More Anniversary....

I'm back with 3 more cards for the Paper and Such Anniversary Challenges. This first card is for the Black and White +1 challenge. I went with the Song in My Heart set from Paper and Such. I just love these birds. I really kept this very CAS. I thought about adding embellishments but felt it would detract from the beauty of the image and sentiment itself. A true friend knows who you are under all your embellishments! ;-) The paper in Gina K and I added some shading with Copics.

This card is for the sentiment only challenge. These tend to be difficult for me for some reason. This one came together pretty easily with the help of the Paper and Such Just Sayin' set. I created this card as a mommy card. Sometimes being a mom can be challenging..but upon reflection, it's way beyond worth every challenge/problem that could present itself. I went with pink..because it was my daughter with the challenge at that particular moment.. LOL!

Last but not least is the monochromatic card. I was pleasantly surprised with how this one came out. Masculine cards can be difficult to find especially for friendship cards. Admittedly, there are some flowers on the DP, but I don't think it makes the card overwhelmingly feminine. I pulled the Song in My Heart set again. I "colored" the heads of the birds with bleach. I wanted there to be a slight color differentiation.

Thanks for stopping by, and there is still time to get in on the Anniversary challenges at Paper and Such...

Paper and Such Challenge!

Time for another challenge at the Paper and Such blog. This one stumped me for a bit. No color??? Seriously? Well at least it was only for the main image ;-)

Just in case you are thinking that black is a color... technically, it's the absence of color :-) For this card, the snowman and the sentiment are stamped on acetate. The acetate layer is adhered to a layer of white. I used a stencil and Perfect Pearls sprits to create the subtle background on the white. I added some stickles to the brads for a little additional snowy sparkle! Thanks for stopping by and come on by the blog and play with us!

Thanks so much to the Paper and Such team for allowing me to play along with them this month!




Recipe:
Stamps: Snow Folks (Paper and Such)
Paper: Silver Lining, Wine with Everything, Layering weight White (GKD); Acetate
Ink: Stazon Black
Accessories: Spellbinders Create a Flake 3, brads, Silver and Burgundy ribbon, Hampton Arts holiday stencils,                    Ranger Perfect Pearl spritz, Icicle Stickles

HYCCT and CPS

Cool sketch huh?? This is the Card Positioning systems sketch 239.



I quite enjoyed this sketch.  It gave me the perfect avenue for creating another card for the HYCCT challenges.  This challenge was about friendship.  We were challenged to use pink and ribbon to create a card that celebrates friendship.  I don't know about you, but many of my friends give me strength.  That is one of the marvelous aspects of friendship.  Short, sweet and to the point!  If you haven't gone to SCS to check out the challenges, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR???

Thanks for stopping by!!





Recipe:
Stamps: Believe (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Neenah White
Ink: Memento Rose Bud
Accessories: Nestabilities circles, big scalloped circles, Fancy Tags 2, ric-rac, Recollections crystals

Poppy Love

Ok--corny I know... I can't help it!..  I got my newest order from Paper and Such this weekend and just had to make a card with the new set I got, Poppies.  I thought I would use it for a second card for the Paper and Such Challenge.  I had to try another one, because I was not overly thrilled with the last one ;-) 

I did use an image this time, but I still think that the sentiment is definitely the main focal point.  I stamped the poppy image directly onto the DP.  The sentiment is stamped on a Nestie from the Fancy Tags 2.  I used another tag from the same set to layer behind the sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by...



Recipe;
Stamps: Poppies (Paper and Such)
Paper: Neenah Solar White, Pure Luxury Smoky Slate, DCWV Immortal Love
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Nesties

Sunny Birthday

I love Sunflowers. They are just such a pretty flower. When I saw this week's CPS sketch and the fact it was being sponsored by flowersoft... I knew I had to incorporate flowers! The card I came up with is CAS, CAS, CAS...

