Muse #150+ FMS #221 + Simon Says Anything Goes

I am holed up at home, as the rain & wind batter the house, making it a perfect day to spend in the craft room.

For this card I took Freshly Made Sketches #221 and merged it with Jenni's debut card as a Design Team member for Muse #150.

I love Jenni's stamped text on the inked panel and took a little while to figure out how to replicate this look. The MFT Happy Birthday background stamped is inked with Versamark and heated embossed on a white panel first. Since my Spun Sugar Distress Ink was almost dry, I switched to the vivid pink of Picked Raspberry and sponged the color over the stamped panel, fading it out on the right side.

A sentiment from Altenew's Label Love finishes the birthday greeting and a bouquet from PTI's Fresh Floral Wrap-Ups replaces Jenni's beautiful flowers.

I am also linking this card up to Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog where this week Anything Goes.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

CASology Week 182: ADORE

Welcome to a Week #182 at the CASology Challenge! 

The word ADORE had me immediately thinking about using this image called Couple in Love from Coronado Island Designs & Stamps. It is a wood mounted stamp and was bought before I really started stamping because I just loved the image.  I truly adore the way this elegant, formally dressed couple are leaning into each other.

The image was stamped with Ranger Jet Black Archival ink on the card base and on a post-it to create a mask. For the mask, the area between the couple and tiny section at his left elbow are carefully cut out before the I fussy cut around the image. This was adhered over the image on the card base and then a heart negative mask place over it.

The heart was sponged with Barn Door and Picked Raspberry Distress Inks, alternating between the two until I had the depth of color I wanted. Once the masks were removed, the card was done.

Sometimes an image sends a strong enough message that words are not needed. With no sentiment this card can be used for an anniversary or wedding card or, the obvious, as a Valentine.

Check out the variety of ways the Design Team has been inspired by the word ADORE.

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Deidre Payne

Hannelie Bester

Hazel Hodgkins

Jacquie Southas (you are here)

Jen Wills

Joyce Mehrberg

Judy Marino

Kymona Tracey

Melissa Chipperfield

Sherrie Mannion

Tracey McNeely

Guest Designer:  Jenny

You have until Monday at noon (CMT) to link your card to the CASology blog and a chance to win a prize from this week's sponsor, Concord & 9th.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Papertrey Ink January 2016 Blog Hop

The inspiration photo Nichole Heady gave us for the Papertrey Ink January 2016 Blog Hop had me stumped for a while. Don't get me wrong, I loved being introduced to the bright, colorful art work of Rex Ray, and immediately was struck by the beach vibe this piece, had but just couldn't translate it into a card.

In the end, the black base and the way it was outlining the rounds of teal/aqua became the starting point for my card. Once this decision was made, it was easy to narrow down the design to be based on the Leaf Silhouette die set. The die was cut several times to get the Hawaiian Shores, Tropical Teal and Terracotta Tile pieces needed to fit back into the black outline piece.

This leaf is popped up on a rectangular panel that is woodgrain embossed in a nod to the wood grain on the orange images (does anyone else see surf boards?) in the Rex Ray piece. Before the panel is embossed, a sentiment from the Thank You Kindly stamp set is added.

The sentiment font also echos the long, lean lines on the inspiration piece.

I can't wait to see how others were inspired by this inspiration piece.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Colour Q #325 + Freshly Made Sketches #220

With a little time to craft today, I once again combined the Colour Q Challenge and Freshly Made Sketches to create a birthday card.

The sketch is rotated to a horizontal orientation and a flower cluster added in the top left corner of the card.  This orientation gave me a little more room to fit in the sentiment from PTI's One Big Happy stamp and die set.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

CASology Week 181: Clear + Fusion 2nd Year Celebration + Seize the Birthday CAS

Welcome to Week 181 at the CASology Challenge! This week the Cue Card is CLEAR, a great word with a number of ways to inspire you.

I had a few different ideas, finally settling on this clear die cut that allows the sentiment on the inside of the card to peek through.

The PTI Balloon Shaker die is used to create a shaker with two clear sides that is inset into the front of the card base.

The smaller balloons are inked and die cut with Avery Elle Numbered Balloon Dies, helping personalize the card for a friend's milestone birthday this month.

To give the card a more polished look another balloon outline was cut backwards and added inside the card front. The back of the balloon number die cuts are also inked as I knew they would be visible on this side of the card.

In addition to the CASology Cue Word: CLEAR, I took inspiration from the Fusion 2nd Year Celebration challenge (photo and sketch) and the Seize the Birthday CAS challenge.

Please check out the beautiful Design Team creations for more inspiration.

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Deidre Payne

Hannelie Bester

Hazel Hodgkins

Jacquie Southas (you are here)

Jen Wills

Joyce Mehrberg

Judy Marino

Kymona Tracey

Melissa Chipperfield

Sherrie Mannion

Tracey McNeely

Guest Designer:  Natalia

You have until Monday at noon (CMT) to link your card to the CASology blog and a chance to win a prize from this week's sponsor, STAMPlorations.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

CTS#155 + Seize the Birthday CAS

Have you ever had a sketch haunt you? That is how I felt about the sketch from Chrissy Larson this week for CAS(E) this Sketch! #155. The Design Team did an awesome job, but I kept looking at the sketch, then at a few stamps & dies and . . . nothing happened. I came back to the sketch a couple of times over the weekend and still nothing spoke to me from my desk.

This morning I woke up, walked into the office and pulled out a MFT Stitched Speech Border die and knew why I kept coming back to the sketch.

A couple of Lifestyle Crafts embossing folders added texture to my cardstock panel and a simple die cut and sentiment from the SSS Sending and Wishing set finish the card off.

I love the way the diagonal lines draw the eyes up to the sentiment.

This card is also being linked to the Seize the Birthday Clean and Simple challenge.

"Clean and Simple"

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

CQC#324 + FMS#219 + Seize the Birthday + HLS January CAS

I love, love, love the colors in the ColourQ Challenge #324 and made a little time today to put together a card for that challenge and a few others.

The sketch from Freshly Made Sketches #219 provided the basic design of the card and, once I decided die cut feathers were going to be a part of the card, I knew I would be using the ink smooshing technique that is the challenge for Happy Little Stampers January CAS Challenge.

A few watercolor panels were inked until I had the color balance I wanted, then a side panel and a couple of feathers were die cut. Another feather was cut from silver Tim Holtz Kraft-Core Metal cardstock. The embossed details from these Spellbinders feather dies is just fantastic!

An MFT sentiment and stitched rectangle die and silver Baker's twine finish the card off.

I'm also linking this card to Seize the Birthday, where the Toppings are Clean and Simple.

   

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

CASology

It is time for a new Cue Card for Week 180 at the CASology challenge blog.

 

There are so many ways to interpret the word open and I went with the idea of opening a box. I'm a little gifted out with Christmas and my birthday, so decided to do something I hadn't done in a while and make a "welcome to the neighborhood" card.

The Neat & Tangled Box die is used to create a moving box, a Papertrey Ink Daily Designs sentiment is stamped and heat embossed on a chartreuse banner and a little aqua tissue paper peeks out of the box. I will admit I've never packed up household goods in pretty tissue papers, but I wanted another pop of color on the card so exercised my creative right.

The clean lines and simple images keep this card CAS.

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Deidre Payne

Hannelie Bester

Hazel Hodgkins

Jacquie Southas (you are here)

Jen Wills

Joyce Mehrberg

Judy Marino

Kymona Tracey

Melissa Chipperfield

Sherrie Mannion

Tracey McNeely

Guest Designer: Rachel

You have until Monday at noon (CMT) to link your card to the CASology blog for a chance to win a class from this week's sponsor, Craft Classes Online.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Seize the Birthday + Simon Says Something New

I have been playing with a few of my new stamps & dies, ending up with this clean & simple birthday card.

The Elizabeth Craft Candles dies are cut from white cardstock, inked with Peacock Feathers and Mowed Lawn Distress Inks and then layered together. Delicata Gold is inked on the flames.

The sentiment is from my new PTI Birthday Cheer stamp set and fits perfectly on my new MFT Dimensional Banner die.

This card is being linked to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog where Simon Says Something New and Seize the Birthday where Anything Goes this week.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Muse #147

Michele Ferguson is taking us toward Valentine's Day with her card for Muse Challenge #147 and I decided to follow along.

 

The basic card design is borrowed from Michele's, although I turned it for a vertical orientation. My heart covered side panel is embossed, the oval panel is replaced with a speech bubble sentiment and the pops of red hearts are scattered like popcorn.

I bought the Mama Elephant Love Quotes stamp set specifically for this sentiment and matched it with a couple of smaller heart dies to finish the card off.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

CASology Design Team Announcement

2016 is shaping up to be a great year with an invitation from Melissa to join the talented and inspiring ladies on the CASology Design Team!

To say I'm thrilled is an understatement and, even though my term doesn't technically start until next week, I am too excited not to play along with the current CASology Week 179 Cue Word: Simple.

I used the Papertrey Ink Fresh Florals Wrap-Ups stamps and dies for my card, keeping it simple using just a pop of color on the flowers.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie
 

Craft Hoarders Anonymous January 2016 Blog Hop

Welcome to the 

Craft Hoarders Anonymous January 2016 Blog Hop!

You should be coming here from Debbie Seyer's blog, A Peek Into My Stamping Room. If you get lost along the way, or want to start at the beginning, head to Gloria Stengel's Scraps of Life blog for a full list of participants.

My project this month was inspired by the need to come up with a few birthday gifts during the Christmas holidays and the lack of birthday gift wrap or bags in the house. The first couple I made went out quickly without getting photographed and I decided to make a couple more just to have on hand.

I dug deep into my stash of pretty papers and lovely ribbons and am thankful for the habit of always buying 2 pieces of any paper I loved.

This first bag measures 6" wide x 3" deep x 8" high and has a 1" flap around the top that is folded out before the other scored lines are folded to create the sides of the bag. I scored two 10" x 12" pieces of 2008 My Mind's Eye 29th Street Market patterned paper at 1" and 7", rotated the paper and scored at 3" and 11". The bag is quick to assemble once the pieces have been scored and folded.

Before adhering the bag together, two holes were punched on the long sides of the bag for the teal silky crush ribbon handle to be pulled through and tied.

This second bag is made with a 2009 My Mind's Eye patterned paper from the Breaking Free collection in exactly the same way except te finished bag is 5" wide x 3" deep x 6" high.

This time I folded the 1" top flap into the bag and the ribbon holes were cut into the flap so they are not visible on the outside of the bag.

This ribbon has a cool texture and shiny iridescence that didn't get captured in the photos.

I couldn't resist making a couple of shaker tags to go with the bags.

It's time to hop over and see what wonderful creation Glenda Brooks has waiting for us at her blog, MagPie's Corner. Remember, you can always head to Gloria Stengel's Scraps of Life for the full hop list.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy New Year!!

Jacquie