With Sympathy

I've had a Post-It note on my desk for ages that says, "Woodgrain on Lucky Limeade."  I can't remember when or why I wrote it but it seemed like it could work on a card for the latest ColourQ challenge.  I paired the idea with Papertrey Ink's In Bloom flower which is quite possibly my all time favourite flower image.  I stamped it with Wisteria Wonder ink on WW cardstock, fussy cut it and then outlined it with a WW-esque Copic.  I love the way all those petals pop now!  I'm also going to play along with the Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp.  

I ended up doing a lot more work in the yard yesterday than just delivering beer!  The boys could not, of course, stop at just replanting parts of the hedge.  Oh no.  They had to take an entire tree out too.  Now normally chopping down trees makes me really sad but this one was not particularly healthy and also was so dense that nothing was growing under it including the hedge.  So out it came.  Unfortunately it was at the bottom of the hill on our property and all of it had to be dragged up the hill so it could be trucked away.  I did alooooooot of dragging!  It was worth it though - it's so much brighter now down in that corner of the yard and also our kitchen!  Next job will be to get some grass plugs in there which will hopefully thrive now that there's sunlight in that corner.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (Lucky Limeade, Always Artichoke, Pool Part, Wisteria Wonder)  Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Flower & leaves from In Bloom) Papertrey Ink, Sentiment from Growth, Woodgrain background) Market Street Stamps

Inks:  (Always Artichoke, Wisteria Wonder, Early Espresso) Stampin; Up

Gems:  (Lilac assortment) Doodlebug

Marker:  (BV23) Copic

Birthday Blossoms

Hello, Saturday!  The box of cards I have for sale at work is seriously depleted so I'm hoping this will be a productive weekend.  I can never have enough birthday cards in there so I used the latest colours from the Colour Throwdown for this one.  I used my Memory Box Grove Branch die again although this time I steered clear of the fiddly leaves.  I must figure out a way to use them that won't drive me insane...  I also added some seed beads (that have been collecting dust for a while) to the centre of the flowers to give them a bit more sparkle and texture.  I'm going to play along with the Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes challenge as well because one can always make use of a SSS gift voucher!  :)

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Primrose Petals, Raspberry Ripple, Chocolate Chip)  Stampin' Up

Stamp:  (Sentiment from Simple Salutations) Market Street Stamps

Ink:  (VersaMark) Tsukineko

Embossing Powder:  (Seafoam White) Ranger

Die:  (Grove Branch) Mamory Box

Punch:  (Small flower) Posh Impressions

Beads:  Making Memories

Ribbon Rock

Hi there!  Today was a public holiday in Bermuda where most people fly kites (see this post for the background on that).  Unfortunately there was a wild north wind which was not at all conducive to kite flying and I only saw two all day.  Normally everywhere you look in the sky you can see them so it was a bit of a bummer.  After taking Atti for a quick swim I hightailed it to the Craft Cave and got some cards done.  I wanted to play along with the latest Runway Inspired Challenge before it was too late.  I was inspired by the glittery question mark and the pink, satin skirt.  I've had these glittery K & Co letters for years and the satin ribbon I laid behind the die cut letters has been kicking around for a while too so I feel good about making use of some neglected stash. I'm also going to play along with Simon Says Stamps' Anything Goes challenge.  

Tomorrow I'm hoping for a big chunk of time in the Craft Cave since Luis and our neighbour will be busy in the yard.  Some of the plants in the hedge that divides our properties have died off so they're going to be pulling them out and replanting.  I did offer my assistance but I'm guessing they'll be happier without me getting in the way.  I'll just bring them a beer now and then and call my job done!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (Basic Black)  Stampin' Up

Dies:  (Block Alphabet) Papertrey Ink

Chipboard: (Glittered Twinkle Type) K & Co

Gems:  Michaels

Ribbon:  Craft supply

CAS(E) This Sketch #21

Welcome to Week 21 of CAS(E) This Sketch!  Take a look at this week's sketch designed by Lisa Arana:  

It's not often I look at a sketch and have an image immediately come to mind but this time the first thing that popped into my head was a typewriter.  I also knew I had some patterned papers with letters in circles buried somewhere and after a bit of digging I found this Cosmo Cricket paper - perfect!  I did some tone on tone stamping to the red strip for a bit of texture, popped up the typewriter and voila!  What do you see in these shapes?  Play along and show us!  Check out the rest of the design team cards and then get to work!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (Kraft) Papertrey Ink, (Real Red, River Rock)  Stampin' Up

Patterned Paper:  (Circa 1934) Cosmo Cricket

Stamps:  (Typewriter and sentiment) Hero Arts, (Cane background) Market Street Stamps

Inks:  (VersaMark, VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

CASology #37

Welcome to Week 37 of CASology!  Here's the cue word for this week:

I searched up and down the Craft Cave for a specific sentiment stamp for this challenge but couldn't find it anywhere.  Perhaps I just imagined I have it.  Onto my wish list it goes!  I know I could have printed the sentiment from the computer but as I've mentioned before, the computer is at the opposite end of the house from the Craft Cave and, being that I'm generally pretty lazy, I decided to go with a different design altogether.  I decided to use the cue word to start my sentiment and hope for a sweet day for the recipient.  I used green and red Smooch glitz on the cherries which really doesn't show up in the photo but looks good in real life.  Now, I'm HOPING to see some fabulous designs from you guys so check out the rest of the team and then get to work!  :)

