Muse #82 + Simon Says Anything Goes

I was happy to find some time this afternoon to make a card for the Muse #82 challenge, where Bobby is the Guest Designer and has given us a fun, swirly card made using embossing paste.

I have only used embossing paste on white or a light colored cardstock, so was intrigued with the idea of using it on a dark cardstock.

My plan was to make a one layer card, so I masked off a section of the card front and laid the Memory Box Wave stencil over it. Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade and Mustard Seed Distress Inks were used to color the embossing paste before it was spread over the stencil. In hindsight, I wish I had added a bit more ink for a deeper color.

The tape did not pull off cleanly when I removed the stencil, taking enough of the cardstock front with it to make the card unusable :( I have never had this problem with cardstock before, but had no choice except to come up with a quick Plan B.

An exacto knife and straight edge gave me a stenciled panel to pop up on a new black card base. This change in plan allowed me to tuck a couple of the enamel dots under the panel to finish off the card.

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

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Papertrey Ink August 2014 Blog Hop

For the Papertrey Ink August 2014 Blog Hop, Nichole Heady gave us a beautiful inspiration photo of Kate Spade stationery. I'm a huge fan of Kate Spade's clean & simple, colorful & graphic style, so am excited to play along.

How perfect is the Tickled Pink sentiment for this brightly colored card? I based my cards on a couple of other Kate Spade pieces: a black & white striped notebook and the box for her All Occasions card set.

                                          


The two were mashed together to create a couple of cards. This first one uses the smaller Building Block dies to make the stripes.

The strips are mounted onto a narrow piece of Hawaiian Shores cardstock and then mounted onto a white card base. A simple sentiment from Mega Mixed Messages is stamped with Delicata Gold ink.

This second card uses the larger building blocks and a sentiment from These United States stamp set. The stripes are popped up over the green panel with foam adhesive to add a bit of dimension.

I'm looking forward to see how everyone else was inspired by Kate Spade!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge #14 & RIC #66 + Case Study 4th Anniversary Week #3

One of the reasons we drove to Vancouver this summer was to bring back a few pieces of artwork from my parents house that was sold last winter. I've been slowing figuring out where everything is going to go and motivated to complete a couple of projects that have been swirling around in my head for a while.

When I saw Challenge #14 Button It Up at the Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge Blog, it was the final push I needed to create this monogram piece that I think will end up in the front hall.

The design is super simple, with the four initials planned on graph paper before using 3 strands of  black embroidery floss to cross stitch them onto the piece of aida cloth. Each initial is 2 x 2.5 inches. A large "s" printed on computer paper provided a guide for laying out the buttons.

I'm not a fan of "naked" buttons and planned to tie them with red jute. Most of the first layer is sewn onto the aida cloth, but I ran out of jute and ended up glueing on the rest.

I misread the dimensions of the black frame, ending up with a finished piece  3/4" shorter than the opening (11.25 x 15.25). I decided that I would pick up a black grosgrain ribbon, but in the mean time wanted to see how it looked, so added a piece of washi tape to the top and bottom. I kind of like how it - what do you think?

While I was waiting for the adhesive to dry on the button monogram piece, I made this quick one layer card inspired by a couple of challenges. The photo for the Runway Inspired Challenge #66 started me thinking of a design that flowed from the back of the card to the front, echoing the flowers on the dress. 

Then I saw Cristina Kowalczyk's card while on the Blog Hop for the CASE Study Challenge, where they are in Week 3 of their 4th Anniversary celebration, with an image flowing from the back of the card to the front :)

Starting on the top center of the open card base, the outline floral images from Painted Flowers were stamped and then colored with Copic markers. I love the loose scribbly feel of the coloring and finished the card with Label Love sentiment.

I ♥︎ the Painted Flowers stamp set.

In other news, I coached my first soccer game today. Not because I wanted to, but because the substitute coach was a no show & I was the only parent that had security clearance. Either I coached or the boys forfeited?! It might not have been pretty, but at this age (U17), the boys know what to do and won it for me.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

MIM177: Using Cover Plate Negatives + Fusion Aug 14/14 + Muse #81

Are you in the middle of the back-to-school transition? It will be another week before both of our kids are back and I can't wait to settle into a new routine of school, soccer, guitar, driver's ed and a little more regular craft time. Maybe a lot more craft time :)

Today I played around with the Make It Monday #177 from Laurie Willison to use cover plate negatives. I do hang onto the bits and pieces that fall out when I cut a cover plate and loved this challenge to do something with them.

The inked pieces from the Quatrefoil Cover Plate are lined up a little closer together than if they were just popped out of the die cut allowing four full pieces to fit in the top and bottom rows.

The color inspiration came from the Aug 14 Fusion photo and I also included the butterfly & banner sentiment elements from Marion Vagg's card for Muse #81.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

MIM176: Backgrounds with Embossing Paste

Oh dear, I think I messed up the Make It Monday Challenge #176: Backgrounds with Embossing Paste, but I'm going to post & link this card anyway :)

Check out Laura Bassen's first Papertrey Ink MIM video here and see if you can follow the instructions a bit better than I did.

I really did plan to use embossing paste, but all the jars look the same when I opened my drawer and pulled out the Glass Bead Gel medium by accident. Then I became distracted and forgot I was going to create a background and this card just happened.

One of the Mega Vase dies is cut to make a stencil and a bit of Ocean Tides and Aqua Mist inks mixed with the gel medium to create the ombre glass bead vase.

The floral image is from the Life stamp set, colored with Distress Markers and stamped before the gel medium was applied.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Muse #79 & CASE Study 4th Anniversary + CASology #107 + My Summer Vacation

Since we last spoke, the kids & I have driven over 3,000 miles up and down the I5 and, with the exception of 250 or so miles between Grapevine and Tracy CA, it is a beautiful drive.

Not much crafting was done, but I did get in a little shopping. Did you think it was just coincidence that we were in Tukwila, home of Impress Rubber Stamps, at lunch time on Day 3? While the kids ate, I tried to get through the store and made it about halfway before my daughter came in to let me know they were ready to go :)

A couple of days later we picked my husband up at the Victoria Airport and headed to a friend's cabin for a little fun. I was shocked to see Stef wakeboarding - he had a hip replacement 3 years ago and has been very careful about any impact activity since then. He laughed and said he completely "forgot" he shouldn't be doing it.

We then headed to Vancouver to see more family & friends, and made stop at Granville Island. Both Stef & I love to poke around Opus Art Supplies and I was super excited to discover that I'm Impressed has expanded to a full blown store (instead of sharing a tiny space with the Canada Post Office). I was in Memory Box die overload!

The last leg of the trip had us back in Victoria for an annual family tennis tournament (boys against the girls was the theme this year) before dropping Stef at the airport and hitting the road to head home. Washington friends had our attention heading north, so we stopped for visits & adventures in Oregon on the way south.

We arrived home just in time for my son's school registration and are now enjoying the last few days of summer break. After 8 years, I still have trouble with the idea of school starting before Labor Day.

I'm finally catching up on blogs & challenges and spent a little time in the office today, so do have a couple of cards to share. This first one is inspired by Laura Bassen's card on the CASE Study 4th Anniversary Blog Hop. I ♥︎ Laura's rainbow of color and CAS design.

The SSS Hello mask was taped down and Distress Inks carefully blended over it to make the rainbow stripes.

This loosely striped rainbow card is also being entered in the CASology Week 107 challenge: Stripe.

Vicki Dutcher's card caught my eye at the Muse Challenge #79 with the dots of color and clean outline stamped images.

I blotted alcohol inks onto white cardstock and die cut the flower and leaves to embellish a tag before mounting it on a white card base.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie