CAS Christmas October 2021 Reminder - GRAY & RED

Hello friends.  Just a friendly reminder that there's still time to play along with us at CAS Christmas Challenge where we are looking for CAS Christmas cards using GRAY & RED. 

I have a really simple card to share with you using a Spellbinder's large die of the month from last year (I believe it was November 2020)...

Didn't that turn out so pretty with the gray and red combo??!!  I used the stitching die to cut out the snowflake in Smokey Slate cardstock, and then simply stitched stitched it with 2 strands of red floss.  

I finished with some simple matting and an older AE scalloped circle die, and then added my sentiment from PTI's Christmas Blessings in Smokey Slate ink, and a few silver gems from Pinkfresh Studios.  

This challenge is open till the 24th, so check out all the inspiration from the DT using GRAY & RED and then play along with us right HERE.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Christmas Kickstart #55 - Make One for a Loved One

Hello friends.  Playing along with the current Christmas Kickstart Challenge where they are looking for a card that you would send to a loved one.

I just received some goodies from the latest release at The Greetery and my mom happens to LOVE Christmas greenery and berries, and decorates her house to the max with all of it!  AND she's 89 and still does it every year!  But anyway, I ordered the Winterberry Bouquet stamp and stencil set and just had to make a card for my mom!

I used a combination of Distress Inks and SU! inks with the stencils and the stamps, and then used the mask included in the set and blended around the image with Slate ink (Gina K).  I used the same Slate ink to add some splatters while the mask was still on.  

I added the stamped layer to a piece of Evening Evergreen cs (SU!) that I die cut using The Greetery's Crimped Frame Dies and then attached those to a top folding white card base.  I also used the Abundant Joy Die (also The Greetery) and added with some foam tape to add a bit of dimension, and then finished with a few gemstones from Pinkfresh Studios.

I really love the way this turned out, and think my mom will love it too!  Have you started your Christmas cards yet?  I make them all year long, so I'm sitting pretty good right now.  Playing these challenges like Christmas Kickstart is a GREAT way to keep up without having to mass produce at the last minute!  Check out the challenge right HERE and play along...I know Jo and her special elf Lynn would love to have you play along, and the challenge is open till the end of the month!

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Peace On Earth Christmas Challenge #1

Hello friends.  For those of you that have followed me for any length of time, you know that I LOVE Christmas challenges and making Christmas cards all year long!  And guess what?!!  There's a NEW Christmas Challenge in town from Darlene and Diane of the Double D Challenge, and they've named it Peace On Earth Christmas Challenge.  It's a "anything goes" (as long as it's Christmas themed!) challenge, and I just know I'm going to love playing along!  Here's the mood board to inspire us all:

As much as I love all the grays and reds in this mood board, I was inspired by the name of the challenge and went in a totally different direction!  I had just received a new order from Gina K and had to play with the Peace Love and Joy Plate die, and also Gina's technique of adding colored strips behind the cover plate die.  Take a look:

I started by cutting 1/4" strips of Turquoise Sea, Red Velvet, & Honey Mustard cardstock (Gina K) and then sponged Tea Dye Distress Ink along both edges, before adhering all the strips to a piece of 3 1/2 x 4 3/4 cardstock.  Next I die cut the cover plate and then sponged the edges with the same Tea Dye Distress Ink before adhering over the piece with all the strips on it.  I matted both layers to a piece of Red Velvet cardstock and then attached it all to a Honey Mustard card base.  I also stamped and die cut one of the little penguins from the Playful Penguins (Gina K) stamp set, and colored it with a few Copics that matched the colored cardstock strips, before tucking it behind the "O" in the "JOY" die cut opening.  Here's a closer up for you...

Isn't he so cute peeking out from the "O"?!!  I finished this card with a "WISHING YOU" sentiment strip (also Gina K) and a piece of black & white bakers twine.  I get more and more brave with non-traditional colors each year, and I really love how this one turned out!

Thanks so much Darlene and Diane for this new Christmas challenge...what a great way to get us moving on finishing up those Christmas cards before the wonderful day arrives!  YOU can play along too right HERE...this challenge is open till Oct. 14 at 8:00PM.   

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

CAS Christmas Oct. 2021 - GRAY & RED

Hello friends.  It's time for a new challenge at CAS Christmas, and this month I'm excited to be your hostess!  Most of you that follow me know that I love a color challenge, so this month let's play with GRAY & RED.

I had fun playing with a new SU! set called Delivering Cheer and came up with this card...

This set gives you the choice of stamping two different bottom halves of a woman's body, and then three choices for her upper half, so it's fun to mix and match!  I stamped the bottom half in Smokey Slate ink and then stamped it again on a piece of red & gray dsp from SU!'s Peaceful Prints DSP package, and then fussy cut just the skirt and adhered it to the stamped layer.  For the top half, I once again stamped the top half in Smokey Slate ink, and then stamped again on a piece of Smokey Slate cardstock, which I then fussy cut her coat and bottom part of her scarf and glued it to the stamped image.  Then I stamped the upper image a third time on Real Red cardstock and fussy cut out just her mittens.  I die cut the panel with Gina K's Master Layouts 2 and then die cut the matted layer from Smokey Slate cardstock.  I decided to heat emboss my sentiment in silver on vellum so it didn't totally cover up my whole image (PTI's Rustic Wreath).

I used a piece of fun foam behind my 2 layers, and then attached to a white card base.  I did add a bit of WOS to the greenery (that isn't green!) to add a bit of sparkle to this CAS and FUN card.

We would love to see YOU in our gallery with your CAS Christmas card using GRAY & RED, so check out all the great inspiration from our fabulous DT and also our Special GD Darnell, and get a head start on those Christmas cards!  Christmas really will be here before you know it!  You can check everything out right HERE to play along.  Remember to keep your card CAS!  This challenge is open till the 24th.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Color Hues #27 - ORANGE & GREEN

Hello friends.  Today I am honored to be Guest Designing with the folks over at the Color Hues Challenge, and for this challenge they are looking for the colors ORANGE and GREEN on our cards.

My first thought with these colors was Autumn and leaves, so I pulled out a stamp/stencil set from Taylored Expressions called Fall Foliage Background and came up with this card...

 I started by using the stamp which has all the veins and dots on it in black, and then started the stenciling.  There are three stencils to this set, and I started with Sweet Mango (Gina K) for the lighter orange leaves, then used the 2nd stencil and Spiced Marmalade ink (TH - Distress Ink) for the darker orange, and finished the background with the 3rd stencil and Peeled Paint ink (TH - Distress Ink) for the green leaves.  I almost didn't wanted to add anything to it since it turned out so pretty!!

 I did let my background sit for a couple days while I decided what to do with it, and in the end kept it very simple so the leaves could be the star of the show!  I used SU!'s Pumpkin Pie cardstock to add a layer behind my leaves before attaching to a side folding white card base, and then simply added my sentiment which was die cut 4 times from PTI's Counting My Blessings Die Collection to add a little dimension to my card.  (Because as Laura tells us all...Dimension is life!!)  I ended up cutting out one of the green leaves and attaching it with some twine to the "g" to finish the card.

Are the leaves starting to turn where you live?  They are here and are all so pretty...just wish they stayed on the trees a bit longer for us all to enjoy!  

So what will the colors ORANGE and GREEN inspired YOU to create??  Please join us right HERE to play along, and check out all the BEAUTIFUL cards from the DT if you need more inspiration.  This challenge will be open till Oct. 14th at 9:00AM.  

And a BIG THANK YOU to all the DT at Color Hues for letting me tag along as GD this time...you know I love playing cards with you!!  :0) 

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Inspired By #189 - All the Peels/Mistletoe 25 Cents

Hello friends.  Has my title intrigued you??!!  My sweet friend Michele has invited me to play along with her this week for the Inspired By Challenge, and they have 2 FABULOUS inspiration photos for you to choose from!  Will the All the Peels photo or the Mistletoe 25 Cents photo inspire you?

I couldn't help myself and as much as I LOVE Fall and apples, I HAD to choose the Christmas option!  No Mistletoe, but see if you can find what inspired me...

Yep, the different shades of green for the greenery, and the tin containers!  I used a new SU! set called Christmas Season for all the beautiful greenery that I stamped in a array of different green inks, and then fussy cut.  The watering can is from The Greetery's Sprinkled with Kindness stamp & die set.  I used The Greetery's Windowpane Plaid Background stamp to mimic the plaid in the inspiration photo and attached it to a Smokey Slate piece of cardstock that I die cut with The Greetery's Postal Frame Dies.

You can't see it in the photo, but I used some WOS on the berries...it satisfied my need to add some shine to the card!!  My tag is from an older MFT tag die set and the sentiment comes from The Greetery's Budding Beauties Winter stamp set (can you tell I love, LOVE using The Greetery products??!!)  I finished this card with a few SU! enamel dots, and now I have another card to add to my Christmas stash!  

So which option will YOU choose...All the Peels or Mistletoe 25 Cents??  There's also a sketch you can follow if you like...

I love that there are so many options to choose from when playing along with the Inspired By Challenge.  Make sure you check out all the BEAUTIFUL inspiration from the DT and then play along...fun, fun, FUN!!  (And thanks for inviting me to play along Michele...I had a blast!!)

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Inspired By #188 - COLORFUL FALL

Hello friends.  Playing along with the gals over at the Inspired By Challenge, where they have a beautiful Fall photo to inspire us this week.

All you have to do is look at my header here on my blog (and at the bottom too!) to see that I LOVE leaves, so of course seeing this inspiration photo inspired me!!  The leaves and the colors...I mean, what's NOT to love?!!  Here's what I came up with using an older set of Gina Marie Designs leaf dies and some of my DOX inks...

Aren't the leaves prettyful?!  (Our middle daughter always used to say "prettyful" when she liked something, and the word has just always stuck with me, even though I know it's not an actual word!!)  After die cutting my leaves and using DOX inks on them, I realized the colors were pretty muted compared to the inspiration photo, so I sprayed them quite liberally with Sheer Shimmer Sparkle Mist which has a iridescent gold color to it, and really makes these leaves sparkle & shine.  Here's a closer up photo so you can get a better idea of how they really look IRL!

Because of the gold shimmer on the leaves, I decided to add some more gold with a little bit of foiling (really getting hooked on this technique!!).  I used Spellbinders Essential Duo Lines Rectangles for the framing around the base of my card, and then added a dry embossed layer using a FSJ Falling Leaves embossing folder to the inside of the foiled frame.  After adding my leaves to the top left hand corner, I decided to try foiling my sentiment using just a regular die from MB's Just A Note Posh Script and I couldn't believe how perfectly it turned out!!  I die cut 2 more of the background piece of the sentiment die (it's a 2 piece set) for a little more dimension, and then glued all 3 layers to the dry embossed layer.  A little piece of gold twine at the top of the leaf stems, and my CAS card was finished!

Only a couple more days till this challenge ends, but if you're looking for some BEAUTIFUL inspiration for Fall cards, check it all out right HERE.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!