Thinking of Owls

Hello to a new week!  I'm here with not one but three cards for the current Sketchbook Saturday challenge.  A customer asked for three bright Thinking of You cards with owls on them.  I pulled out my Dear Lizzy 6x6 and my favourite Paper Smooches owl and got to work!  I was trying to remember the rules from that card making class about mixing and matching papers.  It's something I do very rarely so I'm not sure if I totally have the hang of it yet but I had fun going very non-CAS!  I'm also going to enter these cards in the Anything Goes challenges at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and the Paper Smooches Sparks challenge.

What started out as a dark, rainy and thundery day has turned into an absolutely gorgeous, sunny evening.  The weather has been all over the map these last couple of months and for the first time in years we are ahead of the normal annual rainfall amount.  It has saved us plenty of money since we haven't had to buy water but I think we've spent the same amount in gas trying to keep up with the grass growth!  No complaints though - I'll take having to mow the lawn every week over crunchy, brown grass any day.  :)

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Pretty In Pink, Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, Pool Party) Stampin' Up

Patterned Paper:  (Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm 6x6) American Crafts
Stamps:  (Owl from Chubby Chums) Paper Smooches, (Sentiment from All Squared Up) Avery Elle
Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

Punch:  (Corner rounder) Marvy Uchida

Gems:  Recollections

CAS(E) This Sketch #47

Welcome to Week 47 of CAS(E) This Sketch!  Take a look at this week's sketch by Chrissy Larson:

This card would not have come together without a lot of outside inspiration which I took from 3 different places.  The dotty washi tape gave me my colour combo.  The central design was inspired partly by this card from Cristina (2nd card in the post) and partly by this card from Anita.  Thank goodness for fellow crafters when the mojo is on the fritz!  If you're in need of inspiration for a card start with this week's sketch and then hop over to the CAS(E) This Sketch blog for a ton of  gorgeousness from the rest of the design team.  Can't wait to see what you come up with!

I'm also going to enter this into the Anything Goes challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog.

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Raspberry Ripple) Stampin' Up
Stamps:  (Circle from Breath of Fresh Flair) Fresh Squeezed Stamps, (Sentiment from Think Big Favourites #12) Papertrey Ink
Inks:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Tangerine Tango, Pool Party) Stampin' Up, (Alpine) ColourBox

Embossing Powder:  (Clear) Ranger
Washi Tape:  Glitz

Kraft Sympathy

Hello there! I'm finally coming back from a struggle with my mojo.  It completely abandoned me in the last week and is only just crawling back with it's tail between it's legs.  So frustrating!!  I finally managed to get a card made for this week's Dynamic Duos challenge and I even used the dessert option of wet embossing (just on the sentiment but still...).  Can you tell I'm loving these Simon Says dies?  They will be making plenty of appearances in the future I'm sure!  I'm also going to enter this at the Simon Says Stamp Stamptember Inspiration challenge.  As well as the Simon Says die the black cardstock is from DCWV and the embossing powder is from Ranger, both of which can be purchased in the Simon Says Stamp store.  Off to work now.  Have a lovely day!

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (Kraft) Gina K, (Black) DCWV
Stamp:  (Sentiment from Think Big Favourites #3) Papertrey Ink
Ink:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

Embossing Powder:  (Clear) Ranger
Die:  (Leaf Column Background) Simon Says Stamp
Punch:  (Corner Rounder) Marvy Uchida

Gems:  Recollections

CASology #63

Welcome to Week 63 of CASology!  Here's the cue word for this week:

It's officially autumn in the Northern Hemisphere and in some places the leaves are starting to to turn to their gorgeous fall colours.  We don't experience that here in Bermuda so I have to make do with creating my own autumn leaves.  I inked a panel with Distress inks and laid it behind this Simon Says Stamp die.  The kraft panel is embossed with Papertrey Ink's woodgrain embossing folder and I added an Avery Elle sentiment.  Are you ready to share your Autumn inspired cards with us?  First, go drool over the gorgeous Design Team cards and then get creative!

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Melissa Chipperfield

Rosemary Dennis 

Tracey McNeely

Judy Marino

Maureen Merritt

Meghan McMillan

Gillian Ross

Kimberley Wiener

And this week's guest designer:

LeAnne

Link your creations to the CASology blog and don't forget that submissions are due by 4pm CST on Sunday, 29 September.

I'm going to enter this card in a few challenges. CASual Fridays has asked us to use fall colours and at least one leaf.  Check and check!  :)

The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge asks us to use products available from the Simon Says store.  The Leaf Column dies are Simon Says products and the Distress inks and Avery Elle stamps are also available at the store.  Also, as part of the Stamptember celebrations, the Simon Says Stamp blog has asked us to share cards that were inspired by the Stamptember festivities.  There's not much on the Simon Says blog that doesn't inspire me these days.  They have such an amazing and diverse group of designers sharing their talents - there's really something for everyone!

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (Kraft) Papertrey Ink, (Old Olive, Early Espresso) Stampin' Up
Stamp:  (Sentiment from Oh Happy Day) Avery Elle
Ink:  (Early Espresso) Stampin' Up
Dies:  (Leaf Column Background, Leaf Column Outline) Simon Says Stamp
Embossing Plate:  (Woodgrain) Papertrey Ink

Golden Anniversary

Hi there and happy Friday!  I'm popping in with an entry for the Moxie Fab All That Glitters Is Gold challenge.  It came along at the perfect time as I was recently asked to make a golden anniversary card for a friend's parents.  I tend to shy away from gold on my cards. (Remember how I avoided it all together for the CASology gold challenge?)  Anyway I couldn't hide from it this time.  It had to make an appearance and not only did I not hide from it but I used it in two different ways. 

Originally I had planned to cut the numbers and emboss them so that they'd end up a bright, shiny gold.  That didn't work so well though as I used gold embossing powder on letters cut from black cardstock.  I ended up with numbers with a bit of a golden shimmer. They looked cool but weren't really going to stand out against the black card base.  To solve that problem I cut the Paper Smooches Bam Bubble dies from gold card and layered them behind the numbers.  I'm pretty pleased with how it came out and my friend loved it too. Whew!  (I always stress so much about special orders...) 

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (Black) Gina K

Stamps:  (Glasses from Happily Ever After, Sentiment from Claire's ABCs) Lawn Fawn

Ink:  (VersaMark) Tsukineko

Embossing Powder:  (Seafoam White, Gold) Ranger

Dies:  (Bam Bubbles) Paper Smooches, (By the Numbers) Papertrey Ink

Other:  Glossy Accents

CAS(E) This Sketch #46

Welcome to Week 46 of CAS(E) This Sketch!  Take a look at this week's sketch by Karolyn Loncon:

This sketch helped pull together two challenges for me - the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge and the Moxie Fab Stickers and Tape challenge.  I pulled out these sweet little Fresh Squeezed Stamps sunflowers to use but was having trouble figuring out how to work with the small image.  The layout for this week's sketch was perfect as it helped me to create a small clustered focal point.  As for the background, I have a couple of different woodgrain stamps but they just weren't working for me on this card.  Then my eye fell on my woodgrain washi tape and the lightbulb went off - it's perfect for layering on the card base!  I love it and it actually looks like a piece of patterned paper.  Maybe this sketch can help you out with a few challenges. Take a look at the rest of the amazing cards by the design team and then play along with us!  

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill,  (Crushed Curry, Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Sunflowers from Friendly Folk, Sentiment from You Said It) Fresh Squeezed Stamps

Ink:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

Die:  (Double Ended Banners) Papertrey Ink

Tape:  (Woodgrain) Crafty Basics

CASology #62

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

click here.***

Welcome to Week 62 of CASology!  Here's the cue word for this week:

Arrows are super trendy right now and lots of companies have arrow stamps and dies and other arrow shaped odds and ends.  I wanted to make a clean and graphic Christmas card so I used Avery Elle's Chevron Die Bits to make a Christmas tree out of arrows.  Once I had all the little bits die cut it was super quick to put together.  It's also nice and flat - perfect for mailing!  Hop on over to the CASology blog and check out all the cool different arrows used by the rest of the DT and then play along with us!

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Melissa Chipperfield

Rosemary Dennis 

Tracey McNeely

Judy Marino

Maureen Merritt

Meghan McMillan

Gillian Ross

Kimberley Wiener

And this week's guest designer:

Janet

Link your creations to the CASology blog and don't forget that submissions are due by 4pm CST on Sunday, 22 September.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Daffodil Delight, Garden Green, Early Espresso) Stampin' Up

Stamp:  (Sentiment) Hero Arts

Ink:  (Real Red) Stampin' Up

Dies:  (Chevron Die Bits) Avery Elle, (Nesting Star) Lifestyle Crafts

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

Leafy Hello

Hello!  Just popping in quickly with a card for the Colour Throwdown challenge.  I had to get creative with my colours as I don't have any Really Rust or Sage Shadow and ended up using DCWV cardstock. I used dies from Paper Smooches and WPlus9 to make my little leaf cluster and the frame is PS as well.  That's it for me today.  Atticus didn't get much exercise yesterday thanks to all the rain so he's bouncing off the walls today.  Time to take him for a long swim!  Hope you have a lovely evening!  

