CASual Friday #113

I'm popping in with a super quick post - we are heading out the door to the San Diego State game in a few minutes. I made this card for CFC112, but missed the deadline. I had a smile on my face when I checked the current challenge to find this:

CFC113:  Inspired by one of my favorite Beastie Boys songs, I thought it would be fun to see your CAS creations that combine Kraft and Text.

You have one week to play, challenge closes at noon eastern on September 5th.

My 14 year old son has discovered the Beastie Boys so the challenge made me chuckle even more.

The color variation in the Versamarked & heat embossed background is from the way the light is hitting in the photo.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Tuesday Trigger: Honoring Ombre + Avery Elle August Challenge + Simon Says

When Cath at Moxie Fab World posted the Tuesday Trigger : Honoring Ombre yesterday, it gave me the final push to make this card for the Avery Elle August Sketch Challenge.

This is my first time entering the Avery Elle challenge, but I have their delightful Bonjour stamp set and really wanted to play with it. 

I took a little poetic license with the sketch, changing the orientation and pulling the long vertical panel in front of the square panel. 

The inside lines of the macaroon outline stamp are masked to create the perfect frame for the sentiment. The crepe paper adds texture and mimics the idea of a box of macaroons being packaged at the local patisserie.

I used three Memento inks to create the ombre effect: Angel Pink, Lulu Lavender and Rose Bud. I played around a little bit with scrap paper and combining layers of ink until I had the color profiles I wanted before creating my masked tower. 

The centers of the macaroons were filled with an Ice White Viva Pearl Pen - they are more white in real life, but coming across as a bit silver in the photos.

I'm editing this post because Simon Says . . .  Anything Goes at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog this week, so I am linking this card to their challenge as well.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Thank You + CASE Study #154 Take Two + CAS(E) This Sketch! #42

Before I get to the cards for today, I just want to say a huge "thank you" for all the kind & supportive comments on yesterday's post here and over at Moxie Fab World - I get so much inspiration (and more than the occasional laugh) from all of you. Paper craft bloggers are simply the best!

I wanted to play around a little more with inlay die cuts, so have another card inspired by the August muse at CASE Study Challenge, Jennifer McGuire. You can check out the inspiration card and join in on the challenge here.

First I made a panel from 1/4" cardstock strips and die cut a fishtail flag from the lower right side. I then die cut the word "hello" out of the flag.

I repeated the same steps with a panel of Smoky Shadow cardstock.

The dark flag is inlaid into the negative space of the striped panel and then the striped word into the flag.

A second card was created with the leftover pieces. I did have the sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch #42 in mind as I created this card - you can find details of their challenge here.

I like that I end up with a flat, easy to mail card. Even though it is flat, there is a neat texture where the pieces are inlaid.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Moxie Fabber of the Week + Color Throwdown #256

Yes, you read that right - eek, I am the Moxie Fabber of the Week. This is a real thrill for me because the Tuesday Trigger is one of my favorite challenges and I have found so many terrific blogs and paper crafters through Cath at Moxie Fab World. You can check out my Moxie Fabber of the Week post here. If you have come here because of Cath's post "thank you" -  I hope you take a look around and let me know you stopped by!


This card is a "thank you" to you Cath and my entry for the Color Throwdown #256.

I paired Avery Elle's Rounded Diamonds with a My Favorite Things Let's Toast sentiment that I masked and stacked.

A Sizzix woodgrain embossing panel adds texture to the base.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Papertrey Ink August Blog Hop - Take Two

It is the lovely color combination that drew me back to creating another card for the Papertrey Ink August Blog Hop. All the details are here at Capture the Moment.

I created this quick & fun birthday card.

I initially die cut the colored strips from the wide chevron border die but didn't like the look, so I taped the smaller die to those pieces and recut them. I noticed that if I centered the smaller die perfectly, I ended up with two extra, even narrower chevron strips as well as the one I was die cutting. 

I used my little discovery to cut the white spacer chevrons for my panel and adhered them with foam adhesive to the embossed base panel. Love when I can stretch my tools a bit!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Papertrey Ink August 2013 Blog Hop

With the Papertrey Ink August Blog Hop falling the day after Stamp-a-faire Nichole Heady has given everyone a bit of a break offering a Fast Food Color & Sketch Inspiration Challenge. You can check out the details at Capture the Moment and have until the end of the day to join in the fun.

