CFC93 - Breathe (It will be ok)

Happy Friday to all!  I hope everybody had a great week!  I'm here today with a new challenge from CAS-ual Fridays:

CFC93: Color blocks

Use blocks of color on your clean and simple project

The sponsor for this week's challenge is CutCardStock.  The winner of this week's challenge will receive a $25 store credit to spend here!  Awesome!

Have you ever made a card for a challenge or for your stash, only to realize that the sentiment you've chosen is exactly the one you needed to hear?  That's exactly the case with this paper yummy:

I stamped the "it will be ok" sentiment in Versamark ink on each color of cardstock, then embossed the "breathe" in white to make it pop.  I added some little bling down the right side, and rounded two opposite corners of the card base.  Here's a close-up:

I hope you'll 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! (white), Core'dinations (all colored card stocks), stamps: CAS-ual Fridays Stamps; ink: Tsukineko (Versamark); embossing powder: Recollections; notebook paper die: Papertrey Ink; die cutting machine: Cuttlebug by ProvoCraft; bling: K & Company; corner rounder: We R Memory Keepers

World Cardmaking Day, Take 1

Hi, everybody!  I hope you had a wonderful World Cardmaking Day yesterday, full of creativity and plenty of time to play!  I had the chance to sit down and make a few cards, and I'll be sharing two of them today.  I'm playing along at the Paper Smooches Blog, where Kim has issued 3 different challenges: 1. use pink in your card (for Breast Cancer Month), 2. make a single layer card, or 3. make a card using a sketch from Operation Write Home.  I combined two of the challenges to create this paper yummy:

I really struggle with single-layer cards, so I wanted to challenge myself to make one.  And since I love making Christmas cards in non-traditional colors, I incorporated the pink challenge into this card as well.  First, I die cut the double-ended banner die from Lil' Inker Designs, as well as the Layerz Mat Stack 1 Die from Papertrey Ink.  I temporarily adhered them onto the right side of my card to be used as masks.  With the masks in place, I stamped the large solid circle stamp from the Paper Smooches Hullabaloo set around the edge of the larger die to create a scalloped border around it.  I also stamped the houndstooth background  from the Debonair set using the second generation stamping technique to give it a worn, distressed look. Then I removed the larger die cut mask and, with the banner die cut still in place, adhered only the negative of the larger die cut in place to use like a stencil.  I applied the green ink using a finger dabber.  I outlined both die-cut shapes with a black Copic Multiliner to give them more definition, then stamped the sentiment from the Paper Smooches Christmas Sampler set.  I finished off the card with some holly leaves and cute pink berries from the Chilly Chums set.

Here's a close-up of the cute little holly leaves and some Stickled pink berries:

I'll be back in a little while to share my second card, which totally has me GIDDY!!!  It may be one of my faves to date.  Thanks for looking!

I'm playing along here: 

Paper Smooches World Cardmaking Day challenge

Simon Says Stamp Celebrates World Cardmaking Day

Supplies: cardstock: Stampin' Up!; stamps: Paper Smooches (Hullabaloo, Christmas Sampler, Chilly Chums, Debonair); inks: Tsukineko (Memento Tuxedo Black), Ranger (Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Worn Lipstick and Crushed Olive); dies: Papertrey Ink (Layerz Mat Stack 1), Lil' Inker Designs (double-ended banner from Flags & Tags); black pen: Copic; corner rounder: We R Memory Keepers; glitter glue: Ranger (Diamond Stickles)

I'm just a girl...

...a Girl Friday, that is! I'm so excited to announce that I am now a Design Team member at CAS-ual Fridays!!! Check it:

This is my first design team spot ever, so it's doubly exciting! I am seriously so honored and giddy to have been chosen for this, especially given the talent of the current DT. And Michele did a FANTASTIC job of picking the new design team members. No, really. It's pretty awesome! It's an international group of seriously talented designers. And Michele has created an additional CAS-ual Fridays Facebook design team (genius!). All in all, there are seven new design team members at the blog, and 5 new designers for Facebook inspiration! We will commence our DT term in May. AND, the look of the blog is getting a bit of a makeover in the coming weeks. So there's TONS of exciting things going on at CAS-ual Fridays! Ok, what are you still doing here? GO CHECK OUT THE BIG REVEAL AND THIS WEEK'S CHALLENGE!!!

(To see my take on this week's challenge, keep reading.)

So, my term as a designer technically hasn't started yet, but I'm going to be playing along with the challenges just for fun until we officially start next month. Here is this week's challenge:

Using the color wheel, choose one color and it's opposite. Create a project using those 2 colors-adding neutrals is ok!

I picked yellow from the color wheel, and it's opposite is a dark violet color. I created a card to say thank you to Michele for picking me to serve as a DT member. Now for the paper yummies:

I stamped the background using a border stamp from Mint Motif. The sentiment is by Papertrey Ink, stamped on a Nestabilities die cut. I mounted the white die cut onto black cardstock and hand-cut a mat for it, since the next size up in the set was a little too big. I added a simple violet ribbon and finished it off with a pearl. Thanks again, Michele!

I'm linking up here:

CAS-ual Fridays CFC48: Opposites Attract

Supplies: cardstock: Georgia Pacific (white), Recollections (black), stamps: Mint Motif (border), Papertrey Ink (sentiment); ink: Clearsnap (yellow), Tsukineko (black); cutting die: Spellbinders; die cutting machine: Cuttlebug by Provocraft; ribbon: Offray; pearl: The Paper Studio

Paper Smooches April Guest Designer, week 2

Hello, everybody! I'm here to share the cards for the second week of my guest designer term at the Paper Smooches blog. This week, Kim chose to feature these two cards, which were both made using the Get Outta Town stamp set. It's SO crazy cute! Lotsa great images and sentiments!

For the first card, I created a little island scene. My"island" is actually the oval around the cameo in the Pretty Momma set (which I used in last week's cards). I love finding other ways to use stamps! And if you'll look closely here, you'll see another example: the bird up in the sky is what I used to create the waves below. I just stamped him a bunch of times in succession, and fussy-cut each layer. I love the way it turned out. Now for the paper yummies:

So I've never really used watercolor paper, but I had some in my stash. So I pulled it out, and used it to make my sky background. But instead of using watercolor pencils, I used Tim Holtz distress ink and a blending tool to apply it to the paper. Then I went in with a water brush and randomly added some "clouds". I also used the cloud stamps from Paper Smooches Metropolis set. I stamped them in white ink, then colored them in with a white gel pen. I stamped and second-hand stamped the bird so one would look further away. Here's a closer view:

For my other card, I just HAD to use the cute luggage stamp. And it begged me to paper-piece it. The stamp itself is three stacked suitcases, but I just kept stacking them. First I stamped the Hip to be Square background onto the natural colored cardstock (very subtly - it may not be visible in the pictures). Then I stamped the luggage stamp three times, and fussy-cut the right edge of the cardstock along the lines of the luggage. Then I paper-pieced each suitcase using patterned paper from the Echo Park This & That Charming 6x6 pad. I colored the clasps and handles using Prismacolor markers. More paper yummies:

For the sentiment, I die-cut a ticket from ledger paper (from the same pad as the luggage) using a Papertrey Ink ticket strip die. I stamped the sentiment onto the ticket, and tied it on with baker's twine. Close-up:
I still can't believe I'm actually guest designer for Paper Smooches...although I am on a bit of a roll here lately with all kinds of exciting news coming my way. Stay tuned... :)

Card 1 is playing along with these challenges:

Lawnscaping Challenge 31: Coloring

Little Red Wagon Spring Colors Challenge

The Ribbon Carousel Sketch challenge

Card 2 is playing here:

Crafty Catz Challenge #127: CAS

Paper Pretties Wednesday Challenge PWC201: 2 or more designer papers (I used 10!)

The Pixie Cottage Challenge 116: paper piecing

CAS-ual Fridays CFC45: Thanks for all you do

Happy Friday! I hope everybody had a great week! I'm back with a card for this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge:

CFC45: The Bold & The Beautiful-

create a Clean And Simple project using a pastels and black

This card is a little different than my usual style. I think I do "cutesy" better than I do "pretty", but I kept seeing all these beautiful cards with this Large Flower Background stamp from Hero Arts and thought it looked interesting. Then when Gayatri sent me a Valentine's Day card using this stamp and I got to see what it looked like in person, I definitely wanted in on the action. I stamped it on kraft cardstock and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I colored the big flowers and leaves with Prismacolor markers, and it really made the white POP! Here are the paper yummies:

After I colored what I wanted to, I used a craft knife to partially cut some of the leaves, then I curled them up to make them really dimensional. I backed the stamped kraft cardstock with some black cardstock for a little "unexpected" touch, since you don't see black cardstock anywhere else. Here's a close-up:
I added a scalloped strip, a sentiment by Papertrey Ink, some ribbon, baker's twine, and a button to finish it off. I'm playing along with these challenges:

CAS-ual Fridays CFC45: The Bold and the Beautiful

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #161: Sketch

The Ribbon Carousel Challenge RCC45: Baking With The Twinery

The Pink Elephant TPE140: Get Krafty

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Georgia Pacific (white), Recollections (kraft, black), Core'dinations (green); stamps: Hero Arts (flower background), Papertrey Ink (sentiment); inks: Tsukineko (watermark, black); embossing powder: American Crafts; markers: Prismacolor; craft knife: Fiskars; punches: Fiskars (scalloped edge), We R Memory Keepers (corner rounder); ribbon: The Ribbon Boutique; baker's twine: Divine Twine; button: craft supply

Lawnscaping Challenge: Inspired by (A+ teacher thank you card)

Happy Wednesday (wow - I totally just had to suppress the urge to make a hump day joke. LOL)! I hope everybody's week is going well so far. Today I have a cute card to say thank you to a teacher. Originally, I started making this card for the Hero Arts 90 minute scramble on Flickr. But, since I joined the scramble over half way through, and then my lovely laptop decided to freeze every time I inserted my SD card, I missed the cut-off to upload my card. (I think Donna allowed my card even after the cut-off. So sweet.) Anyway, I went back later and added some finishing touches that I didn't have time to do the first go-around. I love the way it turned out. I'm playing along with several challenges with this card. One of them is the Lawnscaping challenge. I don't have any Lawn Fawn stamps (yet!), but they're not required. Maybe I'll win the challenge, and get my first set! LOL! I love their challenge this week:

You can see my inspiration at the bottom of this post. Now for the paper yummies:I found this really cute alphabet patterned paper at Michael's last week (and they were 6/$1.00. Score!), and it looks super with these patterned papers by Echo Park, My Mind's Eye, and Recollections. I paired them with some really cute stamps from Hero Arts, Papertrey Ink, and Mint Motif:
I am loving this natural-color quilting thread right now - it's so nice and thick. I used it to straight stitch along the top of the thank you banner. I also zigzag stitched down at the bottom of the card. For a fun button treatment, I stamped a star in a pale blue ink on natural cardstock and cut it out. I adhered it to the middle of this green wooden button, and filled it with Glossy Accents. I love the way it turned out. Here is a close-up:

I'm playing along with these challenges:

Creative Inspirations Challenge 155: Anything Goes

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge 161: Sketch

Lawnscaping Challenge: Inspired By

The Shabby Tea Room Week 106: Pennant Party

This is the card that inspired mine (from Kristina Werner - LOVE her!)

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Core'dinations (blue), Recollections (natural); patterned papers: Echo Park (yellow, green), Recollections (alphabet, red), My Mind's Eye (cream/graph); stamps: Hero Arts (ledger, thank you flags), Papertrey Ink ("notes", A+, star), Mint Motif ("teacher"); ink: Tsukineko (black), Recollections (pale blue); Ribbon: Hobby Lobby; wood button: Michael's; Glossy Accents: Ranger; sanding block: Making Memories; sewing machine: Kenmore; quilting thread: Americana

Simple Card Saturday - "Welcome baby" clear card

Happy Saturday (well, at least when I started this post :)! Today I taught a kids' class at Real Deals (an "all about me" chipboard book), and everybody's project turned out really cute. I was very impressed with all the kiddos and their books. Amy and I also made up some samples for upcoming classes, so I'll be posting those in the next few days.

For this week's Simple Card Saturday, I'm playing along with a few challenges. One of them is the CAS-ual Fridays challenge (I was a VIP in their last challenge - squeal!). Here is their challenge:

I'm also playing along with Young Crafters Unite challenge (I was also a recent winner there! Double squeal!). Here is their challenge:

I hadn't done a clear card in years, so this was a good challenge for me. I also don't have any clear cardstock, but I did have some "presentation covers", which I love. They're frosted rather than being completely transparent, but you can still see through them, and I LOVE the effect they give. Now for the paper yummies:

It may be difficult to tell from the picture, but the yellow striped paper with the big polka dots is actually inside the front of the card. The only pieces on the front of the card are the cardstock piece with the sentiment, the ribbon, and the felt baby buggy. I just ADORE the way the frosted presentation cover gives this card such a soft look! I had actually planned to use it on a different card, but wasn't wild about the way it was turning out. So it was sitting on my table when I started making this card, and I thought I'd just see how it looked. As soon as I put my patterned paper inside, it just clicked! Love it when that happens! Anyway, I stamped the big polka dots using the "Line Dots" cling stamp from Hero Arts. I really like the way it looks on the yellow striped paper! The sentiment stamp is from Papertrey Ink's "Simple Sentiments" set. I used Memento London Fog ink on both stamps. The felt puffy is from KI Memories. This picture shows a little bit better that the patterned paper is inside the front of the card:

And here's another angle, showing all the frosted goodness:

Love it!

This card is playing along here:

CAS-ual Fridays CFC #42: Hey, Baby!

Young Crafters Unite Challenge #7: Clear Cards

One Stop Craft Challenge #172: Button It

The Ribbon Carousel RCC 42: Anything Goes

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: presentation cover: GBC; patterned paper: SEI; cardstock: The Paper Company; stamps: Hero Arts (polka dots), Papertrey Ink (sentiment); ink: Memento (London Fog); felt baby buggy: KI Memories; ribbon: Hobby Lobby; corner rounder: We R Memory Keepers

With Sympathy

Here is a card I made using my new "This & That Graceful" 6x6 pad from Echo Park. There are some really lovely patterns in this pad!!! And they are double sided. I thought these particular patterns would make a sympathy card that is sure to cheer anybody up. Luckily, I don't know anybody in need of a sympathy card, but they're great to have on hand. The light wood grain pattern is the back side of the large floral print, which has a great variety of colors. I used a stamp from Papertrey Ink, a Nestabilities die, and a scallop edge punch by Fiskars. Now for the paper yummies:

I am entering this card here:

Always Crafting "Anything Goes" challenge

Do You Stack Up "Distress" challenge

Lily Pad Cards "Patterned Paper" challenge

Ooh-la-la Creations Challenge #99

Paper Pretties PWC194 : Use punches or die cuts

Simon Says Stamp "Use 3 different papers"

The Pixie Cottage "Buttons and Bows" challenge

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Recollections (kraft), Georgia Pacific (white); patterned papers: Echo Park; stamp: Papertrey Ink; inks: Tsukineko (black), Ranger (distress); die: Nestabilities by Spellbinders; die cut machine: Cuttlebug by Provocraft; scallop edge punch: Fiskars; distressing tool: Imaginisce; ribbon: Hobby Lobby; button: craft supply; baker's twine: Divine Twine; sewing machine: Kenmore; thread: Singer; dimensional adhesive: American Crafts

Simple Card Saturday - Make a wish

Happy Saturday (at least for a few more minutes)! This is my CAS card for the week, and I'm playing along with CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #40: Tie One On

CFC40: With Mardi Gras in a few days we thought it would be fun to have a gallery full of Clean And Simple Party cards with ribbon.

And now for the paper yummies:

This may have been the fastest card I've ever made, and I think it turned out pretty darn cute!

I'm also playing along at:

Cupcake Craft Challenges Entwined challenge

Little Red Wagon Twinkle, Twinkle challenge

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Georgia Pacific; patterned paper: Echo Park; stamps: Papertrey Ink (sentiment), Hero Arts (star); ink: Clearsnap; corner rounder: We R Memory Keepers; ribbon: Ribbon Bowtique; button: craft supply; baker's twine: Divine Twine

CPS Day 12 - Welcome baby

Happy Wednesday! Here is my card for day 12 of the Card Positioning Systems 5th anniversary celebration. Here is the sketch (#118):

I just got the "Whale Wishes" stamp set and matching die from Papertrey Ink, and thought it would work really well with this sketch. I also thought that these papers from My Mind's Eye were so cute for a baby card - I especially LOVE those letters! I stamped the whale in gray ink, then applied Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Antique Linen to help the whale match the gray in the patterned papers. I curved the sentiment stamp on my acrylic block to match the curve on the circle die cut. Now for the paper yummies:

I added some straight gray stitching around the outer edge of the alphabet patterned paper, then zig-zag stitched around the circle. I stamped the little red hearts coming out of the whale's blow hole. I love this little guy! Here's a closer look:

I am also playing along with:

Lily Pad Cards patterned paper challenge

Paper Play Challenges "Love Letters" challenge

Crafty Emma's Store "Lots of Layers" challenge

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: card base: The Paper Studio; cardstock (for stamping): Georgia Pacific; patterned papers: My Mind's Eye; stamps: Papertrey Ink; whale die: Papertrey Ink; die cutting machine: Cuttlebug; ink: Memento (gray), Staz-On (red), Ranger (Tim Holtz Distress Ink); ribbon: craft supply; sewing machine: Kenmore; thread: Singer; dimensional adhesive: American Crafts

Happy Valentine's Day card

Here is a Valentine's Day card I made for the Hero Arts 2012 Valentine card exchange on Flickr. There were 57 gals who participated in the exchange, and it was a lot of fun! I made this card for Sheila in Wisconsin, and received 2 (yes 2!) lovely cards from Gayatri in Australia. How cool is that?!?

Here's a close-up of the rosette, on top of which I stacked a pink button and a red felt heart that I Stickled:

And since the card was too bulky for me to want to send it in a regular envelope, I decided to send it in a bubble mailer. And that gave me an excuse to decorate the regular envelope:

I hope Sheila enjoyed the card. And I hope to be part of the next exchange. Thanks for looking!

Supplies: card base/envelope: The Paper Studio; cardstock (black, kraft): Recollections; patterned papers: October Afternoon; ticket strip die/stamps: Papertrey Ink; "happy" alphabet dies: Sizzix (Rat-a-tat font); alphabet stickers: Cosmo Cricket; "day": handwritten with black Recollections pen, then Versamark pen and embossed with American Crafts black glitter embossing powder; rosette: Dritz; twine: Offray; red felt heart: American Crafts; button: craft supply; glitter glue: Ranger; white pen: Signo Uniball; machine stitching