Inkspirational #360 and ATSAM #510

I had enough Valentines made for my family but I keep making more because of fun challenges like Inkspirational. 

The white panel is cut with a Neat & Tangled scallop die.  To that I added some texture paste colored with Candied Apple Distress Ink through an old Heidi Swapp stencil.  I angled it in a way to leave roo.m for the XOXO die cut from C9. It was cut in silver and the same red as the background and offset.  EZPZ and CAS.  

The Addicted to Stamps and More challenge is to use stencils and/or dies.  I used both so I'm sending my card to them. 

Thanks for dropping by and spending a bit of your day with me. 

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Time Out #255

It's Inspired by Words at Time Out. 

I took the first part of the quote- winter solitude, world of one color - and made this: 

I made a snowy scene featuring Chilly and Freezy from Tim Holtz.  The main items were cut from white with Soft Stone from PTI for the arms, buttons and tree background.  A different gray scrap was used for their noses.  The snowflakes are from Tim's Twig and Stump set and the hills are a die from SSS. 

The sponsor of this challenge is Stamp Simply and they are offering our winner a $25 gift credit.  I hope you will check out what the design team has made to inspire you and make a card for our gallery. 

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CAS Mix-Up June 2022

I was so happy to have CAS Mix-Up back that I had to make a card.  I must admit it is not one I'm very fond of.  Usually I won't post cards I don't like but several times I have and find that other people like them and I've even won some challenges with cards that I thought were 'eh'.  

The prompt for the challenge is to use gel/paste through a stencil.  I didn't bring many stencils with me so after some deliberation and the need for masculine cards I used my PinkFresh Studio argyle stencil.  I used Peacock Feathers DI on some light aqua cardstock for the first layer and when it was dry applied the texture paste through the second one.  The same Peacock Feathers was applied to a scrap so I could match the die cut sentiment from MFT.  The stenciled panel is popped up as is the 'y'.

Thanks for dropping by.  I hope you are having some crafty fun.

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The Male Room #156 and ABC Christmas - W

I had a lot of fun playing with GinaK's gnomes and made a number of cards that I never posted.  I was just waiting for challenges like The Male Room and ABC Christmas. - Whimsical

The body and hat were cut from aqua cardstock and the hat foiled with silver polka dots.  The background was inked with Speckled Egg and the mountains stamped over it in a couple shades of brown.  Texture paste was added through a stencil to the tops for snow.  A few splatters for more snow and a sentiment from the same set was all I needed to finish it off. 

If you have gnomes in your collection, you may want to check out these challenges.  

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Twofer Challenge #17

I love the topic of the Twofer Challenge this time - Bees.  I only have one bee stamp from RC but I love it.  Here's what I did with it.

You know you have to do a card for two different occasions using the same image.  First up is my uplifting card.

I mixed Distress Ink with translucent texture paste and spread it on my card base.  While it dried I cut the panel with a TH die and stamped the sentiment.  I colored the bees with Inktense pencils and replaced the wings on this one with some stamped on iridescent vellum with silver and sparkle embossed. 

The background was make with Scattered Straw and Wild Honey DI through a Funky Fossil stencil.  When it was done I didn't like the white showing through so I spread the Scattered Straw over the entire panel that was cut with an MFT die.  Then I didn't like the white border so out came the Scattered Straw again.  The sentiment is from the same set and one I get a kick out of.

Thanks for dropping by.  Now that the floors are done and almost everything is back in order I will have more time to make cards and comment on your blogs.

Just Us Girls #491 - Trend Week

I had the honor of choosing the trend this week at Just Us Girls. My choice?

There are so many different ones to use and ways to use it.  I used my new Nuvo Expanding Mousse.

I put it over a TH stencil on GinaK paper, let it dry 10 minutes and then heated it.  Here's a close up.

I made one earlier, forgot about it and didn't heat it until the next day.   It doesn't expand much after that long of time.

Back to the details.  I smooshed DOX on mixed media paper to make the flower and leaves from Altenew's Garden Picks.  For the sentiment I cut a SSS tag from metallic paper and heat embossed the sentiment in gold.

Now it's your turn.  The Design Team and our guest Marlena hope you'll check out their cards and then make a card for the challenge.  You may be chosen Chic of the Week and have a chance to guest for a later challenge.

CAS Stencil - January

There's a new CAS challenge in town and it's the CAS Stencil Challenge.  We all need encouragement to use those stencils we just had to have and this is it.  There are so many different ways to use stencils and I'm sure we'll see a lot of them as the challenge continues.

I have to say right off I'm not real happy with this card.  It didn't turn out quite like I imagined and I had to make a couple of U turns along the way.  The rectangle was cut and colored with Distress Ink using Clarity brushes.  I stenciled the pine tree from TH and clear heat embossed it so the green wouldn't show through the texture paste when I added it through the second layer of stencil.  While the paste was out I stenciled snow from SSS.  The clear embossing didn't help and the 'snow' looked terrible.  High embossing powder to the rescue.  It gave a shiny, puffy look to the snow which I rather like but then it made the snowfall look washed out.  Too bad.  There's no way that chunky ep would work on those little dots.  It still makes a decent Christmas card to add to my stash.

Thanks for dropping by.  I think I'll be spending the day in my craft room as both the snow and the temperature continue to fall.

CAS(E) This Sketch #299

It was a tricky sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch this week but I suddenly had an inspiration and here it is.

I gold heat embossed texture paste through a Hero Arts stencil then decorated it with dies cut from foil.  Want a better look at the shine?

It was based on this sketch.

This card may be the start of next year's stash.  😉

Thanks for dropping by.

AAA Cards #122

I have a few stencils that I've never used and pulled out one from PTI for the challenge at AAA Cards.

I mixed Peacock Feathers Distress Ink into texture paste in different amounts to vary the color of what I think looks like a big wave.  All it needed was the sentiment from HA.

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

CAS Christmas Challenge -June Reminder

I'm back with another card for the CAS Christmas challenge - Masculine. 

I used the same PTI set as I did for my other card for this challenge, this time featuring the skis.  I stamped them in dark gray on gray cardstock and silver embossed the bindings.  Texture paste through a SSS stencil makes the snowy background and my new puff embossing powder edges the torn hill.  The card needed a little color so the sentiment is stamped in red and clear heat embossed.

There is still time to enter the challenge and the Design Team has even more cards to inspire you.  Head on over to CAS Christmas and check them out.

Merry Monday #287

I had an idea right away about what I wanted to use for the Merry Monday challenge.

And then I scrolled down and saw that DT Member Marcia Hill had used the same set.  Now the challenge was how to use mine without copying her.  I think I managed.

I started by using texture paste through the SSS snowfall stencil.  While that was drying I cut my houses and trees from patterned paper.  The slope is cut from the same CPD die set as the houses, stamped with the PTI sentiment and popped up.

For those of you interested, the World Championship of Robotics is this weekend in Detroit.  I won't be going in person to see my granddaughter but I will be able to watch the live stream on my computer.  I just keep it on in the background so I can see the team when they're competing and meanwhile I get some crafting done.  Win, win.

Thanks for dropping by.  Have a wonderful day.

Addicted to CAS # 133

Tomorrow is April 1 and you know what that means.  Besides April Fool's Day and Easter I mean.  It means April showers bring May flowers and so as your host for this challenge at Addicted to CAS, I chose as our code word:

After I chose it I had trouble deciding what to do.  I had a number of ideas that I tried out but they just didn't work right.  Persistence paid off and I ended up with a card I'm happy with.

I used my MFT stencil to first put down some Stormy Sky Distress Ink and then went over it with translucent texture paste.  If you zoom in you may see the shine.  The umbrella is also from MFT cut in two layers of white, one of gray and one of DSP with a little silver added to the handle.  Then came the difficult part - sentiment.  Most of the ones I could have used were too big to keep the card CAS.  I ended up with this one from PB - sort of a double entendre. 

The Design Team and I look forward to see what you do with the code word.  You could win a $20 voucher from the Happy Little Stamper store if you enter a card in the gallery.

Merry Monday #283

Look at this cute photo.

At Merry Monday we are to add a puppy to our Christmas card.  Not having a specific Christmas puppy I had to improvise and I'm glad stamps from different companies work so well together.

I took the Santa and sentiment from MFT and added the little dog from PB.  Both are colored with Zigs.  For the background I used my Clarity brush to make a soft winter sky and then stamped it with a snowflake looking stamp from CPD in Fairy Dust.  I thought a little shine was needed so I embossed on some glitter.  I used texture paste to create a snowy ground and popped up the images.  I think that little pup is glad to hear that he can expect something good from Santa this year. ;)

You're all on my nice list too.

Addicted to Stamps and More #255

Isn't this lovely?  This is how the photo inspired me to make a card for Addicted to Stamps and More.

Texture paste mixed with Distress Inks was blended over a stencil from HA. The W&W word die has three layers of Hawaiian Shores cs.

We'd love to see how the photo inspires you.  Need more ideas? Check out what the Design Team has done.