Addicted to CAS #160

Angie is our host for this challenge at Addicted to CAS and she has chosen an appropriate word for this time of year.

Had I thought ahead I would have done my card in different colors but since I don't have any family graduates this year I ended up using the local high school colors. (my alma mater).

The images from Sunny Studios were randomly stamped and the panel cut with an MFT die.  A larger die was used to cut a second panel from vellum.  The sentiment from PTI was stamped on ribbon (one of the ones you get from ordering from Ellen Hutson) and wrapped around the die cut.  I'm pretty sure I will use this design again as I will have three college graduates in the family next year.  Hmm do I have any maroon ink?

The Design Team would love to show you their graduation cards and also to see yours. 

Time Out #135

Here are the words to inspire our cards for the Time Out challenge.

I focused on the stars and made this for a graduation card.

I cut the two star trails from EbE from Bristol and then inked the panel with Distress Inks. The sentiment from MFT is embossed in silver and silver metallic paper from Neenah shows through the stars and borders the panel.

Thanks for dropping by.

CASology #294

Thank goodness for Evernote.  That's where I went when I needed to see what I had that would go with the cue word at CASology this week.

What popped up was a sentiment from CF.

After playing around for a while I ended up embossing it in Verdigris on a CPD label and then layered other size labels behind it. Lots of texture and dimension while keeping it CAS.

It's been crazy weather around here lately.  The ground gets covered with snow over night and by that evening it's gone.   That kept repeating for several days.  I was knitting with a group of ladies yesterday and when we looked out the window it was almost white out conditions.  Then it stopped and started again a few minutes later, repeating that over and over for an hour or more.  Today the sun is shining which is always a good mood booster.

Thanks for dropping by.  Enjoy your day no matter the weather.

Just Us Girls #423 - Trend Week

Sue is our host this week at Just Us Girls and she has picked a great challenge for us for Trend Week.

There are so many ways to do galaxy and night skies and I'm sure you'll find one that will work for you.

I used Distress Oxides for mine, starting with Worn Lipstick, Spiced Marmalade and Fossilized Amber.  I added a coat of Faded Jeans and topped it all with Black Soot.  A toothbrush and watered down acrylic paint made the stars.  The sentiment from MFT is heat embossed on vellum.

Last week I neglected to welcome the sweet and lovely Carol Mayne to our team.  She makes such fabulous cards and you will be thrilled with her creations as well as the wonderful, supportive comments she leaves.

Cathymac is our guest designer this month and she has a wonderful card for you as do the rest of the Design Team.  Check them out for inspiration and then start playing around with your inks to make a galaxy card.  We'd love to see what you come up with. If you are a January winner, you are eligible to be our guest designer in March.

CASology #250

Loud can mean many things.  Generally I think of music, like when cars going by have their bass on loud and the walls shake.  I have nothing along that line to make a card for CASology but I got an inspiration for a card from the sentiments on a Hero Arts set called Yay!  I didn't use that particular stamp but I did find enough to make this.

This is a graduation card for one of our young girls at church.   She just happens to be on the Pom Squad and although they don't use megaphones, or actually cheer for that matter, I thought she'd like this in our school colors.  I actually made the megaphone from a party hat stamp from W&W, watercoloring it with DI.  The size relationship lets you know that those cheers are really LOUD.

Thanks for dropping by.  Have a great weekend.

Addicted to CAS #112

Well look who's hosting Addicted to CAS this week?  That means that I got to choose the code word.

It's that time of year when we're all needing graduation cards so I thought this would be a great word.  I  know I need at least two of them since we have two grandchildren graduating from high school the end of the month. I don't have any mortarboard stamps or dies so I had to think outside the box for a masculine card.

Chase's school colors are black and gold so I die cut the numbers from MFT out of black cardstock and black fun foam and mounted them over the already embossed gold paper.  EZPZ QACAS.

We hope you join us for this 'Graduation' challenge.  The Design Team has cards to inspire you over on the blog and if that's not enough incentive, how about a  gift certificate from Create a Smile.  They are offering a $15 gift to the winner of the challenge.

And don't forget that your cards need to be Clean and Simple.

Inkspirational #126 and SSS Monday - Spread Your Wings

I finally got a panel of liquid watercolor that works.  It's too late for one challenge but great for another two.  Inkspirational's cue word is "flutter" and Simon Says theme is 'Spread Your Wings'. What could be better than a lovely Monarch butterfly.

I die cut the Memory Box butterfly from my watercolor piece and the outline from black glitter paper. I picked cardstock to match for the strips down the side and added the sentiment from Altenew.  I think it will make a great graduation card.

Thanks for dropping by.

