Black and White cards for Any Occasion

Today's video is all about using black and white to make high-impact cards for any occasion! I explored different techniques and supplies to add lots of visual interest! 

And after watching, if you're craving colour, you can head to Inkhill Revival, where Kerri is showing unexpected and exciting ways to add colour to your cards!

Start with my video here:

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.

Muse 85 - Celebrate

Link up to Bev's party here.

Here's my card for this week's Muse where we have been inspired by Marion's gorgeous summer flowers:

I focused on the colours but decided to try something other than flowers. I used a DeNami Designs Fireworks stamp and added a simple Winnie&Walter sentiment.

I hope you'll get a chance to play along with us - the deadline is Monday at 8. At that time you can vote until Tuesday at 8 (even if you didn't link up a card). Results will be posted at noon on Tuesday.

Musical Thanks

Each year around this time, I starting thinking about gifts for teachers. If I was smarter, I would have started thinking about gifts for teachers about a month ago!

Kate's piano teacher has always loved the handmade cards we give her, so this year I'm going to make her a set of these in different colours. Can you see the piano keyboard? Very simple card using Neat & Tangled's Across the Page set, stamped in Versafine Onyx and embossed in clear.

Musical Thanks!

This week, Kate is away at Music Camp. Michael's away on business and Struan's in day camp each day. I'm really looking forward to some peace and quiet to get some long-awaited organizing projects done and to have some crafting time!

When I got this keyboard stamp from DeNami a couple of weeks ago, I immediately stamped it in Versafine, added the sentiment (also DeNami) and embossed it. Then I thought it looked too simple (and a little dull, really!) and it sat on my desk, waiting for inspiration. Inspiration struck on a day when I had a number of my copics sitting on my desk, waiting to be put away. The different colours and sizes go perfectly with the whimsical feel of the keyboard and they add some FUN!

LIM 106 , OLW126, Musical Birthday

For this week's Less Is More Challenge - One Layer Music (my favourite!).  And, since I rarely use Pool Party, I'll link up to this week's One Layer Wednesday challenge to use a colour that you rarely use.

Unfortunately, I have no idea where these stamps came from. (except the sentiment, which is My Sentiments Exactly, stamped in Early Espresso).

I hope you're enjoying your weekend! We've spent a good deal of time clearing the driveway of the 30 cms of snow that fell and then all the snowplow 'droppings', which they kindly leave for us! But it's sunny and bright and warming up, so hopefully it will be gone soon!

CFC86 - Long and Short

Look at this musical brainstorm I had while making thank you notes for Kate's piano teacher to give to her friends!

And it's perfect for this week's long and short challenge at CAS-ual Fridays - one side must be longer and one shorter, but not a normal A2 (5.5x4.25) card.

For those of you who don't know, that piano key is an A.  I masked the Stampabilities keyboard and then used Lawnfawn's Harold's Alpha to create the sentiment.

LIM101, CFC84 - A splash of Thanks!

Kate's piano teacher has asked me to make a couple of sets of music-themed thank you cards for her to give to her friends.  This is my first design sample - 'minimalist piano'. I'm thinking I could make these in all sorts of different colours.

I'm linking this up to Less Is More's challenge for the week - black and white with a splash of colour, and alos CASual Fridays' challenge, to make a CAS thank you card.

Tomorrow's the day for the first CAS(E) This Sketch for 2013 - don't forget to drop by at 10:00 am!

US188 - Happy Birthday to the Music Teacher

 I'm so excited to have been chosen as one of the Top 3 at last week's Unscripted Sketches, for this card.  It was my first time playing and I really love how everyone interpreted the sketch differently, to make it their own.

For this week's sketch:

I turned the sketch on its side and went with an idea that's been in my head for a while. I love to make music cards for musical people and this will be perfect for Kate's piano/vocal teacher (once I find out when her birthday is!). I used the candle from Paper Smooches Hey Sugar set and drew the lines with a ruler. The sentiment is from Hero Arts.

FS291 - Casing Carolina

This week's Featured Stamper is Carolina Little.

I chose this card of Carolina's to case:

My daughter and I both play piano and we have lots of friends and teachers who will appreciate this musical card. The dots on the staves are meant only to imply music and are purely decorative (at least I think they are, I haven't tried humming them! lol!).

The piano stamp is from Sparkle and Sprinkle (yes, really - I've never heard of them, either, but now I've found them online, so I'll have to take a look! I bought the stamp at Stamp Art last week). The 'staff' stamp is from Background Basics: Retro from Papertrey, stamped in Memento London Fog ink, with Copic dots.

This card is a perfect example of why I use black so often for my cards. This card is really pretty in real life, but my photography/picture editing skills leave this photo looking quite flat, I think because of the lower contrast between the white and the silver than if I had used black. I recently purchased Photoshop Elements, so that will be my next big adventure, to see if I can become more consistent in the quality of my photos. Any advice?

Edited to add:

Here it is after a quick auto-fix in Photoshop. I think it's better - the colours are a bit truer. I've got A LOT to learn though!

PS - for those who asked, Tuesday is the first day back to school for my kids. I've been with them (and my husband) 24/7 since last Friday, and am ready for some alone time, thank you.;-)

Case Study Challenge 87

When I saw this week's Case Study challenge:

for some reason I immediately saw a piano and I made this:

Perfect for Kate's piano teacher!

Supplies:
Stamps: Verve (?)
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red, Red Glitter
Ink: Versafine Onyx
Accessories: Stampin' Up Heart punch