Make it Monday #228 - Pearlized Blending

Well, Lizzie did a wonderfully CAS, pearlized card this week, over at Papertrey Ink. Loved hers! Mine, well I don't love it nearly so much... But seeing as how it is for my 3-yr-old granddaughter, I guess it will do. She requested a card with balloons on it several months ago, so here it finally is. (I was Casing a card done by Laura Bassen, way back when Shaker Shapes:Balloon was released.)

It's the pink balloon which has the most Perfect Pearls on it, which you can see better in this photo.

Thanks for looking!

Stamps: Give Me a Hand (PTI)

Dies: Shaker Shapes: Balloon, Balloon Strings

Inks: Distress Inks, Versamark

Other: Perfect Pearls

OCT. 2015 Blog Hop Challenge

 Papertrey's October challenge has this inspiration photo for us. Well, it's Christmas, obviously ;)



So I went with the red and green colours, Casing Dawn's beautiful card for my design. (See below)










And here's what I ended up with. I used Distress Inks, spritzed with water, for a watercoloured look. I'm not-so-patiently waiting for my Spruce & Sprigs stamp set to arrive, but tried for a similar look using Holly and Mistletoe stamps and dies. The greeting, from O Holy Night, is heat embossed in gold.

I love a touch of gold on a Christmas card! Here's a close-up of the flower centers. I used a gold pen to make the dots, as well as for the "dashes" on the holly leaves.

Make it Monday #227: Focal Clusters

It's been quite awhile since I entered a challenge, so I can attest that it's true--you're busy when you're retired!

While looking at the video for this challenge, the stamp set "City Scene", from PTI, came to mind, so I gave it a whirl. I must admit, though, that leaving a whole corner bare...just. isn't. me! I had to force myself to leave it alone. (But we'll see if some snowflakes get added later. Just sayin'!)

You can't tell from this photo--it's a dull, foggy day--but I've added some Zig Wink of Stella on the trees, along with some glossy accents on the tree "lights", as well as the taxi windows.

Thanks for looking!

Make it Monday #221: Masking Sentiments

Ashley has challenged us this week to create a card that uses a sentiment, which is masked. I chose to use a sentiment from "Book Club", and surround it with leaves from "Leaf Prints". I've used this set for 3 other cards this past week. Love it! My inspiration was a card of Heather Nichols, found here.  I loved hers, and have been wanting to CASe it. My card will be an anniversary card for my sister and her husband. Inside, it continues the book theme (All from "Block Sentiments") . It says:

LIFE IS A STORY. 

Make it a Best Seller. 

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Thanks for looking!

And while I'm at it, here are the other two cards I've made this past week. The first one is another anniversary card for my son and daughter-in-law, and the last one is a card for a friend's birthday, which was entered in last week's Create Along With Us.

 

Create Along With Us: Aug. 2105

I was greatly inspired by two cards, on the first day of PTI's August Release. Both Heather Nichol's and Dawn McVey's leaf cards are gorgeous! I definitely want these dies and stamps as I love the size!!

But since I have to wait to get these products, I was inspired to try something similar with the leaves I already have ;) I used Leaf Prints Stamps and dies, as well as the leaf sprigs from Songbird. First, I sponged a variety of Distress Inks onto watercolour paper, then sprinkled a little water onto it. Then I stamped the veins in Versamark and heat embossed the veins in gold powder. A sentiment from Dawn's Signature Greetings finished it off. This card is going to a friend of mine next week, for her birthday. She's a forester, so appreciates all growing things :)

Thanks for looking!

Make it Monday, #220 - Diecut Mini Notebooks

Melissa had a sweet summertime project she shared with us: Mini Notebooks! After looking at the gallery, I was inspired to do some crafting. I will be visiting my granddaughters later this month, so made them a booklet, each.
I haven't used this stamp set nearly enough (PTI's Scentimentals), so this was my chance to rectify that! I didn't have much luck with making these stamps into scratch and sniff projects, but coating the stamping with Glossy Accents was another way to use them.
Thanks for looking!

One-Layer Simplicity Challenge #19- Strip Down

Well, doesn't that title catch your eye?  This is my first time posting in this challenge, and, since I am trying to do more CAS cards, I thought I'd give this a whirl. Plus, I'm trying to turn over a new leaf and make Christmas cards sooner than November, so here goes.
I masked a strip down the side of my card and sponged 3 inks, 2 Distress Inks, and Delicata Gold ink in the middle, overlapping the red and green inks. You can't really see the shine of the gold ink in this photo, though, unfortunately. A star and a simple jewel embellishment finishes it off.

And, because I might as well do two, I did another strip. I didn't mask off enough area, however, and accidentally sponged ink over the tape and onto the card front. Sigh. So, I trimmed out the strip, and glued it down onto a new card. So this one is technically 2 layers and doesn't qualify for this challenge. However, I jazzed it up with some stamping and some colouring with my Zig markers, and liked it even better than the first one (told you I have trouble with CAS)! Okay...2 down and 28 to go!

Make it Monday #216: Adding Colour to Cover Plates

Happy Canada Day!  Well, it's nice to be back! I've missed the challenges lately due to busy-ness, but at least we have a freshly painted interior of our house. I found picking the paint rather challenging, though--it's not like choosing paper for a card! And I'm exhausted from moving furniture, books and other paraphernalia!! Heaven help me if we ever have to move...

The challenge this week was to colour a Cover Plate, so I used the new "Waves" plate from PTI. Instead of just doing the plate, however, I painted the whole thing. I liked the texture that the negative portions of the waves gave to the whole panel. I used Distress Inks to paint a panel of watercolour paper, adding the Lighthouse and sentiment from the new "Guiding Light" stamp set and dies. (Must practice stamping these lighthouses, though...)

Thanks for looking!

Make it Monday #213: Condensation Effects

Betsy has us using our Glossy Accents to make some "Cool Condensation" on our cards. Now, does she mean "cool" as in temperature? Or "cool", as in an "interesting effect"?? I guess both apply ;)

Anyhoo, here, at the last minute, is my effort. I used the flowers from "Flower Favorites", and the vase is from "The Ton" stamps (Peonies). The sentiment is part of a sentiment from "Banner Sentiments" set, selectively inked. I die cut and stamped the flowers, then watercoloured the background, as well as the water in the vase. I cut a slit in the top of the vase to tuck the die cut stems behind, then stamped the stems into the vase of water in an attempt to make it look more like the stems were IN the water, not glued on top, like the flowers.

 And here is a close up of the "condensation" on the vase, as well as a bit of the dimension of the flower hanging over the top of the vase. The Glossy Accents are not dry, yet, but I have to get this posted!

Thanks for looking!

May 2015 - Blog hop Challenge

This month's Blog Hop has the following inspiration photo for our cards.

                                                  

My cards are very loosely based on the rainbow cascade of the blocks. I went for a watercoloured background, choosing to not use the square shapes, focussing just on the colours. See that one rogue purple block in the lower right corner? I just had to put that in my first card ;)

My second card is a variation on this same theme/layout, since I needed 2 birthday cards for family this month! These are not my usual style, which is to gravitate for lighter, less vibrant colours. (Going a little out of the box, this month...)

Stamps: Brushed Blooms (and dies), Sentiment Strips (and dies)

Inks: Distress inks for the background, PTI inks for the flowers and sentiment, as well as Versamark ink and white filagree embossing powder

Thanks so much for looking!