Just Us Girls #358

It's photo challenge week at Just Us Girls and the photo Judy picked has a lot to inspire you.

I wanted to try and make a background with wavy lines and different colors. After much thinking and some practicing I made one with the embossing folder print technique.

I wiped 4 different Distress Inks on the Forest Branches folder and pressed my cardstock into it.  After adding the sentiment from PB, I stamped some little butterflies in colors similar to the background and made a larger die cut one for the top.

There's plenty of inspiration for you at the challenge blog so go take a look and then look hard at the photo and see it there isn't something that catches your eye that you would like to make a card with.  If you are chosen Chic of the Week you could be our next Guest Designer like Colleen Foelker.

Inspired by All the Little Things #13

Sometimes cards don't come out as planned but you post them anyway.

Not sure why I'm not satisfied with this card I made for Inspired by All the Little Things.  I spent way too much time overthinking it and when that happens I'm never happy.   The butterfly die is from PTI, cut from blue and gold foil.  The flourish is from Gina K as part of the SOA kit, stamped in Fog on Smoke cardstock.  The sentiment is from Stamplorations.  Here is the inspiration photo which explains my gray cardstock choice.

Thanks for dropping by.

Freshly Made #225 and CAS(E) This Sketch #161

Good Monday all.  With my sewing machine taking up one end of my work desk, I still managed to find room to get a couple of sketch cards done.

This one is for Freshly Made.  I just got this darling bunny from Uniko and was eager to use her.  I colored her with Spun Sugar DI, fussy cut and mounted her with foam tape over some old DP.  The sentiment is from the same set.

The sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch was a little trickier but by mixing a few stamps sets together I got this.

The sentiment is from Stamplorations and the butterflies from PTI and PB, colored with Distress Ink.

Have a great week and thanks for dropping by.

MUSE # 149, FMS # 220 and CASology #181

I normally only post one card at a time but time is running out on a couple of challenges so I'm posting three today.  That means you only have to comment once so that's a bonus for you. ;)

First up is a card for MUSE where Tracey has a beautiful Spring-like card for us (see below).  Here's my interpretation.

Recipe: A PB floral stamp colored with Zigs, a border of green leaf cs, and PS sentiment

Next the card for Freshly Made Sketches.

Recipe: WPlus9 stamp colored with Zigs and a computer generated sentiment

You've seen two bright and colorful cards.  Now a darker one for CASology and their cue word - Clear.

My thought was "on a clear night you can see the stars".  First I white embossed the stars through a Heidi Swapp stencil and then inked up with Stormy Sky, Chipped Sapphire and Black Soot Distress Inks.  I didn't like the look of the stars so put the stencil back on and added a layer of embossing paste.  My star die was just a smidge small for the Stamplorations sentiment so I traced around it on vellum and fussy cut.  The panel was mounted on black cs.

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

CASology #179 and CAS(E) This Sketch #154 and Merry Monday #186

I'm on a roll here, people, and the ideas are just flowing.  And I'm sewing a quilt top in between.  What happened to me?    A better question would be "What happened to my house?"  I haven't done much around here since all this creative madness started.

I have two cards for today. Up first is one for both CASology and CAS(E) This Sketch.  These two challenges aligned perfectly for this card.

The cs looks a little gray in the photo but it's white, stamped in gray with flowers by Penny Black and sentiment by Clearly Besotted.  A touch of Inktense pencil for a pop of color and voila' - a graduation card.

Next is my second entry into the Merry Monday all white challenge.  I couldn't decide what to do so I made two, one of which was posted yesterday.

Penny Black image and sentiment both embossed in silver.

Thanks for dropping by and have a wonderful weekend!

LIM #213 and Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

The challenge this week at Less Is More is "This makes me happy".  There are a lot of things that could go on the list but I bought this stamp a while ago just because it spoke to me.  It's a wood stamp which I never buy and may never use again.  It sits on my shelf to enjoy as is.

If the letters look a little shaky it's because the stamp was made that way.  I used HA Soft Granite and SSS Lipstick Red ink. The shape is cut with the slope die from SSS and foam mounted on Lipstick Red cardstock.  Though I'm not a sequin girl, I did add a few just to spark it up.

My next card is my infiltration into the Coffee Lovers Spring Blog Hop.  I don't drink coffee and rarely drink tea but I still wanted to participate.  I wasn't sure I had anything that would work until I remembered this stamp from Hero Arts. Mixed with a stencil from Tim Holtz, it makes a perfect card for the hop.

I'm sure this is the philosophy of many of the cardmakers who are hopping.

Thanks for stopping by.  Get out there and paint your dreams, sing your songs and enjoy a "happy" dance.  ( I had to add that last part for Bev. )