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Melissa Chipperfield

Rosemary Dennis

Tracey McNeely

Judy Marino

Maureen Merritt

Meghan McMillan

Link your creations to the CASology blog and remember that submissions are due by 4pm CST Sunday, 31 March.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill

Stamps:  (Cherries from Apr '12 KOM - Follow Your Own, Sentiment from Mar '11 KOM - Just You) Unity Stamp Company

Ink:  (VersaFine Onyx Black, Memento Tuxedo Black) Tsukineko

Gems:  (Pearls) Dollarama - Courtesy of Jessi!

Shine:  Smooch

Little Boys

Ronnie, my dear friend from university, and his wife have just had their first child - a bouncing, baby boy!  I wanted to send them a little card to welcome him and I thought this week's ColourQ colours would be perfect for it.  I pulled out Papertrey Ink's Hanging Out dies and stamps and some Pebbles patterned paper and went to work.  I often make clothing lines with this set but this time I decided to pop up a panel with the die cuts on it and lay the papers underneath.  It fits in with the negative die cut challenges running at both A Passion for Papertey and the Moxie Fab World so I'm going to link it up.  Hope your week is off to a great start!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Midnight Muse) Stampin' Up

Patterned Paper:  (Family Ties collection) Pebbles

Stamps:  (Sentiment from Hanging Out) Papertrey Ink

Ink:  (VersaMark)  Tsukineko

Embossing Powder:  (Seafoam White)  Ranger

Dies:  (Hanging Out) Papertrey Ink

Punch:  (Corner rounder) Marvy Uchida

Gems:  (Mini Pearls) Doodlebug

Gradient Sparks

Hi there!  Popping in on a drizzly Sunday afternoon to share a card for the latest Paper Smooches Sparks challenge.  I'm also going to play along with the Moxie Fab World's Ombre Challenge.  I embossed the flower 4 times, coloured them with Copics and then cut them out and popped each layer up on Pop Dots.  I wanted some kind of flourish in the corner of the card so I was excited to find this patterned paper from Simple Stories' Documented collection.  Love when that happens!  Hope you've all had a lovely weekend!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill

Patterned Paper:  (Documented collection) Simple Stories

Stamps:  (Flower from Pretty Momma, Sentiment from Chit Chat) Paper Smooches

Ink:  (VersaMark, VersaFine Onyx Black)  Tsukineko, (Early Espresso) Stampin' Up

Embossing Powder:  (Clear)  Ranger

Gems:  Michaels

Markers:  (R17, Y38, Y08, YG23) Copic

Sand Dollar Thanks

Hi there!  Back with some more paint sample cards for the Moxie Fab World Ombre Challenge.  I wanted to make a set of thank you cards and so made 8 using different paint strips.  As with yesterday I left the names showing but this time because I feel they add a bit of balance to the stamped images.  Here's  a couple of other colours:

I used an older Hero Arts sand dollar stamp and so am also going to join in the Free Style challenge at A Blog Named Hero.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill

Stamps:  (Sand dollar from Fish & Shells) Hero Arts, (Sentiment from Mat Stack 1 Collection) Papertrey Ink

Ink:  (VersaFine Onyx Black, StazOn Jet Black)  Tsukineko

Gems:  Michaels

Paint Samples:  True Value

Paint Sample Dreams

Happy Friday everyone!  I'm joining in with Unity's Friends With Flair hop today and also playing along with the ombre challenge at the Moxie Fab World.  I've used paint samples on cards before and thought they'd be perfect for the ombre challenge.  This tall Unity image fit beautifully across four colors and I love it embossed in white.  I thought the names of the colours were rather ironic (as this lady chasing her dreams doesn't seem to be in the least bit blushing or dainty) and decided to leave them showing. 

I haven't shared any pooch pictures lately so I thought I'd share a new one of my co-worker's puppy Kenzie (last seen here).  Here she is in her crate at work passed out mid-play!  Ah the life of a pup!  :)  Be back tomorrow with more paint sample cards!

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (Basic Grey) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Love Life set) Unity

Ink:  (VersaMark) Tsukineko

Gems:  Teresa Collins

Paint Sample:  True Value

CAS(E) This Sketch #20

Welcome to Week 20 of CAS(E) This Sketch!  Take a look at this week's sketch designed by Jackie Rockwell:

Purple Onion Designs stamps are some of my favourite for paper piecing and I love the doodley feel of these designs.  Because of the pocket on the sketch I knew I wanted to use the denim patterned paper for the pot.  It just seemed like the right thing to do!  Be sure and pop over to the CAS(E) This Sketch blog and check out the rest of the gorgeous designs by the team and then play along!  Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (Crumb Cake) Stampin' Up

Patterned Paper:  (On The Bright Side One) My Mind's Eye

Stamps:  (Flower & sentiment) Purple Onion Designs

Ink:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

CASology #36

Welcome to Week 36 of CASology!  Here's the cue word for this week:

We have a new sponsor for this challenge who will be offering up a prize for this week's winner.  The Alley Way Stamps has quite the collection of fun and cute images.  Be sure to check them out!

Now I really thought someone had it in for me this week.  The cue word "Song" seems simple enough but when my Alley Way stamps arrived I thought I was in big trouble. Here's the set I received:

Hmmm....  Now I know a lot of silly songs but I certainly don't know any about sushi! LOL!  Thankfully though there's a lovely origami bird image in the set so I took my inspiration from Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds".  A bit of paper piecing, an oversized sentiment and I had a card.  *Whew!*  Your turn now.  Check out the rest of the inspiration from the DT and then get crackin'!

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Melissa Chipperfield

Rosemary Dennis

Tracey McNeely

Judy Marino

Maureen Merritt

Meghan McMillan

Link your creations to the CASology blog and remember that submissions are due by 4pm CST Sunday, 24 March.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (Rustic Cream) Papertrey Ink

Patterned Paper:  My Mind's Eye

Stamp:  (Bird from Sushi Bar) The Alley Way Stamps, (Sentiment from Grand Greeting) Lawn Fawn

Ink:  (VersaMark) Tsukineko

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

Can You Keep A Secret?

This card came to me one night as I was falling asleep and neither Luis nor Atticus was impressed when I leapt out of bed to find some paper and a pencil to make note of it.  :)  Note to self:  Keep a notepad on my bedside table full...  I'm playing along with the Speech Bubble challenge at the Moxie Fab World.  I thought of bottling up an important secret and closing the lid tight so it won't get out.  It gave me a reason to finally ink up this lovely Unity mason jar.  And what would I do without my Lawn Fawn alphabet stamps for making my own sentiments?  :)  Hope you all have a lovely weekend.  After a few weeks of dismal weather we finally have some sunshine!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Lucky Limeade, Island Indigo Basic Grey) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Mason jar from Dec '11 KOM - Filled With Love) Unity Stamp Co, (Speech bubble from He Said, She Said) Paper Smooches, (Jessie's ABCs) Lawn Fawn

Ink:  (VersaMark, VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

Embossing Powder:  (Seafoam White) Ranger

Gems:  Michaels

Washi Tape:  Crafty Basics

Kate Spade Birthday

Hello hello!  Back again with another card for the Runway Inspired Challenge.  I really love the latest inspiration outfit!  I masked my block of stripes using a stripe from Papertrey's Faux Ribbon (which has turned out to be a really handy set).  Then I added some Die-namics and Memory Box butterflies and Doodlebug gems.  Fun pops of colour for a fun birthday card! I'm hoping to get lots of time in the Craft Cave this weekend. What are you hoping to do?  



Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight)  Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Stripe from Faux Ribbon) Papertrey Ink, (Sentiment from Scootin' By) Sweet Stamp Shop

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

Dies:  (Die-Namics Butterflies) My Favourite Things, (Butterfly Delights) Memory Box

Gems:  (Mini Pearls) Doodlebug

CAS(E) This Sketch #19

Welcome to Week 19 of CAS(E) This Sketch!  Take a look at this week's sketch designed by Karolyn Loncon:

I was inspired by the colours and stripes from the latest Runway Inspired Challenge and thought they'd work well with this sketch.  I followed it quite literally and used some new (to me) Technique Tuesday stamps.  How cute is that little light bulb?  Your turn now.  Head over to the CAS(E) This Sketch blog and check out the fabulous designs by the rest of the team and then play along.  Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Bulb & sentiment from Bright Idea) Technique Tuesday, (Horizontal Stripes) Hero Arts

Ink:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

Washi Tape:  Crafty Basics

Dies:  (Double-Edged Banner) Papertrey Ink, (Nesties Classic Scalloped Squares) Spellbinders

Negative Butterfly

Good morning!  Both the Moxie Fab World and Just Us Girls are hosting challenges to use negative die cuts so I thought I'd play along.  This card uses one of the 10 zillion pieces of 12x12 patterned paper that I have collected over the years.  Always exciting to actually use a piece!  :)  Hope you're all having a lovely week so far!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (Basic Grey) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Botanical Silhouettes) Papertrey Ink

Ink:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

Die:  (Butterfly) Papertrey Ink

Gems:  (Bumblebee assortment) Doodlebug

Unity Butterfly

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

click here.**

Hello again!  I've got a two for one card this evening.  I used the colours from Dynamic Duos and the sketch from Unity's monthly challenge.  I love this oversized Unity butterfly.  There's so much texture on the wings and it embosses really well.  

We're off to the pub to see off one of my co-workers who is heading back to England after 6 years here.  :(  It won't be the same without her at work but I guess it's just one more reason to get over to the UK for a holiday!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, Basic Grey) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Woodgrain, diamonds & sentiment from Feb '13 KOM - Let Love Grow, Butterfly from Sept '12 KOM - The Vintage Touch) Unity Stamp Co

Inks:  (VersaMark, VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

Embossing Powder:  (Seafoam White) Ranger

Gems:  (Swimming Pool assortment) Doodlebug