CAS(E) This Sketch #249

CAS(E) This Sketch is going retro this week.  This sketch

was originally #104 back in January of 2015.  At that time I made this card.

It's pretty much exactly like the sketch.  No stamping - just a border punch, die cut and patterned paper.

Today I have this one.

It's definitely more masculine with only stamping using CP/SOA for the design and HA for the sentiment.  The paper looks cream compared to the other one but they are both white.  Must be my photography. ;)

Catastrophe this morning.  My little Christmas tree fell over scattering ornaments all over the floor.  Unfortunately the one I can't replace is the one that broke - a personalized glass hand bell that was given to my by the bell choir director a number of Christmases ago.  My husband has now tied the tree to the wall.  I would much rather get a bigger, sturdier tree.

Thanks for dropping by.  Another week is half over.  I hope all is going well for you.

FMS #167 and NBUS #3

Today is my youngest granddaughter's 12th birthday and I made her this card based on the sketch at Freshly Made.

I think she'll get a kick out of the sentiment.  Happy Birthday, Kjerstin!!

Because I used the NBUS stamp from Whimsy Stamps that I won from Virginia Lu's Coffee Lover's Blog Hop post,  I will be entering this into Darnell's NBUS Challenge.  For those of you who don't know (is there really anyone who doesn't?), in this challenge you have to use Never Before Used Schtuff  (hence the acronym) and I have a pile of it.  Not only whole sets that haven't been used, but sets that only a portion have been used.  Why, oh, why do I keep getting more?  That's a rhetorical question, folks.  I'm sure you all understand. ;-D

ETA:  Thanks to Darnell, I am entering this into a new challenge for me:  ShowCASe Your Style.  The theme for this challenge is to use a die cut and I used a MFT circle die on my card.
















Thanks for stopping by.  Your visits and comments are always appreciated.

Fusion - Merry Christmas

If you had seen my work surface this morning, you would have screamed.  I played around last night and left it all to go to bed.  I was working on two cards and there were some problems that I will be correcting today so those are cards for future posts - ones that expire earlier than the one I have today.  I hope I get them done in time.

Today's card is for the Fusion Card Challenge but I used only the sketch.

I got the darling stamp and die set from SSS called Winter Warmth and Warm Wishes and was itching to use them on a card.  The hat and mittens are from scraps that I stamped with MFT burlap to make them look knitted.   The DP is from Glitz and the sentiment from Hero Arts.  I did a little Distress inking to give it a vintage look.

Thanks for stopping by.

LIM #192 and OLS #10

My parent's house has woods behind it which is full of oak trees.  Every year we have to rake tons and tons of leaves but that's not the worst part.  Have you ever been beaned by an acorn?  If the saying is true that the more acorns there are the colder the winter then we're in for trouble people. And they're not little acorns either.  When we're visiting, we run from the car to the house so we don't get hit by any. And park the car at the end of the driveway so it doesn't get hit either.  Any squirrels in the neighborhood should be fat and sassy.

Speaking of oaks and acorns, I used my MFT stamp set to make some on my one-layered card.  The challenge this week at Less is More is "Autumn's Bounty" (use fall colors).  I am also entering the One-Layer Simplicity Challenge for the first time and their challenge is "Turning to Fall"

The sentiment is also part of the set, stamped in Jenni Bowlin Brown Sugar.  Other colors from HA include Just Rust, Pumpkin Pie, Field Greens and Soft Brown.

Now that I've finally made the first card in a while, maybe my mind will shift into overdrive and I can come up with a few more.  I did get some new stamps in the last two days and am ready to try them out.  They just might just be the impetus I need.

I'm so glad you stopped by.  I enjoy reading your comments so I hope you leave one.

Curtain Call and OCC

Good Monday to everyone.  It's time to start your week. Whatever it brings, I hope you get some crafty time.  I'm starting off with a post for Curtain Call.

I love this photo, or at least the idea behind it.  I'm not a farmer, nor have I lived on a farm, but I love what I call farmhouse decorating.  Case in point:

my crocks on top of the hutch and my old tools hanging on the kitchen soffit.  This is only one side.  The other side has tools, also, and there are a lot in storage since we "downsized".  There are also quilts all over the place and a number of old plows out in the flower bed. You can see why I was excited to enter this particular challenge.  I'm not sure I did it justice but here's my card.

I didn't have any flower stamps so I ordered this Beautiful Blooms set from PTI and this is it's NBUS debut. Instead of a bottle like the photograph, I chose to put my flowers in a tin can. Unfortunately you can see my shadow in the can so here's a better picture of the can itself.

To add a little more "charm" I cut a lace border from MCS to ground my centerpiece.   I realized when I went to post this that I forgot a sentiment but that's okay.  I'll put one on when I get ready to send it to someone.  Maybe something like "To Cheer You".

I am also linking up another entry for the Online Card class.

This session was called textural effects.

Thanks for stopping by.  I have a number of cards ready to post so be sure and come back tomorrow.

Papertrey Ink Anniversary

I haven't been able to participate in many of the Papertrey Ink card challenges this week.  In fact the blog wouldn't even let me post a comment.

I did have a few minutes today to do a card with stripes.

Don't look too closely because the very last stripe that I stamped blobbed a little.  I used PTI's Polka Dot Basics, Super Stripes and Sew Simple Borders.  It's all stamped on a scrap of Neenah Solar White, framed with what I think may be PTI's Tide Pool (I bought a multipack but took it apart so I'm not sure which is which), and popped the panel up. The sentiment is PTI's Birthday Inside and Out.

Thanks for stopping by.

MM #92

Whew!  I just looked at my challenge list and realized that I'd better post my card for Merry Monday  NOW.  I've been busy with the online card class and would have missed the deadline.  The card has been done but I usually only post once a day.  Not today.

It took me a while to figure out how to incorporate the colors into a card and have ribbon on it.  I'm not a big ribbon user but this one is soft enough to be able to mail it.  I think this is one I'll make again.

Paper: kraft, chocolate, white from a variety of companies
Stamps: PTI Wreath for All Seasons, PTI Rustic Wreath
Ink: Jenni Bowlin Brown Sugar, HA Red Royal

Thanks for stopping by.

CTS #56 and CS #169

I thought the cards I posted Sunday were the last ones I had made but then I spied two more waiting to enter challenges.  These are the last ones I have completed but my list is filling out with new ones I want to make.  I'm posting them both today because I'm afraid I'll miss the deadlines.  I already thought I'd missed one but they changed their time.

 The first one is for CASE This Sketch

.
I turned the sketch on it's side and made this:

I cut strips of a variety of green paper scraps and made them into a tree.  The star is a PTI die and stamped with a sentiment from WPlus9's Woodland Wreath.  It's embossed with white powder.

The next card is for CASE Study.  They are paying homage to Cath from Moxie Fab World who stepped down as their hostess.  All month, the inspiration for the CASE Study challenges will come from some of Cath's posts.  Isn't this gorgeous?

Here's  my take on it.

The feather stamp is from an Inkadinkadoo set that I purchased at Marshall's a while ago.  It's embossed in gold and then the centers colored with Marvy brush markers in aqua and purple.  Narrow borders of the same colors are mounted behind the stamped panel. The sentiment is from Paper Smooches and stamped in HA Tide Pool.

It's mighty cold here and I've wanted to hibernate and make cards but, alas, I have had a number of other things to do.  I'm waiting on an order from Simon Says Stamp to do a couple of challenges and I've gotten the notice that it's been shipped.  Maybe it will arrive tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.  Keep warm and stay safe.

MUSE #40

Life has been busy and I haven't posted in a while but I just HAD to enter the MUSE challenge since lovely Darnell is the guest muse this week.  Here is her wonderful card which is an homage to breast cancer awareness.

I was inspired by the colors and the floral design.

