1/26/2021

Easy CAS Valentine's Day Card

The month has flown by!  It's my last week as hostess at CAS Colours & Sketches.  I have today a fun and QUICK card for the sketch challenge.

Here is my sketch:

This is card is very easy provided you have a stamping platform of some kind.  I used my Stamparatus so I could move the top plate, but any will do.  Just move the image.

I colored this with markers so I could get the stems in green and the hearts / flowers in red.  The sentiment is from a different stamp set but I felt it so appropriate - turning the ordinary flowers into hearts!

I hope you will find time to play along with us this week.

Products used:

  • Stamps: Stampin' Up! Valentine Keepsakes, Simply Succulents
  • Dies: MFT Stitched Rectangles
  • Markers: Stampin' Write Real Red, Old Olive

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1/25/2021

Dandy Day Card with Tips for using Solid Dies in a MISTI

My card this evening is for the color challenge at Splitcoaststampers.  Chris gave us Daffodil Delight, Smoky Slate and  Basic Gray with something that moves (vehicle or animal) for dessert.  A very contemporary and sophisticated combination.  However, my first thought was "school bus!"   After careful consideration I decided upon this image...

This adorable little mouse is part of MANY stamp sets from Lawn Fawn that I purchased and never used.  Mice are gray and I knew I had the coordinating paper in yellow, so it just followed!

I tried stenciling the clouds in Night of Navy ( a Stampin' Up neutral) but they were way too dark, so I used the Smoky Slate.  I decided it looks like a stormy sky so it works.

A tip on using the Curvy Banners dies and stamps.  The dies are solid so if you stamp first you really can't see if the die is properly placed, but if you cut first it is difficult to use a Misti when stamping the sentiment (too small to hold the banner in place with a magnet.)  To get around this, I placed a piece of paper in my Misti over the foam and used the magnet to hold it.  Then I used Tombow repositional  adhesive to hold down my banner instead of a magnet.  Worked like a charm!  This is a great way to stamp AFTER doing the die cut - especially on small pieces.

I have also entered this in the NBUS challenge - a great challenge to use those purchased-but-only-gathering-dust items we all seem to have!


 

Products used:

  • Stamps and Dies: Lawn Fawn Dandy Day
  • Dies: Lawn Fawn Wavy Banners, Outside In Scalloped Rectangle; MFT Stitched Scallop Circle Frames
  • Paper / Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Neutrals DSP; Lawn Fawn Dandy Day Petite Pack
  • Markers: Stampin' Blends Smoky Slate, Mossy Meadow Light; Copic markers N0, N1
  • Ink: Basic Gray (sentiment), Smoky Slate
  • Accessories: MFT Mini Cloud Stencil; Stampin' Up! Banners Pick a Punch

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1/21/2021

Springtime Joy Wreath and Scan 'n Cut Tips

Today is the first challenge of 2021 for Team O at Tic Tac Toe Challenge!  Steph is our featured designer and she gave us some fantastic board elements to work with.

 I chose the right hand column down - pink, wreath and sparkle.

I decided to use the bunny from the Stampin' Up! set Springtime Joy.  I almost passed on this set because I don't make many Easter cards, but after thinking about it I decided the critters were pretty adorable (I do use cute critters A LOT) and could work for other occasions.  I am so happy I decided upon this set!  I combined it with the Arrange a Wreath dies (a die set I will keep forever) in a few soft shades of green and pink.  The bunny's flowered wreath looks perfect with the flowers in the die cut wreath.

Since there are no coordinating dies to the Springtime Joy set I figured I'd use my Scan 'n Cut to cut out the images.  I have a "craft area" not a craft room, so my Scan 'n Cut is put away until I need it and then set up in the kitchen. (Some day I hope to have a craft room!)  It seemed a waste of time to just cut one image so I colored a whole sheet of images.

A tip for using the Scan 'n Cut.  If you look closely, the outline is not solid in some places.  The machine needs a solid line to scan and cut correctly. Also, it seems to get confused by uncolored white interiors - like the one wreath I left empty for coloring later. To correct this, I used a pencil to complete the outlines and like filled in my bunny's wreath.  After everything was  cut I simple erased the pencil.

I hope you enjoyed my card today and will find time to join us in the challenge this week!

Products used:

  • Stamps: Stampin' Up! Springtime Joy
  • Dies: Stampin' Up! Arrange a Wreath, Simon Says Stamp Love You, The Stamps of Life Scalloped Rectangles
  • Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Blushing Bride, Rococo Rose, Soft Sea Foam, Pistachio Pudding, Whisper White
  • Markers: for the bunnies and lambs - Copic markers W00, W0, W1, W2.  Wreaths various Copics and Stampin' Blends

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1/19/2021

Big Hugs with Colored Pencils

Today is my second color challenge to host this month at CAS Colours & Sketches.  I picked Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry and Old Olive.  I bet most of the Design Team thought I was thinking flowers!  Well, I wasn't - I was thinking penguins!  In particular this cute little guy from Stamping Bella.

He is part of their set Penguins Bearing Gifts.  Although one penguin has a candy cane, the other two can be used for other than Christmas - one is holding a present and the other this fish.

I colored this with a combination of Stampin' Blends and Copic markers color matching to the challenge colors.  Then I went back over him with Prismacolor pencils.

I must say that using colored pencils is something I find incredibly relaxing.  They are a "what you see is what you get" medium, unlike the markers and inks.  You can look at the lead and know what color will be on your paper.  I have just recently started to note the colors I use and this is for you all, not me.  I constantly refer back to my records when using Copics, but with pencils I just look at what I'm coloring and think "that's about right" or "needs more of this."

Pencils provide exceptional detail and the control of being able to add just a very light touch is wonderful.  They are my first love in coloring going back 30+ years.  Prismacolors are my favorite pencils.  I do have a full set of Polychromos that I rarely use along with a few other brands.

Enough about pencils.  I hope you will join us for the challenge this week at CC&S!

Products used:

  • Stamps: Stamping Bella Penguins Bearing Gifts
  • Dies: My Favorite Things Big Hugs Circle Frame and Layering Circle
  • Markers: Stampin' Blends - Old Olive Light & Dark; Copic markers - YG21, RV10, RV17, R83, Y21, Y19, Y26, C00, N0, N1, N2, N4, N6
  • Prismacolors: Cool Grays 1059, 1063, 1065, 1067,  Melon Mambo 994, 993, 930, Crushed Curry 916, 1012, 942, Old Olive 1005, 1097, 989, 988, Warm Gray 1054

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1/18/2021

Hey Chick, Happy Birthday!

It's a new color challenge at Splitcoaststampers.  Barbara gave us some fun colors to work with.  They reminded me of St.Patrick's Day and I was heading in that direction when a order from Stampin' Up! arrived.  In it was the soon-to-be-released Hey.Happy Birthday Chick stamp and die.

The chickens seemed like they would work well with the colors so I thought "what the heck - let's try it!"

I'm not sure I was correct with that thought.  While I like this card, I don't think it is all that great.  In retrospect I should have made the Chicken white with a Cajun Craze head and tail and the balloon in the Call Me Clover.

I often make very quick mock-ups of the images I'm coloring to make sure I like what color is going where.  I didn't do that for this card and I now see I should have.  If I had had the time I would have made another.  Oh well....another day.

For the confetti background I used the stamp in the set but also added some to fill in some blank areas. It was very easy to do with a Copic friendly maker.   

I hope you'll join us this week for the challenge!

Products used:

  • Stamps: Stampin' Up! Hey, Birthday Chick
  • Dies: Stampin' Up! Birthday Chick and Stitched with Whimsey
  • Markers: Stampin' Blends - Cajun Craze Light & Dark, Call Me Clover Light & Dark, Copic markers - E02, G00, C0, C1, C2, C3, R89 (for Merry Merlot)

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1/12/2021

Kangaroo Hugs

Hi everyone!  It's the second week of January and my second challenge of the month at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week I have a sketch for you.

Here is my sketch:

I specified that any shape can be used s long as it's not geometric - no circles, squares, etc.

I chose this adorable new kangaroo from Stampin' Up!  I toyed with putting her on an action wobble (perfect for a kangaroo, right?), but since this is a clean and simple challenge I wasn't sure if that would have been too much.  So I stayed with just cutting her out and adhering her to the card with foam dots.

I used Real Red ink and a stencil which I masked off to get just a strip of hearts.  The sentiment is one from a Lawn Fawn stamp set.  When creating I often think I need to stick to just one manufacturer on the card to be consistent, but truth be told combining products leads to wonderful results!  This sentiment worked great for this card in both style and content.

I hope you will find time to join us this week!

Products used:

  • Stamp and Die Bundle: Stampin' Up! Kangaroo
  • Stamps:  Lawn Fawn Offset Sayings Birthday
  • Dies: MFT Stitched Rectangles
  • Stencil: MFT Lots of Heart
  • Markers: Copics E51, E53, E55, E57, E59, R21; Stampin' Blends Poppy Parade Light, Real Red Dark

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1/05/2021

Friends in Every Season

It's a new year at CAS Colours & Sketches and I have the pleasure of being the first hostess this year.  We're starting off with a color challenge and I picked what I hope are fun colors to work with.  They are some of my favorites; I am very partial to aqua / turquoise tones.  Although as I have told my family MANY times - I do not have a favorite color.  It would be like picking your favorite child; you can't!  They are all wonderful in their own way.  So here is my card using Pool Party, Bermuda Bay and Cherry Cobbler.


I haven't colored in a while and really wanted to.  I love the Bundle Girls from Stamping Bella.  For this image I masked off the holly on top of their hats as I thought that looked too Christmas-y.  I used mainly Stampin' Blends on these and I used Neenah Solar White card stock.

And an odd thing happened.  The Bermuda Bay really bled and did not blend all that well.  I've never had a problem with it before but I normally use Stampin' Up! Whisper White.  And I've never had a problem with the Solar White but I am usually using only Copics when using that paper.  I can only conclude that the Stampin' Blends don't work super well with the Neenah card stock.  I did use Copics as my very light tones and neutrals.

I didn't have the time to add pencil to the image and I'm sure this would have helped it a bit, but overall I liked the way the card turned out.

I'd love to have you join us this week in the challenge.  It's always fun to see what you all create!

Products used: 

  • Stamps: Stamping Bella Bundle Girl Winter Friends
  • Dies: MFT Stitched Rectangles
  • Cardstock: Neenah Solar White
  • Markers: Stampin' Blends - Pool Party Light & Dark, Bermuda Bay Light & Dark, Cherry Cobbler Light & Dark; Copic Markers - BG000, R81, R83, E50.E51, E11, N0, N2, N3
  • Ink: Memento Black

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1/04/2021

Laugh Lines are Better than Worry Warts

Happy New Year!!! I'm so ready for 2021 and hopeful it will be less stressful than last year. To start off the new year I have a card for the color challenge at Splitcoaststampers.  Karen picked some beautiful colors - Granny Apple Green, Coastal Cabana and Gorgeous Grape.  I don't know whether it's because we have a LOT of frogs in our yard right now or what, but when I saw these colors I immediately thought of making a frog card.

When I started this card I was tearing my hair out thinking what Stampin' Up products could I use with this card.  I had decided on this frog from SU because he is so darn cute.  I'm a demo (though not terribly serious at it) and thinking of SU products first is what I'm encouraged to do.  But when I decided to just go with products from any manufacturer it was much easier and more fun! I have products from many vendors and I love them all! (Well mostly love. I have made a few mistakes - LOL!)

I can tell when I'm having a good time with a card.  I have a bunch of stuff on my desk and I'm using it ALL.  When I'm not using it that means I'm not having fun, I'm just desperate. This time I was using it.

I got my inspiration from a similar card on Pinterest.  I used the sentiment "Ribbit" because I couldn't decide between "Hoppy Birthday to You" and "Laugh Lines are Better Than Worry Warts".  I'll put the appropriate sentiment in the inside when I give the card.

Products used:

  • Stamps: Stampin' Up! Love You Lots, Stampin' Up! Gorgeous Grunge, Technique Tuesday Felix the Frog (for sentiments not used)
  • Dies: Cottage Cutz Stitched Circles, Cottage Cutz Tropical Bouquet, MFT Stitched Rectangles, Technique Tuesday Felix the Frog (Ribbit)
  • Cardstock: Whisper White, Coastal Cabana, Gorgeous Grape, Granny Apple Green, Mossy Meadow, vellum
  • Ink: Memento Black, Granny Apple Green, Gorgeous Grape, Coastal Cabana
  • Markers: Stampin' Blends Granny Apple Green, YG21, N0
  • Accessories: Gorgeous Grape striped ribbon, pearls

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