Less is More 39

I was somewhat stumped by the Less is More challenge to use stars.  I don't have a lot of star stamps, just an odd assortment of little stars that are parts of larger sets.  I ultimately decided to use this little Studio G Christmas stamp, which I've had for quite a while but never used.

Some time ago I picked up a pack of Sizzix texture plates on clearance at Michaels for 97 cents.  I wasn't sure if they would work in my Cuttlebug, but at 16 cents a plate it was a no brainer.  Of course they do work, and I used the dot daisy plate to emboss a white background panel.  I added one tiny rhinestone to the center of the star for a bit of sparkle.

My kids are thrilled that our gray, rainy weather has gone away and the sun has come out just in time for trick-or-treating tonight.  They will be donning their Gryffindor robes and ringing doorbells as Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley. 

Happy Halloween!

Supplies:
Paper: PTI white, scraps from bin
Stamps: Studio G
Ink: Brilliance graphite black
Other: Sizzix dot daisy texture folder

One Layer Wednesday 70

Susan's one-layer challenge this week is to make a red and white card.  I adore her card with its beautiful red snowflakes, and the other thumbnails are beautiful, as well.  What a simple and gorgeous color scheme this is!

I masked a vertical panel along the left side of my card and stamped the largest image from PTI Damask Designs to create a pattern.  Then I peeled back the post-its and stamped a Hero Arts sentiment.  Sounds simple, but it took five tries to get a card that I was happy enough to post.  I love one-layer cards, but the slightest shaky hand can ruin the whole card! 

I loved Susan's card, as well as Karen's challenge card, so I decided to CASE them both.  I love how the images are stamped within an area defined by the border stamp.  I didn't have a Christmas stamp that seemed appropriate, but these flower stamps in red make me think of starlight mints.  I tried a bit of red bling in the center of the large flowers, but it seemed to be too much.  Thank you to both Susan and Karen for the inspiration.

Supplies:

Stamps:PTI damask designs, Hero Arts sentiment, Martha Stewart flowers

Ink: Stazon blazing red (damask card), Brilliance rocket red

Paper: PTI white

CAS-ual Fridays 25

The challenge this week at CAS-ual Fridays is to add color to your stamped image.  Coloring is something I usually avoid, but I've been challenging myself to try it more often, so I decided to play along.

I don't usually buy outline stamps like this, but I have two daughters so this sweet AMuse stamp really appealed to me.  I played with it last night using my Prismacolor pencils, and these are the three simple cards that I ended up with.

 

Supplies:

Stamps: AMuse girl with sled, Hero Arts sentiments

Ink; Memory Box black, Memento rosebud

Paper: PTI white, raspberry fizz, and scraps from scrap box

Other: ribbon from stash, Prismacolor pencils

Less is More 38

It's a polka dot challenge this week at Less is More, so I decided to use this dotty vase stamp from a Close to my Heart set called Celebration Bouquet.  I stamped the vase in black and then added some green stems.  Because this is a clear set, I was able to bend the stem on my acrylic block to get just the position I wanted.

Instead of using one of the flower stamps that came with the set, I used these fun red-orange paper flowers and added a bit of bling to the center of each.  I made two cards, with slightly different flower placements, but on each I bent the far right flower in an attempt to lead the eye down toward the sentiment.  One card had a mistake on the back so I cut it down and matted it on a black card base.

My 94-year old grandmother passed away recently, and we gathered this weekend to mourn her passing and celebrate her amazing life.  We shed a lot of tears, and as she would have liked, we told a lot of stories and laughed a lot, too. This card started out to be a standard birthday type of card, but ended up being a tribute to her.  She was bold and vibrant, still going strong at 94, and she was absolutely fabulous.  She will be missed terribly.

Thanks for your visit today.

Supplies:

Stamps: Close to my Heart celebration bouquet, PTI sentiment

Ink: Brilliance graphite black, Memento bamboo leaves
Other: Kaiser Scrapbook flowers, Me & My Big Ideas rhinestones 

One Layer Wednesday 69

Jennifer's One Layer Wednesday challenge this week is to make a one layer card with stripes.  How fun!  So last night at midnight, instead of going to bed like a normal person, I decided to pull out my stamps and play along.

I picked up a brand new Martha Stewart stamp set for $1 at a yard sale over the summer, and hadn't used it yet.  It came with these four borders that were all stuck together, with perforated edges between so you could pull them apart for individual use.  Well, I hadn't separated them, so they were perfectly lined up.  This made it super easy to stamp them nice and straight all at once.  I may never separate them! LOL  

With some careful masking and inking, I was able to ink each stripe a different color. Then I just stamped it once on the card base and added a sentiment.   I liked the results, so I decided to play around with different  color combinations. All cards are on PTI white cardstock.

Fall Thank You
Ink: Versamagic chalk ink hint of pesto, jumbo java, pumpkin spice, eggplant
Stamps: Martha Stewart, PTI think big sentiment

Merry Christmas
Ink: Brilliance rocket red, pearlescent ivy
Stamps: Martha Stewart, Hero Arts sentiment

Sweet Baby
Ink: Versamagic chalk ink sea breeze, pixie dust, spring pansy, aloe vera
Stamps: Martha Stewart, PTI sentiment

Less is More 37

I groaned when I saw that the theme for Less is More 37 was cocktails.  I'm not a cocktail kind of gal, but I was determined to participate since last week I couldn't manage a heart card to save my life! I didn't think I had any cocktail images, so I did a quick Google search and found this fabulous (and free!) Christmas Martini at Wendymade.  I have never used a digital image before, but I gave it the old college try. :)

I printed the first one straight onto my card  base, along with one of her free sentiments.  I colored it with Prismacolor pencils and added some transparent glitter for a little holiday sparkle!  I'm also linking this to One-Layer Wednesday since it has a triangle in it! 

For my second card, I loosely followed the sketch at Skipping Stones Designs.  I just switched the circle and the sentiment.  I used the computer to generate my own sentiment for this card, as I thought 'Holiday Cheer' was fitting, and then framed the sentiment with scored lines.  This Christmas card will go to my aunt who always serves fuzzy navels at Christmas dinner.  I look forward to that fuzzy navel all year long! :)

 

I'm really pleased with how these turned out, but I have to say I prefer the feel of a stamp in my hands.  However, when you don't have the right stamp, this is a fabulous alternative.

It's been one of those weeks and I've missed visiting a lot of your blogs.  Thank you for your kind comments, and I'll be setting some time aside later this weekend to visit you, as well! 

One-Layer Wednesday 68

The challenge at Simplicity this week is to make a one-layer card using a triangle, or implied triangle, as en element in your design.  I immediately thought of Christmas trees as triangles. 

I used this beautiful Hero Arts branch and flourish tree stamped in pearlescent ivy.  I love the shimmer to this ink.  I blinged it up and rounded the corners and called it good.  The lighting was bad this morning, and when I tried to brighten the card the colors washed out a bit.  It's a deep, beautiful green on cream cardstock.

I'm not quite as happy with this card, but thought I'd share it anyway.  I masked and stamped the trees in Memento bamboo leaves and then added a beautiful Hero Arts sentiment in rhubarb stalk. 

One-Layer Wednesday 67

The challenge at Styles Ink this week is to make and send a one-layer 'thinking of you' card to someone struggling with any kind of battle. Jennifer also suggests making a donation to a cancer research organization of our choice.

I made this very simple card, which I will send to a friend who is struggling with an increase in the frequency and severity of her epileptic seizures. My donation is to the American Cancer Society, as well as to the Epilepsy Foundation Northwest.

Supplies:
Paper: PTI vintage cream
Stamps: PTI think big favorites, turning a new leaf
Ink: Memento bamboo leaves

Less is More 35

Challenge 35 at Less is More is to make a CAS card using the color of your eyes as the predominant color. My eyes are hazel, so I pulled out a few shades of green that I felt were the best match.

I think big, beautiful images can hold their own on a card, and Hero Arts three ferns worked perfectly for this. I used sage ink and rolled it in a little bit of Sahara sand along the edges. I love this image.

I couldn't figure out a sentiment placement on this card. I used a darker green ink and didn't feel I could place the sentiment in amongst the stems like I did on the first card. I wanted to do some kind of sentiment strip with a button, but nothing looked right to me. I may keep playing with this one.

This card is based loosely on last week's sketch, with the image in the upper left corner and the sentiment in the lower right. I really hated to miss last week's challenge, but nothing I made seemed blog-worthy. It was one of those weeks where my ideas didn't translate well to paper and ink. Oh, well!

Thanks for visiting!

Supplies:
Stamps: Hero Arts three ferns, PTI sentiment
Paper: PTI ripe avocado, rustic cream, vintage cream
Ink: Versamagic chalk ink sage, Niagara mist, Spanish olive, Sahara sand

One Layer Wednesday 66

The One Layer Wednesday Challenge at Simplicity is to make a card inspired by blogger Janelle. Janelle was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and while she is still making and blogging her beautiful cards, she is also using her blog to share her journey with cancer and her amazing faith.

I chose this card as my inspiration. I love the bright, non-traditional colors she used for her Christmas ornaments. While I do like red and green for Christmas, I also like to play around with other colors.  I used Memento inks and a set of Stampendous stamps.  These stamps have given me some grief in the past, but they stamped more clearly with the Memento dye inks. 

 

Supplies:

Stamps: Stampendous, Hero Arts sentiment, Close to My Heart 'string'

Ink: Memento London fog, Bahama blue, lilac posies, rose bud

Paper: PTI white

CAS-ual Fridays 22

The challenge at CAS-ual Fridays this week is to make a CAS card with a ribbon tab or loop. I was inspired by this beautiful ribbon in black, gold, and burgundy that I pulled out of the dollar bin at Michaels.

I stamped the Hero Arts branch and flourish tree in Brilliance pearlescent crimson. I just bought this stamp and I adore it. It is matted on PTI scarlet jewel and adhered to a PTI true black card base. I don't believe I've ever used black as the base for a Christmas card. Then I simply added my ribbon loop.

This card was difficult for me to photograph, probably because of the dark papers. You can't really see the ribbon or the beautiful shimmer of the pearlescent ink, but it is lovely IRL.

Thanks for visiting today. I hope you've all had a chance to make a card on this World Cardmaking Day! :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Hero Arts branch and flourish tree
Paper: PTI vintage cream, true black, scarlet jewel
Ink: Brilliance pearlescent crimson