Thank You Wheels

The new Addicted to CAS challenge is "wheels".

I have a great stamp of an old penny-farthing bicycle that I rarely use so it seemed a great opportunity to get it out.

I made a shaving foam background, then stamped in black pigment ink and heat embossed.  I bordered in black and popped it up on fun foam.

My brother-in-law is an avid cyclist and often helps me out with things when he comes to visit so I'll save this for the next time I need a thank you card for him.

Supplies:

Stamps - unmounted, unknown stamps

Ink - Versafine Onyx Black; reinkers: Distress Antique Linen, Salty Ocean, and Vintage Photo

Paper - white and black cs

Size - A2

Accessories - clear embossing powder, shaving foam

Rainbow Christmas

A quick card for the Jingle Belles challenge "Here Comes Santa Claus" and the Christmas Card Throwdown challenge:

I chose a stamp that lends itself to being coloured with several different colours and includes Santa Claus.

I stamped in black and then coloured the houses and moon with Copic markers.  I layered it to create a thin black border and popped it up with fun foam on a red card base.

Another one for my stash!

Supplies:

Stamps - Crafty Individuals

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper - white and black cs, red card base

Size - A2

Accessories - Copic markers, fun foam

No Stamps

Less is More challenge is asking for no stamps this time.

A great chance to use some dies, including my sentiment dies.

It's a very CAS card made with a wreath die and a sentiment die. The tiny stars came out of the wreath when I die cut so scattered them around as a matching embellishment.

Thanks for dropping by!

Supplies:

Paper - ivory and gold shimmer cs

Size - 4.75" square

Accessories - Memory Box star wreath, Tim Holtz noel die

Decorative Paper or Embossed Background?

This week's Merry Christmas Challenge is to use patterned paper - a good one for me as I have quite a stash of it and rarely use it these days.

I picked a pretty green dp with a small print, and then found a piece of light kraft cs that blended with it well and stamped and heat embossed in white.  I coloured with white and green coloured pencils, trimmed it down and bordered in white. 

A pretty basic card that takes me back to my early days of cardmaking.  I like it but I'm not sure it's my style anymore (maybe I really should get rid of a lot of that dp!!).  So while I had the stamp and the kraft cs out, I made an alternate version.

I used a darker kraft cs for more contrast, the same heat embossing and colouring, but this time bordered with dark green cs and mounted on an embossed background.

The question then was "do I like it any better?".  Or should I also get rid of a bunch of my embossing folders too?  My style seems to have evolved away from this too and I'm enjoying more mixed media stuff, making my own backgrounds, etc.  It will be interesting to see at my annual card sale what cards sell the fastest.  If people still really like these ones and they sell quickly, then I need to keep making some of them so will have to keep my dp and embossing folders!  I'll report back in December!

What do you think?  Decorative paper or embossed background?  Move on from both of them?  Since I'm ambivalent myself, you won't hurt my feelings!

Supplies:

Stamps - Penny Black

Ink - ColorBox white

Paper - white, green, and kraft cs; unknown dp

Size - A2

Accessories - white embossing powder, coloured pencils, Darice embossing folder

Belated Dragonflies

I seem to be so far behind these days that I'm making belated birthday cards for everyone!

For this one, I used another tissue paper background using the technique I learned from Loll Thompson's video.

Tissue paper was carefully smooshed with yellow and orange Distress Oxide inks, drying between each layer.  I then crumpled it up and glued it down to white cs.  Thoroughly went over it with an embossing buddy and then gently rubbed Versamark ink over the raised creases, added gold embossing powder, and heated.

I then stamped and heat embossed the sentiment, trimmed the panel and set it behind a black frame I die cut with two rectangle dies.  I added the dragonfly stems die to the lower corner.  The whole panel is popped up on fun foam.

I'm linking it up with July's CAS Mix Up challenge to use tissue paper, stamping, and at least one other option from the CMU list.

Thanks for dropping by today!

Supplies:

Stamps - Rubber Stamp Farm sentiment

Ink - Distress Oxide Spiced Marmalade, Antique Linen, and Fossilized Amber; Versamark, Versafine Onyx Black

Paper - white and black cs, tissue paper

Size - A2,

Accessories - Memory Box Dragonfly Stems, Spellbinders layering rectangles, clear and gold embossing powder, fun foam

Summer Revisited

The current Addicted to CAS challenge is :

One of my favourite summer memories from childhood involves warm Ontario days spending hours in an Adirondack chair (aka Muskoka chair) under a tree reading a book.  I did a variation on this card a few weeks ago evoked by the fir trees at the cottage we used to go to, but wanted to do one in memory of the Adirondack chairs we had at home under the deciduous trees in our backyard.

I stamped and heat embossed the chair, then watercoloured it and the grass and sky areas with my Gansai Tambi paint.  I stamped the sentiment and tree trunk in darker brown, and the grass and leaves in green.

 

The panel is popped up on fun foam.

 

I'm sending it to my Dad who still loves his Adirondack chair!

Supplies:

Stamps - Local King chair, Rosie's Roadshow sentiment, A Muse grass, SU tree

Ink - Recollections Chestnut pigment ink, Memento Rich Cocoa and Cottage Ivy

Paper - white cs, watercolour paper

Size - A2

Accessories - Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, fun foam, clear embossing powder