Thursday 31 January 2013

CTS13 - Welcome!


Time for CAS(E) This Sketch Challenge #13!



I did exactly what you should not do when looking at a sketch challenge. I got hung up on that little shape in the top right corner. I saw it as a duck's bill and could NOT convince myself otherwise, so here's my little ducky baby card. I used a Stampin' Up duck stamp, but masked his wing, so that I could stamp it as a heart. There is a tiny bit of sparkle on the duck, which I achieved by applying Stickles and then placing my finger on top to remove most of it.

Now it's your turn - I can't wait to see how you interpret this sketch. Don't get hung up on the shapes like I did!

Wednesday 30 January 2013

OLW125 - Your Perfect Day!


































Yay! It's my turn to host One Layer Wednesday. This week's challenge was inspired ages ago, by a card I
saw somewhere - it may have been a CASology entry (if it's yours, let me know so I can give you proper credit). The card had a cat on it, with a bowl of water and a fish (I think). I do remember clearly thinking -
that cat is going to have a PURRfect day! And the idea for this challenge was born.

And it seemed like a good idea at the time! lol! When I sat down to make my card, I thought about the perfect days in my life - graduating from high school and university were pretty good. Finding out I had passed my CA exams was REALLY good! Our wedding was pretty perfect. The births of my children were perfect (in retrospect, of course - you forget all the messy stuff!). Visiting my sister in Wisconsin is pretty perfect. Every year. A cold winter's day creating in my craft room is wonderful, too! You see the problem.

Rather than representing one perfect day in my life, I chose to incorporate the elements that would make my day perfect. But there are a lot (more even than on this card), so how to do that?

I started with a subtle clock to represent the day (did you notice there are 12 circles?). I made the clock in fun, rainbow colours (you know I love rainbows!) and then hunted through my stamps. All of them. Several times. Searching for the right words, the right size. Realizing that some are verbs and some are nouns (that still bugs me for some reason, although now that I look at it I realize that most of the verbs can also be nouns, so except for laugh (which I cut down from laughter because it was just too long) it is all nouns!). Realizing that I don't have a stamp that says "STAMP" or "CREATE" (one of those should definitely been on  there!). I'm happy to say that my recycling bin was not full for once - I got this done the first time round. However, every single stamp set I own was open on my desk and it took AGES to figure out where they all went back to! Please don't ask me where they all come from. There's some Paper Smooches, Stampabilities, The Stamps of Life, My Favorite Things, and some I don't know.

Get on with it, I hear you thinking! OK, Here it is:

OLW125 Rules

1. Create a one-layer card.  That is defined as a single layer of card stock folded in half. No other layers allowed!


2. Make a card that depicts your perfect day in some way. You can choose one theme or many. Remember to keep embellishments to a minimum and NO ADDITIONAL LAYERS of card stock.
3. Post your card online and link it to the InLinkz button to the right.  If you link to your blog, please link to the specific post, not your blog’s main page.
4. HAVE FUN! I can't wait to see what makes your day perfect!

Tuesday 29 January 2013

CASology 29 - Game


This week's CASology Cue Card is Game!




 Fresh Squeezed Stamps

This week, we have a wonderful sponsor who is offering a prize to this week's winner and one random participant!

One of the tricky things about CAS cards is the need for precision. When there's not much on the card front,  accurate placement and clean, crisp stamping are a must! Placement can be tricky - even with clear stamps. One of my favourite tricks is to draw lines on the card front in pencil, to help me place the stamps in the correct spots. Once the ink is dry (this is important, people, don't ask me how I know!) you can erase the pencil lines. For wooden stamps, a stamp positioner (or stampamajig) can help!

There are a ton of 'Scrabble'-like stamps and embellishments out there right now - this tile stamp is from Gina K's Lots of Letters (not sure why she put lower case letters in that set, even though I do like the font), so the capital letters I used are from The Stamps of Life Basics4ABCs. The heart is cut from Stampin' Up's Red Glimmer paper using a Sweet'n'Sassy die.

Now it's your turn to play the game! Link your creation to CASology by Sunday at 4:00 pm (CST).  But first, don't forget to drop by the blogs of the other design team members to see what they've done with this Cue Card!




Monday 28 January 2013

FS312 - CASing Bonnie


This week, the Splitcoaststampers featured stamper is my friend Bonnie! How exciting - it's so fun to know someone famous!

I chose this one-layer card of Bonnie's, from back in 2010.


I simply masked a circle and sponged some yellow ink around it to create my sun. Then I stamped the Our Craft Lounge sentiment in black.

Congratulations, Bonnie - enjoy your week as the FS!

Moxie Fab World - Window


This card is for the Moxie Fab World's Window challenge.

I cut a 4x8 piece of gold mirror card and folded it in half, so the gold sides were facing each other. I ran this double layer of cardstock through the Cuttlebug with both nestabilities in place. I had to run it through a few times, to make sure that the cut went through both layers. I then folded the card right-side-out and cut a small edge on the bottom so that it can stand. I cut a heart out of silver glimmer paper, and then used the round edge of the nestability to smooth out the top of the 'diamond'. Finally, I cut two banners and placed one directly under the other, so that there is a (small!) place to write on the inside of this card.

I think this will be a fun surprise for someone who is recently engaged or as a wedding card.

Sunday 27 January 2013

ATCAS5 - Hole Hearted


Another simple masculine valentine, this time for Addicted to CAS challenge #5 - Heart.


I started by stamping a heart on the back of the white panel and then using my old hole punch and hammer (remember the ones we used to use to make little holes for eyelets and brads, back in the 'old days'?!), so there's texture around each little hole where the punch came through.

I backed the white panel with red to peek through the little holes and then matted on black and Sahara Sand.  Finally, I added a little Waltzingmouse sentiment.

I was inspired by Kelly's card here. Wow, that woman is talented and super creative (and very friendly as well)! Have you seen her series on boxes that add dimension but still fold to fit in an envelope? Start here, but there are quite a few - you will be absolutely amazed!

OLW124 - Doodle It!


Karen is hosting this week's One Layer Wednesday challenge and boy, is it a challenge! Use doodling on your one layer card.  And here's this week's Less Is More sketch:





I am not a free-hand type of girl. I like order, symmetry, PERFECTION - none of which is easy to achieve when you're armed with a pen rather than a stamp! I handwrote (I hope that counts!) the Happys and the Birthdays, and stamped the little presents.

Saturday 26 January 2013

MoMA Inspired: Happy Birthday!


I was surfing the other day, and found this photo on the MoMA Shop website:


Barbara Flanagan Snap-It-Up Organizer

I immediately thought " A bunch of rubber bands and an acrylic frame?! I could MAKE that!" And so I did!   I found working with a transparency a little fussy, but you could do it with a white background - the beauty of this design is that it's versatile - change the colours and the sentiment and you're good for just about any occasion!


Friday 25 January 2013

PC2 - Winter Tree


Time for the second Pinspired challenge! I was thrilled to see that my card from the first challenge was chosen as one of the top 3; I'm so proud to be a Pinpal!

Here's the inspiration for this challenge:




This one's right up my alley! I went with the winter theme and focused on the simple shapes and the colours . This is a Simon Says Stamp exclusive Memory Box tree die that came too late for 2012 Christmas cards, but I'm predicting it will be a favourite in 2013!

PS - I'm LOVING this Avery Elle Fog cardstock - the perfect shade of grey - finally!

Thursday 24 January 2013

Moxie Fab World Challenge: Background Paper

This is my second post today. For my CAS(E) This Sketch card, please scroll down.


This card is for Moxie Fab World's Make your own Background Paper challenge. I used the "I" from the My Stamp Box Tall Solids Alphabet to create the background. The various congratulatory sentiments were stamped in Versafine Onyx and embossed in clear. I matted the 'background paper' on white, to brighten the card up a little bit.

