Friday, September 25, 2015

Warm Hugs

Today is Kathy Racoosin's birthday and in honor of her, I decided to do a little coloring. In case you haven't run across her in the blogosphere yet, check out her wonderful blog The Daily Marker! She sponsors the 30 Day Coloring Challenge and it's super fun to play along. There's a new one coming up for the month of October, so get your markers ready!



I just recently ordered my first stamp set from Clearly Besotted and I am completely in love! The stamps are high quality and I get a great impression every time. Plus, I just love little critters! Who can resist these little cuties from the Arctic Animals set!? I stamped the penguin first and then masked him off before stamping the walrus and seal. I know, the walrus is a little off, but I didn't want to lose his tail completely! I then simply colored the images with my Copics and stamped my sentiment. I guess I'm just not feeling the sequins recently because I placed some on the card and then decided it looked like I was trying too hard. I simply matted the panel with black and added a little clear Wink of Stella to the noses and the penguin's beak. It doesn't show in the picture, but it adds just a slight glimmer when it's in the light. I can definitely see more cards with these little guys in the future!

While I'm at it, I decided to enter these into the Simon Monday and Wednesday challenges. Why not, right? The Monday Challenge is to use a stamp and the Wednesday Challenge is no designer paper!



Supplies:
Stamps: Arctic Animals (Clearly Besotted)
Dies: Stitched Rectangles (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper: Neenah Solar White, Basic Black
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics (R02, W1, W5, W7, W9, C1, C3, YR02, YR04, E31, E34, E35)
Other: Clear Wink of Stella

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Stuck On You

I created a one-layer card for this week's Lawnscaping Challenge. Some simple stamping and a little bit of glossy accents go a long way for this cute and simple card.



I just love these cute little cacti images! I used the Stuck On You set as well as the faces from the Love You a Latte set. All inks are from Lawn Fawn as well. I simply used a T-ruler and a pen to create the hand-drawn frame around the images. I added some glossy accents over the heart and thought about adding sequins, but thought they may have made things look a little too cluttered. In the end, I went for simple and left the sequins off.

 
 
I'm also entering this card into the Simon Says Stamp  Monday Challenge (Use A Stamp) and the Simon Say Stamp Wednesday Challenge (No Designer Paper).


Supplies:
Stamps: Stuck On You, Love You A Latte (Lawn Fawn)
Paper: Neenah Solar White
Ink: Freshly Cut Grass, Celery Stick, Sugarplum, Lobster, Walnut, Black Licorice (Lawn Fawn)
Other: Glossy Accents, T-ruler, Black pen

Friday, September 18, 2015

Simple Masking

I made this card specifically for 2 challenges. The Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge is to use your favorite technique and the Less Is More Challenge is to create a one layer card with the concept of "wishing". I have the perfect set for these challenges!



My favorite technique happens to be masking. I know, an oldy but a goody. You can create some stunning scenes using masking! I first stamped my little bunny image and then cut out a mask with some masking paper. I placed it over my bunny and then cut another mask using a circle die. I used the negative space for my mask and placed it over the top of my bunny. I then used Mama Elephant pigment inks (my absolute favorite!) to blend colors to look like a sunset. When I removed the masks it left such a beautiful little scene, but I felt like something was missing. I stamped the little black heart and it felt so much more complete! (I was going to add sequins, but I thought it just made everything look too busy!) I stamped the sentiment and my card was complete!


Supplies:
Stamps: Wishing You (WPlus9)
Paper: Whisper White
Ink: Orangeade, Buttercup, Apricot (Mama Elephant), Memento Tuxedo Black
Other: Masking Paper, Ranger mini ink blending tools

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Miss You

The card I'm sharing today is for 3 separate challenges: The Challenge #41, Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.



I used the Storybook 1 die from Pretty Pink Posh to cut out the frame for my kitties and sentiment. I next masked off each area and stamped the images. I colored them in with copics and then adhered the frame on top of the stamped piece. I cut some patterned paper for the background and assembled the whole card. I added some Glossy Accents to the cats' noses and the pads on the gray kitty's feet.


A close up so you can see the little hint of shine on the cats. I will admit, I used my kitty, Alex, as the inspiration for the gray kitty. He's mottled gray and white and absolutely cuddly! The other kitty was inspired by a friend's kitty, Hector. I love ginger kitties!


I used the sketch for the challenge to help set up the concept for the card and the other two challenges were to use a stamp and a die cut. Easy-peasy!

Supplies:
Stamps: Playful Kittens (Simon Says Stamp), Sentiment from In My Heart (Mama Elephant)
Dies: Storybook 1 (Pretty Pink Posh), Stitched Borders 3 (Pretty Pink Posh)
Paper: Whisper White, Patterned paper from Lawn Fawn
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics (W1, W3, W5, R02, Y21, Y24, Y27)
Other: Glossy Accents

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Lettuce Celebrate

I'm playing along with Less is More and Paper Smooches Sparks today.


Less is More is a color challenge using Green and Gold. It's hard to see the gold in the sentiment, so I took a close up so you could see the shimmer.


Paper Smooches Sparks is another Anything Goes challenge, so this card fit right in without a problem.


Supplies:
Stamps: Calorie Free (Paper Smooches)
Dies: Stitched Rectangles (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper: Whisper White, Wild Wasabi
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Wild Wasabi, Copic Markers (Y13, Y`17)
Other: Gold embossing powder

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Happy Mail!

I wanted to get in another card today before my husband and I leave for a mini-vacation this weekend. We're taking another trip to Vegas to visit with family and a couple of friends before we come back on Monday. Short trip, but it'll be good to see some people I haven't gotten to see in a while.

Without further ado, my entry to the CAS-ology challenge.


 
The cue word this week was "write" and I just thought this cute little puppy fit the theme so well. I used a tiny bit of glossy accents on the heart on the envelope and the spikes on his collar. I thought that was all the embellishment this card needed besides the silver sentiment.
 


Supplies:
Stamps: Playful Pups (Mama Elephant), Sending Happy Thoughts (Simon Says Stamp)
Dies: Stitched Rectangles (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper: Whisper White
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Assorted Copics (W1, W3, W5, R37, R39, R02)
Other: Glossy Accents. Silver embossing powder

Smooches and Birthdays

I have 3 cards for you today. I created two birthday cards for twin cousins and I thought I'd share them with you.

I'm entering this first card into the Addicted to CAS Challenge which has the code word of "Blue". This card was created for Sam (the first of the twins).


Supplies:
Stamps: Birthday Bits (Simon Says Stamp)
Dies: Stitched Rectangles (Simon Says Stamp
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Midnight Muse
Ink: Marina Mist, Pacific Point, Midnight Muse, Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black
Other: Silver Embossing Powder, Silver Sequins (Pretty Pink Posh)

This next one is for Sasha, the little girl.


I just love the watercolored background combined with the gold embossing. One of my favorite color combos!

Supplies:
Stamps: Birthday Celebration (Simon Says Stamp), Birthday Wishes (Mama Elephant)
Paper: Whisper White, Smoky Slate, Strathmore Watercolor
Ink: Victorian Velvet (Distress Ink), Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Assorted Copics
Other: Gold embossing powder, Gold sequins (Pretty Pink Posh)

Next up is a card I created for the Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge. It's anything goes this week, so I thought I'd make an "anytime" card to give to my husband.

 
This card is especially funny because (long story) I have a fear of cows. It'll make him laugh when I give it to him!


Supplies:
Stamps: Chubby Chums (Paper Smooches)
Dies: Stitched Rectangles (Simon Says Stamp), Linked Hearts (Paper Smooches)
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red, Smoky Slate
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Assorted Copics