2 Birthdays

Hello and happy Friday!  I've got 2 cards to share today.  I haven't played along with the Runway Inspired Challenge in ages but I finally managed to join in this week.  I think my inspiration is pretty clear.  ;)  I wanted to let the stripes be the stars of the show so I kept the sentiment simple.








Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (Poppy Parade, Smokey Slate, Basic Black) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Halftone Hello) Altenew

Inks: (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

Dies:  (Happy) Mama Elephant, (Stitched Stripes) Lil' Inker Designs

Gems:  Recollections

Card number 2 is for the current RetroSketches challenge. It's a great sketch for using up some patterned paper scraps.  I was inspired by Tracey's card where she let her patterned paper shine. That's it for me today.  I'm off to do the food shopping and then get this house cleaned up!  Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (Hello Honey) Stampin' Up

Patterned Paper:  (Party Day 6x6) Crate Paper

Stamps:  (Flags from To The Point) Avery Elle, (Sentiment from You Said It, Sister) Fresh Squeezed Stamps

Inks: (VersaFine) Tsukineko

Thread:  Janlynn

Gems:  Recollections

Little Tangles Watercolour

Hi there!  I'm popping in this morning with a card for the Little Tangles watercolor challenge.  To make my polka dots I stamped the criss crossed circle from Neat & Tangled's Stop and Go in four different Stampin' Up shades of red.  I then took a wet brush and blurred the centre of each of them to create the polka dots.  I used a Stitched Circle from Lil' Inker Designs for my sentiment.  I'm pretty pleased with how this came out. I love the rich colours and the touch of texture in the polka dots.  I'm thinking that I should go back and make a whole set of these in different colours.  You can never have too many quick and easy birthday cards!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Ranger, (Raspberry Ripple) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Circles from Stop and Go, Sentiment from Sketchy Cupcakes) Neat & Tangled

Inks: (VersaMArk) Tsukineko, (Crisp Cantaloupe, Strawberry Slush, Primrose Petals, Raspberry Ripple) Stampin' Up

Embossing Powder:  (Opaque Bright White Super Fine) Wow

Die:  (Stitched Circles) Lil' Inker Designs

Gems:  Recollections

Wednesday Triple Play

I've got three cards to share with you today.  The first is for the Lawnscaping Birthday challenge where they're celebrating their 100th challenge!  Whoop whoop!  I went on a patterned paper bender with this card using papers from Echo Park, Jillibean Soup and Studio Calico.  All the stamps and the speech bubble die are from Lawn Fawn.  Totally out of my CAS comfort zone but I'm digging the bright colours and patting myself on the back for the use of patterned paper.  :)  I'm also going to enter this in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Anything Goes challenge where the design team is showcasing Lawn Fawn products.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill

Patterned Paper:  (Dark yellow, green & turquoise from This & That Charming 6x6, Pink from This & That Graceful 6x6) Echo Park, (Dark brown & light yellow from Homemade 6 Bean Soup 6x6) Jillibean Soup, (Beige from Classic Calico Collection Vol. 2) Studio Calico

Stamps:  (Dog from Critters at the Dog Park, Cupcake from Bake Me a Cake, Sentiment from Grand Greetings) Lawn Fawn

Inks: (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

Die:  (Speech Bubble Border) Lawn Fawn

My second card uses the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch and the colours from Just Us Girls.  I masked and inked the centre stripe with Sahara Sand and then paper pieced the balloons with Soft Sky and Night of Navy.  The Papertrey Ink Happy has a layer of Clear Wink of Stella coating it and the balloons are covered with Glossy Accents.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Regal Rose, Soft Sky, Night of Navy) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Balloons from So Much To Say) Lawn Fawn, (Birthday from Halftone Hello) Altenew

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

Die:  (Happy) Papertrey Ink

Glitter:  (Clear Wink of Stella) Zig

Other:  (Glossy Accents) Ranger

My final card is for Papertrey Ink's February Blog Hop.  I don't think I've ever taken part in one of these hops before so I'm excited to join in!  I took another crack at watercolouring and created a wash on some Tim Holtz watercolor paper which I then covered with PTI's Quatrefoil cover plate.  I layered up two Life Is Beautiful butterfly dies and the sentiment is from Script Sentiments.  Okay, that's it from me today.  See you tomorrow!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (Watercolour) Ranger, (White) Bazzill, (Raspberry Ripple, Perfect Plum, Basic Grey) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Sentiment from Script Sentiments) Papertrey Ink

Inks: (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

Dies:  (Coverplate:  Quatrefoil, Life Is Beautiful) Papertrey Ink

Gems:  Recollections

CASology #135

Welcome to Week 135 of CASology!  Take a look at the cue word for this week:

I have a ton of mini Sweet Stamp Shop sets that have never seen ink so today seemed like a good time to start putting them to use.  I masked the little mouse so he'd be sitting on top of the cheese and added a silly sentiment ("Who cut the cheese?").  Totally juvenile but it amuses me to no end!  :)  If I made the card again I'd probably add a shadow below the cheese to ground it a bit.  For now though he's going to have to look like he's riding a flying cheese wedge (guess all the flying carpets were rented out…).  Okay, your turn to make a big impression on us with your mini-inspired cards.  Check out the gorgeousness from the Design Team and then get crafting!

