CFC95 - Happy day

Happy Friday!  It's so crazy to me to think that it's already March 22.  Wow, time flies!  I'm here today with a new challenge from CAS-ual Fridays, and it's a doozy:

CFC95: You may use stickers, die cuts, pattern paper...but NO STAMPS in your clean and simple project

And the sponsor for this week's challenge is the fabulous SRM Stickers.  The winner of this week's challenge will win an awesome prize package, full of all sorts of sticker goodies!

                                                              
For this week's card, I used an SRM sticker along with some die cuts and patterned paper to create this paper yummy:

The bird and speech bubble are a die cut, as well as the clear plastic banner with the orange border.  Both are from Basic Grey.  The banner worked perfectly with a sticker strip from SRM, because both are clear and they fit together so nicely!  I adhered the sentiment sticker onto the paper die cut, then used Glossy Accents to adhere the plastic die-cut banner over the top.  I added some white dashed lines around the bottom edge of the die cut, then layered it onto some cute chevron patterned paper by My Mind's Eye.  Easy peasy!  Here's a close-up:

I hope you'll resist the urge to use stamps, and play along with this week's challenge!  You have until next Thursday at noon EST to do so.  Thanks so much for looking!

Supplies: card stock: Stampin' Up!; patterned paper: My Mind's Eye; die cuts: Basic Grey; sticker: SRM Stickers; corner rounder punch: Marvy Uchida; white gel pen: Uniball

CFC91 - Just for the record...

Hello, and happy Friday!  I hope everybody had a great week.  I sure did!  We actually got SNOW here yesterday.  IN ARIZONA!  Snow!  That stuck!  I was pretty excited about that, since it really never happens.  And speaking of pretty exciting, I'm here today with a new challenge from CAS-ual Fridays!

CFC91: Incorporate silver into your clean and simple project

The sponsor for this week's challenge is Ribbons Unlimited.  This week's winner will receive a wonderful prize from this great new sponsor!

For this week's card, I incorporated silver in the form of a metallic embossing powder.  And now for the paper yummies:

So, it's difficult to see in the picture above, the word "AMAZING" is embossed with a silver embossing powder.  I stamped the entire sentiment using gray ink, used a VersaMark pen to selectively add embossing ink, then applied and heat-set the embossing powder.  All the patterned papers are from the My Mind's Eye School Daze 6x6 pad, and the stamp and talk bubble die are from this Simon Says Stamp set.  Here's a close-up, showing the silver embossing:

I hope you'll play along with this week's challenge!  You have until next Thursday at noon EST to do so.  Thanks for looking!

Supplies: card base: The Paper Studio; patterned papers: My Mind's Eye; stamp, die: Simon Says Stamp; inks: Tsukineko; embossing powder: American Crafts; corner rounder: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

CFC89 - Three little birds

Hello, and happy Friday!  Today I'm here with a super fun challenge from CAS-ual Fridays!

CFC89: Love Song

Create a clean and simple project inspired by a song

This week's challenge is sponsored by CAS-ual Fridays Stamps!  The winner will receive a store credit to spend here!

For this challenge, I had so many songs that I wanted to translate into a card, but just didn't have the right stamp or a great idea for the card itself.  Then I saw it, just sitting there on my crafting table.  The perfect stamp for this paper yummy:

The three little birds made me think of the Bob Marley song, and I thought the sentiment "don't worry about a thing" would make a perfect card for someone needing some encouragement.  I stamped the three little birds and colored them in with Copic markers.  I stamped the sentiment using alphabet stamps by Hero Arts, then masked the birdies and stamped the Zig Zag background, also by Hero Arts.  I added a strip of patterned paper by My Mind's Eye to finish off the card.  Here's a close-up of the three little birds:

How will you be inspired by this challenge?  You have until next Thursday at noon EST to show us!  Play along here.  Thanks so much for looking!

Supplies: card stock, markers: Copic; stamps: Hampton Art (birds), Hero Arts (Zig Zag, alphabets); inks: Tsukineko; patterned paper: My Mind's Eye; corner rounder: We R Memory Keepers

CAS-ual Fridays Sneak Peak Day 3 - RAD

Happy Wednesday!  Today I'm here to show you a sneak peek of one of the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps January release.  The set I'm showcasing is called Rad, and it most certainly is!  This set is perfect for all the boys in your life, but can also be used to make a really stinkin' cute girl's card (I made one today...stay tuned for that!)  Okay, on to the paper yummies:

Michele included a few outlined sentiments in this set (like the word awesome above) that are TO DIE FOR!!!  They stamp so crisply and cleanly, I can hardly stand it!  With all the different words in this set, you can create a TON of different sentiments.  And don't forget about that fun dot border I used along the left side - I sewed over the dashed line that connects them all.

This set is super fun, and will be available in the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps store at midnight EST on Friday, January 18th.  Leave a comment on the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps blog for your chance to win this set and the first two sets that were sneak-peeked!  A random commenter from each day will win that day's set, but you'd better hurry - comments close at midnight EST on Wednesday, January 16.  Good luck, and thanks for looking!

CFC84 - Thanks

Hello, and happy Friday!  I'm back with this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge, and I think you'll really find this to be quite a timely challenge: 

Yep, the challenge is to create a thank you card.  Perfect, right?  With Christmas just behind us, who doesn't need a thank you card (or 10?)?  And the wonderful sponsor for this week's challenge is Ellen Hutson. 

Not only will the winner receive gift certificate to spend in the store, she'll also win a guest designer spot at the CAS-ual Fridays blog!  YAY!  And now for the paper yummies:

For this card, I wanted to paper-piece the butterfly and have a layer whose wings I could pop up.  So I stamped the butterfly image 3 times: once on the background (where the blue and gray papers meet), and twice on the yellow patterned paper. I fussy-cut the two yellow patterned butterflies, then adhered one of them flat onto the background.  With the second yellow butterfly, I placed adhesive only on the "body", not the wings.  I adhered the body of the second on top of the first, then folded the wings upward.

I lightly penciled in a "trail", then machine-stitched over the top with yellow thread:

I added some bling to the butterfly body, and along the trail down to the sentiment:

I really enjoyed making this card!  I hope you'll find the time to play along with this week's challenge.  You have until next Thursday at noon EST to do so!  Thanks so much for looking!

I'm also playing along here:
Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge - Anything Goes


Supplies: card base: The Paper Studio; patterned papers: My Mind's Eye; stamps: Paper Smooches (Flap Happy, Simply Said); ink: Tsukineko (Memento London Fog); rhinestones: The Paper Studio; sewing machine: Kenmore; quilting thread: Americana

Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge - Let's be merry

Happy Monday!  I hope everybody had a wonderful weekend and a great World Card Making Day!  I know I sure did.  I got to sit down and make a few cards, and even had a friend stop by and make one with me.  I played along with the challenges over at the Paper Smooches Blog.  And speaking of Paper Smooches, let's get to the SPARKS challenge for this week!  Since it's the second week of the month, that means...

...yep - it's a sketch challenge!  And here is the sketch we're working with this week:

And I think I've probably said this about every single other sketch that Kim has given us during this design team term, but this sketch truly challenged me.  I struggled with it for the longest time.  But as soon as my brain stopped seeing a big ol' arrow head, but rather 4 triangles at the bottom of the sketch, I had an idea!  And I paired that idea with the new (adorable) Chilly Chums set to create this paper yummy:

I would have NEVER thought to do something like this on a card, and that's why I love Kim Hughes and her sketches. And her stamps.  I started off by cutting a piece of cardstock down to 2.25" x 4.25".  Since, in the sketch, the square on the right (below the word) looks just slightly wider than the square on the left, I cut the cardstock so that I had two pieces: one a 2.25" x 2.25" square, and the other a 2'"x 2.25" rectangle (the difference is pretty subtle).  Then I cut each of those directly in half, diagonally, to create a total of 4 triangles.  I stamped each triangle with the little hat (also from Chilly Chums), then masked it and stamped the adorable animals over the mask.  I colored them in with Copic markers, then positioned them onto my patterned paper so that there was just a slight gap in between each one.  I stamped a sentiment from the Christmas Sampler set (which I'm really loving!) onto some candy cane striped patterned paper, and rounded the top corners.  I stitched around the edges of all the chums, and between each lil' guy as well.  I added some baker's twine to represent the vertical line in the sketch, and finished off the card with Stickles on the hat trims and Glossy Accents on the eyes and beak.  I LOVE THIS CARD!  I think it's so different, and what's not to love about those cute little faces looking back at you?!?  Here are a couple close-ups of the chums:

EEK!  I love those faces!  I'm super excited to see how other people are inspired by this sketch!  I really hope you'll play along.  You have until next Sunday, October 14th at 11:59 pm EST to do so.  You can play along with the challenge here.  The winner will receive a $30 credit to the Paper Smooches store!!  And don't forget the check out the rest of Team 2's wonderful creations, and give em' some love!

Angeline

Erica

Jackie

Savannah

Thanks so much for looking!

Supplies: card base: The Paper Studio (kraft); cardstock: Copic X-press It Blending Card (white); patterned papers: Lawn Fawn (yellow, green), My Mind's Eye (red); stamps: Paper Smooches (Chilly Chums, Christmas Sampler); ink: Tsukineko; markers: Copic; Stickles glitter glue, Glossy Accents: Ranger; corner rounder, hole punch: We R Memory Keepers; sewing machine: Kenmore; quilting thread: Americana; stapler/staples: Ranger (Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher); baker's twine: Divine Twine

World Cardmaking Day, Take 2

Hello again!  I'm back with the second card I made yesterday to celebrate World Cardmaking Day.  This is the card that has me absolutely GIDDY!!!  I played along with the Paper Smooches Blog, and for this card, I followed the sketch that Kim posted (from Operation Write Home).  Here's the sketch:

I've been playing with the teacher stamp from the Smarty Pants set, exchanging the pointer in his hand for other various objects.  Well, I found that the candy cane from the All Yule Need set fits quite well is his little hand, and the hat from the Chilly Chums set looks pretty darn cute on his head too!  I don't know what it is about this card, but I think it may be one of my favorites...ever.  And now for the paper yummies:

So, I changed the sketch ever so slightly by making that center panel a little bit smaller.  I just couldn't bear to cover those plaid and candy cane striped patterned papers!  I love 'em so hard!  I stamped and colored the guy, then paper-pieced his tie.  I gave him the hat and the candy cane, which look so stinkin' cute with a little Stickles on them.  I stamped a sentiment from the All Yule Need set, and added some machine stitching.  Here are some other views:

I would love to remake this card a bunch of times using different patterned papers...maybe tomorrow!

Thanks so much for looking!

I'm playing along here:
Paper Smooches World Cardmaking Day challenge
Simon Says Stamp Celebrates World Cardmaking Day

Supplies: cardstock: The Paper Studio; patterned papers: Lawn Fawn (yellow), My Mind's Eye (red), Authentique (green); stamps: Paper Smooches (Smarty Pants, All Yule Need, Chilly Chums); ink: Tsukineko (Memento Tuxedo Black); markers: Copic; glitter glue: Ranger (Diamond Stickles); corner rounder: We R Memory Keepers; sewing machine: Kenmore; quilting thread: Americana

Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge - Thanks

Hello, and happy Monday!  I hope everybody had a great weekend.  Starting tomorrow, I have another six days off work, so yay for that!  But first, I'm bringing you the new Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge for this week!  Yippee!!  Since it's the fourth week of the month, you know what that means:

Yep, it's a photo inspiration challenge.  And here is the lovely inspiration photo for this week:

I just love the soothing feel of this room, from the pale robin's egg blue walls to the crisp white trims, then that POP of green apples and those yummy apothecary jars.  Swoon!  Those are the elements I was inspired by to create this paper yummy:

First I used a stamp from the Potpourri set to create the background.  I stamped it repeatedly onto a diagonal striped patterned paper by My Mind's Eye.  Then I traced and cut an oval from white cardstock to mimic the white oval mirror in the photo.  I used the straight line stamp from Hullaballoo to create the "shelf", then used the test tubes/beakers from the Great Chemistry set for the "vases":

I used a tiny heart and a flower from Hubby and Wifey on the middle vase, then finished with more flowers, leaves, and the sentiment from the Daisies & Paisleys set.  I colored in the images with Copic and Prismacolor markers.  I added a cute green gingham ribbon, and voila:

How are you inspired by this week's challenge?  I'm really excited to see how other people interpret this photo!  You can play along with the challenge here. You have until Sunday, September 30th at 11:59 PM EST to play along.  The winner will receive a $30 credit to the Paper Smooches store!!  And don't forget the check out the rest of Team 2's wonderful creations, and give em' some love!

Angeline

Erica

Jackie

Savannah

Thanks so much for looking! 

Supplies: cardstock: Georgia Pacific; patterned paper: My Mind's Eye; stamps: Paper Smooches (Potpourri, Great Chemistry, Hubby and Wifey, Hullaballoo, Daisies & Paisleys); inks: Hero Arts (blue), Tsukineko (black); markers: Copic, Prismacolor; ribbon: American Crafts

CFC69 - Boo!

Happy Friday!  I hope everybody has had a great week!  I've been super busy with a lot of non-card projects lately, so I hope to be getting back into the swing of things soon.  Maybe I'll share some of my other projects too.  Anyway, I'm here today with this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge!  This week's challenge is super fun:

CFC69: Incorporate embossing (either kind) into your clean and simple project

And once again, we are sponsored by the FABULOUS Simon Says Stamp!  The winner of this week's challenge will not only receive a gift certificate to Simon's store, but will also win a guest designer spot at CAS-ual Fridays!  Fun stuff!

So I just love embossing.  Whether it's the dry kind or the heat kind, it just adds so much dimension and texture to all kinds of projects.  For this week's challenge, I couldn't decided which kind I wanted to use, so I went with both!  And now for the paper yummies:

I started off with a piece of plaid patterned paper from My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Halloween collection, and embossed it with this texture plate from Lil' Inker Designs.  I added some distress ink over the top of the wood grain to help define it a little bit.  

Then I masked the wood grain so that only the center rectangle was showing, and applied black distress ink inside the rectangle.  I stamped the spider web, spider, and sentiment in Versamark ink (only after using my Embossing Buddy so that the powder wouldn't stick to my inked background), and embossed each in a different color powder.  It's hard to see in the pictures, but the spider is embossed with a glittery embossing powder.

I added a simple ribbon tab, some tiny staples, and colored the diamond on the spider's back orange to match the ribbon:

Which kind of embossing do you prefer?  Show us in this week's challenge!  You have until next Thursday at noon EST to play along!  Thanks so much for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Core'dinations; patterned paper: My Mind's Eye; stamps: Hampton Art (spider, web), Martha Stewart (sentiment); inks: Ranger (Tim Holtz Black Soot, Frayed Burlap), Tsukineko (Versamark); embossing powders: American Crafts (green, black), Recollections (white); texture plate: Lil' Inker Designs; embossing machine: Sizzix; ribbon: The Ribbon Boutique; staples/stapler: Ranger; marker: Copic

CFC68 - Scootin' off to school

Happy Friday, everybody!  Today I'm heading up to Phoenix to go to Hobby Lobby (for the second time this week - didn't realize I needed something the first time. Duh!) and I'm going to hit up a stamp store while I'm up there, since there are no LSS/stamp stores here in Tucson.  Lame-o.  Anyway, I'm looking forward to it.  Ya know what else I'm looking forward to?  This week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge!  YAY! There are some really exciting things in the works over at the CAS-ual Fridays blog.  The first thing (and the only thing we can disclose so far) is a new Girl Friday!  Yep, the very talented Piali Biswas is joining us, starting with this week's challenge!  And here it is:

CFC68: Create a Clean and Simple back to school project

The sponsor for this week's challenge is Pretty Paper Studio.  The winner of this week's challenge will receive a gift certificate to spend in their super cute store!

Ok, so onto the challenge! I love so many of the back-to-school-themed paper collections, but they tend to be geared toward younger children.  I wanted to go a slightly different route with my card, and make one for a "kid" going off to college.  With that in mind, I created this paper yummy:

I was looking for a way to incorporate the scooter from the Paper Smooches Spiffy Scooters set, and when I saw the stack of books from the Smarty Pants set, it just "clicked."  I stamped the scooter onto the graph patterned paper, colored in the lights, then stamped the stack of books onto the seat.  I stamped the apple on top of the books, then stamped the puffs of smoke and the flag coming out the back of the scooter.

I created the sentiment using the Paper Smooches Alphadot set, and stitched around the edge of the graph patterned paper:

I paper pieced the scooter, and popped the "fenders" up on dimensional tape:

Here is another view:

Are you at the top of the class?  We'd love to see your back to school project, and you have until next Thursday at noon EST to play along with this week's challenge.  And don't forget to stay tuned for the big changes coming to CAS-ual Fridays in the near future! Thanks so much for looking!

Supplies: card base: The Paper Studio; patterned papers: My Mind's Eye, Basic Grey; stamps: Paper Smooches; ink: Tsukineko; markers: Copic; corner rounder: We R Memory Keepers; sewing machine: Kenmore; thread: Americana

Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge - Hey diddle diddle

Happy Monday, everybody!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  Today I have a card for this week's Paper Smooches SPARKS Challenge.  Since it's the second week of the month, that means it's time for a designer drafts challenge:

Yep, it's another one of Kim's awesome sketches.  And like I've said before, these sketches have truly challenged me.  But from every challenging sketch has come a card I've been really happy with. And this sketch is no exception.  Here's the sketch:

See, those curved lines just messed with me. My brain wants them to have a purpose, and not just serve as an arbitrary place to change patterned papers or something like that.  I need to have a reason to have something shaped like that on my card.  Dumb, I know, but that's just how my brain works.  So after looking at that sketch for a while, it hit me: those two curvy lines create a shape that looks like a crescent moon.  Then I had the perfect idea for this paper yummy:

 I used that crescent moon to make a baby card based on the nursery rhyme "Hey, diddle diddle."  You know, the part where "the cow jumped over the moon."  I free-hand drew the moon, cut it out of the yellow gingham paper, and stitched around the edges.  I stamped the cow from the Green Acres set onto white cardstock, masking the legs when I inked it so that I could stamp them at an angle to make it look more like the cow was jumping.  After I colored it in, I fussy-cut around it, and boy is that tale skinny!  I stuck the back legs and udders behind the moon, and the front legs on top of the moon.  I adhered the back of the cow down flat to the card, and used foam tape under his face:

I stamped a star from the Space Cadet set onto the blue patterned paper, and drew in a line to make it "hang" from the moon. I used the Alphadot and Graffiti sets to create my sentiment.  I was inspired by this post by Kim Hughes herself where she encouraged us to use stamps in different ways. To create the "Hey", I used the A from Graffiti, but masked off the top part to turn it into an H.  The y is a lower case h turned upside down.  I ruffled some gingham ribbon and hot-glued it around the edge of the blue paper.  I finished off the card with a button and some twine:

I'm really excited to see how other people interpret and use this sketch!  You can play along with the challenge here.  You have until next Sunday, August 19th at 11:59 PM EST to play along.  The winner will receive a $30 credit to the Paper Smooches store!!  And don't forget the check out the rest of Team 2's wonderful creations, and give em' some love!

Angeline

Erica

Jackie

Savannah

Thanks so much for looking!  Now get busy with that sketch! :)

Supplies: cardstock: Core'dinations (kraft) Georgia Pacific (white for stamping); patterned papers: My Mind's Eye; stamps: Paper Smooches; ink: Tsukineko; markers, black pen: Copic; ribbon: American Crafts; button, twine: craft supply; sewing machine: Kenmore; thread: Coats & Clark (yellow), Singer (white)