CASology Week 200: CAS **200th Challenge Celebration!**

Welcome to Week 200 at the CASology Challenge!

To celebrate our 200th challenge we have a fun & special word to inspire you: CAS! Okay, okay, maybe we are taking a little artistic license with this cue "word", but we want to celebrate the Clean & Simple card making style and leave it wide open for you to play along. There is no Sponsor this week but plenty of chances to win a little blog candy.

For this card, using one of my current favorite techniques, a Concord & 9th butterfly is die cut from a collage of washi tapes. 

The butterfly is adhered to a watercolored panel and the Paper Smooches sentiment added before the panel is popped up on the card base. I love the mix of patterns and colors and the sheen the washi tape gives the butterfly.

Keep in mind these pointers as you create a card in the CAS style:

1. One main image

2. Lots of open space--uncluttered
3. Limited layers and embellishments
4. Quick and easy to recreate (note—it may take a long time to get a design you like, but once you have that design, making more should be a piece of cake)

As I said at the top of the post, we don't have a sponsor this week as several of the Design Team members are offering blog candy. Each DT member who is participating will randomly select a commenter from their blog who also linked up a card at CASology. Winners will be announced on each DT blog as well as on the CASology blog next week after the challenge closes at noon (CMT) on Monday.

I have put together a selection of embellishments along with a Memory Box Pine Needle Twigs die and look forward to sending it off to one of you.

Check out the Design Team cards for more inspiration and chances to win a little blog candy.

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:  Diana!

Remember, you must comment and play along with the challenge this week to be eligible to win the blog candy. I look forward to seeing all your Clean And Simple cards in the gallery this week!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

FMS#238 + Simon Says Anything Goes

I have a quick card to share today. Quick because I am supposed to be out in the garden and somehow was distracted into spending a couple of hours in the office instead.

This card started because I was playing around with my new Memory Box Penelope Heart die and need a place to show off the finished heart with a pieced felt & pearl flower. Freshly Made Sketches #238 provided a great blueprint for the card.

A very old MFT (I think) Flourish die and a pearl spray loop (available here) are layered behind the heart and a Lawn Fawn XOXO die cut provides the sentiment.

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

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Papertrey Ink May 2016 Blog Hop

I'm participating in the Papertrey Ink May 2016 Blog Hop today with this card.

Nichole Heady gave us a gorgeous watercolored art piece to inspire our projects this month.

I fully intended to softly watercolor the clear embossed Peonies on Parade images, but somehow ended up with more vibrant tones and loved them too much to do over.

Two of the peonies are stamped on the panel and the large one is die cut and added after along with a couple of leaf clusters. The Keep It Simple: Birthday sentiment is inked with Versamark first and then layered with a gray ink before being heat embossed.

I am linking this card to Seize the Birthday where the Toppings is Dimension, which is provided with the popped up die cut and the rainstones on this card.

There are so many beautiful cards in the gallery, I hope you get a chance to check them out! Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

CASology Week 199: FAST

Welcome to Week 199 at CASology!

We have another great word this week that can be used as a noun, verb, adverb or adjective!

An older MFT stamp & die set came out of hiding to make the vanity plate on my card. I laughed when my son read it as "no for speed" as it is meant to be "need for speed". This might be used as a Father's Day card with a gift card to a local go-cart racing facility. 

The license plate sentiment is popped up over an angled and embossed panel.

Check out the Design Team cards for more terrific 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:  Coni!

We are looking forward to seeing how FAST inspires you -  just remember to keep it Clean & Simple! You have until Monday at noon (CMT) to link your card to the CASology blog. 

Jacquie

Fusion: Port O'Call Polaroid

I couldn't resist the nautical look of the Fusion: Port O'Call Polaroid challenge and had this anchor embossing folder sitting on my desk for a few days before the card design came together.

Elements from both the inspiration photo and sketch were used to create this card, with the polaroid frame becoming a large banner.

The lifesaver is from WPlus9's Nautical Notions die set and the heat embossed sentiment from Paper Smooches Wicked Nauticool stamp set. A Lifestyle Crafts anchor embossing folder provides texture and stripes for the background.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

MIM#249: Make It With Money + JUGS #343: Vellum

Lexi has a fun challenge for Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday #249: Make It With Money to use a cash gift as part of the design.

Around here money leis are a big thing for graduation and our daughter recieved a couple last year with the cash folded into pretty butterfly shapes, so that is what I decided to add to this card.

Two bills are needed to make this butterfly and this is the tutorial I followed. A woodgrain embossed panel is layered with white cardstock and vellum Turning a New Leaf die cuts before the butterfly is added.

There is two weights of vellum used, offering a little more interest to the texture and translucency of the die cuts. The Wet Paint sentiment is heat embossed on a black banner and then wrapped around the card base and adhered.

This card is being linked to the Just Us Girls #343 Trend Week: Vellum challenge.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

CASology Week 198: STENCIL

Welcome to Week 198 at the CASology Challenge!

Our sponsor this week is STAMPlorations and I used their Bold Florals - ARTplorations Stencil on my card. To keep the design Clean & Simple, the largest floral image is stenciled on a die cut circle using LuminArte Silks Acrylic Glaze.

This was a bit of an experiment as this product is usually added as a finishing glaze, but it had enough body that I wanted to see if it would work like a modeling paste. It did! The only drawback was it took overnight to dry.

I am so happy with the shimmer & dimension on this card! So how will you use STENCIL on a card? Check out the Design Team cards for more terrific 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: Shelly!

We are looking forward to seeing how STENCIL inspires you -  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, STAMPlorations. In addition, everyone can get a 10% discount using the code CASOLOGY!

I am linking this card to Seize the Birthday in the Anything Goes category and the Wednesday Challenge Blog at Simon Says Stamp where Simon Says Flowers this week.

Jacquie

Muse Christmas Visions #44

I wanted to pull out my PTI O'Tannenbaum stamp set as soon as I saw Chriss Blagrave's card for the Muse: ChristmasVisions Challenge 44. I loved her white embossed trees and pastel inked background and used these elements on my card.

The multi-step tree is stamped with Versamark ink on watercolor paper and heat embossed in white. Zig Real Brush markers add a touch of color behind the tree, mimicking the glow of colored Christmas lights.

A simple sentiment from Rustic Wreath is heat embossed on the Spring Moss card base.

MCV244 Chriss Blagrave

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

MIM #248 Ink Blending Through Die Cut Masks + ColourQ Challenge #341

I haven't played along with the Papertrey Ink Make it Monday technique challenge in ages but, after seeing Lizzie's tutorial for MIM #248: Ink Blending Through Die Cut Masks and the colors ColourQ Challenge #341, I decided to make an anniversary card.

     

The masks were made with the PTI Limitless Layers heart die,  PTI  Framed Out #11 and a small unlabeled heart die and inked with Orange Zest, Raspberry Fizz and Berry Sorbet inks.

Two stamps from PTI's All My Heart are paired to create the sentiment before the scatter of rainstones added. This panel is layered asymmetrically on a Berry Sorbet panel that has a scalloped edge on one side and then popped up on the kraft card base.

Tomorrow is our 21st wedding anniversary and, even though the last two weeks have been the most challenging by far, I still love the guy with all my heart. Stefan's elbow is healing but it is going to be a long, slow process and he is not a guy that does well under restrictions. He's also a DIY guy, so when his new brace was bugging him, he went into the garage and brought me a hacksaw to trim it down a couple of inches. I can't wait to hear how his doctor reacts to this adjustment.

  

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

CASology Week 197: TEAR

Welcome to Week 197 at the CASology Challenge!

When you saw the word TEAR, did you think of the noun or the verb first? Either works for this challenge, and I went with the noun and a tear shape for my card. 

A couple of tear drop shaped images from Avery Elle's Rounded Diamonds stamp set were stamped on the panel first and then the Technique Tuesday sentiment added with a trio of enamel dots to finish the card off.

Check out the Design Team cards for more terrific 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: Marilyn!

We are looking forward to seeing how TEAR inspires you -  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, Right At Home.

Jacquie

Muse #164 + The Card Concept #54

Happy Mother's Day for all the moms (and mums) out there! Somehow I started the day making breakfast for my family, but I've told them I really hope someone makes me a dinner that involves shrimp and lemon tonight. 

I couldn't resist playing along with a couple of challenges yesterday that had a common thread making it possible to combine them on one card.

Michele's card for the Muse Challenge #164 and the inspiration photo from The Card Concept #54 had me thinking about purple spring flowers. An image from PTI's Bitty Bouquet stamp set is stamped on the panel a couple of times and then several more images are stamped and die cut. The MB watering can die is cut with metallic paper, placed over the stamped flowers and then the die cut flowers were layered in place.

The Avery Elle sentiment is stamped and heat embossed on a purple banner. The banner and watering can are both popped up in the center and adhered flush to the panel at the edges.

I think, with the layering of the floral image, this card belongs in The Card Concept's Clean & Layered category.

In other news, spreadsheets & alarms are now being used to track Stefan's eye drops and assorted meds. Because his left arm is still in a splinted straight out, it is a struggle for him to administer his own eye drops. Just one of the details he didn't think through when scheduling the surgeries so close together {sigh}.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Craft Hoarders Anonymous May 2016 Blog Hop

Welcome to the 

Craft Hoarders Anonymous May 2016 Blog Hop!

You should be coming here from Teresa Horner's blog, Victorian Paper Queen. If you get lost along the way, or want to start at the beginning, head to Gloria Stengel's blog, Scraps of Life, for a full list of participants.

This month I decided to play with my stash of washi tape and ended up with a trio of cards to share. 

Pieces of five green washi tapes were collaged on a white cardstock panel and then the piece die cut with a Poppystamps Boddington Tree Border die.

A full diecut is adhered to a white panel, a second tree border die cut from New Leaf cardstock and only the outside edge adhered over the washi diecut.

The sentiment is added before the panel is popped up on the New Leaf card base.

For this second card, the tree border is cut out of a white panel which is then backed with adhesive paper. The green tree outline is inlaid first and then a second washi collage die cut laid over the opening and the little pieces pushed through onto the panel.

You can see how all the die cut pieces are flush with the panel. The same sentiment is heat embossed on the card base before the panel is added.

For the third card, a trimmed piece of the left over washi outline die cut is adhered to a watercolored panel.

Thanks for sticking with me through this post - I hope I've inspired you to use your washi hoard in a different way!

It's time to head over to Vicki Robertson's blog, He"artful" Validation of Vicki, and see what wonderful creation she has for us this month! Remember, if you get lost or want to start at the beginning, head to Gloria Stengel's blog, Scraps of Life. Make sure you stop by Debbie Seyer's A Peek Into My Stamping Room for a chance to win her project!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie