CAS-tastic Fun

Well I'm a few days late to actually enter these cards into the challenge but the point is that I found a little time to get crafty.  It happened this past Sunday and Monday and I thought what better way than to start at the CAS-tastic Challenge site.  The challenge was to CASE the design team and I chose Deb Neerman's card because of her fantastic and easy layout.  It was a good place to start getting back into the crafty groove.  I managed to make not just one but TWO cards!!! and I broke out the sewing machine since I don't have to worry about packing it away for house showings {insert big smiley face and sigh}.

For my first card I folded my new October Afternoon pattern paper and sewed it all down then added some Martha Stewart Decorative Tape I found on Discount at Micheals.  That decorative tape may come in very handy.  The yellow paper flower is from the dollar bin and how can you not smile at yellow.

I was surprised to learn during this sewing session that you can sew tissue paper...very carefully.  The second card I folded blue tissue paper (courtesy of the Verve) and sewed three lines vertically to make it stay together.  What do you think?  Unfortunately when I went to take the picture I had wet hands and managed to touch the one and only place I had ink.  Please ignore the smudge =)

Today I am so thankful for my wonderful blogging friends.  When I wrote my last post I thought for sure I would loose some viewers but nope I actually gained one (thanks Julie).  Thanks so much to all of you just for stopping by or dropping me a line.  I miss all of you.

I will be back this weekend with another card (yes, I made three!) and a little shout out for a few friends that I think deserve a small pat on the back...even if it is only from me.

EBTKS + Embellish = Fabulous

Hey Everyone!  Today's day at work went very well and I'm happy to say it won't keep me up at night with worry.  Lots to learn but the ladies I work with are really fabulous and patient. 

This card was made for three challenges: EBTKS, CAS-tastic, and Embellish.  The current CAS-tastic challenge was to use three of several techniques on one card.  I chose image stamping, paper piercing, and inked edges.  This card really was simple but it packs a punch with those colours and paper piecing and piercing.

For the piercing bit I stamped and cut the leaf image, placed it on my cardstock and pierced the outline.  It give's a much more subtle affect than paper piecing or stamping but still defines the image.  Neat hey?  Those terrific patterned papers are from the October Afternoon Fly a Kite collection.  Love it!  I bought it for my birthday a month ago and finally got it in the mail last friday.  Haven't had much time to play around with it but I'll try to make some time this weekend.

Tomorrow I'll be working a full day and won't be home for dinner but fortunately for me (or probably more so for my hubby) my mother-in-law plans to have dinner ready for him when he gets home.  Today I'm grateful for a supportive family...what are you grateful for? You might be grateful to hear about Ann's Blog Anniversary giveaway.  Just head on over to check out her wonderful CAS creations and a chance to win!  You won't be disappointed.

Elements:

Paper: Kraft, Fly a Kite dp (October Afternoon)

Ink:  Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Small Ric Rac die (PTI), Hawaiian Shores button (PTI), paper piercer, dimensionals, large corner rounder

Stamps:  Feel the Sun (Verve), Signature sentiments (PTI)

Make You Smile =)

Hello everyone!  I thought I'd try and make you smile after my dreary last post.  This is for the current CAS-tastic challenge to use yellow, blue and a neutral of your choice.  I chose white for a bright and dreamy like look.  What do you think?  The butterflies are made from the left over paper from the SU! Princess party pack. I love So Saffron but I don't have very much of that colour so I'm making do with scraps right now.  It works really well the Tempting Turquoise (also from my scrap bin).

I got a chance to play with the sun rays from one of my favourite Practicing Creativity stamp sets "You're dandy"  I also took a chance and used acrylic paint and a pattern tracer to outline the rays.  I really like the affect....it's not too much but adds to the texture and colour.  The layout inspiration came from the current fall-to-layout sketch on the Clean and Simple blog.  Thanks for the inspiration ladies!

Hope you are all having a fabulous week.  I managed to make four cards this weekends so, unless things get really crazy around here I should be back everyday with something new.  Happy Crafting.

Elements:

Paper:  Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, So Saffron dp

Ink: Whisper White Craft, Tempting Turquoise Craft

Accessories: Yellow acrylic paint, MS butterfly punch, Beautiful Butterflies die, pattern tracing wheel

Stamps: You're Dandy (PCD), Everyday Button Bits (PTI)

CAS-tastic Buttons!

Who doesn't love them?  And who doesn't have them?  I seem to have collected them over the months and I'd have to say my favourite colour is the shiny Pure Poppy ones from PTI.  It's been a while since I've worked with red and oh how I've missed it!

The current CAS-tastic challenge is to use buttons and what better way to make a Clean and Simple card than a one-layer.  I don't know about you but I find one-layer cards to be very challenging.  They aren't hard it's just that whenever you mess up you have to start all over again...and I've determined that I'm really not a great stamper.  I know I'm being fussy but I definitely need to get gridded acrylic blocs.

Not much to say about my cards, except maybe that I really like them.  I realize the yellow buttoned card isn't a true one-layer card but I got tired of putting the paper in the scrap pile =)  Oh and my good news note for today is having my card featured on the WPlus9 Colour challenge.  Between my recent nods on CAS-tastic and WPlus9 I'm on top of the world!  Thanks so much ladies for your encouragement.

Hope you have a very fantastic weekend and that the weather is beautiful!

Birthday Wishes Elements

Paper: White cs (PTI)

Ink: Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive

Accessories: Pure Poppy buttons (PTI)

Stamps: Round & Round (PTI)

Live Laugh Love Elements

Paper: White cs (PTI), Kraft

Ink: Always Artichoke, Soft Suede

Accessories: Lemon Tart buttons (PTI), yellow brads (MM), large corner rounder

Stamps:  Round & Round (PTI)

Simple Gifts

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free

'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

It will be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gain'd,

To bow and to bed we shall not be asham'd,

To turn, turn will be our delight,

Till by turning, turning we come round right.

~Joseph Bracket 1848~

Simple was what came to mind when trying to create this card for the current CAS-tastic challenge which is to make the sentiment your focal point.  The simple theme also brought me to one of my favourite songs I listen to with my kids.  Do you have Jewel's Lullaby album?  It's on my top ten simply for her renditions of  "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "Forever and a Day".  My ipod is set to this music when trying to find some tranquility in a noisy house.  While this song was originally written in a Shaker community it has made it's way into the hymnals of contemporary Christian denominations.  And apparently even Weezer has included their rendition in two of their albums.  How's that for popular even 162 years after it was written?

Anyhow, back to the simple theme, I used one border punch, one label die, one stamp, and some canvas letter stickers.  Oh and I added a few clear buttons painted with nail polish  for the latest EBTKS challenge.  If you're not someone that uses buttons very often nail polish is a great thing to use because it covers any colour so that the embellishment can better match your project. No need to collect a million buttons in various colours (like I have) and save yourself some money with something you may already have laying around your house. The label die was made using the woodgrain packaging from the Making Memories canvas stickers so I even managed to recycle.

Thank you friends for leaving all your kind words even though I haven't been hangin' around blogland lately.  I've been really busy getting my resume together looking for a part-time job and I'm also in the process of registering back at school to finish up that Bachelor's degree.  So with all the stress of trying to sell the house, job hunting, school, and home I just haven't had the time for inspiration.  When I do find some down time I've usually got my nose in a book. Right now I'm rediscovering the works of Farley Mowat in "The Dog that Wouldn't be".  It's light, humorous and enjoyable.

Elements

Paper: Kraft, Groovy Guava

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Stamps:  For the Love of Dots (PCD)

Sky's the Limit

I just had to play along with the latest Embellish colour challenge.  Ashley's colour choices are always so classy and the ladies that play along are so very talented.  I learn something new with each challenge.  I loved this colour challenge so much that I'm actually in the process of creating yet another card but without the butterfly.  

This card is also to fulfill this weeks CAS-tastic challenge requirements to add a little bit of green.  I also used last weeks Fall-to-layout sketch to help bring the colours together.  The Kraft butterfly was made using my PTI Polkadot background basics I with Old Olive ink.  I also sponged the edges of each butterfly with black ink to give the layers more definition.  The rhinestones weren't adhered exactly where I would have like them but once they were there they were stuck for good.

Hope you all have a fantastic and creative weekend.  May the sun shine upon you. I'm going to try and relax a bit but I'm finding that my nerves are just a little shot with all this wait and see going on with the selling of our house.  Have I told you yet that I hope never to have to do this again?  LOL. 

Steps:

1) Make A2 card from cs

2) Trim white cs and use embossing folder; mat to black cs; adhere to card

4) Die cut scallop border; stamp sentiment; adhere to card

5) Die cut butterflies; attach layers and button with floss; adhere to card

6) Adhere rhinestones to card

Elements

Paper: Kraft, Old Olive, Whisper White, black cs (PTI), sheet music

Ink: Basic Black, Old Olive

Accessories: Green button (Making Memories), black cotton floss (DMC), Beautiful Butterflies die (SU!), Perfect Polkadots ef (SU!), large scallop border die (PTI), green rhinestones (Kaisercraft) 

Stamps: Look Up (PCD), Polkadot background basics I (PTI)

Practicing One Layer Creativity

Hello everyone.  Right now I'm at my mom's visiting for the weekend but I thought I would share with you a few one-layer cards I made for the current CAS-tastic challenge.  And yes I used Practicing Creativity stamps again.  Hope your not sick of them...I'm not...now that I have all my big bulky block stamps packed away, my PCD stamps are getting a lot of use.  The only stamps I need but not necessarily the only stamps I want :)

My first card is just a simple celebration card for any occasion really, using Look Up and For the Love of Dots.  The next cards I used orange ink on orange paper with the Dandy sunrays and the Verve Plain Jane I  bought specifically to go with those rays.   These cards aren't anything amazing but it was fun to play with just stamps.

Now for some exciting news at least for my family.  We've had an offer on our house and will be signing the paper today and hopefully everything will go smoothly and the subjects will be removed by the end of the next week.  Now it's just another waiting game.  I hope that I never have to sell our home again.  The waiting game is just too much for my nerves to bare.

More exciting news for me was my random win at Off the Wall for this card.  I can't wait to get my package of brads. I have been very blessed this week haven't I?  Hope you week is blessed as well.

Celebrate Elements

Paper:  Whisper White

Ink: Basic Black, Bermuda Bay, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Crushed Curry

Stamps: You're Dandy, For the Love of Dots (Practicing Creativity Designs)

Sunshine Elements

Paper: Apricot Appeal (left), Summer Sunrise (PTI)

Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Groovy Guava, Really Rust, Basic Black, black pen

Stamps: You're Dandy, Look Up (PCD), Plain Jane sentiment (Verve)

Celebrate Friendship

Happy Friday friends!  It's finally here, although I had a really wonderful week.  A couple of days ago I surprisingly received For the Love of Dots in the mail and had to contact Courtney from Practicing Creativity Designs to make sure there wasn't a mistake because I know I didn't order that set.  Not that I didn't want it but I can't be buying anymore supplies right now while things are so up in the air with the house move etc. (you never know what kind of expenses you're going to have).

Well it turns out that one of my most supportive blog friends (who wishes to remain anonymous) wanted to show a small gesture of thanks and congrats.  Little did she know it was a HUGE gesture, so huge in fact that I had to restrain myself from shedding happy tears....my husband would have been worried that stamps could really make me that happy.  Practicing Creativity happens to be my big IT thing right now and I love their versatility.  Apparently my fabulous friend likes what I create with them too, so last night I had a bit of time to play and hope to bring some inspiration her way.  It amazes me so much that this virtual world of blog land could put me in contact with such a wonderful group of ladies...not because of the tangible gifts that we receive but because of the encouragement and support system that we find in one another!  What a blessing and I am so grateful!

So these cards are to Celebrate Friendship.  The first card covers a couple of challenges.  The Embellish dimension challenge and the CAS-Tastic challenge: to use circles. I used the current fall-to-layout sketch and foam tape to adhere the stripe of circles.  The buttons add even more dimension. I don't know how CAS-tastic it is considering it has a few layers but it does use a lot of white space and straight lines.  

The second card (at the very bottom of this post) was the first card I created using the same layout but in a circle. It was meant more as a warm up to get use to the colours and stamps.  I thought I would included it as well since it's not a bad card, it's just nothing special.  A good masculine birthday card maybe?

Celebration Buttons

Steps:

1) make card from card stock

2) trim white panel and mat to CS

3) stamp circles; trim and mat to CS; adhere to card with foam tape

4) stamp top line circle and sentiment on white panel

5) Adhere buttons

Elements:

Paper: Spring Moss (PTI), Ocean Tides (PTI), Chocolate chip, Whisper White

Ink: Dusty Durango, Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Buttons in Spring Moss and Tara cotta tile (PTI), brown buttons (BG), foam tape

Stamps: For the Love of Dots (PCD)

Celebrate in Circles

Paper: Spring moss (PTI), Dusty Durango, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White

Ink: Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Circle Coluzzle tool

Stamps: For the Love of Dots (PCD)