Thursday 30 June 2016

MCV51 - Noel


We are now officially less than 6 months away from Christmas, people! Time to start playing along with us at Muse: ChristmasVisions and this week is a great week to start if you haven't already. Marianne is our Guest Muse with this fun inspiration:


I focused on Marianne's
-circular focal point
-white embossing on blue
-red accents
-vellum

I used:
-Stampin' Up! Holly Jolly Greetings
-Stampin' Up! Lots of Joy
-Avery Elle Double Pierced Circle, Double Pierced Square dies
-distress ink

Wednesday 29 June 2016

Hello


After all the ink blending and die cutting that went into yesterday's card, I couldn't throw out the scraps, so I made another card.

This time I added some high-contrast drama by backing the sponged panel on black. Funny how the same supplies can result in two very different-looking cards!

I used:
-Mama Elephant Hello Script Die
-MFT Pierced Rectangle Die
-Distress Inks
-Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear Sequins

Tuesday 28 June 2016

Muse 172 - Fabulous Friend


This one is for this week's Muse Card Club, where Jenni has given us a fun inspiration:



I focused on Jenni's
-colours
-general layout
-butterflies
-sparkly elements
-texture on the white card front


I used:
-Mama Elephant Hello Script die
-Clearly Besotted Good Times (retired)
-Clearly Besotted A Little Sentimental
-MFT Wonky Stitched Square die
-Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear Sequins (4mm, 6mm)
-Distress inks

CASology 204 - Row


This week's CASology Cue Card is Row!



My little canoe is lacking the paddle that would link this card more clearly to the Cue Card. But I know you're clever. You got it.

I inked up my Avery Elle canoe, water and sentiment (from Happy Camper) and it felt lost in the middle of all the white space, even after I coloured it all in. A black frame adds drama and captures attention.

Now it's your turn! Be sure to drop by the rest of the DT for more inspiration!


Sunday 26 June 2016

VV22 - Sending (Colourful) Hugs


Here's my second card for Viriginia's View: All About Color Challenge

.
Challenge #22 ( All About Colors)

This time I used watercolouring in bright, warm colours.

I used:
-Lil' Inkers Design Inky Flowers
-Papertrey Hugs die
-Avery Elle Sentimental
-Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers
-KGT Starry Colors

FS490 - Happy Vibes



This week's Splitcoaststampers' Featured Stamper is Kendra Sand (aka jksand). Her gallery is light and airy and full of cheerful inspiration! Here's the card I chose as my inspiration:



I focused on:
-butterfly theme
-stripes of colour

I changed:
-layout
-more white space
-solid butterflies
-location of sentiment

I used:
-A Muse Art Stamps butterfly stamp (retired)
-Mama Elephant Blogging Buddies sentiment
-distress ink

Also linking up to Virginia's View All About Color Challenge.

Challenge #22 ( All About Colors)


Saturday 25 June 2016

Inspired by All the Little Things GD - Thanks!


I'm so thrilled that I was asked to be the Guest at Inspired by All the Little Things this week!




I've got friends on the DT and have played along a few times because they always have really fun inspiration!

Here's this week's inspiration photo:


There is so much to be inspired by in this gorgeous summery photo - I can imagine that we'll see a lot of variety in the gallery as you all choose to focus on different elements! I can't wait!

I chose to focus on:
-the colours (sky, water and tablecloth)
-the white railing
- the flowers (don't you love the sequin-centres?)

I used:
-Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers (Light Blue, Turquoise Green, Light Carmine)



Thursday 23 June 2016

MCV50, CTS178 Snow


This card combines inspiration from this week's Muse: ChristmasVisions and CAS(E) This Sketch:






Our Guest Muse, Elizabeth has given us a sparkly, frosty inspiration and I focused on her:
-snowflake theme
-circles
-colours

I used:
-Frantic Stamper Snowflake die
-Memory Box Small Starburst

Wednesday 22 June 2016

IALT20 - Happy Birthday


Yes, that's a shaker! I had a transformational experience watching Kristina make a (very similar to this, actually, although much more watercoloured) shaker card earlier this week and her method is SO. EASY. Double up the foam tape, cut it in half lengthwise and remove the backing paper and it will curve around your opening. And there's enough depth that the sequins don't get stuck in one place, which has always been an issue for me.

This card is for this week's Inspired by All the Little Things:



I felt like the sequins in the shaker would capture some of the sparkle from the glass in the flash bulb area.

I used:
-WPlus9 Happy die
-WPlus9 That is All
-Avery Elle Double Pierced Circle dies
-Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear sequins

Tuesday 21 June 2016

Muse 171 - I'll Try


Here's my (simply stamped) card for this week's Muse challenge, where Tracey has given us some pretty flowers as inspiration:




I left out the blue, but combined the rest of the colours and elements into one flower.

