Sunday 28 February 2016

FS473, Muse 154, CTS161 - Thank You



This week's Splitcoaststampers Featured Stamper is rokale (AKA Rose). Her gallery is absolutely full of the most adorable Christmas cards, but I resisted and chose this non-Christmas card as my inspiration:



I am combining this week's FS Challenge with this week's Muse Challenge, where Jenni gave us this pretty spring inspiration:



and also CAS(E) This Sketch:



I focused on Rose's:
-theme (floral thank you)
-script sentiment
-watercolour 'look'

I changed:
-layout
-size/shape of card
-added a layer
-colours

I focused on Jenni's:
-colour scheme
-tall flowers on the left
-use of a square

I used:
- Stampin' Up Painted Petals
- Technique Tuesday (Ali Edwards) Thank you
-MFT Pierced Square die

(if this post looks familiar, it's because I accidentally published it not just once, but TWICE before I was supposed to - apologies to all involved!). My mistake made me rethink my card - here's my original take, using Ellen Hutson's Many Thanks die and Simon Says Stamp Mini Flowers and Leaves:


Thursday 25 February 2016

MM193 - Jingle


Here's my card for this week's Merry Monday Challenge.




I used:
-Mama Elephant Jingle Greetings
-Pretty Pink Posh bow die
-Memory Box Jingle Bell Border die

Wednesday 24 February 2016

MCV: Countdown/Goodbye/Hello/Contest


Head over to Muse: ChristmasVisions to get caught up with all the news!

-we're saying good-bye to one DT Member
-we've chosen a new DT member
-there's a contest to guess who it is (clues are provided)
-all correct guesses have a chance to win
-there's a prize!

Hope to see you there!

Tuesday 23 February 2016

CASology 186 - Distress


This week's CASology Cue Card is Distress!


I know that a lot of you will (like I did) immediately think of your distress inks. A lot of distress ink techniques are not exactly CAS, but if you use them in small doses with lots of white space, your design will still end up CAS. I sponged distress inks on a white scrap before I used a Lawn Fawn (our sponsor this week!) Scripty Thanks die. I left the colours faded (and distressed) by not using a lot of ink.

I also used my OLD Heidi Swapp Distress Tool (remember these?) on the edges of the strip under my distress-ink sponged sentiment to add a bit of texture. Using a white strip helps preserve white space.

Now it's your turn! Be sure to drop by the rest of the DT for more inspiration!



Sunday 21 February 2016

MFTWSC268 - Friendship


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




I pared it down a bit to allow my rainbow-stitched mittens to take centre stage.

I used:
-Cozy Mittens
-Cozy Mittens matching dies
-Pierced Rectangle from Blue Prints #21
-WPlus9 Fair Isle Backgrounds

Saturday 20 February 2016

Happy Birthday, Courtney!


Today is my sister's birthday. This is the sister that lives in Virginia, and is an equine surgeon. Yes, this is an otter and not a horse. The motto for her year at the University of Guelph was an otter so I knew that this little Lawnfawn set would be perfect for her birthday.

I started by masking a circle an then cutting the Paper Smooches 'waves' in masking tape. I masked the bottom half of the circle and stamped the otter. Before I lifted the tape, I fitted the top half of the masking tape back into the bottom half, so that my water would be perfectly masked. I sponged Salty Ocean and Chipped Sapphire below the water line and some Tumbled Glass just at the top. I then coloured the otter with Copics and cut out 3 little presents and coloured them as well (#thedailymarker30day). Finally I used some Stickles on the water and presents. The sentiment (Have an otterly great birthday) is stamped inside.

Friday 19 February 2016

Muse 153, CC49 - Happy Birthday


This is my card for this week's Muse challenge. I was also inspired by the Floral Radiance photo for this week's Card Concept Challenge.



I focused on Tracey's
-colour scheme
-floral theme
-black sentiment

I used
-Avery Elle Double-Pierced Rectangle
-MFT Pierced Square
-Papertrey Beautiful Blooms II #3 die
-Simon Says Stamp sentiment (appears to be retired)



Thursday 18 February 2016

MM192 - Berries


After reminding myself about some old stamps yesterday, I broke out some new stamps and dies for today. I am linking this up to Merry Monday where the theme is berries.



I love this modern dove from Dee's Distinctively and thought he would pair well with a graphic sentiment from Neat & Tangled. The branch is from Impression Obsession. I coloured the berries with a red copic and put a tiny dot of Glossy Accents on top for shine and dimension.

Wednesday 17 February 2016

cQc329, CTS259 - Happy Birthday


I've been sorting through my old stamps over the past couple of weeks (it is a big job) - trying to decide what to keep and what to sell. It's been fun to remember some of my old stamps and be re-inspired by them! This card is made with stamps I bought way, way back and is for this week's Colour Q Challenge and the current CAS(E) This Sketch challenge:



I used:
-Stamps of Life Daisies4You
-Papertrey Birthday Bash
-MFT Inside and Out Stitched Square die

Tuesday 16 February 2016

CASology 185 - Egg


This week's CASology Cue Card is Egg!



Where's the egg? Wrong question. Ask yourself "What came first?"

I used two sets from Stamplorations - Hashtag Authentic and Small Birds. The sketchy/grungy feeling of the two create unity in my design. Making this a one-layer card and leaving lots of white space make sure that it's CAS. I stamped this in Stampin' Up's Archival Basic Gray - not quite as stark a contrast as the dark black but still stamps really well.

I coloured with copics, so this is also for #thedailymarker30day.

Now it's your turn. We know (because we had a big discussion about it!) that this one will really get you thinking! And that's no yolk!



Sunday 14 February 2016

FS471 - Happy Valentine's Day


This week's Splitcoaststampers Featured Stamper is Michele G. This is the card I chose for inspiration:



I was intrigued by the black shadows down the left side - when I saw the thumbnail, I thought they were stamped, which is where my idea came in.

I focused on:
-colour scheme
-focal point down left side
-texture on right side

I changed:
-amount of black 'layer' by just having it down my 'love' panel
-amount of texture (I used 'faux' embossing by gluing white hearts above  my sentiment
-added a sentiment

I used:
Avery Elle Handwritten Notes
Papertrey Ink Keep It Simple: Valentines
Impression Obsession hearts die

Saturday 13 February 2016

Muse 152 - Merry Christmas


Here's my card for this week's Muse Challenge, where Anita has given us this beautiful inspiration:



I just can't help it - when I see red and green together, I think Christmas! (Plus, I'm missing Muse: ChristmasVisions - not long until we start up on March 2!). My card has a dramatic tilt from the camera to try and capture the shine on the mirror card, which I think gives a classic, vintage feel.

I focused on Anita's:
-colour scheme
-layout
-red die cut
-green leaves
-red berries

I used:
-Hero Arts DC170
-Papertrey Tinsel and Tags Sprigs Dies
-MFT Blue Prints 11 for the tiny berries
-MFT Pierced Square

Friday 12 February 2016

DJ43/CTS159 - Pinterest-inspired Valentine


The other day (before the birds arrived!) I was looking desperately for some inspiration. I turned to my Pinterest Inspiration Board and found this photo:


DSC_2022:

I also found this new-to-me challenge at Dragonfly Journeys - Queen of Hearts.


Also, linking up to CAS(E) This Sketch, although, I have been a bit liberal with the sketch (I needed white space! lol!)




I love the bright colours and the graffiti feel of this! So much energy!

I used:
-Hero Arts You and Me
-Hero Arts Heart
-Stamps of Life Love die

Thursday 11 February 2016

Seize The Birthday - Birdie Wishes


Oh, look what flew to my house yesterday! I was so excited to receive my WPlus9 order that I dropped everything to make a card right away! I chose to use the sketch from Seize The Birthday: (ETA- oops, missed the deadline!)



These birds are so cute and unique in their style that it was very easy to justify this purchase despite my determination to use more of what I already have. Let's not talk about the sentiment set that also jumped into my cart....

This bird seemed to be jumping for joy and I finally figured out that he is the french-fry bird (related to one of the sentiments in the set) and that's what is in his mouth.

I coloured him as a robin with copics (#thedailymarker 30day) and stickles and softly sponged the circle with Tumbled Glass and Mowed Lawn.

I used:
-WPlus9 Happy Birds and matching dies
-WPlus9 That is All for the sentiment and hearts (oops, I said I wasn't going to talk about it!)


Wednesday 10 February 2016

Joy is here!


Guess what we got last weekend? A new niece/cousin! And guess what her name is? (hint - a fun way to use certain Christmas supplies all year long!)

We are so excited for my sister and her family! We are hoping to travel to meet her this week!

After I die cut her name, I used a little heart die to replace the dot on the 'i'. I added a little blue bird for a Fairy Tale feel.

I used
-Clearly Besotted Joy die (retired?!)
- Simon Says Stamp heart die
-Avery Elle Pierced Rectangle die
-Memory Box Contempo Birds dies
-Hot pink mirror cardstock


Tuesday 9 February 2016

CASology 184 - Valentine


This week's CASology Cue Card is Valentine!



This card may look familiar - I have cased myself here. Last July, I made this one:


This sentiment is perfect for a valentine on its own, but by replacing the arrowhead with red hearts, it's even better.

If you're using a sentiment as a focal point, it's fun to try different ways of adding interest - maybe a new position? (wink!)

I used Essentials by Ellen Love You So and Fancy Thanks (for the solid heart). This dark, dark black ink is Stampin' Up's new Archival Basic Black and the red is Ranger's Classic Cherry dye ink.

Now it's your turn! We can't wait to see all your Valentines this week! Be sure to get more inspiration by visiting the rest of the DT blogs!

Sunday 7 February 2016

FS470 - Happy Birthday To You


Here's my card for this week's Splitcoaststampers Featured Stamper challenge, where our Featured Stamper is actually a scrapbooker! Congratulations, Beatrice - you have a wonderful gallery!

This is the first time I've seen a gallery that is almost all scrapbook layouts and at first, I wasn't sure what to do - I have never scrapped. But I put my thinking cap on and came up with this card, inspired by this layout:



I focused on Beatrice's:
-layout (vertical strip off-set from the centre)
-use of flowers
-colour combination

I changed:
-proportion of colours, adding more white and yellow/orange
-reversed her white sentiment on black to black on white
-reversed the blue and black layers

I used WPlus9's Doodle Buds and Strictly Sentiments 1. I tried a very loose method of colouring with Copics (#thedailymarker30day). My very 'colour it properly' brain is struggling a little bit with the result, but I like it - it seems to go well with the sketchy feeling of the flowers.

Saturday 6 February 2016

CTS158 - Happy Birthday


Here's my very simple card for this week's CAS(E) This Sketch challenge.



I took some artistic license with it - there are only 2 streamers and the sentiment isn't layered over them, but it's fun. I do like how the 'brushed' sentiment has a ribbon-y feeling that works well with the streamers. I stamped the streamers with two colours to add a bit more interest.

I used Avery Elle's Brushed and Mardi Gras.

Friday 5 February 2016

CC48 - Adore You


Here's my card for the current Card Concept Challenge, where we are inspired by this pretty photo of heart-shaped cookies. After the agony of yesterday's card, this one came together pretty easily, so I'll probably keep making cards. Don't laugh, I was this close to throwing it all out! lol! But I would miss you all too much!



I used
-Ellen Hutson Folk Hearts die
-MFT Pierced Square die
-Concord & 9th Love You, Mean It.

Thursday 4 February 2016

Muse 151 - Smile



Oh I had grand plans for Wednesday. It was too rainy to walk, so I planned pretty much the full day at home with nothing to do but make cards. (well, there's always other stuff to do, but you know what I mean!)

I started with Muse 151, where Michele has given us a pretty card and a fun song-based challenge:



I focused on Michele's colours and chose a Bowie song*. I pulled out one of my all-time favourite stamps (Both End Blossoms by Stampin' Up) and got started.

I wanted to participate in #thedailymarker30daychallenge as well so I decided to try the negative space colouring technique that Jennifer McGuire showed us the other day. (She always makes it look sooooo easy, doesn't she? lol!)

I had trouble stamping, then embossing, then masking, then sponging (repeat, repeat, repeat). I ended up with this:



In the end, I managed to salvage one, cut it into a strip using one edge of a pierced rectangle die on each side of my panel.

I finished it off with a Concord & 9th sentiment. And then had trouble folding the card without cracking it, and photographing it.

*The Bowie song is "Oh You Pretty Things".  Interestingly, he wrote another one more recently called "The Pretty Things are Going to Hell".  Maybe that one was more appropriate for this poor little card! lol!