Perfect pear ....

.....  Good afternoon!  It's been a glorious morning, warm, sunny and just fab!  I've a fun card to share with you today:

Stamps: Craft's Meow - Fruity For You; PTI - Wet Paint
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Mossy Meadow, Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral; Memento - Tuxedo Black
Dies: Lil Inkers - Stitched Squares #1
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Mossy Meadow; SU DP - Calypso Coral; Cuttlebug EF - Love Language; Copic Markers; Wink of Stella - Clear; Glossy Accents

I was going to submit this to Less is More, but I've just realised that this week they have a one layer card with two of something.  My card has more than one layer, but the two pears is inspired by their challenge.  Oh well, never mind, I can still submit it to CAS - Colours & Sketches - CASC&S#96.  I think the colours are perfect to colour the pears.  On the heart pear, I put down a light layer of green and then coloured over with the light peach.  The heart is coloured with coral and I added some glossy accents for definition.  I added some shimmer to the patchwork pear with Wink of Stella.  I cut a mat layer in green and layered on a white panel which I'd embossed with tiny hearts.  I finished the front with a pun!  Inside is a mat layer of coral design paper and with a bold sentiment on the white card.  The card is for our friends who are getting married soon. They're not having formal occasion, so I think the fun card is just perfect!


I found out that my coffee cup card had been picked as one of the Top 3 winners at CAS-Colours & Sketches. 

Thanks ladies, it was was a brilliant start to my day!

Barcode Muse ....

.... Good afternoon!  I do hope you've all been enjoyed lovely summer weather; it's been fabulous here today.  And what have I been doing?  Well, playing in my craft room and watching the football (soccer for my American friends).  This is a quick post as I'm about to watch the USA v Portugal match.  Now that England is out of the World Cup, I'm really hoping that USA progress.  Here's my card:

Stamps: PTI - Wet Paint, Background Basic: Random Stripe
Inks: Kaleidacolor - Denim
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Night of Navy, Soft Suede

This is my take on Marion's beautiful MUSE card - MUSE#72.  I've gone for a more masculine style card with darker colours and a more graphic image.  I used the fun Random Stripe stamp from PTI and inked it with my Kalediacolor pad - I like the way the colours change up the stamped image.  I used the same pad to ink up the big, bold sentiment.  I made the card base from Night of Navy and added a think strip of soft suede to pick up the colour from the stamped image.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of soft suede and used an off cut of the stamped stripe to edge the white panel.  There is no other sentiment inside.

That's it for now.  Off to make a coffee and watch the footy!  Go America!  I believe!  Fingers crossed :)

Wedding request ....

... Afternoon all!  Sorry it's been a while, but I've been making the most of my Mum's last week here with us.  Mum asked if I'd mind making a card for her as a friend of hers is getting married in August.  Such a silly question, of course, I don't mind making a card - I hardly need an excuse to play!! 

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - You're Lovely; Kanban - Lace; Cas-ual Friday Stamps - Heart Beats; PTI - Wet Paint
Inks: Versafine - Smokey Grey; Memento - Peanut Brittle; Versamark
Accessories: Cream Lustre Card; Gold Matt Mirri Card; Gold Perfect Pearls; Gold Wink of Stella Brush

I've gone for a very clean, simple and elegant card.  One of Mum's favourite stamps is the WMS dress which I've used on a several other wedding cards.    I cut a layer of matt gold mirri card and adhered a panel of cream card on top.  I stamped the sentiment at the top of the card.  I made the dress by stamping the image twice, once on plain cream card and the second time onto card that I'd stamped with the lace.  I stamped the lace in Versamark and then added gold Perfect Pearls to pick out the lace pattern.  I cut out both images, adhered the lace dress onto the base and finished the dress with some gold sparkle on the collar and shoulders.  I adhered the dress to the card with dimensional tape.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of gold card and stamped a bold, but simple greeting.

That's all for now.  See you soon.

Monochromatic birthday ....

... Good morning everyone!  The snow has melted away and we have brilliant sunshine this morning, but it's still a bit chilly!  This morning I've a very clean, simple birthday card to share with you:

Stamps: PTI - Wet Paint; Uniko Studio - All Occasion Sentiments #2
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: PTI - Tipped Tops
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Stampin' Up! Card - Basic Black, Basic Grey, Smokey Slate

The challenge at Time Out - TOC#3 is to make a birthday card with the optional twist of making in masculine in style, I did masculine!!  I also saw Lisa's card and this is a nod to her beautiful card!  I got my PTI stamps and dies the other day and I'm really enjoying playing with them.  I've used the colours from this week's CAS - Colours & Sketches - CASC&S#70 challenge - monochromatic.

I cut the mat layers from the two shades of grey, stamped the word birthday in the corner of the smaller layer and then die cut the word "Happy".  I cut another word in black and then used the inlaid die technique.  I used the same technique on the inside to create a very bold greeting.  This is a perfect guy card - mono colours and clean, simple lines.  Really pleased how this turned out.

This card should have been really quick to make, but I did a stoopid thing!  I adhered the mats to the wrong side of the card and had to cut it off and adhere it to a new card base.  Note to self - must check to make sure that the card base is the right side up!!!  That's all for now.  See you soon.

ASM/TMR - Happy Birthday ....

.... Hello all!  My card today has combined challenges from Addicted to Stamps and More! and The Male Room.  Our theme at Addicted to Stamps and More! is Anything Goes and I've used an image from our sponsor A Random Fan.  The image leads perfectly to our theme at The Male Room which is "Man's Best Friend".

Stamps: A Random Fan Digi - Underwear Hero; PTI - Wet Paint
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Stampin' Up! - Real Red
Dies: PTI - Tipped Top, Sketched Stars; Spellbinders - Wonky Rectangles (S4-306) #6
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Real Red, Pacific Point; SU DP - Real Red; Copics; Sakura Micron Pens

Now when I asked my hubby what "Man's Best Friend" meant to him, he replied "I suppose a dog!", but here's the thing, my hubby doesn't like dogs much, actually his best friend is his camera.  So, while I've used a cute puppy for my TMR card, you could expand the theme to fit your guy - camera, techy stuff, tools or pets!

I absolutely adore this image, it really is very cute and reminds me of the books my son used to read as a child - Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey (see below).  If you know of any boys who don't like reading - this series is a great find.  I coloured the image with Copics and cut it out with a die.  I used the largest die to cut out the image, so I pencilled round the die and handrew the frame, adding a few Zentangle patterns.  I stamped the sentiment and added some stars.  On the inside I used a piece of design paper to make the mat layer and stamped a bold sentiment.

For more inspiration cards for both the Anything Goes theme at Addicted to Stamps and More!, and Man's Best Friend at The Male Room, check out the projects from my team mates.

Before I go, I know I told you all that spring had arrived in Northville and this past weekend was gorgeous with sunshine and temperatures over 70°F (21°C).  Well, the photo below shows the view from my front door this morning!!!

This morning our weatherman was "delighted" to report that Detroit has had its snowiest winter ever - the total snowfall so far is 94.8"; I'm saying so far because it might snow again!!!  Fortunately the temperature is rising and we should get to a high of 39°F (4°C) today.  Bye for now!