This is color combination really caught my eye & I thought it would work perfectly with the Birds & Blooms stamp set.

I did alter the sketch slightly because I loved the way this Think Big Favorites #3 sentiment looked in the wreath.

I am off to check out what everyone else has done and might be back with another card later.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Tuesday Trigger: Now That's My Cup of Tea! + CASE Study #154 + Ink Inventory

I was a little stuck when I saw the current Tuesday Trigger: Now That's My Cup of Tea! at Moxie Fab World. The imagine is crisp & clean and pretty, but I have a very small collection of flower stamps and none seem to feel right for this challenge, so had to put on my thinking cap for a day or two. While I thought, I decided to tackle an organizing chore I have wanted to hit for a loooong time. If you want to read/see what I did, stick around after the card details.

This card idea came to me at about 4:30 this morning (minor hijack: back to school has done a real number on my sleep this year. I am so paranoid about sleeping in that I am waking super, super early) after checking out the CASE Study Challenge #154. Jennifer McGuire is the muse and her CASE of her card includes a die cut in lay technique. Head over to the challenge blog and you will see what I mean.

My card combines the overlapping die cut and die cut in lay techniques.

I started with the smallest flower, nestling the patterned paper die cut into a space die cut out of the white cardstock. I then die cut the larger flower, overlapping and cutting off part of the smaller flower.

The flowers were easy, but the red flourish proved a bit of a challenge as there were many little pieces I had to keep track of and place back into the panel.

A large oval die gave the nice, curved shape to the white panel and it is adhered to a shimmer cardstock base to echo the saucer in the Trigger image. A few more die cuts are clustered around the sentiment.


Ink Color Charts 

Like many (most?) stampers, I have a variety of inks from various companies. Years ago I printed an Distress Ink Chart from Ranger (you can find it here) and have used it regularly to choose ink colors. For some reason, I have never done this for my other inks, so found myself continuously testing colors to find the right shade.

My Distress Ink Chart was a little worse for wear, and a few inks not listed have been added, so I decided to print out a new chart.

Who would have thought I only have half of the available colors (hahaha)? Then I started wondering if other manufactures offered a similar chart for their inks.

After a little searching I found a Memento chart at Ellen Hutson.

Nina Yang at Waffleflower also has a Memento Chart plus a few more: VersaMagic, Brilliance, Fresh Ink and a wonderful generic chart that I used for some Papertrey Ink and My Favorite Things.

My Distress Inks are the only ones stored separately, along with sponges for blending and a few Distress Embossing powder. I love how these inks stack so nicely!

Most of the other inks share a couple of drawers and are divided by color. This is the drawer of colors, the other one is neutrals. Oh dear, I think I can stop buying blues for a while.

After finding a few duplicates in my Memento collection, I took photos of the color charts so that I have them on my phone and easily accessible when I am out shopping.

My next goal is to index my stamp collection - I didn't even know I had the cute little triangle that I used on these charts until a week or so ago. It is one of those little extra stamps that I often forget about - this one is from Paper Smooches. Any tips or suggestions are appreciated!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

CASE Study #153 + CAS(E) this Sketch #41

When I saw muse Jennifer McGuire's card for this week I knew I had to find time to really play with my Wplus9 Fresh Cut Florals stamp set.

I started playing, then played some more, then looked up and saw the deadline to submit a card was in a couple of hours! Where did the last few days go?!

In the end, I paired my florals with the MFT Winter Wreath on a doily base. A PTI tag & stamp finish this one off.

This next card is for the CAS(E) this Sketch! #41. I channeled Design Team member Donna Mikasa, who often pairs kraft with bright colored cardstock (although she didn't on her sweet card for the current challenge).

I made a gatefold card with the leaf border (Simon Says Stamp Berkshire Leaf border) and sentiment flag (My Favorite Things LLD Accent It) linking to close.

I really love how this turned out and think the sentiment is a fun twist for a birthday card (although it could be used for a few other events too).

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Color Throwdown #255 + Curtain Call: Carnival Craze

When I saw the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge: Carnival Craze photos my eye was immediately drawn to the penny farthing image. I picked up the Memory Box Vintage Bicycle die a while back at a local store. It is one of those purchases that I hesitated about, but then decided I didn't want to regret not having it at some point down the road :)

The colors were similar enough to those in the Color Throwdown #255,  I decided to combine the challenges and created this birthday card.

As you can see, I pulled together a number of elements from the Curtain Call: the multiple fonts and print size from the poster, the tickets and the bicycle.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Tuesday Trigger: I'm Craving Navy + Monday Mood Board #19

One thing I absolutely love about the Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab World is Cath really does a great job of mixing it up with the images. Last week the Trigger image was pastel collage, this week we have  a classic navy & white image for the Tuesday Trigger: I'm Craving Navy. Now, after wearing a navy & white uniform while working summers for our local ferry system during my university years, navy & white will always mean "nautical" to me.

I don't have a great nautical set, but am really craving the new Dockside sets of stamps and dies from Wplus9, so can't resist combining the Tuesday Trigger with the Monday Mood Board #19.

The navy & white, plus a little gold and a lot of stripes were pulled together to create this card.

I inked, heat embossed and die cut the sentiment from Wplus9's Written on Ribbon stamp set. The white panel was embossed with a Sizzix striped embossing folder and then, realizing there isn't much nautical in my card afterall,  a "porthole" was cut to provide a resting spot for the sentiment.

I used the same striped embossing folder on the front of the card base and lined up the panel so that the stripes alternated - a raised white stripe was lined up with an inset navy stripe. I love the look, but it was really tough to photograph.

A little ink was added along the side edges of the white panel and the "porthole" and heat embossed too.

The card seemed to need a little something more, so I dug around the ribbon basket and was thrilled to find this sheer shimmery piece. A few sequins were the finishing touch.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Make It Monday #129: White Crayon Resist + Muse #30

I have been playing with watercolors off and on over the last couple of days. There are a few panels filling up the recycling bin, but at last I have something I can share.

The first card is for PTI's Make It Monday #129: White Crayon Resist challenge. Fortunately there was a white crayon in the few that have survived purges of the kids' art supplies over that last few years, so I played around with a couple of different stamps until I settled on the Mehndi Medallion for this card.

Because of the details on this stamp, I added the ink with a watercolor brush in the center of the image and then used a blending tool on the outer edges.

This second card is inspired this card by Therese Calvird, the Muse this week at the Muse Card Challenge. Therese's card is simply a fabulous example of creating a mood through inking, water splatter and negative silhouette die cutting.

I wanted to echo the feel of her card, but decided to watercolor my panel instead of inking it, although I did ink the edges of the entire panel once it was dry.

I die cut the Memory Box branch four times: twice on the inked panel and twice from a piece of Smokey Shadow cardstock.

The first die cut out of the panel is on the left side of the card - this was left as a negative space with the Smokey Shadow card base showing through the cut. The second die cut out of the inked panel is just under the sentiment. I filled this space with one of the Smokey Shadow die cuts. The other Smokey Shadow die cut is adhered on the left side, partly overlapping the negative space.

The birds are adhered and the Taylored Expressions sentiment finishes everything off.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

CASE Study #152 Take Two: Chevron Rainbow

I thought I was going to have a leisurely evening of crafting and then my dear husband called and suggested a BBQ at the beach. I am embarrassed to admit, last weekend when I went to pick up my daughter was my first time to "our" beach this summer. With school starting next week, I couldn't say no. A couple of cards are half done, but this one is finished and needs to get posted if I am going to make the CASE Study #152 deadline.

The challenge was to study this card from Jennifer McGuire.

Once again, I used scraps of cardstock to create a rainbow, this time using a chevron border die.

The colors are a bit off in this photo - the pinks & oranges are not that neon in real life.

The chevrons are adhered to the pinked edge of the kraft circle first and then the gangly, octopus like piece was adhered to the corner of the card base. The last step was to trim everything hanging over the edge of the card.

I masked the stamp to just use the "yay!" sentiment and left the inside of the card unfinished for now. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie