Create Along With Us - July 2015

Hi friends -

Long time no see. Its been a while. I had to live through some home renovations in April and May and we are all settled back in but it took a LONG time for me to get my crafty mojo back. I've been reading blogs and websites but hadn't created anything in ages. Seriously, I didn't think I'd make it back into my craft room but decided to just stop thinking about it and jump back in.

I was inspired by this beautiful card by Dawn during July release.....

Here's my take....

For my card, I used the blooms and leaves from Mums The Word to stamp the flowers at the top of the panel. I used Scarlet Jewel, Hibiscus Burst, and Autumn Rose inks as well as Hawaiian Shores and Aqua Mist for the leaves. I stamped a scattering of polka dots across the panel and added a sentiment from Swoosh at the bottom. I didn't have the same Edgers die Dawn used but just used the one I had. Dawn left a little space at the top of her card panel. I left space on the sides of my panel so that more of the Hawaiian Shores card base would show. 

So much fun to use a DT release card as an inspiration piece....love this new monthly PTI challenge! 

Thanks for looking! Hope you had a great weekend. 

CAS(E) This Sketch #117

Hello friends - Long time no blog. Things are exceptionally busy here with some minor home renovations and cleanup. Probably gonna be end of May before everything goes back to normal and we are settled in again. It was so frustrating to get the PTI March release stuff and the MISTI and not have any time to play with them! 

I did find a few minutes here and there over the past couple of days to make card using the new Brushed Blooms set. I really like the watercolor look for these stamps but had some trouble with double stamping to create the beautiful flowers. Thought the flowers would make for a nice focal point in this week's CAS(E) This Sketch challenge. 

I love the softness of the flowers and thought it would look great against the black cardstock...kinda like the matting of a painting. Sentiment is from Swoosh. 

And also wanted to share this little two step flower color cheat sheet I made for myself. Of course, even with this, I stamped two of the flowers in the darker one first so had to come up with two new combinations. Worked out though and will have to add those two to the sheet. 

Really hoping to pop in here once in a while during this renovation process.... I'm reading all your great blogs and saving the posts I love and want to CASE. So sorry I don't get to comment as often as I should.

Thanks for stopping by!

CASology:Basket

So I have to admit that I was a little stumped when I saw CASology's Cue Card: Basket this week. I don't recall having any baskets in my stamp collection. Baskets of flowers just aren't my thing. I did have hot air balloon baskets but someone on the DT already used that set so didn't want to copy it. 

So I went through my stash of wooden and non-PTI stamps and found the AMuse Sports set. SCORE! 

I was inspired to keep it simple by the Colour Me....Monochromatic challenge so I stamped the basketball hoop and ball in black but colored the basketball in with Copics. Matted the white card on orange and adhered the whole panel with foam tape on a polka dotted card base made from AMuse card stock. LOVE that I dug into my stash for both the paper and stamp. 

Thanks for taking a peek!

Orange You Glad...

....that this is not the view outside your window??!!

Another 6-8 inches today in NJ on top of all the snow we have already. Kids get a snow day, DH working from home, pot of Chicken Mushroom Wild Rice soup on the stove, and thankfully a little bit of crafty time while all were outside shoveling. 

And speaking of orange....I am inspired by the  Colour Me....Monochromatic! challenge this week. My first card uses the pretty medallion from PTI Giga Guidelines set. I stamped a row in white on kraft card stock then turned the stamp 45 degrees and stamped over it in Orange Zest. Sentiment is from Fancy That and an orange rhinestone in the center of each medallion completes it. 

Love how the white looks on kraft. 

Second card uses the new Swoosh set. Funny how I was so excited to get this set but once it go here, I totally forgot what I wanted to do with it.  I decided to keep it simple and played along with the One Layer Simplicity challenge this month - WORDS, WORDS, WORDS.  

I masked off a column and stamped the hello swoosh in several fun colors. I scored the ends of the column for more interest. 

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

PTI February 2015 Blog Hop

Its the 25th so its Papertrey Blog Hop day! This month there's a gorgeous work of art as inspiration - 

For my card I heat embossed a similar pretty background (Penny Black All Over Pattern Background Cling) in white on white card stock. I added three of my current favorite Papertrey colors in with an ink blending tool - Tropical Teal, Limeade Ice, and Aqua Mist.  I think I'm getting a little better at ink blending but still need lots of practice! I stamped the birthday (KIS:Birthday) sentiment on a strip of Limeade Ice and adhered it to the bottom of a Tropical Teal card base. 

I cut my blended embossed panel into two and added it to the card using foam tape so it floated slightly over the sentiment strip. 

 Hope you will join in on the Hop and check out the other creations. I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone made. Thanks for stopping by!

Blocks of Color

Sharing a couple of colorful 'pick-me-up' cards I made in order to pull myself out of these winter blues. Feels like this winter has been WAY too long and I'm sick of shoveling and 1 degree temperatures. Not kidding, it was 1 degree yesterday. 

First card is a bright orange card - like how I wish the sun would make me feel just about now. lol. I used monochromatic colors for the CASology challenge this week. 

 

I was inspired by an older PTI release sketch. I masked off triangles and used an ink blending tool with Terracotta Tile, Orange Zest, and Summer Sunrise. Sentiment is from Thank You Kindly and of course added a couple of orange enamel dots. Love how clean and simple this card design is by keeping all the bright color at the bottom. 

This second card is bright and cheery. Love this color combination from ColourMe....! this week. I stamped some blocks from PTI Building blocks in the challenge colors and added the diecut sentiment from Simon Says Stamp in the bottom corner. I think the blocks being clustered in the center with white space on both sides keeps the card CAS. 

And on the storefront, I made this fabulous Italian Chicken Soup from Pioneer Woman. One good thing about winter...SOUP! This one was a hit with the family, warm and comforting.

Hope all is warm and wonderful for you this weekend. Thanks for stopping by! 

Two Cards, Three Challenges

Hello friends -

Hope you are having a great week. Sharing two quick cards today.

First card uses Fancy That which I haven't been able to put away since PTI Anniversary challenges last week. Love this set. I heat embossed the medallion in white on white yardstick and then masked a triangle around the medallion image. I blended Tropical Teal onto the medallion concentrating the ink in the center and working my way lighter on the outside. Sentiment from Keep It Simple series.

One layer card with blending for the One Layer Simplicity challenge:You Blend this month and I stuck to only one bold color for this week's CASology cue card MONOCHROME.

Second card is for this week's Make It Monday challenge to use a cover plate as a stencil to use with embossing paste. I wanted to use a portion of the Mighty Oak cover plate. I colored white embossing paste with Simply Chartreuse reinker. I opted not to use the leaves as part of a tree as a thought a nice circle sentiment would fit nicely with the leaves. I punched a circle out of Summer Sunrise card stock and heat embossed a circular sentiment from Thank You Kindly in clear for a nice shine and tone-on-tone look. I mounted the panel on kraft card base after cutting it all down to a 4x4 square card. 

I didn't have enough embossing paste colored so I was trying to stretch what I had which made for a less than smooth finish on the leaves. But once it dried I actually liked the texture it left behind. Makes for a really cool and unique background. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Sunday Recap

Sharing a couple of projects I created today while catching up on some shows. It was 14 degrees outside today and WAY too cold to go anywhere. First up is a wine bottle tag inspired by the Tag You're It! inspiration from Donna Mikasa. 

I cut a wine bottle tag out of black card stock and layered a smaller white tag on top. On the white tag I stamped these colorful medallions (from Round Repeats) and layered a die cut sentiment (Wonderful Words Thank You cut in two) on top.

For the next project, I created a one layer card. Card design inspired by CAS(E) This Sketch challenge. I used my new Clear Scraps Spiral stencil on the bottom corner and blended Summer Sunrise ink starting dark in the corner and working my way out. I'm getting the hang of blending inks now and love the effect.  I added a hot air balloon from Up, Up, and Away and colored it with Copics. 

Entering this into this month's One-Layer Simplicity challenge. 

Hope you are enjoying the long weekend! Thanks for stopping by!