Monthly Archives: February 2015

AAA cards orange CAS challenge

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I happened to check the AAA cards blogspot yesterday and saw that they have a new challenge out there – very CAS and some orange. Sounds like some fun after all the pink and red lately. My new boho blossoms punch was sitting on the table and just begging to be used. One tip – don’t get your little finger in the way when you’re punching. Ouch!

I got a bit off track and started making a really funky background piece in orange with clear embossing. It was definitely orange, but not exactly CAS. So that will be used later on in the week!

Stampin' Up! Boho blossom punch and Painted Petals

This is a very straight forward card – as pretty much demanded by a very CAS style card – but here are the details just in case. I used the boho blossoms punch, which cuts out all three flower shapes at once, on a piece of very vanilla card stock. After I forgot what the goal was and started playing with melon mambo card stock and coloured rhinestones, I got back on track again and grabbed a piece of pumpkin pie. I chose this orange of the three available because it’s the only one with coordinating blendabilities and I wanted to colour the jewel. I used the thank you from the Stampin’ Up! Painted Petals stamp set and stamped it in pumpkin pie. I really like the typeface. After gluing the very vanilla card to a base of pumpkin pie, I stuck one of the flowers onto the base and then a pumpkin pie coloured rhinestone on top. Use the brush tip of the pen but be gentle – the rhinestones can really abuse the tip.

I also used my new embossing folder – the spring flowers – on the envelope flap. I thought it coordinated with the boho blossoms.

Stampin' Up! Spring Flowers TIEF

Here’s the banner for the challenge.

Stop back and see the stepped up a notch melon mambo version of this card in the next day or so.

Sheltering Tree for a Monday challenge

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Well the challenge was set yesterday although today is Tuesday. Susan Itell often sets a “Monday Make it Mine” challenge on Mondays and I decided, for the first time today, to try it out. Her challenge sounded simple – create a one layer card using only one stamp set. I’ll point out now that the seeming simplicity of the challenge was completely misleading. And then some.

I started by creating a card with Painted Petals and then had two attempts with Endless Birthday Wishes. I had three goes with Because You Care. I didn’t like any of them. I contemplated a number of other sets and, fearing that I had a pattern going and I was going to make four attempts, pulled out the Stampin’ Up! Sheltering Tree set. Bingo! Which is more than can be said for the photography – and I tried a number of times.

Stampin' Up! Sheltering Tree single layer card

This simple one layer card has whisper white as the base and the grassy bank is stamped in pear pizzazz – my current favourite spring green. The tree is stamped in sahara sand. After using the embossing buddy, I stamped the leaves in versamark and used the blushing bride embossing powder. I pulled the combination of sahara sand and blushing bride from the colour coach. Only then did I decide to add the swing – also stamped in sahara sand – and so I had to carefully blot the ink off the embossed leaves where the swing was stamped over the blushing bride. I decided to add some clumps of flowers, using the pear pizzazz and blushing bride inks. I liked that the sentiment was just the right length to fit in the gentle curve of the bank – that’s stamped in sahara sand. Since this was a Susan challenge, I had to go with the classic envelope lining since it was from reading her blog that I became addicted to this practice!

Thinking of Wetlands

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The Paper Players have a challenge this week to have a bird on your CAS (clean and simple) card. Okay, I can do that. I have a few stamps with birds on them; I decided to use the oyster catchers / avocets from the Stampin’ Up! Wetlands set. Actually this is the second card that I made, the first wasn’t as clean and simple. I’ll post it in a day or two.

Stampin' Up! Wetlands and Sheltering Tree

Here’s the banner:

I used the perpetual birthday calendar set and the April image and stamped it in crumb cake on very vanilla card stock. Then I put the birds from the Wetlands set on top in early espresso. I should mention that the first time I stamped them, I was so intent on figuring out where they should go, that I got too close to the card stock and smudged everything. That’s why there are two sides to the paper, right? The sentiment is from one of the new stamp sets from the Occasions 2015 catalog, Sheltering Tree and is also stamped in early espresso. It’s a great set.

I’ve matted the very vanilla in early espresso which is just 1/8 inch bigger than the very vanilla. I really like how the very skinny mat works. The base is crumb cake. This means that I can have a matching envelope – I’ve lined it using the envelope liners framelits to cut out the liner in the backgrounds DSP from the subtle family in crumb cake.

Celebrate the Mini Treat Bag

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I was looking for inspiration and checked a few challenge sites and decided on the handstamped colour challenge for this week. Additionally I wanted to play with my new mini treat bag thinlits dies. The challenge banner is an interesting mixture of colours and are combined in a new DSP, the Best Day Ever. Of course I decided to go in a different direction!

I used one of the decorative dies from the mini treat bag collection – the line of stars.

Stampin' Up! Project Life Remember This

After cutting out the stars out of a piece of very vanilla, I was going to colour on the layer below but realised that it wouldn’t be easy to get the colouring in the right place and also there wouldn’t be enough depth of colour. So I cut out little pieces of card stock in calypso coral, crushed curry and coastal cabana and glued them onto the back. I next took another new product, the Stampin’ Up! Project Life Remember This set (it’s in the Occasions 2015 catalog) and stamped the sentiment in calypso coral. I glued the card onto a base of very vanilla.

PPA239 colour challenge

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As usual there was a new PPA challenge announced on Thursday and happily it was a colour one. I find those much easier although the colours chosen caused me some angst. I am not fond of brown; it just doesn’t seem like a happy colour. Hence it took me until Friday evening to create my card! So although it’s Valentine’s Day today, I’m not posting a Valentine’s Day card. I’m not ignoring the day though, my brother and I will be hosting our usual singles Valentine’s Day dinner for our local friends (as long as the weather is kind). Happy Valentine’s Day to all!

I’ve seen a lot of cards done with the bokeh technique lately and I thought I’d give it a try. Bokeh, according to wikipedia is “the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light” and thus the final out of focus circles are usually done in white. I decided to be different. I know, what a surprise.

Stampin' Up Hello You on bokeh with a twist

I used my aquapainter to thoroughly wet a quarter sheet of water colour paper and then added crumb cake and soft suede, also with the aquapainter. After waiting a couple of hours for it to dry, I used a sponge dauber to add circles of real red. My template was created using the acetate sheet from a photopolymer stamp set and the three smallest circle framelits. The acetate sheet was available because I have followed what I’ve seen a number of people do and I stick the stamps directly onto the case. The printed acetate sheet for each stamp set is stuck on the other side to help with placement and make it obvious if there’s a stamp still out on my desk.

I then cut out the thanks from the Stampin’ Up! Hello You framelit set in real red. The water colour paper is matted in soft suede (use strong glue and ensure you get to the edges) and glued to a base of crumb cake.

And here’s the banner that inspired this card:

PPA239