Twofer Challenge #41

I am sad to report that the Twofer Challenge will be closing after this month.  Our Darling Darnell has given us a wonderfully fun challenge for the last four years but family and health issues require more of her time and as we well know that takes priority.  Many thanks to you and your team, Darnell, for all the creativity we've seen on this unique challenge.  

Here's the prompt.

I'm so glad I brought stamps with me that I can use for this final challenge.  I would have hated to miss it.

The images are from Gerda Steiner, colored with Zigs.

Here the little bulldog is all forlorn that he forgot someone's birthday.  The 'doghouse' is cut from paper from a Honey Bee Stamps pack with an MFT die.   The card base behind was inked with Altenew using a blender brush.

Here he is consoling his little cat friend.  After masking the horizon, the sky was ink blended with Altenew and then the top was masked and the grass added.  The little speech bubble just happened to be in the stamp set - one I computer generated a while ago.  

I hope you'll make a card for this last challenge.  Or at least stop by and give the design team some love before they ride off into the sunset.

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Twofer Challenge #17

I love the topic of the Twofer Challenge this time - Bees.  I only have one bee stamp from RC but I love it.  Here's what I did with it.

You know you have to do a card for two different occasions using the same image.  First up is my uplifting card.

I mixed Distress Ink with translucent texture paste and spread it on my card base.  While it dried I cut the panel with a TH die and stamped the sentiment.  I colored the bees with Inktense pencils and replaced the wings on this one with some stamped on iridescent vellum with silver and sparkle embossed. 

The background was make with Scattered Straw and Wild Honey DI through a Funky Fossil stencil.  When it was done I didn't like the white showing through so I spread the Scattered Straw over the entire panel that was cut with an MFT die.  Then I didn't like the white border so out came the Scattered Straw again.  The sentiment is from the same set and one I get a kick out of.

Thanks for dropping by.  Now that the floors are done and almost everything is back in order I will have more time to make cards and comment on your blogs.

Addicted to CAS #154

Here's a fun Addicted to CAS challenge for you.  Ceal has selected this as her code word.

I had several things come to mind but I wanted to try something new and if it worked I'd use it.

I used my Quickie Glue Pen to color the fleece on the Gerda Steiner lambs and heat embossed them with High White ep.  The face and ears were colored with Altenew ink.  Here's a close-up of what it looks like.

Don't they look like fluffy wooly sheep?   I cut a piece of woodgrain paper for them to peek over, dotted their eyes with a black glaze pen and computer generated the sentiment.

What does the word 'fluffy' conjure up in your mind?  We'd like to see your idea made into a card and entered in our gallery.

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.

CAS(E) This Sketch #264

I played around in my craft room with ideas to make a card for CAS(E) This Sketch and finally came up with something that works for me.  Hopefully the team can see the sketch.

Do you see it?  MFT's The Whole Herd gave me the sentiment and the images that are colored with Zigs.  A little masking and Distress Ink blending gave me a background and their barbed wire fence finishes it off.

Thanks for dropping by. Enjoy your day.

Addicted to CAS #132

Ellenor is our host at Addicted to CAS and she chose birds as her code word.

I love birds and toyed with which one I might put on my card.  I hope it's okay to do just one because that's what I did, using my long neglected Crazy Birds from TH.

As usual it's the sentiment that proved more difficult but I thought his buggy eyes went perfectly with the sentiment from MFT.  He's colored with Zigs and his eyes are cut separately, popped up and covered with Glossy Accents.

I know you have at least one bird stamp you can use to make a card for our challenge. The rest of the Design Team and I are waiting to see what you do. Happy Little Stampers is offering a $20 voucher to the store for the winner of this challenge.  Just make sure your card is CAS.

CAS(E) This Sketch #261

It's another CAS(E) This Sketch retro challenge with this sketch.

I'll show you my original below but first the new one I agonized over.  With all the DT cards and a flurry of others I had been working on completed, all of a sudden my inspiration flew out the window. I've been sitting here for days with nothing accomplished until late yesterday.  I had an idea and worked on it, didn't like it, worked on another, didn't like it and went back to the first one.  And here it is.

