Have a Cuppa CAS

The current Addicted to CAS challenge keyword is "coffee." Well, out came my Perfect Blend set. I adore this set--it's relatively inexpensive ($10.95 for the 3 stamp set in clear) and it actually is pretty versatile! I started with a scrap of Soho Subway DSP for the coffee cup sleeve and that gave me my color scheme. I embossed an Early Espresso (get it?) panel with the Arrows Embossing Folder 'cause you know I like texture. I had my first flash of brilliance when I added the Burlap Ribbon--which looks like a coffee bean sack, don't you think? Then I had my second flash of brilliance when I thought of using the thought bubble stamp (get it?) from the Timeless Talk set for the sentiment. I fussy cut the coffee cup, the sleeve, and the thought bubble and popped them all up on dimensionals.

I love it when everything comes together!

(Stamp Sets: Perfect Blend, Timeless Talk; Ink: Early Espresso; Card Stock: Crisp Cantaloupe, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake; DSP: Soho Subway; Accessories: Arrows Embossing Folder, Burlap Ribbon)

Hello! Retro Sketch Challenge

Today, my inspiration is coming from a new (to me) stamping challenge. Retro Sketches, "where every sketch is a blast from our past," hosts a weekly sketch challenge. I've been lurking over there for a while and I figured I'd better stop lurking and start stamping! I like the sketches because they're usually clean and simple (CAS), and as someone commented on my blog: "Once you go CAS, you never go back." I'm betting that I'll prove that adage wrong because I still love my throw-everything- but-the-kitchen-sink-at-it--and then add a button--style! But I do love CAS!! Here's this week's challenge (retrosketches #102).

And here's my take on the sketch.  Once I pulled out the Six-Sided Sampler, I knew just what I was going to do. I've seen the checkerboard hexagon done in Night of Navy and thought it was stunning. I paired that with Raspberry Ripple. Those two colors are so crisp together. Add some Whisper White and the combo just makes me happy. Even though this is CAS, I added the Arrows Embossing Folder because I just have to have some texture in the "blank" spots.

(Stamp Set: Six-Sided Sampler; Ink: Night of Navy; Card Stock: Raspberry Ripple, Night of Navy, Whisper White; Accessories: Arrows Embossing Folder, Night of Navy and Whisper White Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon)

Another Week, Another Challenge (CCMC 290)

I love playing along with challenges. They really get my creative juices flowing. Sometimes a color challenge puts together colors I never would have dreamed of using. Sketch challenges help me with my graphic design.

Again this week, I'm playing along with Create with Connie & Mary in their weekly color challenge (CCMC 290). This week's combination was a real challenge for me. I'm not sure I nailed it, but I met the requirements.

I used the Thinlits Circle Card Die to create the card. I used the Quatrefancy Specialty Series Paper and the coordinating Modern Mosaic Embossing Folder. It took me a while to find the right combination of circles--I had to use my 2.5" circle punch and one of the circles from the Circles Framelits, but I was pleased with the close layered look. I used the Decorative Label Punch to back one of the label elements included with the Circle Card Framelit Die set. Here's the outside of the card:

(Stamp Set: You're Amazing; Ink: Island Indigo; Card Stock: Daffodil Delight, Smoky Slate, Island Indigo; DSP: Quatrefancy Specialty Paper; Accessories: Thinlits Circle Card Die, Island Indigo Marker, Modern Mosaic Embossing Folder, Decorative Label and 2.5" Circle Punches, Circle Franelits, Basic Rhinestones)

And here's the inside. The entire "Happy Birthday" sentiment was just a little bit too big for either of the inside panels, so I had to fold it in the middle so it would fit across two panels. I used several of the chevron elements from the Circle Card Framelit Die set and added some bling to the Apothecary Accents Framelit.

(Stamp Set: You're Amazing; Ink: Island Indigo; Card Stock: Daffodil Delight, Island Indigo, Smoky Slate; Accessories: Thinlits Circle Card Die, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Modern Label Punch, Basic Rhinestones)

Ombre Hello Lovely

Ombre is trending. My daughter has dyed her hair ombre:  dark brown, dark red, dark blonde. It looks really nice. Ombre is trending in home decor and crafting, too. I thought I'd try a simple ombre card. First, you need to decide on the colors you'll use. I tried different combinations of pinks and as well as combinations of blues. I decided I liked the pinks the best. For this card, I used Raspberry Ripple, Primrose Petals, and Blushing Bride to get my ombre efffect. I started off with Pink Pirouette as the lightest color, but it was too light. I might try this again with blues. I like the color gradients. And, of course, I had to add a bit of bling to the card and some ribbon for the finishing touches.

(Stamp Sets: Hello Lovely, Apothecary Art; Inks: Raspberry Ripple, Primrose Petals, Blushing Bride; Card Stock: Whisper White, Raspberry Ripple, Primrose Petals; Accessories: Raspberry Ripple Stitched Satin Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones)

See Ya Later, Alligator!

"See ya later, Alligator," my mom would say to me when I was a kid. And if I wasn't in one of my moods, I'd respond "After a while, crocodile." This Sale-a-Bration stamp set reminds me of my mom--and that's a good thing. My mom was a wonderful woman and I'm indebted to her. She always said she was proud of me. I hope I can always live up to her opinion. And I hope I can instill in my children the things she gave to me--always look on the bright side, pick yourself up and keep going, do your best, don't sweat the small stuff. Those are all platitudes we can all live by.

Anyway (as Ellen would say), here's a card I CASEd almost exactly from last month's issue of Stampin' Success--the magazine we Stampin' Up demonstrators receive free every other month. It's one of our perqs and it is full of ideas on how to use our wonderful products. I loved the simplicity of this card and I loved the negative banner cut. It took me a minute, but I figured out how they made the banner longer than the actual framelit. Can you figure it out? I also put a button on it and used the Silver Baker's Twine (because that's what I had). Easy-peasy and quick! (It's a good thing it was quick because despite my "snow day" I worked harder at home than I would have at work and I didn't get to my stamping room until after 9:30 tonight. I know; I'm cray-cray, but whatevs).

(Stamp Set: See Ya Later; Ink: Crisp Cantaloupe; Card Stock: Sahara Sand, Whisper White; DSP: Sweet Sorbet; Accessories: Neutrals Basic Buttons, Silver Baker's Twine, Banners Framelit Dies)

Awesome, Thanks!

Our area is about to get somewhere between 4 and 8 inches of snow overnight. The county schools have already closed. I'm hoping my work will be closed because I love to do two things on a snow day: 1. Sleep in!! 2. Stamp!! (I guess I'll have to shovel at some point.)

I'd like to say, for the record, that I am NOT "so over" winter! I love winter! It's my favorite season. I'm thrilled to be getting another dump of snow. Mid-Maryland doesn't always get snow, so this winter has been really great. (I might not feel this way tomorrow, after I've shoveled my driveway.) So even though I'm not "over" winter, I seem to be making cards with subtle spring colors--like this one I made for Connie & Mary's Spring 2014 Sketch Challenge (CCMCSPRING14-03).  

I was fiddling around in my scraps pile--you know, that pile of paper and DSP that you've cut off the sheet and that you're planning to file neatly in the accordian folder where you keep you scraps, organized by color in the correct color family, but end up just piling scraps next to your cutter--that pile. I'd used this DSP on one of the Christmas cards I made for my stamp-a-stack series and these strips were just lying there in the pile waiting to be used again. The scraps determined my color scheme--especially since my go-to card base color is becoming Baked Brown Sugar. I'd seen someone else ink up the Yippee-Skippee! greetings with markers and "Awesome...Thanks" fit into my circle and the rest just all fell into place. Of course I also had to use my new fave embossing folder from Sale-a-Bration: Decorative Dots. I've said it before and I'm saying it again in the hope that my wish will waft on over to Riverton, Utah: I hope, I hope, I hope this folder gets carried over at the end of SAB!!

(Stamp Set: Yippee-Skippee!; Card Stock: Baked Brown Sugar, Whisper White, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding; DSP: 2013-1014 In Color DSP Stack; Accessories: Crisp Cantaloupe and Pistachio Pudding Stampin' Write Markers, 2-3/8" Scallop Circle Punch, 1-3/4" Circle Punch, Circles Collection Framelits, Banner Framelit Dies, Pistachio Pudding Ruffled Stretch Ribbon, Decorative Dots Embossing Folder)

Sweet Sorbet Make & Take Idea

I've got a couple of workshops coming up during Sale-a-Bration and I'm looking for ideas for make-and-takes. When I saw this card that Marla Reed made, I knew that I had to CASE it...and then I thought it would be perfect for a make-and-take. I love Marla's stamping style--it's so fresh. The colors on this card are so sweet. I never would have thought about putting Sahara Sand and Pool Party together, but this combo rocks! I used a different background stamp on the tag and I used the Elegant Butterfly punch rather than the Bitty Butterfly punch that Marla used.

So this is one of my ideas for a workshop M&T. I have another up my sleeve that I'll share later this week. I'm hoping for a snow day on Thursday so I can stamp all day!!!

(Stamp Sets: Perfect Pennants, Papillion Potpourri, Delicate Doilies; Inks: Pool Party, Basic Gray, Summer Starfruit; Card Stock: Pool Party, Sahara Sand, Basic Black, Whisper White, Crisp Cantaloupe, Summer Starfruit; DSP: Sweet Sorbet; Accessories: Elegant Butterfly Punch, Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, Pistachio Pudding Ruffle Stretch Ribbon, Whisper White Baker's Twine, Basic Pearls)

Biking in to Say Hi

Today I'm playing along with another of Connie & Mary's fabulous sketch challenges (CCMC289). Here's the sketch:




And here's my card.

(Stamp Sets: Timeless Talk, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Pacific Point; Card Stock: Old Olive, Pacific Point, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White; Accessories: Pacific Point Striped Ribbon, Banner Punch, Modern Label Punch, Arrows Embossing Folder, Old Olive Candy Dots)

I'd already inked up this bicycle stamp in Pumpkin Pie from the Timeless Talk set and it was just waiting to become part of a new card. I looked at my Color Coach to see what combinations I could use with Pumpkin Pie and came up with Old Olive and Pacific Point. Yay! I have some brand new Striped Pacific Point ribbon from the Occasions catalog that I hadn't used, so I got that out to play with and made the larger pennant. Then I used one of the stamps from the Sale-a-Bration Banner Blast set for the smaller pennant. I used the Arrows Embossing Folder from the Occasions catalog and embossed a strip of Pumpkin Pie card stock and cut one strip of arrow for the diagonal piece. I finished off the card with the Happy Birthday Sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes using the Modern Label Punch set off with Old Olive Candy Dots.

When I showed my DD the card (she is my best critic--I really value her opinion even if she's only 14!), she said, "Did you use a staple? That's new." I think she approved.

Love & Laughter

A very sweet couple at my church is getting married soon. The shower is next weekend, so I pulled out the Love & Laughter stamp set and made this card. These colors weren't what I originally had in mind, but I didn't have any Soft Sky Seam Binding--if I had, this card would have gone in another direction. I did find some Soft Suede Taffeta, so I started with that. I think these two Soft colors look great together. They're not the "typical" wedding colors, but I think they're elegant. I stamped the image and sentiment in Early Espresso because I didn't want that to get lost behind the Soft Sky sponging. I added a few basic pearls to give the card a bit of bling, but still retaining that softness without going overboard. 

And the layout is clean and simple--how about that? I must be starting an addiction! Seriously, CAS was hard for me at first, but now I'm starting to get the hang of it. Stay tuned for next week's creations. I'm sure I'll be back to my "more is more" style!!

(Stamp Set: Love & Laughter; Ink: Early Espresso, Soft Sky; Card Stock: Soft Sky, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla; Accessories: Soft Suede Taffeta Ribbon, Basic Pearls)

I Love CAS

Over at Addicted to CAS, the challenge this week is "love." What a perfect challenge! Valentine's Day is coming up and although I don't usually make my sweetie a card (I don't know why--I just don't), he's been away for almost 3 months and he's coming home the day after Valentine's Day, so I thought I'd better make a card for him. 

This card was pretty quick and easy to pull together and (shocker) there's NO stamping on it!! IKR?! I used  several Stampin' Up product to give the card some texture. I used my Simply Scored Board to score a double border around the black panel (which you can barely see in the upper right-hand corner).  I used the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder to give the white panel a little texture. The I {heart} You sentiment is one of the elements in the Label Thinlit Card Die. I cut one in Silver Glimmer Paper and one in Red Glimmer Paper and adhered just the red heart with a dimensional. I thought the card still needed a bit of ribbon so I added some Real Red Taffeta ribbon with three bows. I hope it's still manly with those bows.

(Card Stock: Real Red, Whisper White, Basic Black, Silver Glimmer and Red Glimmer Papers; Accessories: Thinlits Label Die, Simply Scored, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Real Red Taffeta Ribbon)

Hello There! Color Challenge

I know I'm a little bit crazy, but I've made it a goal to post something to my blog every weekday this year. So far, so good. Today was a bit of a challenge.  I usually have a few projects made in advance, but today I had bupkis. I knew I was going to play along with the Splitcoast Stampers color challenge (CC464) today, so all day long I was creating a card in my head.  Actually, the card just "came" to me! I love it when that happens! I'm usually CASEing someone else's work, but this design is mine, all mine mwhahaha!

Here's the crazy part:  I left my job at 6:30 this evening, rushed to make it in time to Bible class at my church, followed by a parents' meeting that lasted until 9:00. Then I had to drive home and pick up something really nutritious fast food because my neglected children hadn't eaten dinner and our microwave is broken so they couldn't even make popcorn. I got home at 9:40. We all wolfed down our food. I sorted the mail (bill, bill, recycle, recycle) and then ran up to my stamp room to create this card. I got 'er done in record time (even after I made a few alterations to my design), snapped a pic of it with my iPad, edited the photo and uploaded and blogged about it here and it's 10:40. Wowza! I must be the Flash tonight.

(Stamp Set: Timeless Talk; Ink: Pumpkin Pie; Card Stock: Basic Gray, Pumpkin Pie, Primrose Petals, Whisper White; Accessories: Chevron Embossing Folder, Primrose Petals Stitched Satin Ribbon, Window Frames Framelits, Word Window Punch, Festive Paper Piercing Pack, Pumpkin Pie Candy Dots)

The challenge was to use Basic Gray, Pumpkin Pie, Primrose Petals and a neutral of our own choice. For a "bonus," we were challenged to add an interesting background. I also paper pierced around the Primrose Petals medallion. I know! Pretty cute card (IMHO) that I pulled off in record time. (You do NOT want to see my stamp table!!) 

What will I do tomorrow?! I guess we'll all be surprised!

Stamp Camp Projects by Lynn!

My BFF Lynn and I held our annual Sale-a-Bration stamp camp over the weekend. We had a great time and I think our stampers really enjoyed themselves and the projects.. I've already shared my two projects, so I thought it would only be fair to share Lynn's projects, too. She's a creative genius!! I'm so inspired by everything she does. I hope you are inspired, too!

Lynn designed a really cute card box with the Envelope Punch Board. For the belly band, she used the Watercolor Wonder DSP from the Occasions mini catalog. The four 3"x3" cards are made with our Watercolor Wonder Designer notecards, also from the Occasions catalog, and the See Ya Later stamp set that you can earn for free with a qualifying SAB order. So cute. So cute.

Next, Lynn designed a pretty gold "flippy" card with the Circle Thinlits Die. She gold embossed the Blessed Easter image and added some Watercolor Wonder Washi Tape and Fancy Foil Designer Vellum. She also used our Gold Foil Sheets and the Scalloped Tag Topper punch to make a little treat holder. She embossed the treat holder with the Chevron Embossing Folder for added dimension and tied it shut with the Gold Sequin Trim.

Finally, Lynn created a super cute card using my favorite Sweet Sorbet Designer Series Paper and the Petal Parade stamp set from the SAB catalog and the "You Can Never Have Too Much Happy" saying from the Yippee-Skippee! stamp set. We certainly had the right amount of happy at our stamp camp. If you weren't there, we missed you. Hope you can make it next time!!!

The Fab Friday Challenge Is Back!!

The wonderful and creative hosts of the Fab Friday challenge blog took a much deserved break during the holiday season...but they're baaack!! This fornight's challenge is a color challenge:

 

These are great colors and they're the same as those used in Stampin' Up's Fresh Prints Designer Series Paper Stack (item #132996) in the Occasions mini catalog. I thought about using some of that gorgeous DSP, but in the end, I decided not to.  I did use a few items that I earned free during Sale-a-Bration--the Decorative Dots embossing folder, the Banner Blast stamp set, and the Banner punch. I also used the "Miss You" sentiment from the Lacy& Lovely stamp set--I had it out on my desk for another project and I thought the "Hi" from the Banner Blast set and "Miss You" went together nicely.

(Stamp Sets: Banner Blast, Lacy & Lavely; Inks: Crumb Cake, Real Red; Card Stock: Crumb Cake, Real Red, Coastal Cabana, Very Vanilla; Accessories: Decorative Dots, Banner, Scallop Oval, Oval Punches, Crumb Cake Seam Binding; Real Red Candy Dots)