Muse Challenge #76

I know I wasn't the only one who thought of grapes on the vine when I saw Therese Calvird's lovely card for the Muse Card Challenge #76.

I don't have grape stamp sets, but I do have the same Wplus9 Fresh Cut Florals that Therese used, so decided to pull them out and start stamping.

An MFT Rectangle Frame is die cut around the Simon Says Stamp sentiment. I played around with a few different ideas for layering the cut stamped panel and, in the end, cut an extra frame and two extra center panels.

This let me step up the stamped pieces ever so slightly. The outside piece is adhered directly to the card base, the frame piece is two layers and the center piece is three layers of cardstock. It gives a subtle bit of dimension and interest to the card.

Speaking of grapes, this is what ours looked like 6 weeks ago and we are eating them as fast as we can right now. 

Thanks for stoping by,

Jacquie

Tag You're It! Challenge #2

The kids' closets are done and I need break from organization projects, so took a little time to play with inks and embossing this afternoon.

A new challenge from Jackie Rockwell has caught my eye. Tag You're It! is all about making Clean and Simple tags based on an inspiration tag from a Guest Designer. For TYIC#2, the inspiration is from Laura Bassen:

My tag is stamped and heat embossed before Picked Raspberry and Mustard Seed Distress Inks are blended over the base. A simple black tree silhouette, Label Love sentiment along with black jute and pink Baker's Twine finish the tag off.

I love the way the Altenew Label Love sentiments really look like they come from a Dymo Label Maker when they are heat embossed.

Although quick & simple to make, I'm not 100% sure this can be classified as a CAS tag - what do you think?

In other news, I am really loving succulents these days. This one surprised us with a gorgeous burst of flowers a week ago and they are still stunning.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

MIM #171: Pop Up Die Cuts

Betsy Veldman has a great tutorial for the Make It Monday #171: Pop Up Die Cuts challenge over at Capture the Moment. I'm loving everything I've seen linked up this week and finally had some time to play around.

After trying out a few options, Feather Finery stamps and die were used on this card. I went with a bright palette, using Summer Sunrise, Hibiscus Burst and Raspberry Fizz inks along with a little Delicata Gold to add a touch of shimmer to the pink feathers.

The Petaloo feathers, a button and twine tie in with the stamped feathers and a Wet Paint die cut adds the sentiment. 

Just a short & sweet post for today as I wait for the cable guy. After griping & grumbling about the rising costs of our integrated package, I am switching providers to get less TV and more bandwidth for a lot less money. More and more of our TV watching is via internet streaming these days - are you finding the same thing at your house?

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

The Cutting Edge #2 + Virginia's View #5 Die Cuts + CASology 103: Glow

The card I am sharing today was inspired by Karolyn Loncon's fabulous inspiration for The Cutting Edge Challenge #2. The sentiment perfectly matches the dreamy quality of her watercolored cityscape.

I decided to cut a cityscape border die from black cardstock and ink a rising sun background.

None of my usual photo spots provided a great image, so I moved outside and still had problems. I want to get this in the mail, so don't have time to wait for the morning light.

These two photos give a truer view of the die cut sitting on the inked card base.

This card reminds me of a long ago art class, when we looked at similar images and were asked to identify whether we were looking at a sunrise or sunset. For my purposes, this is definitely the glow and hope of a new day and heading off to a friend needing to know things will get better.

I am also entering this card in Virginia's View Challenge #5 Die Cut and CASology Week 103: Glow.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

RIC#63 + Fusion {Red, White & Blue}

I finally have my hands on the Painted Flowers stamp set from Altenew and I'm in love :) 

Using watercolor paper, the outline of the flowers was stamped and heat embossed first, then filled in with Distress Inks and a water brush.

The sentiment is from another Altenew stamp set, Label Love, and is also heat embossed.

The color palette and design of this card was influenced by Runway Inspired Challenge #63 and the current Fusion {Red, White & Blue} sketch.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Happy Fourth of July with FMS143 + CQC248 + MFW Wonderful Words + Virginia's View #5

Today is a very special day for my family. After fifteen years enjoying the 4th of July celebrations, this is the first year will be doing it as American citizens! Our US journey began as a one, maybe two, year assignment for my husband in October 1999 and took on a few twists and turns we never anticipated.

There were so many factors that went into the decision to apply for citizenship, but the biggest surprise was how quickly things happened. I had a little heart attack when we received notice that our Naturalization Oath Ceremony was June 25, just two days before we were traveling to Canada for a wedding. Thankfully, we live near a State Department Passport Agency, who were able to expedite our new passports in 24 hours, allowing us to make the trip.

A few different challenges are combined to help create this card.

I pulled out PTI and MFT dies, along with a Paper Studio embossing folder and glitter paper to make the card. Does anyone out there recognize the Rummage magnetic stamp from Making Memories? This is one set that always makes it through any purges in my craft room.

Once again, my Wink of Stella came out and highlights the "happy" and "4" with a little glitter.

The design is based on the Freshly Made Sketch #143 and palette comes from Colour Q Challenge #248. I am also linking this card to the Moxie Fab World Wonderful Words Challenge and Virginia's View Challenge #5 Die Cut.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy 4th of July to all my American family & friends!

Jacquie

HB2U Darnell + The Cutting Edge Challenge #1 + The Curtain Call Birthday Bash + MFW

There is a birthday party happening out in cyber space for our wonderful, generous and funny blogging friend, Darnell, of djkardkreations. The party starts with Bev at Happy Dance (where you MUST check out the hamster wheel shoes) and ends with a Linky Party at Ardyth's blog home, Maskerade. Be sure to click through all the festivities and join in the fun!

I used a few speech bubbles, assorted "happy" stamps and a word die to make this bright and happy card. All the dies are inlaid, including the "birthday"word die, which has a few extra cuts layered on top.

A bit of Wink of Stella on the birthday sentiment adds just the right touch of glitter and shine.

This card was inspired by a brand new card challenge from Jackie Rockwell that is based on creating cards with die cut elements. You can find the details for The Cutting Edge Challenge #1 here.

The colors from The Curtain Call July 1 Birthday Bash Inspiration Photo steered me towards the Lawn Fawn patterned papers. You can see the details of this challenge here.

ETA I am also linking this card to the new Moxie Fab World Wonderful Words Challenge - head over here for the details.

Happy Birthday Darnell!!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie