Friday 31 October 2014

FFC43 - Merry Christmas


Time for some mid-challenge inspiration for the current Festive Friday challenge! Our inspiration is:


I love the hand-drawn/hand-written feel of this - I used an old Michael's present stamp, inked in my new favourite red - MFT Electric Red, and a Stampabilities sentiment in Versafine Grey.

The deadline for this challenge is midnight on Wednesday, November 5. Hope to see you there!

Thursday 30 October 2014

Merry Christmas


Here's a card I made for fun while on our BABES trip to Prior Lake. I CASEd Kim (not sure if she's posted it), who I think was CASing someone else. Kim then CASE'd this card. And so on, and so on...

I used the trees from the PTI Tinsel and Tags Market Kit and half of a sentiment from PTI's Side by Side Sentiments.

All the inks (except the black) belonged to the other ladies on the trip - it was so much fun to be able to try out different things. I came back with a list of items I just have to have, including this pink ink (Ranger Adirondack - do they make that anymore?)




Wednesday 29 October 2014

Our Trip to Prior Lake

It took over a year of planning and we traveled a total of 20,350 miles (32,558 km) to and from Minnesota to make it happen.

From October 18-24, six card-blogging BABES met in real life! BABES stands for Benevolent Association of Beloved and Esteemed Stampers. Now that we're all home safely, we've got lots to tell you and show you!


That's Darnell, Kim, me, Anita, Bev and Geri. These ladies are so kind, generous, funny, talented and amazing!

Here's a few photos:

Home away from home on Prior Lake

The essentials: crafting table, jammies, snacks. 

TWO full tables of stamps, dies, inks, paper and glue (embellishments had their own little table!) It was like living in a stamping store!



Our mascot Snowflake - an albino squirrel that lived in our backyard.

Our trip to American Girl at the Mall of America

The other ladies have other pics on their blogs - make sure you check them all out. 

What can I say - it was like a reunion of old friends rather than a first meeting. We laughed so hard it hurt, ate a ton, stayed in our jammies and crafted - A LOT! We did get out to shop (Michael's, JoAnn, a cute little LSS and of course the Mall of America), for walks in the crisp fall weather and for dinner each night. Italian, Mexican, steak, pizza, you name it, we had it!

We all brought our own stuff to work on (I finished the last 96 of my Church Christmas cards, which will be posted in the future). Bev and Geri both drove, so their cars were loaded (LOADED) with supplies and tools. Anita brought lovely gifts from her garden (honey, walnuts and lavender), Kim and Darnell brought projects for every one (and importantly, Kim brought her "friend" SIRI, who knows how to find anything, anywhere - what a lifesaver! lol!). We worked on our cards for Shirley, as you already know. It was fun to see what everyone else has and uses - we had great time sharing tips, tricks, techniques and tools!

So if you've ever been thinking - hey it would be fun to get a few fellow stampers together, I highly, highly recommend it! (and if you need packing tips, let me just say this - less clothes, MORE crafts!)

Tuesday 28 October 2014

CASology 119 - Ghost!



This week's CASology Cue Card is Ghost!



I don't send a lot of Hallowe'en cards and I have a very limited number of stamps for the occasion. Some pumpkins, witches, skeletons, but no ghosts at all, actually.

So I started searching through what I do have. Skateboard die from PTI. Pinking shears. Black enamel dots. An old 'boo!' (Recollections) and Hero Arts White Unicorn ink. Presto!

So now it's your turn - there are lots of ways to take this! But be sure to check out the blogs of the DT members for some inspiration:

Sunday 26 October 2014

Happy Birthday, Shirley!


Today's Shirley Bee's birthday! Maria is hosting a party and we're all invited! I chose to CASE this card of Shirley's:



I love the drama of the black and grey. I chose a Studio G stamp and a Papertrey Sentiment. I had trouble with trying to stamp 'randomly' (who, me?!), so ended up stamping them in a row. I only masked the bottom of the images so that there's a bit of a scalloped effect at the top. I finished it off with two little gems - one clear and one grey.

I was lucky enough to be able to get away last week with some friends. And we all worked on our 'Shirley' cards together. Here's a photo (more details to come later in the week).



Happy Birthday, Shirley! Best wishes for a fun day and a wonderful year ahead!

Saturday 25 October 2014

Muse 90 - Celebrate


This one's inspired by this week's Muse by Marion:


I used Avery Elle Bright Days to create the starburst by using a circle mask and stamping the yellow 'arms' and then using a slightly larger circle mask that was offset a bit to stamp the red. I love that the edges of the red and yellow arms are rough - they work perfectly with the 'handwritten' Papertrey Sentiment (am I the only one who thinks that says celebrake? I can see it's a t, but the way it's joined up to the a leaves some doubt! lol!). I finished it off with 3 sparkly enamel dots.

I hope you'll get a chance to play along! The deadline is Monday at 8 am. At that time, you can vote for your top 3 favourites (did you know that you can vote for one, two or three of your favourites - you don't have to choose 3 if you don't want to) until Tuesday at 8 am. Voting results will be posted on Tuesday at noon.




Friday 24 October 2014

FFC43 - Merry Christmas




Time for FFC43! This time we have a fun pile of presents for inspiration:




I focused on the lines of the chair seat by stamping an old Impression Obsession background stamp on craft cardstock. I then used my brand new dies from the Papertrey Tinsel and Tags kit to make this red and white scene. I finished it off with a Kaisercraft sentiment stamped in Granite (I meant for it to be Charcoal (ie darker), but I had put the wrong lids on a couple of my stamp pads. Kudos to Stampin Up and Versafine for lids that are attached and keep people like me from doing dumb things like that! lol!

This challenge runs until Wednesday November 4 - hope to see you there!

Tuesday 21 October 2014

CASology 118 - Home


This week's CASology Cue Card is Home.



I used a well-known quote and some symbolism (ruby red sparkly paper) to hopefully connect with a memory (Wizard of Oz).

Sometimes in card-making, flexibility is key. I started with the Memory Box row of houses die. Then (after I cut it haphazardly on a strip of white scrap) I realized that it's really a border die. No problem, I straightened it out and trimmed it up so that  it could sit along the bottom of my card. I then used a scrap of red glimmer paper to cut out just one of the houses and glued it on top, to show that this house is special - it's 'home'.

I don't have a 'There's no place like home' sentiment, so I figured I would use a type-writer (Inkadinkado) font to create my words. Being a clever girl, I started with the bottom word to ensure proper spacing and placement. Took me a while to find the 'l' (losing letters is really the biggest problem with clear stamp alphabets, I find) but I got 'like' stamped. Then I couldn't find the lower-case 'a' for 'place'. UGH! I really didn't want to start over (I hear there are people who plan their cards BEFORE they start them - not me!), so I figured I could mix it up a bit by using the upper-case 'A' instead. To make it look authentic, I then used a lower-case 'o' from a bigger type-writer font (Hero Arts). And until I told you this story, you had no idea that this wasn't my plan all along, did you? You just thought it was edgy and artistic, didn't you? lol!

And now it's your turn - what does home mean to you? Make sure you stop by the DT blogs for even more inspiration:

Saturday 18 October 2014

Muse 89 - Peace


It's Saturday, and time for my next Muse card. This week, we have an adorable 'welcome baby' card from Therese:



I changed the season, and focused on the colours, the layout, the grey stripes and the fact that there were two sheep. And the use of DP. Yes I have some. An embarrassing amount, actually, especially for someone who rarely uses it! I used my new Clearly Besotted Snowflake Trio (I left the littlest one out for this card) and a Creatiate sentiment.

I hope you'll get a chance to play along. The deadline is on Monday at 8 am EDT. At that point, voting opens and you can vote for your 3 favourites (even if you didn't link up a card) until Tuesday at 8 am. The results of the voting will be posted at noon. Hope to see you there!

Friday 17 October 2014

FFC42 - Mid Challenge Inspiration(s)


Time for some mid-challenge inspiration for the current Festive Friday Challenge! 

Remember our inspiration is this:


I made three cards for this week. (did I mention that I love this photo!)

 The first one, like last week's, focuses on the chairs. All that white space, shimmery red ribbon and some pops of brown and green. I used a Savvy die in Early Espresso sponged in white, a Victorine Originals Pinebranch stamped off once in Mossy Meadow and an unknown (but oh-so-useful) 'to the world'.



My next card focuses on the candles in the jars on the table. I love the layered look of the white, dark red and sand all contained in the glass, so I incorporated those elements into my card made out of a transparency sheet. I used a Stampin' Up die which I think looks a lot like ribbon, and which also works for this inspiration photo!


Finally, I went ultra-CAS. One layer, two colours, 5 stamps. The sentiment is Gina K Designs, and the holly and berries came from the PTI Tinsel and Tags kit.

The deadline for this challenge is Wednesday Oct 22 at midnight - hope to see you there!

Wednesday 15 October 2014

CTS96 - Happy Birthday!


Here's my card for the current CAS(E) This Sketch challenge.




Those black dots were not stamped individually - I have a row of them (very old - could they be Papertrey?) so I don't need to try and space them out too perfectly on my own. The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp. Both the dots and the sentiment are stamped in Versafine Onyx and embossed with clear ep.  I added the 3 little ceramic dots for some colour and shine.

Tuesday 14 October 2014

CASology 117 - Candy


This week's CASology Cue Card is Candy!



Of course candy is top of everybody's list at this time of year. My 11 1/2 year old daughter has a friend named Anna. Anna's mother was trying to convince her that she is too old for trick-or-treating and 'positively reinforced' (NOT bribed) her to give it up by letting her plan and host an elaborate Halloween party for her friends (including Kate) instead. I bet you see where this is going, right? Yep - they're going to trick-or-treat first and then have the party. lol!

My card shows that one central focal point on a white card will always look CAS. I used Avery Elle's Hello set for the 'name tag', Neat&Tangled's Sweet Home for the gumdrops (coloured in Copics then coated with Icicle Stickles for the 'sugar'), and Technique Tuesday's Your Choice for the 'sweet'.

Now it's your turn - I can't wait to see all the sweet creations for this challenge! Make sure you stop by the DT blogs for even more inspiration!

and this week's Guest Designer: Gunsan

Saturday 11 October 2014

Muse 88 - Foil Snowflake


Vicki's really given us a stunner for this week's Muse challenge, hasn't she?


I focused on the colour scheme and used the new MB Dazzling Snowflake die that is actually a negative die. You don't get a lovely snowflake cut-out, you get millions of tiny little pieces that you will find on your work surface and floor for the next week. But you do get a lovely negative that can easily be backed with say, gold foil cardstock, to create a very easy and dramatic card. (You could less-easily inlay it, I suppose, but I just know that I would lose one of the tiny dots and have to cut the whole thing out again!)

I thought about the vellum strip/sentiment but decided against it in the end. The card told me it was done and I always listen to the card! lol!

There is still some time for you to play along with us - the deadline for this challenge is Monday at 8 am. At that time you can vote for your 3 favourites (even if you didn't link up a card) until Tuesday at 8. Results of the voting will be posted Tuesday at noon.

Friday 10 October 2014

FFC42 - Merry Christmas


Time for Festive Friday Challenge #42! Here's the inspiration photo:


I love all the white space, the shimmery ribbon and the pop of green. I made a very graphic card using Clearly Besotted's Christmas Sparkle triangle die and Elizabeth Crafts Mylar Shimmer Sheets in red and green. I finished it off with a Savvy sentiment and popped it up on white.

This challenge will run until midnight on Wednesday, October 22 - hope to see you there!

Wednesday 8 October 2014

OLS10 - Turning to Fall



Cheryl has given us a timely challenge for OLS this month - Turning to Fall. The perfect opportunity to dig out those gorgeous fall colours!

I was inspired by this photo from my Pinterest inspiration board.


I created my leaves by cutting out 'stencils' using my Avery Elle Modern Leaves dies and some post-it paper. I sponged the leaves in Fired Brick, Ripe Persimmon and Mustard Seed Distress inks. I added a bold, graphic MFT sentiment in Soft Suede.

I hope you'll join us at OLS - the deadline is midnight on the 24th - lots of time to be inspired and play along!

Tuesday 7 October 2014

CASology 116 - Splatter


This week's CASology Cue Card is Splatter!




Well, splatter and CAS don't necessarily go together, do they? But as long as there's white space, your card can feel clean even if you love to use messy, ink-on-your-fingers techniques!

I used two different inking techniques here. For the big splatter, I stamped it once in Hawaiian Shores and then re-inked the stamp in Lost Lagoon. Before I stamped it, I wiped off a lot of the ink from the centre of the stamp, so that I ended up with a lovely, two-toned splatter. (This is a technique I learned from Jennifer McGuire here.)

Then, because I wanted to create a small, matching border around my main panel, I used the same inks and sponged them on to the cardbase with an ink blender tool.

My sentiment is a PTI Wet Paint die cut.

Now it's your turn! But before you go, please check out all the inspiration from the rest of the DT:

Saturday 4 October 2014

Muse Challenge 87 - Thanks, Kimberly!


Is it just me, or was September CRAZY? I somehow forgot that when the kids go back to school, so do I - I'm the Chair and Treasurer of our School Council and there's been so much going on that I have not been able to keep up at all!

This is my card for this week's Muse challenge, where Kimberly is our Guest Muse with this card:


I really wanted to do a super job with this - Kimberly is sweet, talented and full of cardmaking enthusiasm and support for all of us in this crazy little part of blogland. She and I work together on CASology and I really, really love this pretty card. But I ran out of time, and this is my first (and only) draft. While there are things I like about it, including the scripty font (Clearly Besotted Stamps die), the raised panel and the colour scheme (including the nifty fire opal gems which shine both orange and red), I wish I had more time to take it to the next level. Know what I mean?

In addition to time pressure (or maybe contributing to the time pressure), I recently got a new phone, which means a new camera which seems to be extra shaky, resulting in a slightly blurry photo (meaning I need to be more stable!). I'm also trying out a new photo editor to streamline my process and it seems fine so far, but you know that new software always takes a while to get used to.

There's a bit of time left for you to link up - the deadline is Monday morning at 8 am. At that time you can vote for your 3 favourites until Tuesday at 8 am. The results will be posted at noon on Tuesday.


Thursday 2 October 2014

FC41 - Midchallenge Inspiration


Here's my midchallenge card for the current Festive Friday challenge, where our inspiration comes from this rustic photo:

I used the same Stampin' Up wreath as I did for my card last week, but this time stamped it tone-on-tone (Mossy Meadow) to get the rich colour and dimension in the photo. I used the matching dies to cut it out. Then I chose various little sentiments that would fit down the side and finished with cherry die-cut dots (from a dot border die), coated in glossy accents.

The deadline for this challenge is Wednesday at midnight - hope to see you there!

ETA: Whoops! I posted a little early! The rest of the DT and the Festive Friday blog will be up after midnight.