Saturday 31 October 2015

MCV26 - Jesus is the Reason


This is my card for this week's Muse: ChristmasVisions challenge where we have two inspiration cards from our Guest Muse, Birgit.






I decided to try to include elements of both cards in mine:
- square card (second)
-frame (second)
-black die cut element on the left side (first)
-blue sponging (second)
-colours on the image inside the frame (second)

I used Simon Says Stamp Nativity stamps and dies and a Stampabilities sentiment.

I guess I didn't get as much as the first as I thought. How about you - how are you inspired by these cards? I hope you'll link up before the deadline on Wednesday at 8 am!

Friday 30 October 2015

Muse139 - Thank You


My soft and pretty card for this week's Muse Challenge, where Tracey has given us this lovely inspiration:



I focused on Tracey's
-theme (flowers)
-colour combination (pink, green)
-sparkle (Stickles on the tulips)
-basic layout
-white-on-white card.

I pulled out some old favourites - Stampin' Up's Both-Way Blossoms and A Muse Handwritten Sentiments. I stamped them in Tip Top Taupe and then shaded the flowers with soft pink and green copics before adding a tough of Stickles for some sparkle.


Wednesday 28 October 2015

Paper Smooches October Guest Designer - Part 4


Today is my final post as Paper Smooches October GD (sniff, sniff!). I've got two cards to show you.

My first one is pretty tradtional - I started by cutting a white panel as a square and then cut the bottom off using the bottom die from the Large Ornament die (I saw Nina-Marie do something similar last week). I inlaid the Merry Christmas die into that and then stamped a sentiment from Holiday Cheer.  I cut some pine sprigs from the Wreath Builder die in two colours of green and laid them onto the panel to emphasize the curves of the bottom of the white panel. Then I cut some berries from the Holly Dies (both the 3-berry cluster and a single berry to dot my 'i'). They are all coated in Christmas Red Stickles.


My second card combines Comforting Hugs (and matching dies) with sentiments from Sugar Rush and dots from Spreading Sunshine.

These bears are of the gummi persuasion - I was nervous about colouring them with Copics after stamping them with Stampin' Up ink, but there was no smudging at all!

I want to say a heartfelt thank you to Kim once again for choosing me this month - it's been so much fun having the opportunity to play along with the DT!

Tuesday 27 October 2015

CASology 170 - Heart

This is my second post for today - for my CASEing Kelly post, please scroll down.


This week's CASology Cue Card is Heart!



For my card, I used CAS-ual Fridays Stamps In the Cards stamp set and matching dies to create my Aces. I know there's a lot of layers on this card and usually we say to limit layers in CAS design, but I think because there is so much white space, it still feels very clean!

And now it's your turn! Be sure to check out the rest of the DT's blogs for more inspiration:

CASEing Kelly


Welcome! Last week, I was lucky enough to be featured in Kelly Latevola's CASEing Genius. Today I'm participating in a special Blog Hop to thank Kelly. It's being organized by Marika and Nina-Marie and includes all the 'Geniuses'!



We've all chosen 3 of Kelly's cards to CASE as a tribute to her very special Genius!

Here are the 3 cards of Kelly's I chose:


This one for general layout

This one for vertical rainbow colours

and

This one for the half-cut out sentiment

I used Papertrey's Bigger Blooms stamp set and Super Swoosh dies as well as Swoosh stamps for the sentiment.

Now, that's all from me - I'll let you get on with the hop, because it's a big list of very thankful people! (Keep reading to the bottom to find out about the PRIZES!)

Ardyth Percy Robb - YOU ARE HERE!
Thordis Dogg

and of course, back to Kelly

















































What is a blog hop without some fun prizes?! Leave a comment by 11:59 pm EDT on Thursday, October 29th along each stop in the hop to increase your chances of winning a prize from one of our sponsors: a2z ScrapbookingAltenewCreate a Smile StampsDee's Art ImpressionsdjkardkreationsHero ArtsInk RoadLia Stampz and Simon Says Stamp,! Winners will be notified by email after October 29th.

Saturday 24 October 2015

MCV25 - Joy to the World


Here's my card for this week's Muse: ChristmasVisions challenge, where our inspiration comes from Betty:



I focused on Betty's
-colour scheme - traditional red and green
-theme - Christmas Bells and holly
-sentiment

I used Hero Arts' Wreath with Bells cling stamp and MFT's Cheerful Christmas Greetings for the sentiment. I cut my SU! Cucumber Crush panel with Avery Elle's Double-Pierced Rectangle die and the focal panel with MFT's Pierced Circle Die.

Friday 23 October 2015

Muse 138, MFTWSC251 - You Amaze Me



This is my card for this week's Muse challenge where Anita has provided us with this pretty inspiration:



I'm also linking up to this week's MFT Wednesday Sketch challenge (I was so happy to see that it would work so well with Anita's card!):



I focused on Anita's
-basic layout (adjusted for the sketch challenge)
-colour scheme
-black dots
-sentiment

I used MFT's Stitchable Dot Circle Stax to create the dotty circles - I love how it creates a background for my flower. I used MFT Fall Florals for the flower, MFT Modern Blooms for the leaf and for the sentiment, MFT For the Boys and MFT Abstract Art.

CASology DT Craft Space Tours



On Thursdays and Fridays, CASology is featuring the DT's craft spaces.



I've done this a couple of times before (see the page 'Craft Room' at the top of my page) so I thought I'd just show you a few things I've changed since last time.

The photo above gives you a view of my main workspace. All through my crafting life, I have wanted all my supplies visible and within reach. I didn't want to forget that I had anything! I don't know why, but lately I've been feeling claustrophobic and have been working to get stuff either put away or sold.

The cubby that sits in front of me on my desk has my black inks, blocks, coloured inks, copics, scissors, glues - things that I reach for almost every time I make a card.

I have also taken my laptop off my desk - it takes up space and I find it distracting. 


On my desk is now only one stack of small drawers - from top to bottom - masking supplies, stamp positioning, distress inks (see below) and pre-cut Gina K 120 lb square card bases. Next to that is an old paper organizer with un-cut Gina K cardstock. My MISTI and foam tape are to the right. The bin of stamps and dies on top of the paper organizer is all my Paper Smooches products - handy for my October Guest Designer posts!


The distress inks fit perfectly in this drawer and that makes it easy to take a long when we get together on our stamping days.



 The other major change I've made is to move all my coloured cardstock (I know, it's embarrassing - I'm not buying any more for a long, long time!) under my desk. It gets it out of the direct light and frees up shelf space.




Wednesday 21 October 2015

Paper Smooches October Guest Designer - Part 3





I'm back for my 3rd week as October Guest Designer for Paper Smooches. Have I mentioned how much fun I'm having? Only about a million times? Good!

For this card, I used the Large Ornament die. There are two pieces so you can adjust your ornament in lots of different ways. I liked the shape of the short ornament, but I wanted a little more detail, so I cut the bottom again in pink. I used the string from Holiday Lights Dies to create my loop and the leaves and berries are from Holly Dies.

I love shiny ornaments that catch and reflect the lights on the tree, so using foiled cardstock seemed like a natural choice. But as you know, it's not easy to photograph! I usually like to use natural light, but I pulled out my Foldio light tent, thinking I might have more luck. 


Just for fun, here's a neat effect I got when the little LCD lights reflected on the card stock.


My second card for today uses the new Comforting Hugs set and matching dies along with a sentiment from the Holiday Cheer set. I added tiny hats from the My Peeps set. I created a background by sponging Tumbled Glass ink around a mask created from one of the Big Bloom Dies. To make it really frosty, I coated the whole panel in Stardust Stickles. This warped the panel a little, so I went with that and left it lifting a little from the edges, almost like the paper itself is getting into the hugging too. (Too corny? lol!)

Tuesday 20 October 2015

CASology 169 - Zombie


I hope you're ready for a little Hallowe'en fun! This week's CASology Cue Card is Zombie!



I've seen cardmakers transform their people and animal stamps into zombies by changing their eyes, but I went old school and dug out Frank, from Stampin' Up's old Booglie Eyes set. I coloured him with Copics and added glossy accents to his yellowed eyes. I then masked him and sponged the night, keeping it pretty rough to make it look more spooky. I paired him with an altered MFT sentiment - it really says "Our Friendship keeps me walking on sunshine".

Keeping all the action in the middle of a white card helps to keep this card CAS.

Now it's your turn. I can't wait to see what you'll come up with for this one!

Make sure you check out the rest of the DT's blogs for more inspiration:

Monday 19 October 2015

Feature Post


I know you all know Kelly Latevola - she is truly a genius cardmaker and she does a feature each Monday morning called {CASE}ing Genius.

Well, you'll never guess who she's CASEing today! Me! I am so honoured and excited to see what she's made!

Head over to her blog to see how she was inspired by my cards!

Sunday 18 October 2015

MCV24 - Sending Holiday Cheer


Here is my card for this week's MCV Challenge, where Chriss has given us a card with this frosty winter scene:



I don't always CASE the Muse cards this closely, but I knew I had just the right Paper Smooches supplies (I've been looking at them A LOT lately, as October Guest Designer!).

My friend Emily made the sweetest card with this snowman die last year - it's what prompted me to buy it. I found it a little fussy to inlay the eyes, nose and mouth, but it turned out so cute that I think it was worth putting on my new, old-lady 'see-up-close' glasses! lol!

I focused on Chriss'
-basic layout - blue sky over snowy hills
-snowman element
-tree
-holly

The tree and snowflakes are from Gently Seasoned, stamped in Stampin Up Soft Suede and WPlus9 Fairy Dust, respectively. The Snowman, his scarf and the holly all come from Snowman Dies.  The sentiment is from Holiday Cheer.

I used an MFT Stitched Snowdrift die and sponged Tumbled Glass on the bottom of the 'sky' (just like Emily did!).

Also linking up at Paper Smooches Sparks: Anything Goes.

Friday 16 October 2015

Muse 137 - Thanks!


Here's my card for this week's Muse Challenge, where Michele gave us this lovely inspiration with a vintage feel:



I focused on Michele's:
-colour scheme - pink, red, yellow, craft, black and gold
-use of repetition
-script die-cut sentiment

I used Avery Elle Fabulous Florals  and my new Altenew Inks (except the centres in the red and yellow flowers, which are Stampin Up) to create the layered flowers. My inlaid sentiment is from Clearly Besotted and the pierced square is from MFT.

There's still time to link up - the deadline is Monday morning at 8 am. At that time you can vote for your favourites until 8 am on Tuesday. Voting results will be posted on Tuesday at noon.

Thursday 15 October 2015

PSS - Happy New Year!


As you can imagine, I've got all my Paper Smooches stamps and dies close at hand this month as I make cards for my stint as October Guest Designer. So it was easy (don't look in my recycling bin!) for me to come up with a card to play along with the current Sparks challenge photo:



I combined a partial sentiment from Holiday Cheer with the fireworks from Metropolis. I added some Stardust Stickles, and layered up a couple of pierced squares from MFT to finish it off.


Wednesday 14 October 2015

Paper Smooches October GD - Part 2


Welcome to my second post as October Guest Designer for Paper Smooches (I LOVE saying that!). I've got two cards for today!

For the first card, I used the round Garland die to create an ornament. I cut it 5 times, using some Doodlebug DP. I folded each one carefully on the score line and then glued them together to create a 3 dimensional ornament. I edged the circles in Stardust Stickles for some sparkle. I used the ornament cap from the Large Ornament Die cut in silver foil, and the string from Holiday Lights cut in the same Doodlebug purple as my mat.

For my sentiment, I combined two different stamps from Holiday Cheer, stamping one in Ranger Grape Soda and the other in Versafine onyx.

I also want to link up (it's the last day!) to the Hop to Stop. It's to raise awareness of domestic violence and the resources available to people who are experiencing it. October is Domestic Violence Awareness month and their colour is purple - head over to see the whole gallery full of amazing, purple cards!

For my second card, I basically remade this card with the newest PS product, including Holiday Cheer and Holly Dies.


I love the almost "Suessian" feel of these holly leaves and I played that up by colouring them in Grinch-y greens. But these work equally well on a very elegant card - check out how Emily used them here! My leaves and berries were coloured with Copics, Wink of Stella and Glossy Accents.

Tuesday 13 October 2015

CASology 168 - You


This week's CASology Cue Card is You! (notice the new, ultra CAS design? Melissa surprised us all with a new 'look and feel' for CASology this week, make sure you check it out!)


Lots of us find masculine cards difficult to make. Our stamps, paper and embellishments are often so 'pretty'! CAS is a perfect style for cards for the men in our lives - simple colours, graphic designs, clean lines and minimal embellishments work well for masculine cards!

I created this card using MFT's Double-stitched Square dies, Simon Says Stamp's Heart in a Box die set (you could cut these letters apart if you want, or leave them together, to make it really easy!) and a tiny red-mirror Impression Obsession heart.

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





Sunday 11 October 2015

Merry Four-Challenge Card


Yes, you read that title right - 4 challenges! Feeling very multi-tasky about it, too!

1. Muse: ChristmasVisions 23 - where Kimberly gave us this beautiful snowy inspiration:



2. One-Layer Simplicity 21 - where the challenge is weather

3. CAS(E) This Sketch #144 - here's the sketch:



4. (since the stamps are from two Simon sets), Simon's CAS Christmas

For MCV, I focused on Kimberly's
-theme (white snowflakes on various blue backgrounds - mine are from SSS Presents & Ornaments set, tiny dots from Lots of Dots set)
-colours - mine are Ranger Caribbean Coast and Blue Ribbon, and Stampin' Up Night of Navy
-scripty sentiment (also from Presents & Ornaments)

The deadline for MCV is Wednesday at 8 am EDT. At that time you can vote for your 3 favourites until Thursday morning at 8 - the Stars will be posted at noon.

Friday 9 October 2015

Muse 136 - Hello


This is my card for this week's Muse challenge. Joan has given us a beautifully watercoloured inspiration:



I focused on Joan's:
-colour scheme (I reversed the white and the kraft, my flowers are sponged with distress inks)
-basic layout
-theme (My flower is created with Hero Arts dies)
-white script sentiment (mine is Paper Smooches)

The deadline for this challenge is Monday morning at 8 am EDT. At that time you can vote for your 3 favourites until Tuesday at 8. Voting results will be posted at noon on Tuesday.

Thursday 8 October 2015

Mix-it-Up Merry Christmas


Playing along with Ellen Hutson's Mix it Up challenge, using Essentials by Ellen and WPlus9.

I used a flower from the Wild Garden die set as a poinsettia by cutting it twice, colouring it with copics and layering it. I coated the red layer in Wink of Stella and added a gold enamel dot.

For my sentiment, I used Handlettered Holiday, embossed in gold.