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip) Stampin' Up, (Rust, Sage) DCWV

Stamp:  (Hello from Where Your Heart Is) Simon Says Stamp

Ink:  (Memento Potter's Clay) Tsukineko

Dies:  (Hickory Leaf, Loopy Leaf, Duo Dies 1) Paper Smooches, (Folk Art Florals) WPlus9

Gems: Recollections

Rockin' Paper Piecing

Hi there!  Today was rainy and thundery all day a perfect day to spend in the Craft Cave.  I worked on some special order cards and Christmas card ideas and then took a break to play along with ColourQ.  I don't have any Bermuda Bay paper (which seems wrong somehow!) so I used some Paperbilities paper which actually looks a lot more like BB in real life.  I paper pieced this Sweet Stamp Shop cassette and added a Lawn Fawn sentiment.  Bright, fun and rock and roll!

The bad weather today was also conducive to having a little sulk about the fact that my brother has gone back home.  :( We had an awesome visit with him - lots of laughs and fun and way too much good food!  And Atticus is devastated that his Tio Phil has left him.  Phil spoiled Atti with lots of swims and walks and ball games.  Here's how Atti is looking now that Phil is gone:

Even with a big ol' pile of beds he's still not a happy puppy.  :(

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Turquoise) Paperbilities, (Primrose Petals, Daffodil Delight, RIch Razzleberry) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Cassette from Old School Rock) Sweet Stamp Shop, (Sentiment from Stay Tuned) Lawn Fawn

Ink:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

CAS(E) This Sketch #45

Welcome to Week 45 of CAS(E) This Sketch!  Take a look at this week's sketch by N@ Ali:

This week I turned our sketch 90 degrees to the right and then played with some Fresh Squeezed stamps and some fun colours.  I am loving that Happy Birthday speech bubble - I have a feeling it's going to get a lot of use!  Hope on over to the CAS(E) This Sketch page to check out the gorgeous DT creations and then be sure and play along!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill

Stamps:  (Feathers from Tickle My Fancy, Sentiment from On Trend) Fresh Squeezed Stamps

Inks:  (Raspberry Ripple, Lucky Limeade, Wisteria Wonde, Elegant Eggplant) Stampin' Up

Gems:  Recollections

CAS Musings About Home

Monday was an awesomely productive day in the Craft Cave as evidenced by the fact that I made a card for a challenge the same day the challenge was posted!  LOL!  Therese's adorable kraft houses on her Muse card caught my eye immediately and I knew I was going to use my new Avery Elle dies for my take on it.  I have also been wanting to play along with the CAS on Sunday challenge for New Home cards so I knew this would be perfect for it.  I popped up the house with the heart and also added Glossy Accents to make that red pop even more.  Hope you're all having a happy Hump Day!  :D


Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Kraft) Papertrey Ink, (Real Red) Stampin' Up

Stamp:  (Sentiment from Rustic Spring) Mama Elephant

Inks:  (Real Red) Stampin' Up

Die:  (Icon Fill In The Blank) Avery Elle

Gems:  Recollections

CASology #61

Welcome to Week 61 of CASology!  Here's the cue word for this week:

This Guiding Light set from WPlus9 has been on my wish list for aaaaaaages but every time I went to order it it was out of stock.  I finally got a hold of it and I love it as much as I thought I would!  I layered the images for some additional depth and kept it in a simple frame.  Love those PTI Mat Stacks!  We're hoping to see lots of entries this week as the cue word allows a lot of room to play.  Be sure and check out the gorgeous DT work and then join us!

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Melissa Chipperfield

Rosemary Dennis 

Tracey McNeely

Judy Marino

Maureen Merritt

Meghan McMillan

Gillian Ross

Kimberley Wiener

And this week's guest designer:

Deepti

Link your creations to the CASology blog and remember that submissions are due by 4pm CST on Sunday, 15 September.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (Kraft) Gina K, (Marina Mist, Early Espresso) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (All from Guiding Light) WPlus9

Inks:  (Early Espresso) Stampin' Up

Dies:  (Mat Stack 1, Layerz Mat Stack 1) Papertrey Ink  

September Is Back!

Hello and welcome to a new week!  I've been a bit quiet over the weekend because my brother is home for a visit!  Yay!  He hasn't been to the island in over 3 years and even though we saw him in Chicago at Christmas it's not the same as all of us being back together at the homestead.  :D  I also took advantage of his visit and broke my shopping ban.  Actually I smashed it.  I bought my first Avery Elle, Mama Elephant and Simon Says Stamp stamps.  I also added to my Paper Smooches, Fresh Squeezed Stamps, Sweet Stamp Shop and WPlus9 collections.  It was like Christmas when Phil arrived! 

