CASology #270

Welcome to Week 270 of CASology!  Take a look at the cue word for this week:

When I saw this week's cue word I immediately thought of odd as in quirky and this MFT sentiment was just begging to be put to use.  I had fun digging through patterned papers to find the perfect stripes for the glasses - I knew it was there somewhere!  I inked up the last word of the sentiment separately and popped it up to make it really stand out and added a few gems to the glasses for extra quirkiness.

Looking forward to seeing what direction the cue word takes you.  Check out the gorgeousness from the rest of the design team then play along!

Anna Uhras

Deidre Payne

Hannelie Bester - Taking a break

Jacquie Southas 

Janet Ribet

Jen Wills

Joyce Mehrberg

Judy Marino 

Kymona Tracey

Melissa Chipperfield 

Rachel Bergfeld

Sherrie Mannion 

This week's guest designer:

Natasha

This week's sponsor:

Uniko

Link your creations to the CASology blog and remember that the deadline for entries is Monday at noon (CDT).

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Papertrey Ink, (Basic Black) Stampin' Up

Patterned Paper:  (Snap Life 6x6) Simple Stories

Stamps:  (Sentiment from Geek is Chic) My Favourite Things

Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukeniko, (Regal Rose) Stampin' Up

Die:  (Glasses) My Favourite Things

Gems:  Recollections

A Flock of Happy Birds

A couple of weeks ago my fabulous friend, Claire, of Ham'n'mule Designs posted a card with a birdie from WPlus9's Happy Birds.  I commented that I'd never inked up that set so we challenged each other to make 4 cards and we'd share them on our blogs.  I think I need to do this more often.  It felt so good to ink up these stamps that I HAD to have (and then left to collect dust).  Also I am super excited that I get to meet Claire in less than a month's time!  She is such a cool chick who I totally clicked with the first time we exchanged messages.  She's sassy, funny and a brilliant carmaker.  Who could ask for more in a friend? 

Clearly I got into a blue zone while making these but I guess birds make me think of the sky so blue dominated.  I tried to use a few different techniques - paper piecing on the first two, Brushos on the third, and Copic coloring on the third and fourth.   

Now it's time to hop over to Claire's blog and see the awesomeness she's created!

Supplies Used:

CARD 1

Cardstock:  (White) Papertrey Ink, (Textured White) Bazzill, (Peekaboo Peach, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Basic Black) Stampin' Up

Patterned Paper:  (Snap Life 6x6) Simple Stories

Stamps:  (Bird, leaves & clouds from Happy Birds) WPlus9, (Sentiment from Many Thanks) Altenew

Inks:  (VersaMark, VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukeniko, (Chocolate Chip, Smokey Slate) Stampin' Up

Embossing Powder:  (Opaque Bright White Super Fine) Wow

Dies:  (Stitched Rectangle) Mama Elephant

CARD 2

Cardstock:  (Textured White) Bazzill, (Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Bird from Happy Birds) WPlus9, (Speech bubble from Just Hatched, Sentiment from Three Amigos) Mama Elephant

Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukeniko

Dies:  (Inline Alpha Die) Altenew

Gems:  Recollections

CARD 3

Cardstock:  (White) Papertrey Ink, (Textured White) Bazzill, (Watercolor) Ranger, (Basic Black) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Bird & sentiment from Happy Birds) WPlus9

Inks:  (VersaMark, Memento Tuxedo Black) Tsukeniko

Embossing Powder:  (Opaque Bright White Super Fine) Wow

Dies:  (Speech bubble) Neat & Tangled

Paint:  (Prussian Blue Brusho) Colourcraft

Markers:  (YR16, Y08, YG03, YG06, G14, G28) Copic

Glitter:  (Clear Wink of Stella) Zig

CARD 4

Cardstock:  (White) Papertrey Ink

Patterned Paper:  (Here & There 6x6) Studio Calico

Stamps:  (Birds from Happy Birds) WPlus9, (Sentiment from More Essential Sentiments, Hat from Beary Special Birthday) My Favourite Things

Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black, Memento Tuxedo Black) Tsukeniko, (Chocolate Chip, Smokey Slate) Stampin' Up

Markers:  (R22, R35, YR04, Y06, Y21) Copic

Twine:  (Licorice) The Twinery

Gems:  Recollections

CASology #216

Welcome to Week 216 of CASology!  Take a look at the cue word for this week:

This week's cue word gave me the perfect excuse to pull out a Paper Smooches frame die that hasn't seen much love.  I wanted some bright and cheerful colours to make my sentiment pop and by framing this busy piece of patterned paper and layering it on a white card stock, it keeps the overall design CAS.  

Looking forward to seeing what direction the cue word takes you.  Check out the gorgeousness from the rest of the design and then play along!   

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Deidre Payne

Hannelie Bester

Hazel Hodgkins

Jacquie Southas

Jen Wills

Joyce Mehrberg

Judy Marino

Kymona Tracey

Melissa Chipperfield 

Sherrie Mannion

Tracey McNeely

This week's guest designer:

Ohhh Snap!

This week's sponsor:

Stamplorations

Link your creations to the CASology blog and remember that the deadline for entries is Monday at noon (CDT).

Supplies Used:

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

Patterned Paper:  (Stripes) Simple Stories

Dies:  (Frame 2) Paper Smooches, (Hello) Mama Elephant

Sequins:  Doodlebug

Glitter:  (Clear Wink of Stells) Zig

Other:  (Glossy Accents) Ranger

Welcome to the Neighborhood

Hi there!  I'm popping in with a card for the current Curtain Call challenge.  I knew what I wanted to do as soon as I saw the inspiration photo.  That doesn't happen very often and it's even less often that I get a card in this far ahead of the deadline.  :)  Anyway the card came together really quickly thanks to these cute little Paper Smooches bird house dies (as well as the tiny birdie).  Love when it all goes smoothly!  

    

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Daffodil Delight, Soft Suede, Basic Black) Stampin' Up

Patterned Paper:  (Sumer Fresh) Simple Stories

Stamps:  (Sentiment from Home Sweet Home) Market Street Stamps

Inks:  (VersaMark) Tsukineko

Embossing Powder:  (Opaque Bright White Super Fine) Wow

Dies:  (Bird House) Paper Smooches

Cupcakes & Lightbulbs

I finally finished my card orders today and will deliver them tomorrow!  Whoop whoop!  

This first card was made using the Cupcakes or Candy topping option from Seize the Birthday and the birthday theme option from The Friday Mashup.  I paper pieced a Mama Elephant cupcake and used a Lil' Inker wonky square to frame it.  Love that shape!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White, Soft Stone) Papertrey Ink, (Regal Rose, Daffodil Delight) Stampin' Up

Patterned Paper:  (Snap Life 6x6) Simple Stories

Stamps:  (Cupcake from Carnival Cupcakes, Candle & sentiment from Carnival Toppers) Mama Elephant

Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

Die:  (Wonky Stitched Squares) Lil' Inker Designs

Glitter:  (Clear Wink of stella) Zig

Gems:  Recollections

Next up is a card for ColourQ's One spot of colour challenge.  I needed a couple more masculine cards and thought this simple colour palette worked well of that.  The sentiment is a mash up of phrases from 3 different companies - love that!  Hoping I can get away with those 3 little gems on a guy card...

That's it for tonight.  See you tomorrow for CASology!  

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Papertrey Ink, (Daffodil Delight) Stamping' Up

Stamps:  (Lightbulb from Sparkle and Shine) Neat and Tangled, (Shine Bright from Lunar Lights) Lawn Fawn, (On your from Mother Knows Best) Fresh Squeezed Stamps, (Birthday from CL340) Hero Arts

Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukin

Die:  (Bam Bubbles) Paper Smooches

Glitter:  (Clear Wink of Stella) Zig

Gems:  Recollections

Happy To Be Back

I am so glad to finally be back posting - the last week has been so frustrating!  What I thought was just an occasional pinched nerve in my hand has turned out to be Carpal Tunnel which I discovered when the pinch turned into agony and a swollen hand and wrist.  I had 3 days of steroids, anti-inflammatories and pain meds and have been wearing a wrist brace ever since.  I had to rest my arm as much as possible so no crafting or computer time.  The computer time was easy to avoid as our internet went down.  It's back now but sporadically and we're only getting a third of the mbps that we're paying for so only one of us can be online at a time.  Mom is on our service too so we've practically had to schedule time for each of us.  Staying out of the Craft Cave has been a lot harder especially as I have two big orders that I really should have delivered by Friday.  My wrist was feeling pretty good yesterday so I dove back into making those cards.  They're all birthday cards so I used some challenges to get myself going on them and I'm going to share 2 tonight.

First up (above) is a card using the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches and the colours from The Colour Throwdown.  I need a few masculine cards for the orders so I thought these colours worked perfectly for that.  The balloons are from Simon Says and the sentiment is CASual Fridays.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Papertrey Ink, (Basic Grey) Stamping' Up

Patterned Paper:  (Red grid from Snap Life Just the Basics, Red dots & red stripes from Snap Colour Vibe) Simple Stories

Stamps:  (Sentiment from Shenanigans) CAS-ual Fridays, (Balloon string from Admit One) Lawn Fawn

Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, Smokey Slate) Stampin' Up

Die:  (Bslloon) Simon Says Stamp

Gems:  (Ladybug assortment) Doodlebug

My second card was inspired by Tracey's gorgeous Muse creation.  I pretty much CASEd it as I used the same colours and layout and of course, flowers.  Instead of stamping mine though I fussy cut them and popped them up on foam tape.  Probably shouldn't be fussy cutting with this wrist but I'm not going to quit that forever - I'll just take an Advil and get on with it!  :) 

That's it for tonight.  Have a good evening and hopefully I'll have some more to share tomorrow!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Papertrey Ink, (Strawberry Slush, Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi, Coastal Cabana) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Flowers from Striped Florals, Sentiment from Birthday Greetings) Altenew

Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Strawberry Slush, Daffodil Delight, Coastal Cabana) Stamping' Up

Gems:  Recollections

Cats & Dogs

Hi there!  I didn't have as much time in the Craft Cave today as I had hoped but I managed to finish off my special orders and squeeze in another challenge card.  This kitty card is one of the special order cards and I'm going to enter it in the Paper Smooches Sparks Anything Goes challenge (sentiment and kitties are all PS) and the Addicted to CAS Animal challenge.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Papertrey Ink, (Melon Mambo, Basic Black) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Cats from Feline Friends, Have a purrfect from nine Lives, Birthday from Sentiment Sampler) Paper Smooches

Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Charcoal) Hero Arts

Dies:  (Numbers) Papertrey Ink

I have a lovely client who will send me a list of cards she needs like this:

1 x Birthday w golf clubs

1 x bday w a lighthouse

1 x 40^th bday w a Cat

2 x bday w Glamour Girls

1 x bday w camera

2 x Sympathy

3 x Father’s Day 

I like it because it gives me a starting point for the cards but still leaves me lots of room to play around and be creative.  I used to get pretty stressed out with special orders but I think I've finally found my groove with them and now I kind of look at them as just another challenge card.

This next card isn't for a special order - it's just for a couple of challenges.  I started out by using the design from Freshly Made Sketches.  This adorable Simon Says pup has been sitting patiently in my stash for ages and I thought this was the perfect time to get him inky.  The JUGS Wild Card challenge this week is paper piecing and since this guy is pieced (all the way down to his collar and tag) I'm going to enter him over there. 

