NAUGHTY KITTY!

Today's card is an homage to one of our favorite past kitties, William of Orange. That cat had so much personality that it could hardly be contained within his small body. He was such a naughty kitty, into everything. I immediately thought of him when I saw the current Color Throwdown #644 with all of the wonderful cats! I selected this slimline format for the Freshly Made Sketches #487 Challenge.

I used an old cat image from Inkadinkado, stamping him with Hero Arts Shadow Ink "Butter Bar" and adding whiskers and features with a fine Sharpie pen. Then I masked him off and printed all of the blobs and squiggly stuff with Memento "Gray Flannel" and added the yellow splatters from a Tim Holtz Halloween set and some paw prints from the Inkadinkado cats set. Finally, I used black embossing powder on the sentiment from Lawn Fawn's "Scriptly Sentiments". I mounted the white base with yellow and black mats onto a folded gray card, after which I added some more blobs to the right side of the card. I had this yellowish #10 envelope in my stash and I stamped another kitty image and sentiment from Photo Play #S152150 "Made By Me".

Color Throwdown: Color Throwdown #644

Freshly Made Sketches: Freshly Made Sketches #487 - A Sketch by Jen T

HELLO SWEET FRIEND

I was inspired to create a card this morning for the latest Just Us Girls #585 - Photo Week. I searched through my stamp stash to find a Mason jar type arrangement and found this one from Impression Obsession ("Shades of Autumn" CL693). It's meant to be a vase of sunflowers but I decided they could stand in for daisies in a pinch. I stamped it with Memento "Tuxedo Black" dye ink, colored it with  markers and Prisma Color pencils, and fussy cut it out. I added a kraft paper collar on the vase and wrapped twine around it.

I die-cut a white cardstock with a stitched rectangle to provide a background for the vase. I stamped "sweet friend" (HA+Gina K PR401), which I cut away from the "hello") and embossed it in white on a kraft strip. Then I ran the strip through my Big Shot with a PTI texture plate to make it look like burlap. I mounted that on both the card base and the smaller rectangular die and stamped "hello" in black and added a strip of white lace paper to suggest a lace tablecloth. The fussy-cut vase was mounted with dimensional foam and three little tan pearls completed the card. Here's a closer look:

"Just Us Girls" Challenge: Just Us Girls #585 - Photo Week (justusgirlschallenge.blogspot.com)

ADDICTED TO CAS - OMBRE

Back in my craft room again today after a week hiatus to take care of a lot of personal stuff. Barb is the current hostess for #198 "Ombre" - a technique I haven't used much. I approached it by blending two tones of green from dark to light (PTI "Pinefeather and "New Leaf" dye inks) onto a scrap of white card stock and die-cutting a single branch image from it (Penny Black "Airy" #51-423).

I die cut a 3-1/4" x 4" rectangle of white card stock with a stitched circle die opening. Using a small scrap of printed blue paper I stamped the sentiment from HA+Gina K "PR101" with the Pinefeather ink. I slipped the sentiment piece behind the circle cut-out and mounted it all on the folded card with dimensional foam. I then attached the branch and added a couple of white sequins and tiny clear gems. Very simple. Here's a closer look:

That's it from me for the day - now it's your turn! Just remember to keep it CAS and be sure to check out what the other design team members have done as they translate Barb's idea.

 

Addicted to CAS: Challenge #198

    

IN MEMORIUM

Sara the Wonderlab was put to sleep today, leaving a huge hole in our hearts. This is one of my favorite photos of her because she's looking so majestic.

Sara Wing

January 9, 2007 - May 13, 2021

She passed very peacefully, having fallen asleep across Hal's lap after a particularly hard morning. This is how I want to remember her.

LAYERS

The current "Just Us Girls" Challenge - #583 Layers was a perfect opportunity to use up some bits and pieces that have been languishing in my stash. It's a beautiful morning and I'm automatically drawn to sunny yellow.

I started with a white card base that had already been blind-embossed with a plate image. The white die-cut Sizzix Tim Holtz flower silhouettes on the right are strategically covering up a pink ink finger print. When I began working with this I had thought to make an all-white layered card to use up a bunch of white flowers, but then the morning sun got the best of me! I stamped the birthday sentiment from PTI's "Stylish Sentiments - Birthday" clear stamp collection with their "Summer Sunrise" dye ink. I mounted it on a yellow-gold mat and a white top-folded card and added the flower dies, die-cut butterfly, and a couple of yellow-gold gems. That's about as many layers as I could manage on one card base! 

"Just Us Girls" Challenge: Just Us Girls #583 Trend Week (justusgirlschallenge.blogspot.com)

BUGS!

It's no secret that I have a particular fondness for bugs - always have had. So when it was my turn to be the Addicted to CAS Challenge #197 host this week, I couldn't resist sharing my fascination with all of you! I'm really looking forward to seeing what you guys, with all of your creativity, come up with. Just remember to have fun and keep it CAS!

A couple of months ago I got this rubber stamp set from Katzelkraft (#KT234 "Les Nounounes") with the most wonderfully whimsical creatures and I've been playing around with them. I used the praying mantis on my Valentines cards and couldn't really decide which one(s) I wanted to use for our ATCAS Challenge, so I made two. This is the one I decided on:

I started by stamping both bug images with black ink on white card stock and coloring them with my COPID markers. Then to ground the images I made a stencil with a PTI heart die, masked off the bugs, and blended some pink ink into the heart stencil. The image was finished off with little hearts and the "Bugs & Kisses" sentiment. I punched double slots  on the heart and wove a rose-colored paper strip that I had heat embossed "Sending You" onto. The white cardstock was mounted to a printed cardstock mat and both layers were mounted to a white side-folding card base. The rose strip wraps around to the inside of the card.

While I was playing with these little guys, I also made this card:

 Again, I stamped this little lady in black on a white die-cut rectangle and colored her with my COPID markers. It's not really very noticeable, but I added sun glasses from a Lawn Fawn stamp set ("Simply Celebrate Summer"). I masked her off and stamped the greeting (Lawn Fawn "Scriptly Sayings") and the pink background (Stampers Anonymous "Haunted House" # CMS308 by Tim Holtz) and then over-stamped the small sentiment (Hero Arts #CM351). Before mounting this to a white top-folding card base, I extended the greeting onto the card base and added the printed stripe strip from my stash. I liked these stripes because they already had dark pink stipples. I finished the card with three tiny teal gems. I know exactly who's going to receive this card!

Well, now it's your turn! 

Be sure to visit our other designers' blogs to let them know how much you love their creations.

  

CAS CAT

And a happy good morning to all!

Hal's aunt will be having her birthday next week and she's a cat lover so this one is for her. I decided to take inspiration from both Seize the Birthday #213 - "Furry Friends" and Freshly Made Sketches 484.

This very elegant cat is from an old Inkadinkado stamp set. I stamped her with Memento "Tuxedo Black" dye ink and masked off her body to stamp the square of dots with PTI "New Leaf" and Tim Holtz stencil with PTI "Hawaiian Shores". I used a coordinating turquoise mat and mounted both to a top-folding white card base. The sentiment is heat embossed in white, tied with turquoise and white bakers twine, and mounted to the face with dimensional foam. Tiny green gems were added to her eyes. That's it - very CAS. 

Freshly Made Sketches: Freshly Made Sketches #484 - A Sketch by Amy 

Seize the Birthday: Seize the Birthday #213- Furry Friends

GIRAFFE/TAG FUSION

Happy Cinco de Mayo, everyone! A good day to share a pitcher of margaritas on the patio with friends - surely it's 5:00 somewhere in the world!  

This morning's share is a card for the current Fusion - Mother's Day Challenge. I didn't think I could do a fusion of both a tag and a baby giraffe, but I remembered this PTI stamp set and matching dies - "Sweet Baby" - that I've had for quite a few years. 

I chose to use the tag die in reverse so that the little baby giraffe could insert his head for a "peek-a-boo". It was all very simple. I die-cut the tag (Stampin' Up "Framelits - Chalk Talk") from white cardstock, mounted it to a PTI tiny kraft print plaid with some dimensional foam and attached all of that to a folded card base. The little giraffe was die cut and stamped with Altenew "Rocky Shore" dye ink and tucked behind the opening. The tiny sentiment (Hero Arts CF351) was also stamped with Rocky Shore and the larger sentiment was heat embossed in white on kraft card stock, cut out and attached to some alphabet printed paper, tied with brown and white baker's twine, and mounted to the face of the card. The coordinating envelope is also one of PTI's printed papers.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day - it's lovely here today in southern Oregon, with an expected high of 90 degrees. The morning glories that my granddaughter and I planted a couple of weeks ago are starting to poke their heads out of the ground and it's amazing how quickly they grow once the ground warms up! Now to find my margarita pitcher and lost shaker of salt (sorry, couldn't resist).

Fusion Card Challenge: FUSION - Mother's Day

 

Added May 14, 2021:

  

MOTHER'S DAY CARD

Hello, all

It's been more than a week since I visited here last. I took a bit of a break while I had my final cataract surgery check-up, ordered new glasses, started back into a regular fitness program, and continued the struggles with our beloved Sara. 

I don't recall if I mentioned that Sara turned 14 in January. We've had her for 13 years and she has been the world's best doggie companion. Her hips are bad and some days it's really difficult for her to keep her back feet under her. We continue to walk her daily but it's harder and harder for her to make it around the block. A couple of months ago she started exhibiting signs of dementia and it's full-on now. She wanders around the house bumping into everything and falling. I spend a good part of my day tending to her needs - picking her up when she falls and making sure she gets outside to take care of all of her elimination. She still eats well. Did I say how expensive this is, with the vet bills and special food and medications? YIKES! While we're very cognizant of the inevitability of the outcome, she is still a very loved and important part of our family.

Having said all of that, I do have a card to share today that I made for my daughter-in-law for Mother's Day. I never miss the opportunity to tell her what a great mother she's been to our grandchildren! This is a small card - only 4 1/4" x 4 1/4". Because of the odd size I also had to fabricate a matching envelope. For inspiration I looked to two challenges: Freshly Made Sketches #483 and Color Throwdown #640.   

I'm not sure why these photos are making the pinks look more peach, because they are definitely pink. I stamped the Impression Obsession D20737 wreath on two pieces of cardstock, pink and white, with Altenew "Espresso" dye ink and colored the leaves with a green felt-tip pen. Then I overprinted the background dots from Stampers Anonymous "Haunted House" DMS308 set with PTI's "New Leaf" dye ink and die-cut a circle from the white top layer. I trimmed down all four sides of the white top layer and mounted it with dimensional foam to the top-folded card layer. I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment onto a strip of brown paper by combining words from a couple of different old stamp sets in my stash. I also heat embossed a portion of the wreath where the brown strip overlapped the pink layer. Finally I die cut flowers from darker pink and coral papers using MTF's "Birds of a Feather" die set. The green stem is cut from Penny Black's "Airy" 51-423 die and then clipped to size.

  

Color Throwdown: Color Throwdown Countdown #640

https://freshlymadesketches.blogspot.com/2021/04/freshly-made-sketches-483-sketch-by.html

STARS & STRIPES

It probably seems silly to be thinking about my 4th of July cards already, but when I saw Karren's CAS sketch for Freshly Made Sketches #482 it looked like the perfect opportunity to utilize this layout for stars and stripes. Plus, starting my cards this soon means I won't end up in a crunch at the last minute. While I made the custom envelope for this initial card, I'll probably purchase blue or white #10 envelopes and line them with red stripes.

This card was made by first cutting and mounting a strip of red and white striped printed paper from my stash and stamping the sentiment from PTI's "Red, White & Blue" set with their "Enchanted Evening" dye ink. Then the only thing left was to overlap the stars die (don't remember whose it is), cut it out from the face, and layer it for dimension. Then this was all mounted to a folded slim-line card, slipping a small piece of blue cardstock underneath the open star - very easy and CAS. 

We're looking forward to a moderately normal July 4th celebration this year, since all of our extended family members (except the children) have now been vaccinated. My son and his family usually take their annual vacation around the 4th of July and they always reserve a cabin, a year in advance, at one of  our local lakes. We all gather on that day and stay for the evening fireworks display put on by the lake resort. 

Freshly Made Sketches: Freshly Made Sketches #482 - A Sketch by Karren

Added April 27, 2021:

ADDICTED TO CAS #196 - SKY

The current Addicted to CAS challenge #196 is up now. This is a fun choice of code word by our hostess Vicky! "Sky" opens up all kinds of opportunities for creative expression. I don't have a specific use yet for this card, but I'm sure I'll find one.

About a month ago, while browsing one of my favorite shops, I came across this whole Simple Stories collection of stamp and papers - Simple Vintage Great Escape - that I couldn't resist. I started with cutting a curve stencil and blending the bottom of a white card that I had already die-cut with the stitched cloud die (I think Lawn Fawn) with PTI dye inks "Pinefeather" and ""New Leaf". Then I added a line of stitches from Bo Bunny's "Stitches" stamp because I thought it looked like a fence or trail. The Simple Stories "Great Escape" stamp set came with a small row of 5 tree silhouettes that I repeated across the bottom in the same PTI inks. I added the sentiment in Pinefeather and the birds in black. I layered this piece with another cloud and mounted both pieces onto a backing that had been color blended in PTI "Spring Rain" ink and trimmed each side slightly to mount onto a card base.

The envelope is lined with one of the papers from the collection.

I'm sure you will all find lots of beautiful and creative ways to use Vicky's code word! Have at it!!

Addicted to CAS: Challenge #196

      

DIAMONDS ARE A DOG'S BEST FRIEND

Oh, please forgive the terrible pun! Today's card is in response to Less is More Challenge #441 -  One Layer, "Diamonds". The card has to be only one later, and absolutely no embellishments.

Currently I've been challenging myself to dive deeply into my stash and use old stamps and materials. And this card is a very deep dive! I have a number of very old clear stamps in my stash that I probably picked up in clearance bins for $1.00. The larger green Argyle pattern used for the background is from a very small set that also included the sentiment. The scotty is from an old dog set and it was a huge surprise to see that the same diamond/Argyle pattern appears on his coat in miniature. I hadn't started out making a Father's Day card, but why not?  

I started this card by stamping the sentiment and scotty together, masking off the tiny collar. Then I made a mask of  the dog and stamped the diamond pattern twice in PTI's "New Leaf" dye ink and added little black dots with one of my drawing pens. I then masked off the entire card and stamped the little red collar. I put a metallic gold medallion on the collar by inking just the medallion with a VersaMarker water mark pen and heat embossing it with gold powder. The final step was to blind emboss a rectangular stitched die to give the card some dimension. The manufactured A2 envelope is lined with some 20 lb bond stamped repeatedly with the little 3-diamond Argyle element.

"Less is More": Challenge 441 - One Layer Card - Diamonds (simplylessismoore.blogspot.com)

 

HELLO

Combining two challenges today with this card - CASology #388 "Hello" and AAA Cards CAS Game #188 "One Inch Strip + Optional Small Stamps".  And I had so much fun with this combination! 

I started with a kraft A2 card base by masking off 1" with washi tape and stamping an overall rose pattern in PTI "Smokey Shadow" within the 1" strip. Then I got out my Copic markers and started having fun coloring. I used YR24 Pale Sepia for the rose centers, W4 Warm Gray 4 on the leaves and stems, and filled in the background with W8 Warm Gray 8. I used a white Prismacolor pencil for the highlights on the petals and came back in with white gel pen for the dots in the centers of the flowers. When this was all completed I overprinted a PTI sentiment with white heat embossing. 

I went searching in my stash for a black A2 envelope but didn't find one so I made one and lined it with 20 lb white bond stamped with the rose stamp and PTI's "Smokey Shadow" die ink and filled in the rose centers with my Copic marker. I have this thing about wanting to always match an envelope to my cards - if I'm going to go to the trouble to make a handmade card, well why not carry it to the next step? Am I revealing my OCD tendencies?

Sending this on to:

CASology: Week 388: HELLO

 

AAA Cards: Game #188 - One Inch Strip + optional twist Small Stamps

Added May 9, 2021: