CAS(E) this sketch #254

Hello friends.  Saw a couple friends playing along with the current CAS(E) this sketch challenge, and I was intrigued to check it out and then of course when I saw the sketch, I just had to play!!

Isn't that a pretty sketch??!!  As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to use my new Altenew Build-A-Flower: Carnation stamp set.  Take a look:

 

 I usually struggle to line up Altenew flowers, but this one is pretty easy and gives such realistic looking flowers.  I started by die cutting a little frame into my card base using PTI's Mix & Mat: Flourishes die and then built my flower swag around it like the sketch shows.

Trying to ramp up my depleted birthday card stash, so that dictated my sentiment and I just used a simple one from PTI's Keep It Simple: Birthday.  I added a piece of Real Red cs to the inside of my card so it would show through the dotted frame...it gives a nice touch when the card is closed!

There are some absolutely BEAUTIFUL cards for inspiration from the DT, so check it out and play along...you can find it all right HERE.
 

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

Twofer Challenge #1 - Feathers

Hello friends.  So happy and excited to be playing in Darnell's very first Twofer Card Challenge today!!  What's a twofer and who's Darnell???  Come on people...have you been living under a rock??  The wonderfully warm and friendly Darnell of djkardkreations coined the phrase "twofer" for when she shows more than one card on her blog posts, ie, if she shows two cards, it's a "twofer" post, if she shows 3 cards, it's a "threefer" post, etc.  So anyway, she decided to start a challenge using the twofer concept, and we are given a prompt and then must create 2 different cards using the same stamp or die and the prompt.  This month it's FEATHER'S.

And here's what I came up with:

I used the same bird (feathers) from Tim Holtz's Bird Crazy for both my birthday card and my Just A Note card (hope that qualifies Darnell?!!)

I kept my cards pretty much the same but just used different color combos for each one.  I started with CP Swoop stencil and Orange Marmalade and Picked Raspberry DOX inks for my background, and then used the same inks (plus Wild Honey) to blend over the bird.  The sentiment is from an older PB set and I added some sequins and heavy baker's twine to finish off the first card.

So same stencil for this card, but used Cracked Pistachio and Salty Ocean DOX inks for the background and the bird too.  Added a leaf die cut from PTI's Songbirds (trying to keep it all in the bird family here!!) that I blended Cracked Pistachio on also, and then added my sentiment strip using PTI's Winter Woods (which is also a bird themed stamp set!).

Pretty happy with the way both of these fun and bright cards turned out and yay for adding one more card to my birthday stash which has become seriously depleted lately, and another card that can be used for just about any occasion!!  The Twofer Card Challenge will be open each month from the 10th - 24th, so come play along with this FUN new challenge!  You can find all the details and see some amazing inspiration from the FABULOUS DT right HERE.

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

Make It Monday #309 - Heat Embossed Stencil Backgrounds

Hello friends.  Melissa Phillips is hosting this week's Make It Monday challenge over at Papertrey Ink and she is showing us fun ways to use our stencils with heat embossing.

I have always been a huge fan of the Modern Background Stencil Collection, and that was my starting point for my card today.

 
I used a gold Sparkle Embossing Powder (Recollections) and one of the Modern Background Stencils to create my background and then started adding my layers using the Mix & Mat: Hearts dies, Stitched Primitive Heart Dies, Farmer's Market Florals, (gosh, I LOVE this set!), and the You Have My Heart stamp set & dies.  A few clear sequins finished off my first Valentine's Day card.

This was a FUN challenge...Melissa always feeds my love of layering!!  Check out her video and GORGEOUS cards right HERE and then play along!  :0)

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

Inspired By All The Little Things #77

Hello friends.  The current challenge over at Inspired By All The Little Things is just too cute and FUN to pass up!!

I mean LOOK at all those cute faces!!  Of course I had to go digging through all my critter stamps so I could play along with the DT and special guest and friend of mine Linda Snodgrass.  Here's what I came up with:

 

Of course I was inspired by all those cute critters and the colors too.  All the critters I used are from various MFT stamp sets with the exception of the deer, which is a SSS die cut.  The die cut tree branches are from Elizabeth Craft Designs (1408 - Reindeer) which was a Christmas gift from my dear friend Birgit (thanks again Birgit!!).  The sentiment is also MFT's Birthday Bears.

Check out all the adorable cards from the talented DT and their special guest this month (Linda) and then play along...come on, you know you want to!!  Check it all out right HERE.

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

CAS Watercolour January 2018

Hello friends.  Playing along with this month's challenge over at CAS Watercolour and the key word is Birthday, which is great as I need to replenish my birthday card supply!

And here's what I came up with:

I used Altenew's Beautiful Lady and embossed the image in white, and then colored it with my Zigs.  I've had my Zigs for close to 2 years now and most of you who follow me know I've had a love/hate relationship with them, but I actually really like the way this card turned out, so I must be getting the hang of them a bit better now!  I've learned that if I put down just a touch of color with the Zigs and then move that color around with my Aqua Painter, I have much better success rather than trying to use the Zigs like a marker...hope that make's sense?!

Once dry, I added my sentiment from PTI's Stemmed Statements and then matted the piece with a black layer.  I added a honeycomb die cut (AliExpress) to my card base and then pop dotted the main image and added to the card base.

And just to prove to you that this really is a Birthday card, here is a peek at the inside:

For this card I have watercoloured, embossed, die cut, and stamped.

There is still plenty of time to play along with this challenge (open till the 24th), so check out all the beautiful inspiration from the DT, and then play along right HERE.

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

Merry Monday #272 - Glasses

Hello friends.  This week's hostess at Merry Monday is Leanne and she would like us all to use GLASSES on our Christmas cards.

I'm not much of a drinker, so I do not own any stamps or dies of glasses.  However, I do own the SU! Detailed Santa Thinlits dies, and this Santa is wearing GLASSES!!

 I die cut him out of white and then die cut just the portion with his glasses in gold mirror cardstock and glued it over the white pair of glasses.  Some red and gold cs for layering on a white card base with a little strip of Pure Poppy striped DSP at the bottom left the perfect amount of space to add my sentiment from PTI's Think Big Favorites: #20.  I finished it off with a thin strip of gold cs along the top of the DSP and then a few gold stars.  I've had this die for two Christmases now and have never used it till now...why do I do that???!!

If you need some more inspiration, make sure you check out what the other DT members came up with, and then play along with us...you will be SO happy you did next November/December!  You can check it all out right HERE.  Check out all of our really cool matching watermarks too that the very talented Leanne made for all of us on the DT at Merry Monday...didn't she do an AWESOME job?!!  Thank you Leanne!!  :0)

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

Make It Monday #308 - 2017 A LA CARTE

Hello friends.  I apologize for the lack of posts and commenting the past 2 weeks...we've had the crud at our house and am just finally starting to feel human again!  It hit our whole family except for my 85 year old mother, which just blows me away, but yet I am so grateful that she did not get this particular flu/cold strain as it's a nasty one!  Needless to say that because of sickness and snow (LOTS of snow!!) we did not really get to celebrate Christmas all together, so it has been rescheduled to the 20th...nothing like stretching out the season, right?!!

This week's Make It Monday challenge at Papertrey Ink is A LA CARTE...meaning if you've missed one of the challenges during the past year, this is your opportunity to go back and play along.  I managed to play along with every challenge except one last year, and that was Ashley's challenge with using photo's to make Christmas cards...since I never print any of my photo's anymore, I didn't have one to make a card with.  Not a current photo anyways!  After reviewing all the challenges, I decided to go back and play along with Dawn McVey's Sentiment Windows (#299) so that I could make use of a few things I haven't had a chance to play with yet.  And what a great way to make another card to send to Dawn to encourage her on and let her know I'm still thinking of and praying for her!

I used the Window Works Dies and Farmer's Market Florals and came up with these 2 cards:

They are both the same except for the sentiments I used in the centers.  I used a small strip of striped Blueberry Sky DSP at the bottom of the cards and then added a piece of Spring Rain cardstock that I used one of the Edger's dies on to create the scalloped edge.  I loved using the little Window Works Dies to create my opening for the sentiments...they may be small but there sure is a lot of detail on them!  I stamped and fussy cut the flowers from the Farmer's Market Floral stamp set and added them to the side of the die cut window.  The 1st card's sentiment is from the New Every Morning stamp set, and the 2nd card's sentiment is from the Phrases & Praises stamp set.  A few clear sequins and some heavy baker's twine finished off my cards.

There were a lot of great Make It Monday challenges this past year, so check them out right HERE and play along for a chance at a $25 gift certificate!

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