CASology #78

This week's CASology cue card is DOT. I love dots & circle so this clue is very inspiring to me. One card for now, hopefully make more later this week.

I stamped random circles from the PTI Bit and Buttons set in the pretty color combo at ColourQ this week on a white panel and adhered it to Aqua Mist cardstock. I added the birthday sentiment die cut in the middle with some foam tape for dimension.

When I first saw the ColourQ colors on my computer, the poppy color looked a bit orange. After I made my card and looked at the blog post again on my iPad, it looked more red. Not sure which color it is exactly because I don't have that Stampin Up color but I think the color I used works too.

Thanks for popping by!

Cold Air Fuels My Creativity

Its FREEZING around here! The temperature in NJ yesterday hit the lowest its ever been in the last 20 years. 8 degrees yesterday morning (plus wind chill factor) makes for frozen toes and fingers after waiting at my daughter's bus stop for 25 minutes and the bus never even came!

But apparently for me, this cold spell has my creativity at a peak. Thank goodness I have time, or at least I'm making the time, to hang in my craft space. My work, spreadsheets, and chores I've been putting off will come a calling soon....

I'm longing for the warm weather so flowers and springtime images seemed to be my focus yesterday.

I don't have many flowers in my stash surprisingly. First card uses a pretty graphic circle from an old Lily Bee stamp set. Honestly, its the only image I've used from the set. I created a flower out of it and used an old Papertrey card sketch for inspiration as well. Colors are inspired by this week's Colour Me...Striking challenge. I'm also entering this into this week's "Anything Goes" challenge at Seize The Birthday.

This next card uses PTI Mini Blooms set which I never use because the flowers are well, too mini for my liking. Might have to sell this set & dies on the forum soon. I like how this card turned out though. I dry embossed the leaf vine and then stamped inside. I raised two of the flowers with foam tape for a little variety and added some pearls to the centers. Colors are inspired by the Bold & Cheery challenge at Dynamic Duos this week.

This last card is for the fun new challenge blog called The Card Concept. I'm hoping that this challenge will push me to try different card styles but for now, I kept to my usual style - Clean and Simple. I used my PTI Notched Flowers dies for the first time I think and paired it with some pretty patterned paper from Lily Bee. Background is dry embossed with the PTI stripes impression plate.

Wish you all warm thoughts and creative fingers! Thanks for stopping by!

Thinking Of You

One of my resolutions this year is to be better at reaching out to friends and family who are going through rough times. What better way than a pretty card? So I need to build up my stash with these types of cards and some current challenges gave me a little nudge.

First card is for the Colour Me Challenge. I stumbled onto this beautiful patterned paper from Studio Calico Memoir when I was looking for some other items. I knew I had to use it as a base for a card I've been meaning to make using a silhouette. I die cut the butterfly image and placed a tilted banner (from Simon Says Stamp) over the top.

For this next card, I used my new PTI set Ruby Reprise which came free with my order last month. I paired it along with the original Ruby Rose (& I store them together so I don't forget about it) in the Dynamic Duos colors this week - green and yello.
I grounded the sentiment and flowers with the dotted image from Craft's Meow Inspired By Audrey which I still had on my desk from the other day. Stamped it in PTI Soft Stone so it would be more subtle.

Thanks for taking a peek! Have a great day.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!

I know its been awhile since I've posted here. December went by in a blur with the holidays, family visiting, a short fun ski trip to PA, and my twin daughter's eighth birthday. I hardly made it into my craft space except to make quick tags I needed for gifts. Hence, one of my 2014 goals is to make tags in advance all throughout the year. But I did stay active in the crafting world by keeping up with my blog reader (you all were very busy crafting and inspiring me last month!), bookmarking projects I loved, and commenting when I could. Another 2014 goal is to comment on the blogs I read more. I know how happy your comments make me and I am hoping to spread the love a bit more this coming year.

I finally had some time to open up some packages brimming with new supplies this morning. When you have been away from creating for awhile, color, paper, and stamp choices seem so much harder to make! Here are a few cards I made while watching the last episode of Downton Abbey (WOW, what a finale! Can't wait for the premiere tomorrow!) to help get me back into the swing of things.

First card is for the FUSION challenge which I am thrilled is up and running again!

I needed a simple and modern baby card for some friends due next month so I drew my inspiration from the challenge photo. I die cut a onesie from the PTI Bitty Baby Blessings die using orange gingham from the Lily Bee Double Dutch collection. I used my new congratulations stamp on a banner and put that all on some scattered American Crafts orange and grey bakers twine. I had seen twine used similarly somewhere (Sorry, I can't remember which fab cardmaker did this!) and thought it was a clever use of texture. I backed it all up on some grey cardstock to help the white panel stand out.

Next card is for the brand new color challenge, Colour Me Card Challenge which features a monochromatic indigo. I love color challenges so I had to check them out as soon as I heard about them. Congrats ladies on your new blog! I hope to play along often!

I used my PTI Center Stage die with some Pebbles Scene and Noted patterned paper. I used PTI soft stone for the die cut stars and sentiment to create this birthday card with a masculine feel.

This next card uses my new stamp set from Craft's Meow, Inspired by Audrey. As someone who often finds it difficult to let things go, its sentiment is one that I hope to hold onto this year so I thought it would be perfect for the CAS-ual Fridays challenge.

I used the set's pretty feminine graphic in a pattern using PTI Melon Berry, Summer Sunrise, Hibiscus Burst, and Scarlet Jewel. I added a few pale pink rhinestones to finish. Definitely quite Audrey inspired don't you think?

Edited to add: Totally forgot to mention that the sketch inspiration for these three cards above is latest CAS(E) This Sketch challenge!

Last card today is for the new One-Layer Simplicity Challenge. Yay for a new card challenge! The challenge this week is to "Restock Your Shelves". I am always in need of masculine birthday cards so here's a simple card using my favorite candle from PTI's Make A Wish set in PTI New Leaf, Limeade Ice, Enchanted Evening, and Hawaiian Shores. One layer seems like its simple but always ends up taking longer than I think!

I stamped some candles and sentiment on the inside too.

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend! As always, thanks for stopping by my little part of the world.

ColourQ #218

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.....For my ColourQ card this week, I used my favorite PTI Snowflake Flurries set to create a holiday wreath. I used PTI's aqua mist, hawaiian shores, and simply chartreuse for the wreath.

Hope you are having a great week. Thanks for stopping by!

Dynamic Duos #81

It's "Your Choice" for the Dynamic Duos challenge this week. I always find "my choice" to be more difficult because its hard for me to settle down to just one color. There are just too many great colors to pair with this dark color. And of course, after seeing the great DT samples, I too wanted to use an aqua with the midnight blue.

So daring to be different, I paired a shimmery silver with PTI's Enchanted Evening. LOL, not that daring...I really just wanted to use my new snowflake dies!

I diecut the chevron coverplate in Enchanted Evening and put some dotted enchanted evening behind it. The snowflakes and banner are cut from PTI's silver shimmer cardstock. I popped up the smaller snowflakes with foam dots. Sentiment is from PTI Merry & Bright and is heat embossed in black on the banner.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you are having a great week.

Greatful Heart

Thanksgiving often brings a reflection on our lives, blessings, and people that enrich our everyday. The sentiment from PTI's Birds and Blooms set captures the feeling of thanks and I pass that onto you my online crafting friends. Thanks again for your friendship, kind words, and being around to share in all this crafty fun!

Wreath is from Birds and Blooms and color inspiration is from ColourQ.

Thanks again for taking a peek. Have a great weekend!

Many Birthday Wishes

Tis the beginning of the holiday season but I'm making birthday cards! Many birthdays coming up in the beginning of 2014 so I want to be prepared.

This first card uses the fun colors at ColourQ this week. The color palette is quite bold since I didn't use any neutrals on the card. But I think the chevrons pair nicely with the bold colors for a teenage birthday card.

This next card is much softer in tone and pairs my two favorite supplies - Lil Inkers stitched rectangles and PTI Mums the Word stamps. I was inspired by the sketch challenge at RetroSketches this week but missed the deadline for posting. :(

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and have a relaxing weekend up ahead. Thanks for stopping by!