Friday 30 January 2015

Muse 102 - Be Mine


It's the weekend and that means you need to hurry if you want to play along with our Guest Muse, Julie, for this week's Muse challenge! Here's her inspiration (isn't the shading on the bears just amazing?):


I focused on the colours, the heart element and the gold embossed sentiment in a fun font. Instead of the two bears, I used a two word sentiment.

I used a Simon Says Stamp die and a Papertrey sentiment.

The deadline for this challenge is Monday morning at 8 am. Voting starts then and continues until 8 am on Tuesday morning. Voting results will be posted on Tuesday at noon. Hope to see you there!


Tuesday 27 January 2015

CASology 131 - Birthday!


This week's CASology Cue Card is Birthday!



In fact this week is my husband's birthday, so this challenge is very timely! For this one-layer card, I chose an MFT image (do you ever buy whole sets because you're in love with one stamp? This was the stamp in this set!) and a Simon sentiment. They work together because they both have a heavy, solid, square-ish portion (the all-cap HAPPY and the gifts) and also a lighter, curvier portion (the script birthday and the ribbons). Keeping all 'the action' in the bottom one-third of the card preserves white space and makes the card feel very clean. I finished it off with tiny pops of colour by using enamel dots. They add a festive feeling!

Now it's your turn! Before you make your birthday card, make sure to check out the other DT members for more inspiration!

Friday 23 January 2015

Muse 101 - Hearts in Blue


Marion's card for Muse this week is so pretty that I found it difficult not to just remake it!




I tried several different options, and ended up with this clean, graphic and playful card by using similar colours, the heart element (Simon Says Stamp heart dies) and my Creative Memories curvy cutter (retired). I skipped the heat embossing (I can never get my white embossing that clean!) and used negative cuts instead.

There's still time for you to play along - the deadline is Monday at 8 am EST. At that time you can vote for your 3 favourites until Tuesday morning at 8. Voting results will be posted on Tuesday at noon. Hope to see you there!

Tuesday 20 January 2015

CASology 130 - Friend


This week's CASology Cue Card is Friend!




I went with a famous CAS icon to make my card. I created my focal image by cutting a square and then cutting a Memory Box 'f' out of it. It was very simple to combine two dies to create one die-cut!

I finished it with a sentiment from Mama Elephant.

And since Less is More is also having a friendly challenge this week, I'll be linking up there as well!

And now it's your turn! Before you go, make sure to check out all the inspiration from the other DT Members!

Saturday 17 January 2015

CTS106 - Happy Birthday!


Did you see the big news at CAS(E) This Sketch? Michele is the newest DT member. Just like she's the newest DT Member at Muse. I'm getting a theme here! Congratulations, Michele - very well-deserved!


For my card, I started with a solid Gina K Happy, stamped in some lovely bright colours, slightly not straight so that they could overlap a bit like the sketch. I finished it with a Papertrey birthday die.

Thursday 15 January 2015

Muse #100 - Hole-Hearted


This came to me as I fell asleep last night - I couldn't wait to get up and make this card for Muse #100 inspired by Michele's card



and for LIM206 - One-Layered, New Beginnings (this will be the card I use for my sister's wedding next month) and for Virginia's View #11 (my first time playing, finally!) Clean Slate.

To begin, I scored my card and then masked the inside panel before sponging it with Worn Lipstick, Festive Berries and Seedless Preserves (I was actually with Virginia when I bought this colour of distress ink!). I left it to dry.

Then I cut a simple heart from the front, outlined it in Stardust Stickles. Done.

The song (for the Muse Challenge) is "Hole-Hearted" by Extreme. And I think it works for their other hit song "More than Words", in a weird way.

I hope you'll play along with us at Muse this week - it's Michele's first week as our newest DT member, it's our 100th challenge and it's our second anniverary! We've even got prizes for 5 random participants! Hope to see you there before the deadline on Monday at 8 am EST!

Tuesday 13 January 2015

CASology 129 - NBUS


This week's CASology Cue Card is NBUS!


Confused? NBUS is a term coined by the Queen of Words herself - Darnell, who just happens to be the CASology Guest of Honour this week!

Never-Before-Used-Schtuff (Stamps, Dies, EFs, etc.)


NBUS stands for Never-Been-Used-Schtuff and it refers to all the stamps, inks, papers, tools and supplies that you just HAD to have but then haven't gotten around to using. Most of us have some of it. And many of us have new goodies after the holidays - so now is the time to use your NBUS!

You can link up at CASology and at Darnell's NBUS#3 Challenge, too. (the deadlines are different - CASology will close next Monday, January 19, NBUS closes on January 22).

I used my new Papertrey Phrase Play Hooray die. I was inspired by this card by Michelle. I love how she cut the 'hooray' out of the journal-card-sized die. I cut it once in black and then once in white. I coloured the white centres with Copics and placed them back into the black word, and then cut up the stamp that said 'you did it' so that I could change the arrangement from the one that you would expect based on the die's original layout.

Now it's your turn! Be sure to get more inspiration from the other DT Members:

Monday 12 January 2015

Happy Birthday to my Dad!


Sunday was my dad's birthday. This is the card I made for him. I used a Papertrey Happy die to create a little shaker, using gold silver and copper sequins, over some striped DP. The "birthday" is a Simon Says Stamp sentiment.

I was late getting it into the mail, so he may see it here before he sees it in real life! Actually, I don't think my dad reads my blog. But my mom will see it for sure!



Sunday 11 January 2015

RIC75 - Happy Birthday to You


Here's my card for the current Runway Inspired Challenge, where our inspiration is this Ralph Lauren dress:




For some reason my eye was drawn to the slit in the skirt, and that's what I focused on. I used a technique that Jacquie used on this card. I used a cut-up portion of a Grand Calibur circle Nestability rather than a die created specifically for this purpose. But the shape and idea is similar.

I'm not sure where the stamp comes from, but the die is from Papertrey.

Friday 9 January 2015

Muse 99 - Happy Birthday!


This is my card for Muse 99 where our inspiration this week comes from DT Member Vicki's LOVE-ly valentine:



I focused on the basic layout and colours and changed the occasion. I used the PTI Phrase Play Happy die (cut down to a square) and sponged the 'red' background using Seedless Preserves and Ripe Persimmon. I used 3 gold enamel dots to capture the red dots and gold sequins from Vicki's original.

There's still a couple of days to play along - the deadline is Monday morning at 8 am EST. Voting begins at that time and continues until Tuesday morning at 9. Voting results will be posted at noon on Tuesday. Hope to see you there!

Tuesday 6 January 2015

CASology 128 - Date


This week's CASology Cue Card is Date!




Inlaid die cuts are a popular trend right now, and I thought that they would be a simple, subtle way to add a date to my very simple New Year card.

I started by stamping the Papertrey sentiment in Versafine Onyx. I then lined up the Memory Box number dies on my graph paper before laying a strip of repositionable tape across their backs (this makes proper positioning so much easier!). I cut them out of the stamped panel and then laid them back in.

Now it's your turn!

Before you go, don't forget to check out all the other DT Members for more inspiration - and be sure to stop by our two newest members - Kymona and Hazel - to say welcome! We've got a sponsor this week, too - Cindy B Designs; be sure to check out CASology for all the details!



Monday 5 January 2015

Merry Monday Guest Designer


After my snow card won at Merry Monday last year, I was delighted to be asked to be a Guest Designer for this year's first challenge (and get my first Christmas card for 2015 finished!).

The challenge is to use a snowflake on your Christmas card.


I used similar colours to the inspiration photo, using a Papertrey snowflake and a Tim Holtz sentiment, with pearl embellishments.

I think that the font and the colours give my card a retro feel - fun!

Thursday 1 January 2015

OLS12 - Attractive Opposites


Happy New Year! I wish you all the very best in 2015! We've been having lots of family fun over the last week and while I have sneaked a few peeks at blogland, I haven't had much crafting time. Until yesterday, when I remembered that it's my turn to host this month's One-Layer Simplicity challenge!

I knew I wanted to host an 'opposite' challenge - use as many opposites as you can. I sat down with a piece of white cardstock and the Simon Says Stamp sentiment. I figured black and white would do as a start. But then I started playing around. And look what I did!  I sponged the circle using a mask and Salty Ocean and Spiced Marmalade inks. Then I added the tiny dots to get a more festive feel.

So now this card has black and white. Circle (image) and square (card). Little and big (dots). Top and bottom (within the large dot). Blue and orange (opposites on the colour wheel). Curves and straight lines.Thick and thin (text). Print and script. Caps and lowercase. Sponging and stamping. OK, those are not strictly opposites, but that's still a lot packed into this simple little card isn't it?

I hope I've managed to get you thinking about other opposites and that you'll play along with us - you have until January 24th at midnight to link up!