CFC100 - Absolutely wishing you a happy day

Happy May, and happy Friday!  This week at CAS-ual Fridays is extra special.  Why, you ask? Well, lemme tell ya.  We're celebrating the 100th challenge and our second birthday!  YAY!  So we're having an extra fun challenge with a TON of prizes!  Check it:

CFC 100: We're celebrating with our top 10 challenges of all time! Since one of those challenges was tic tac toe, I've made it into a board of the remaining top 9 challenges! Choose a row to play. Play as often as you'd like, the challenge runs for 2 weeks!

And for this extra special challenge, there are going to be some extra special prizes.  Not only will the winner AND the 4 VIPs receive prizes (um...wow), but the 5 contenders will also win prizes.  That's 10 chances to win, ladies!  This week's sponsor is Ellen Hutson, who will award the winner a $25 gift certificate to spend here.

And the 4 VIPs will receive $15 gift certificates from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps, while each of the five contenders will receive the stamp set of her choice!

Okay, so for this challenge I made a card that fits two of the rows on the tic tac toe board.  Plus bling.  Had I included embossing, it would've fit three of the rows.  LOL.  And now for the paper yummies:

Sorry about the caca photo - I couldn't find the right lighting.  In real life, the "ABSOLUTELY" die cut looks a lot more crisp and shows up better against the gingham patterned paper.  Oh well, you get the idea. I've had this die for at least 6 months, but this was my first time using it.  I don't really know why, 'cause I LOVE it!  I used a corrugated kraft card base and October Afternoon patterned papers, including the flower grouping, which I fussy-cut from a paper.  The die and stamp are from this Simon Says Stamp set.  Add some bling, and voila!  Here are some close-ups:

Oh yeah, by the way, I used the top row of the tic tac toe board (polka dots, kraft, and dies), and the card also fits the left column (polka dots, square card, and birthday).  Plus the bling square.  Which row tickles your fancy?  Play along as many times as you like for this special 2-week challenge!  Thanks so much for looking!

Supplies: card base: Recollections; patterned papers: October Afternoon; die/stamp: Simon Says Stamp; ink: Tsukineko; bling: The Paper Studio

CFC98 - Hello

Happy Friday to all!  I'm here today with a fun new challenge from CAS-ual Fridays!  Check it:

CFC98: Use glitter on your clean and simple project

And the sponsor for this week's challenge is the wonderful Simon Says Stamp.  The winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to spend in the Simon store.  Awesome!

For this week's card, I used one color of Stickles glitter glue over three different colored inks to create this paper yummy:

I started by stamping the solid butterfly from the Paper Smooches Flap Happy set in three different colors of Memento ink.  Then I added the dotted "trail" and the antennae in the same ink color.  I stamped the sentiment in black ink, then applied Diamond Stickles over the trails and the butterflies.  Diamond has got to be my favorite color of Stickles, because it takes on the color of whatever is underneath it and is very versatile.  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: Recollections (black), Stampin' Up (white); stamps: Paper Smooches; inks: Tsukineko; glitter glue: Ranger; corner rounder: We R Memory Keepers

CFC90 - More and more each day

Hello, and happy Friday!  I hope everybody had a wonderful Valentine's Day!  Today I'm here to share a whole lot of exciting things from CAS-ual Fridays.  Not only is today the release day for 3 awesome new stamp sets, which you can find here, it is also the day Michele is announcing the super talented new Design Team members here! And of course, it's also the kick-off to this week's challenge!

CFC90: Use black and white plus one other color in your clean and simple project

And the sponsor for this week's challenge is, of course, CAS-ual Fridays Stamps!  The winner will receive a $20 gift certificate to spend here!

For this week's challenge, I used the brand-spankin' new CAS-ual Fridays Stamps set called Only You.  Now for the paper yummies:

The dots, sentiment, and flourish are all from the Only You set.  I stamped the dots repeatedly to create a background, then stamped the "I love you" and the flourish over the top.  I stamped the "more and more each day" onto the Folded Banner Die from Simon Says Stamp, and it fit just perfectly.  I finished off the card with a little bit o' bling on the flourish.  Here is a close-up:

I really 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: Recollections (black), Stampin' Up! (white); stamps: CAS-ual Fridays Stamps; inks: Tsukineko; banner die: Simon Says Stamp; rhinestones: The Paper Studio

CFC88 - XO

Hello, and happy Friday!  I hope you all had a wonderful week - I know I did ;)  I'm here today with a new challenge from the CAS-ual Fridays blog!  Woo hoo!

CFC88: Love Letters

Use alpha stamps, dies, stickers, etc. on your clean and simple project

And the sponsor for this week's challenge is once again the fabulous Ellen Hutson!  The winner of this challenge will receive a $25 gift card to spend here!

So for this week's challenge, I chose to incorporate letters onto my card in a few different ways.  Check out this paper yummy:

The first (and most subtle way) I added letters to my card was by stamping the heart, which had x's and o's on it already.  I stamped it in red ink, cut it out, then colored over it with a red Copic marker.  The next way I incorporated text was on my tag.  I stamped the tag (from this stamp set) onto some text patterned paper by Stampin' Up!, then cut out the tag.  For the card base, I cut down a piece of self-adhesive cork to be the same size as my card.  I "stamped" on the cork using a Cuttlebug folder!  Yep, I just applied black ink to the raised side of the embossing folder, then laid my cork face-down onto the inked portion.  It worked really well!  To finish off the card, I added some glittery stickers (from Making Memories) to the heart.  Here's a close-up:

I hope you will 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: Georgia Pacific; cork: Recollections; patterned paper: Stampin' Up!; stamps: Simon Says Stamp & Kelly Purkey (tag), Recollections (heart); inks: Tsukineko; marker: Copic; embossing folder: Cuttlebug; glitter alpha stickers: Making Memories; ribbon: Offray; corner rounder punch: We R Memory Keepers 

Paper Smooches Sneak Peeks

Happy Friday!  For this week's CAS-ual Fridays post, click here or scroll down.

If you're here for a Paper Smooches sneak peek, you've found the right place!  Thanks so much for hopping over!  I am over the moon excited that Kim invited me to help sneak peek her new product release!!!  Here are the deets:

Paper Smooches is showing off their CHA release during the entire month of January.  37 designers are participating along with the PS DT, so there will be a ton for projects to inspire you this month.  Paper Smooches is known for their fun and whimsical hand-drawn stamps.  They decided that it was time to broaden their product line to include DIES and wood mount stamps!  

I have a project to share using NEW PS product that releases on February 1, 2013 at www.papersmoochesstamps.com along with many retail stores around the globe.

You will find a new blog link (or two) to follow every day in January at the PS Blog. 

Paper Smooches is giving away $500 worth of product!  Hidden on FIVE of the participating blogs is a prize package worth $100 each. The prize includes a variety of stamp sets, wood mounts and dies.  Comment on as many blogs as you can to increase your chances to be one of the five winners.

Deadline is January 30^th – winners will be announced on the PS Blog on January 31^st.

The product I'm giving you a sneaky peek of is one of Kim's new dies, Prickly Bloom.  I've used it to create these paper yummies:

The large flower shape is the Prickly Bloom die.  I cut it from some fun polka-dot paper, then added some stamped stitching from the Santa Paws stamp set. For the stem, I used the clothesline from the Pip Squeaks set (which is also where the little heart is from), and the leaves are from Daisies & Paisleys.  The sentiment is from Flap Happy.  I stitched around the edges of a Ranger kraft tag, then added the stamping and die cut.  Here are some other views:

I also made a second card using the Prickly Bloom die:

On this card, I wanted to use the die cut as a stand-alone focal point, without the stem and leaves.  Again, I die-cut it from some patterned paper, but then used Copic markers to add some shading.  Then I scored each "petal" from the tip to the center and folded them upward.  I stamped and fussy-cut a butterfly from the Flap Happy stamp set for the center of the Prickly Bloom.  I created the sentiment using the We Connect set, and stamped it in white ink.  I also created the stamped scalloped edge using a solid circle stamp from Hullabaloo.  Here are some other views of this sweet card:

Thanks SO MUCH for looking!  I am honored to be a part of this sneak peek blog hop.  Have a great day!

Card 1
Supplies: card base: Recollections; patterned papers: Basic Grey; tag: Ranger; stamps, die: Paper Smooches; ink: Tsukineko (Memento Tuxedo Black); sewing machine: Kenmore; quilting thread: Americana; seam binding: Hug Snug; baker's twine: Divine Twine

Card 2
Supplies: card base, rhinestones: The Paper Studio; card stock: The Paper Studio (kraft), Georgia Pacific (white); patterned papers: Basic Grey; stamps, die: Paper Smooches; ink: Joann Craft Essentials (white), TPC Studio (blue); markers: Copic; seam binding: Hug Snug  

CFC82 - Sorry!

Happy Friday to all!  I'm back with this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge:

CFC82: Use creative scoring on your clean and simple project

And the sponsor for this challenge is none other than Scor-Pal!  The winner of this week's challenge will receive her very own Scor-Buddy!  Yayness!

I love the look of decorative/creative scoring on cards, I just wish I could remember to use it more often!  For this challenge, I racked my brain trying to think of clever ways to incorporate scoring, but nothing was clicking.  Then I decided to put to paper a card idea I've been mulling over in my head, and it hit me!  And now for the paper yummy:

So, this card was inspired by the little game piece stamp from the Paper Smooches Knick Knacks set.  It looks just like the game piece from the board game "Sorry!".  So I stamped it in each of the four colors from the game, then created the word "Sorry!" using the Alphadot stamp set.  Then I used my Scor-Pal to create a grid pattern around the edges of the card, to simulate a game board.  I added some Glossy Accents to the game pieces to finish off the card:

How will you even the score?  You have until next Thursday at noon EST to play along with this week's challenge, and I hope you do!  Thanks for looking!

Supplies: card stock: Stampin' Up! (white), Recollections (black); stamps: Paper Smooches; inks: TPC Studio (red, blue, yellow, green), Tsukineko (black); Glossy Accents: Ranger; scoring board: Scor-Pal

CFC81 - Believe

Happy Friday!  I hope everybody has had a wonderful week.  I'm here today with the super-fun CAS-ual Fridays challenge for this week!  Here it is:

CFC81: Knotty or nice

Incorporate knots into your clean and simple project

And since it's the first challenge of the month, that means we're sponsored by the fabulous Simon Says Stamp!  But not only will the winner of this challenge receive a gift certificate to spend in their store, she will also be a future guest designer at the CAS-ual Fridays challenge blog!

So, onto the challenge.  I really had a hard time deciding how I wanted to incorporate knots onto my card.  I kept thinking about the knots in a wood grain pattern, but wasn't sure if that would count.  So I decided I would learn how to make French knots to use on this paper yummy:

I used this tutorial, which was great and super easy to follow.  I used the All Yule Need stamp set from Paper Smooches to stamp and paper-piece the tree and star.  I made the French knot "ornaments" using red embroidery floss.  I cut the December calendar from the Simple Stories Handmade Holiday 6x6 pad, and stamped the "believe" from the Paper Smooches Christmas Sampler set under the numbers.  I stamped a star over the 25.  Here's a close-up of the knots and calendar:

We'd love to have you play along with this week's challenge!  You have until next Thursday at noon EST to get knotty with us.  Thanks for looking!

Supplies: corrugated card base: Recollections; patterned papers: Simple Stories (red plaid, calendar), Lawn Fawn (green chevron for tree, yellow for star), Echo Park (tree trunk); stamps: Paper Smooches; ink: Ranger (Tim Holtz Distressing Ink in Frayed Burlap); embroidery floss: DMC

Simple Card Saturday and CFC49

Happy Saturday! I hope everybody had a great week and is settling nicely into the weekend. Today's simple card is based in the sketch this week at CAS-ual Fridays. Have you checked out the blog makeover? Karen completely re-designed it, and Michele revealed the new look yesterday. It looks great! Here is a little sample of the new graphics, along with the sketch:

Now, since the term for the new DT doesn't officially start until May, I'm just playing along for fun until then. Let me give you a little background about today's card. I've recently SPARKED a little bloggy friendship with a super sweet and talented gal named Glenda. I think I first "met" her over on the Hero Arts Flickr group; but here lately, it seems as though everywhere I look, there's Glenda winning a challenge, or winning another challenge or being named May's guest designer at Paper Smooches (squeal!). I mean, the girl is on a roll, peeps! So I used the two square elements in the sketch as inspiration to create this paper yummy for Glenda:

I cut the dice using the Cricut Indie Art cartridge and patterned paper by Echo Park. I created the sentiment using the Ginger alpha stamps from American Crafts. I added a bit of machine stitching and finished it off with some embroidery floss. Here's a close-up:
I hope her "roll" continues (**wink**)! I'm sending this card to Glenda, but first I'm playing along here:

CAS-ual Fridays CFC49: Sketch

Card Makin' Mamas Getting Girly Challenge

Crafty Catz Challenge 129: Stripes or Checks (I went with checks)

Paper Sundaes Challenge #116: Anything Goes

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Recollections (brown), Georgia Pacific (white); patterned paper: October Afternoon; die cut machine: Cricut Expression; cartridge: Indie Art; stamps: American Crafts; ink: Tsukineko; brown pen (to darken sentiment): American Crafts; floss: DMC; sewing machine: Kenmore; thread: Singer; hole punch: We R Memory Keepers; dimensional adhesive: American Crafts

Paper Smooches SPARKS DT call - You are appreciated

Hello, all! Happy Tuesday! I'm back with another card for the Paper Smooches SPARKS DT call. There are just so many wonderful inspiration photos to choose from, that I'm not sure I can stop! I think I'm going to have to cut myself off at 5. Anyway, here is the inspiration photo I used this time:

I just LOVE that dark pink wall with the big ol' white polka dots, and the way it's paired with the green and white damask bedspread and pillows. And then that pop of black... I don't know that I ever would've put those together, but I kinda' want this room in my house now! I incorporated those elements into my card, and came up with this paper yummy:

I stamped the polka dots from the Paper Smooches Geo-Graphic set in Versamark ink to create the background, and embossed with white embossing powder. The damask "frame" stamp normally has the word "welcome" as the sentiment. I masked the "welcome", stamped onto patterned paper with Versamark, embossed in white, then replaced the sentiment with a Paper Smooches stamp from the Word Salad set. Even though the damask stamp isn't Paper Smooches (it's American Crafts), it was just too perfect to not use on this card. I finished it off with a strip of black cardstock, ribbon, and some buttons.

I just love the kind of "retro glam" feel this card has. Too fun!

I'm playing along with these challenges:

Card Makin Mamas Getting Girlie Challenge

CropStop Challenge #67: Bows and Buttons

Ooh-La-La Creations Challenge #103: Bold & Bright

Paper Pretties Monday Challenge: Embossing (I used heat embossing)

Paper Sundaes Challenge #116: Anything Goes

Pile It On #16: Pop it up (I popped a button up onto the center of the bow)

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Core'dinations (pink), Georgia Pacific (white), Recollections (black); patterned paper: DCWV; stamps: Paper Smooches (polka dots, sentiment), American Crafts (damask frame); inks: Tsukineko (Versamark for embossing, Versafine for sentiment); embossing powder: American Crafts; heat gun: Marvy Uchida; ribbon, buttons: 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 - Just sitting here...

Happy Saturday and St. Patrick's Day to everybody! I definitely had the luck of the Irish bestowed upon me, as I just found out that I'M GOING TO BE PUBLISHED!!! Yay! This will be my first publication, and I'm over-the-top excited. I cannot wait until August when I finally get to see my work in a magazine. I'm SUPER stoked!

Okay, on to my card for Simple Card Saturday. This week I'm playing along with the challenge at CAS-ual Fridays:

CFC44: It's as Easy as 1-2-3 Create a Clean And Simple project using

1. A Pattern

2. An Image

3. A Sentiment

I'm also playing along with the Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger:

I was inspired by the lovely chairs and the neutral color palette with pops of color. For today's card, I wanted to paper-piece this cute chair stamp from the Hero Arts "Wishing You Were Here" set, which took care of both the pattern and the image components of the CAS-ual Fridays challenge. And of course this sentiment included in that stamp set was just perfect. Now for the paper yummies:

I wanted the "wall" behind the chair to look as if it had paneling or beadboard on it, so I used my Scor-Pal to create some vertical lines on the white cardstock:

I wanted my ribbon to go behind the chair but not cover up the legs, so I cut a slit in the paper on each side of the chair stamp and wove the ribbon through to the back, then out to the front again, and tied it in a bow. I finished the card off with some machine stitching and stamped the sentiment onto the patterned "rug". Here's another close-up:
I'm playing along here:

CAS-ual Fridays CFC44: Easy as 1-2-3

Cupcake Craft Challenge 183: Going Dotty

Friday Mashup #50 sketch

Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger: Simple Elegance

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Georgia Pacific; patterned paper: Recollections; stamps: Hero Arts; ink: Recollections; scoring tool: Scor-Pal; ribbon: Ribbon Boutique; craft knife: Fiskars; sewing machine: Kenmore; thread: Singer