What's Up, Dreamer?

Hi there!  I've got two cards to post today for three different challenges. First up is this adorable Avery Elle giraffe.  I used the palette from ColourQ and the Cuddly theme from Addicted to CAS.  I paper pieced him and then popped him in a Lil' Inker frame.  I thought the fun font of the Paper Smooches sentiment was a perfect match for this happy guy.

Next up is a card for the CASE Study challenge which just happens to be their final one.  I strayed pretty far from Debby's elegant, white creation but it makes sense in my brain.  Whenever I looked at Debby's card the hanging feathers and berries made me think of a dreamcatcher (maybe I still had Debby's card from the week before stuck in my brain).   Anyway it led me to this stamp set from Market Street Stamps (which, sadly, is no longer in business).  I'm still watching videos from the Watercolour Class (ridiculous, I know) and tried playing around with creating a watercolor background.  I tried the iron off embossing technique with the stars.  I didn't quite get all the embossing powder off so I need to try this again.  I had fun with this first attempt though!  :)

Supplies Used

Cardstock:  (Kraft) Papertrey Ink, (Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, Night of Navy) Stampin' Up
Stamps:  (Giraffe & clouds from What's Up?) Avery Elle, (Sentiment from Good Gab) Paper Smooches

Inks:  (VersaMark, VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukinko, (Unicorn) Hero Arts

Embossing Powder:  (Seafoam White) Ranger

Dies:  (Stitched Polaroid) Lil' Inker Designs

Cardstock:  (Distress Watercolour) Ranger, (Elegant Eggplant) Stampin' Up
Stamps:  (All from Dreamcatcher) Market Street Stamps

Inks:  (VersaMark, VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukinko

Embossing Powder:  (Clear) Ranger

Watercolours:  Loew Cornell

Gems:  Recollections

Totes The Best

***This is my second card for the day.  For my Colour Throwdown card please scroll down or click here***

Hi again!  I'm back with a card for the CASE Study challenge.  My inspiration came pretty much entirely from the layout of Wida's card.  I like the strip of black and white stripes in the background and the stacked sentiments.  I used some wide washi tape for my background and then layered up a rainbow of speech bubbles with Paper Smooches sentiments on top of it.  I'm pretty pleased with how it came out - a bright and fun card for a cool kid!     

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Pacific Point, Rich Razzleberry)  Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Seriously, Totes, The best evan from Slang Gang, You're from Good Gab, Friend from Chit Chat) Paper Smooches

Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

Dies:  (Word Bubbles) Paper Smooches

Washi - Scotch

Gems:  Recollections

Get Well Flowers

There is a plethora of flower related challenges around at the moment so I've got a few multi challenge cards to share this week. Today's card uses the colours from The Colour Throwdown and the design is inspired by Wida's card at CASE Study.  I like the white on white sentiment die cuts that Wida used and the pop of colour that balances it on the left side.  Aside from the butterflies everything on the card is Paper Smooches so I'm entering this in the PS Sparks Anything Goes challenge.  Also I used 5 different dies so I'm entering it in the Simon Says Wednesday challenge to use dies.  See you tomorrow! 

                                          

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Melon Mambo, Lucky Limeade, Basic Black, Brushed Silver) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Flower centre from Calico) Paper Smooches

Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Melon Mambo) Stampin' Up

Dies:  (Bold Bloom, Loopy Leaf, Crystal Clear 2, Get Well) Paper Smooches, (Butterflies from Butterfly Delights) Memory Box

Sympathy Flowers

Yes, yes, another sympathy card. Two in a row is probably a bad omen or something. Unfortunately I had a request for one so I made two just to provide some choice. (Yesterday's card was the reject). This one was inspired by Wida's card over at the CASE Study challenge.  I used an ancient piece of 7Gypsies paper for the background - major SNALTED* product!!  I also broke out my Simon Says daisies so I'm entering this in the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge's Spring Flowers challenge.  Any fun plans for your day?  We're heading to the Aquarium for my goddaughter's second birthday.  It should be a fun afternoon but oh my gosh I can't believe she's two already!!! 

*Severely Neglected And Left To Die

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Handy Hippo, (More Mustard) Stampin' Up

Patterned Paper:  7Gypsies

Stamps:  (Sentiment from Oh Happy Day) Avery Elle

Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

Dies:  (Fresh Daisies) Simon Says Stamp

Gems:  Stampin' Up

I Appreciate You

***This is my second post for the day.  For my CASology post please scroll down or 

click here!***

Hello again!  I'm dropping in with a last minute card for the current CASE Study challenge.  I love Jaclyn's clean and crisp card with the pops of red. I used some Zing Rouge embossing powder for my flower - I love how bright it is and it has great texture too.  All the stamps on this card are NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff) so I'm giving myself a little pat on the back for that.  :)  Hope you all have a lovely evening and I'll be back tomorrow!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Soft Stone) Papertrey Ink

Stamps:  (Flower from Hello Doodle) My Cute Stamps, (Stripe from Basic Borders, Sentiment from True Friend) Mama Elephant

Inks:  (VersaMark, VersaFine Onyx Black), Tsukineko, (Sahara Sand) Stampin' Up

Embossing Powder:  (Zing Rouge) American Crafts

Gems:  (Red) Doodlebug, (Black) Recollections

A CASE of Thanks

Hello there!  Hope you are all enjoying your weekend! I'm popping in with a card that was inspired by this week's CASE study muse, Danielle Flanders.  I was inspired by the colours and repeated image.  This Paper Smooches die is NBUS for me and I can't believe I waited so long to use it.  Once I got started I came up with a whole bunch of designs!  I must allow myself to just play around more often…

Before I go I want to share a story that I posted on Facebook about my Valentine's dinner with Luis last night (apologies to you that have already seen it):

Had a lovely dinner with Luis at Wahoo last night. An older couple was seated next to us and the wife pulled out a bag full of letters. She and her husband spent the rest of their evening pouring over the letters - laughing and reading bits to each other. When we went to leave I asked how long they'd been married. The husband said 30 years. His wife's gift that night was to bring the letters they had exchanged when they were younger and he was away at school and they spent the evening remembering. He said, "Marriage is full of cliffhangers and roller coasters but if you're willing to keep working at it it's a wonderful lifelong ride." Wow. I hope that's me and Luis in 30 years!

Supplies Used

Cardstock:  (White) Handy Hippo, (Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight) Stampin' Up

Stamp:  (Sentiment from Many Thanks) Paper Smooches

Ink:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

Die:  (Hot Spots SM Set 1) Paper Smooches

Gratitude Bear

Hi there!  A regular client of mine recently asked me to make some thank you cards as a gift for her friend who is expecting a baby boy.  She figures it's something the new mum will need but have no time to go shopping for.  :)  She said they could all be the same design but I'm going to try and make a few different ones.  My first design was inspired by this week's CAS(E) Study challenge - another gorgeous design by Donna Mikasa. I stamped and embossed the Hero Arts teddy bear onto the card base.  Then I used the negative of one of Papertrey Ink's Half and Half dies and sponged it with Tumbled Glass and Peacock Feather Distress Inks. Finally I added a sentiment, some gems and voila! Because the this is the first time I used the teddy bear stamp (and the sentiment stamp) I'm going to enter this into the New Year, New Stash challenge at A Blog Named Hero.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill

Stamp:  (Bear from New Baby) Hero Arts, (Sentiment from Many Thanks) Paper Smooches

Inks:  (VersaMark) Tsukineko, (Smokey Slate) Stampin' Up, (Tubled Glass, Peacock Feather Distress Inks) Ranger

Embossing Powder:  (Clear) Ranger

Die:  (Half and Half collection) Papertrey Ink

Gems:  Recollections

Starry Congrats

** This is my 2nd post for the day.  For my CASology post please scroll down or 

click here.**

Did you see that this month's muse at CASE Study is Donna Mikasa?  She's a super talented CAS designer who rocks bright and cheery pops of colour.  This week we're to CASE her sweet thank you card.  I immediately thought of this star from Fresh Squeezed Stamps and wanted to use my Hero Arts inks.  I'm really digging the fun colours!  I think I may do a couple other designs with monochromatic stars in blues and pinks for baby cards as well.  I was kind of wishing I had a Wink of Stella pen to add some glitter to all of my stars but since I don't I added a dot of Stickles to the centre of each one for a little sparkle.  I also want to link this card to the One-Layer Simplicity Challenge.  I don't make too many one-layer cards as I'm not that confident with my stamping.  Maybe this challenge will help me to get a little braver?  The challenge this week is to restock your card stash.  I was thinking maybe I should focus on a big occasion like birthday cards or something but congrats card are often needed too so I can now consider my Congrats card stash 1 card richer (making a grand total of… 1).  

ETA:  I had also intended to link this to the Moxie Fab Trendy Star Power challenge!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill

Stamps:  (Star from Weather Through, Sentiment from You Said It) Fresh Squeezed Stamps

Inks:  (Bubble Gum, Orange Soda, Butter Bar, Green Hills, Tide Pool, Stone Wash) Hero Arts

Glitter:  (Star Dust Stickles) Ranger

Gems:  Recollections

Hello There

Good morning!  Just popping in quickly with a last minute entry for the CASE Study challenge.  I was inspired by the stripes, purple flower and blue bow.  I love that bright and cheery Simple Stories paper and I can see that my new Simon Says Stamp banners are going to get a lot of use!  The flower is a Hero Arts cling that I've had for a few years so this card has a good mixture of old and new goodies.  Off to get the day started. Hope yours is lovely!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Tempting Turquoise) Stampin' Up

Patterned Paper:  Sn@p Life) Simple Stories

Stamps:  (Flower and stem from Luscious Patterned Flowers) Hero Arts, (Sentiment from Good Times) Mama Elephant

Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Rich Razzleberry) Stampin' Up

Dies:  (Nesting Diamond) Lifestyle Crafts, (Small Folded Banners) Simon Says Stamp

Liquid Pearls:  (Buttercup) Ranger

A Little Bit Brighter

***This is my second post of the day.  For my ColourQ/Seize the Birthday post please scroll down or click here.***

Hi again!  Back with my second card for today.  This is a triple play card.  I was inspired by the stripes and bright colors on Jennifer McGuire's CASE Study card.  Then I found Iwona's Sketchbook Saturday sketch which had similar stripes and I thought the layout would work perfectly for the bird on it's branch.  Finally I wanted to play along with the Paper Crafts Connection August Gallery Challenge - Sending Sunshine.  I used a paint sample strip which I noticed afterwards had the perfect names - Downey Chick, Sunnyside Up and Golden Path!  That's it for me tonight.  See you tomorrow!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (Primrose Petals, Tempting Turquoise, Early Espresso) Stampin' Up

Stamp:  (Sentiment from Rainbow & Cloud Sentiments) Lil' Inker Designs

Ink:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

Dies:  (Meadow Bird, Grove Branch) Memory Box

Gems:  Recollections

Case Study Throwdown

Another long weekend is drawing to  a close.  As Luis said (insert heavy Portuguese accent), "Much one day finish.  Much one weekend finish.  Everybody much old."  LOL! Some of the things he comes out with slay me and I love him to bits for it.  I am grateful that after 7 years together we still make each other laugh every day.  


I only spent a few hours in the Craft Cave this weekend but managed to come up with a couple of cards. This one uses the colours from The Colour Throwdown and is loosely inspired by Maile's card at CASE Study.  How gorgeous is that multi layered dimensional flower?  A real jaw dropper.  I was inspired by the placement of the flower in the corner of the card, the popped up flower and the gems on the leaves.  I added some black Stickles to the centre of the flower too for some extra sparkle.

Back to reality tomorrow.  Hope you've all had a lovely weekend - and for you US gals I hope your holiday tomorrow is a good one too!  

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill

Stamps:  (Flower & sentiment from Very Vintage Greetings) WPlus9, (Leaves from Turning A New Leaf) Papertrey Ink

Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Wild Wasabi, Marina Mist) Stampin' Up

Gems:  (Mini Pearls Bumblebee assortment) Doodlebug, (Black) Teresa Collins

Glitter:  (Black Diamond) Stickles

Telephone Greetings

Good morning, all!  I have my first of two posts today.  This is my entry for the CASE Study challenge and the Create colour challenge.  The Create colours worked perfectly with this week's CASE Study challenge - a gorgeous Maile Belles special!  Maile is a one-layer master.  I pretty much want to Pin everything she makes.  :D

Unfortunately my Calypso Coral is looking a little orange in this photo but it is coral!  The Paper Smooches telephone is previously uninked so I'm happy to give it a moment in the spotlight and the Hero Arts sentiment is well loved and often inked - I love it's perfect simplicity!  See you back in a few hours for CASology!

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill
Stamps:  (Telephone from Vogue Abode) Paper Smooches, (Sentiment from Just Saying Hi) Hero Arts
Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise) Stampin' Up

Purple Leaves

Hi there!  I'm playing along with three challenges today.  I'm using the colours from the Play Date Cafe and my layout was loosely inspired by Julie Ebersole's card at CASE Study.  I'm also tossing my hat - or my card I should say! -  into the ring one more time for the Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp.  Hope you have a lovely evening!
  

Supplies Used:

Cardstock: (Vintage Cream) Papertrey Ink,  (So Saffron)  Stampin' Up (Lavender) ?

Stamps:  (Sentiment from Asian Fusion, Flower centre from BeautifulBlooms) Papertrey Ink, (Honeycomb background) Market Street Stamps, (Chevrons from Geo-Graphic) Paper Smooches

Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Heliotrope) ColorBox, (Crumb Cake) Stampin; Up

Dies:  (Beautiful Blooms II #1, Turning a New Leaf) Papertrey Ink

Other:  (Black Enamel Accents) Ranger

Positive & Negative

Hi there!  We're winding down another weekend and I am so happy that this one was bright and sunny for the first time in weeks.  Atticus was in 7th Heaven today as he had a long swim, a long walk and lots of time chasing his ball.  He's now passed out on the sofa with Luis snoring his head off.  Ahhh the life of a dog!  :)  

I enjoyed some time in the Craft Cave this afternoon and came up with this little creation for a few challenges.  I used the colours from the Play Date Cafe's colour challenge and was inspired by the negative butterfly die cuts on Julie Ebersole's card at CASE Study.  I am also going to enter this in the Moxie Fab World's Emphasize the Negative challenge.  And what better way to emphasize the negative than by highlighting it with the positive?  The picture below shows better that the black and white layers use negative cuts while the coral butterfly is a positive cut.  I layered them on different heights of Pop Dots for some extra dimension and fun!  :)

Okay, off to finish getting organised for the new week.  Hope yours is a lovely one!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Calypso Coral, Basic Black) Stampin' Up

Stamp:  (Sentiment from Think Big Favourites #5) Papertrey Ink

Ink:  (VersaMark) Tsukineko

Embossing Powder:  (Seafoam White) Ranger

Dies:  (Nesting Butterflies) Lifestyle Crafts

Gem:  Teresa Collins

CASE Hello

***This is my second post for today.  For my CASology post please scroll down or 

click here.***

It's been ages since I played along with CASE Study but I loved the blues and yellows of the current card by this month's muse, Teri Anderson.  They made me think of my one and only Pebbles 6x6 pad which has the perfect colors.  I stuck pretty close to Teri's design including the addition of gems and twine.  You can't really tell from the picture but the centre square and the outside corner squares are popped up on foam tape for a little dimension.  Hope you've had a lovely day!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (Basic Grey) Stampin' Up

Patterned Paper:  (Family Ties collection) Pebbles

Stamp:  (Sentiment from Great Big Greetings) Market Street Stamps

Ink:  (VersaMark) Tsukineko

Embossing Powder:  (Seafoam White) Ranger

Punches:  (15/16" Stacking Square, 1/8" hole punch) McGill

Gems:  Doodlebug

Twine:  (Lemondrop) The Twinery

Here's To A New Week!

Boy am I glad that it's a new week.  Last week was a bit of a nightmare.  Along with having two migraines, Jem completely blew out his knee.  There's no one on the island to fix it and the specialist who comes in from Boston a few times a year to do those sort of surgeries isn't due to come back until August or September so poor Jem will be running around on 3 legs until then.  We're trying to keep him as quiet as possible but he's bored silly and looks so depressed that we won't play ball with him or take him for walks.  Poor guy!


Between dealing with Jem and taking care of my head I haven't been in the Craft Cave or on the computer since Wednesday.  Today I finally feel better and am playing a bit of catch up. I gave the Craft Cave a good tidy and made a card for two challenges.  I was inspired by the layout and the flower on this card by Joy over at CASE Study and I used the colours from Dynamic Duos.  I also managed to use the Dessert Option from DD and used a ribbon threader punch and wove some ribbon through the white card.  Whoop whoop for using ribbon! Must dash but hopefully I'll be around a lot more this week.  :)


Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Melon Mambo, Basic Black) Stampin' Up
Stamps:  (Flower & leaves from In Bloom) PTI, (Sentiment from CL340) Hero Arts
Inks: (VersaFine Tuxedo Black) Tsukineko, (Melon Mambo) Stampin' Up

Die:  (In Bloom collection) PTIPunches:  (Corner punch) Marvy Uchida, (Ribbon Threader) Martha Stewart
Gems:  (Beetle Black assortments) Doodlebug
Ribbon:  Hot Off the Press