CTS#12 - Hugs and Kisses


It's time for this week's CAS(E) This Sketch challenge! Here's the sketch for this week:




I was inspired by this Martha Stewart photo (on my Inspiration board on Pinterest), and  I flipped the sketch right over so that I could use the idea of the hanging hearts.

Diary of a Quilter - a quilt blog: Valentines Projects

I achieved depth and different colours by using generational stamping (stamping again without re-inking the stamp). My sort-of sentiment is a line of hugs and kisses from The Stamps of Life. I used an Impress 'shape', Papertrey's Faux Ribbon and a small circle and two elongated hearts to build my Sign of Love.

Now it's your turn - I can't wait to see where this sketch will take you - the Design Team has some amazing examples - take a look and then link up your creation before the deadline - next Tuesday at noon!




Wednesday 23 January 2013

MUSE1, First Card Do over



This card is for the very first Muse challenge - a new cardmaking club set up by the super-talented Jackie Rockwell.

Here are the simple rules for the MUSE challenge:
  • Use what you have in your stash, don't purchase anything new for your Muse cards .
  • Explain your interpretation of the Muse inspiration card in your post and link back to Muse  
  • Provide supportive comments to at least 3 of your fellow member’s submissions 
  • Vote for one of your fellow member's submissions that you find inspiring .

Here's this week's Muse card, by the also-super-talented Amy Kolling.  I focused on the floral image, the large, black sentiment and the side panels. I used a Deadbeat Designs sentiment and Impression Obsession flower, inked with waterbased markers. 





But my card is also a do over of a do over. On this post, I invited you to join me in re-doing your first card. I redid the first card I posted on MASKerade, but not the first card I ever posted (to Splitcoaststampsers) way back in December 2006, after almost a year of cardmaking experience. About a year ago, I made this card for a challenge Amber from Damask Love hosted loosely entitled "What Was I Thinking" (and the inspiration for my blogiversary challenge!):


It was a re-do of my first ever posted (to Splitcoaststampers) card (seriously, what was I thinking?!):



Once you stop laughing , I hope you'll join in the fun! The link is just to the right!

Tuesday 22 January 2013

CASology 28 - Drink!


This week's CASology Cue Card is Drink!



I did a baby bottle for a pair of drink challenges a few weeks ago, I don't drink alcohol (no judgement, just preference) and I don't drink coffee (again just preference). I was left with water (which is actually what I drink the most of since I kicked my 4 Diet Coke per day habit almost a year ago!) and decided to try something a little different. So these flowers are getting a drink (although now I'm wondering if those Stickles look like snow rather than rain, but it will melt and quench their thirst!) And my focal image is perfect for this CC Designs sentiment.

Because the focal image is a little busy, I made sure to leave lots of white space and mat it simply onto a matching (in real life it matches, I promise!) card base.

So now we'll drive you to DRINK! Link up your card before the deadline at 4:00 pm  (CST) on Sunday. And be sure to check out what the other members of the design team are drinking! lol!



Monday 21 January 2013

Hero Arts Golden Oldie


The current challenge at A Blog Named Hero is called Golden Oldie. The idea is to pull out one of our oldest stamps and use it. Back when I started stamping, there weren't as many stamp companies around - clear stamps were just starting up and many of the first stamps I purchased at my local scrapbooking store (now closed) were Hero Arts, including this 'celebrate', which I will never get rid of - it's a classic font and you can use it in so many ways!  I thought it would be fun to have The Stamps of Life balloons 'lifting' the sentiment.

Here's an example of where I used it ages ago, for my mom's 60th birthday party invitations:



For those of you who were interested, here's a more recent photo of my whole family, taken this year to mark our 15th wedding anniversary:



I think it's safe to say that next time we take a picture like this, I will be the short one in the front! lol!



Sunday 20 January 2013

One Year Later - and a Challenge!


One year ago today, MASKerade started its journey through blogland. And what a year it's been!! It's been so much fun - the card making, the learning (both computer and camera), the design team work and best of all, all the new friends. I thank each and every one of you, whether you've been here once or come every day - it's been wonderful meeting you, being inspired by you and being encouraged by you (and even planning some little surprises together from time to time!).

So in honour of this very auspicious occasion, I've decided to host a little challenge. Take the first card you ever posted to your blog (or flickr, or splitcoaststampers - wherever) and CASE it. If you think it's perfect the way it is and it can't be made any better (I didn't have this problem!), you can choose any of your old cards that you do think could be changed or improved.

Here's the very first card I posted on January 20, 2012. It was for Susan's One Layer Wednesday challenge - who knew then that this year I would actually be one of the hostesses of this challenge.



This pretty pink, starry birthday card will be sent to my niece who lives just outside London, in the UK. I used the Martha Stewart 'anywhere' star punch and a Printworks sentiment.

I hope you'll help me celebrate! Head back into those archives and dig out your "inspiration" for this challenge. No CAS or One-layer requirements. Whatever you like!  Post the original and your remake and link up to the right.

Saturday 19 January 2013

CFC86 - Long and Short



Look at this musical brainstorm I had while making thank you notes for Kate's piano teacher to give to her friends!

And it's perfect for this week's long and short challenge at CAS-ual Fridays - one side must be longer and one shorter, but not a normal A2 (5.5x4.25) card.

For those of you who don't know, that piano key is an A.  I masked the Stampabilities keyboard and then used Lawnfawn's Harold's Alpha to create the sentiment.

Friday 18 January 2013

OLW123 - Warm


Heather chose 'warm' as this week's One Layer Wednesday challenge. Is this warm enough, do you think? lol!  Since we're all in a Valentine-y mood, I decided to make my Mister another Valentine. I love these little stamps from Papertrey's Moden Basics set - they nest so nicely! "You make me" is from Our Craft Lounge, and "HOT" is made using Kelly Purkey's Plain Jane alpha.  And no, the Stickles are absolutely not hiding a smudge. Why would you ask that? :-)

Thursday 17 January 2013

CTS11 - Valentine


Welcome to week 11 for CAS(E) This Sketch! Here's the sketch for this week:



You probably find the word "MASK" a strange one to have one a valentine, but it is an acronym the first initials of our names, in age order (ie Michael, Ardyth, Struan and Kate) and the basis of the name of this blog. The four different coloured hearts represent the four of us (already the kids are fighting over which one "is them"!). This card will be for my husband.

Now it's your turn - I can't wait to see how you interpret this fun sketch! Don't forget to link up by Tuesday at noon. The Design Team have some great examples here!

Speaking of wedding photos.....

Yesterday was SO. MUCH. FUN! (You can still play along if you want - no scanner required, just take a digital photo of your wedding album, like I did! The link will be open until the end of the month)

As I was writing on someone's blog about how fun it is to see wedding photos (any wedding photos) because everyone's always happy in them, I was reminded of this photo taken at my sister's wedding in 2008 This is the bride (the equine surgeon) and groom and all the nieces and nephews. As you can see, one of my nephews was really NOT happy, but the result was a hilarious picture!



Here's Struan and Kate on the day, in a rare moment of sibling closeness - you have to cherish these moments (and capture them for proof! lol!)


This week's CTS post will be live at 10:00 - see you then!

Wednesday 16 January 2013

Happy Anniversary,Darnell and Kevin!




Do you know my friend Darnell? I'm sure most of you do - she is both a wonderful contributor and a supporter of this little community we have. Darnell was one of my first followers and she left me my very first comment, almost a year ago, and since then has given me tremendous encouragement, inspiration and laughs!

Today is Darnell and Mister's (his real name is Kevin, did you know?) wedding anniversary, and in honour of that, Darnell and I wanted to start a really fun 'challenge'  - we're posting wedding photos!  How fun is that!

ETA: The whole idea is that we get to know each other better, AND it's all about the love.  So feel free to link up photos of your early days together if you don't have any wedding photos, or if you never got married, no matter who your partner is. It's not about judging, it's not about who had the prettiest dress, it's about the LOVE!

Here's me and my Mister (Michael) back in 1997.




So get busy and make an anniversary card or dig out your wedding photos and link up to the "Anniversary Fun" linky below! Join us in making this a very special day for Darnell and Kevin!

Tuesday 15 January 2013

CASology 27 - Blue


This week's CASology Cue Card is BLUE!



This card shows that a CAS result does not always mean there was a CAS process! I used the same technique as yesterday's card - I started with a square of white cardstock and coloured it with 5 different shades of blue Copics, going back over to achieve good blending. I cut that piece into 1/4 inch strips and interspersed them with 1/2 inch white strips and taped them all together to make a 4x4 panel. I then stamped a very simple Papertrey sentiment. By leaving so much white (or clear) space, the card still feels light and airy, but this is a far cry from my card last week, where I just stamped one stamp in the middle of the card, although there are similarities!

Now it's your turn to show us what blue means to you! Link your creation to CASology by Sunday at 4:00 pm (CST).  But first, don't forget to drop by the blogs of the other design team members to see what they've done with this Cue Card!


Monday 14 January 2013

First Horse of 2013


This is my first horse card of 2013. I make them for my sister, the equine surgeon, to give to her friends and clients. This image is from Coronado Island, the sentiment is from Door County Rubber Stamps.

To create the background, I started with 5 different blue Copics. With the darkest, I coloured a line about 1/2 inch thick, and went over it more times near the bottom than the top. I worked my way up, using a lighter colour each time, and overlapping with the colour below. At the end, I used my lightest shade and went over the whole thing until it was translucent, it was so wet. Once dried, it turned into this beautifully blended sky.  I simply stamped the image in black and then put the card together.

You may have noticed that I have customers with unique needs - between the bells and the horses and Christmas cards for 2 church congregations this year, I think I'll have no problem keeping myself busy and out of trouble!

Sunday 13 January 2013

Cardless Sunday

I have no card today - Saturday got away from me somehow! But I did want to say thank you so much for all your comments and ideas about the bell cards I posted yesterday. I now have several new things I want to try for the next round - I promise I'll show them to you when they're ready.

In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Saturday 12 January 2013

A Dingaling of a challenge!



Over the Christmas break, my mom asked me to make some cards for her. She is the Director of a hand bell choir, and she wants some cards to sell at a symposium that is happening this year as well as some Christmas cards.

Most bell images are not handbells. There are jingle bells and church bells, but I haven't found any handbells. Until Kate and I found this Inkadinkado image in one of the local stamping stores (and even these are not the type of handbells that you'll find in a handbell choir).

This image is not my style. At. All. But it is so appropriate for at least some of the cards my mom wants, that I bought it. And now comes the challenge. How the heck am I going to use it?

This first image is an old fall back trick, Ardyth Adage #2 (see here for Adage #1) - stamp it in the middle of the card,  and frame it.

Here's a variation, in that classic Christmas colour combination of cream, cherry and espresso:


I added Burgundy Stickles on the berries, but I'm not sure if I like them.

But of course there are other 'Ardyth Adages' for card making.

By the way, 
ADAGE:
Noun
A proverb or short statement expressing a general truth.
Synonyms
saying - proverb - saw - byword - maxim - dictum



 Are you ready? Here's  Adage # 3 - "When In Doubt, Use Iridescent Embossing Powder":


I stamped the image off the page on both sides, and added the sentiment stamp that I found at the same store.  Once the black ink was dry, I used my Versamark pad direct to the paper and covered the panel in ink and then embossed with Iridescent. This is very sparkly and pretty in real life and I think it will be a pretty Christmas card.

Now, for some other variations that don't really qualify as Adages:

add sparkle with mirror card (stamped off the page differently):



Overstamp (stamped imaged in Going Grey, then the sentiment in Versafine Onyx and embossed in clear):

Adage Number #4 - Use Kaleidecolor ink and Adage #1, use a rainbow, are eluding me at the moment.


What do you think - and maybe more importantly, what would you do with a stamp like this? I'd love to hear your ideas!