A Happy Halloween

I Have these wonderful prints on fabric from Crafty Secrets that I have had in my stash forever. I recently used one for a card for the current Time Out Challente (Vintage), and now I am thinking of ways to use them in time to get Halloween Cards out. This is something I say I am going to do every year, and usually don't.

I used Jaydee's sketch from The Paper Players #PP663 as my design inspiration.

Hopefully I will get more of these done this week and in the mail to my favorite goblins and Halloween lovers!

I am also playing at:

Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge

Cupcake Inspiration Challenge #580 - Halloween Fun

Double D Challenges: Pumpkins

Hope Your Birthday Is A Splash!

 

I have been very busy trying to get my stash weeded, inventoried and cataloged. I have not been creating very much as I am trying to get this enormous project behind me, but today I was checking out my favorite challenges. I just had to drop everything and play at Just Us Girls where the current challenge is to CASE one of the designers. ALL of the cards are fabulous, but when I saw Carol Mc's card, I knew right where I had to go. 

This is Carol's card. I absolutely LOVE it!

I was inspired by her multicultural women on floats in fashionable bathing suits and hats. What a fabulous take on Time Out's Fashionable Challenge too! I used Avery Elle's Splash stamps and dies to float my women friends on their donut tubes in a lovely pool with water compliments of MFT's Perfect Pool Water Stencil. I used Pretty Pink Posh's Grid Stencil to create a patio around the pool. I had a blast making this, and I just love the way Carol inspired me with her creation.

Project Details
Stamps/Dies	Avery Elle Splash stamps & dies Photoplay A2 Round Rectangle dies
Cardstock	110lb. Neenah Solar Crest 80lb Neenah PTI Soft Stone
Ink	Memento Tuxedo Black Copic Markers VersaMark PTI Soft Stone
Embellishments	Little Things Raindrops by Lucy's Cards
Other	Spellbinders Platinum Plus Die Cutting & Embossing Machine Scor-Pal Score Board Fiskars 12" SureCut Deluxe Craft Paper Trimmer MISTI Stamping Tool Bearly Art Precision Glue WOW Dual Speed Heat Tool Pretty Pink Posh Grid Stencil MFT Perfect Pool Water Stencil

I'm also playing at:

 Seize The Birthday #260 (no twist)

The Paper Players #638 - Tic Tac Toe

Bottom left to top right - sparkle (on donut floats), die cuts, dry embossing

Allsorts Challenge #726 - One For The Girls

We Mermaid To Be Friends

I have a thing about mermaids. They seem to be very popular in the crafting world these days, and I have collected a wonderful combination of mermaid-themed stamps and dies. I am having a blast with them. For this card, I created a background with DOX inks that was perfect for under the sea. I die cut it with the Memory Box Coral Collage die. Inside the die cut, I placed a gorgeous piece of tissue paper from the Hero Arts May 2017 monthly kit. I used the stencil from the same kit to dry emboss the wave background on the white cardbase. The mermaid tail and sentiment is from Ellen Hutson's Essentails by Ellen Clear Stamps Mermaid's Tail by Julie Ebersole. The tail is heat embossed on heat resistant acetate and die cut. It shows the gorgeous tissue paper behind it.  I just love this card.

I am playing at:

  Paper Players #353 - CAS Summer Fun In The Water

CAS Mix Up July 2017

Curtain Call - Surf's Up

The Heart Desires 14

Love You Always

Game #83 at AAA Cards CAS Challenge Blog has begun, and Love is in the air, The theme is LOVE, but there is an extra option for this challenge. In addition to the love theme you might like to shape up your card. It could be long and thin, a rounded square, circular, heart-shaped or any other shape you can imagine, just make sure to keep it LOVE themed and CAS.

Happy Little Stampers is sponsoring the challenge, and offers a $15.00 Gift Certificate to the Happy Little Stampers Store.

Guest Designer

Sharon - frommycraftdesk.blogspot.co.uk/

Treat yourself to a stroll through her blog. She has a unique and wonderful style that is sure to inspire you!

This is my take on the challenge:

I was on Pinterest looking for some ideas for shaping my card, I ran across THIS card by Michele Kovac and my wheels started turning. For my card, I went with the same shape as Michele's, but with a CAS design using SSS Love stamp set and dies. "Love" was cut from a water colored scrap in my bits box. I used Dreamweaver Metallic Gold Embossing Paste with SSS Falling hearts Stencil to embellish. The scalloped edging was done with MFT's Stitched Scalloped Basic Edges. 

Please head on over to the AAA Challenge Blog and see what the designers have created to inspire. Create a love-themed project of your own and share it in the AAA Challenge #83 gallery. I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

I'm also playing along with the following Challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - The Color Of Love

Creative With Stamps #11 - Valentine

Paper Players #330 - Valentine

Thanksgiving Blessings

AAA Cards CAS Challenge #77 - Thanksgiving / Thank You

I love the fall where I live. The colors are vibrant, the air cool and clear, and the scents are warm and comfy. I love the Thanksgiving Holiday most of all. It doesn't get half the attention it deserves. I love that there is a time set aside to really contemplate life's blessings. 

That said, the current challenge is to create a Thanks/Thanksgiving themed card.

Our sponsor is Happy Little Stampers. Our challenge winner will receive a $20 Gift Certificate to the Happy Little Stampers Store. Watch for the new release - it's wonderful!

For this challenge, we have super talented 

Elisabeth from aufspapiergebracht.blogspot.de as our Guest Designer.

Check out her blog for some delightful inspiration, and then head on over to the AAA CAS Challenge Blog for more inspiration from the AAA DT. Think thankful thoughts, and create a thanks/Thanksgiving themed card, link up and play with us at AAA Cards.

Here is my take:

My main image is a stamp I've had in my stash for probably a good 20 years or more from All Night Media, colored with Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers. The sentiment is from Paper Smooches Fall Sampler.

The Mood Board at the Double D Challenge Blog provided some wonderful inspiration for my card, so I am linking up there as well.

Also linking up at Paper Players where the theme is "Thankful".

Thank YOU for stopping by today. Have a great day!

Thankful

I have been playing with the gorgeous new SSS Maple Leaf Corner Wafer Die. This is my second card using the pieces of the die cut in reverse. I smooshed several Distress Inks in fall colors on to watercolor paper and die cut it.  I also used the die on SU brushed gold cardstock. In the previous card, I used the gold outline and inserted the water colored leaves into the negative space.  For this one, I did the opposite. "Thankful" was a die cut sentiment from PTI's Phrase Play #7 Die.  The splatters are stenciled with Tim Holtz Speckles Layering Stencil and Tea Die Distress Ink. The May Arts silk ribbon is rich and gorgeous and has been in my ribbon collection for a long time. This is a bit of a departure from my usual look because of the ribbon, but I really like it.  I am linking this card to the following challenges:

Paper Players #263 - Create A Fall Scene

 

SSS Wednesday Challenge - Die Crazy

Little Red Wagon #307 - Try Something New

 Use a new stamp or a new tool or a new technique or a new die...

 

Addicted To CAS #72

 

Thank you so much for stopping in today.  I greatly appreciate your visit and your comments.

 

 

Hello Friend

I love the gorgeous images from Designs By Ryn, and I have used three of them for this card. To create it, I pressed distress inks on crumpled foil and laid on wet watercolor paper. You can see this technique in THIS by CraftyPaws:
Distress Ink Watercoloring Tutorial: Collaboration w/Justine Hovey.

I stamped the fish image in Versafine Onyx Black and embossed with SU Clear EP. I masked the fish and stamped the coral image with VersaMark ink and embossed it with Adirondack Lettuce EP. I then stamped the Sea Bubbles image with VersaFine Onyx Black and embossed it with SU clear EP. I partially die cut the bottom of the watercolored panel with one of the dies from PTI's Wet Paint set and stamped Friend from the coordinating stamp set beneath it. I layered four hello die cuts and inlaid them on the die cut panel, added a few sequins and voila!

I am linking this card to the following challenges:

Happy Little Stampers: Masking

Mod Squad : Heat Emboss your focal image.

And

Paper Players #258 : Beach Theme

Thank so much for coming by today. Thanks as always, for your kind comments as well.

Giving Thanks

AAA Cards Challenge is a new one for me. Their THANKSgiving game is about giving thanks. Paper Players Challenge #222 is "Clean and Simple Thank You".  I wanted to make a card to thank my niece for hosting Thanksgiving this year. When I saw the inspiration photo for the AAA Cards challenge, I immediately thought of PTI's Table Service stamps and dies, and I wanted to do a place setting on burlap.  This is what I came up with for these two challenges.  I really love that silverware tucked in the napkin. I will be making the turkey, the brie tartlets and the place cards this year.  I can smell those heavenly smells already.  Thanks for coming by today.

Supplies:

Stamps~PTI Nuts To You, Table Service

Accessories~PTI Leaf Prints and Table Service Dies, Woodgrain IP, Burlap, Twine, Button, Lil' Inkers stitched Sentiment Flag Die

Paper~PTI Terracotta Tile, Rustic Cream, SU Brushed Silver, Authentique Thankful DP

Ink~Versafine Vintage Sepia, PTI Vintage Touch Tea Die, Scarlet Jewell, Classic Kraft

Hoppy Easter

I came across a new sketch challenge yesterday by Lisa Arana of Dahlhouse Designs. Lisa posts a new sketch on the third Sunday of every month. You will find a link to the current sketch on the top right of her blog. I used it along with the current Paper Players Color Challenge for inspiration for this punny Easter card.

Thank you so much for coming by today. 

You're Invited

I needed to come up with an invitation for my twin sons' graduation party. I spent a rainy day on Saturday working on an idea, and this is the final product.  I used a combination of challenges for inspiration. The Dynamic Duos color choice for this week was perfect as their school colors are green and white.  I chose gold for the "other color" using metallic for the embossing and a mustardy gold for the base of the circle on the top. I also used the Paper Players Tic-Tac-Toe challenge elements of punch/die, patterned paper, and dots (I have no enamel so I substituted the self-adhesive half pearl on the cap).

 

Thanks so much for stopping in today. Spring is still struggling to spring here in the Northeast... Hope springs eternal.



You & Me Forever

This card is born of a combination of challenges and a Splitcoast Stampers tutorial. Retrosketches for the layout, Paper Players for the colors and SCS for the bow. I am skidding in at the last moment for Retro Sketches. I loved this sketch, the colors came together and the SCS tutorial on tying a bow came in handy.  Thanks so much for visiting today.

Supplies:

Stamps~PTI Tranquility Trilogy, Love and Marriage.

Paper~SU Melon Mambo & Basic Gray, PTI White.

Ink~SU Melon Mambo, Memento Pear Tart & London Fog, VersaFine Onyx Black.

Accessories~SU Top Note Die, Nestabilities, Dimensionals, Lifestyle Crafts EF, Basic Gray 3/8 Taffeta Ribbon.

Congrats Kelly

I needed a graduation card for a dear friend's daughter whose school colors are red, black and white. I made this with the inspiration of Retro Sketch #12 for my layout, and Paper Players #96 which was to use Polka Dots.  I did not complete the card before those challenges closed, but I do love the result of the inspiration.  I hope she likes it as it is filled with loving wishes for a beautiful future.  Thank you for stopping by today!