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.

Tag You're It! 99

I have the honor of being your host for this challenge at Tag You're It!  Here's is what I have chosen for your inspiration.

And here is what I made:

I combined a tag from SSS, the burlap background stamp from MFT, a sunflower from PB and a pumpkin from my NBUS set from HoneyBee, both colored with Zigs, and a sentiment from Jillian Vance.  Isn't it nice how all those companies play so well together.

I hope this photo and our Design Team inspires you to play in our Autumn Fest challenge at Tag You're It!

The Flower Challenge #36

You're going to like The Flower Challenge.  It's 

See? I said you'd like it.  You can make any flower you want but please be sure to read the rules under the tab at the top of the blog. We'd hate for your card to be disqualified. This month we are being sponsored by My Favorite Things and all the designers as well as our guest, Michele Ferguson, will be using stamps that were gifted to us by My Favorite Things.  They have also given us two $25 gift certificates to give our winners.  Yes, winners.  We will be choosing two this month so be sure and get your flower cards in.

For my card I used Brilliant Blooms, colored with Zigs, 

die cut and placed on gray cardstock.

Have fun creating!

Just Us Girls #501 - Color Week

It's color week at Just Us Girls and Ina is our host.  She has a wonderful combination for us to play with.

I had the striped background in my drawer and combined it with the die cut flowers from Altenew.  A few splatters and label sentiment from N&T finished it off.

The design team and our guest Tristan Dawes have some colorful cards to inspire you.  Check them out and then make a card for our gallery.  We'd love to see you there.

The Flower Challenge #35

You get to use your favorite flower on your cards 

for this month's The Flower Challenge.

My favorite flower is the daisy.  I love their sunny faces 

and how bright and cheerful they are.  They just make me smile.

The flowers from Altenew's Smile More are stamped in gray on Bristol and colored with Zigs.  The background is kraft stamped with MFT burlap in CP Spruce. 

We have as our guest this month the wonderfully talented Therese Calvird.  You will definitely want to see what she has done for the challenge but also check out her entire blog.  There is so much creativity there to amaze you.  

We also have a prize from Clearly Besotted.  They are giving our winner a $20 certificate to their store.  Be sure to follow the rules on our blog to be eligible for a win.  

I hope to see your card in the gallery featuring your favorite flower.

Time Out #138

I don't have any what I call funny stamps except for the dancing ladies from IO.  That meant I had to put my brain to work to come up with something for the Time Out Challenge. 

I pulled out The Whole Herd from MFT and decided chickens was the way to go.  I had this chicken wire die cut from KS and put it to use for the first time.  I stamped the Altenew wood plank background and put my Zig colored die cut chickens on it so their little faces could peek through.  Then it was sentiment time.  I didn't have anything in my stamps so it was computer generated.

Confession time: I don't usually force cards when I don't get an immediate idea, especially when I don't know who I'd send it to.  I've been busy with DT cards to get ahead while I'm on vacation so I haven't made any 'just for fun' cards.  I love playing with Time Out so I broke my rule for them.  Not my best work but it was fun putting it together.

Thanks for dropping by.

Time Out #136

It's time for the 'Home Sweet Home' photo challenge at Time Out.

I zeroed in on that pretty vase in the back and this is what transpired.

I white heat embossed the background stamp from CF and watercolored it with Distress Inks.  The frame is from Altenew and I glued together the outer portion and colored it with the same blue as the flowers.  A sentiment from PTI gold embossed on vellum  was added to the corner.

We spent the morning looking at carpeting and flooring and someone is coming this afternoon to take measurements. I dread having to move everything but it's given me reason to do some uncluttering.  I just donated 60 quilt magazines to the library (I still have some left).  I have a box of my beloved owls ready to donate and other things hopefully going on consignment.  I already cleaned out my 12 x 12 paper and gave it to my daughter who is a middle school art teacher.  Who knows what will be next.

Thanks for dropping by.

Just Us Girls #488 - Color Week

Maria has given us the option of choosing any three of the colors in her lovely Spring photo for the Color Week challenge at Just Us Girls.

I skipped the obvious red and yellow tulips and went with purple, yellow and green for my card.

Using Altenew inks, I stamped their Cattleya, die cut it and placed it on a panel stamped with my NBUS background stamp from The Stamp Market.  To match the sentiment strip to the flowers I ran the ink across my paper.  When it was dry I heat embossed the sentiment from HLS.

I hope you check out what the Design Team and our guest Eva have made using this photo as their color inspiration.  Then we all hope you'll make a card for the challenge.  If you are chosen Chic of the Week, you could be a future guest designer.

Just Us Girls #478 - Trend Week

I'm the host at Just Us Girls this week and I chose this for our challenge.

We all have background stamps of one kind or another and I'd like to see you feature one on your card.  I'm always short of masculine cards so that's what I made.

The MFT Houndstooth was stamped in Smoke ink on Fog paper.  The label dies are from CP, one cut in Slate that I used for my card base and one from Fog on which I stamped the sentiment from HA. I used my small paper punch to make holes to thread my hemp cord through.

The Design Team and our guest Greta Hess have some wonderful cards to inspire you.  Please check them out and then enter your own card using a background stamp.  You may be chosen Chic of the Week and have the chance to be our guest designer in May.

The Flower Challenge #29

Are you ready to get out your flower stamps and make a card?  This month The Flower Challenge is asking you to use your newest flower stamp or die.

I'm not sure if this is my latest stamp set because I don't keep track of that but I do know it is a rather recent one. 

Introducing Altenew's Cattleya, a type of orchid.  I stamped it in Altenew ink, die cut it and arranged it on a panel stamped with MFT's Itsy Bitsy Polka Dot Background in CP Twilight Ink.  I stamped the sentiment from the same set directly onto the card front and as I see it here that might have been a mistake.  It looks a little blurry on screen but it's much clearer in person.

Aren't you curious to see what new stamps the Design Team has used?  Go over to the blog and be inspired to make a card for our gallery.  Remember that this is a flower challenge so your main image must be a flower.

The Flower Challenge #26

Welcome to a new The Flower Challenge.  This month we'd like your card to be for a special occasion.  Mine is for an anniversary.

I started with my NBUS Sweet Peas from Altenew, stamping them on Bristol in VersaFine Gray and coloring with Zigs.  I used my NBUS Itsy Bitsy Polka Dot background from MFT to put behind them.  The sentiment is from HA and is heat embossed on Slate cs, not black like it looks in the photo. 

The Design Team has some beautiful cards to inspire you.  I hope you'll check them out and then make a special occasion card with a flower as the main focus.  We'd love to see you in the gallery.

The Flower Challenge #24 - Reminder

There's still time for you to enter a card in September's The Flower Challenge.  The Design Team is back with some new cards to inspire your entries for this Anything Goes challenge.  My card is a rather simple one that I made a while ago.

I quickly watercolored the stem and center of the Unity daisy, cut the panel with an irregular die and placed it on a SSS plaid background.  

Whether clean and simple or rather complex, we'd like to see your cards with flowers as the focal image in our gallery.  There is a $25 voucher to CASual Fridays for the winner.

Just Us Girls #458 - Color Week

I'm the host for Just Us Girl's Color Week and I've chose these colors:

I had in mind what I wanted to do when I chose the colors - to use my Altenew Hibiscus.

I had the flowers already stamped and thought I'd use green as my color choice when I realized I had yellow in the center of the flowers.  Okay, plan B.  I stamped the leaves in three shades of Altenew gray.  I used a background stamp with VersaMark Dazzle to give some dimension to the Smoke cs and stamped the N&T sentiment in one of the grays. 

I can't wait to see how you use these colors.  If you make a card you may be chosen Chic of the Week and be eligible to be our guest designer in November.  Why not give it a try.

Inkspirational #167

Inkspirational has a Popsicle photo to base our cards on this challenge.

I looked and looked at the photo because I couldn't decide where to go with it.  I finally focused on the bar with the fruit in it and did a fast watercolor card.

The citrus slices from Concord and 9th are white heat embossed on watercolor cs that was cut with a die from PPP.  Distress Inks were swiped across and then liberally sprayed with water. The sentiment was computer generated and the whole thing placed on a HA canvas background done in Fog.

Thanks for dropping by.

The Card Concept #92

Any time there is a challenge featuring a flower I am inspired to join in.  The bold bloom at The Card Concept caught my attention and here is the result.

I started with the flower from Altenew stamped in shades of red.  I wanted to mimic the slats in the blinds so I stamped the MFT pinstripe background in HA Wet cement.  I used the same ink for my leaves and a similar color to heat emboss the sentiment on.  All that was left was a panel to place the flower on and I went with a quilt embossing folder. 

It's physical therapy this afternoon for a neck problem and then my daughter arrives tonight to spend Mother's Day weekend with me while her husband goes further north to spend the weekend with his mother and dad.  I think Lisa has an outing planned which will include some shopping and dining.  And of course a lot of  sharing and laughing. Plus I just got a text from my granddaughter-in-law that she and my grandson have sent a package of goodies for us to share.  I'm one lucky lady.

Thanks for dropping by.  I hope you all have a great weekend and if you are a grandmother, mother, sister, aunt or mentor then you are truly blessed.

Merry Monday #284

It's time for a red and white card at Merry Monday. 

I pulled out my CP peppermint striped background stamp and inked it up with Candied Apple DOX.  The label die, candy canes and sentiment are all from CP.  I added a little Glossy Accents to the canes. 

I just counted and I have 47 Christmas cards already done.  Some were left from last year but most have been made for challenges this year.  There's no doubt I'll be ready when it comes time to mail them out.

It almost looked like Christmas here with snow covering the ground this morning. And it's snowing again.  Come on Spring!

 

CAS Mix-Up - March

Happy Birthday, CAS Mix-Up!  I can't believe it's been two years. It seems like just yesterday I was having fun trying new techniques to make cards for your challenge.  This month it's working with acetate.

I used alcohol ink on acetate and then stamped the background stamp from PB (one that I forgot I had) in archival ink on the opposite side. I used a frame die for the sentiment and colored it with Distress Inks to match the alcohol ink. 

I hope you're having a good day.  I just returned from a wonderful Lenten Breakfast that the women of our church hosted for area churches.  Yesterday we made cinnamon rolls and I was in early this morning baking breakfast casseroles and making curried fruit.  My husband and a couple of other men did the dishes while we enjoyed a musical program.  Next week another church is hosting a Lenten Luncheon.  It's good to get together with a like community of women - sort of like our crafty blogging friends.