CAS Watercolour Challenge #1 and One-Layer Simplicity Challenge #32

There's a new challenge this month - the CAS Watercolour Card Challenge.  I've been working on my water coloring skills.  I'm beginning to see some improvement.  I also love the colors of Autumn! The second card also meets the requirements for the One-Layer Simplicity Challenge this month.

    

Here's my first card for the challenge....

I LOVE this card.  The colors are so rich and vibrant!  For the water color on this card, I used a panel of Bristol paper and stamped the image multiple times (using a mask for some of the leaves) in Versafine black ink (which is a great ink for water colors).  I colored the leaves with a red, orange, yellow, and green Zig Clean Color markers, then used my Silver #4 brush and water to blend the colors together a bit.  You might notice that there is one leaf popped up over the other leaves...that one was stamped on another piece of Bristol paper and hand cut.  The stamp is from SU...one I've had forever in my stash...but I use it often. After coloring all the leaves, I used a stitched rectangle for SSS to trim it down a bit.  I backed it with a piece of dark brown and adhered it to a white card base.The sentiment is also from SSS. It's a little difficult to see on here, but I added some Wink of Stella to each of the leaves.  

And...here's my second card for the CAS Watercolour Card Challenge...which also works for the One-Layer Simplicity Challenge this month.

Same leaf stamp...different water coloring technique.  I colored the leaf with water color crayons in red, orange, and yellow.  I haven't really tried using the water color crayons before and wasn't sure what I would get.  I practiced on some scrap card stock first...and trust me...it makes a LOT of difference how much water you spritz on the stamp after you color it with the crayons.  You really need to let the water sit on the stamp for a little bit before you try to stamp with it.  You can also get second and third generation images with this technique.  After I had stamped each of these leaves, the card just seem to need something else, so I added some splatters with "ink" I created with the same crayons used for coloring the stamp. This is also a one layer card.

I'm really going to love this challenge because it keeps me using my water colors!

As always, thanks so much for stopping in.  I appreciate your visit...and I appreciate each and every comment!

Muse Challenge 161 and lots more....

I made a card this week that is perfect for the Muse Challenge.  Here's the card from Anita Bowden who is this week's Muse:

The inspiration I took away from this card is the inlaid die cut and the pierced edges with lots of white background.

I used a branch die and a bird die from Memory Box and the "Be" die from Simon Says Stamps.  Each of these dies were inlaid into a white background cut with a stitched border die from SSS.  The "happy" is a stamp from SSS. It took me a while to figure out which order to cut the inlaid dies, but I finally got it! :)

Here's a few more of the cards I've made this week.  (I'll be using them with our widows group)

Stamps from Altenew's Beautiful Day

Stamps from Altenew and Hero Arts

Stamps from Altenew and Simon Says

Stamps from Stampin Up

If you have any questions about any of the cards, you can drop me an email at the link on the right side bar.  All coloring was done with Copic markers.  Some of the flowers were simple stamped with three coordinating colors.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by for a visit!  Hope you'll come back soon!  Your comments are greatly appreciated! Until next time...

CASology #165 - Circles & Simon Says Wednesday Challenge

The cue word at CASology this week is circles.   The challenge at the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge is to make a card with NO designer paper...so I believe this fits the bill for that challenge too!

I think I was putting this card together in my dreams...and it turned out just like I dreamed it did! 

I used the SSS stitched circles dies to cut concentric circles and then put them back together like a puzzle into the white card panel.  The "best" is a some of my NBUS that just happened to be the same size as the center blue piece.  I cut the "best" out 4 times and layered it for dimension then adhered it over the blue circle.  The rest of the sentiment is from SSS collection called Best Hugs (also NBUS!) which I stamped in Versamark on black then heat embossed in white. The embossed sentiment sections were popped up with some foam tape. I added some fun foam behind the panel and adhered it to a white card base.  The corners were rounded with a 1/4 inch corner chomper.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by for a visit!  Hope you'll come back soon!  Your comments are greatly appreciated! Until next time...

Simon Says Weekly Challenge...and a little scrapbooking

I made this card for the Simon Says weekly challenge.  The challenge this week is making a birthday card showcasing Simon Says exclusive products. I masked off the edges of my card, then sponged in four different distress inks. The sentiment is from Simon Says as are the stars.  I stamped them all in Versamark, then heat embossed them with liquid platinum embossing powder.  Super quick and easy one layer card.

                 

I've also been trying to do a bit of scrapping again lately.  I didn't do any scrapbooking for quite a while, and it's difficult to get back into it...but hopefully, the more I scrap, the easier it'll be!

Last fall, my son asked me to go to the shooting range with him and get in a little target practice.  I knew that we had a gun in the house, but had never shot it.  So...this was definitely a new experience for me!  I was shooting a 38 revolver, and after the first couple of shots (which were made with my eyes closed! LOL!), I finally got the hang of it, and did fairly well as you can see by my target in the top photo. (The target was set out 25 feet).  If you look closely at the photo in the bottom right, you see me ducking...when I fired the first time, I closed my eyes AND ducked!  It was kind of fun...so who know...maybe I'll go again one day!

This is a photo of my daughter and son-in-law taken at my house last summer.  I printed the large dashed circles and the brown splatters onto the 12 x 12 card stock with my large format printer.  I created the smile circle in my Silhouette program and used a 2 inch punch to punch it out.  The hearts are all dies.  The title work "hey, Good Looking" was stamped with a Lawn Fawn alphabet.  Arrow is a Spellbinder die.  Photo corner is a die from MFT.  The film strip and the striped piece are both washi tape.

This card is a tri-fold card that I made after my last Online Card Class.  It was super simple to make.  In the class we were shown how to use dies to make the word pop off the page so that the top fold could be slipped under the word, but I figured out how to do the same thing with the Cameo.  The top of the card was stamped with stamps from WPlus9. I'm not sure what stamp I used for the birthday.  I do love how this card turned out.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by for a visit!  Hope you'll come back soon!  Your comments are greatly appreciated! Until next time...

LIM 215 and CASology

I have several cards to share today.  I seem to have a problem getting photos of my card and because of my laziness procrastination, I've missed a couple of challenges!  These first two cards are for the current Less is More challenge which is a one layer card with animals.  The second card is for the current CASology challenge with a cue word of "tropical". (and I think I'm squeaking in just in time!)

This is my one layer card for the LIM challenge.  I decided to draw several little "chicks" as I couldn't find a stamp I wanted to use.  Chicks are considered animals....right??  Anyway, I drew the chicks, colored them with Copics, added googly eyes, and masked off a little green hill to ground them.  Then just a touch of blue for the sky.  Very quick and easy...even though my little chicks look a little startled! I can't say I'm a great artist...but I try! LOL!

I hope this "tropical" card is CAS enough!  I cut the silhouette (chair, tree, ground) with my Cameo.  I used distress ink to shade the background, then stamped the sentiment in black and heat embossed it in clear embossing powder. I should have left well enough alone...but decided I "needed" a little sparkle in the sky, so I put clear Wink of Stella on the sky...kind of looks like stars!  The sentiment is from Flourishes - Beach Life (unfortunately Flourishes no longer exists!)

This next card is the one I made for my grandson who will be eleven tomorrow.

I wanted to make a shaker card, and I've had very little practice, so I gave it another try!  I cut the balloon from a white panel, then cut two layers of fun foam and adhered them to the back of the panel, aligning them with the opening.  I added tiny seed beads inside the balloon.  On the card base, I colored a blue rectangle to go behind the opening.  The robot is a MME stamp and is colored with Copics.  I added a dotted "ground" and colored it with a light grey Copic.  The sentiment is hand written. I hope he likes it and doesn't think it's too "childish"!

These next two cards were cards I made for last week's LIM challenge...but once again I was lazy didn't get photos in time!