I used PTI's Meadow Greens for the flower, stamped in Spun Sugar Distress Ink and Hero Arts Soft Leaf.  The sentiment is from PTI's Healing Touch.  I used an EKSuccess border punch on a scrap of green and threaded pink ribbon through it.  This card base was in my stash with a funky border on it, so I cut if off and voila' it was perfect for this card.  The top of the card is actually narrower than the bottom by the width of the white edge you see.  In other words, the green border is the edge of the top of the card.  It looks a lot darker in the photo but is exactly the same color as the stamping IRL.

I hope I can get back to some regular crafting and posting.  We'll see but until then, Happy Crafting to you all.

Trying New Things

Today is my first day to post something at Moxie Fab World.  They are having a birthday challenge, or several, but one features this sketch by Betsy Veldman.

There was an additional twist to this challenge.  You had to do ALL stamping or NO stamping.  Since I'm not really a stamper I had to do the "no stamp" challenge.  The difficult part of that was going to be the sentiment. It's huge in the sketch and although I could computer generate it, that didn't appeal to me.  I decided to try something else new.

Using my Cricut, I welded the letters from the MS Seasonal cartridge to a rectangle and cut it out.  The little gifts are hand cut from some paper by Imaginisce and I added the stripe paper from the same stack.  The Happy layer is popped up on foam tape. Obviously the word "birthday" will have to go inside.  It seems rather weird but I couldn't figure out how to put it on the outside and still look good.  Hmm while looking at this I got an inspiration.  I think I'll be tweeking this for another card.  Watch this space.

My next card is homework for the online card class.

I must say I worked quite a bit on this one.  It starts with a stamped background.  I have a few border stamps and decided they were the only ones I could use for this technique.  We also had a color combination we were to use - 2 shades of brown, 2 shades of purple, and blue- you needed to use at least 4 of these with any neutral.  AND you had to use one of three sketches. Whew!  That's a lot to pull together in one card, at least for me.  I thought I'd show you my "play around" sheet first.  Here are the experiments with colors and how I could get the stamps from CASual Friday to work together.  

And now for the final card.  Jennifer McGuire made one similar to this for class.

The background is stamped in Distress Inks with  Shaded Lilac going up and down and Tumbled Glass going across.  The banner is kraft cardstock stamped in Mememto Rich Cocoa.  I thought I needed a brown tie in in the background so I used a double dot stamp from the Best Mother Ever set from Simon Says Stamp. You really have to look for those little "extras" in your stamp sets. You never know when they will come in handy.  I used Frayed Burlap for them.  (Actually I used Antique Linen first but when I got the card all done, it looked too yellow so I restamped them.)  I added three dark brown hearts to follow the sketch and add more of that color and it's done.  Not bad for lack of stamps and ink to use.  It's not something I would ordinarily do but then that's why I'm taking the class.  To learn something new and stretch myself.

Thanks for stopping by to see what I've been up to.  I hope you have been able to stretch yourself and have fun with your crafting.

CTS #37

Hexagons are all the rage now, so is it any wonder CAS(E) this Sketch put them in this week's challenge.

I have the Happy Hexagons cover plate die from PTI and they are smaller than in the sketch but I wanted to use them anyway.

I had a leftover piece (the outsides) from a previous project that I cut apart, leaving the five hexagons.  I used it as a stencil and rubbed on Tumbled Glass and Squeezed Lemonade Distress Inks. When I was done, it looked rather bare so I added water to the inks and splattered the paper, also adding in some Shabby Shutters. I've seen a lot of splattering lately and I rather like the look.  I auditioned a number of inks for the sentiment and they were either to dark or too light.  Just like Goldilocks, I found just the right thing. A marker on a Hero Arts stamp.  It still looks rather light in the photo but looks good IRL.

I did get some cards made yesterday and I will show them in a later post.  I will also have to do homework for the last week of Summer Camp 2.  I never enjoyed homework as much as I do for this kind of class.

Have a wonderful day and keep crafting.

FM 94 and LIM 128

I just so happens that the sketch for Freshly Made this week fits in with some homework from the online card class.

Using the class colors and the technique for stamping on a strip, I used some stamps from My Craft Spot to make this birthday card.


At Less is More, the challenge is "one layer card, not a square or rectangle".  I don't usually enter one layer challenges because I don't have a lot of image stamps.  (Those who follow me regularly know that but I have to tell any newcomers. wink)  I had so much fun making the floral card on my last post, that I had to do another one.  Okay, now I know what you all are talking about.  Stamping can be is addictive.  Where's the nearest rehab center?

I cut the triangle card from my Wild Card cartridge and stamped it with a variety of flowers using Hero Arts ink.  The sentiment is from PTI's  Healing Touch.

Off to watch today's video for class and then to my craft room.  I hope you have a chance to create today.

Week One Homework

I haven't been able to do much card making lately.  Life has gotten in the way and I lost energy and creativity.  Even though I was excited to take the online card class Summer Camp 2, I just watched the videos and dreamed of what I would do.  If you've never taken one of these classes, I highly recommend it.  The instructors are so talented and their instructions clear and easy to follow.

I did a little work in my craft room yesterday and finished up a couple of cards today, so I'm finally getting a blog post in.

Day 1 was all about a color combo for the week and three sketches. Here's my take.

Day 2 was stamping techniques.

I loved the dragged gelato look.  I don't have gelato, or any glossy cardstock, so I did mine with Distress Inks.  I ended up making two cards, each one on a different card stock.  I think a gloss card stock would have worked much better.  I cut the opening with my Cricut, and used a sentiment from My Craft Spot, masking off the "you".  The die cut "you" is from Papertrey Ink and the stars from Simon Says Stamp.

Day 5 (yes, 5.  I skipped 3 and 4 for now.)  introduced some alternate color combos.  I ended up using the original ones with a technique shared by Jennifer McGuire.

I must say that this card was WAY out of my comfort zone.  Not because I have difficulty with the design but because I don't do much image stamping and have very few stamps.  I just happened to pick up a flower stamp set from Inkadinkadoo on clearance at Marshall's last spring, and another small set at WalMart from Studio G yesterday.  

I just hope I don't get addicted to stamping now because this was actually fun.  Part of the idea was to use vellum to tone down the bright colors on the card but I actually like them.  This is a double layer of vellum, stamped with a sentiment from Hero Arts and embossed with silver.  I stamped and cut out a couple of the flowers to add on top of the vellum.  That is definitely NOT my strong suit.  With all the quilt making I've done, I have a difficult time cutting paper with scissors.  Go figure.  

 Here's a picture of the plain card front.

FYI: You should take a look at some of your other stamps for small images. The little yellow flower came as part of a My Craft Spot stamp set. The same Hero Arts set that the sentiment is from had a tiny flower that looked a lot like the image I call Queen Anne's Lace that I used to fill in.  All the inks are from Hero Arts.

Now that I have finally posted for the first time in over a week, I'm getting anxious to get back to my paper.  I have a couple of challenges that look interesting and more class homework.  Next challenge:  a 10 minute card.  Wish me luck.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your day is full of creativity in one form or another.  

MIM #120

I was fascinated by the overlapping tutorial over at Capture the Moment's Make it Monday challenge.  You have to use at least one Papertrey Ink product on your card and since I do have some of their stamps, I decided to give it a try.  This is my first time entering their challenge.

I started with the block "happy" from Birthday Bash and stamped it with Distress Inks in Dried Marigold, Ripe Persimmon and Festive Berries.  I just couldn't stop there so I added a little downward arrow using PTI's Tiny Triangles, then added the "birthday" in Jenni Bowlin's Brown Sugar.  This is a 4 1/4 by 4 1/4 card.  I don't usually make this size but I was trying out the stamping technique on a scrap of white cardstock and this size seemed to fit the sentiment best.  I can see doing this in a variety of other colors - if I only had a variety of other colors.  I think blue is the only other ink I have in several shades.

Thank you for stopping by my little blog.  I hope you have a wonderful day and please come back again.