Friday 30 September 2016

Muse 185 - Hello


Here's my card for this week's Muse Challenge, where Guest Muse Aileen gave us this pretty floral Hello!



I focused on Aileen's:
-black die cut hello
-floral theme
-copic colouring

I used:
-Sweet & Sassy Scribble Flowers
-Winnie & Walter Hello
-Copics

Thursday 29 September 2016

CYCI139 - Rainbow Birthday


A last-minute entry for the current Can You Case It Rainbow challenge. How could I resist - I love using rainbow colours!

I saw Yana colour her flowers using a dot stamp recently and I think it's a fun way to add a modern graphic feel to these bold flowers from Stampin' Up (Sunshine Sayings).

Instead of stamping, I used a 1" circle punch to create a mask and sponged 2 shades of distress ink on each flower.

I finished with a Stampin' Up (Age Awareness) sentiment and some sequins.

Wednesday 28 September 2016

SPDMIX17 - Celebrate in Style



Time for another Mix it Up Challenge at SugarPea Designs!  Here are this week's sketch and photo:



This week, I focused on the photo of the kitten. I used Celebrate All the Things and Wanderlust, kept my colours neutral, with some sparkle and a bit of blue and green for the eyes.

This is the final challenge for September - remember the more you play along each month, the bigger your chance of winning the $50 gift certificate! Hope to see you there!

Check out the rest of the DT for more inspiration!

September Guest: Annika Lerche

Tuesday 27 September 2016

CASology 217 - Cute


This week's CASology Cue Card is Cute!



Unfortunately, my laser printer will not accept cardstock so I couldn't print the cute images from this week's sponsor.

I used this little dancer, grounded solely by a softly sponged line and coordinating sentiment. By placing the 'action' in the top third of the card, there is plenty of white space and the card feels very clean. I coloured her with Zig Cleancolor Real Brush Markers and Stickles for some sparkle on the the tiara and tutu.

Now it's your turn! Be sure to check out the rest of the DT Blogs for more inspiration:



Monday 26 September 2016

IB25 - Same Flower, Different Colour


I hope you're not in peony-overload! I spent a bit more time with it this weekend and used distress inks and a waterbrush to make 3 more same-but-different cards. This time I tried fall colours for this week's Inspired by All the Little Things Challenge:




For the first one, I layered up my flower, starting with yellow, then two tones of orange before finishing off with some orange-red.


This time I tried to unleash my inner Kimberly and stamped in black and then used a loose, bold watercolour style. I love the vivid colours.


Finally, I took a more classic approach, painting each petal, and allowing each layer to dry naturally.

I used:
-Ellen Hutson Mondo Peony
-Distress inks


ETA: Bonnie chose the top card as a Stand Out!

Sunday 25 September 2016

FS503, TO66 - Thank You!


This week's Splitcoaststampers' Featured Stamper is razldazl (aka Penni). I have to admit, I didn't get very far through her gallery before I found my inspiration card:



I was inspired by Penni's:
-leaf theme
-colour scheme

I changed:
-layout
-amount of orange showing
-added a sentiment

I created my colourful panel with yellow, orange and red colorburst powders, water and some golden shimmer spray. It is so pretty and shimmery that I couldn't bear to cover it up and left a big border of it showing as well as the leaf cut out.

I am also linking up to the current Time Out challenge; here's the inspiration photo:


I focused on the autumn colours and the use of a window.

I used:
-Lawn Fawn Stitched Leaves
-Stampin Up Painted Petals
-Ken Oliver Colorburst Powders

Friday 23 September 2016

MCV63 - Christmas Lights


This is my very CAS card for this week's Muse: ChristmasVisions challenge where Cornelia has given us this fun inspiration:



I focused on the penguin and lights and all the white space.

