CFC104 - Celebrate

Happy Friday!  I hope everybody had a great week.  I'm here today with this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge.  This week's challenge is especially near to my heart, because this is my last challenge as a Girl Friday. :..( I have SO enjoyed being on this design team for a multitude of reasons.  One, it was my first ever design team "gig", so it'll always be extra special to me. And I felt so honored to be part of such a wonderfully talented team.  I mean, these girls do CAS like nobody's business.  For reals.  And the players are so talented too!  But mostly, I enjoyed being on this team because Michele is so wonderful to work for.  She's got it together!  Ladies, if you ever get the chance to become a member of her design team, DO IT!  I will really miss being a Girl Friday.  But...I do have some very happy news!  (And commenter JanR. guessed my secret last week, so she will be getting a little something special from me.)  What is the secret, you ask?  Drum roll please..................I'M HAVING A BABY!  Yep, I'm pregnant with my first baby, and we could not be more excited!  For another chance to win a little prize from me, leave a comment guessing when my due date is. The first person to guess it or come closest will be the winner.  Okay okay, less talky, more CAS-ual Fridays challenge.  That is what you came here for, right?  Ok, check it:

And the sponsor for this week's challenge is the wonderful Ellen Hutson.  The winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to spend here.  YAY!

Okay, so when I first thought about what to make for this challenge, my mind immediately went to the Happy Pinwheels stamp set from Unity Stamps and Simple Stories.  This set not only has these super cute pinwheels, but it also has a bunch of cute little sentiment flags, perfect for this paper yummy:

This card came together pretty darn quickly.  Two stamps, some paper-piecing, and a couple of buttons, and BAM!  Done!  Here's 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: Georgia Pacific (white), Core-dinations (kraft); patterned papers: Echo Park; stamps: Unity Stamps/Simple Stories; ink: Tsukineko; buttons: craft supply

CFC103 - High 5

Hello, and happy Friday!  I can't believe it's already going to be June.  This year is just flying by so far!  I hope the rest of the year does too, because I have a very special visitor coming in November.  Rather than come right out and say it, let's see who can read between the lines and guess what I'm talking about (leave a comment with your guess and I'll send the first correct commenter a little prize).  I can tell you that congratulations will certainly be in order.  And speaking of congratulations, let's check out this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge:

The sponsor for this week's challenge is CAS-ual Fridays Stamps.  The winner will receive the stamp set of her choice from the store!  Woot woot!

Maybe I've been working around too many guys at the fire department, but instead of using the actual word "congratulations" on my card, I chose this sentiment for my paper yummy:

Giving high-five is synonymous with congratulations (at least on my crew) so I figured that would suffice for a card too.  I combined the high 5 stamp with the circle border stamp from the Woot Woot set, then placed Rain Dots in the centers of the circles.  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!; stamps: CAS-ual Fridays Stamps; ink: Tsukineko; rain dots: Fiskars; corner rounder: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

CFC102: Thanks for your service

Hello, and happy Friday!  I hope everybody has had a great week and is ready for the holiday weekend (at least in the US).  I, for one, could use a 3-day weekend.  And in honor of this commemoration, we're having a special challenge at CAS-ual Fridays!  Check it:

CFC102: Red, white & blue

Incorporate red, white, and blue into your clean and simple project.

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

While it wasn't specifically part of the challenge to create something patriotic or fit for military personnel, my mind went straight to the Paper Smooches Circle of Honor stamp set, and I couldn't NOT go that route. And now for the paper yummies:

First I stamped the sentiment using two different colors of Memento ink and some masking, then placed the stars around the sentiment in a diagonal cascading pattern.  I offset the star outline and stamped it in the opposite ink color for a fun look, then placed a rhinestone in the center of each one.  Here is a close-up:

I hope you have a safe and sound holiday weekend, and I hope you'll play along with this challenge!  You have until next Thursday at noon EST to do so.  Thanks so much for looking!

Supplies: card stock: Stampin' Up!; stamps: Paper Smooches; inks: Tsukineko; rhinestones: Hampton Art; corner rounder: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

CFC101 - Just thinking about you

Hello again, and happy Friday! I hope you had a chance to play along with the CAS-ual Fridays big birthday bash, because today we're comin' at ya' with another fun new challenge.  Check it:

CFC101: Create a clean and simple project featuring stamping on patterned paper

And the sponsor for this week's challenge is CAS-ual Fridays Stamps!  WOOT!  The winner will receive the stamp set of her choice from the store.  Awesome!

For this week's card, I used three different patterned papers, and stamped on all of them to create this paper yummy:

I used patterned papers from Echo Park along with stamps from the Calm & Gentle and Beanstalks stamp sets.  Here's a close-up of all the patterns and the stamping:

I hope you'll be inspired to play along with us this week.  You have until next Thursday at noon EST to do so.  Thank you so much for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Core'dinations; patterned papers: Echo Park; stamps: CAS-ual Fridays Stamps; inks: Tsukineko; corner rounder: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

CFC99 - Like a boss

Happy Friday to all!  I'm here with an extra special CAS-ual Fridays challenge for ya!  Check it:

CFC99: Create a clean and simple birthday card

This challenge is extra special, because

1. It commemorates Michele's birthday,

2. You have 2 whole weeks to play along, and

3.  The winner will receive an extra big prize from our sponsor:

Yep, this week's winner will receive a whopping $45 to spend in the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps store!  Awesome!  And speaking of CAS-ual Fridays Stamps, those are what I used to create this paper yummy:

This card came together pretty quickly.  I used several patterned papers from Crate Paper along with stamps from the Rad and Woot Woot sets.  Here's a close-up of the sentiment:

I hope you'll play along with this special challenge!  Remember, you have TWO weeks to play along.  Thanks so much for looking!

Supplies: card stock: Georgia Pacific; patterned papers: Crate Paper; stamps: CAS-ual Fridays Stamps; ink: Tsukineko; corner rounder: We R Memory Keepers

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

CFC92 - Irish you a magical day!

Happy Friday!  Can you believe it's already March?!?  Wow...time does fly when you're having fun!  And speaking of fun, I'm here today with a new challenge from CAS-ual Fridays!

CFC92: Wallpaper

Stamp your own background for your clean and simple project

And our sponsor this week is the fabulous Ellen Hutson!  The winner of this week's challenge will receive a $25 gift certificate to spend here.  Awesome, right?

So since it is March, I chose to make a card to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, and I knew the perfect stamps to use to make the background for this paper yummy:

For this card, I went straight to the A Magical Spring stamp set from Paper Smooches.  I knew the shamrock would make the perfect stamped background, and how could I resist that leprechaun?!?  I stamped and colored his skin, hat, clover, and shoes on some Copic X-Press Blending card stock, then paper-pieced his clothing and hair with some cute patterned papers.  I added some gold Stickles to his buckles and bow tie.  I fussy-cut around him, and stood him on the flag-cut sentiment panel. Here's a close-up:

Heehee.  He makes me happy!  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 base: The Paper Studio; card stock: Copic X-Press Blending Cardstock; patterned papers: Lily Bee Design, Doodlebug; stamps: Paper Smooches; markers: Copic, Prismacolor; ink: Tsukineko; glitter glue: Stickles by Ranger

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

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

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Sneak Peek - Sweet Friend

Happy Monday to all!  I'm here today to show you a sneak peek of one of the new CAS-ual Fridays Stamps sets that will be released this month.  Three brand new sets will be available here on February 15th.  Woo hoo!

The set I'm sneaking is called Beanstalks, and it is so super cute!  There are some really lovely sentiments and some great beanstalks that are wonderfully versatile!  So without further ado, here is my Beanstalks paper yummy:

For this card, I combined two of the sentiments from the set, joined by a little hand-drawn comma.  Using a little bit of masking, I stamped the words "you" and "friend" in a different color ink to highlight them.  Then I stamped one little beanstalk multiple times to create the elements on each side of the sentiment.  I had originally planned to color in the leaves to match the red words in the sentiment, but once I stamped the beanstalks, I really liked the way they looked not colored in.  Here's a close-up of the sentiment strip and beanstalks:

Please remember to visit the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps blog and leave a comment on each sneak peek day!  A lucky commenter will receive that day's release!  Thanks so much for looking!

Supplies: card stock: Copic; patterned papers: Lily Bee Design; stamps: CAS-ual Fridays Stamps; inks: Tsukineko; twine: Recollections

CFC87 - Sunshine, peace & hope

Happy Friday!  I hope your week was wonderful! I'm here today with a card that I'm just giddy over, and it's my card for this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge:

CFC87: Make your mark

Use markers on your clean and simple project

And this week's sponsor is Crafter's Companion, who is offering up an awesome Spectrum Noir markers prize package!

So for this challenge, I wanted to use one of the cutest stamps (in my opinion) that Paper Smooches makes.  I'd never used this particular stamp, but I think it's absolutely PERFECT for a spring time card, and also to send well wishes to a friend who's been going through a rough patch.  And now for the paper yummies:

I stamped the adorable lion and lamb stamp from the Eco-Friendly stamp set on white cardstock, colored it in with Copic markers, and fussy-cut it out.  I thought the lion looked so contented, as if the sun was shining down on him and his little lamb buddy.  So, on the white cardstock panel, I embossed a square Nestabilities die to create a frame.  I masked off the area outside the square, and stamped the sunshine in the upper left corner of the square.  With my Copics, I colored in the sunshine, then colored in the rest of the square to create a "sky".  I used a stamp from the Needle Little Love set to create the stitching around the edges of the frame.  The "wishing you sunshine" sentiment is from Eco-Friendly, and I added the "peace" and "hope" from the Joyful Greetings set. The big ampersand is from the We Connect set, and I stamped it in a shade of ink just slightly darker than the sky background.  Here's a close-up:

I hope you'll make your mark on this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge!  You have until next Thursday at noon EST to play along!  Thanks so much for looking!

I'm also playing along with the inaugural Muse Card Club challenge.  My card was inspired by Amy Kolling's beautiful card at the Muse blog this week.  I loved her layout (I just reversed it on my card), the embossed square, and the fresh spring feel.

Supplies: cardstock: Copic X-Press Blending Cardstock; patterned paper: Echo Park; stamps: Paper Smooches (Eco-Friendly, Needle Little Love, Joyful Greetings, We Connect); inks: Tsukineko (Memento Tuxedo Black, Tangelo), Hero Arts (Soft Pool); markers: Copic; square die: Nestabilities by Spellbinders; die-cutting/embossing machine: Cuttlebug by Provocraft

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!

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