CAS(E) This Sketch #206 NBUS

Last card for the day. This one is inspired by the challenge at CAS(E) This Sketch.

The sketch reminded me of an upward hill so I was excited to use the new PTI She Moves and Making Strides sets that I just got this week. I partial cut the running figure out of Soft Stone cardstock. I don't use this technique very often but always love the effect. Her hind leg is still attached to the hill and I fussy cut the diagonal slope. To differentiate between the running figure and the hill, I used my scoring board to create some embossed lines. I adhered it to True Black cardstock and heat embossed the sentiment in pink. Sweet and simple. 

Also entering this into Darnell's NBUS challenge #9. I am excited to make some more cards with these two sets. Thanks for stopping in! Have a great weekend! 

Freshly Made Color Throwdown

One of my New Year's resolutions was to carve out some more time to create. So far so good for January!

First card I'm sharing was inspired by the colors at the Color Throwdown challenge this week -

I used the new PTI Medallion Trio set I got this week so I'm also entering this into Darnell's NBUS challenge as well. So many pretty possibilities with this set...and you know how I LOVE medallion images! Sentiment is from PTI Banner Sentiments.

Second card was inspired by the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches challenge. 

I die cut various balloon dies (SSS and PTI) in fun happy colors. Sentiment from PTI Keep It Simple. I have two versions - balloon strings....

and no balloon strings. I hand drew them in and anytime I do something free hand, it always looks strange to me. I don't know what happened to my hand when I was drawing the string for the pink balloon! 

Hope you've gotten some time in your crafty space lately! Feels good to something not related to kids, the house, or work! Have a great week and thanks for stopping in! 

PTI Blog Hop January 2017

The 25th of the month is one of my favorite days because its time for the PTI Blog Hop. I'm excited because I haven't been able to play for a few months. 

The inspiration photo is filled with lots of bold color against the black and white. I was drawn the the cookie at the bottom of the photo.

I cut a piece of striped patterned paper from Echo Park and adhered it on an angle on the lower half of the card. I cut a strip of PTI Lovely Lady and stamped the sentiment from KIS:Birthday. I added the Happy (from One Liner dies) on top. Flowers and leaves from Ruby Rose and Friendly Flowers are cut and heat embossed in clear for a little shine.

Every month I'm always amazed at how differently everyone is inspired by the inspiration photo and can't wait to see what everyone else came up with. 

Thanks so much for stopping in! Have a great day. 

CASology #233 GLISTEN

I'm dreaming of a white christmas,
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops GLISTEN and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow

Those are the words that have been floating in my head ever since I saw this week's new CASology cue word: GLISTEN.  

And you know that once song lyrics get into your head, you can't think of anything else...

I heat embossed trees from PTI Holiday cheer in silver and the ornaments in a dark blue on a piece of stitched white card stock panel. Couldn't get the camera to capture the 'glisten' in the embossed trees but they really go look shiny and sparkly in real life.  Sentiment was embossed in silver to match the trees. Card base matches the embossed tree ornaments. 

Please check out the how the rest of the team was inspired by GLISTEN! 

Deidre Payne

Hannelie Bester
Hazel Hodgkins
Jacquie Southas
Janet Ribet 
Jen Wills
Joyce Mehrberg
Judy Marino
Kymona Tracey
Melissa Chipperfield
Rachel Bergfeld

Sponsor:  Poppystamps

Looking forward what you guys come up with! As always, thanks so much for stopping by and for your warm comments. You guys are so sweet. Have a great week! 

Throwdown My Heart Desires When Making on Monday

Happy Thursday! Wanted to share four cards with you today. Haven't played along with some of these challenges in a while so excited to get some crafty time in these past two days and build up my birthday card stash.

First card is inspired by the fabulous color palette at Color Throwdown.  It was a big challenge for me because the color scheme has a masculine feel to it but without any blue (my favorite color!).

I stamped paisley images from PTI Woodblock prints along the bottom of a white panel. I added a die cut Happy (PTI One-Liners) on top of a strip of Pure Poppy card stock with the 'birthday' embossed on it. For a different touch I kept the red strip long, reach end to end on the card base. 

Second card is inspired by the Heart Desires Challenge. My first time joining in! I was drawn to the blues of course as well as the fun winter images. 

I was also inspired by THIS recent amazing card from Laura Bassen. I stamped my large sentiment from Mama Elephant in the middle of a white panel. I used my MISTI to make sure the sentiment was nice, bold, and dark. Then I heat embossed white snowflakes (with clear powder) in the two diagonal corners. Then I blended in a few colors (PTI Bright Buttercup, Hawaiian Shores, Stormy Sea, and Dark Indigo) on top of the embossed snowflakes. Truthfully, this is my second panel because the first time I embossed the snowflakes with white powder, not realizing that the embossing powder would also stick to the main sentiment, making it white. Oops. Lesson learned. 

Last two cards use Melissa Phillips' Masked Heart Wreaths technique in PTI Make It Monday this week. I used mask paper to die cut a heart and stamped flowers from Ruby Rose and Ruby Rose Reprise in my favorite blues and greens - Tropical Teal, Limeade Ice, Hawaiian Shores and New Leaf. I didn't add anything else so I could keep it clean and simple. LOVED how it turned out! 

Mask was still sticky so I used it to make another card. Instead of flowers I used the leaves from PTI Mighty Oak stamped in another favorite color combination - Tropical Teal, Aqua Mist, Stormy Sea, and Vintage Jadeite.  Birthday diecut is PTI with a softer Happy from Simon Says Stamp. Added a few matching pearls for a final touch. 

Like my attempt at mashing all the challenge names into my blog post title? LOL. 

Thanks for taking a peek at my latest creations. See you soon. 

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CASology #232 CUT

Happy Tuesday! Time for a new CASology challenge this week. There are LOTS of ways to go with this week's word CUT.

For my card, I used this AWESOME word die from STAMPlorations. Its a great brush lettering style font and cuts like butter. 

I wanted to make the die cut as the focal point so I cut the word out in 5 different complimentary colors and glued them together slightly offset. 

I adhered the colorful layered diecut on the middle of a piece of white cardstock embossed with funky stitches. The rest of the sentiment is from PTI Big Birthday wishes set which I cut up so I could use awesome instead of the word amazing that was part of the stamp. Adhered the panel on a Dark Indigo card base. Dark Indigo is the bottom layer of my awesome die cut stack. Love how it turned out! I am so in need of masculine birthday cards for my stash. 

Be sure to check out where the rest of the team took CUT this week:

Deidre Payne
Hannelie Bester
Hazel Hodgkins
Jacquie Southas
Janet Ribet 
Jen Wills
Joyce Mehrberg
Judy Marino
Kymona Tracey
Melissa Chipperfield
Rachel Bergfeld

Guest Designer:  Anita

Sponsor:  STAMPlorations

Don't forget to check out our sponsor STAMPlorations this week for their amazing dies and keep your entry clean and simple for a chance to win the prize! Thanks for popping in! 

CASology #231

It Tuesday which means another fun CASology challenge! This one steers us away from the COLD of last week and brings me hope for the beginning of Spring! Its 15 degrees here so I'm already ready for Spring to come.

For my card this week, I used an old PTI favorite - Trendy Tree Tops to create a small cluster of three trees. I used a monochromatic scheme of PTI's Saffron Spice, Spring Moss, and Simply Chartreuse. They looks amazing overlapped in real life. Sentiment stamped on a Saffron Spice double ended banner and popped up with foam tape. 

Design tip - always use odd numbers. Not sure why but that's a design principle I've learned from all the CAS scrapbooking greats (Cathy Zielske and Ali Edwards) years ago as well as HGTV home decorators. Odd numbers always look better. 

Can't wait to see your interpretation of FOREST! Check out what the Design Team created:

Deidre Payne
Hannelie Bester
Hazel Hodgkins
Jacquie Southas
Janet Ribet 
Jen Wills
Joyce Mehrberg
Judy Marino
Kymona Tracey
Melissa Chipperfield
Rachel Bergfeld

Guest Designer:  Christel

Sponsor: Rubber Dance Stamps

Thanks for stopping by! 

CASology #230 COLD

Hello friends and 2017! What a crazy year 2016 has been and looking forward to all that 2017 has in store. 

I've always wanted to do one of those best cards of the year retrospectives but didn't find the time this year. :(  Last year I created 125 cards with the most made in July and February. Among my resolutions this year is to craft more and visit crafty blogs more often. Let's hope the rest of my life cooperates to make this possible. 

My first card for 2017 is for the first CASology challenge of this year - COLD. 

Its definitely cold here in NJ and I just spent a couple days skiing with my family in PA. It snowed one of the days so I was inspired to create snow of my own using embossing paste and powder with the Simon Says Stamp stencils. I love mixing the embossing paste with the glittery powder to get a sparkly snowflake like shimmer. 

Embossing paste can be intimidating but once you get the hang of it, its easy to use and the effects are beautiful and can be CAS as well! Here's a shot after I lifted the stencil off (do this slow). It will look different after it dries.

Close-up after dried...it looks so pretty in real life.

Be sure to check out the COLD inspiration the rest of the team has for you this week. We have two new DT members - Janet and Rachel - so please stop by their blogs to say hello. 

Deidre Payne

Hannelie Bester

Hazel Hodgkins

Jacquie Southas

Janet Ribet 

Jen Wills

Joyce Mehrberg

Judy Marino

Kymona Tracey

Melissa Chipperfield

Rachel Bergfeld

Guest Designer:  Wendy

Sponsor:  Rubber Dance Stamps

Can't wait to see what you come up with. Don't be left out in the COLD...be sure to keep your creation clean and simple for a chance to win a prize by this week's sponsor Rubber Dance stamps. Thanks for stopping by!