Case Study Design Team Call Challenge

I have one final card to enter in the CASE Study Design Team Call Challenge. There is still a little time to enter the challenge, but you will have to be quick!

The CASE Study Challenge is one of my favorites. Iwona Palamountain picks a papercrafting Muse for the month and every week we are given a new card (or gift bag, tag, etc.)  to CASE. Often the Muse is someone I "know" and admire, but I have also been introduced to "new to me" fabulous card makers through this blog and challenged to work outside of my comfort zone many times.

I greatly admire cardmakers who can stamp a panel to look like patterned paper. Kara Vrabel of K and R Designs is one of those designers and my Muse for this Design Team challenge entry. Here is one of her stunning cards, where stamps from a couple of different sets were used to make a beautiful design.

It is no surprise that Kara is now on the Wplus9 Design Team given the way she showcases their stamps. For my card, I paired a stamp from Wplus9's Dockside Backgrounds with a couple of stamps from Fresh Cut Florals to make a pattern.

I couldn't resist the bright pink card base given this is heading to a friend fighting breast cancer. A double layer or yellow seam binding ribbon and sentiment tag finish off this card.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

RIC#58 + CTS#73 Take Two & CASE Study #188 + CASE Study Design Team Challenge.

I finally have a few minutes to write a blog post and share a couple of cards - life has been a bit hectic lately!

This first card is for the combined Runway Inspired Challenge #58 and CAS(E) this Sketch! #73. This was the first card I started, but I hit a roadblock on the flowers so made the card I linked a few days ago and then came back to this one.

I was inspired by the artistic style of Joni Andaya - creator of this sketch and Design Team member for both of these challenges - for this card. Joni was the CASE Study Muse for March 2014, but I've been an admirer of hers for a long time, especially when she uses watercolor techniques. 

 

This card is just one example of her gorgeous, free formed flowers and influenced the ones I made. I am linking my card to the CASE Study Design Team Call and Challenge. There is still time for you to make a card based on your papercrafting Muse and link to the Design Team Challenge,

Before watercoloring the flowers, the half circle panel was created by die cutting a black panel stamped with a Basic Grey/ Hero Arts background stamp. Once this was attached to the small white panel, I figured out where I wanted to paint the two smaller flowers.

The larger flower and leaves are painted on scraps of watercolor paper and fussy cut, while the smaller flowers are painted directly onto the white panel. This definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone and I made a few practise flowers before committing to one on the panel. The small scripty font on this Wplus9 sentiment stamp is perfect to finish off the card.

This second card is being linked to the current CASE Study Challenge #188 where it is the last week with Jaclyn Miller as the Muse.

The placement of the six tiny tags cut from a number of patterned paper scraps and banner sentiment come directly from the inspiration card. 

The striped background became an embossed woodgrain panel.

I'm adding to my stash of "thinking of you" cards after an old, dear friend was diagnosed with breast cancer last week. The only good thing about the timing is that instead of the usual 1600 miles that separate us, last weekend she was 100 miles away and we were able to spend a day together.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Papertrey Ink April 2014 Blog Hop Take Two

I'm popping in with a second PTI April Blog Hop card because a lovely little package arrived in the mail this afternoon and I couldn't resist playing with my new Bitty Button dies. The details are here at Capture the Moment if you want to check out some fabulous cards made based on the Embroidery Inspiration Challenge.

 I learned crewel embroidery when I was around 10 or 11 and using felt on this card gives a similar look to the thicker embroidery style. Even on felt, the details of the buttons comes through. The sentiment is from Birds & Blooms.

I'm not sure this second card counts as "embroidery inspired", but I couldn't resist playing a little more with these terrific button shapes. All of the buttons are sewn on the panel with twine and my sentiment is created by pairing a "thank" with my new Wet Paint II "you".

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Papertrey Ink April 2014 Blog Hop

I can't believe we are at the nearing the end of April already and it is time for another Papertrey Blog Hop! I played around with a few different ideas for the challenge to be inspired by embroidery - all the details are here at Capture the Moment. I know Nichole intended us to be inspired by an embroidered pattern and translate it to a stamped pattern, but I kept going back to the idea on embroidering on a stamped image.

I have always wanted to add French Knots to this floral image from the Life stamp set, so that is what I did.

I stamped the image with Simply Chartreuse ink and then used purple floss to add French Knots. Some knots were tied with all 6 threads of the floss and some tied with just 3 threads to add a bit of variety.

I cut the embroidered panel with a Tipped Top die and then added the sentiment from Birthday Bash Sentiments. My French Knots were flattened going through the Big Kick and had to be fluffed a bit.

Both white panels are popped up with foam adhesive and adhered to a Royal Velvet card base.

This card is also being linked to the Seize the Birthday Anything Goes Challenge.

I'm off to hop around and see all your beautiful cards!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

RIC#58 + CTS#73 + CASology:Garden

I often combine challenges, especially photo inspirations with a sketch, so how nice is it that the Runway Inspired Challenge #58 and CAS(E) this Sketch! #73 paired up for a two week challenge!