The stamp is from PB, colored with Zigs on Bristol.  The sentiment is from the same set.  I didn't buy critter stamps for a long time because I didn't have a way to color them until I got my Zigs, and then I wasn't sure they (or I) did a good enough job.  I'm getting better and some of the images are just so cute how could I resist.

The previous card was before critters and Zigs, back when I did a lot of flowers and all my coloring was done with Distress Inks.

Now that I look at it, it was also before my watermark and light box.  Boy have things changed.

Thanks for dropping by today.  I hope you're continually learning and changing in your craft life too.

Addicted to Stamps and More #281

Here we are.  Back to your favorite of the Addicted to Stamps and More challenges.  We always have a lot of entries and we love to see them.  Here's mine.

This is the case of two friends coming together to make this card.  I won the RC set from Leigh during a blog hop and when I made another card with it Sarah Gray sent me this wonderful stencil she made to go with it.

The stencil was inked with Wild Honey DI and the bees colored with Zigs.  I'm pretty good about sending birthday cards on time but once in a while. . .

You never know what the rest of the Design Team has in store for you.  With an AG challenge you can be sure there's something that will inspire you.  Check them out and then make a card for the gallery.  We'd love to see you there.

Stamplorations Blooomgtangled

I couldn't resist Stamplorations invitation to color especially since it includes a download for a sample page from their new coloring book. 

The difficult part is choosing what colors and what medium to use.  I printed the page on Bristol and colored with my Zigs.

I had a little trouble framing out the section I wanted to display but finally came up with die cut from PPP that allowed room for a sentiment from PTI.

Thank You Stamplorations for the sample page and the opportunity to win a prize.

CAS(E) This Sketch #206

I had to buy some new stamps because two of my design team assignments asked for dogs or pets and I had not one single stamp of a dog.  Once I got them, one was perfect for the challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch.

The dog and sentiment are from Penny Black, and he's colored with Zigs. The grass is Mowed Lawn Distress Ink.  QACAS as Darnell would say.

I've been under the weather for two days now so this is the end of my non-scheduled cards.  I hope the fog clears in my mind so I can get back to making more.  I can't believe what an obsession making cards can be.  But you all know it don't you?

ETA:  I just noticed that Simon Says Stamp has "Pets" as their Monday challenge so I'm going to enter my card there too.

Inkspirational #120

I borrowed a stamp from Michele when she was here Tuesday and when I was done I thought I could turn it into a card for the Inkspirational challenge.

The flowers from Concord and 9th were stamped all over the card front.  To add color I split the panel, popped them up and inserted a sentiment from CB on Aqua Mist.  This will be a great way to use some of my other stamps that haven't seen ink in a while.

I'm glad you dropped by.

Freshly Made Sketches #241 and CAS Mix-Up for June

I can't remember what came first - the idea to do something for CAS Mix-Up or the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.  I have this odd feeling that I originally started the card for some other challenge and used the sketch as a starting point but can't remember what it might be.

Here are the parameters:

For the mix-up I stamped and die cut the Beautiful Day flower from Altenew and my choice was the stenciling I did on the bottom.  The sentiment is from PTI.

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

CASology #186 and Muse #154

Today is for the birds.  I mean bird cards. ;)  For the Distress challenge at CASology I made this quadruple distressed card.

Distress 1: Using some old Kraft-core paper I embossed the woodgrain and sanded it down.  Distress 2:  I stamped the sentiment from MFT on kraft paper and used the distress tool to rough up the edges.  Distress 3:  That poor bird is distressed that he forgot someone's birthday.  Distress 4: He's colored with Distress Inks.  Wow, seven distresses in one paragraph.  Well, eight now that I said it again. ;)

Up next are my darling little chickadees for the Muse challenge.  The inspiration photo had flowers.

I wanted to use my film strip die from PPP and the only thing that really fit it were the birds.

I'm so glad you stopped by.  Have a wonderful week.