  

The tulips are a stamp from Penny Black, that I stamped in Memento black and colored with Copics. I fussy cut each of the blooms and then layered them on the green panel.  Some of the tulips are popped up for a little dimension. The green panel was cut with the rectangle stitched die from SSS, but I did some partial cutting in order to get a more "square" shape.  The sentiment is from SSS and is stamped on vellum and heat embossed in yellow.

This card is the result of my playing with some of my distress inks and trying to figure out what I could do with the inked panel after I finished!  Can't say I really love this card, but I do like the bright colors!  The sentiment is from SSS (I think), and was stamped in black then heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  The butterfly was punched with a MS punch then coated with a little wink of stella.

Whew! That was a lot to drop on you today! Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by for a visit!  Hope you'll come back soon!  Your comments are greatly appreciated! Until next time...

A New Challenge for Me....AAA Cards

I made a card yesterday that I discovered fit this challenge perfectly!  The AAA Cards challenge this week is 

Orange U Glad UR CAS"

Again, I was playing with my distress inks and this is what I came up with.

I used the SSS stitched border die to cut out the inked panel, then using my MISTI, I stamped the Winnie & Walter sentiment.  To ink the bottom of the panel, I masked off the top portion of the card stock, then blended my inks down and off the bottom of the card.  After stamping the sentiment, I added three orange sequins...and popped the panel over an orange card base using a piece of fun foam behind the panel.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by for a visit!  Hope you'll come back soon!  Your comments are greatly appreciated! Until next time...

CASology - Monochrome Challenge & One Layer Simplicity

I've made a couple of cards for two different challenges.  This first card is for the CASology monochrome challenge this week.

I was playing with my distress inks and this is what I came up with...

I used three shades of distress ink - broken china, tumbled glass, and salty ocean - and blended them across the card base.  After drying the ink thoroughly with my heat tool, I used my MISTI and some Versamark ink to stamp the sentiment.  The sentiment is from SSS - Sending and Wishing. I used detail white embossing powder to heat emboss the sentiment, then because the MISTI is SO cool....I stamped it again in Versamark and heat embossed with white again!  How "cool" is that!  Then because the card still looked like it "needed" something, I added three hearts from the same stamp set, using the DI salty ocean.  It's difficult to see on the card, but I then took my Wink of Stella clear and brushed it all around the sentiment and over the hearts.  The card really has a lot of sparkle IRL.  I used a 3/8 inch corner rounder for the right hand corners.

I'm still not completely sure about my ink blending, but I guess with practice I'll get better...I know my heat embossing is getting better each time!

I think this card will also work for the One Layer Simplicity Challenge for this month which is to blend colors...and I definitely blended some colors on this card!

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by for a visit!  Hope you'll come back soon!  Your comments are greatly appreciated! Until next time...

LIM is FOUR!

It's hard to believe that the Less is More challenge is 4 years old!  I remember when Chrissie and Mandi first started this challenge!  I played faithfully for the first couple of years, but then my life was turned upside down so I haven't played in a long time!  The challenge this week is to use the colors pink and grey.  Pink I LOVE...but grey is always difficult for me.  Here's to everyone at LIM ... wishing you all much happiness and many more years of CAS fun!

Here's a couple of cards I made just for this challenge:

This first card is my favorite.  I used the Simon Says stitched rectangle for the background.  I made a stencil with my Cameo for the design on the background, and then cut a circle mask to place on the card before adding the inking on the stencil. The flower is the Gerber daisy from Uniko Studios.  I stamped the image in dark grey, cut it out and colored it with Copics.  The tag was cut from the same card stock as the card base, and the sentiment was heat embossed with pink embossing powder.  The sentiment is from HA.

I didn't like this card quite as much as I did the first card.  For this card, I stamped a piece of the grey card stock (from the piece left over from the first card) with dark grey ink using an Impression Obsession background stamp.  The sentiment is from PTI, and the butterfly is from Memory Box. I traced the outer edge of the butterfly die onto some vellum and then cut it out to place behind the butterfly that was cut from pink glittery paper.   The sentiment is heat embossed with white embossing powder.  I added a butterfly "trail" with a white Uniball Signo pen.  The pink layer is popped up with foam tape over the card base and the grey strip.

That's all for me today!  Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by for a visit!  Hope you'll come back soon!  Your comments are greatly appreciated! Until next time...

Muse Challenge #103

It's been so long since I've really participated in a challenge, but I'm feeling more like playing along after taking the latest online card class.  This first card is to play along with the Muse Challenge this week.

The techniques used to make this card were things I learned in the recent card class.  Once someone shows you how to do it...why...it's super simple!  Instead of making a round card, I made a large hexagon card.  I used the direct to paper inking technique for the yellow.  The white layers are popped up on the yellow background with foam tape, then I popped the top hexagon with more foam tape.  The sentiment is from Simon Says.  Hearts were punched with a MS punch then layered and topped with a touch of Wink of Stella and some glossy accents.  The three border stamps I used are some old one from my stash and I'm not completely sure who makes them.

I also have several more cards I've made this week....fair warning...LONG post!

This next card was made using more techniques I learned in the online card class also.  Sentiment (congrats) is from Walter & Winnie and I'm not sure about the "you rock" stamp.  Inking was sponged on in several shades of distress ink.

My very first shaker card!  Not too sure I like the glittery "shaker" stuff inside.  There seems to be a LOT of static and the glitter just sticks to the acrylic front.  The balloon was a die cut from Simon Says and the string and bow are from a MFT stamp set.  I used the Simon Says stitched rectangle set to cut the frame for the window.  The birthday sentiment is also a SS stamp.

 I had lots of paper scraps on my desk, so that's how this card came about.  I used the negative shapes from the previous card and stamped the white piece with a SU image.  The sentiment is from Avery Elle and was stamped in versamark and heat embossed with gold embossing powder.

This next card is another card I made based on a tutorial from the online class.  I struggled with it a bit, but finally got it finished.  I should have used a different type of glue....lesson learned for next time.  The pieces that make up the heart are from about 5 or 6 different dies.

This last card is just something I was playing with today.  The stamps are from PTI.  I stamped each candle in a different color then added the flame with the butter bar ink.  Then...this is where I began experimenting....I drew light pencil lines on my card base (8.5 x 11) to show where I would cut for the two cards...then stamped the candles on the top card and the bottom card.  I designed the word "celebrate" in my Silhouette program to align with the two cards on the piece of card stock. After I finished stamping, I put the stamped card stock through the printer and printed "celebrate" on top of my stamped candles.  I still need to tweak it a bit to get everything centered correctly.  I did play with another piece and discovered that I could print out the word first....then stamp the candles and they still look like they're behind the word....go me!!

If you've lasted through this photo-heavy post...THANK YOU!  I hope that I can get around to seeing some of your blogs soon!  I miss seeing all your creativity!!

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by for a visit!  Hope you'll come back soon!  Your comments are greatly appreciated! Until next time...

Simon Says Challenge

I do love white on white, and the challenge this week at Simon Says is a white on white challenge.  I had a lot of fun putting this card together.

I cut a 5.25 x 4 inch panel and embossed it with the Swiss dot embossing folder.  I cut another piece of white card stock approximately 3.5 x 4.75 inches and embossed it with a flowers folder Cuttlebug folder.  The butterfly is a MB die as are the flowers.  I cut out several of each size flower and layered them for dimension.  I added a small clear gem to the center of each flower.  The butterfly and the sentiment tag are both coated with glamour dust for a fine sheen (I hope you can see it). I've folded the wings up and curled them just a bit to lift the butterfly off the card.  The sentiment was stamped in black (hope that's okay for a white on white challenge) and is from PTI.  I pop dotted the flower layer and the sentiment tag.  I also added a flower to the sentiment tag.  All corners on all layers including the base card were rounded with the 1/4 in corner chomper.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I appreciate the time you took to visit and all your wonderful comments! Until next time...

Hugs!