I used:
-Essentials by Ellen 'Tis The Season
-Mama Elephant Arctic Penguins

Thursday 22 September 2016

Muse 184 - Happy Birthday


Here's my card for this week's Muse Challenge. Jenni gave us this gorgeous card as our inspiration:


I was inspired by Jenni's:
-floral theme
-colours
-layout
-black sentiment

I have had this set for a long time, but never really used it. Jenni inspired me to get it out. I decided to 'reverse' my colours and make the flower white with a blue sponged background around it.

I stamped the flower in versamark. For the centres and leaves, I used my MISTI to stamp once in colour then once again in versamark. Then I embossed the whole thing with clear embossing powder before sponging with distress inks.

I used:


Wednesday 21 September 2016

SPDMIX16 - Filled with Love



We've got a really fun inspiration at this week's SugarPea Designs Mix It Up challenge:



This week I chose to focus only on the photograph. I used stamps from Special Delivery (and Copics, Wink of Stella and Glossy Accents) in the colours of the photo to create a card filled with love!

I hope you'll join us this week - remember that we use the same link-up for all the challenges in each month, so each time you play, your chance of winning the $50 gift certificate increases! We'd love to see how you're inspired by this week's sketch and photo!

Tuesday 20 September 2016

CASology 216 - Thank You


This week's CASology Cue Card is Frame!



Sometimes you have a big sentiment that can really stand on its own. Stamping it in crisp black, adding a white frame and a small pop of colour can really help to keep your design CAS, and keep the message clear.

I used:
-Avery Elle Big Greetings
-Sweet and Sassy Scribble Flowers and matching dies
-Avery Elle Double Pierced Circles to create the frame

Now it's your turn! We can't wait to see how you're inspired. Be sure to check out the rest of the DT for more ideas:

Monday 19 September 2016

Pin-Sights, IB24 - Thanks


More fun with Colorburst powders! This time in aquas and greens for the current Ellen Hutson Pin-Sights Challenge:


September 2016 Mood Board

as well as for the current Inspired by All the Little Things Challenge:




I started by using Colorburst powder in Turquoise to create stripes on my background panel. I stamped my sentiment in Stampin' Up Archival Basic Gray.

I stamped and embossed the peony and leaves before tapping Colorburst powder (Turquoise, Lime Green and Lemon Yellow for the flower, Lime Green and Chartreuse for the leaves) and spritzing, then 'smoothing' with a waterbrush.

I used:
-Essentials by Ellen Mondo Peony (take a look in the gallery - pretty much everyone is using this gorgeous set! lol!) and matching dies.
-Essentials by Ellen Fancy Thanks

Sunday 18 September 2016

FS502 - Thinking of You


This week's Splitcoaststampers' Featured Stamper is Gail (mamaxsix). She has a large gallery and one of the things I noticed is that she often re-uses stamp images. I love to see how the same supplies can be used over and over again to create completely different projects!

I chose this Mother's Day card as my inspiration:



I was inspired by Gail's:
-flourish element
-inlaid die technique
-layout

I changed:
-colours
-direction of the flourish
-placement of sentiment
-added distress ink techniques

I used:
-Simon Says Stamp Clustered Leaves die
-Distress inks (smooshing)
-Red Gold KGT
-Perfect Pearls Shimmer Mist (Biscotti - see the shimmer in the close up below)
-Hero Arts sentiment





Friday 16 September 2016

Muse 183 - Hello!


I just had to make another card for Muse for this week. After a hands-on tutorial with Lindsey last weekend, and watching Tracey's (first ever!) inspiring video, I couldn't resist getting my Ken Oliver Colorburst powders out and playing a bit. While I think I would mask my flowers next time (see those blue dots?), I still love how it turned out - the colours are gorgeous (I only used 4)! I added sparkle spray at the end - it shimmers in real life!



I used:
-Essentials By Ellen Mondo Peony
-Altenew Floral Shadow

Thursday 15 September 2016

MCV62 - Joy


Here's my card for this week's Muse: ChristmasVisions challenge, where Chriss has given us this fun inspiration:



Chriss used yarn and felt to create a touchably festive card!