 Ardyth Percy-Robb

Gillian Ross

Hazel Hodgkins

Joyce Mehrberg 

Judy Marino

Kimberly Wiener 

Kymona Tracey

May Sukyong Park

Melissa Chipperfield

Tracey McNeely

And this week's guest designer:

Ksenija

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

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Gina K

Stamps:  (All from Cheese Please) Sweet Stamp Shop

Inks: (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Pumpkin Pie) Stampin' Up

Markers:  (R32, Y17, C-3) Copic

Battling the Watercolour

Despite wanting to toss my paints and brushes out of the window I'm continuing to mess around with watercolors in the hopes of one day feeling vaguely confident in my abilities with them.  I ended up trashing a lot of cards but I finally came up with this one. It's a long way from the work of the designers I admire but it's a tiny step in the right direction for me (at least compared with everything else I made this week)!  I'm going to enter it over at the Addicted to Stamps Make Your Mark challenge (use markers, pencils, paints, etc).  And now I'm off to work - my last day!  Hope you have a lovely weekend! 

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Ranger, (So Saffron, Basic Grey) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Flowers from Water Blooms) Mama Elephant

Ink: (VersaMark) Tsukineko

Embossing Powder:  (Seafoam White) Ranger

Die:  (Thanks Script) Mama Elephant

Gems:  Doodlebug

Altenew Thank You

I adore this flower from Altenew's Hennah Elements.  It's such a great outline stamp that looks amazing coloured in, paper pieced or even left black and white.  It's probably the Altenew stamp that I use the most (although these leaves from Doodle Blooms are coming in a close second).  I used the colours from The Challenge and paper pieced the flower and leaves.  I started out by following the sketch then got a little creative with it but it's close.  Okay, time to head off to work.  Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Old Olive) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Flower from Hennah Elements, Leaves from Doodle Blooms, Sentiment from Magnolias for Her) Altenew

Ink: (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

Die:  (Double-Ended Banners) Papertrey Ink

Wonderful in Every Way

Hi there!  I'm popping in with a card for the current Paper Players challenge to create a CAS card featuring a bird.  This Memory Box Perched Reed Bird is one of my favourite bird dies.  He looks great in just about any colour or pattern and works for so many occasions!  Here I cut him from Brushed Gold card stock and paired him with a selection of My Mind's Eye washi tapes.  Unfortunately the sentiment ("Wonderful in every way") is rather dark in the photo and while it's clear enough in real life I wonder if it might be even better if I made it again with white embossing powder…



Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (Rustic Cream) Papertrey Ink, (Early Espresso, Brushed Gold) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Sentiment from Everyday Greetings) Mama Elephant

Ink: (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

Embossing Powder:  (Super Fine Detail Black) Ranger

Die:  (Perched Reed Bird) Memory Box

Gem:  Recollections

Washi Tape:  My Mind's Eye

Distress Ink Butterfly

I hate it when I actually have a decent chunk of time to spend in the Craft Cave and the mojo goes into hiding.  It's so frustrating!  I was trying to play around with watercolors and didn't make much more than a mess in the end.  I really don't feel like I'm improving with practice when it comes to that medium.  :(  I finally gave up on the painting and decided to move onto something more simple.  I used the negative of a PTI butterfly die as a mask along with some Distress Inks to create this one layer card for the current CAS(E) This Sketch and Addicted to CAS challenges.  I am so grateful that those inks cooperated so it didn't feel like the day was a total loss!    

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill

Stamps:  (Sentiment from Halftone Hello) Altenew

Inks: (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Shabby Shutters & Peacock Feathers Distress Inks) Ranger

Die:  Papertrey Ink

Gems:  Recollections

Glitter:  (Clear Wink of Stella) Zig

CASology #134

Welcome to Week 134 of CASology!  Take a look at the cue word for this week:

The question has been raised about the difference between monochrome and ombre.  I have to say that when I think of monochrome I think of photographs in black and white or in sepia tones.  The description I found on line says, "consisting of or displaying images in black and white or in varying tones of only one color."  Ombre on the other hand is colour "shaded or graduated in tone."  I think of ombre as a one colour rainbow while monochrome looks like you put a colour filter onto a photo.  With that in mind I went for sepia tones for my card and sepia tones always lead me to coffee images.  Not too original I guess but it got some ideas flowing for me.  And now it's your turn to get those ideas flowing!  Check out the gorgeous creations by the rest of the design team and then get crafting!