I focused on Tracey's
-floral theme
-colours
-general layout

I used:
-WPlus9 Summer Blooms
-Ranger Dye inks

CASology 203 - Congratulations!


This week's CASology Cue Card is Congratulations!



It's the perfect time of year for graduations and weddings and other celebrations! I was asked to make a graduation card for my friend's niece. I love to personalize grad cards by using the school colours.

For this card I used a die from MFT Blueprints #25 and sponged it with layers and layers of Festive Berries ink, to make sure it was really, really intense. I used some Seedless Preserves along the edges to give a little 'dimension'. The numbers are Memory Box Parker Numbers dies and the sentiment is from CASual Friday's In The Cards. All that white space keeps this card feeling very clean!

Now it's your turn! We can't wait to see your CAS designs this week!

Be sure to stop by and get more inspiration from the rest of the DT:



Sunday 19 June 2016

FS489 - Thank You


This week's Splitcoaststampers Featured Stamper is Lisa S! She has a HUGE gallery dating way, way back, so there is absolutely no shortage of inspiration! I spent a long time looking and finally settled on this card:



I focused on Lisa's:
-colours
-silhouette
-dragonflies
-layout

I changed:
-combined the silhouette and dragonfly elements
-reduced layers by using masking
-added a lot of white space
-moved the sentiment
-no ribbon

I used:
-Impression Obsession Three Dragonflies
-Stampin' Up! Painted Petals (sentiment)
-Distress Inks (Worn Lipstick, Picked Raspberry, Mustard Seed)


Friday 17 June 2016

MCV49 - Merry Christmas


Here's my card for this week's Muse: ChristmasVisions challenge where Cornelia gave us a really fun inspiration, using some unusual crafting supplies!




I focused on Cornelia's:
-Christmas tree theme
-colour scheme (various greens, red, gold, grey and white)
-stripey trees
-popped up sentiment

I used:
-Papertrey Holiday Cheer
-Papertrey Grand Ampersand
-Paper Smooches Shadows
-Penny Black Dots die (this is perfect for a project like this! It has many different sized dots - one pass through the Big Shot gets you all the ornaments you need!)
-MFT Pierced Circle Squares
-Hero Arts Ombre Green Ink
-Altenew Grey Inks (Lava Rock, Evening Grey)
-Red mirror card

Thursday 16 June 2016

Muse170, ABNH You are Awesome


My card for this week's Muse Challenge is a mix of old and new. The old is the butterfly stamp and the new is the InColor inks from Stampin' Up, which I used as my watercolours.

Anita gave us this inspiration:



I focused on Anita's:
-butterfly theme
-colour scheme
-use of embossing
-sentiment strip with white embossed sentiment

I used:
-Hero Arts Butterfly (appears to be retired)
-Hero Arts Thanks sentiment 
-Stampin Up inks (Flirty Flamingo and Peekaboo Peach) as watercolours, Flirty Flamingo cardbase.
-Grey Zig clean colour markers
-Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher (aka stapler)

I haven't played with A Blog Named Hero for a while - the current challenge theme is vellum so I'm linking up there as well.


Ellen Hutson June Pin-Sights Challenge


I'm so thrilled to have been chosen as a Guest Designer for the Essentials by Ellen June Pin-Sights Challenge!



Essentials by Ellen Pin-Sights challenge is a monthly inspirational challenge based on a Pinterest Inspired photo that is located on the CLASSroom blog. 

A random challenge participant will receive a $50 gift certificate to the Ellen Hutson store. 




To be eligible, you must use Essentials by Ellen products and the photo badge as inspiration. 

There is an inlinkz on the challenge post where you can link up.


And look at how fun the inspiration piece is!



I started by creating a watercolour-spattered background to represent the confetti. I focused on the fun party colours (my bear is 'waffle-coloured!') and added touches of gold and sparkle!

I used:
-Essentials by Ellen All Inside and Matching Dies

I hope you'll join in the fun!



Tuesday 14 June 2016

CASology 202 - Masculine


This week's CASology Cue Card is Masculine!



CAS design is perfect for masculine cards - limited colours, layers and embellishments work perfectly for a card for dad or son. And our challenge timing is perfect for (Canadian, American and UK, anyway) Father's Day!

I kept my focal image to the left side of the card to preserve white space on the right. (It works with the image, too, since the (old A Muse Art Stamps) golfer is looking far, far away where his ball has landed! lol!) To add some colour, I used an almost-dry brush and one green KGT to create the little 'hill' he is standing on.

Now it's your turn - we can't wait to see what CAS designs you come up with! Be sure to visit the rest of the DT for more inspiration:



Saturday 11 June 2016

FS488 - Thanks So Much


This week's Splitcoaststampers Featured Stamper is Robin Lee. Go take a look at her gallery - you'll notice that it is well-loved - check out the views that each of her gorgeous cards gets!

