Just Us GIrls #680 - Photo Week

It's Photo/Moodboard Week at Just Us Girls and I'm honored to be your host.  This is the board I hope will inspire you to make a card.

Here's a better photo in case you need to see the details.

I was enchanted by the colors in the pillow and used my Pinkfresh Studio Stained Glass die and stencils for this card.

I took the next photo standing up and at an angle so you can better see the gold foil in the smaller diamonds.

I did that first on aqua paper using Deco Foil and a transfer medium.  Next came the stenciling, the die cut in darker aqua and the reverse hot foiled sentiment from PoppyStamps.

Our guest Claire and the rest of the Design Team have even more inspiration for you over on the blog.  Let's go take a look.

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52 Christmas Card Throwdown Week 12

I really admire people who can do mixed media.  I love to see it but I don't do well creating it. Unfortunately I had to jump right in and do it if I wanted to continue my 52 weeks of cards for the Christmas Card Throwdown.  That's the technique they want for this week. 

It all started with a holly stencil, Distress Ink and TH Crackle Paint.  I should have used a darker green because we all know DI's react with water, or in this case paste, so it lightened up a bit.  Next the entire panel was covered with Gathered Twigs.  The Handlettered Holiday Background from SSS and a Crackle Paint stamp from SU were added.  Another stencil was used for the pinecones and branches in the upper corners.  The holly die cut is from Penny Black and colored with Altenew artist markers.  It almost looks too pristine to go on this rather rustic card that has the edges shredded with an ancient TH tool and inked with Ground Expresso. The PTI sentiment banner was inked the same way.

I'm so glad you dropped by.  How are your Christmas cards coming along?

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please fill out the subscription form in the upper right sidebar.

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CAS Colours and Sketches #367

I've had CAS Colours and Sketches on my challenge list for a while but I'm not sure I've ever entered a card.  Today I have one using these colors.

The first thing I thought of when I saw the colors was my Altenew tulip, that is stamped in Altenew ink. I added blue behind a TH die cut and used a PB sentiment. 

Thanks for dropping by.  I hope you are safe and healthy and keep smiling.

CAS Mix-Up - 4th Birthday

Happy Birthday, CAS Mix-Up!  Boy those four years went fast.  I enjoy entering your challenge so here's to many more.

For this Mix-Up using acrylic paint I made this:

Last summer, I did acrylic pours with my daughter, granddaughter, daughter-in-law and sister.  They didn't turn out as well as I would have liked but I did save a few panels that I thought I could use on cards. I copper embossed the CB feathers on one and placed them on chocolate cardstock with a sentiment from the same set.  That makes my mix-up acrylic paint, stamping, heat embossing and die cutting.  Here's what another part of the panel looked like.

I'm so glad you dropped by.  I would appreciate you leaving a comment.

The Flower Challenge #42

The Flower Challenge has another good one for you.

You see it says "Add Leaves".  This means add leaves to your flower image because a flower has to be the main focus of your card.  To see what we mean, please check out the cards the Design Team has posted for your inspiration.  Here's mine.

I used my NBUS dies from Sizzix to add leaves to my Altenew Grateful Heart flower.  I cut them from Neenah Solar White and colored them with Distress Ink so they would look more in line with the stamp layered blossom.  That's also why I didn't stamp the outline in black.  I have a thing about the mediums matching.  I know - crazy.  The heat embossed sentiment strip is more the color of the leaves IRL.  I used Press'n Seal to hold my arrangement together but I think it slipped some and I'm not happy with it but once it's glued down there's nothing you can do.

Thanks for dropping by.  I hope to see you at The Flower Challenge.

Twofer #23

It's Happy Blogaversary time for the Twofer Challenge.  It's been two years since Darnell had the wonderful idea of having us make two cards using the same prompt but for two different occasions with two different layouts.  For challenge #23 the prompt is

How appropriate for this time of year when we're all busy making valentines.  But that's only one occasion.  What else can you do?  For me it was an anniversary card.

I hate to tell you all I went through to make this card presentable and that was before the aggravating time trying to photograph both cards.  Let's just say I'm glad I have some hair left.  I knew I wanted to use my new pearl vellum and cut it with a die from The Stamp Market. Then came the problem of gluing them down.  I finally put it onto white cardstock with Stick-It and then cut them out.  You can't see the texture in the background and can barely see that the sentiment from CB was heat embossed in silver.  For all the trouble it caused me it looks rather nice IRL.  And then there is the valentine.

I actually had this idea first and thought of the other card while making this one.  Don't get me wrong.  I still had troubles with this one too.  Glue is not my friend. 😜 The little hearts in the shakers are from a card Darnell sent me ages ago and she was kind enough to include all those little pieces.  I colored them with Zigs and add a few seed beads to keep them moving.  The sentiment is an oldie from My Craft Spot (nlib).  Here they are side by side.