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Papertrey Ink, (Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight) Stampin' Up

Patterned Paper:  (Grid pattern from Documented 6x6) Simple Stories, (Brown polka dots from Natural Necessities Double Dot Designs) Bo Bunny

Stamps:  (Dog & sentiment from You Are Pawsome) Simon Says Stamp

Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

Dies:  (Nestabilities Classic Squares Large) Spellbinders

CAS(E) This Sketch #67

Welcome to Week 67 of CAS(E) This Sketch!  Take a look at this week's sketch designed by Chrissy Larson:

I'm not sure why but this sketch gave me a hard time.  I'm looking forward to seeing what you all come up with so I can have lots of, "Why didn't I think of that?" moments.  :)  So check out the designs from the CTS team and then show me what you got!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (Riding Hood Red, Island Indigo) Stampin' Up

Patterned Paper:  (Happy Day 6x6) Simple Stories

Stamps:  (Subway Series: Holidays) Fresh Squeezed Stamps

Ink:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

Gem:  Recollections

Paper Pieced Thank You

Hello, Monday!  It's a chilly windy day here today - a perfect day to hunker down in the Craft Cave once I've gotten a few errands done.  This little card is my entry for the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge to use kraft.  When I paper pieced this Purple Onion Designs image I decided it popped better on a kraft card base than on a white one.  The papers are from Simple Stories.  Hope you all have a fabulous day!

Supplies Used

Cardstock:  (Kraft) Papertrey Ink

Patterned Paper:  (Summer Fresh 6x6) Simple Stories

Stamps:  Purple Onion Designs

Ink:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

Gems:  Recollections

A Bit o' Twine

I was recently asked to make some bright and cheery thank you cards so I decided to dig into my patterned paper stash a bit more.  This Simple Stories paper was pretty popular a year or so ago. I'm always so behind on the trends!  Anyway I made a few different cards and since this one used some twine I thought I'd enter it at the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge to use twine or string. Here's another of them (although this one is twine-free). I'll share some more later.  Hope you're having a lovely weekend!

Supplies Used:

Top Card
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Riding Hood Red, Daffodil Delight) Stampin' Up
Patterned Paper:  (Summer Fresh 6x6) Simple Stories
Dies:  (Notebook Basic, Thanks Word) Paper Smooches, (Die-Namics Chevron Stripes, Die-Namics Flower Trio) My Favourite Things
Twine:  (Lemondrop) The Twinery
Gem:  (Ladybug assortment) Doodlebug

Bottom Card
Cardstock:  (Riding Hood Red) Stampin' Up
Patterned Paper:  (Summer Frsh 6x6) Simple Stories
Die:  (Spiral Notebook Page) Papertrey Ink, (Thanks Word) Paper Smooches
Washi:  (Yellow) Pebbles
Other:  (Wood Veneer Paper) Simon Says Stamp

CAS(E) This Sketch #55

Welcome to Week 55 of CAS(E) This Sketch!  Take a look at this week's sketch by Karolyn Loncon:

I took a bit of liberty with this sketch in that I spread out my arrows a bit more that the flowers but I think the bones of the sketch are still pretty clear.  

Due to the Thanksgiving holiday in the US this week's challenge will be a 2-weeker so you have plenty of time to come up with something fantastic - or maybe even several somethings fantastic!  :D  The challenge will close at 9am ET on Thursday, 5 December. Can't wait to see your creations!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso) Stampin' Up

Patterned Paper:  (25 Days of Christmas 6x6) Simple Stories

Stamp:  (Sentiment from Get Merry) Hero Arts

Ink:  (VersaMark) Tsukineko

Embossing Powder:  (Seafoam White) Ranger

Dies:  (Arrow from Snapshot Fun) Sweet Stamp Shop, (Stitched Resctangle) Lil' Inker

Punches:  (1" & 1 1/2" circle punches) EK Success