Tuesday, December 25, 2012

CASology Favourites


Welcome to Favourites Week at CASology!  As it's a busy holiday week for everyone Melissa is having us choose a favourite card from the last 24 weeks of challenges - a card that really stands out as the definition of CAS.  Now, I know I've said before that I've struggled with some of the challenges but this has been the toughest of all!  We have had so many amazing cards submitted over the last six months and narrowing it down to one stand out card was nearly impossible.  I really enjoyed cruising through the galleries again though and after much agonising have chosen Donna's card from the Week 4 Bird Challenge.  For me, Donna's card is CAS perfection.  It's one layer, well balanced (good visual triangle) and the rounded corner adds some interest.  Also, the font of the sentiment matches the style of the image and best of all it makes me giggle whenever I see it!

Go and check out which cards the rest of the design team have chosen and then add your choice to the gallery!



Thanks to everyone who has played along with CASology so far and I'm looking forward to seeing all the creations in the New Year!  Have a wonderful holiday!

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

CASology #24


Welcome to Week 24 of CASology!  Here's the cue card for this week:


I was really disappointed not to play along with last week's challenge but the sore throat I woke up with last Sunday ended up evolving into a nasty chest infection which completely wiped me out.  My voice is still not great and I'm tired and headachy but I really didn't want to miss another week so I ventured into the Craft Cave (for the first time in 8 days!) and came up with this little number.  I love stars and any star on a card makes me happy so this was a good challenge for me to get back in the crafting saddle.  The Design Team have created some fabulous star cards so go and check them out and then get crafting!

    

And this week's guest designer:


Link up your creations to the CASology blog and remember that submissions are due by 4pm CST Sunday, 23 December.

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill

Stamps:  (Image & sentiment from Wise Men) Skipping Stones Design
Ink:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Scattered Straw & Mustard Seed Distress Inks) Ranger
Die:  (Stacking Stars) Papertrey Ink

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Noel



How is it Sunday already???  Today was a bit of a lost cause as I woke up with a nasty sore throat. (And no, it's not because the work party was a wild event.  It was actually a bit of a snoozefest).  I've been struggling with cards today and came up with nothing that I would dare to show anyone so am posting a card I made the other day.  It's a CASE of one of my cards from last year.  I thought it was the perfect stamp for the Addicted to CAS challenge to use a bauble.  Off to make some tea with honey...




Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Gina K 

Stamps:  (Image/sentiment from Big on Christmas) Stampin' Up
Ink:  (Memento Tuxedo Black) Tsukineko

Copics:  R29, G05, E37, Y17
Other: ( Glossy Accents) Ranger 

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Blue Holidays


Hello and happy Saturday!  I've got two cards today, both of them for the ColourQ and A Passion for Papertrey challenges.  It's a blue colour palette from Arielle at ColourQ this week and A Passion for Papertrey is looking for Christmas cards.  I haven't bought any new Papertrey stamps in ages so I pulled out last year's Tremendous Treats: Christmas stamps for these cards.  I kept the first card pretty simple and loaded it up with bling.  The second card has layered stamping and I used the peace die from the Wonderful Words: Holiday die collection.  

What are you all up to for the rest of the weekend?  I'm about to take Atticus for a swim and then later I'm going to my office Christmas dinner.  No spouses invited (boo!) so Luis and Atti will be holding down the fort at home.  Luis swears he's going to be having "a BIG party!" but I'm guessing that party will end up being the two of them crashed out on the sofa by 9pm!  :)



Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Pool Party, Midnight Muse) Stampin' Up
Stamps:  (Snowflake and sentiment from Tremendous Treats: Christmas) Papertrey Ink
Inks:  (Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, Midnight Muse) Stampin' Up
Die:  (Wonderful Words: Holiday) Papertrey Ink
Gems:  (Blue Jean assortment) Doodlebug, (Iridescent) Craft Supplies for Less

Thursday, December 6, 2012

CAS(E) This Sketch! #8


Welcome to Week 8 of CAS(E) This Sketch!  This week's sketch was designed by Lisa Arana:


I wanted this Memory Box butterfly die for ages and finally got it when I won a Simon Says Stamp gift certificate.  I made three die cuts and then put strips of K & Co patterned paper behind the negatives.  This would actually make a fun set with different coloured card bases as each different base would make different butterflies pop.  

Now it's your turn!  Check out the gorgeous creations by the design team and then link up your creation.  Can't wait to see what you come up with!


Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Rich Razzleberry) Stampin' Up
Patterned Paper:  (Que Sera Sera collection) K & Co.
Stamp:  (Sentiment from Chit Chat) Paper Smooches
Ink:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko
Die:  (Butterfly Delight) Memory Box
Punch:  (Corner punch) Marvy Uchida
Gems:  (Limeade assortment) Doodlebug

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Speech Bubble Christmas


It was an absolutely gorgeous day today so I didn't spend much of it in the Craft Cave.  I ran some errands and spent a few hours this afternoon with a couple of girlfriends. Then Atticus and I went for a walk and played some ball.  Once he was finally tired I decided I'd have time to squeeze in a card before Luis got home.  For this one I've played along with the Just Us Girls sketch and the Dynamic Duos colours.


Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill
Patterned Paper:  Adornit, Fancy Pants, Me & My Big Ideas
Stamps:  (Speech bubble from He Said, She Said) Paper Smooches, (Merry from Tremendous Treats: Christmas) Papertrey Ink, (Christmas from Traditional Christmas Greetings) Woodware
Inks:  (VersaMark, VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko
Embossing Powder:  (Clear) Ranger
Punches:  (1 1/2" circle) EK Success, (2" circle) Marvy Uchida
Gems:  (Lily White collection) Doodlebug

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

CASology #22


Welcome to Week 22 of CASology!  Here's the cue card for this week:


The word "Sparkle" always makes me thing of my great-aunt Phyllis' toy poodle named (you guessed it!) Sparkle so I really wanted to make a poodle card this week.  Sadly, my stamp collection is sorely lacking in the poodle department so I had to go with the next thing that sprung to mind:  a snowflake.  I actually don't tend to use a lot of snowflakes (or snowmen, etc) on my cards as we don't have snow here but I kept envisioning a snowflake with gems on it so I broke one out.  My layout was inspired by this card designed by Danielle Walls.  I love how clean and crisp it is and it's a great way to use washi tape.  I added some lace for texture and my sparkle comes from the shiny silver card and the gems on the snowflake and around the sentiment.  Now it's your turn to bring on the sparkle! But first, check out the gorgeous designs by the DT:    



And this week's guest designer:


Link up your creations to the CASology blog and remember that submissions are due by noon CST Sunday, 9 December.

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Night of Navy) Stampin' Up, (Silver) The Stampin' Place
Stamps:  (Snowflake from Get Merry) Hero Arts, (Sentiment) Woodware
Inks:  (VersaMark) Tsukineko, (Night of Navy) Stampin' Up
Embossing Powder:  (Silver) Ranger
Punches:  (1 1/2" circle) EK Success, (2" circle) Marvy Uchida
Gems:  (Lily White collection) Doodlebug, (Green from Fabrications 'Linen' collection) Teresa Collins
Lace:  Hero Arts
Washi Tape:  Crafty Basics

Monday, December 3, 2012

We Click


Hi there! Popping in with a card for a couple of challenges.  This week at Paper Smooches Sparks we were given this fun camera picture as inspiration.  I liked the splash of red in the picture and it reminded me of the colour splash challenge at The Play Date Cafe. Love it when two challenges work together so well!  I used the camera image from Perpetual Bliss and the Instant Camera Frame die from Sweet Stamp Shop to create my "photo" of cameras in love.  LOL!  :)  I wanted a big, bold sentiment so I went for some Scenic Route alpha stockers instead of a stamp.  That's all for me today.  Have a lovely evening!


Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black) Stampin' Up
Stamps:  (Camera from Perpetual Bliss) Paper Smooches, (Candy Stripe) Market Street Stamps
Inks:  (VersaMark, VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Cherry Cobbler) Stampin' Up
Embossing Powder:  (Clear) Ranger
Die:  (Instant Camera Frame) Sweet Stamp Shop, (Heart Prints) PTI
Stickers:  Scenic Route
Markers:  (C-7, C-5, C-3, W-1) Copic, (Cherry Cobbler) Stampin' Write

Friday, November 30, 2012

Market Street Greetings


Hi there!  I'm excited to be back with my second showing as Guest Designer over at Market Street Stamps!  I wanted to make some Christmas cards but when I looked through my MSS collection it turned out I only had one Christmas set, Prancer, which I last used here.  I decided that this was a good opportunity to "stretch my stamps".  I'd use the sentiment from Prancer but I'd try and use non-Chrismas images to make the rest my cards.



For my first card I used the outline triangles from Nuts About Nature.  I stamped them onto patterned paper, fussy cut them and made a little forest.  The border along the bottom is from Great Big Greetings and the star is from Blast Off (now retired).



For my second card I went for a simple, graphic design using the chevron from Riding By in red and greens.  A one layer card perfect for mailing!  Isn't it fabulous how versatile these stamps are?  Do check out the Market Street Stamps shop if you haven't before.  I bet you'll find something you like!  :)


Supplies Used:

Triangle ForestCardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Cherry Cobbler) Stampin' Up
Patterned Paper:  (Christmas Mat Pack) Anna Griffin
Stamps:  (Triangle from Nuts About Nature, Star from Blast Off, Border from Great Big Greetings, Sentiment from Prancer) Market Street Stamps
Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Always Artichoke) Stampin' Up
Gems:  (Fabrications "Linen" collection) Teresa Collins

Chevron Greetings
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill
Stamps:  (Chevron from Riding By, Sentiment from Prancer) Market Street Stamps
Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Real Red, Garden Green, Lucky Limeade) Stampin' Up
Gems:  Doodlebug

Thursday, November 29, 2012

CAS(E) This Sketch! Challenge #7


Hi there and welcome to the latest CAS(E) This Sketch! challenge!  This week's sketch was designed by challenge creator Jackie Rockwell:


Initially I was a bit stumped by the stripes at the bottom but once I decided I was going to use a candy cane on the card then I had the idea to make red and white stripes.  I layered together 3 Papertrey Ink Half and Half tags to make my stripes and then popped up and Glossy Accented the candy cane image.  What do you see when you look at this sketch?  Be sure to check out the gorgeous inspiration by the design team over on the CAS(E) This Sketch! page and then get creating!


Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Riding Hood Red, Basic Black) Stampin' Up
Stamps:  (Candy cane from Sweet Home) Neat & Tangled, (Sentiment from Tags - Christmas) Elzybells
Inks:  (VersaMark, VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko
Embossing Powder:  (Clear) Ranger
Die:  (Half & Half die) PTI
Punch:  (Threading Water) Fiskars
Gems:  (Lily White assortment) Doodlebug

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Framed Hello


It's been a while so I wanted to play along with the latest Tuesday Trigger at the Moxie Fab World.  I was inspired by the frames and their colours and wanted to do some masking especially now that I have the handy Stamping Mask Paper from Inkadinkado.  I've tried using post-its but never with much success.  I also have the Eclipse Art Masking Tape but the rolls I have were too small for the frame stamp.  The Mask Paper worked beautifully!  I may have to try masking more often now. This challenge also got me to use ink colours I usually forget I have.  I tend to reach for Stampin' Up colours first but today I dug out some Colour Box inks and they were fabulous matches! They also give really smooth coverage. I must put them out where I can see them so they get used more often.  


Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill
Stamps:  (Frame from Lovestruck collection) Amy Tangerine
Inks:  (Shabby Pink, Apricot, Lettuce)  Colour Box
Alpha Stickers:  Scenic Route

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

CASology #21


Welcome to Week 21 of CASology!  Here's the cue card for this week:


I recently went through a clock phase and ordered a whole bunch of stamp sets based solely on the fact that they included clocks or watches.  Not sure why I wanted them so much as they haven't seen much ink so I was glad to be able to use a clock image this week. However, did I use a new, uninked one?  Of course not.  I went for an old favourite from Paper Smooches.  *Sigh*  What can I say?  I'm a creature of habit!  Although perhaps it's time to change my ways...  It's definitely time for you to check out the gorgeous creations by the rest of the design team and then get started on your own creation!

  
Ardyth Percy-Robb
Melissa Chipperfield
Rosemary Dennis
Tracey McNeely

And this week's guest designer:

N@ Ali

Link up your creations to the CASology blog and remember that submissions are due by noon CST Sunday, 1 December.

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Pacific Point) Stampin' Up
Stamps:  (Image from Perpetual Bliss) Paper Smooches, (Sentiment from Vintage Clocks) The Craft's Meow
Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko
Gems:  (Beetle Black collection) Doodlebug

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Creepy Photo Ahead...


Good morning!  A quick post before I jet off to work. Neat and Tangled is hosting a new challenge called Little Tangles.  The first challenge is to create a Hello card which is perfect because my favourite N & T set is Just Hello.  I stamped the envelopes on a selection of Amy Tangerine paper and popped them up on the card.  The sentiment is two put together. Colourful and cute no?  Check out the challenge if you haven't already.  You don't have to use N&T stamps but they have free digi stamps if you want to try some out!

