculine I can handle.

Time Out = Nature with the optional twist of animals.  This is what sparked my creation.  What better stamp set to use than PB's Nature's Friends.  And I can do it in one layer.  Yay!

I started by stamping the tree and deer with HA India Black Ink, using my MISTI so I could get a really good impression.  I cut some scrap paper for my hill and used it as a mask while I inked my background with a variety of Distress Inks.  When it was good and dry, I stamped and clear embossed the sentiment from SSS.  I must admit it came out even better than I thought it would.

Thank you for stopping by.  I appreciate it when you do.

CAS(E) This Sketch #124

I must admit that this challenge from CAS(E) This Sketch had me . . . . well . . . . challenged.  Then when I got out my Masterpiece set from PTI to make a card for their blog hop, I saw it.  The perfect "out-of-the-paint-box" image.

The easel legs aren't parallel like the sketch but there are three of them.  I double layered, double embossed it in Platinum and used a stamp by Hero Arts for my sentiment, masking it to stamp in two colors.  That went right the first time, much to my surprise. :D

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I signed up for this online card class at the last minute and here's a card from the first day's lesson.

I'm not crazy about my flower placement but I do love the concept and it was great to pull out my WPlus stamp set. The sentiment is NBUS from Stamplorations.

Thanks for stopping by to visit.

MIM #170

My fingers are inky, my recycle bin is full and my desk is a mess but I finally have a card for Make it Monday's "Masking with a die cut".  Erin Lincoln has a wonderful video to show you how it's done.

I used masking paper to cut the ferns from PTI's Meadow Greens. I cut them on the wrong side the first time so of course the stamp didn't match.  Scratch one background.  I wasn't sure I liked it anyway so I went a different direction by lightly watercoloring with Weathered Wood DI, then misting with Faded Jeans, also adding a few big splotches.  The ferns are stamped using HA Green Hills on the edges and Field Green in the middle.  The sentiment is from Stampendous and the panel is mounted with foam tape on Blueberry Sky cardstock.  It actually looks better IRL.  Lighter and airier like ferns should look.

I want to thank all of you who made such comforting and encouraging comments about my caretaking duties with my parents.  My brother is here for the holiday weekend so I've had a little bit more time for me.  Next Friday my sister arrives from Denver until Labor Day so I'll have a lot more time to spend in my craft room. I'll still be visiting Mom in the nursing home every day and checking in on Dad but I won't need to spend the night and all afternoon with him.  We still don't know what the future holds for them but your prayers are truly appreciated.

Happy Birthday, Darnell

We're having a virtual Birthday Party for our good friend Darnell today.  Food and drinks are being served at Happy Dance, hosted by the hostess with the mostest, Bev.  Then you can go to Ardyth's blog Maskerade,  where the queen of graphic cards is hosting a linky party.  There you can see the birthday greetings and link up one yourself if you're so inclined.  If you don't know Darnell yet, and I can't believe you don't since she has over 500 followers, stop on over at her blog and see what antics she's up to in the playhouse.  She has a witty way of writing, a wonderful sense of humor, a hamster who lives in her head, and a creative card making style.  She will introduce you to other bloggers, and make sweet and encouraging comments on your blog.  She's the cyber friend you always wish you had.

Here's my card, which is not what I originally wanted to do, but my stamp order didn't come.  :(

What's more celebratory than a big bunch of balloons.  I die cut them (after numerous attempts to stamp some, ugh), cut masks and inked up with Distress Ink on photo paper.  I wanted to do stars, because she is one, and hearts because we love her. Yellow stands for friendship so I have a very symbolic card here.  I used carpet thread for the strings and stuck them down to the greeting with matte medium.  I hope they make it through the mail okay because it's off to Darnell today.

Thanks for stopping by.  Now hurry over to wish Darnell a Happy Birthday!

Virginia's View and OCC

There's a new challenge on the scene brought to you by Virginia Lu from Yes, Virginia.   The challenge is called Virginia's View. and this month  it's all about watercoloring.  So far there have been 259 entries which shows how much card makers like the technique but is rather intimidating to me.  Some of the cards I've seen in the gallery are absolutely amazing.  You need to check them out.  And then there's mine.

I did a scene using a stencil from SSS, Distress Inks and white embossing powder.  I don't know why the paper looks so wrinkly in the photo.  

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For the online card class, we learned about masking.  I'll give you a look at my card and then tell you one of the "must dos".

I don't have many large shaped dies so I cut my own flag from masking paper and used a die for the oval. To make the shape show up correctly you need to have your stamping go near the edge of the mask.  As you can see by my missing corner on the right, I didn't get the stamp to print well enough there.  This technique is great for making quick and easy cards and I will definitely be doing it again.  I do need to get some more image stamps, though, and maybe a die or two.  I haven't checked the follow up class for today yet, but I'm sure there will be lots more hints and how to's.

Thanks for stopping by.