5/29/2018

Serene Garden Card

Good morning!  Another Tuesday and another challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches!  This week is the fifth Tuesday so we have a double - both a sketch and colors.
Here is the posted challenge:
Cathy chose a great sketch and some lovely colors for this week.  I changed the sketch slightly by using a swoosh instead of scallops at the bottom.
I watercolored the swoosh panel on a separate piece of paper, then die cut it and adhered it to the image panel.  The image uses the Serene Garden stamp set from Stampin! Up's new catalog and was stamped in grey ink, then watercolored using the challenge colors and an aqua painter.  The butterfly is die cut and popped up using foam dots.  I added just a few rhinestones for some sparkle.  I thought the striped ribbon went nicely with the style of the stamp.


I hope you enjoyed this card today.  I have a list of some of the supplies with links to my Stampin' Up! website below.  If you order please use Hostess code FK7PAJNW - valid through June 29.  (If you order $150 of products-before tax and shipping-do not use the code so YOU get the hostess benefits.)

Stamps: Serene Garden Bundle (stamps & dies)
Ink: the colors in the challenge are retired however, here colors that are similar - Basic Grey, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie
Paper: Shimmery White
Accessories: Rhinestone jewels, Aqua Painters, Stamparatus

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5/25/2018

Happy Friday!  Are you looking forward to the holiday weekend?  I am.  One type of card I  always like to have on hand is a thank you card - along with Get Well and Sympathy cards, you just never know when you'll need one.
This card was super simple to make using dies from Cottage Cutz.  It could easily be made into a Get Well or Sympathy card just by changing the sentiment.  When designing a card, versatility is one thing to keep in mind.  It is good to have a "go to" design that can be changed up for the occasion.  I'd like to think I'm a super good planner and well organized, but.....not always.  A card like this can be changed in so many ways - paper, color, sentiment - making it so easy to make several at a time or one at the last minute.

Have a great holiday weekend!

Dies: Cottage Cutz
Stamp: Altenew

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5/22/2018

Hippo Birthday Water Color Card

It's Tuesday and more challenges!  Today's card is for two challenges - CAS Colours & Sketches sketch challenge and Splitcoast Stampers color challenge.
Here is the sketch posted:
The colors this week at Splitcoast Stampers are Watermelon Wonder, Old Olive and Smokey Slate.

I had fun water coloring the image and stenciling the background. The rectangles are popped off the card using three sheets of either Watermelon Wonder or Old Olive underneath.  Then I used foam dots to give the hippo some dimension.  Finally, I added some white gel pen to highlight the balloons and add polka dots to the present.


Stamps and Dies:  MFT Happy Hippos , Stitched Rectangles
Stencil: Stampin' Up!

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5/18/2018

Little Duckling Baby Card

Happy Friday everyone!  I have a baby card today that is adorable and goes together in a snap!
I love ducks and I couldn't resist this little guy with his sweet face.  Technically this is a Mother's Day die but since Mother's Day has passed I thought a baby card might be in order.
I started with an A2 card base and then cut the rectangles using a dot patterned paper.  I thought it went well with the circles, but you could use any pattern.  I cut the circles in coordinating colors.
For the inside I cut the largest rectangle from the set.  I cut a full set of ducks from So Saffron card stock.
Using the Y26 Copic marker, I colored in the duck bills and one set of feet.   I wanted my outside ducks to be swimming, so they did not get feet.
I glued one duckling to the inside panel and the other one and his mama to the circles to form medallions.
I glued the rectangles to the outside front about an eighth inch from the sides and top/bottom.  The outside sentiment is heat embossed and the inside sentiment is stamped.
My last step was to glue it all together.  This card was simple to make but so cute.  And it is flat which makes for easy mailing!  Ducks are gender neutral so this can easily be changed to a feminine card by changing the colors.

Dies used:  Cottage Cutz Mama Duck and Duckling, Double Stitched Rectangles, Double Stitched Circles
Stamps: MFT Essential Sentiments 

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Have a fun and creative weekend!

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5/16/2018

Another Color Challenge

I'm happy and honored to say that I'm a guest designer this month for the color challenges at Splitcoast Stampers.  Each Tuesday is a new challenge.  This week's hostess, Karen, picked a fresh combo of colors - Crushed Curry, Calypso Coral, Peekaboo Peach and Pear Pizzazz.
This was a simple and fun card to put together.  Unlike like yesterday's card which presented some challenges and took awhile, this card went together quickly.
And I LOVE this set.  It's the first time I have used it other than a sentiment and it is WONDERFUL!  I stamped and die cut a lot of flowers then starting arranging them. I used my phone to snap a picture when I was happy with the arrangement so that when I started gluing everything together I had a reference.  Phones are extremely handy!
After I had it all arranged I used a bit of baker's twine in crushed curry to wrap the stems.  In playing with the set I realized that it would be perfect for weddings, anniversaries - any occasion where you might give a bouquet of flowers. Imagine this card with a wedding sentiment in the bridal party colors.  And because of the variety of flower types - it even has tulips - the possibilities are endless.  I'd say if you want just ONE floral stamp set, this is it!