And now for the creepy part.  I'm not generally squeamish about bugs - remember our housemate from here?  However, centipedes, especially the giant variety, make me scream like a girl.  I've always been terrified of getting chomped by one - they give a nasty bite - and unfortunately they are plentiful at our end of the island.  Just a couple of week ago my mom was battling one on her porch.  She tried to smoosh it with a wine bottle, broke the bottle and ended up impaling it on the jagged edge of the bottle!  LOL!  Go mom!  Yesterday I found one in our kitchen and was pretty sure it was dead as it was all curled up so I tried to stretch it out to show you how big they are.

This one - at about 5" fully stretched out -  is actually on the small side.  Anyway after being prodded around and stretched out it decided it wasn't dead any more and it went berserk - started spinning around and going crazy!  Cue Jen screaming and running from the room and Luis rolling his eyes as he went to deal with the beast.  The perils of living in paradise!


Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Candy Cane Madness & Heat Tool Drama


Hi there!  Popping in with an entry for the latest challenge at Jay Gee's Nook.  The photo inspiration collages are always gorgeous although I don't play along as often as I'd like.  This time I was inspired by the middle picture on the right side - love that candy cane inspired comforter!  I pulled out a few different stamp companies for this one - the noteblock is Purple Onion Designs, the candy cane is Neat and Tangled and the bow is Papertrey Ink.  

This is one of the last cards I made before my heat gun died.  :( For 5 years I've had an EK Success Colourizer and I loved it!  It had two heat settings and was super quick to melt embossing powder.  I noticed it was starting to slow down a bit recently though so I tried to order a new one.  Unfortunately they don't seem to make them anymore so I ordered a Ranger heat tool.  I'm glad I did as it was here and ready to use when the Colourizer died but I'm not impressed with it.  It takes forever to melt the powder and it seems to only work when placed at one very specific angle to the paper.  It's really put me off heat embossing now as it takes so long.  :(  Any recommendations on other brands?


Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill
Patterned Paper:  Anna Griffin
Stamps:  (Christmas Noteblock) Purple Onion Designs, (Candy cane from Sweet Home) Neat & Tangled, (Bow from Bells & Boughs) PTI
Inks:  (VersaMark, VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko
Embossing Powder:  (Clear) Ranger
Punch:  (1/8" hole punch) McGill
Copics:  R46, G07

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

CASology #20


Welcome to Week 20 of CASology!  Here's the cue card for this week:



It's Thanksgiving time in the US which means the gobbling down of a Thanksgiving feast.  And you can't have a feast without utensils can you?  Well, you can, but it would be a bit messy...  I used StazOn ink to stamp these Unity utensils onto silver foil card, popped them up and then paper pieced the red hearts onto them.  I love the shine and it's perfect for the Paper Players challenge to use silver or gold too!  How does the word gobble inspire you?  Check out what the DT girls came up with and then join in the crafty fun!


    

And this week's guest designer:


Link up your creations to the CASology blog and remember that submissions are due by noon CST Sunday, 25 November.



Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Cherry Cobbler) Stampin' Up, (Silver) Craft supply
Stamps:  (Image & sentiment from Sit. Est. Enjoy.) Unity
Inks:  (StazOn Jet Black)  Tsukineko, (Cherry Cobbler) Stampin' Up

Monday, November 19, 2012

Peaceful Bells

***This is my second post for the day.  For my Moxie Fab post please scroll down or click here!***



It's feast or famine around here - minimal posts for a few weeks and then two posts in one day!  Always the way isn't it?  Anyway I haven't played along with ColourQ in a while and the colours this week are really fun - I always love Cajun Craze!  I don't think I've used the bells from this Papertrey Ink Bells and Boughs set before but I thought they'd be fun with these colours.  So fun that I ended up making two cards!  Can't decide which one I like best.  What do you think?





Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Cajun Craze, Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise, Soft Suede) Stampin' Up
Stamps:  (Bells from Bells & Boughs) PTI, (Sentiment from Very Merry Christmas) Hero Arts
Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Soft Suede) Stampin' Up!
Punch:  (1/8" hole punch) McGill
Gems:  (Fabrications 'Linen' collection) Teresa Collins
Twine:  (Cappuccino) The Twinery
Other:  (Black Enamel Accents) Ranger