I broke out some of my new Sweet Stamp Shop stamps for this card so I could play along with 3 challenges. Curtain Call is having a Back to School challenge. The other two challenges are about using your stash.  The Shopping Our Stash challenge theme is School or Office/Workplace. Sweet Stamp Shop has a weekly Use What You Have challenge.  For both of these I dove into my 6x6 paper stash.  I have a pile of random papers from all sorts of collections that I bought from someone last year.  I used them to paper piece my school items - beaker, books and gym shoes!  Hope you've all had a good start to your week and I'll see you tomorrow!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill

Patterned Paper:  Assorted

Stamps:  (Beaker from Chemistry, Books from Geek Chic, Sneakers from Get Fit, Calendar from Calendar, Letters from Alpha Tabs) Sweet Stamp Shop

Inks:  (VersaMark, VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Riding Hood Red, Basic Grey) Stampin' Up

Ombre City

Good morning! Popping in with a quick post before I head off to work.  I had to make a birthday card for a co-worker's sister and the current Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger was a great inspiration piece to work from (although it gave me some serious cake cravings!).  The recipient is studying architecture so I thought the buildings would be appropriate. I think a pink city is kind of cool but I don't imagine it would stay this clean for too long!  LOL! Have a lovely Friday!

ETA:  I meant to also add this card to the fun over at Seize the Birthday.  Clearly it's too early in the morning to be blogging!  

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (Pretty In Pink, Regal Rose, Melon Mambo, Rose Red, Rich Razzleberry) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (It's Your Birthday from Say What) Mama Elephant, (Celebrate from Celebrate) Avery Elle

Inks:  (Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry) Stampin' Up

Die:  (Die-Namics Skyline Border) My Favourite Things

CAS(E) This Sketch #44

Welcome to Week 44 of CAS(E) This Sketch!  Take a look at this week's sketch by Chrissy Larson:

We've had some good news and some bad news this week in the world of CAS(E) This Sketch.  Sadly, we've said goodbye to 3 of our fabulous designers:  Therese Calvird, Karolyn Loncon and Christina Heeren.  However, we are welcoming 5 new designers to the team: Sam Simpson, Michelle Leone, Betty J, Joni Andaya and Leigh Penner!  Be sure to visit our exiting designers and wish them well and to check out the newbies creations and leave them some welcoming love.  Once you've done that, get to work on a card and play along with us!  You have until 9am EST on Thursday!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill

Stamps:  (Butterfly & sentiment from Skipping Stones Design

Inks:  (VersaMark, VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Tattered Rose, Worn Lipstick, Dried Marigold, Spiced Marmalade) Ranger Distress Inks

Embossing Powder:  (Clear) Ranger

Kirsty Colquhoun

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

click here.***

I wanted to pop in again today to say that I was completely overwhelmed by all the sweet messages I received regarding yesterday's post.  You ladies are all so amazing and I'm so very grateful to know you all.

I also wanted to mention one more person who I've met through my blog and who I consider to be a dear friend.  I didn't include Kirsty yesterday because she's not specifically a cardmaker.  She's actually a Jack Of All Trades - or a Kirsty Of All Trades I guess!  :D Our commenting on each other's blogs led to emails, some skypeing and a few exchanges of goodie packages.  She and her whole family are some of the warmest, most generous people I have come to know through this hobby and I am determined to meet up with them one day.  

In 2011 Kirsty CASEd one of my cards as part of her 365 Days of Pinterest Creations challenge.  Instead of just pinning and pinning and pinning some more to her Pinterest pages Kirsty decided to make use of all the ideas she was collecting and for 365 days straight she completed a Pinterest project each day.  She cooked and baked, made cards and home decor, sewed clothes and crocheted cute little critters, produced games and study aids for Ben and Polly (two of the coolest kids ever) and even put together a hard core emergency preparedness kit!  Despite the day to day hiccups that sometimes occur (and a nightmare with her back) Kirsty, with the help of the whole family, completed her goal. How awesome is that??  I know I spend a lot of time thinking about things I'd like to try "one of these days" but Kirsty just got on with it and did it.  She rocks.  

Now the family has moved across the country and bought an old orphanage which they 're living in and renovating.  Seriously, does this girl ever take on small projects??  And on top of that, Kirsty has started a new blog - It Started With a Pair of Sneakers - to chronicle her goal of getting fit and completing a 5K, 10K and half marathon in the next 365 days.  She's encouraged me to join her and I'm pondering it.  If reading this new blog is anywhere near as inspiring as her 365 Days blog then I'll be out there with my sneakers in no time!

I encourage you all to check out both of Kirsty's blogs and to say hello to her and her fabulous family.  Peruse all the goodies she's tried out on 365 Days or even better, find her on Pinterest where I have no doubt you'll be sucked into all the goodness she's collected there!  

365 Days of Pinterest

It Started With a Pair of Sneakers