  

 Ardyth Percy-Robb

Gillian Ross

Hazel Hodgkins

Joyce Mehrberg 

Judy Marino

Kimberly Wiener 

Kymona Tracey

May Sukyong Park

Melissa Chipperfield

Tracey McNeely

And this week's guest designer:

Maria

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

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Crumb Cake, Early Espresso) Stampin' Up

Stamps:  (Cup & sentiment from Daily Grind) Market Street Stamps, (Ring from Cyber Cafe) Paper Smooches, (Splotch from Ink Splash) Neat & Tangled

Inks: (Soft Suede, Chocolate Chip, Early Espresso) Stampin' Up

Drowning in Patterned Paper

Despite the fact that I primarily consider myself a CAS carmaker, I really love patterned paper.  A lot.  Especially those little 6x6 paper pads.  They're just so cute and perfect and square and sit so nicely on my shelf.  I flip through them and admire the patterns and then put them back and stamp a card.  But now I really have to get using those papers because I might have gone on a bit of a bender at the i {heart} papers closing sale…  I mean come on, they were 50% off!!  How's a gal supposed to resist that especially when I've been really good in the shopping department for the last few months.  I couldn't fight it and now my 6x6 shelf is double stacked. Oy vey!  So this card for the current RetroSketches challenge is my start at using that paper.  At this rate it may take me 20 years to use it all so if I have to lock myself away in the Craft Cave more often so be it.  I'll accept that lot in life!  :D

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Bermuda Bay, Chocolate Chip) Stampin' Up

Patterned Paper:  (Sweet & Sour Soup 6x6) Jillibean Soup

Stamps:  (Typewriter & sentiment from Just My Type) Lawn Fawn

Ink: (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

Altenew Combo

Hi there!  I'm popping in this morning with an entry for the Paper Players colour challenge and the CAS on Sunday challenge to use flowers.  I'm using more of my new Altenew goodies.  I paired the Doodle Bloom leaves with one of the flowers from Vintage Roses.  I am in awe of how much depth and dimension you end up with using those 3 part stamps.  So gorgeous!  It took me a couple of tries to get used to lining them up but it was worth the effort.  I can't wait to play with these some more!

Supplies Used:

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

Stamps:  (Flower from Vintage Roses, Leaves from Doodle Blooms, Sentiment from Label Love) Altenew

Ink: (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Real Red, Calypso Coral) Stampin' Up

Gems:  Recollections

CASology #133

Welcome to Week 133 of CASology!  Take a look at the cue word for this week:

Yup, it's that time of year when the little guy in diapers flies around poking people in their butts with his little arrow of love.  Actually, he must be freezing when he's making his rounds in the northern hemisphere especially this year!  Brrr!  I guess though if he's surrounded by enough love then he'll stay nice and toasty. 

Here at CASology we've got loads of love to share with you and we can't wait for you to hit us right back with it!  Be sure to check out the rest of the gorgeous design team creations and then play along!

 Ardyth Percy-Robb
Gillian Ross

Hazel Hodgkins

Joyce Mehrberg 
Judy Marino
Kimberly Wiener 

Kymona Tracey

May Sukyong Park

Melissa Chipperfield
Tracey McNeely

And this week's guest designer:

Mayline

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

I'm also going to enter my card in the Lawnscaping Clean and Simple challenge.

Supplies Used:

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

Stamps:  (Pie & sentiment from My Silly Valentine, Hearts from Home Sweet Home) Lawn Fawn

Ink: (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Real Red) Stampin' Up

Dies:  (Stitched Squares) Lil' Inker Designs

Markers:  (E31, E33, C-3) Copic

Five for Monday

That's 5 challenges for Monday, I'm afraid, not 5 cards.  This first card uses the palette from The Colour Throwdown and the design from CAS(E) This Sketch.  All the stamps used here (Altenew "beads" and Mama Elephant sentiment) are NBUS.  That bead design took me four tries and it's still not perfect but I had to stop before I drove myself crazy.  I can see that there's a lot of possibilities for coming up with fun patterns but I'm not so sure I have that kind of skill or patience…

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill

Stamps:  (Beads from Modern Beadwork) Altenew, (Sentiment & heart bubble from Everyday Greetings) Mama Elephant

Inks: (Calypso Coral, Gumball Green, Sofy Sky, Midnight Muse) Stampin' Up

Gems:  Recollections

My second card grew out of the palette from ColourQ, the theme of love from AAA Cards and the many hearts in the Fusion inspiration photo.  Lots more NBUS here!  Only the arrow has seen ink before.  I popped up the centre heart on a stitched circle for some dimension and interest and added lots of bling because what's love without a little bling?  :)

Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill

Stamps:  (Hearts & sentiment from On Target) Mama Elephant, (Arrow from Oh Yeah) Avery Elle

Inks: (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie) Stampin' Up

Die:  (Stitched Circles) Lil' Inker Designs

Gems:  Recollections