CAS(E) This Sketch #267 and Less Is More #369

I got a number of cards made this snowy, icy weekend and first up is one for CAS(E) This Sketch and Less Is More.  Here's the sketch I started with.

I had this heat embossed panel from CF in my drawer so I inked it up with some DOXs, trimmed it down and added what I "brought back" for the Less is More challenge.  Remember all those punches we used to have?  It's probably been 10 years since I used it and now I know why.  I had to use vellum for the lace because it wouldn't cut through anything else. I added a strip inked with Abandoned Coral to finish it off and gold embossed the sentiment from PTI.

Stay tuned for the rest of the week as I show off what I've been doing.  Well all but what I made for my Design Teams.  Those you'll see when the challenges go live. *wink*

CTS #104

It's bitter cold and snowy here so I spent yesterday in my craft room just playing.  I had a stamp set that I wanted some practice with and a couple of techniques I wanted to try.  You may see the results of my play later but today's card is one I did several days ago as a Thank You for my folks to send to the staff at the facility where they reside.  They went out of their way to make the holidays special.

 

I used the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch, a thanks die from MFT, a Martha Steward edge punch and some paper from Echo Park.  Try as I might to do a partial die cut, the word kept cutting through.  I am beginning to think this technique works better with a different machine.  I finally just cut several more layers, glued them together and set it on top.  

Thanks for stopping by.  Keep warm and keep crafting.

Festive Friday #29

Once in a while I have an immediate idea of what to make for a challenge and it comes out right the first time. This is one of those cards.

I made it for Festive Friday from their inspiration photo.

My Spellbinder oval die cuts AND embosses so it kind of looks like a mirror frame.  I used a PTI candle die that I embossed with UTEE.  That stuff is amazing and makes the candles actually look waxy.  The twigs are parts of a CASual Fridays die and the greens are a Martha Stewart punch.

I'm glad you stopped by.  I love reading your comments and would appreciate it if you leave one.

Festive Friday #25

Happy Tuesday, friends.  The snow has stopped, the sun is shining and I have a Christmas card to show you.  It's for the Festive Friday challenge.

Isn't that a gorgeous bowl of red and white ornaments?  I was particularly enthralled with the swirled ones.

It took me a while but I finally figured out how to make one of my own.  I know that the top is usually where they come together but I don't know how I would have done that.  I hand cut the top from silver paper that I also used to cut the delicate chain die.  I knew I wanted something other than a plain background and that I would need a place for a sentiment so used the SSS curved edge die and popped up the panel embossed with chain link.  The sentiment from PTI is embossed in silver and the greens are from a MS punch.  I just may make a few more of these with different ornaments.

Thanks for stopping by.  I appreciate your comments so I'd love it if you'd leave one.

CTS # 62 and Help Needed

I don't know if any of you have had this problem, but I wanted to share it in case you have and know how to fix it.  I has to do with ink changing color.

Here is a card I posted yesterday.

Notice the color of the button card?  I also stamped a second card at the same time.  This is what it looks like today.

It's not your screen.  The ink actually turned green.

Here's my card for the challenge at CASE this Sketch.

See those inked hearts in the middle?  When I did a practice piece, the hearts were the same color as the background paper.  On the card they are slowly turning orange as I sit here.

Lightbulb!! I could have sworn the first card I posted here was inked in the same Worn Lipstick Distress Ink I used on this card and when I went to post it the next day it looked gold.  Since I had just gotten both the Worn Lipstick and Wild Honey inks, I thought maybe I forgot which one I used.  Now I see that the ink changed color on that card, too.

The first one was stamped and the color changed on the first one I did.  The second was inked through a stencil and the color changed on the second one I did.  Weird, huh?  I sure hope someone has some experience with this and can tell me what to do.  I will go back and reink the hearts and hope the color stays this time.  BTW the ink is from two different companies and the same paper was used in all cases.

Thanks for any insight you can give me and for stopping by to visit.

JUGS #225, COS #25 and OCC

I really love the Online Card Class.  We learned so many techniques and I can't wait to try more of them.  I did cut a few of my own stencils out of acetate with my Cricut today, but the card I have to show you is made with a stencil that was in the SSS Holiday kit.

I colored the embossing paste with acrylic paint before covering the stencil with it.  The stencil is only 3 inches wide so I made a panel with a white underlay.  The edge is punched with EK Success ZigZag.  The heart is a PTI die cut in both polka dot and vellum.  It's stamped with a sentiment from My Craft Spot, embossed in white, and popped up over some white embroidery floss.

I am entering this in the challenge over at Just Us Girls,

and CAS on Sunday where the theme is "Lovely Dovey" - make a valentine or love card.

Thanks for stopping by.  I know it takes time to visit blogs and comment and I sure do appreciate it.

FM #120 and OCC

It's great that I'm getting my Christmas cards done by joining in two Christmas card challenges but I'm also getting my Valentines done the same way.  No, there are no specific valentine challenges but they seem to fit into some of the challenges.  For example, this one at Freshly Made.

I turned it sideways and came up with this:

And for the online card class

This was a technique Kristina Werner taught using colored pencils to color through a stencil.  This is an old, old stencil I had and it was perfect for making another valentine.

First card
Echo Park, Simple Stories, scraps of paper
Heart die from Papertrey Ink
Clearly Besotted sentiment

Second card
Soft stone. smokey slate, and white paper
EK Success postage stamp punch
Crayola pencils
My Craft Spot sentiment

Thanks for stopping by.  I'm off to watch the videos for today's Stenciled Class.

Fusion #2

One of the questions on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" today was something about having a messy desk and being creative.  Maybe that's why I've been getting so many cards done lately.  I can barely see the top of my desk.  I have products that I ordered ready to put in DVD cases and label, a stencil I'm trying to make for the Online Stencil Class, stamps I recently used that I haven't put back in their place and Cricut cuts I want to use on a couple of cards.  If that's what it takes to be creative, maybe I'll leave it that way. Maybe not.  It drives me crazy.  So therein lies the dilemma. Creative or Crazy?

Today's card is for Fusion.  Sorry I didn't fuse, I just used the photo for inspiration.

Paper: DCWV Textures and Finishes, scraps
Flowers:  Cricut Live Simply
Banner and sentiment: My Craft Spot
Other: MS branch punch, grey brads,  black  and white embossing powders

Thanks for stopping by.  I truly appreciate the comments you leave.

I'm Honored and Fusion #18

Two of my cards have made honor rolls lately.  I guess those things, or maybe it's my creativity, run in streaks.  You have a long dry spell and then all of a sudden your cards start getting some attention.  I got a shout out on Retro Sketches #81.  Thank you, Arielle, for picking my card.  This week, enough Muse #36 voters picked my card to land me an honorable mention.  Thanks to all of you who voted for me.  You can follow the links to see the winning cards.

Today I'm posting a card for Fusion #18.

I had an idea for this challenge early on but then the image I thought I had on a Cricut cartridge wasn't there. (I must have dreamed it). So it was back to the drawing board.  I ended up doing some fusing.

I found this cute utensil print in a Basic Grey 6 x 6 pack that I thought sort of/kind of mimicked the photo. I added some other papers from the pack to make the sketch.  It's not one of my favorite cards but I hadn't played the Fusion challenge for a while and wanted to get something in.

ETA:  Oops I missed the deadline for this challenge.  I had it written as Wednesday but it must have been by noon.  Oh, well.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you find joy in your day.

CASology 53 and Case Study 150

We finally have some relief from the intense heat.  It was so nice this morning that at 8:00 we went blueberry picking. By 10, as it was heating up, we each had a bucket full.  There are still plenty of berries to ripen, so we'll be going back in a couple of weeks to get more.  nom nom  blueberry muffins.  blueberry pancakes blueberry teeth.  Wait, what?

Speaking of blue (how's that for a segue?) my card for this week's CASology challenge is blue.

Blue is known as a cool color and since I struggled with an image to do, I just went with the color and the word.

I used three different Distress Inks and a circle stamp from the Best Mom Ever set from Simon Says Stamp. The sentiment, if you can call it that, was printed on the computer, punched out and popped up on foam tape.  I ended up trimming down the card to 4 1/4 by 4 1/4 so it would better fit the image, which it also on foam tape.

This card was inspired by the photo at Case Study so I will be entering it in their challenge, too.

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Thanks for stopping by.  Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Fourth!

Happy 4th of July to all my blogger friends in the USA.  To those of you in other countries, Happy Day!

I have two very different cards to show you today.  First up is the one I made for Mojo Monday.  They are celebrating their 300th challenge with a whiz bang giveaway for those who link up.  This is one of the sketch challenges I used to do all the time when I first started my blog.  I still do it now and then but got away from it on a regular basis when I started making CAS cards.