Products used:
Stamps and die: Stampin' Up! Beautiful Bouquet Bundle - this bundle saves you 10%.  After May 31 the stamps and dies will only be available individually.
Individually: Beautiful Bouquet and Bouquet Bunch
Dies: Stampin' Up! Layering Squares Ink: Stampin' Up Peekaboo Peach (hurry it's retiring May 31), Calypso Coral, Crushed Curry, Pear Pizzazz
Card stock : Whisper White Thick, Pear Pizzazz, Crushed Curry

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5/15/2018

A Not So Clean (or Simple) CAS Card

Today is a new color challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches.  This week I had a tough time keeping it clean as I'll explain in a moment.  (And I'm guessing a few of you will be able to relate.)
The colors this week are:
My plan was fairly straight forward - stamp the daisy, stem and leaves making masks for all of them (the image is three separate stamps), leave the masks on and sponge the blue around the outside.  Stamp the bee, then color in the flower and bee using Copic markers. 

Well, after I had done all the stamping and masking I unknowingly swiped my hand across my black ink pad which I had neglected to cover, and then placed my hand on the card when I started to color it.  Soooo, I was back to square one - stamping and masking on a clean piece of card stock.  I got a bit further this time - I actually colored in the images when I touched my black ink pad.....
And you can see on the left side my smaller, but no less card ruining, ink spot.  So much for the CLEAN in Clean and Simple!

This time I was able to salvage things by using a stitched rectangle die and making the card front into a panel.  After this it was fairly smooth - die cut the "Bee" part of the sentiment along with the bee and adhered everything to the card.  I used Wink of Stella to add a little bling to the bee's wings.
 
Since this was a color challenge I matched the Copic colors using my color chart and the method I described in these two posts - July 23 and July 26.  I hope you enjoyed today's post and learned a few things - namely, cover your ink pads when not in immediate use!  LOL

Stamps and Dies: Honey Bee Stamps Busy Bees, and Bee-You-Tiful
Copic Markers: Y21, Y35, G43, N6, N8, Black
Ink: Pacific Point

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5/11/2018

Lazy Daisy

Happy Friday!  Today's card is a great thinking of you card for anyone who loves flowers!
For the layout of this card I used the sketch challenge on Splitcoast Stampers this week.
I love sketch challenges - they save a lot of time in the craft room!  I started with an A2 card base in Night of Navy, one panel of patterned paper 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches, and two panels 3 1/2 x 4/3/4 inches.
I cut three flowers from white card stock, and the leaves and stems from Pear Pizzazz.  I used the Stitched alphabet to cut the word "Hi" and used the centers of the letters A, P and R for the dots.   I used a sponge dauber and Daffodil Delight ink to color the center of the flowers.

I glued the panels down according to the sketch and tied a piece of 12 inch gingham ribbon around the panels.
I added the flowers and sentiment then glued the panel to the card base.  My last step was to adhere a small daisy to the ribbon using a foam dot.

Dies: Cottage Cutz Stitched Tulip and Daisies and Stitched Alphabet

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5/08/2018

Make Some Noise!

Hi everyone!  It's Tuesday and another challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches.  This week is a super fun sketch challenge from Cathy.
 I hope you'll join us this week.

My card was simple to make.  I colored all the images with Copic markers then cut them out slightly larger than the inside of the frame.  I couldn't decide what colors to use so I went with primaries - always a good choice for a gender neutral birthday card.

When it came time to glue everything down, I stacked three solid frames under each patterned frame to add depth, then glued the square with  the image to the back.  I also placed them slightly catty wampus on the card because I thought that accentuated the "make noise" theme.
Stamps: Mama Elephant Little Agenda Cat and Little Agenda Dog; MFT Jungle Vibes
Dies: MFT Stitched Frames
Copic markers: Cat W1, W3, W5, W7;  Dogs  E31, E51, E53, E33, E35, E37; Guitar B21, B22, B27, Y15; Maracas R21, R22, R27, B24; Tambourine E40, E41, E47; Shadows T0, T1
Paper: Stampin' Up! retired DSP

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5/04/2018

Floral Mother's Day Card

It's Friday and I have another Mother's Day card made from some of the beautiful new release dies from Cottage Cutz.
The card base is in Blushing Bride, then I added a panel of Always Artichoke and a panel of patterned paper.
For the medallion I cut a scalloped Circle in Blushing Bride and a double stitched circle in white.  I used a self adhesive sheet on the back of Always Artichoke cardstock and cut the sentiment.  I often use these sheets if a sentiment is particularly fine. 

After cutting all the flowers I used a sponge dauber and Blushing Bride ink to carefully tip the edges and centers of all the flowers.
I assembled them on the medallion and glued that and the sentiment to the front of the card.
For my final step I added Wink of Stella and some glitter dots to add a little sparkle!


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5/01/2018

Mother's Day Card

It's May and Mother's Day is just around the corner.  So for the color challenge this week at CAS Colours and Sketches I made a Mother's Day card.
I love the colors Cathy chose - Sahara Sand, Berry Burst, and Soft Sky.  Soft Sky will be retired as of June 1 - so if you love this color now is the time to stock up on cardstock and ink!
 I stamped off  the berry to get two tones but when I tried that with the Soft Sky the second generation stamp was WAY too light.  I ended up stamping the base of the flower full strength and then going over it full strength with the smaller petal.  
This gave some, but not a lot, of contrast.  To enhance the petal I took a very light blue Prismacolor pencil and went over the edges of the petal.  You can see in this photo it adds just a bit of dimension.

Please consider joining us at the challenge this week.  We'd love to see what you make with the colors!

Stamps: Jars of Love
Dies: Swirly Scribbles thinlits, Everyday Jars
Ink: Soft Sky ink pad and reinker, Berry Burst ink pad and reinker, Sahara Sand ink pad and reinker
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Berry Burst, Sahara Sand

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