A Childhood Memory

The Day of the Month Card Club is celebrating National Puppy Day.  I'm sneaking in under the wire with this card:

I was thrilled when I found this stamp as it totally reminded me of my childhood.  

I have always had a dog in my life and when I was a child, my sister and I always had little birthday parties for our dog. I don't think any of our dogs ever actually sat up the table like this one, but we did give them a treat and sing Happy Birthday to them!

I pulled out a background I'd made with pale blue and a tiny bit of gold Magicals, spritzed with water on watercolour paper. Stamped and heat embossed the image over it, added a bit of colour with coloured pencils, trimmed with a wonky stitched square, and popped up on fun foam on a kraft card base. I die the sentiment out of a remaining scrap of the Magicals piece.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps - Viva Las Vegas
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, kraft cs
Size - A2
Accessories - pale blue and tiny bit of gold Magicals, clear embossing powder, coloured pencils, MFT Wonky Stitched Square die, Tattered Lace sentiment die, fun foam

Tulips for Spring

I've been playing along with some of the VSN challenges over at SCS and made this card for the "Tulips from Amsterdam" challenge.

I created the background with red and green brushos. When dry, I put it into my MISTI and angled the stamp to get most of the leaves on the green and the flowers on the red. I stamped and heat embossed the tulips and the sentiment.

I'm going to send it to a friend with the message inside following on from "delight" on the front, and say "delight in the little things" - seems a good message when all of the big things are out of our control right now.

The card is perfect for the following challenges:

Penny Black Saturday Challenge "Think Spring"

Penny Black and More Challenge "Spring Flowers"

Just Us Girls Photo Challenge - be inspired by this photo:

 Seeing spring flowers is one of the simple joys in life right now.

 

Supplies:
Stamps - Penny Black tulips, SU sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Fallen Leaves
Paper - white cs, watercolour paper
Size - A2
Accessories - red and green brushos, clear embossing powder, fun foam

Great Colour Combination and a Circle Challenge

Two cards today for two different challenges.

Just Us Girls has a colour challenge I really like:

I played around with using colours on vellum:

The technique:

1.    Background: Sprinkle Brushos on vellum (can be light-weight vellum as it will be taped down on your cs so that will give it substance), spritz it, and then let it air dry for several hours. 

2.    Die cuts: Be sure to use heavy-weight vellum.  Watercolour them with Zig markers (I use two shades of each colour) and a waterbrush.  Let air dry.

3.    Try to attach die cuts by tucking under a frame to hide the adhesive, or choose a layered die cut so that the adhesive is less likely to show through.

 It's a great way to use up some of that vellum in your stash!

My second card is for Addicted to CAS "Code Word: Circle":

I masked a circle and used lots of little circular pearls:

The technique:

1. I made a mask with a circle die, stamped and heat embossed my branches in white within the mask, and then sponged over it with Distress Oxide Iced Spruce - it didn't quite give me enough contrast so went over it with Faded Jeans, blending them to get an in-between colour.
2. The sentiment is heat embossed in white on grey cs, and I used the same cs for a border.
3. Since I have a large stash of pearls, it seemed a great opportunity to use some. I spent more time pondering the placement of the pearls than I spent making the card! And I think I overdid it and used too many!!

Supplies for card 1:
Paper - white cs, lightweight and heavyweight vellum
Size - A2
Accessories - MFT pierced frame die, Alexandra Renke cornflower dies, Brushos (greens and yellows), Zig markers (blues, greens, and yellows)

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - SU World of Dreams, SU sentiment
Ink - mixed media cs, grey and cream cs
Paper - ColorBox White, Distress Oxide Faded Jeans and Iced Spruce
Size - A2
Accessories - circle die cut, white embossing powder, pearls, fun foam

Blue Delphiniums

For a friend's upcoming birthday - she loves blue.

A very CAS card - stamped in navy blue, watercoloured, a bit of light blue spatter, a bit of white gel pen in some of the flower centres, bordered in blue, and embellished with a few tiny blue gemstones.

It's going off to these challenges:

The Flower Challenge "Anything Goes"

AAA Birthday Challenge "Flowers"

Seize the Birthday "Anything Goes (as long as it's birthday)"

Krafty Chicks "Clean and Simple"

Supplies:
Stamps - Magenta Delphiniums, A Muse sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Twilight
Paper - watercolour paper, blue and cream cs
Size - 6x4.25"
Accessories - watercolour paints, tiny blue gemstones, white gel pen

Acrylic Paint and a Leaping Horse

CAS Mix Up is asking for "acrylic paint" this month.

I used a stamp that my dear friend and creator of this challenge gave to me as she knows I love horses.

I created a gelli plate background with pale blue acrylic paint and some streaks of copper Magicals.

I put it in my MISTI as I knew it would take a few reinkings to get the horse well-inked on all the solid parts of the image. Then I heat embossed it, added the sentiment, bordered with black, and popped up on fun foam.

Thanks for the fabulous stamp, Loll!  I'm sure my sister (who also loves horses) will love this birthday card!

Supplies:
Stamps - Visible Image horse, Tim Holtz sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - mixed media cs, black and white cs
Size - 5.25" square
Accessories - blue acrylic paint, copper Magicals, embossing powder, fun foam

Comparing Markers on a Poinsettia

   It's the middle of the month so this card is to remind you that you've only got until March 24th to enter CAS Christmas "Winter Flower".

 

I stamped the flower by putting it in my MISTI, inking up with Tombow markers, spritzing with water and stamping repeatedly until I was happy with the results.  I added a gold sentiment and gold splatter (might have overdone the splattering!).

I did another one using Distress markers just to compare.  Here's the focal image (I haven't turned it into a card yet).

I was not as happy with the results with the Distress markers.  They are several years newer than the Tombows but they seem to have dried up a lot more.  I had a much harder time inking the stamp with them.  I had to go over the stamp several times with the marker to get enough colour, whereas the Tombow markers went on to the stamp much more easily.  Did way too much splatter on this one too!

   Guess what?It's CAS Christmas's second birthday!!

  And to celebrate, we're offering prizes:

Winner - $25 GC to Simon Says Stamp

Random Draw from eligible entries - $25 GC to Simon Says Stamp

  So please come and join us!  There is more inspiration for you from the rest of the Design Team and this month's Guest Designer, Linda (Scrappin', Stampin', Singin').

Supplies:
Stamps - Penny Black poinsettia, Rubber Soul sentiment
Ink - Delicata Golden Glitz
Paper - watercolour paper, gold shimmer cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Tombow and Distress markers, gold paint for splattering, fun foam

Green Mistletoe and Canadian Olympic Team Colours

First up today for the Double D Challenge, they are offering the option of a St. Patrick's Day theme or a green, white, and gold colour theme.  I have no need of St. Patrick's Day cards so went with the colours.  And they are ideal colours for a Christmas card (of which I have need of many).

I stamped and watercoloured the mistletoe branch on mixed media cs and then carefully cut two narrow strips out of the panel on a diagonal.

I bordered each of those three pieces with dark gold cs and added fun foam to the back of each of them.

I carefully lined them up on the card base and drew pencil lines between them, then took them off and set them aside. I put the card base in my MISTI and stamped the two sentiments between my pencil lines. When the sentiments were dry, I erased the pencil lines and added the three image sections to the card base. Last step was adding some Stickles to the berries.


And another colour theme challenge is over at the Male Room where they are asking for team colours.  I went with the Canadian Winter Olympics Team's colours of red, black, and white.

This stamp seemed ideal since it mentions "winter".  I'm not a big sports fan but I do watch a lot of the Winter Olympics.

A very CAS card - stamped, watercoloured, bordered in black, and popped up on fun foam.

Thanks for stopping by today.  More CAS Christmas tomorrow!

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Penny Black
Ink - Archival Jet Black
Paper - white and dark gold cs, mixed media cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Stickles, watercolour paints, fun foam

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Stamplorations
Ink - Archival Jet Black
Paper - watercolour paper, white and black cs
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, fun foam

Big and Small vs Symmetry

Two cards today that are kind of opposites to each other.  One is for a "big and small" challenge, the other for a "symmetry" challenge.

First up for Less is More "Big and Small".



I went with a very big star and some very small stars:

I stamped the star in white pigment ink and heat embossed with Shabby White embossing powder and some sprinkles of gold UTEE for extra texture.

I fussy cut the star, scored and folded it, and popped it up with pieces of fun foam (3 pieces layered in the centre, 2 pieces layered in each point of the star so that I could get the centre higher than the points).

I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment and scattered tiny gold sequins and stars around the outside.


And then for Addicted to CAS Code Word "symmetry".



I used the same image on each side of the sentiment:

 

I used the old SU Baroque Motifs stamp. I stamped it in brown twice, with my sentiment in between, bordered it with brown cs, and popped it up on fun foam.

I'm sending it to my 28 year old nephew as he likes interesting quotes and he was questioning his own feelings of happiness, so thought this would count as an encouraging word for him.

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - SU Christmas Star, unknown sentiment
Ink - ColorBox gold and white
Paper - white cs
Size - 5.25" square
Accessories - gold embossing powder, tiny gold stars and sequins, Stampendous Shabby White embossing powder, gold UTEE, foam tape

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - SU Baroque Motifs, Penny Black sentiment
Ink - SU Baked Brown Sugar
Paper - white, brown, and rustic cs
Size - 6.5x4.25"
Accessories - fun foam

Wildflowers with a Large Sentiment

Seize the Birthday wants to see the sentiment as the focal image.

I'm not sure I quite got it right with this card but it is a much larger sentiment than I normally use.

I found a very pale image of wildflowers (inked up with Tombow markers, spritzed, and stamped while in my MISTI) in my box of unused pieces and thought it would be good for layering a bold sentiment on top.  The sentiment is stamped and heat embossed in platinum.  

I didn't have any card stock that matched the platinum embossing so ran my embossing dauber along the edges of a square of cs and heat embossed with the same platinum.

I embellished with a few tiny iridescent stars and sequins.

I'm also linking up with Krafty Chicks Challenge "Stamp Act" (make sure there is stamping on the card).

That's it for today.  The sun is shining so I'm heading out to do a bit of spring garden clean up.

Supplies:
Stamps - Magenta wildflowers, unknown sentiment
Ink - Versamark for the sentiment
Paper - watercolour paper, cream cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - Tombow markers, platinum embossing powder, fun foam, tiny sequins and stars

An Embossed Butterfly and Foiled Stars

Using my friend Darnell's word, today you are getting a Twofer.

First up for The Paper Players challenge "Turn Up the Heat" (use heat embossing).

 

I love heat embossing - it's what got me hooked on stamping in the first place.  Here's my card:

 

I sprayed a piece of mixed media cs with two different sprays. When dry, I put it in my MISTI and stamped the butterfly and sentiment, then heat embossed in white.

Trimmed the panel and popped it up on fun foam.


And now for the Twofer, here's a card for The 52 Christmas Card Throwdown "Foil" challenge:

 

I recently bought the new version of the Deco Foil Transfer Gel - this one is called Deco Foil Transfer Gel Duo.  It means you can add foil without using a laminator (darn it all, I wish I hadn't bought a laminator last year!!).

Using a star stencil, I applied the Transfer Gel Duo, then set it aside for a few hours.  It then laid Deco Foil "Lapis" foil over it and ran it through my Cuttlebug.  I burnished it with my fingers and then removed the excess foil.  Here's the foiled piece before I turned it into my card:

And here's the finished card:

I die cut the deer family circle, laid it over the starry background, added a sentiment, and popped it up on the card base.

The foil changes colour depending on the light.  Here's another shot:

I'll definitely be doing more foiling with this much easier method!

Thanks for dropping by today and looking at my cards.

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Visible Image butterfly, Magenta sentiment
Ink - Versamark
Paper - mixed media cs, cream cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Tattered Angels Black Cherry spray, Adirondack Cranberry spray, white embossing powder, fun foam

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Make an Impression sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Twilight
Paper - white and navy cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Memory Box Deer Family Circle die, Funky Fossil Designs star stencil, Deco Foil Transfer Gel Duo, Deco Foil Lapis foil, fun foam

Poinsettia and Holly

Here we are at the beginning of March so it's time for the new CAS Christmas challenge "Winter Flower".

And it's also CAS Christmas's 2nd birthday!

 

 

And that means there are prizes! 

Winner - $25 GC to Simon Says Stamp

Random Draw from eligible entries - $25 GC to Simon Says Stamp

So be sure to join us this month!

I went with the most traditional of winter / Christmas flower - the poinsettia.

I started by sprinkling various shades of red Brushos and a bit of ......on coated cs and spritzing with water.  I let it air dry and was pleased with the mix of pinks and reds I ended up with.  I die cut three different sizes of the Spellbinders poinsettia dies, shaped them a bit with a stylus, and layered them.

I stamped a sprig of holly on my background piece, using two shades of Distress oxide inks, and stamped and heat embossed the sentiment in gold.  I splattered some gold acrylic paint over the background and the poinsettia, and added the gold paint to the centre of the poinsettia.

I die cut the background piece with a deckle-edged die, and popped it up on a gold card base.   

Here's a close-up of the flower to show you all the lovely tones of pink and red, and the gold splattering.

In hindsight, I wish I'd stamped the holly either in gold or in a more yellow-toned green.

Please head over to CAS Christmas and take a look at the other great cards by the Design Team and this month's Guest Designer, Linda (scrappinstampinsingin).  I'm looking forward to seeing your winter flower cards in this month's link up!

Supplies:
Stamps - Rubber Soul sentiment, Penny Black holly
Ink - ColorBox gold, Distress Oxide Evergreen Bough and Lucky Clover
Paper - coated cs, gold shimmer cs, white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - various red Brushos, Ranger gold acrylic paint, Spellbinder poinsettia dies and deckle rectangle die, gold embossing powder, fun foam

Luck of the Irish

CAS Watercolour is being hosted by Julia this month and she's asking us to use the theme "Luck of the Irish".

 

Think emerald green, rainbows, pots of gold, shamrocks, leprechauns, etc.

I went with emerald green and a wreath of shamrocks.

My steps to make the card:

• Create the background with Emerald Green Brushos sprinkled on watercolour paper and spritzed with water.
• Die cut the wreath out of cream cs.  The wreath die has some scattered stars on it.  I die cut 5 little shamrocks to cover them up.  I popped the shamrocks up with foam dots and glued their stems to the wreath.
• Die cut "good luck".  Glue wreath and sentiment to Brushos panel (which I'd die cut with a square).
• Pop up on the cream card base with fun foam and add little emerald green stick-on circles.

If you look carefully, you'll notice that I adapted one of the shamrocks into a four-leafed one for extra luck!

Please head over to CAS Watercolour for more inspiration from the Design Team and this month's wonderful Guest Designer, Hannelie (Desert Diva)

Supplies:
Paper - watercolour paper, PTI Vintage Cream cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - Emerald Green Brushos, Lime Citron wreath die, Tattered Lace "good luck" die, unknown little leaf die, green stick-on embellishments, fun foam