CAS TOY

For a CAS (clean and simple) challenge I made this card with a "thinking of you" theme.  I dug into my drawer of specialty papers and pulled out some mulberry paper.  I used water to help tear it into an oval shape and get those pretty feathered edges.  The simple sentiment is popped up with dimensionals.  An enamel heart sticker on the little thought cloud finishes it off.
  

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Lily of the Valley

 I don't have a green thumb and therefore no flower gardens in my yard, but if I did, I would surely choose to have some Lily of the Valley growing there.  I have always loved this delicate flower.  So with the lack of a green thumb a die cut is my next best option.   This die cut was recently gifted to me in a monthly card swap from a dear friend.   So it was fitting to use it in a card challenge at The Outlawz where a die cut was one of the options in a Tic Tac Toe challenge, along with charms and ribbon from the same row.

This card was difficult to photograph because of the glossy ivory layer in the background of the card. I edited the photo to get rid of the excess glare, but then the other colors became distorted.  The darker green oval (SU - Always Artichoke) was cut from a Spellbinders Floral Oval set and was popped up with craft foam.   I traced around the outer edge of the die itself onto sage card stock (SU - Sage Shadow) for the lighter green oval underneath.  Both ovals were sponged with Delicata Silvery Shimmer ink.   The bee and dragonfly are charms and were quite the challenge to adhere to the card.  I ended up using super glue gel on the dragonfly and a rolled up high tack glue dot for the more dimensional bee.  Hopefully they are there to stay!


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Bleached Brown Paper Bag

For the image on this card I stamped onto a piece of brown paper bag with black pigment ink and heat embossed with detail clear embossing powder.  The main flowers and leaves were "colored" with bleach.  I used a fine detail brush to get into all the small spaces.  Wanting to keep this  monochrome, I colored the stems and highlighted parts of the leaves with Copic markers in shades of brown.  I used a brown grocery bag rather than kraft paper, as it bleached out better for the look I was going for.

The image was fussy cut and layered onto two small doilies and some linen thread with foam tape for dimension.  A wood grain patterned paper was used as the main background.

Wood and enamel dots in various colors were used to further embellish the card.

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Happy Heart

A fairly recent (I'm always behind in posting my cards!) challenge at The Outlawz was to use hearts on your card.  So I pulled out a favorite stamp of mine from Embossing Arts.  I like to use this one for non-Valentine cards.  I stamped the image on watercolor paper and used distress markers to color the image. Then I went over the flowers with a water brush to blend the markers and also water colored the background. After layering the image and placing onto a light gray card stock base I went back and put tiny silver glitter enamel dots in the centers of the flowers.  I used some light blue enamel hearts to scatter on the patterned paper. 

I've been making good use of a pile of craft foam purchased at a garage sale several years ago.  I have been popping up my image panels with craft foam rather than the more expensive foam tape. 

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Showers and Flowers

The little image panel on this card has a lot going on!  I stamped the sihouette stamp (unknown) onto white card stock and then used a raindrop image (Endless Creations) and stamped with VersaMark Dazzle Frost ink.  Onto this I brushed some Pearl Ex in Interference Blue.  So as you look at the image straight on it appears shimmery, but at an angle the shimmer turns blue - very cool.  Then I sprayed a generous amount (as in maybe too much!) of Goosebumps spray, which just adds another layer of a rainy day look.   A black Dazzle line grounds the floral cluster.

I dug into my glossy card stock stash and pulled out the pretty blue.  I just used repeated layers of white, black and blue card stocks on the front and inside of the card as well.  The image panel is popped up with craft foam and two glitter photo corners in a pink/purple color were added for a pop of color.

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Red or Blue?

Get your bike out of storage and let's go for a bike ride!   Ha!  The only bikes I own are in the form of stamps and dies! 

I pulled out a SU set to make a card for National Bicycle Day, a challenge at The Outlawz.  I stamped the image twice on some watercolor paper, one for practice and the other to use on a card.  After coloring with watercolor markers, I thought both images turned out okay and decided to make two cards.  I shared the red one on The Outlawz and decided to share both of them here.  I'll be adding a sentiment later when I know how I want to use the cards.

Typically when I am down to the last few sheets/scraps of a paper pack, in this case SU, I categorize the remaining sheets and scraps.  So I pulled out my polka dot file and chose some papers to go with each image.  I used a card sketch of Mary's from CARDZ TV.  She has started making simple sketches with measurements and has them offered on her blog.  I print them out and keep them in a binder along with the sketches from Operation Write Home and MFT Blueprints sketches.  My binder is getting quite full and I have a lot of options!  

 

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Denim Days

 I cannot get enough of these adorable images from MFT in the Pure Innocence line!  I  was practicing my water-coloring skills with this Spring Friends image.  I am improving...really, I am!   I paper pieced her jeans, top and shoes, but everything else was colored with distress inks with a water brush.

The pretty patterned paper collection is Neroli, from my new favorite paper company, Trimcraft.  The only source I have found for this TC is at Blitsy, so if you know any other place I can buy their lovely papers, please leave a comment below.  TIA!

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MFT Blueprints 28

Thanks to my dear friend Jill (waving at you sweetie!) I was able to purchase the newest Blueprints die set from MFT.  She had a gift card from their store emailed to me for my birthday!   I used the chevron die from the set to make this card for the color challenge at The Outlawz.   My friend Leslie (waving hello to you too!) granted my wish for glitter paper used on all the parts of this card.    And dear sweet Sue (waving wildly at ya!) gifted me a ton of butterflies in all sizes, shapes and colors!  I found just what I needed from that flock to complete this card!  Thanks dear friends!  I appreciate you all so much!

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I Need a Day...

 This cute image and sentiment are from The Cat's Pajamas.  Can someone please tell me why stamp companies don't put the names of their stamp sets on the packaging and also in this case on the acetate sheet the stamps come stored on?  Very frustrating when wanting to provide information about the stamps used.  Small rant over!

I love the sentiment!  It's so true more often than not!  The image was colored with Copics and I used distress ink and a template to create the clouds and sky.  The grass is a MFT die and the patterned paper is from Paperage called Raspberry Cordial.
 

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Happy 4th Birthday

This spinner birthday card could be used for my granddaughter next year, but I made it now for an Outlawz challenge which was to use a number on a card.  But I'll put it away in a place where I can find it again...don't laugh, it could happen!

Her favorite colors are purple and pink, so choosing the color combo was easy.  I used spinners2stamp and matching does from The Stamps of Life. for the spinner and images.  I colored the images in with glitter pens.  My DGD loves sparkle!   The sentiment is an old, old Hero Arts stamp.

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Challenge Cards from 4/4 - 4/9

I have to play catch up again, so am posting the remainder of the challenge cards from last week at The Otulawz.   One of the cards I'm sharing, I finished too late to enter...oh, well!

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Black and White and a Touch of Gold

A card sketch was the inspiration for this card.  Wednesdays at The Outlawz are always sketch days and this was my entry.  I dusted off an old, wood-mounted CTMH stamp set that I think was called Tatted Lace, but I'm not positive.   I used some lace tape from a Dollar Tree for the three strips across the front and you ca see a hint of it used on the inside as well.  I love that tape and am on my last few inches!  I keep looking for more in the stores, but haven't had any luck yet.

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Pop-Up Z-Fold Card

I had fun making this card  after watching a You Tube tutorial video from Dawn's Stamping Thoughts.  The link will take you directly to her video for this card tutorial.  This card fits with the color challenge this week at The Outlawz.

I used some of my hoarded cloud paper from A Muse (no longer available, thus the hoarding!),   I also used a XL Sizzlit grass die (cut 2) and another Sizzix die set: Pinwheels Triplits.    This is the card when it is open, revealing the blue and red pinwheel.  When closed, I arranged it so that the red and yellow pinwheel fits over and covers up the red and blue pinwheel.  Adding another layer of fun when the card is opened!

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CAS Birthday Card

The card I'm sharing today is a CAS birthday that I made for an Outlawz challenge.   It came together quickly with the help of an embossing folder, a 3D sticker, punches and some twine.  Easy peasy, but so sweet!

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Playful Dragonflies

The stamp used for this card has been in my stash for a very long time.  I can't recall the company that produced the unmounted stamp., but it is a beauty!   When I don't feel like I can do a stamp justice with my coloring skills (or lack thereof!) I keep the image uncolored.  For this one I only added color to the background and the dragonflies...that much I could handle!  The background was sponged with distress ink and versamark and pearl ex were used on the dragonflies wings.  The bubbles and stars were filled in with glossy accents.

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Background Stamps

I recently pulled out some long-neglected background stamps from my stash.  Both stamps are from SU; one is a lacy pattern, the other an over-all floral pattern.  I die cut portions of the stamped images to make cards for a couple of challenges at The Outlawz.  The top card was an Anything Goes challenge and the second card was for a sketch challenge.  Two very different looks by changing up the colors.

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