I chose this one as my inspiration:



I focused on Robin's:
-colour scheme
-dots and stripes
-outline flower
-large circle element

I changed:
-added colour to the flower
-popped up the highlight circle with 3 layers of black to provide contrast
-layout
-no vellum

I used:
-Concord & 9th You Are Enough
-Concord & 9th Birdie Banners
-MFT Patterned Paper
-MFT Label Tape Die
-Distress Inks for watercolouring

Also linking up to JUGS347 where the theme is Highlighting.

Friday 10 June 2016

MCV48 - Peace on Earth


Here's my card for this week's Muse: ChristmasVisions where DT Member Chriss gave us this cool inspiration:



I just think Chriss' penguins are absolutely awesome! And I knew that despite my recent attempts with watercolour, that I was not up to hand drawing and colouring penguins. All my penguin stamps are very whimsical, and I did want to try to achieve a similar feel to Chriss' card so I had to think of something else.

I focused on Chriss'
-watercolour technique. Same background wash technique as for this card.
-grey-ish focal image of a group (stretching too far??)
-red and black sentiment

I used:
-KGT
-Tim Holtz Tall Trees Pine Stamp
-Papertrey 'Tis the Season Sentiment

I am also linking up to Simon's Wednesday Challenge : For a Guy (featuring Tim Holtz). 

Thursday 9 June 2016

IALT18 - Many Thanks


Are you tired of my watercolouring yet? It's starting to feel more comfortable and a little less experimental, although I used Zigs rather than KGT (actually, I did use KGT for the wash but not to colour the flowers) for this one. It's for the latest Inspired by All the Little Things challenge:



Same technique as this card - grey-ish wash laid down before heat embossing and watercolouring, pulling some of the colour outside of the image, to create a 'glow'.

I used:
-Altenew Botanical Garden
-Essentials by Ellen Many Thanks
-MFT Pierced Circle die
-Zig Clean Colour Markers
-Pretty Pink Posh Sequins


ETA: This card was chosen as a winner! What an honour!


Wednesday 8 June 2016

Muse 169 - Thanks, Michele


Sadly, Michele has provided us with her final inspiration at Muse this week:




What better way to say thank you to a DT member who is moving on, than to be inspired by her work? This card is already on its way to Michele with my personal thanks inside!

I focused on Michele's
-layout
-script sentiment
-colours
-use of vellum

I used:
-Mama Elephant Thanks Script die
-Papertrey Pencil Blooms dies
-KGT
-Vellum
-Silver Mirror card

Tuesday 7 June 2016

Simon Fabulous Summer Garden


Another experiment with KGT. This time led by a master of watercolouring, Kristina Werner. I completely cased this card after watching this video. I figure it's a good way to start and I have to say that I'm thrilled with the soft dreamy results. And I'm ready to try it again with some different stamps!

Linking up to this week's Simon Monday Challenge: Summer Garden.

I used:
-KGT
-Simon Says Stamp Spring Flowers
-Papertrey Signature Greetings
-MFT Stone Gray Cardstock
-Ranger Watercolor Paper

CASology 201 - Sunshine


This week's CASology Cue Card is Sunshine!



This Neat & Tangled die arrived at my house late this week and this idea came to me and wouldn't leave me alone! I finally replaced my original sunshine DT card (see below). I feel like due to the size of the sun, there's more white space, making this more CAS. The sun was die cut from an old watercolour panel I had created earlier - it has just a bit of colour variation and I lightly added some Stickles for just a bit of sparkle.

Once I had my sun made, I went searching for a sunshiny sentiment. I do have all my stamps on Evernote, which is fantastic if you know what you're looking for, because you can type in your key word and search it. But sometimes, nothing takes the place of just manually searching through all your stamps. I found this punny sentiment in the H's - Hero Arts to be exact, so it didn't take too long. I love the relationship between the sun and the day.

I used:
-Neat & Tangled Stitched Sunburst die
-Hero Arts Sentiment
-KGT
-Diamond Stickles

Now, before you go, here is the randomly-chosen winner from last week's 200th Challenge - Geri from Manitoba Stamper!

Wow - Congrats on the 200th challenge...that's a whole lot of cards!!!I

Absolutely love your card! Adding the color to the smaller element (the pink hello) totally makes it the focal point, with the gorgeous flower stamp playing a lovely supporting role!
31 May 2016 at 16:40
Congratulations Geri! Email me so we can arrange delivery of your prize!

So now it's your turn - everybody can use a little sunshine - we can't wait to see what you come up with! The DT has more inspiration for you:



Here's my first Sunshine card - Essentials by Ellen All Inside, Simon Says Stamp Sunshine die.