Saturday 30 January 2016

FS469, MM189 - Merry Christmas


This week's Splitcoaststampers Featured Stamper is mochafrap! Her gallery is here.

I chose this card as my inspiration:



I focused on:
-the trees and stripes on the washi tape
-colour scheme
-white snowflake
-dark brown sentiment (I used Early Espresso - it looks black here!)

I changed:
-emphasis from the mug to the trees
-reduced layers to one
-size and layout

I used:
-Penny Black sentiment (appears to be retired)
-Handlettered Winter Wishes (Simon Says Stamp)
-Lots of Stars (Simon Says Stamp)
-Lawnfawn Mini Snowflakes die
-distress ink (Fossilized Amber, Candied Apple, Broken China)


I am also linking up to MM189, where the challenge is One-Layer Christmas Cards:



Friday 29 January 2016

CTS157 - Happy Birthday!


Today is my hubby's birthday. This afternoon I will be whipping up a sour cream-fudge birthday cake for tonight's dessert. Yesterday, I went searching for some inspiration for his card. I found this week's CAS(E) This Sketch challenge and decided to use it:




He likes CAS design, just like I do. He will like the clear, bold colours, the overlapping stamping and all the white space. He will also notice the solid stamping and be suitably impressed! lol!

I used:
MFT Birthday Wishes and Balloons
MFT Party Balloons
Avery Elle Double Pierced Rectangle

Thursday 28 January 2016

Muse 150 - Sending Hugs


Here's my card for this week's Muse Challenge, where our newest DT Member, Jenni, has given us this pretty-in-pink inspiration:



I stuck pretty close to the inspiration, punching up the pink a bit and making my flower a little more graphic.

I used:
MFT Label Maker Sentiments & matching dies.
MFT Pierced Square Die
PTI Beautiful Blooms die
PTI Sending You die
Doodlebug enamel dot
Distress Ink



Tuesday 26 January 2016

CASology 182- Adore


This week's CASology Cue Card is Adore!



Our sponsor this week is Concord & 9th so I pulled out the one set I have from them for their 'adorable' sentiment (surgically altered here).

I stamped it on a panel cut with a MFT Pierced Rectangle die and then used a Memory Box Parker Alphabet U to cut out the letter before sponging it and inlaying it back into the panel. This helps reduce layers and keeps your design CAS.

I inlayed the rectangle into a black panel for some drama.

Now it's your turn! Who (or what!) do you adore! Be sure to check out the rest of the DT for more inspiration:

Monday 25 January 2016

CC#47 - With Sympathy


Well, I'm sorry to say that I need one of these this week, for a family at our church. I looked at various challenges over the weekend to inspire me for this card and landed on The Card Concept's Floral Elegance photo:



I was inspired by the white-on-white layered leaves and the dark branches. I took a very clean approach, using Simon's Clustered Leaves, Clearly Besotted 'sympathy', Papertrey 'with' and an MFT Pierced Square die.

I cut the leaves out of a larger piece of white cardstock before cutting it again with the square die. This allowed me to lay the leaves back in and keep that one little one poking out the side.

Sunday 24 January 2016

FS468 - Thank You


This week, the Splitcoaststampers Featured Stamper is Whimsey (aka Michele Greenwood). Michele has a wonderfully bright and cheery (even whimsical!) gallery here.

I chose this card as my inspiration:



I focused on Michele's:
-colour scheme
-use of black images with dots

I changed:
-the layout and size
-butterflies to dragonflies
-added a sentiment

I used:
-Impression Obsession Dragonfly (surgically altered!)
-Papertrey sentiment
-MFT Grosgrain impression plate (retired)
-White gel Pen
-MFT Circle Stax
-Distress inks: Worn Lipstick, Picked Raspberry, Seedless Preserves


Saturday 23 January 2016

ATCAS80 - Red


Today, I'm thrilled to be GD at ATCAS! This card won the 'joy' challenge in December (oops, I seem to be in a bit of a 'joy' rut, maybe! lol!) and I was asked to join the DT for the current 'red' challenge.

Where's the red? Here was my CAS theory. By using neutrals for the majority of the card, you couldn't help but focus on the tiny pop of red. Right? Right?

This card makes me happy - it's very CAS but the sparkly berries make it festive in an elegant way.

I used:
MFT Hand-lettered Holiday
Avery Elle Double-pierced rectangle die
PTI Tinsel & Tags Little Sprigs
Sue Wilson 'berry' die.

Thursday 21 January 2016

Muse 149 - Happy Birthday


Here's my card for this week's Muse challenge, where Tracey has provided us with a lovely floral inspiration:


I focused on Tracey's:
-colour scheme (combined the orange and yellow!)
-use of solid floral stamps
-swoopy green stem
-black sentiment
-stitched border on her white panel

I used:
-Stampin' Up Bodacious Blooms (retired) for the stem (PTI New Leaf)
-Impress 6 petal daisy (MFT Razzleberry)
-Papertrey sentiment (Versafine Onyx)
-MFT diagonal stitched square die

All of the stamps are old favourites of mine. I have determined that I really should be focusing on developing my skill and style rather than constantly buying new product (as fun as that is!). I can tell you that the Canadian/US foreign exchange rate (worst in 13 years!) is really going to help me with this!




Tuesday 19 January 2016

CASology 181 - Clear


This week's CASology Cue Card is Clear


Simple, open, clear - those are the Cue Cards so far this year - are you sensing a theme? These are some words we associate with CAS design and you have been knocking them out of the park! We are so thrilled to see that you love CAS just as much as we do!

For my card, I chose Outlines Alphabet from Papertrey. I stamped it with Versafine Onyx and embossed with clear ep, and then I 'coloured' it in with (clear!) Glossy Accents for shine. By leaving the letters 'clear' the design feels very open and simple.

Now it's your turn - there are really many directions to go here - I even thought of 'cleared for takeoff' (my son is really into aviation!). We can't wait to see how you interpret it!

Be sure to check out the rest of the DT blogs for more inspiration:




Sunday 17 January 2016

FS467 - Thinking of You


Congratulations to this week's Splitcoaststampers Featured Stamper - Minnur. Her gallery is full of amazing projects - cards and other items, too! I found it really interesting to look through and try to choose one to re-interpret into a card.

I settled on this one - pretty flowers in pretty colours - enough to make me think longingly of spring:



I focused on:
-floral bouquet theme
-use of lots of small elements

I changed
-colour scheme
-added a sentiment

I used
-Stampin' Up So Very Grateful
-Stampin' Up Crazy About You
-Technique Tuesday You (from a You are Fabulous stamp).
-Avery Elle double-pierced rectangle

Saturday 16 January 2016

Muse 148 - Thank you


I've been working on this card all week. It's for this week's Muse challenge, where Anita has given us this pretty and very (VERY) CAS inspiration:


My usual plan of attack when CASing someone's card is to CAS-ify it. But there was really no where to go on this one! So I had to rethink. And again. And again.

I focused on Anita's:
-horizontal strip
-colour combination

I used a vine-like Avery Elle sentiment from Oh Happy Day. I added the simple flowers from the same set to add the pops of colour.


Friday 15 January 2016

CTS155 - Thinking of You


This is my card for this week's CAS(E) This Sketch Challenge:



There are some people at our church who are going through sickness and loss, and so this week I made some sympathy/thinking of you cards to send and to have on hand.

This card puts a feminine twist on the very graphic sketch inspiration. I am trying to sort through my old clear stamps (I used to store them by theme rather than by manufacturer) and identify the manufacturer where I can. I am convinced that these pretty flowers came from a wedding (cake?) set that PTI put out, but I can't find it anywhere. ETA: (Piece of Cake) However, by cutting the little groupings apart, they create a pretty floral cascade.

For the sentiment I combined Stampin' Up's Crazy About You and a retired Technique Tuesday 'you'. I quite like how they work together.

I used 2 of my Avery Elle Double-Pierced Rectangles to create the interest around the edges.

ETA (Jan 25): Woohoo! Picked as a favourite!

Thursday 14 January 2016

MM187 - Plaid Noel


How about a two-tone plaid Christmas tree for this week's Merry Monday Challenge:



A new Stampin' Up set (Lots of Joy) arrived at my house yesterday and I couldn't help but notice/remember the plaid tree. Perfect for this week's challenge!

First I removed the trunk - yes, permanently. I'm not afraid of stamp surgery when I know I'll use a stamp more in its altered form.

Next I stamped the tree twice - once in Real Red, once in Bermuda Bay. I fussy cut them (I know straight lines aren't really fussy, but I realized how die-dependent I have become!) and then stacked them and cut them again, so that I could line them up perfectly and piece the opposite-coloured sides together.

I also performed surgery on the sentiment (from the same set) - it had some little images above and below it and I thought they were not helping the graphic vibe of this strong font. So I removed them - but I made another stamp out of them - I have some ideas for that too!

Wednesday 13 January 2016

Superstar


Well I suppose it was inevitable that I would make a card inspired by David Bowie's final album Blackstar:


Blackstar album cover.jpg

It's a funny thing, isn't it, to 'lose' someone who isn't really yours to lose. I have been a die-hard Bowie fan since my early teens (that was a long time ago!) and was very sad to hear that he had died over the weekend. On Monday, I was happy to get the album in my hands but sad to think that it's the last time I'll get a new Bowie album.

I chose to make a happy card based on his 'parting-gift' album cover and used Simon's Lots of Stars and an old Michael's sentiment.

To quote Col. Chris Hadfield: "Ashes to ashes, dust to Stardust."

Tuesday 12 January 2016

CASology 180 - Open


This week's CASology Cue Card is Open!



This card works for open in 3 (no, make that 4) ways:

1. there is lots of open space
2. I the negative or 'open' space of the die cut
3. the card can open
4. you hug with open arms

I actually started with the idea of open arms for a hug and chose this PTI die (love the clean graphic style of the font!). Then I went searching for 'sending warm'. These little words from MFT's Hug in a Mug set (but not from the same stamp - some surgery was required) are perfect because they are similar in style to the "hugs". Non-serif, all-caps - perfect!

I backed my (MFT pierced square) panel onto some kraft cardstock, to warm it up a little from a plain white card (but plain white would have been even more CAS because there would have been no break in the open (or white) space).

Now it's your turn - make sure you check out the DT blogs for more inspiration!


and this week's Guest Designer: Rachel

Monday 11 January 2016

MFTWSC262 - Happy Rainbow Birthday!


This is my card for this week's MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge:



I used:
Label Maker
Birthday Wishes & Balloons
You Move Me (retired) for the stars
Pierced Rectangle

I used a rainbow of Ranger Dye inks (and some Adirondacks and Archival as well). Rainbows always make me happy and I think they lighten up that very 'serious' all-caps happy label!

Sunday 10 January 2016

FS466 - Happy Birthday!


This week's Splitcoaststampers Featured Stamper is Gunilla Holmqvist. Her gallery is here.

I chose this graphic card as my inspiration:



I focused on Gunilla's
-colour scheme
-use of stars
-use of big, black letters and script

I changed
-the amount of white space
-size of the card
-made my single star the large image
-no pop-up

I used
-MFT Happy (Versafine Onyx)
-Stampin Up Birthday (Altenew Ruby Red)
-Simon Says Stamp star (Daffodil Delight)


Friday 8 January 2016

Mixed-Up Muse147 - Friend


Here's my card for this week's Muse challenge, where Michele has given us a Valentine with POP! as our inspiration.



I focused on Michele's
-black strip with the image overlapping
-pop of red
-stitched element
-black sentiment

I used
-MFT's Label Maker Sentiments
-Ellen Hutson's Bold Blooms

I used the matching dies to cut out a space in the black strip. Then I created masks simply by placing the pieces back into the strip while stamping the rose and leaf images in Altenew Ruby Red and PTI New Leaf. My square panel is cut with MFT's pierced square die.

I'm also linking this card to Ellen Hutson's January Mix-it-up Challenge - this month's 'mixer' is MFT.

Thursday 7 January 2016

MM186 - Warm Wishes


Am I the only one finding it hard to get back into the card-making swing of things? I keep making rookie (DUMB) mistakes, the January 'light' makes it difficult to get decent photos and I just feel kind of bleh! I know that the answer is to keep creating, so here's my first try - for this week's Merry Monday challenge (White on White):



I used an old Lifestyle Crafts snowflake - I love that it's so big and thin - it leaves lots of open space on the card. I cut it out of Stampin' Up's Dazzling Diamonds glitter cardstock. One of the fun things about making a square 4.25" card is that you can have something hanging over the edge of the card and it will still fit in the envelope.

I added a small sentiment made up from words from Winnie & Walter's The Big, The Bold and The Merry stamped in Sahara Sand.

For interest, here are some of the previous cards I've made with this snowflake:


MASKerade: CFC76 - Snowflake Merry Christmas:


MASKerade: ATCAS1 - Snow and CFC79 - Winter Blues:

Wednesday 6 January 2016

Musical Thanks


Right before Christmas, Kate's piano/vocal teacher contacted me to order some music-themed thank you notes. I had been planning to make these notes as a gift for her, but I ran out of time, so she's getting them this week instead.

The starting place for this design was the piano-keyboard edge. I've noticed lately that a lot of very cool designers are putting black and white striped edges on their card fronts and figured by positioning this Waltzingmouse keyboard border (appears to be retired) so that it is stamped off the edge of the card, it allowed me to follow the trend and personalize the card for a musician!

Next, some colour. I decided that the keyboard would be on the inside of the card. I cut the front 1/4" shorter than the back, then masked and sponged a 1/4" strip with 5 distress ink colours (Twisted Citrus, Peacock Feathers, Mustard Seed, Picked Raspberry, Salty Ocean).

Finally the sentiment. I settled on Essentials by Ellen Fancy Thanks because it had the musical 'note' reference. Using my MISTI made it easy to ensure that the sentiment was in the same spot on every card. Finally, I added a little eighth-note from my stash of old stamps.



Tuesday 5 January 2016

CASology 179 - Simple


This week's CASology Cue Card is Simple!



I've been whipping up some simple holiday thank you cards for my kids to write. And it doesn't get any simpler than this:

-lots (LOTS) of white space
-one layer
-one sentiment
-one small image
-one monochrome colour scheme

I used an old Hero Arts sentiment (in Versafine Onyx) and a retired Lawn Fawn (Frosties) snowflake (in Stampin' Up's Smoky Slate).

Now it's your turn! Make sure to stop by the DT blogs for some simple inspiration and be sure to welcome Deidre, Jacquie and Sherrie, our newest DT members!


and this week's Guest Designer: Rachel

Sunday 3 January 2016

FS465 - Happy Holidays!


It's my turn to host the Splitcoaststampers' Featured Stamper Challenge! This week's FS is Kathy LeDonne! Congratulations Kathy!

I cruised through Kathy's gorgeous gallery and chose this card as my inspiration:




I focused on Kathy's:
-theme (Christmas tree)
-colour scheme
-use of stripes
-red sentiment
-number of red ornaments (that was an accident! lol!)

I changed:
-background from music to snow-scape
-placement and colour of stripes
-no bird

I used
-Broken China distress ink
-Altenew Ruby Red ink
-Hero Arts sentiment
-PTI New Leaf and Gina K Pure Luxury cardstock
-Simon's Banded Tree die, then recut with a Spellbinders Triangle
-MFT pierced square die
-red mirror card stock
-Simon Says Stamp Medium Dot Line die to make the 'ornaments'
-two gold starburst sequins from my stash.