The quilter in me loves to mix patterned papers and it's easy when they all come from one stack.  This one is from Cosmo Cricket.  I used the Distressed Stripes embossing folder on the banner piece and lightly inked the edges of everything with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink.  The sentiment from Hero Arts "It's Your Day" is stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa.

ETA:  Thanks to Joyce, I'm also entering this into Moxie Fab World's Mixy-Matchy Challenge.

This next card is for the CASology challenge.

These little bursts where the closest thing I had to a firework.  They are from the Accent Essentials cartridge.  I cut them from white paper, ran them through my Xyron and poured glitter all over them.  Now I know why I'm not a glitter girl.  I had that stuff everywhere but up my nose.  The back panel is embossed with the Baby's Breath folder because I thought they looked a little like bursts themselves.  The sentiment from PTI's Big Birthday is stamped in Hero Arts Navy.

I'm also entering this into the gallery at the Online Summer Class.  They had a pre-class sketch challenge that I based the above card on.

We're off to the lake tomorrow for the weekend so unless I get another card made tonight, I won't be back on until Monday.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Fusion #10

It took me a while to decide whether to use the sketch, the picture or to fuse on the Fusion Card Challenge.

I finally decided to fuse.

I need an anniversary card for my son and daughter-in-law and that became the impetus behind my card.  I cut the lace from vellum with a MS punch and colored it with Faded Jeans Distress Ink.  I used the same ink for the sentiment from Hero Arts. Some sparkle from rhinestones that are colored with a Bic marker and scoring across the bottom to keep a clean look and my card is done.  This isn't really their style so I may save it for someone else's anniversary.  That all depends on whether I get another inspiration before I have to send it out.  ;)

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a wonderful day and please come back again.

Freshly Made #86

Today's card is for Freshly Made and it is freshly made.  I had the idea yesterday but just whipped it up this morning.  Not a good idea.  Whipping up is good for eggs, but a card?  Not so much.  When you try to hurry, too many things can go wrong and if it doesn't come out like you pictured it in your head, there's no time to redo.  The sketch this week is really quite simple.  In fact, I think I'll use it a lot.

I was inspired by a card already entered into the FMS gallery with dry embossing on it.  I knew I had this folder called Baby's Breath and had recently acquired some pink Liquid Pearls in the May kit of the month from Simon Says Stamp.  I thought they'd look lovely together and I'm happy with that portion of the card.  The rest looks a little bare to me, and the color of the sentiment is not what I would like. The stamp is from My Pink Stamper (Pink Stamper stamped in pink  lol) but the color of the ink from Hero Arts is a little bright for the card.  I've heard bloggers say they redo their cards.  I think this one will get a little redo, but as the deadline approaches I'm entering it as is.

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a wonderful day!

Fusion #4

Yesterday was another one of those crazy Michigan days.  The sun peeked through early in the day, just before the rain came in, and then all of a sudden it was hailing.  The hail didn't stick around long because the sun came out again.  Fortunately it stayed out and the rest of day was warm and wonderful.

I've been doing my card making at night while watching my favorite television shows.  This one for Fusion came to fruition during Dancing With the Stars.

I thought about doing just the flowers but they sort of evolved into the sketch and voila' - Fusion

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The flowers are cut from Accent Essentials and Straight From the Next with a couple of punches (the navy) added in.  The sentiment is from Hero Arts.

Thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy your day.

Muse #14

I tried to think of some commentary to start my blog post today and. . .  zilch.  I looked up muse in the Google dictionary. To think and/or meditate on a subject.  Huh?  A related link said "to be inspired by" and I know that's what this challenge was set up to do. Inspiration is different for everyone.  Sometimes I look at  a thumbnail on the site and wonder "Where did that come from?" After an explanation I can understand it and envy those who can see something totally different than the original card.  Me, not so much.  I'm trying to stretch myself but not today.  Here's the inspiration photo from MUSE:

I saw brightly colored flowers, a triple border and a circular sentiment as a focal point.  So here it is.

The paper is from a 6 x 6 stack by American Crafts called Soho Garden.  The sentiment was computer generated and punched with an EK Success punch.  I accidentally forgot to remove the black circle when I printed it but decided I rather liked it that way.  To give a little sparkle, I added some Sticko dimensional stickers from EK Success.

When I was taking pictures of my cards the other day, my husband said "What are you doing with all these cards?"  I try to make only ones I can/will actually use although I have enough already to last me a year or more. My daughter said a set of cards would make a good gift to her.  I did that last Christmas and then she hated to give them away.

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great day!

Fusion #2

Fusion?  In my case maybe it should be called Con-fusion.  Do the sketch, no the photo inspiration, no combine the two, no the sketch, no. . . .

Okay, I picked the photo inspiration for this week's Fusion challenge.

Part two of the confusion came in the paper.  We bought a car last December and the color is called Mocha something.  Sometimes it looks dark gray and sometimes tan.  When I picked this paper (the only gray I had) it DID look gray.  While I was working on it, it began to look tan to me.  Oh no!  I kept on working, punching and gluing circles.  I thought the green was bright enough but now in the photo it looks rather washed out but the polka dots look gray.  I guess I just can't win on this one (no pun intended.)

Thanks for stopping by to visit and enjoy your day.

RS 55

Back in my craft room after a two month hiatus and I'm already trying new things.  Number 1 - I signed up for the Pattern Play online class.  I've never taken an online class before and I am enjoying it.  There's nothing like learning at home at your leisure.  Number 2 - I'm trying several new for me challenges.  Today's card is for the Retrosketch challenge.

I found two Core'dinations papers that went with my PTI print and cut them all with an EKSucces border punch.  I didn't have any ink that matched, so I generated the sentiment on the computer.  I had these pearls that happened to be the perfect color so I used them instead of a ribbon.

I have to go do my homework for class and I will post that later.

Thanks for stopping by.

Shame on Me

You will NOT believe what I had to do!  I had to buy a birthday card.  That's right, I said buy.  I'm in Alabama for 2 months and only brought with me the cards I needed for known birthdays and Valentines' Day.  Last night there was a party for a friend we know down here and I didn't have an extra card to give her.

I will not be doing many challenges while I am here, either, since I have no paper crafting material with me.  (sob sob).  I am lucky enough to be able to enter one of my valentines in the My Craft Spot - anything goes but use a MCS stamp.  I love Kimberly's stamps and dies and use them frequently.

 

 

The heart is cut from Martha Stewart's Seasonal Cake cartridge.  The border is an MS punch.  The little tag is cut from the My Craft Spot tiny tags die, a pink background and white top layer.  The sentiment is also from one of the tiny tags stamps.

 

It's rainy today so I guess I'll have to work on another craft project - sewing the binding on my baby quilt. 

 

Have a great day and happy crafting!

Too Late to Play



I saw this sketch

 

and thought it would make a lovely card with some paper I had previously picked out.  Plus there were several Thank You challenges that would fit perfectly with it.

Now for the bad news.  The card had to be submitted by Friday noon for Paper Players. :(  I'm stilll entering it in My Craft Spot - Showing Gratitud and Celebrate the Occasion - Thanks.

The pink paper is from PTI, the print from K and Company.  The lacy border is a MS punch and the oval an EK Success punch.  The sentiment is stamped in Tattered Rose Distress Ink with a stamp from My Craft Spot. 

Edit:  I must be losing my mind.  This post originally included Die Cuttin' Divas but I saw I had already submitted a card so I deleted that part.  Then when I got to My Craft Spot, I saw a card there, too, so I'm editing the post.  

Green Accent

As far as I know, family on the east coast are safe, some without power but making the best of it.  We continue to offer our prayers to those who have lost their homes and personal possessions. 

My stepdaughter and granddaughter have opened a small shop and are participating in a few local craft shows.   They've asked me to put some of my cards in the shop and I've been busy making them.  Nothing like time pressure to stifle creativity.  I need to find some things that can be mass produced but I want make one first to be sure I like it.  So far I have one of several different birthday cards and not really feeling them.  One of the cards I made using the sketch from Paper Players.

 

The base card is one of those colored ones you buy by the box.  I'm trying to use up ones I bought when I first started making cards. (This may be part of my creativity problem.  lol)  I happened across the print paper while looking for something else and the greens were a match.  Yippee!  I took the yellow and blue from the print to make the middle band, using an EK Success ribbon punch and a Baby's Breath embossing folder.  The flower was cut twice from Accent Essentials, and offset.  It was inked with Squeezed Lemonade Distress Ink and centered with a yellow rhinestone. 

The leaf is also from AE and stamped with a Tiny Tags stamp from My Craft Spot.  I auditioned various colors of ink, didn't like any of them and thought I'd just heat emboss with white.  Oops, I used clear by mistake.  This turned out to be a happy accident since it showed up dark green, just what I wanted in the first place.

 

I have a file of some of the Paper Player sketches that I've used for challenges before.  They are simple and attractive.  I think I'm going to refer to them for more of my cards.