STAMPlorations inspiration #4

Welcome to another inspiration project post. I've used the STAMPlorations set The Bee's Knees Newlyweds Extras.

I randomly stamped the sentiment from Sentiment Builders: Love on my base. Then I die cut LOVE (from Savvy Stamps) from a watercolored scrap. I stamped the engagement ring onto white and backed the O of the die cut with it. A couple PP strips grounded the sentiment. To continue with the engagement idea, I glued four gems onto the ends of my pink twine topping the card. A fun little extra!

There are more inspiration projects from the design team here. Choose a card to CASE and join the fun in the February CASE Playground. You very well might be the lucky random winner of a $15 GC!

STAMPlorations inspiration #3

Another inspiration card for you today, revisiting MOM Subway Art Builders #5 - Unconditional Love

A belated Valentine for Mom? Or an early Mother's Day card? Either way lots of fun playing with inlaid die cuts and Distress Inks!

Die cut the front panel with the Lil Inker Stitched Rectangle die. Stamped the sentiment. Did the die cutting for inlaid die cuts using SSS Large Hearts, overlapping several hearts in the process. TIP: Jennifer M. has a great video for this technique here. I used washi tape on the backside to hold my already-die-cut pieces in place when die cutting the next heart.

Inked the hearts. Sponged Tumbled Glass Distress ink around negative heart edges. Adhered panel to card front and then  put the hearts back in.

Remember, we have a CASEplorations Playground over at STAMPlorations. If you CASE one of the cards a DT member has created for an Inspiration Post during February (like this one), post it here for a chance to win a $15 GC.

love with buttons

Stencils and ink and paint and golden paste and stamps and dies - Oh My! This card was an adventure that started with a stencil and the need for a Valentine for DS. I knew I wanted to use the loving birds from Hero Arts.

I also decided to create a personalized sentiment - "you have my love". I sometimes tell DS I love him, but don't like him/his behavior. Decided to reinforce the love idea. Used various stamps from STAMPlorations for my sentiment.

I paper pieced the birds and adhered them onto a piece of scrap paper I had used to clean up with when working with paints. The "love" circle is from same paper. The other circles were punched from scraps.

My background was created by:
1. tracing around a few shapes in the ARTplorations Shutters stencil with a black Sharpie
2. stamping over/through the stencil with a CHF polka dot BG stamp and Archival ink
3. applying gold embossing paste through a few random shapes onto the CS
4. splattering with Dylusions Turquoise and then misting with water

Remember, you have until Feb 25 to join the Love and Buttons challenge at The Mixed Media Card Challenge. And Craft Stamper Take it, Make it is all about stencils this month so I'm hooking up there.

As well as at the Nature Challenge at Hero Arts.

And Add a little Texture at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday.

a special day

There's a lovely gal out in blogland who's having a birthday today.

A couple clues for you - Time Out. Bonjour. Gold embossing. Linen cardstock. Figure it out? Happy Birthday, Anita of My Papercraft World. This one's for you.

(And Hero Arts Nature challenge going on until March 20th.)

Nothing fancy here. Lotsa Squeezed Lemonade DI. Lotsa butterflies from Butterflies #3. One blue beauty colored with pencils and blended with baby oil on a cotton swab. Some enamel dots. And a swash of royal blue which was pure happenstance.

Our weather is certainly nothing special here today. I hope the sun is shining over in France for dear Anita. Have a wonderful day and may your new year bring everything you wish for! Hugs.

this week at CASology

I am incredibly honored to be guest designing with the ladies over at CASology this week. They do CAS like no other. This week's cue card sounds simple, but paired with CAS my mind drew a blank.

My mind first went here - "mama, don't take my Kodachrome away." Thanks, Paul Simon. But what could some options be? A great big image inked in blue with a blue sentiment. A yellow watercolor splash with a black image on it. Some orange watercolored stripes and a sentiment white embossed onto a snippet of orange CS. Three little scraps of pink CS with the top layer being a negative of a die cut. Geesh.

I came full circle to the opposite of Kodachrome. Thanks, Google.

monochrome

ˈmɒnəkrəʊm,mɒnə(ʊ)ˈkrəʊm/

noun

1. 1.

   a photograph or picture developed or executed in black and white or in varying tones of only one colour.

Used my MFT By the Letters alpha die to die cut a strip of black CS. I then adhered the strip of black CS (minus the letters) to white scrap paper (putting adhesive on the black). Then I laid the letters back into the strip and sliced the black strip (including letters). Adhered the sliced strip of black CS and then the bottom halves of the sliced letters below the strip. Clear as mud?

"Danke" to Melissa and the others for having me at CASology.

more papertrey 8th anniversary

First off, Happy Love Day peeps! May your day be filled with chocolate!

I've got two cards for the Papertrey Anniversary celebration. First off for Day 8 - Blue Ombre.

I used markers to ink up the blooms (light blue to dark blue) from Mini Blooms and misted them before stamping. Added a sentiment in black and the perfect multi-functional, easily mailable card was born. Actually made a second one while I was at it. I think it could even work as a sympathy card. And now for the contrast program.

The jury is still out on this one. The glittery base was an experiment from awhile back. I die cut the Chevron Plate from scrap, laid it over the black, covered up the remaining areas and hit it with spray adhesive. Removed the masks and poured on the glitter (gold at the top, silver at the bottom). Burnished it all with my finger and this was the result.

I must admit, the heart and the sentiment were laying around on my desk. So I stuck them on. Probably not the best way to make a card ;)

Anyhoo, this is for Day 7 - Heavy Metal Challenge. Are you playing? The challenges are open til Sunday.

STAMPlorations inspiration #2

More inspiration for you using the Hastag Authentic set from STAMPlorations. Have you noticed lots of gold paired with silver lately, I've also added some bronze in with 'em!

Some subtle white embossed "you" and "you are" plus a strip of gold washi inside and out rounded off my card. Check out more inspiration projects from the Inspiration Design Team here. CASE one of our cards and hook it up to the CASE Playground and you're in the running for the random draw!

I'm joining the fun at Happy Little Stampers where it's about CAS and embossing.

Appreciate your visit. Have an AMAZING day!

simply create too 79

It's Anything Goes at Simply Create Too this time around. I shopped my stash after seeing this breath of fresh air on the Runway.

So feminine. So flowing. So lovely. So butterfly-like.

While wrapping a baby present this weekend I stumbled across this wrapping paper I've had forever. It immediately reminded me of the gown at RIC. How to use it on a card??? Then I remembered some butterfly shaped cards I've had forever too! What a happy accident.

I glued the wrapping paper onto the card and trimmed around the edges. Stamped vellum with yellow polka dots and die cut a butterfly with Hero Arts Antique Flower and Butterfly. On top of the vellum butterfly I adhered a WPlus9 Hello die cut from some Basic Grey PB and J PP.

So light and airy. Hello Spring! So, what do you have in your stash that could inspire you to make a card?

masking at avery elle

This month's challenge #21 at Avery Elle involves masking. I just love the depth you can create on a one layer card with masking. I made two!

First I pulled out my newest AE stamps - the Storybook line. Gathered all the precious little critters and created a gathering. Many critters giving many thanks...

This did not turn out as I envisioned it. I really don't like the grass - any suggestions? And the fox appears to be sitting on the mouse's nose! And the strip of PP in the middle? What up with that, eh? Let's just say it is supposed to represent the sky and the sunshine.

The truth? I had two-tone inked and stamped the sentiment with black and coral. Didn't like it. Stamped it just coral on another piece of CS, trimmed and adhered it over the original. Hmmm, the seam bugged me. Searching my tiny strips of PP to put along the seam I discovered this beauty from the top of some 6x6 sheet with that sweet "hello friend" on it. It needed to go on this card. But the hole in the strip - what to do with the hole? Now you know why there's an enamel dot (sun) gracing my card ;)

I'm taking my hoard of critters over to the All Creatures Great and Small challenge at SSS.

So on to a card I'm very happy with.

Creme CS. One stamp (plus a heat embossed sentiment) from Modern Leaves and some masking. Some colorful (Adirondack Ink)blooms and tiny black filler images from Oh Happy Day. One layer. B/W. Colorful. Happy.

I'm taking these flowers over to CAS on Sunday's Challenge #51 - Flowers.

Thanks for coming by.

papertrey 8th anniversary

It only happens once a year, but what a big party it is. Happy Anniversary, Papertrey Ink!

Talk about finger on the pulse. Check out the new color palette in the badge. Spot on with the subdued hues trending lately.

So I've participated in five challenges and today I'm sharing my projects. Ready? Warning, Blogger has made total ugliness of my photos. Get ready for fifty shades of gray.

Day 1 - DT Inspiration
Check out the post for an inspiration overload from each of the DT members. And for sketch and color combo ideas. I chose these two.

And made this card.

Day 2 - Maile Belles returns
As in she is returning to designing products for PTI. Yippie. She's a genius IMO. So for this challenge we are to be inspired by a Maile creation. Easy. Remember the wonky front panel that she brought to blogland?

And I'm hooking up to Day 5 - Spring into Action too, cuz I broke out an unused set for my sentiment. Building Blocks is perfect for sentiments which you want to cut into strips.

Day 3 - Bagged and Tagged
Gift bags with tags. Kinda my go-to for presents. We were challenged to create a tag to go with a gift bag.

I wanted to create a tag to mimic my square white gift bag so I die cut a stitched circle from the front of a folded tag and painted some watercolor stripes on the inside. Know what inspired me? Maile's watercolor wonder PP. And I finally got to use my PTI ribbons I won ages ago. Simply Chartreuse stitched and Melon Berry satin.

I created another tag, a folded circle this time (extended the fold over the edge of the cutting plates to prevent it from being cut). Also painted watercolor stripes, but this time used a sentiment from Neat and Tangled Dreams. 

I'm joining the watercolor challenge at Little Tangles with this tag and Day 1 card.

And lastly, Day 4 -  Create a Bouquet.

Lots of flower action going on in the new release. This challenge asks for a bouquet created (actually with more than one flower stamp set), but I used only one. And this color combo with watercolors and heat embossing.

Used Meadow Greens. Stamped the sprays first in Archival black. Heat embossed the clusters in white. Applied watercolors and splattered. Stamped the stems and leaves in khaki. Added some aqua to the BG and added an Aqua Mist die cut sentiment.

Whew! Are you playing? Get a move on, you've got until Feb. 15th.

thanks mother, thanks city crafter

I'm so happy to be joining the lovely ladies at City Crafter Challenge as guest designer this week. What a lovely theme Kirsty has chosen - "Tell someone they matter". Yep. Do it today. Don't wait for tomorrow.

This one's going out to my mom. She's always been there for me. Probably my #1 fan. I'm happy that I'll be seeing her in just a few days when I take a vacation from my family (tee hee hee) to spend some one-on-one time with my folks. And Michigan temperatures.

For my card I pulled out PP from My Mind's Eye and Glitz. Yippie. Only 999.999 more sheets to use up! The heart frame is from the SSS Heart in a Box die. The sentiment is heat embossed from STAMPlorations Bold Sentiments: Hello and paired with a Dymo label. I trapped a wood veneer heart lacquered with red nail polish behind the vellum in the frame and two chevrons covered with gold glitter Smooch up in the left corner. And added some lovely yellow sequins.

Thanks so much for having me, City Crafter.

STAMPlorations inspiration #1

Have you noticed that there is even more fun happening over at STAMPlorations? There are still the bi-weekly sketch and monthly theme challenges. Shery has added some great talent to the Challenge Design Team - you can check it out here.

Some of the other original girls and I are now the Inspiration Design Team . We will be bringing you a CASEplorations feature on the first of every month - you can check the first one out here. And we will be sharing additional inspiration on the 2nd and 4th Monday and Friday of every month too. You can find the first Inspiration Project Post here.

So, what's that mean for you? Besides getting loads of inspiration, you also have more ways to win prizes! We are challenging you to CASE any of the CASEplorations or Inspiration Project Post cards in a month and link up to the Inspiration Playground here. At the end of the month, one random winner will receive a $15 gift certificate to the store. (And don't forget, if you use STAMPlorations stamps you can hook up to the ongoing Anything Goes gallery here for another chance at a prize!)

Whew! Wanna see my favorite card made with stamps from the latest release?

I've mentioned that I like the "illustrated" look that seems to be trendy right now. I had to give it a go with the bride and groom images from The Bee's Knees: Newlyweds. Added some wispy gold thread and a sentiment banner made with Sentiment Builders: Love. Ta daa! Another wedding card for my stash.

Thanks for coming by today.

hello mixed media

Got my CAS fix last week. Now I've been having some fun with ink, stamps and stencils. Ready?

Inked up a piece of CS with Distress Inks in ombre blue tones. Spritzed water onto my ARTplorations Hearts All Over stencil and pressed it down onto the inked piece. The water reacts with the ink and "bleaches" it, leaving the hearts the original color and the surrounding space lighter. Coolio. This is what Dyan Reaveley refers to as "ghosting".

Next step was to sponge more ink through the "love" word on my ARTplorations Hello and Company stencil in three corners and then stamp "love" from STAMPlorations Sentiment Builders: Love next to the sponged words.

Then I applied clear embossing paste through just a portion of my ARTplorations Shutters stencil. You can see it better here. Love the shine and texture, but it's oh-so-subtle.

To finish up my Valentine for DH, I heat embossed a sentiment made with Sentiment Builders: Love and attached snippets leftover from this card behind the black blocks. I added some funky red circles and glittery gold heart die cut negatives (from SSS Mini Hearts) for fun.

Now for less than subtle... This will be DD's Valentine.

Notice the lifted front panel and beautiful blending of pinks and reds under it? Still enjoying the Jocelyn O. and Joni A. thang.

And I revisited whitewashing, which I saw Jocelyn do recently. Can you see it? It's watered-down white acrylic paint brushed over my panel which I had created by first inking randomly through my ARTplorations Hearts All Over stencil in red, purple and pink Adirondack tones and then stamping over the stencil (and consequently through the heart openings) with a script text background stamp.  I love the effect the wash has on the dye inks, smearing them and softening the entire panel.

Notice the scrap in the middle with my heat embossed sentiment on it? That was from cleaning my stencil. I misted it with water, flipped it and pressed it onto scrap paper, getting this yummy negative! I couldn't resist incorporating it into my card.

A few metallic white embossing paste hearts, a couple gold glitter CS die cut hearts (SSS Mini Hearts), a tissue paper scrap, a strip of washi tape and some iridescent sequins finished off my card.

I'm playing with both cards at:
Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge - Bright and Beautiful
Craft Stamper Take it, Make it - February Stencils
SSS flickr challenge #12 - Sparkle (glitter CS hearts/negatives)
SSS Work it Wednesday - January New (my ARTplorations stencils)

and the second card at:
Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #9 - Think Pink

Hope your weekend was great. Happy new week.

it's over... the cas watercolor that is

Bringing up the rear are two birthday and one hello card. Sure hope my Mom likes my prolific creations...

Papertrey die meets Sweet Stamp Shop sentiment

Only Papertrey products

FYI, I agonized on this one. Add a tiny strip of black CS after the "Y" and off to the edge? Nope. Add skinny washi (yellow and turquoise) down to the "happy" and after the "Y"? Nope. A tad of B/W chevron washi somewhere??? Nope. Call me crazy.

And meet my favorite of the whole bunch...

QuicKutz die meets Prima sentiment

This little kitty from Prima Yuki (I don't even like cats - all they do is mess in my garden) just jumped out at me (OK, fell out of the cupboard) to perch on the U. How cute is that?!? Which almost sent me off to peruse other stamp sets for image/word combo stamps that could be used with die cuts. Almost.

Hooking up at:
Mod Squad - Use Water

Bright and Beautiful

#99 CAS

#53 watercolor

CASual Fridays 136