Fusion: Pretty in Pink + Simon Says Anything Goes

I told you I would be back with more of PTI's Peonies on Parade. I had a few extra die cut flowers after making this card and worked them into a design for the Fusion: Pretty in Pink challenge.

Both the inspiration photo and sketch were used to create this card. The peonies were stamped on watercolor paper and heat embossed before being color with Distress Inks and Zig pens.

The dark blue panel is embossed with a Cuttlebug dotted chevron embossing folder to echo the geometric designs on the pillows. A sentiment from MFT Brushstroke Birthday is added to the square panel and placed over a couple of the peonies that stand in place of the tilted panel.

A scatter of sequins and raindrops finish the card off.

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

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Seize the Birthday Anything Goes

It's time for new challenge at Seize the Birthday where I am excited to be the Surprise Party Guest for February and March.

This time we have an Anything Goes challenge, with no toppings. Just remember to keep it birthday themed and link your card over at Seize the Birthday!

I usually start a card with a stamp set, but this design was created around the MFT Stitched Mini Scallop Rectangle die that I used to make a frame. A slightly smaller panel was stamped with a sentiment and flowers from PTI's Graceful Greetings stamp set and inset into this frame.

The framed sentiment panel is popped up over a large, embossed flag die cut. A Wink of Stella glitter pen is swiped over the sentiment and flowers.

A few clear gems are colored with Copic markers and placed at the center of the flowers to finish the card off.

I can't wait to see your birthday cards in the Seize the Birthday gallery!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Papertrey Ink February 2016 Blog Hop

I'm joining in the Papertrey Ink Febuary 2016 Blog Hop today. This month Nichole provided an inspiration photo full of pinks & greens and a varitety of images. My first thought was to create around the pretty fern image until a box of goodies arrived at my door this week.

You might be seeing a lot of Peonies on Parade, I am so in love with these images.

A few flowers were stamped, masked and heat embossed on a watercolor paper panel and then watercolored using a mix of Distress Inks and Zig pens to get the colors I wanted. A few more flowers and leaves were die cut from another piece of watercolor paper and layered over the images on the first panel, some hanging off the edge.

The watercolor panel is adhered to the Simply Chartreuse card base and a sentiment from the Scripted die set finished this card off.

This card is also being linked to the Wednesday Blog Challenge at Simon Says Stamp, where Anything Goes this week.

I know there is going to be a great variety of cards in the gallery today. Happy Hopping!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

CAS(E) This Sketch! #160

I have a second card to share today before time runs out on linking to the CAS(E) This Sketch! #160 (you can see my CASology card here).

The knit lines of this embossing folder provided the horizontal lines in the sketch and a sentiment was put together with a Simon Says Stamp die and a selectively stamped sentiment from PTI's Painted Petals stamp set.

The die cut is made of multiple layers, some of which are trimmed so that the sentiment rests on the popped up banner.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

CASology Week 186: Distress

Welcome to Week 186 at the CASology Challenge!

Once again we have a great word that can be interpreted in a number of different way. My stamping brain immediately went to creating a card with blended Distress Inks.

The Tim Holtz Splatters stencil was used to make the multi-colored ink splat in the center of the card. Picked Raspberry was first, then the stencil slightly rotated and overlapped and inked again with Mustard Seed Distress Ink. Another splat was added in Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink and smaller splats added in all three colors.

Once I was happy with the blended inks, a sentiment from PTI's Wet Paint III stamp set was added.

So does distress have you thinking of a sympathy or get well card? Worn edges and texture? Or blending Distress Inks like me? For a few more ideas, check out the Design Team cards.

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: Annie

I'm looking forward to seeing your creations in the gallery this week - just remember to keep it Clean & Simple! 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, Lawn Fawn.

Jacquie

ColourQ #329

Yesterday I had a fun afternoon and evening crafting with a few of my local creative friends. We used to get together at least once a month and somehow have let that slip away. It is hard to decide what to bring along on these crafting dates, but I knew I wanted to use my PTI Quilled Elegance stamp set to make a card for Colour Q Challenge #329.

The pop of color came from a Copic marker (BG15) with a touch of Wink of Stella.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

CASology Week 185: Egg

Welcome to Week 185 at the CASology Challenge!

My thoughts immediately went to Easter and a favorite activity when the kids were little: dyeing eggs. An ancient punch was used to create eggs from watercolor paper. These eggs were colored with Zig markers and mounted with glue dots on a narrow strip of watercolor paper. The glue dots add a little more dimension and movement to the eggs.

A computer generated sentiment was printed on the main panel before watercolored stripes were added.

How does the word egg inspire you? Check out the beautiful cards from the rest of the Design Team for a few more ideas.

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: Gerrina

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

Papertrey Ink 9th Anniversary final challenges

The Papertrey Ink 9th Anniversary Celebration is winding up with the new release available and prize winners being announced tomorrow.

I have a trio of cards for the last few challenges. For Day 8: Color Pop Future Teller, I followed the directions and came up with Hawaiian Shores, New Leaf and Blueberry Sky as the colors to work with on this card. The wreath from Birds & Blooms is paired with a Wet Paint sentiment.

For the Day 9: Saturday Snail Mail challenge, a thank you card for the Papertrey Ink warehouse staff was made using the same color scheme as for the Day 8 challenge. This time the Wonderful Words: Thank You die and stamps provided the sentiment.

The Day 10: Paper Crafting Alphabet is the challenge I had the most fun with today. Based on the first three letters of my name, I had to include J: a few jewels or rhinestones, A: add a border and C: use at least five colors total.

Feather Finery images were stamped and heat embossed on watercolor paper before five ink colors were smooshed and blended over the panel.

One of the Congratulations Mini-stamps is stamped and heat embossed on a strip of black paper that is attached to a heart border die cut. A few clear gems were colored with Copic markers and added to finish off the card.

I'm heading off to dinner with the family to finish off our Valentine's Day.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

CAS(E) This Sketch! #159

I admit I was a little intimidated by Michelle Williams' sketch for CAS(E) This Sketch! #159 and tried unsuccessfully to create a plaid background. With a few failed panels in the recycling bin, I gave up on the card and started to just play with a stencil and modeling paste. 

The modeling paste was colored with a Limeade Ice re-inker first and, as I waited impatiently for my first diagonal lines to dry, I added a little New Leaf ink and shifted my stencil to the opposite diagonal line.

The stencil was put back in place to add inked lines connecting the paste lines. For a little more definition, more paste was lightly pulled over the first lines.

A sentiment from PTI's Wet Paint stamp and die set finishes this card off.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Papertrey Ink 9th Anniversary Sampler Square Challenge

I'm still playing along with a few of the Papertrey Ink 9th Anniversary Celebrations! 

The Day 5: Sampler Square Challenge had us create a card using 9 - 1 1/2" squares, each altered in a different way. The large flower from the One Big Happy stamp and die set is used for six of the squares in a number of ways, with the happy die inset on the middle square and smaller images masked and stamped or stamped and heat embossed on the remaining squares.

Tis lower center square is embossed with sheet music.

This stamped and die cut flower is popped up with foam adhesive and has a Glossy Accents & microbead detail in the center.

This stamped & die cut flower is adhered directly to the square base and coated with Wink of Stella for a shimmery finish.

I still have a couple more cards to finish before the celebration ends on the 15th!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

More Papertrey Ink 9th Anniversary Celebration

I'm back with a couple more cards to link to the challenges at Papertrey Ink as part of their 9th Anniversay Celebration.

This first card is for the Day 3: Grab & Craft challenge to grab a few supplies, set a timer for 5 minutes and craft. The Brushed Off  and Perfect Pairing stamp sets were sitting in a basket of new stuff on my desk, so I grabbed them along with white & black cardstock and a trio of green inks: Limeade Ice (my new favorite), Simply Chartreuse and Spring Moss.

The three inks were stamped across a white panel first, leaving room for the sentiment above. The thin black strip helped camouflage a not quite perfect line up of the inks. I've loved seeing other cards made using the Brushed Off stamp set, but have been a bit intimidated by it and was happy not to think too much about my ink choices with the time ticking away.

This second card is for monthly Create Along with Us: February 2016 challenge. I am CASEing a card from Heather Nichols that you can see here in more detail.

I used the One Big Happy die and stamp set and a similar color palette to Heather. Just the two smallest flowers were used with a variety of pinks, oranges and yellows stamped in a random pattern.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Seize the Birthday Toppings: Cupcakes or Candy Special Party Guest!

I was thrilled to be invited by Nancy to be the Surprise Party Guest at Seize the Birthday for February and March!

For the first February challenge, the Toppings is Cupcakes or Candy.

As always there is the option to participate in the Anything Goes category as long as it is a birthday card.

For this card, six cupcakes were stamped with Lawn Fawn's Bake Me A Cake stamp set and colored with Copic markers. A Viva Pearl Pen provides the frosting with a sprinkle of glitter sugar for extra color.

The sentiment is from Paper Smooches Birthday Sampler stamp set.

I can't wait to see your cards in the gallery!

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Jacquie

Papertrey Ink 9th Anniversary Celebration

Papertrey Ink is celebrating thier 9th anniversary with challenges and contests and you have until February 15th to play along.

For the Day 1: Design Team Favorites Challenge, I made this card based on Dawn McVey's Color Recipe.

The images from Leave It Be were stamped and masked on the card front first and then a strip of Ripe Avocado added near the bottom of the card. The Scripted die is cut once in black and once in Ripe Avocado. A third partial cut of just the "hello" was made so that the stacked die is the same height when the "there" was adhered to the strip.

This second card is for the Day 2: Dress Up Inspiration Challenge. Instead of picking something from my closet, I decided to make a card based on this clean and graphic lightning bolt t-shirt I found online.

Neil Barrett Lightning bolt t-shirt 

I cut several Scarlet Jewel and Smoky Shadow squares and then used the lighning bolt from Zappy Birthday to cut them in half. The squares were reconfigured on a Soft Stone square and then adhered to the card base.

A sentiment from Superhero is stamped in Smoky Shadow ink. We always seem to be short of masculine birthday cards, so I was happy to add this one to the stash,

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie