Birthday Flowers - CAS Colours & Sketches - Guest Designer ...

.... Hello again! I am absolutely thrilled to be joining the CAS Colours & Sketches team as Guest Designer for the month of May. It was such a surprise to get an email from Patricia asking me to join them and it's been so hard to keep it quiet! Thank you ladies - you've made my month!!

The challenge this week is colours - CASC&S#221 - green, pink and pale aqua. I've made a simple birthday card, featuring my favourite spring flowers, to share with you:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Love is Kindess, Water Colour Wishes; Clearly Besotted - All Occasion Sentiments
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Versafine - Onyx Black; SU - Melon Mambo
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU DP - Pool Party; Copic Markers; Spectrum Noir Sparkle - Clear; Clear Embossing Powder

I've based the layout of this card on the sketch from the current Fusion Challenge - FUSION#72. I cut a piece of pale blue design paper to cover the card and then a panel of white card smaller and offset. I stamped the greeting using my MISTI and embossed it with clear powder. Then, using the MISTI I carefully positioned the bunch of tulips to rest on the greeting. I coloured the image with Copic markers and added just a touch of sparkle to the tulip flowers. On the inside I cut a mat layer of design paper and on the white panel added a greeting, some more tulips and a few pink hearts.

I'm also submitting this card to the new challenge at Seize the Birthday where the theme is Anything Goes.

Thanks again to the CASC&S DT for inviting me to be part of the group this month - so thrilled. Have a fun day!

TMR - Theme

... Hi! I didn't manage to create anything for our last challenge at The Male Room, so for our new challenge today, I've created two projects!! For the next couple of weeks at The Male Room - TMR#59 we have a fun theme for your masculine projects, we want you to feature

MANY LEGS

I think this gives a few options. I've decided to make a couple of Halloween cards - featuring creatures with many, many legs!!!

Stamps: Rick St Dennis Digi - Octasac; Clearly Besotted - All Occasion Sentiments
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Graphic 45 DP - Rare Oddities; Enamel Dots; Copics; Spectrum Noir Sparkle - Clear

I've used one of my favourite RSD digis for this card, and the thing I like about digi images is that you can change the size and orientation. So I printed one larger than the other and flipped the one so that they face each other. I cut a strip of design paper from some scrap and used this to anchor the Halloween Octopods. I coloured them with Copic markers, cut them out with a scalpel and added some sparkle to them with a clear Spectrum Noir brush. I hooked the larger of the octopus on the strip of card and adhered it flat. I used dimensional gel to attach the other octopus and finished by adding some enamel dots and a simple greeting in black. On the inside I cut a mat layer of co-ordinating design paper and put a panel of white card on top, which is blank for my message. I'm submitting this card to Less is More - LIM#325 where they want to see a clean and simple card with a stripe

My second card also features a Rick St Dennis mutant alien - he's a Space Spider!!

Stamps: Rick St Dennis Digi - Space Spider; Clearly Besotted - All Occasion Sentiments
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Graphic 45 DP - Rare Oddities; Vellum; Copics; Spectrum Noir Sparkle - Clear; Clear Embossing Powder

I used the sketch from this week's CAS(E) this Sketch! - CTS#218 for the layout, although I turned it to make a horizontal card. I think these mutants spiders are super, but I'm glad they're made of paper and not real!!!! I cut a large strip of design paper for the centre of the card and I based the colour of the spiders on the bottles (which you can just about see) on the strip. I stamped the sentiment on some cloudy vellum and heat embossed it with clear powder. On the inside I cut a mat layer from the co-ordinating design paper and added a white panel, currently blank.

That's all from me today. Do visit The Male Room to see more inspiration projects from the rest of the Design Team. You've got plenty of time to play along with us - deadline for submission is midnight (BST) Tuesday 9th May, that's 7.00pm EDT. Have fun!!

Snowmen ....

.... Good evening! We've almost come to the end of our long holiday weekend - it's been so nice to spend time with Jonathan and Kat. Mind, we still did our own things too! I think I've mentioned that I need quite a few Christmas cards as I send lots to family and friends in the UK. Well, I counted up the number I've made so far - 88 - and that's despite being on a Christmas card challenge!!! Go figure. Anyway I'm still about 30 short! So I spent yesterday making cards. I made a set of 8 cards featuring my all-time favourite snowman:

Stamps: Funstamps - Scribble Snowman; Clearly Besotted - All Occasion Sentiments; Penny Black - Majestic; Uniko - Most Wonderful
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry, Wisteria Wonder, Emerald Envy, Peekaboo Peach, Melon Mambo, Cajun Craze, Pacific Point, Green Galore, Lucky Limeade, Smoky Slate; Distress Archival - Black Soot
Dies: Die-namics - Oval Stax #4
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Daffodil Delight, Wisteria Wonder, Emerald Envy, Peekaboo Peach, Melon Mambo, Cajun Craze, Pacific Point; Bazill Card - Lime Crush; Wink of Stella - Clear; Zig Real Brushes; Tim Holtz Water Colour Card; Sizzix/SU EF - Softly Falling

I had so much fun making this set of cards. I stamped the snowman on water colour card and used my Zig Real Brushes to add colour. Once dry I fussy cut them out, edged them with a black marker and added sparkle to all the snow areas with a clear Wink of Stella brush. I made cards to match the colour on the hats and scarves and then stamped the tree to match. Next I cut white card slightly smaller than the base and used my MISTI to stamp the sentiment at the bottom. I cut out an oval on each card and then embossed some snow falling. I adhered each panel directly to the card and then used dimensional gel to adhere the snowmen. On the inside of each I cut a white panel on which I stamped a Christmas greeting in the matching ink and added a little snowman peeking in at the bottom. Here's the inside of the yellow card:

I'm submitting the yellow card to this week's Addicted to Stamps and More! - ATSM#221 where it's ANYTHING GOES. I'm submitting the blue card to Cardz 4 Guyz - C4G#147 where they want to see snowmen (and where I got the idea) and also to Inkspirational - INK#122 where the cue word is CHILL. Finally, I'm submitting the lilac one to TIME OUT Challenge - TOC#71 where they want Christmas cards with the option of glitter/sparkle - and I think you can see the sparkle best on this card.

Edited to add: I've been wandering around blogland and found a new challenge - well, new to me! It's called A Gem of a Challenge - AGOC#183  and this week's challenge is SNOWMEN/WOMEN - I'm going to add my card there too - it's a perfect fit! :)

 Here's a look at them all together - they look fab - bright and colourful!

I now have 96 cards with this set - still a few more to make. I think I'll be concentrating on some quick and easy cards. Last posting date from the States to the UK is Thursday 8th December - so I'd better get my skates on!! That's all for this evening.

Happy Halloween ....

... Hi! I've been messing around in my craft room - I should have been tidying, but I made a card instead :) I suddenly realised that it's just over 3 weeks until Halloween and I've not got many cards in my stash. So that's what I made! Here it is:

Stamps: Rick St Dennis Digital - Voodoo Motif; Clearly Besotted - All Occasion Sentiments; Visible Image - Mr Bone Jangles; Ranger - Dina Wakley Halloween 16
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Stampin' Up! - Green Galore; Hero Arts Neon - Orange
Dies: Die-namics - Wonky Stitched Ovals #4
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SUDP - Pumpkin Pie; Copics; Kaisercraft - Pens; Wink of Stella - Clear, Orange, Purple, Green

This is a fairly clean and simple Halloween card. I used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches - FMS#257 for the layout. I'm also playing along with The Paper Players - PP#315 where the theme is Halloween, and at Left of Centre - LOC#150 they want Halloween too!

I printed this fun voodoo image directly on white card, coloured it with a mixture of Copics, Kaisercraft pens and coloured Wink of Stella brushes and then I cut it out with a stitch edged die. I cut a piece of design paper in bright orange, adhered it to the card and then stamped a sentiment. I attached the image flat as I want to post this card. On the inside I cut another mat layer in design paper and on the white panel added a fluorescent sentiment and skeleton.

I also took a close up photo of the voodoo skull, on which you can clearly see all the shimmer and sparkle from the Wink of Stella brushes.

We are very lucky here in Michigan as we seem to be having a bit of an Indian Summer. Today we reached a temperature of 24C (76F) with gorgeous blue skies and lots of sunshine. And it looks like we've got this weather for the rest of the week. To my friends in Florida and along the coast, I do hope that you are taking precautions for the arrival of Hurricane Matthew - be safe.

That's all for now!

52CCT - Technique .....

.... Hello! We've come to the last Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for our technique challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - 52CCT38-16. Fabiola has picked a really fun technique for us to use this week - MASKING. This technique allows you to build depth into your card without adding too many layers - great for posting. Here's my card:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Candy Jar Christmas Fillers, 2011 Holiday Ornaments; Winnie & Walter - Party Hangover; Clearly Besotted - All Occasion Sentiments; Stampin' Up! - Watercolour Wishes
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; SU - Real Red, Hello Honey, Pumpkin Pie, Soft Suede
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Basic Black; SU DP - Real Red; Copics; Wink of Stella - Clear

I've used the colours from this week's Colour Q Challenge - cQc#360 for my card. I'm also playing along with Addicted to Stamps and More! - ATSM#212 where they want us to make our mark. I pulled out some much loved Waltzingmouse stamps to create the jar of gingerbread kids with pretty Christmas ornaments in front of them. I used scrap paper to work out the layout and to determine which order to stamp the images. The red ornament was stamped first as it is foremost in the picture. Using masks I continued to stamp the other ornaments and then the jar of cookies. I created the lid added another mask and then stamped the decorations. I coloured the cookies and decorations with Copic markers. I finished the front of the card by stamping the greeting and adding some sparkle with a clear Wink of Stella brush to the decoration. On the inside I cut a mat layer of red design paper. On the white panel I added a sentiment along with some more decorations and a little gingerbread kid.

Do visit our blog for some more inspiration with the masking technique. You've got plenty of time to join in with us - deadline for submission is midnight BST (7.00pm EDT) Friday 30th September. Have fun!