Less Is More #421

I need more masculine birthday cards so I used the prompt at Less Is More to make one.

I started with a border from The Alley Way stamped twice in CP Sand Castle.  Four different Distress Inks were added to the smaller diamonds and covered with Pico Embellisher.  A PTI sentiment was heat embossed and stacked four high.

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

Muse CV #66 and CAS(E) This Sketch #194

I've been busy crafting up a storm and I'm going to post two cards today for two different challenges before I lose track of deadlines and miss them. You don't ever do that, do you? ;)

First up is Muse Christmas Visions.  I haven't played with them in a while but Chriss's card was so cute and I had a stamp that wanted to play along.

The snowman and sentiment are from Inky Antics colored with Intense pencils, something else I haven't used in a while.  A little Spectrum Noir glitter pen was essential on the star, tinsel and fur part of the hat.  I wish my photography was better so you could see it.

Chriss's card

The next card is for CAS(E) This Sketch and I'm not crazy about it but it is what it is.

I tried a non-traditional color scheme with my W & W holiday trimmings stamps.  Guess why there's a strip of aqua mist paper across the top.  Yup, I goofed on my HLS sentiment and this was the only way I could think to fix it.  Actually I think it adds a little dimension so I'm okay with it.

I have quite a stack of Christmas cards already and I'm not sure when I made them unless it was last December after I had already sent out my cards.  I hope you've gotten a good start on yours.

MUSE #144

Keeping it all in the family, Ardyth's daughter Kate made the inspiration card at Muse this week.

Heaven knows we have a lot of those little stamps that come tucked into our bigger sets and I had planned to use some but another ping hit me.

The border of trees from Winnie and Walter came in my Stamp of Approval box.  I used Green Hills ink for them and Ultra Pink for the sentiment from Essential by Ellen.  EZPZ.

Thanks for dropping by.  I'm off to see my husband.s grandson in a musical tonight and two of my granddaughters in The Nutcracker tomorrow.  It should be a fun weekend.  I hope yours is as well.

Time Out #4 and CASE Study #189

Happy Tuesday, All

I was out of town yesterday so I didn't get to participate in the Online Card Class - Watercolor, and I'm anxious to get started. Before I do, I have a couple of cards for challenges ending shortly.  First up is CASE Study.

This is Wida's lovely card and I'm not sure I did it justice.  I always feel that way when I force an idea.

I used a NBUS border stamp from The Alley Way in a variety of Hero Arts inks.  The sentiment is also from HA that I did a little surgery on so I could stack the words.

The next card I like a whole lot better.  The challenge at Time Out was to CASE Virginia Lu's card.

I was inspired by the patterned paper and the large element nested on jute.  This is a NBUS butterfly die from Memory Box. The outline is cut in black and embossed with black sparkle and the solid part is cut from aqua vellum so there's a sheerness to it.  The sentiment is from Clearly Besotted.

Thanks for stopping by.  I'm off to get some lunch and then watch the class videos.  The next cards you see will be homework.

CASE Stude #178

I woke up early this morning with card ideas running through my mind.  Since a storm is coming through, I decided that staying in my craft room and making those ideas into cards was a wonderful idea.  I started with CASE Study and the muse by Danielle Flanders.

The first thing that caught my attention was the colorfully scalloped lines.  I thought it would be a good chance to practice my stamping using one of the borders from The Alley Way Stamps.

I'm beginning to see that practice makes perfect.  I'm getting better at lining these border stamps up and having them print evenly.  Yay!!  I cut it out so I could pop it up on a colored card base.  The color is a little off on the screen.  The background is actually the color of the middle stamp IRL.  The sentiment from MFT is embossed in white.  Why the heart you ask?  I may have stamped the borders fine but I forgot to center the words so I added the heart to balance it out. It's kind of the lemon to lemonade thing.  I think it works.

Thanks for stopping by.  If you're in the path of the storm, please stay safe and warm.

CASology 75

I really haven't had the time or the creativity to make and post cards lately but I knew I needed a thank you card and I wanted to use the Simon Says Stamp holiday border.  I tried it earlier and made a mess but I thought I'd give it another go.

Using PTI's Tipped Tops, I cut a piece of kraft cardstock and stamped it with the border in red, white and blue.  I know, I know. Those are really more patriotic colors but my dark green just didn't show up well on the kraft.  This way it looks like a winter sweater without it being too Christmasy.  The sentiment is from PTI's Signature Christmas, stamped in HA Royal Red.

I'm entering this in the challenge over at CASology.

Now you see why I wanted it to look like a sweater. ;)

Thanks for stopping by.  I know everyone is busy getting ready for the holiday, including me.  I just hope the weather isn't as bad as predicted so my family can get here.  We had freezing rain Thursday night with more last night and snow tonight.  If you or your family are traveling, I pray for safe journeys for all of you.