Not Square!

The challenge at Less is More is to make a CAS card that is not a square or a rectangle.  I decided I wanted to make a tag-shaped card, and when I Googled tag cards this one by Nicole Heady popped up.  I liked the scored line as well as the fact that at the top of the tag, the front and back are adhered together.  I also decided to join in with Dynamic Duos for the first time, and used their monochromatic challenge to use a light and dark blue.

For my card I used PTI round and round, which I seem to be using quite a lot lately.  I stamped it in VersaMagic Aegean blue and ocean depth.  To finish the card I added a couple of clear gems, two Martha Stewart butterflies, and a ribbon and button treatment a the top.  The paper is PTI rustic white.

Thanks for visiting!

Ann

OLW 89 - Something Sweet

I had fun this holiday weekend playing with One-Layer Wednesday 89, hosted this week at A Paperie Journey.  We were asked to use something sweet on a one-layer card.  I played with three sweet PTI sets. :)

For the first two cards, I used the Hero Arts large plaid background stamp to stamp a border strip along the bottom.  I finished it off with a bit of twine.  I only had red, but when I won some blog candy from Jenny at Crafting in the Country a while back, she included some other little goodies in the package.  It included the pink and white striped twine, which was a perfect match for the watermelon card!

Supplies
Paper: PTI white
Stamps: PTI fruit fusion apple, Hero Arts large plaid background
Ink: Memento ladybug and bamboo leaves
Twine: My Mind's Eye

Supplies:
Paper: PTI white
Stamps: PTI fruit fusion watermelon, Hero Arts large plaid background
Ink: Memento bamboo leaves and rosebud
Twine: unknown 

Supplies:
Paper: PTI white
Stamps: PTI sweet as can be
Ink: Colorbox chestnut roan, pink, robin's egg, lilac; Memento desert sand, rosebud; Versamagic key lime
Other: buttons from stash, Scor-Pal

Less is More 68

The challenge at Less is More is to make a CAS card for a baby or a child.  I used a Studio G stamp that is an outline image of a baby carriage.  I paper-pieced the image and then added a little trim at the top of the card to dress it it up a bit.

I had to tear myself away from playing with my inks after I saw Heather Telford's tutorial for double sponging last week.   If you haven't seen her tutorial yet, you must check it out.  I made a whole bunch of panels that I will be incorporating into cards at some point in the near future.  I didn't have anything in mind when making these.  I just wanted to experiment with this fabulous technique.

Thanks for visiting today.

Ann

OLW 88

Heather Telford is now one of the hosts of the One-Layer Wednesday Challenge, and her first challenge is to make a mini-masterpiece.  We are asked to confine our stamping to a 2" x 2" area.  Only the sentiment can be stamped outside of that area.

I made two cards for the challenge, and they most certainly have been inspired by any number of Heather's cards.  For both cards I masked a 2" x 2" area in the upper left corner, heat embossed an image, and sponged.

Supplies:
Stamps: Hero Arts delicate leaf clusters, PTI sentiment
Ink: Distress Inks (wild honey, barn door, rusted hinge), Memento red brick
Paper: PTI rustic white

Supplies:
Stamps: Fiskars floral flair
Ink: Memento rosebud, grape jelly, Distress Ink dusty concord
Paper: PTI white

Less is More 67

The challenge at Less is More is to use three stamps, and three stamps only, on a one-layer card.  It took me a while to wrap my mind around this one.  With so many choices, which three to use?!

I decided on a Close to My Heart polka dot background stamp, a Hero Arts flower, and a PTI sentiment and ended up with this.  I did try it using a mask for the flower before stamping the background, but I like the polka dots showing through the flower the best, which is great because that made it super simple.  Just stamp, stamp, stamp!

I have to say it is the colors that make me really love this card.  I have been in love with these VersaMagic colors lately (pink grapefruit, mango madness, and persimmon) and don't want to use anything else! I bought the set for the pink grapefruit as I've never had a good peach or coral color, but I ended up loving them all.  There is also a lovely green called key lime.

I think this is a pretty standard layout: square, flower, sentiment.  Susan used it yesterday at Simplicity and it's very similar to last week's Clean and Simple sketch.  I'm sure it's been used countless times before then, but I thought I should at least point out where I've seen it recently.

I am also linking up to this week's Tuesday Trigger, bright bite, as I've used the same bright citrus colors.  The only one I left off was the green.

Thanks for your visit today.

Think Outside the Box

One-Layer Wednesday 87, which closes in about thirty minutes, is to make a one-layer card that is not square or rectangular.    I used this fabulous teacup template from Paperlicious Designs, which I cut out by hand.  The inside of the handle was fussy to cut out, but worth it, I think.  The only change to the design was to cut the bottom of the card straight across instead of curved so it would stand up better.  I used Stampin' Up Baby Blossoms for the flowers.

The last seven years have seen the passing of two great aunts and both of my grandmothers.  I have a number of lovely cups and saucers from each of these women who were so important in my life.  I chose a Royal Albert moss flower teacup as the inspiration for my card.

I made one with gold edging to mirror the gold in the cup, but wasn't thrilled with it.  I'm also not thrilled with the placement or color of the sentiment.  This card definitely is not finished.  For now, though, I've given it all the time I can and must move on. :)

I thought I'd also share some baby shower invitations I made recently for a friend.  Not sure they qualify as one-layer since I did add some trim and brads.  However, they're definitely not rectangular or square!  I love how these turned out, but they were time-consuming to mass produce.  Probably not the best choice I've ever made. :)

Thanks for your visit today.

One-Layer Wednesday 86

Dinner was late tonight because I had to make a quick card, photograph it before the light completely left the sky, and link it to One-Layer Wednesday before 9 PM.  One-Layer Wednesday is the challenge that brought me into blogland; it's one of my favorites and I always try to participate.

For OLW 86, Susan has asked us to make a one-layer card that honors a woman in your life.  I used PTI round and round, which I picked up on eBay last year but have hardly used.  I experimented with different color combinations and found two that I liked well enough to photograph.

This card is for a friend of mine who has been struggling with a very serious illness.  Despite the difficulty of her life, she is always thinking about others.  Recently, she surprised me by having a bouquet of flowers delivered on my birthday.  She is such a lovely person and truly a wonderful friend.

Make-It Monday 65

It's been quite a while since I played along with the Make it Monday Challenge at Capture the Moment.  This week the challenge is to use pieces of patterned paper to make a background.  I love being able to use scraps, so I was all over this challenge!

I don't have any PTI patterned paper, so I pulled these pieces out of my scrap bin.  Not sure what brand they are, but I love them!  The kraft cardstock is PTI, as are the sentiments.  I pieced the strips together and then stitched them using a zig zag stitch on my sewing machine.   I finished them off with some flowers by Recollections. 

The layout is based on this beautiful card by Jennifer McGuire that I've had on my Pinboard for quite some time.  Love it!

As I'm posting, I just noticed that I flipped the background panel on the orange/green card.  I had planned it out with the wide orange strip of patterned paper at the bottom.  This is what happens when I make cards late at night!

Thanks for your visit.

Hello Yellow!

Less is More 66 is a color challenge, and we are asked to use the color yellow.  It's such a happy color, but not one I use very often.  I've had some fun with this challenge and made several cards. 

 For this card I used FTL 189 at Clean and Simple.  

The sun has been making an appearance here in Western Washington and we spent much of the weekend working in the garden.  My girls strung jump ropes between several of our fruit trees and hung sheets over them to make tents.  They lounged about all afternoon eating snacks, reading books, playing with the dog, and emerging every now and then to hit some baseballs or play in the woods.  It was a lovely weekend.

Thanks for visiting today!

Ann

FTL 189:

Less is More 65

Last night I looked through my stamps thinking about what to do for this week's Less is More Sketch Challenge.  The window box image from the Close to My Heart Flower Pot set jumped out at me, and I thought the window might work for the square element on the sketch.  I picked up this set at a friend's rummage sale last summer and haven't used it because they are all outline images and the thought of coloring terrifies me! 

I decided to be brave and used my Prismacolor pencils to color it.  It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be! :)  I first made this as a one layer card, doing some masking to get the flowers "in" the window box.  It was just too flat, so I did it again and cut out both the window and the flowers.  I taped the window down, but gently popped up the outer edge of the shutters. I also popped the flowers up on dimensionals.  I really love it with the added dimension.  I added liquid pearls to the center of each flower.

I probably should have put it on a larger card base to have more white space around it, but the practical part of my nature wouldn't let me!  I made it 4.25 inches square so I could put it in a standard envelope with no extra postage and get two cards out of my sheet of PTI cardstock. 

Sketch: