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