My first idea is still sitting on my desk, half finished because the Avery Elle All Squared Up stamp set distracted me and I paired it with an MFT flower die to make this QACAS card.

A stencil and ink add a touch of blue onto the card base before attaching the sentiment panel and flower. It is hard to see here, but the flower is made up of red and terracotta layers to try mimic the color variation in the RIC outfit.

I'm also linking this to CASology Week 92: Garden. One flower doesn't make a garden, but it had to come from a garden (right?).

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

CASE Study Design Team Call Challenge + MFW Hip on Handwriting Challenge

The CASE Study Challenge Blog is one of my favorites in the card making world. With a new Muse every month and a new card to CASE every week, I try to play along regularly. Chupa is adding to the Design Team and I've decided to throw my hat in the ring!

The Design Team Call Challenge is to pick someone I look up to in the crafting world, share the inspiration piece and my take on it. I was a Donna Mikasa fan before she was honored as the CASE Study January 2014 Muse and she continues to produce beautiful cards I want to CASE.

Stencils are very big in the crafting world right now and Donna found a new way to use hers with an inked panel and water stencil stamping. It is no surprise that the card was a winner in the Moxie Fab World Styling with Stencils challenge and Donna provided a photo tutorial on this post to demonstrate the technique.

I made a couple of cards using this technique. This first one uses three Distress Inks (Picked Raspberry, Mustard Seed and Peacock Feather) to create the rainbow panel. Because the pieces of this Kite stencil are so thin, I held it under the tap for a moment before placing it on the inked panel. A paper towel was laid over the stencil and then the whole thing was brayered to ensure even pressure and transfer of the image.

Once the panel was dry, I used several My Favorite Things stamps to create the sentiment with Versafine Onyx ink. Clear Wink of Stella adds a touch of glitter to the words.

I've really been drawn to cool blues & greens lately, so used those colors on this second card. The "happy" from Papertrey Ink's Wet Paint stamp set was clear embossed on the panel before inking it with Tumbled Glass, Mowed Lawn and Peacock Feather distress inks. 

A wet Artist Cellar Ripples stencil is pressed onto the panel to remove some of the ink and transfer the stencil image. Once the panel was dry, the clear embossing is ironed off and the "birthday" sentiment stamped to overlap the "happy".

The panel edges are curved to mimic the movement of the stenciled ripples and the sentiment panel popped up with foam adhesive.

My Monet loving heart is very happy with the Impressionist feel of this card!

This second card is being linked to the Moxie Fab World Hip on Handwriting Challenge.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Card Concept #8: Umbrella + Paper Smooches Sparks Apr 20-26 Anything Goes

After seeing The Card Concept Challenge #8 Use an Umbrella, my thoughts were more beach than rain and I decided to create a little watercolored scene.

The MFT umbrella die came in very handy to make a mask while I colored the sand and sea/sky background. Once that was dry, the umbrella panels die allowed me to create a combination mask and stencil to keep the panel colors from running into each other.

A sentiment from Paper Smooches Get Out Of Town stamp set provides the perfect finish. I hope this design fits the Clean and Simple category.

This card is being linked to the Paper Smooches Sparks Anything Goes challenge.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

CASE Study #187 + Curtain Call: Confetti Crush + Craft Hoarders Anonymous #5 + Simon Says

Even though Easter is relatively late, it has kind of snuck up on me. With my husband's Greek heritage, we celebrate the Eastern Orthodox Easter and can have a gap from 1 to 5 weeks between our Easter and the date celebrated by Western Christian churches. Every few years, the calendars line up and this year we are all observing Easter on the same weekend. After roasting a whole lamb and having a big Greek style party last year, things will be a little quieter this year.

Writing that paragraph reminded me of a couple of things I still needed to do, so I interrupted this blog post to put on eggs to boil. It isn't Greek Easter without red eggs to crack!

Instead of making cards for my kids, after seeing Jaclyn Miller's Valentine tags for CASE Study #187, I decided to make a couple of gift tags for their baskets.

How clever to make the little gift bags from wax paper! These gift bags inspired my tags, where a transparent front panel allowed the Tim Holtz mini-blueprint stamps to shine through.

This scalloped tag die from PTI comes in two sizes, so I cut the smaller tag from a transparency and sewed it on the larger stamped tag (yes, you read that correctly - I SEWED on a papercrafting project).

The top tag is lined up so there is a little bubble of air to allow the sequins to move freely.

For the bunny tag, a transparent panel is cut slightly larger than the stamped panel and carefully sewn on the tag. I also cut a second tag to back the tag and hide my threads. This also gives me a nice spot to write a greeting.

Just one more photo to capture the Wink of Stella on the bunny. When out with my daughter last weekend she was horrified to see the mall Easter bunny was brown and adamantly told me Easter bunnies should only be white.

These tags are being linked to a few more challenges:

Curtain Call: Confetti Crush because of the sequin/confetti filled tags.

Simon Says Animal Antics because of the bunny.

Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge #5 to Pick a Stamp, Any Stamp!

I have desserts to bake, baskets to finish off and eggs to dye and I'm envious of our Canadian family and friends enjoying an extra long weekend!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Make It Monday #160: Heat Embossing Tips for Die Cuts and Two Step Stamps & Seize the Birthday

Erin Lincoln has a great tutorial at Capture the Moment for Make It Monday #160: Heat Embossing Tips for Die Cuts and Two Step Stamps that you can check out here.

I used Erin's tips to make this masculine birthday card. The blue stamped images are heat embossed and then the second image is stamped over that with Simply Chartreuse ink.

The images come from Big Ticket Basics Stamps, Birthday Bash Sentiments and Sketched Shapes.

I am also linking this card to the Anything Goes option at Seize the Birthday.

Time is rapidly running out for me to get a final few Easter cards done, so it's back into the office for me.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Muse #63

It's been a busy week around here and when I finally had a little time to spend in the office today, this is what was sitting on my desk.

Number one, I never leave my tape runner sitting on my desk and and, number two, I've never seen the tape this twist & mangled?! Hmm, dear son was working on a presentation board last weekend - we will be having a little chat later (for the record, he is allowed to help himself to my tools).

While I rewound the tape and cleaned my desk a bit I thought about the elements I could take from Therese Calvird's wonderful stenciled card for the Muse Challenge #63.

At first I planned to play with stencils, but then saw the white butterfly die cut panel leftover from my cardmaking on Sunday morning (you can see it in the first photo). A number of Distress Inks are sponged over this panel (Spun Sugar, Spiced Marmalade, Squeezed Lemonade, Picked Raspberry and Mustard Seed) and then it is adhered to a bright pink panel, allowing the color to peek through the butterfly wings.

I moved the sentiment to the top of the panel, still taking inspiration from Therese's card with the use of black & white and adding the pop of color with the pink banner.

This second photo captures the color a little better than the first.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

The Card Concept #7 & Muse #62

I have a couple of cards that I am squeaking in close to the challenge deadlines.

Yesterday was a fantastic day where I left the house before 9 and returned way past my bedtime. Most of the day was spent on a craft/art store crawl through San Diego County with a 2 hour stop for the Queen's Tea at Tea-Upon-Chatsworth. I used to refer to these as "field trips", but one of the employees at the Artist & Craftsman Supply store was intrigued by the 8 ladies that swarmed the business and compared what we were doing to "like a pub crawl, only art stores - cool".

This first card uses two of my purchases from yesterday: the Memory Box Peaceful Butterfly Wings dies and a sentiment from Mama Elephant's True Friend stamp set. I cut the die from a black panel and light green panel and layered them on a aqua panel.

A few aqua & green butterflies were layered on top of the black panel.

You can see the layers a little better here. This card is being entered in the Card Concept Challenge #7 Butterfly Theme under the Clean & Layering category.

This second card is my take on Vicki Dutcher's card for the Muse Challenge #62.

I love the watercolor look stamping with the sentiment layered over it, but didn't quite pull that off. The rose stamp is from Wplus9 Hope Seed Co. set that I picked up yesterday (on clearance!). I didn't have an outline flower image in my stamp collection, so was happy to see four in this set.

 I masked and clear embossed the single rose image three times and then filled in the flowers & leaves with distress inks.

I used a Technique Tuesday stamp and my new Memento Luxe Love Letter ink - the color is luscious! I went back & painted a bit on my flowers to tie the colors together.

A sheer red ribbon finishes this one off.

I'm hitting "publish" and heading off to shop for a Prom dress for dear daughter - wish us luck!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

MIM#159: No Sew Quilted Cards + CTS#72 + CSC186

I managed to make it through the winter without getting sick once only to be hit with an out of the blue, I don't know anyone else that is sick, where did this come from head cold this week. The last couple of days I've survived on hot honey & lemon drinks and a few assorted sinus cold cures.

While definitely not 100%, I woke up breathing through my nose this morning and have my ability to concentrate on a task for more than a minute back.

I had watched the Make It Monday #159: No-Sew Quilted Cards earlier in the week and then saw the Case this Sketch #72 and Case Study Challenge #186 this morning and knew I had to make a card.

I think you can see, I took the CTS#72 literally for my card design and used the color scheme from CSC#186 to pick out the patterned papers for my quilted panel.

One inch squares of paper were adhered to a white panel and then embossed with a Lifestyle Crafts Embossing Folder to make the quilt.

The Wet Paint sentiment is stamped with Terracotta Tile ink.

Now that I can concentrate a bit, I'm supposed to be shopping for a new dishwasher. I don't know about you, but I hate spending money on appliances. Unfortunately, we've reached the point where 50% of what is "cleaned" needs to be handwashed before using, so the time has come for a replacement. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie