CASEing the CAS
Posted: August 9, 2010 Filed under: Branch Out, CAS, Infinite Goodness 6 Comments
Each Sunday on the Splitcoast general stamping talk forum there is a thread where people list their favourite CAS cards of the week. Whenever I can I browse through the lists and end up inspired and ready to stamp. Yesterday was no exception, I think I saved at least a dozen cards in my favourites file. I picked two to CASE straight away and share with you today. The first was made by girlgeek101 and I decided to keep her colour scheme and technique but changed the stamp and orientation. I love tree stamps and images and thought the chocolate textured cardstock she used was rich and warm. The tree is stamped in Craft ink, clear embossed and the background sponged.
Supplies:
Stamps: Branch Out
Inks: Close to Cocoa Craft, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, Close to Cocoa
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Also: Chocolate grosgrain ribbon
The second card I CASEd was quite different. Made by Jennifer Styles it featured a classic single square in the top half of the card with some very sweet stitching and text. I have tried stitching on cardstock with my sewing machine but it doesn’t like it so I did not even attempt it this time. Instead I punched a square out of some cardstock I had coloured with a brayer and then stamped my dragonfly in silver and embossed in silver. Using the Stamp-a-ma-jig I stamped the dragonfly again on the card so the wings and tail would line up, then added the word “dream” This card is part of a set of five dragonfly cards that I will post later in the week.
Supplies:
Stamps: Infinite Goodness, Everyday Flexible Phrases
Inks: Taken with Teal, Elegant Eggplant, Encore silver
Cardstock: Naturals White, Whisper White
Also: Silver e.p
Thanks for dropping and thanks girlgeek101 and Jennifer for the inspiration.
Birthday Diversity
Posted: August 7, 2010 Filed under: Inspired by Nature, My Kid's cards 2 Comments
I mentioned the other day that I would post the handmade cards my 16 year old received for her birthday, so here they are. The one above is the one I made. The background is all sponged; I made a wavy mask, sponged the top colour then cut a different wavy pattern across the top of the masking paper, sponged again, new mask, more sponging and so on. I didn’t worry about sponging over the colour I had just done as it did make too much difference. When all my stripes were complete I stamped the image from Inspired by Nature in Artichoke and added a paper insert to write on.
My younger daughter made the abstract collage below, a style I have never tried myself. We were all impressed withe the final mix of textures colours and shapes.
My son continued the sport theme he used when making my younger daughter’s soccer card, changing the sport to tennis and using some self adhering mesh I had for the net. We all think he should make a whole range of sports action cards. Thanks for dropping by to see the diversity in card making styles at our place!
Warm Sky Thankyou
Posted: August 6, 2010 Filed under: Of the Earth, Pocket Silhouettes 3 Comments
I don’t know that I have ever seen a sky quite this colour but I am sure it is possible. This was somewhat experimental but I am very happy with the way it turned out. I stamped the flower from Of the Earth and the grass from Pocket Silhouettes in versamark to create my field of flowers then embossed in clear. I used a brayer and Apricot Appeal for the sky, Certainly Celery for a little ground and then Pumpkin Pie around the edges.
I was inspired by this pretty card created by Jennifer McGuire.
Supplies:
Stamps: Of the Earth. Pocket Silhouettes, Thank You Kindly
Inks: Versamark, Chocolate Chip. Pumpkin Pie, Certainly Celery, Apricot Appeal
Cardstock: Confetti White, Whisper White
Also: Clear e.p., Brayer
Dragonfly Split
Posted: August 2, 2010 Filed under: Infinite Goodness 2 Comments
For this card I played with sponging and embossing again. The dragonflies were embossed in silver and the sponging applied in Yoyo Yellow, Certainly Celery and Not quite Navy. Then I stamped some more dragonflies in Not quite Navy and Celery before adding ink drops and water drops. After fiddling with mattes and layouts I decided to split the panel in two and add a little silver cord .
Today is my older daughter’s 16th birthday so I intended to post the three homemade cards she received this morning. I have missed the good light now so I will have to photograph and post them tomorrow. Ihope you are having a good long weekend if you live where I do or a great start to the week in the rest of the world!
Supplies:
Stamps: Infinite Goodness
Inks: Yoyo Yellow, Certainly Celery, Not quite Navy, Versamark
Cardstock: Not quite Navy, Whisper White
Also: Silver e.p., silver cord
A Slice of Apple
Posted: July 29, 2010 Filed under: Tart and Tangy Leave a comment
I used the same technique as the lemon cards: emboss, brayer, stamp in the same ink as the brayer and water droplets. I added another step on this card and stamped the apple in water; the ghost of an apple in the centre was stamped in water. The sentiment is handwritten. I did try the strawberries from this set with this technique but it is really a monochrome technique and the strawberries were not happy with that. The cherries didn’t like it either, but I am happy with the lemons and apples. I guess I could keep going and do oranges, limes and red apples if I really wanted to!
Supplies:
Stamps: Tart & Tangy
Inks: Green Galore, Versmark
Cardstock: Whisper White, Flourishes Classic White, Green Galore
Also: Clear e.p. Brayer
OLW 14 Square Outlines
Posted: July 28, 2010 Filed under: CAS, Christmas Wreath 4 Comments
I had the idea for this card in my head when Susan had the Christmas in July challenge but as I didn’t get round to it then, I thought it would also work for this week’s challenge: a square card using only outline stamps. It looks like I should have been able to whip this one up in a few minutes but it took quite a few attempts. I tried it in gold first but the embossing powder was not fine enough for the detail in this stamp. I am glad the wreath looks good without being coloured because the colouring necessary for this stamp is too scary to undertake more than once a year! To see how beautiful it can look in the right hands just look at Leslie’s.
Even the little baby one below took me 6 attempts to get it stamped properly and the sentiment in the right place! Thanks to Susan’s challenges my Christmas card pile is growing, something generally unheard of in July. Thanks for dropping by.
Supplies:
Stamps: Christmas Wreath (Flourishes), Snow Swirled
Inks: Riding Hood Red, Handsome Hunter
Cardstock: Flourishes Classic Ivory
A Splash of Lemon
Posted: July 27, 2010 Filed under: Tart and Tangy 1 Comment
I almost gave up on the card above at the embossing stage because I didn’t seem to get total coverage of the lemon slices. I did keep going though just to see what would happen and I’m happy I did because the end result is very bright and cheery. I made one piece of decorated cardstock and then cut it to use for both cards. The one below uses this week’s sketch from Card Positioning Systems.
To make the lemon design I first stamped randomly with versamark and embossed with clear powder. I then inked my brayer with Summer Sun and rolled the entire sheet but making sure one corner received more ink than the others. I did a little sponging to make sure the coverage was complete and then stamped more lemon slices in summer sun. Lastly I flicked water droplets all over the sheet and let them displace the ink. It is not obvious but the image above is popped up on stampin’ dimensionals.
Both cards are 6½”x3 3/8″.
Supplies:
Stamps: Tart & Tangy, Polka Dots &Paisley, Short & Sweet
Inks: Summer Sun, Versmark
Cardstock: Whisper White, Flourishes Classic White, Yoyo Yellow
Also: Clear e.p. Brayer
Clean&Simple 100th Sketch
Posted: July 25, 2010 Filed under: CAS, Designer Paper 4 Comments
Clean & Simple are celebrating their 100th sketch challenge. I often have trouble with sketches but when one works for me it can become a favourite. which I revisit again and again. For this one I pulled out the remnants of one of my all time favourite packs of SU Designer paper. To make the scalloped edge I cut around the design on the paper. The sentiment caused me a little trouble as it wasn’t inked adequately the first time. I used the stamp-a-ma-jig to restamp but was off by a bit. As my designer paper was already stuck down I decided the double font looked just fine (even though it now looks totally out of focus!)
Supplies:
Stamps: Christmas Wreath (Flourishes)
Inks: Real Red
Cardstock: Real Red, Flourishes Classic Ivory, Cerise Designer paper
Also: Red grosgrain
OLW13 Christmas in July
Posted: July 23, 2010 Filed under: All That Glitters 9 Comments
I have been playing around with Susan’s One Layer Wednesday challenge again this week. It is Christmas in July. I don’t know whether it is just the influence of the sun and summer but I can’t seem to achieve the outcomes I want. Neither of these cards are quite what I imagined. Perhaps the versamark pad needs to be replaced because the gold and silver embossing is not as shiny and striking as I would like.
To create the top card I masked an area around a rectangle, sponged and then embossed the Christmas ball inside, I added the Noel but if I did it again I would like a different word there. For the card below I punched squares out of my post it note and then followed the same process with sponging and embossing. I hope to create something else, so I might be back with another OLW13
Supplies:
Stamps: Simple Sayings 2, All that Glitters(Flourishes), Short and Sweet
Inks: Versamark, Real Red, Bashful Blue
Cardstock: Flourishes classic white and classic ivory
Also: Gold and Silver e.p.
Black on Kraft
Posted: July 20, 2010 Filed under: CAS, Rollers Leave a comment
Last week when I was playing with Kraft I switched from white to black embossing and had fun with that too. I pulled out some rollers that I haven’t used in very long time and inked them up with versamark and embossed in black. I decided that the dragonflies needed a little extra something and went in search of my Pearl Ex powders, another item that hasn’t seen the light of day in quite a while. The blue powder was exactly what I needed to add a little lift but then I decided to add a little bling as well. I also used a little copper Pearl Ex on the shells ever so lightly.
That’s all my Kraft cards for now but I know I will reach for it more often than I used to.
Supplies:
Stamps: By the Sea roller, Dragonfly roller, With Gratitude, Simple Sayings 2
Inks: Versamark, Basic Black
Cardstock: Confetti White, Basic Black, Kraft
Also: Black e.p., Pearl Ex powder, Rhinestones
Heather Telford 