The photos don't do them justice but it's the 4th time I tried, finally resorting to my iPhone.  They'll have to do. 

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

Just Us Girls #519 - Color Week

It's Color Week at Just Us Girls and Sue has chosen these colors for us to use.

Those colors brought valentines to mind and since I need a number of them that's the way I went.

First I smooshed a panel with Worn Lipstick, Festive Berries and Wilted Violet Distress Ink and then cut it with the die from C9.  I cut it again in dark gray and inset the colored panels.  The 'you' is from CP and is from the same dark gray.

I was left with a colored outline so I had to make a second card.

This time I inlaid the outline into the card front and added a DSP banner and sentiment from the C9 stamp set that goes with the dies.  I took the photos on two different days and you can see what a different color I got with my light box and the same camera setting.  Grrr.

The Design Team is looking forward to seeing what you make with these colors and want to show you what they did.  Check out the blog and then enter your card in the gallery.  You could be our guest designer just like Mary and Hannelie.

The Flower Challenge #39

This year has gone by so quickly.  It's now December and time for the next The Flower Challenge.  This one is

Simple enough, right?  Just remember to keep flowers as your main image. 

I used a NBUS die from Gina Marie for my background.  Once I added the peonies from Altenew that were colored with Zigs I hesitated about a sentiment.  A lot of crafters use white embossed black strips and it always looks so good so I did that, substituting dark gray for black.

Nancy Penir is our guest designer this month.  She and the rest of the Design Team have some wonderful die cut creations to inspire you.  And if that's not enough, we have Crackerbox and Suzy as our sponsors.  They are offering a $25 gift certificate to their store to the winner.

I look forward to seeing you in the gallery.

Happy Little Stampers - November

This is one of the only times I haven't used the option at Happy Little Stampers Christmas.

I just don't have anything that says "Bah Hum Bug" so I went with a card I made just for the fun of it.

The image is from Penny Black (borrowed from Marcia) and is colored with Zigs and Distress Inks. The die and embossed word are from EbE.   Only twelve more to go and I'm done with my Christmas cards.  I'll keep making them though so I have a start for next year.

How about you?  Are you ahead of the game or running behind?  Here's your chance to make at least one.  The Design Team would love to see your card in the gallery.

CAS Mix-Up October

I wasn't sure I was going to have a card for this month's CAS Mix-Up.  I don't have a laminator and the only foil I have is some I rescued from my mother's crafts.  Then I remembered that you could use double sided tape and voila'.

foiling, stamping, my choice: heat embossing, splattering and die cutting

I covered a piece of cardstock with Scor Tape and pressed the gold Deco foil onto it.  The word die and secondary sentiment are from SSS and the stars from PTI.  The sentiment is heat embossed in pale gold and the splatters are acrylic paint.  As I was going through my Christmas card stash I found a similar card so it looks like I CASEd myself. 

Thanks for taking time from your day to drop by.

AAA Cards #151

While making another card I had all these little strips of patterned paper piled up near my paper trimmer and thought they'd make a great card.  I chose to make one for the AAA Cards and their 'use a corner' theme.  There is an optional color twist and mine is similar but not quite right.

The sentiment is a die from EbE. EZPZ  QACAS.

That's it for me today.  I hope your day is going well.

Happy Little Stampers Christmas - September

We're still encouraging you to make Christmas cards at Happy Little Stampers Christmas.  This month the optional twist is elf.

I had the sentiment die cut in my drawer and thought it would look good with one of the MFT elves peeking through it. It's actually dark green although it reads almost black in the photo.  He's colored with Distress Inks and Zigs with a little SN Sparkle on his fur and on the bell.

We look forward to seeing your Christmas cards, with or without an elf.

Addicted to CAS #167

It's time for a new challenge at Addicted to CAS 

and Susan has a color theme for us.

These colors blend beautifully so I took a large flower from Altenew's Wallpaper Art and did just that.

The leaves were stamped directly on the card front and the flower was colored with Zigs on Bristol.  I'm glad I planned to die cut it because the flower is on the opposite side from my original design. The MFT sentiment didn't stamp well.  Okay, I'll take the blame.  The stamp was fine.  It was the stamper who pressed down a little too hard on the MISTI. ;)  I'm just glad the flower was big enough to cover it.

Please check out what the rest of the Design Team has done and make a pink and purple card for our gallery.  We'd love to see you there.

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.

CAS Watercolor - May

Yes I'm honored to be the guest designer at CAS Watercolor.  I won in March for this card which warranted the invitation.  For May the prompt is

I have a lot of floral stamps but I do cherish a few other stamps that can be used for a child's card.  A recently purchased one from Penny Black is a prime example.

I watercolored her with Distress Ink and placed her on a three layered die cut from MFT.  I thought her legs looked a little like the Os in Hooray.

Now that you've seen my card, let's all go over and see what the Design Team did.  I'm sure there will be some fabulous cards to inspire you there.