Please pretend that you can see the gorgeous sunflower stamps that are covered by my less than stellar use of the flower soft :-). I took the sketch below and made it into a 1 layer card. The sunflower stamps are from the Flowersoft set Flowers and Foilage series 1. I used the Autumn Flower Soft on the petals and Meadow in the center. The sentiment is from Gina K's Bold and Beautiful stamp set. I inked the words separately with a Memento Marker -- and stamped them in the locations of the back panels of the sketch.

I have made myself a promise to rewatch videos and learn how to use the flower wire effectively. Thanks for stopping by!

Paper and Such Inspiration

Today's card is for the Paper and Such Inspiration challenge. I couldn't sleep last night so I finally got up and stamped. So, this is one of those 1 am creations. I also used the CAS sketch this week as inspiration. As usual with my inspiration type cards, the card is very literal to the picture. I used the colors and the subject of the picture (ribbon and buttons).  You can see the picture below. This is an easy peasy card, but I like it's simplicuty.  I stamped off the flower before stampin on the main panel.  I stamped the sentiment in Tangelo, which ended up being a bit too orange, but I was afraid it wouldn't show up if I stamped it  off as well.  I'm hoping to get another card made for this challenge just as soon as I get my order with the brand new stamps from the Paper and Such stamp line!!.. I can't wait.

Thanks for stopping by today.



Recipe: 
Stamps: Whimisical Wishes (Gina K Designs)
Paper: Pure Luxury Moonlit Fog and Ivory
Ink: Memento London Fog and Tangelo
Accessories: Ribbon, twine, buttons

A little Monday Whimsy

Happy Monday!!  I get to spend all day in meetings at work today and I am so looking forward to it.. NOT!  However, my wish for all of you is that you can all have a Happy Day!!

I made this card in about 10 minutes.. MAX.  Super easy but with fun colors to match the sentiment.  I do wish that I had used more than one color on the sentiment.. but that will just be a note for next time!

Recipe:
Stamps: Whimisical Wishes (Gina K Designs)
Paper: Pure Luxury Just Peachy, Blue Raspberry and Layering weight White
Ink: Bahama Blue, Cantaloupe, Tangelo (Memento)
Accessories: ribbon

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great week...

USA Inspired

Tonight I am so tired. I also think I need my head checked... I spent a few hours in my craft area and didn't make a card. Instead I filled up a large garbage bag with, well, garbage. I started a second bag and took a bunch of paper that I had around over to my kids daycare. I still can't belive I parted with paper... but it does clear up space for new :-)

This card combines 2 challenges. The first challenge is the Paper and Such challenge. Paper and Such challenged us to make a card using Red, Blue and Kraft (I snuck some white in there and hope it is ok). The second challenge is the Ribbon Carousel challenge. Being the weekend of the 4th of July, the ladies at Ribbon Carouselwanted us to submit cards inspired by the 4th of July. Red, White and Blue are certainly inspirational to me :-)

I used Gina K stamps from one of the Stamp TV kits. Once I stamped the boat, I decided to try to be creative with my twine. The twine on the boat is supposed to represent the ropes of the sails... not sure how close I really got to that. The image panel is popped up with pop dots. I added a panel of white on the inside of the card and stamped the boat again at the bottom right to add a little something to the inside. I hope it shows the 4th Inspiration and does justice to the great combo chosen at Paper and Such.

Recipe:
Stamps: Enjoy the Sunshine (Gina K Designs)
Paper: Pure Luxury Kraft, In the Navy, Red Hot, Layering White; Paper Studio DP
Ink: Paris Dusk (Memento)
Accessories: Bakers twine
Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Moxie CAS

Wow, it's been a while.....again. In all fairness this should have been posted 2 days ago, but first I forgot to take pictures.. and then I just forgot to post. I used to be able to remember things, I promise... Anyway... I combined a couple of challenges for this card.

The first challenge is the CAS challenge from SCS for this week. The challenge was to use Red, Black, and White on a cas card. The second is the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger. I took the image of the vase with the flowers as my inspiration for this card. My card uses the border from Vogue Vases as my "table". Obviously this card isn't as involved as the inspiration... but I like it and it only took about 15 minutes to put together :-)

















Recipe:
Stamps: Vogue Vases (Gina K Designs)
Paper: Layering White, Red Hot, Black (Pure Luxury Gina K)
Ink: Tuxedo Black, Lady Bug Red (Memento)

Thanks for stopping by tonight!!  I will have another card for posting in the morning!!!  And don't forget, Sneak Peeks at Paper and Such start tomorrow!!!!

Tough times

I don't know about you, but I have a rough time finding the appropriate things to say sometimes. I like this sentiment for those types of occassions.

For this card I used the sketch from Just Us Girls. I used some metallic paper by Spellbinders. The stamp set is by PTI. I also took the opportunity to use the Fancy Tags by Spellbinders as well. I want to thank the JUGs challenge team for helping me practice my CAS cards as well. :-)

Recipe:
Stamps: Up in the Air
Paper: Pure Luxury Kraft, Dark Chocolate, Ivory, Spellbinders Metallic paper
Ink: Memento Desert Sand, Cottage Ivy
Accessories: Nestabilities,Fancy Tags

 Challenges:
Just Us Girls #87

Ultimate CAS

CAS, CAS, CAS... it does not get much easier than this.   The card is supposed to represent my dream.  Well, I have a lot of dreams, but it would totally be a dream to be in a cabin looking out on this view... dontcha think?

The image is just a sheet of DCWV designer paper.  I stamped the sentiment, attached to the base and voila! This is like a 3 minute card :-) 

Recipe:
Stamps: The Giving Tree (GKD)

Paper: White, DCWV
Ink: Tuxedo Black

Thanks for visiting!

What is Love?

The VSN challenge that I hostessed was called Love Is....

Love is… many things to many people. There are so many different kinds of love i.e. true love, friendship love, familial love, goofy love, serious love… any of these can make your heart sing! So, what is love to you?

Your challenge: Take inspiration from one of the quotes below. Be sure to tell us in your card description which quote inspired you tonight!

1.) Long live the Irish! Long live their cheer! Long live our friendship, year after year!

2.) You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better
than your dreams. -- Dr. Seuss

3.) Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss, and ends with a teardrop

4.) We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.

One of my greatest loves is my children. I see this mom holding her little one and I imagine the loving smile and the sweet kisses. I used the teardrop rhinestones to represent the end of the quote.

Recipe:
Stamps: Willow with toddler (Whiff of Joy)
Paper: White, Little Boy blue, Kraft, DP
Ink: Memento tuxedo black
Accessories: rhinestones, copics

Thanks for stopping by!

Sketch - Christmas - STV

Today is a CAS Christmas card that I made for the StampTV Sketch challenge from last week. Although it's hard to see, the white panel is clear embossed. I used some snowflakes and the word "joy". The dove is gold embossed in what I hope is the center of the panel :-) The dp is Basic Grey and the ribbon is from Michaels. I used the bow-easy to tie the bow, I love the bow easy!!!

In other news, I was just accepted to the Copic Certification class. I am soooooooo excited!!!! Thanks for stopping by!!

A little Valentine's Day

I thought this was a cute Penny Black image. The challenge was to make a Valentine card with a little humor. For me? With all the stamps I own? I could NOT come up with any humorous Valentine's sentiments. Obviously a gap I need to fill :-) Enter my fabulous peeps at WRAK. I received this "feline" sentiment through WRAK. I think it's humorous... but it may just be me! Thanks for visiting today.

CAS for the troops

WRAK challenges are always fun. I find all sorts of things that I had forgotten about. When I saw this embossing folder, I thought it was perfect for a CAS card and it could be masculine too. I am ALWAYS trying to come up with ideas for a masculine card. This could be used for just about anything just change colors and sentiments. I'm thinking it may be perfect for a stationery set. :-)

Recipe:
Stamps: Fanciful tags (Gina K)
Paper: Slate Gray, Red Hot, White (Gina K)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (memento)
Accessories: Birdcall CB EF

Butterflies and Flowers

In my continuing practice with Copics, I decided to make a simple card with a large focal point. I chose to use the Northwoods stamp Asters with 3 Butterflies. I stamped the image with versamark, then Memento tuxedo black and embossed with clear embossing powder. For some reason, I've been reaching for purple a lot lately. Not quite sure why. Anyway, I colored the image with Copics and just left it at that. I did have to add a little ribbon because the card just didn't look finished without it. :0

Recipe:
Stamps: Aster with 3 Butterflies
Paper: Sweet Corn, Lovely Lavendar, White
Ink: Versamark, Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Copics, Clear Embossing powder, ribbon

Another Christmas card

Looks like 3 or 4 people might get handmade Christmas cards this year. Woo Hoo!



This is another CAS Christmas card that wouldn't be difficult to produce a few of. The only stamping is the sentiment which came from the Gina K set Holiday Greetings. The background is embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder. I used a Cuttlebug stamp and emboss set for the snowflake. I colored the snowflake with Solar Gold twinkling H2Os. The ribbon is some that I found at Michael's last year.

Recipe:
Stamps: Holiday Greetings
Paper: White, Moonlight Fog, In the Navy
Ink: Memento Rhubarb Stalk
Accessories: Cuttlebug Snowflakes folder, Cuttlebug snowflake cut and emboss, ribbon, twinkling H2Os, water brush, oval punch

CAS Christmas

After my "failure" at sitting down to make a CAS card, I really buckled down and got to it! Voila! White and gold, one of the traditional combos of colors that I love! I used all Gina K products on this card. I used versamark on the white card base just to add a little oomph. The beauty of this card is that it can be completed so quickly, it makes it perfect for producing a bunch for all your friends! Please do ignore the slight smudging on the panel. I ALWAYS think that ink dries faster than it does..

Recipe:
Stamps: Vintage Borders (Gina K)
Paper: White and Metallic Gold
Ink: Encore Gold Metallic; Versamark
Accessories:Ribbon

Another CAS

If I'm not careful, this whole CAS thing might start catching on with me ;-) It's kind of nice to see a finished product in 10 minutes or less after you start. This card is for Kim Hughes DGTD challenge -- Tone on Tone CAS. Honestly, I was a little stumped as to how to accomplish this. While I am pleased with the flower, in retrospect, I think the sentiment should be a little more visible. I would probably use some oval or circle punches in Lavendar and White and also a darker ink for the sentiment. Now, that I said that, I think I need to rework this one and repost... But for now, this was the card I came up with! TFL

Recipe:
Stamps: From the Garden (SU), the sentiment is Gina K
Cardstock: Lovely Lavendar (Gina K)
Ink: Versamark and Memento Lulu Lavendar
Accessories: Clear embossing powder

Gettin' Dirty? I'm trying

SCS hosted the Dare to Get Dirty Challenges again last week. These challenges are determined by current and past "dirty girls", the SCS Design Team. These ladies are all super talented. They lend their creativity and expertise to SCS once a month in the form of the DD Gallery. Each month they are given a theme and then they are off and running to create their awesome projects. This is one of my cards.



This challenge was "embrace the white space". Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to make a card that embraces the "white space"! Now I don't mean you have to literally use white, but try a minimalist approach to card making and see what you come up with!

Limits: Limit your layers! Try and make something that utilizes your card base and maybe one other layer. Don't be afraid to leave some "white space" showing!




Recipe:
Stamps: Friends are Forever (GinaK) and Botanicals (GinaK)
Cardstock: White and Sweet Mango (GinaK)
Ink: Memento Potters Clay, Rich Cocoa
Accessories: Copic Markers