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

CFC85 - Awesome (you did it!)

Happy Friday to all!  I hope everybody had a great week.  Today I'm going riking with a friend of mine.  Don't know what that is?  Oh, that's probably because it's a word I made up.  It's hiking, but we run when we can.  Last time we went, we did a 14.5 mile trail.  Today, we were going to do a 21.5 miler, but a cold snap is coming through (which is supposed to be the longest one we've had since 1971!!), so we've decided to do a 7.5 miler instead.  Hope we don't freeze to death!!! Anyway, today I'm also bringing you this week's challenge from CAS-ual Fridays! Woo hoo!

CFC85: Round of applause

Create a clean and simple card that celebrates an accomplishment and features at least one circle

And the sponsor for this week's challenge is CAS-ual Fridays Stamps!  The winner of this challenge will receive a $20 store credit!  And guess what else?  There is a new release coming out on January 18th! Check out the stamp blog for sneak peeks January 14-17!

So, on this card, I gave you a little pre-sneak peek of a new stamp set that's coming out.  Can you spot the new stamp on this paper yummy?:

I used some Spellbinders Nestabilities dies on this card (the circle and the star).  I stamped the sentiment onto the circle, then embossed that cool dotted chevron border (Cuttlebug "Charles") above it.  I adhered the circle to the front of the card.  I temporarily adhered the star in place to use as a guide.  Then, using the same "you did it!" stamp that I used on the circle (from the Woot Woot set), I stamped repeatedly around the circle by curving the stamp on my acrylic block to match the curve of the circle.

To create the star, I cut a bunch of 1/8" strips of white cardstock.  I wanted to make sure the rainbow colors on the star matched the inks I was going to be using in the sentiment, so I colored each strip of cardstock using a direct ink-to-paper approach.  Then I place my star die on a separate piece of cardstock and traced around it.  I covered the area inside the tracing with double-sided adhesive, then adhered the colored strips diagonally until the traced outline of the star was completely covered.  Then I die cut that area using the same star die.  I applied some diamond Stickles around the edges of the star, and adhered it using dimensional adhesive.  Here's another view of the sentiment, embossing, and glittery rainbow star:

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: Copic X-Press Blending card stock; stamps: CAS-ual Fridays Stamps; inks: Tsukineko (black), TPC Studios (all colors); embossing folder: Cuttlebug by Provocraft "Charles" border; dies: Nestabilities by Spellbinder; die cutting machine: Sizzix; glitter glue: Stickles by Ranger; corner rounder: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

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

Simple Card Saturday and CFC50

Happy Saturday!  I hope everybody is having a wonderful weekend so far.  Today I'm sharing a simple little card I made for this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge:

CFC50: Spring is here so show us your Clean And Simple creations 

with flowers or trees.

I paper-pieced a cute little flower stamp by Hampton Art (Studio G) and embossed a sentiment from the Paper Smooches Simply Said set.  Now for the paper yummies:

 I machine-stitched around the edges, then scored diagonal lines across the card.  I also added Glossy Accents to the dots on the flower.  Here's a closer look:

Thanks for looking!

I'm playing along here:

CAS-ual Fridays CFC50: April Showers Bring May Flowers

Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge

Young Crafters Unite Challenge #9: No Coloring Allowed

Supplies: cardstock: Recollections; patterned papers: October Afternoon; stamps: Paper Smooches (sentiment), Hampton Art (image); inks: Staz-On (brown), Versamark (embossing); embossing powder: American Crafts; scoring tool: Martha Stewart; sewing machine: Kenmore; quilting thread: Americana; glossy accents: Ranger; dimensional adhesive: American Crafts

Paper Smooches April Guest Designer - week 4

Hi, everybody!  I'm back to share the final cards for my guest designer spot at the Paper Smooches blog this month. Boy, I tell ya', 4 weeks just flew by.  It's crazy...

For this first card, I knew I wanted to use the little coconut drink from the Get Outta Town stamp set.  And from the moment I laid eyes on that stamp, I knew I wanted to flock that little coconut.  I also wanted to incorporate some embossing on this card.  It just so happens that the embossing folder I chose looks an awful lot like the circle of dots from the Potpourri set.  So I combined all of those things to create this paper yummy:

I stamped the circle of dots using Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Antique Linen for a very subtle look. I stamped the coconut drink and colored it in using Prismacolor markers.  Then I added Fun Flock to the coconut:

I stamped the sentiment, added some machine stitching, and finished it off with baker's twine.  Here's another view of the flocked coconut:

For the second card, I wanted to create a card for Mother's Day coming up, or any day you want to show your mom how much you appreciate her.  I stamped and embossed the hibiscus from Get Outta Town several times, masking some parts and popping up others.  I colored them all in with Prismacolor markers.  For the sentiment, I used the "thanks" from Simply Said along with "mom" from Pretty Momma.

Here's a closer view of the flowers:

Thank you so much for looking!  I had such a blast being a guest designer for Kim Hughes and Paper Smooches Stamps.  I am so honored to have been chosen for this!

Card 1 is playing along here:

Creative Inspirations Challenge 160: Anything Goes

Fab 'n' Funky Challenge #118: No patterned paper

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

Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge

The Ribbon Carousel Challenge RCC50: Anything Goes

Card 2 is playing along here:

Creative Inspirations Challenge 160: Anything Goes

Fab 'n' Funky Challenge #118: No patterned paper

Paper Pretties Wednesday Challenge PWC203: Clean and Simple

Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge

Lily Pad Cards April's Virginia's View Challenge  

The Ribbon Carousel Challenge RCC50: Anything Goes

Card 1 supplies: cardstock: Georgia Pacific (white), The Paper Company (blue), Core'dinations (green); embossing folder: Lifestyle Crafts; circle die: Spellbinders; die cut/embossing machine: Cuttlebug by ProvoCraft; stamps: Paper Smooches; ink: Tsukineko (black), Ranger (Antique Linen); markers: Prismacolor; flocking: Stampendous; Glossy Accents (flocking adhesive): Ranger; baker's twine: Divine Twine; sewing machine: Kenmore; thread: Singer; dimensional adhesive: American Crafts

Card 2 supplies: cardstock: Georgia Pacific (white), Recollections (black); stamps: Paper Smooches; ink: Tsukineko; embossing powder: Hampton Art; markers: Prismacolor; scallop edge punch: EK Success; ribbon: Hobby Lobby; dimensional adhesive: American Crafts