Tuesday, March 31, 2015

CASology #140


Welcome to Week 140 of CASology!  Take a look at the cue word for this week:



Despite the way the weather is behaving in some places it is now officially spring in the northern hemisphere.  Spring makes me think of Easter and Good Friday and here in Bermuda Good Friday means kite flying, codfish cakes and hot cross buns!  In that regard, this new Paper Smooches sentiment works perfectly for me with this older PS kite image.  I did some simple paper piecing and let the kite string lead the eye to the bright coloured sentiment.  

Your turn now!  Check out the gorgeous creations from the rest of the design team and then get craftin'!




And this week's guest designer:

Link your creations to the CASology blog and remember that the deadline for entries is Monday at noon (CST).

 I'm also going to enter this card in a few other challenges:







Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill
Patterned Paper:  (Pink, teal & grey from 5th & Frolic 6x6) American Crafts, (Yellow from Basics) Pebbes
Stamps:  (Kite & clouds from Cut Loose, Sentiment from Luminous Spring) Paper Smooches
Inks: (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Coastal Cabana) Stampin' Up

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

CASology #139


Welcome to Week 139 of CASology!  Take a look at the cue word for this week:


You bowled us over last week with all your gorgeous blossoms and made it really tough to pick a winner.  This week's cue word is a little bit trickier but I'm excited to see what everyone comes up with.  I used some NBUS Paper Smooches stamps and paper pieced my shoes with some Studio Calico scraps.  Simple but fun and sassy!  And now it's your turn. Check out the gorgeous designs by the rest of the design team and then play along!




And this week's guest designer:

Link your creations to the CASology blog and remember that the deadline for entries is Monday at noon (CST).

Since I've used some NBUS I'm going to link up to Darnell's latest NBUS challenge!


Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill
Patterned Paper:  (Atlantic 6x6) Studio Calico
Stamps:  (All from Retail Therapy) Paper Smooches
Inks: (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Regal Rose) Stampin' Up
Gems:  Recollections  

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Four for Sunday


Another weekend is coming to a close without any more painting getting done. Luis and I are slowly working through the interior of the house and I mean SLOWLY!  LOL!  We had planned to paint the next room (we've only done 2 out of 7 so far) and put up some new bookshelves.  However, it was pouring all day on Saturday and after running around doing errands in the morning we arrived home damp and cold and not in the mood to do any work.  So instead we set up the sofa nest and watched more of Sons of Anarchy (only the last half of Season 6 to go!).  Today we swam Atticus and then Luis stained the wood for the shelves and I worked on cards.  We'll paint next week.  Maybe…

Anyway on to the cards!  I have 4 to share with you for 4 challenges.  First up is the card above which is based on the Freshly Made Sketches design.  I tried some watercoouring with Distress Inks here.  I'm pretty pleased with it for a first try and am actually looking forward to playing around a bit more with this technique.

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Ranger, (Sahara Sand) Stampin' Up
Stamps:  (Flower & leaves from Freestyle Florals, Sentiment from Lovely Mums) Mama Elephant
Inks: (VersaMark, VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters, Barn Door, Spiced Marmalade, Wild Honey) Ranger
Embossing Powder:  (Opaque Bright White Super Fine) Wow
Washi Tape - Crafty Basics
Gems:  Recollections



Next up is a card for the Muse challenge.  I love Marion's bright and cheery design!  I think my inspiration is pretty obvious.  the main difference is that I used dies to create my little scene instead of stamps and ink.  I also used stripes on my yellow background instead of spatter.








Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi, Bashful Blue, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede) Stampin' Up
Stamps:  (Stripe from Background Basics: Super Stripes) Papertrey Ink, (Sentimetn from Home Sweet Home) Avery Elle
Inks: (VersaMark, VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko
Dies:  (Stitched Polaroid) Lil' Inker Designs, (Bird, house & leaves from Folk Art Florals) WPlus9



Now for a colour challenge from The Colour Throwdown.  I had never heard of Vera Bradley before a friend mentioned it to me in passing in late 2013.  Then just a few weeks later I was in Boston and stumbled upon a whole Vera Bradley store!  Funny how that works…  Anyway I've never been much of a pattern person but I thought a lot of the stuff in there was really bright and fun. As is this card I guess.  My pink is a lot darker than the one in the photo but it's there in the string and the stars.  





Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango, Night of Navy) Stampin' Up
Dies:  (Birthday tag) Neat & Tangled, (Balloons & string) Lil' Inker Designs



My final card is for the Colour Me… challenge and uses these new (to me) Paper Smooches glasses dies.  Actually I've done pretty well with the NBUS overall in this post as every card has at least one NBUS item on it!  (Takes away a bit of the guilt from making a few orders recently…).  That's it for me tonight.  Not sure if I'll have anything new tomorrow as I'm working on a few special orders including 20 receptionist themed Easter cards!!!  I don't ask, I just make 'em.  :)  Have a lovely evening!  





Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (So Saffron, Marina Mist, Sahara Sand) Stampin' Up
Stamps:  (Ampersand from CL567) Hero Arts, (Sentiment from Big & Bold Wishes) Papertrey Ink
Inks: (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko
Dies:  (Glasses) Paper Smooches
Gems:  Recollections

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

CASology #138


Welcome to Week 138 of CASology!  Take a look a the cue word for this week:


Sometimes the simplest words give me the most trouble when it comes to this challenge.  You would think that blossom would be a snap because I have a million flower stamps but that's precisely the problem - way too much choice!  I finally managed to narrow down the selection and decided to use this NBUS Hero Arts flower.  I inked it up with Stampin' Write markers and then spritzed it with water before stamping it.  After I'd added the sentiment I felt like it needed a little something extra so I added the twine bow.  It gives the card some dimension and texture and also tiny bow just make me smile.  :)  And now it's your turn to make up smile with what I'm sure will be a gorgeous gallery of blossoming beauties!




And this week's guest designer:

Link your creations to the CASology blog and remember that the deadline for entries is Monday at noon (CST).

I'm also going to enter this card into the Paper Players CAS floral challenge.



Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill
Stamps:  (Flower from CL548) Hero Arts, (Sentiment from Botanical Silhouettes) Papertrey Ink
Inks: (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko
Markers:  (Strawberry Slush, Wild Wasabi) Stampin' Up
Twine:  Darice

Monday, March 16, 2015

Cupcakes & Dinosaurs


Monday morning is upon us again already.  *Sigh*  Why do the weekends always go by at warp speed?  Ah well, it was a good weekend even if it was too quick.  I have two cards for several challenges to share with you today so lets get right to it!  

First up is a card inspired by the photo over at Addicted to Stamps. All those bright colours and the yummy cupcakes in the upper right corner led me to this bright and cheery birthday card.  The pattern in the background was created with tinted embossing paste and a Crafter's Workshop stencil.  I'm also playing along again with the Little Tangles Anything Goes challenge.


Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill
Patterned Paper:  (My Girl 6x6) American Crafts
Stamps:  (Cupcake & sentiment from Sketchy Cupcakes) Neat & Tangled
Inks: (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Rose Red) Stampin' Up
Stencil:  (Mini Well Rounded) The Crafter's Workshop
Embossing Paste:  Wendy Vecchi
Gems:  Recollections




Next up is a card for three challenges.  I used the Colour Me colours and kept the design really CAS so am joining in with AAA Cards' Bare Naked CAS challenge.  All the stamps are from Paper Smooches so I'll also be entering it in the PS Sparks Anything Goes challenge.  I masked and inked the background with various Distress Inks, paper pieced Mr. Dinosaur and then popped him up on foam tape.  I finished it off by curving the sentiment and adding a few gems.  Have a lovely day and I'll see you tomorrow!


  

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Pear Pizzazz, Garden Green) Stampin' Up
Stamps:  (All from Cutasaurus) Paper Smooches
Inks: (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Shabby Shutters, Old Paper, Vintage Photo & Pumice Stone Distress Inks) Ranger
Dies:  (Nesties Standard Circles Large) Spellbinders
Gems:  Recollections

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Yellow & Grey Thanks


Hi there!  I'm back again with another of the cards I made yesterday.  This one is for three different challenges.  Michele's card over at Muse uses gorgeous yellow patterned paper and a big yellow bloom.  I combined that inspiration with the grey and yellow graphic feel of the Cure for the Monday Blues photo on Taheerah's blog.  And, since the stamps, die and sequins are all from Neat & Tangled, I'm going to join in with the Anything Goes challenge at Little Tangles.  Hope you all have a lovely day!


Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Basic Grey) Stampin' Up
Patterned Paper:  (Snippets 6x6) Studio Calico
Stamps:  (Flower from Paper Cut Flowers, Sentiment from Everyday Labels) Neat & Tangled
Inks: (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Butter Bar) Hero Arts
Die:  (Tiny Triangles) Neat & Tangled
Glitter:  (Clear Wink of Stella) Zig
Sequins:  Neat & Tangled

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Birthday & Thanks


Luis was busy working in the yard today so after taking Atticus for a walk I snuck into the Craft Cave for a few hours.  I used to always listen to a live stream of BBC Radio 1 while I worked on cards but they've recently changed something in their streaming that means I can't get it on any Mac products.  So annoying!  I dug out my mom's Chromebook and got it to work on there but the battery died within minutes and the charger is nowhere to be found.  *Sigh*  Thankfully I have lots of different podcasts saved up so I started listening to Serial.  Has anyone else listened to it?  I'd love to know what you think…  

Anyway once I had the background noise sorted out I got to work and made 5 cards for a number of different challenges.  I'm going to share two of them tonight.  The first is for Lesley Croghan's The Challenge.  I used both the colours and the sketch and lots of yummy My Mind's Eye papers.  


Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Basic Grey) Stampin' Up
Patterned Paper:  (Reunion 6x6) My Mind's Eye
Stamps:  (Sentiment from CL340) Hero Arts
Inks: (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko
Dies:  (Meadow Bird) Memory Box, (Scribble Flower) Papertrey Ink, (Flag Tags) Paper Smooches
Gems:  Recollections





The second card is for the PS Sparks Picture Perfect challenge.  I was inspired by the colours in the photo - smokey blue, lime green and grey.  I went pretty clean and simple with this card in contrast to the one above and I also used those zig zags for the first time.  It's always good to give some love to an NBUS product!  Okay that's it for me this evening.  Luis and Atticus are crashed out on the sofa snoring their heads off.  Time to go and tuck them both into bed I think! Hope you have a lovely evening!







Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Smokey slate) Stampin' Up
Stamps:  (Whale & sentiment from Surf & Turf, Zig zags from Tri-balation) Paper Smooches
Inks: (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Lucky Limeade) Stampin' Up, (Pool) Hero Arts
Gems:  Recollections
Marker:  (C-3) Copic

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Doodle Bloom Thinking of You


I managed to get some time in the Craft Cave this afternoon and put together this card for 3 challenges. I used the sketch from Stampin' Celebration, the colours from The Paper Players and the Thinking of You theme from The Card Concept (where I think my card would be considered Clean and Layered).  I paper pieced Altenew's Doodle Blooms (I LOVE these!) and added some washi tape to frame the top and bottom.  That's it for me today as it's time to head back to work but hopefully I'll get some good crafting time in over the weekend.  Have a lovely evening!


Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (Kraft) Papertrey Ink, (Crisp Cantaloupe, So Saffron, Wild Wasabi) Stampin' Up
Stamps:  (Flowers & leaves from Doodle Blooms) Altenew, (Sentiment from All Squared up) Avery Elle
Inks: (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko
Washi Tape:  K & Co.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Awesome Butterfly



Good morning!  Just popping in before I jet off to work with a last minute entry for Just Add Ink's inspiration photo challenge.  I love the pop of pink in the bedroom photo and also wanted to include a butterfly.  I used a subtle geometric pattern (like on the bedsheets) for the bottom layer of the butterfly.  The background was created by adding Rose Red ink to embossing paste and using a Crafter's Workshop stencil.  Love the fun texture of that embossing paste!  I'm also going to play along with the CAS on Sunday Girl Power challenge.    Later, gators!

ETA:  Totally meant to enter this into the Virginia's View All Things Embossed challenge.


Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill, (Basic Black) Stampin' Up
Patterned Paper:  (Notes & Things 6x6) Crate Paper
Stamps:  (Sentiment from Label Love) Altenew
Inks: (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko, (Rose Red) Stampin' Up
Die:  (Life is Beautiful) Papertrey Ink
Stencil:  (Mini Well Rounded) The Crafter's Workshop
Embossing Paste:  Wendy Vecchi