I was inspired by Chriss':
-Christmas Tree theme
-rainbow colours
-joy sentiment

I used:
-Simon Says Stamp Mod Tree (appears to be retired)
-Memory Box Sketchbook Joy

Wednesday 14 September 2016

SPDMIX15 - Amazing!


Time for the next SugarPea Designs Mix It Up Challenge! This week's inspiration is really fun!


This week, I chose to combine both the sketch and the inspiration photo. I created a farm theme by stamping a herd of cows using Every Day is Christmas. Of course, I used an appropriately punny sentiment from Feeling Sentimental.

Remember, we run challenges every Wednesday, but we use one link up for the month. That means the more you play, the bigger your chance of being randomly selected for a $25 gift certificate at the end of the month!

We can't wait to see how you're inspired by this week's sketch and photo!


Tuesday 13 September 2016

CASology 215 - Bark


This week's CASology Cue Card is Bark!



An interesting Cue Card, don't you think? I can see two ways to go with this, but maybe you'll think of another? Yum, I just thought of CHOCOLATE bark! lol! I went with tree bark, and made it the main focus of my card.

To preserve white space on this rather large focal image from Concord & 9th Tree Hugs, I made sure that my shading, which adds interest and dimension, was very subtle, so that the colours aren't far off white. I also left as much white space as possible in the centre by making the tree trunk quite wide, and having no sentiment inside the heart. Seriously, any words you put inside the heart can be implied by the heart itself. I limited layers and added no embellishment to ensure that the design stayed as CAS as possible.

Now it's your turn! Be sure to check out the inspiration from the rest of the DT:

Altenew Ultimate Challenge Blog Hop


Today, Muse and CASology are participating in something new! Altenew is hosting the Altenew Ultimate Challenge Blog Hop. It's a blog hop of Challenge blogs and there's lots of great Challenges involved, special deals and prizes, too! Head over to Muse for more information!

This will be my Muse card for this week. Tracey's beautiful inspiration card (look at that masking!):



I was inspired by Tracey's:
-floral theme
-colours

As you can tell, I didn't want to change a thing. I spaced out my flowers a bit more and I used distress inks rather than powders.

I used:
-Altenew Dahlia Blossoms
-Altenew Floral Shadow

I also made a Card for CASology  - same set (plus a Magnolias for Her sentiment) and technique - just add white space!:



Finally one just for fun:


Saturday 10 September 2016

FS501 - Thanks So Much


This week's Splitcoaststampers' Featured Stamper is Tracey Fehr. Tracey has a growing gallery that is full of pretty, feminine projects (lots more than just cards!) full of detail and whimsy. I chose this card as my inspiration:



I was inspired by Tracey's:
-colours
-wash of background colour coming from the right and fading
-layout

I changed:
-fish to flowers
-did not add water to the blended panel
-shape and size of card

I used:
-Verve Simply Amazing
-Verve Happy Place
-Copics


MCV61 - Snowflake


This is my card for this week's Muse: ChristmasVisions where Kimberly provided us inspiration:



I was inspired by Kimberly's
-colours
-layout
-circular focal point

I used:
-Simon Says Stamp Eliza Snowflake
-ancient Doodlebug gems

Friday 9 September 2016

Muse 182 - Happy Birthday to You, Superstar


I had so much fun making this card for this week's Muse challenge! Anita gave us a really fun inspiration with balloons:



I was inspired by Anita's:
-colours (including the variation in each colour)
-birthday theme
-balloon elements
-use of die cuts

I used:
-MFT Happy Birthday to You die
-MFT Birthday Wishes and Balloons
-MFT Balloon Stax 
-MFT Pierced Square die
-Distress inks
-Elizabeth Crafts Mylar paper

I'm also linking up to MFT's Superstar contest.