PDCC 151

Last night I was inspired by the gorgeous colors of PlayDate Cafe 151.  I used SU French Foliage.  I think this leaf is one of the most beautiful leaf images out there.  Just sayin'.

I used VersaMagic chalk inks and finished it off with a bit of matching ribbon. The main panel is popped up on foam tape.  Sentiment is PTI lovely layers.

beautiful inspiration:

CASology & Less is More

This week, I combined the CASology "shoe" challenge with the Less is More take three challenge.  For the shoe challenge, I used these baby booties, the only shoe stamps I own.  I used these shoes on my youngest daughter's birth announcements seven years ago and I don't think I've used them since.

The Less is More challenge is to combine three past challenges.  I chose the following challenges:

Week 5 : pastels
Week 68: baby or child
Week 12: off-center
Week 34: sketch 3 also works, I think

I used a Close to My Heart stamp set called argyle backgrounds to stamp the strips that hang behind the shoes.  I first made this card using different colors of inks for each element.  I much prefer it monochromatic, so I made one in light blue and one in lavender.

Unfortunately, I had a terrible time photographing these.  The pastel colors look very washed out and the baby booties don't stand out enough.  They do look much better in real life. :) 

Supplies:
Paper: PTI white
Stampes: All Night Media, Close to My Heart argyle backgrounds, PTI sentiment
Ink: memento lulu lavender,  VersaMagic Sea Breeze

One-Layer Wednesday 106

The One-Layer Wednesday challenge this week, hosted by Heather Telford, is to make a one-layer card using sponging.  I love sponging and inking, but have never used masking to create snowdrifts as Heather does on so many of her cards.  Using her tutorial and CASEing any number of her cards, I gave it a whirl.

My fifth attempt (yes, fifth!) was decent, but I didn't like the sentiment I chose.  I cut it down and mounted it on a white card base.  Not thrilled with the second sentiment, either, but I'm calling it good!

Thanks for visiting.

Ann

Less is More 85

The challenge at Less is More is to incorporate an oval somewhere in your design.  I had lots of ideas; unfortunately I don't have any tools or dies that cut ovals and my freehand ovals leave something to be desired. :)

I decided to go a different route and use my Amuse skinny oval stamp.  I have used it often to ground images such as chairs and animals.  For this card, I chose to use it as a base for this festive birthday cake.  I'm not sure of the brand, although I do know it was an inexpensive acrylic stamp from Michaels.

I used a strip of designer paper from My Mind's Eye on each card and added a simple sentiment tag.  On the vertical card I also popped up the birthday cake and colored the flames with a silver gel pen.

My posts have been pretty random these days.  Thank you so much for popping in to say hello when I do make it into blogosphere. :)

Ann

CASology: Sky

I was walking through a discount store the other day when I stumbled upon some craft punches - big ones for $3.99.  One of them was this large dragonfly punch, which I couldn't resist. I was good to buy just one, right!?

At any rate, I was excited to try it out and it worked perfectly for the CASology theme this week, which is sky.  I pulled out some of my girls' art supplies and painted a sheet of watercolor paper with liquid watercolors, sprinkling some areas with salt for a more dramatic effect.  I love liquid watercolors and use them frequently in the art lessons I teach, but I've never used them for my own cards. 

When the paper was dry I punched out a gazillion dragonflies and used ten of them to make a set of notecards.  I fiddled around for quite a while before settling on this simple layout.  I first tried the dragonfly straight up and down with a sentiment below it, but it looked so much better angled with the sentiment tucked under the wing. I found black ink to be too strong for the sentiment, but Memento London Fog was just right.

I can't figure out how to take a good picture of several cards, so here they are in sets of two.  

A few favorites:

 

LIM 84 & OLW 105

Just popping in with a quick card for Less is More 84 and One Layer Wednesday 105.  The challenge at Less is More is to make a one layer card with foliage.  The OLW challenge has a theme of autumn.  The two fit perfectly together and this is the card I came up with.

I think the stamp is Inkadinkado.  Paper is PTI kraft and inks are Memento rhubarb and VersaMagic jumbo java and pumpkin spice.  Sentiment is Studio G.

Thanks for your visit. :)

Ann

OLW 104

I'm playing along with One-Layer Wednesday 104 today.  We're asked to make a one-layer card that expresses gratitude.

My entry uses a cheap Studio112 stamp.  I really love the images on this grid stamp and have found that it stamps wonderfully with chalk inks.  I used VersaMagic pumpkin spice, jumbo java, eggplant, and .  Sentiment is from PTI lovely layers.

I first stamped the card on scrap cardstock to experiment  with inks.  It stamped so well I decided to cut it down and use it for a card, too.  I like to experiment with different layouts and I thought two were worth posting.  The sentiment strip is just a narrow strip of cardstock that I stuck straight down into my corner rounder. 

Thanks for visiting.

Ann

Dynamic Duos 18

The colors for Dynamic Duos #18 are red and green.  I had thought I might make a Christmas card, and I really should have since I've only made three so far this year. 

However, I had my PTI floral frenzy set out because I used it on yesterday's ColourQ card.  As I was getting ready to put it away, I thought the flowers might look nice stamped in red, so I used it to make two cards for Dynamic Duos. 

I love the two-part sentiment in this set.  On the inside of the card it says, " . . . you're in my thoughts today."  This will make a cheery card to send to my husband's grandmother, who has not been well lately.

Thanks for visiting.

Ann

Supplies:
Paper: PTI, red from scrap bin
Stamps: PTI floral frenzy
Ink: Memento ladybug, bamboo leaves, rich cocoa
Other: Cuttlebug Swiss dots

Less is More and ColourQ

I'm sharing cards for two different challenges today.

First up is the card I've made for Less is More 83, where the challenge is to use brown and pink.  I've used PTI out on a limb with Memento rich cocoa and Victorian velvet distress ink.  I added liquid pearls to the center of each blossom.  I tried both a cream and a brown card base, and can't decide which I prefer.  Opinions?

Second, I've made a card using the absolutely gorgeous color palette from ColourQ 153.  Isn't this beautiful?

I used PTI floral frenzy to stamp a background pattern around my sentiment.  For colors I've used Memento rich cocoa and cantaloupe, VersaMagic pink grapefruit, and ColorBox robin's egg.  These colors make me so happy. :)

Thanks for visiting today!

Ann